Goodlatte Applauds House Approval of Bill to Ban Terrorists from Coming to the U.S. as U.N. Ambassadors

Washington, D.C. — The House of Representatives today approved a bill (S. 2195) by unanimous consent to prohibit terrorists from coming to the United States as ambassadors to the United Nations, which is headquartered in New York City. This legislation, authored by Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), follows Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s nomination of Hamid Aboutalebi as Iran’s new ambassador to the United Nations. Aboutabeli was a member of the Muslim student group that seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979, in which 52 American diplomats and citizens were held hostage from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981. The Senate approved this legislation by unanimous consent earlier this week.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) praised today’s approval of S. 2195 by the House of Representatives in the statement below.

Chairman Goodlatte: “By naming a member of a terrorist group to be its United Nations ambassador, Iran’s government is simply attempting to disguise yet another act of hostility towards the U.S. under the cloak of international diplomacy. There is no reason why we should be forced to host Hamid Aboutalebi when he was a member of the group that brutally held 52 Americans hostage while they were in his country. As Chairman of the Committee of primary jurisdiction, I am pleased both the Senate and the House have moved this legislation expeditiously so that we protect our national security interests and show Iran that their continued aggression towards the United States and our allies will not be tolerated.”

Background: Under current law, the President of the United States can use his or her authority to deny any individual’s admission to the U.S. as a representative to the United Nations if the President determines that the individual has been involved in espionage activities. S. 2195 amends this law to expand this prohibition to individuals who would otherwise be barred from entry to the U.S. on terrorism-related grounds, such as by being members of a terrorist group or having committed acts of terror against the U.S. and its allies. 

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