Scott Joins Colleagues on Comprehensive Afghanistan Legislation

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) joined Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and 28 of his colleagues in supporting the Afghanistan Counterterrorism, Oversight, and Accountability Act, legislation to address the outstanding issues related to the administration’s rushed and disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“While the crisis in Afghanistan may have faded from headlines, the danger faced by Americans and our allies is still real and immediate,” said Senator Scott. “My colleagues and I are committed to holding the Biden administration accountable by being a voice for those who have suffered as a result of this president’s failure of leadership. We must act now to ensure our leaders do not repeat the mistakes that led to the loss of 13 Americans, countless allies, and our credibility on the world stage.”

Joining Scott and Risch as cosponsors are Senators Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), John Hoeven (R-N.D), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), John Kennedy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.).

The Afghanistan Counterterrorism, Oversight, and Accountability Act:

• Establishes a State Department task force to focus on the evacuation of American citizens, legal permanent residents, and Afghan Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) who are still stuck in Afghanistan.
• Imposes oversight mechanisms on the processing of SIVs and refugees.
  Requires strategies for counterterrorism and for the disposition of Taliban-captured U.S. equipment.
• Sanctions the Taliban and others in Afghanistan for terrorism, drug-trafficking, and human rights abuses.
• Authorizes sanctions on those providing support to the Taliban, including foreign governments supporting the Taliban.
• States that the United States should not recognize any member of the Taliban as the ambassador of Afghanistan to the United States or as the ambassador of Afghanistan to the United Nations.
• Calls for a comprehensive review of foreign assistance to entities that support the Taliban.
• Places restrictions on non-humanitarian foreign assistance to Afghanistan.

Full text of the bill can be found here. 

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