House Judiciary Committee Approves Resolution Calling on Administration to Designate Taliban as a Terrorist Organization

Washington, D.C. – The House Judiciary Committee today approved by voice vote H. Con. Res. 13, which asks the State Department to recognize the Afghan Taliban as a foreign terrorist organization in order to better protect national security. The Afghan Taliban provided a safe haven for al-Qaeda until U.S. forces liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban’s control after al-Qaeda’s September 11 terrorist attacks.  Additionally, the Taliban has conducted a multitude of deadly attacks aimed at civilians since it was overthrown, and is responsible for most insurgent attacks in Afghanistan.  Last year alone, the United Nations reported that the Taliban conducted 143 attacks aimed at civilians. In just one of those incidents, Taliban terrorists attacked a restaurant in Kabul, killing 21 people, including three Americans.

This concurrent resolution, introduced by Congressman David McKinley (R-W.V.), would have a threefold effect: members of the Taliban would be banned from coming to the United States under immigration law; persons who provide material support to the Taliban would be subject to federal criminal penalties; and the Treasury Department would be able to require U.S. financial institutions possessing or controlling any assets of the Taliban to block all financial transactions involving those assets. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) praised the passage of this concurrent resolution in the statement below. 

Chairman Goodlatte: “Although the Obama Administration has admitted that the Taliban do carry out tactics that are akin to terrorism, it has never designated the Taliban as a foreign terrorist organization. The Taliban’s embrace of terrorism and the very real threat it poses to American lives and the national security of the United States make it an obvious choice for designation.  The concurrent resolution passed by the House Judiciary Committee today asks the State Department to do the right thing and designate the Taliban as a foreign terrorist organization. This will make it less likely that Taliban members and sympathizers will be able to enter the United States. I thank Congressman McKinley for introducing this commonsense resolution and urge the House of Representatives to consider it immediately.”