Blocking the Sale of Airliners to Iran (H.R. 5711)

What is H.R. 5711?

(Updated September 24, 2019)

This bill would prohibit the Dept. of the Treasury from authorizing financial transactions related to the export of commercial airliners to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The bill was introduced in response to a $25 billion deal that Boeing made with Iran to sell 80 commercial airliners to the country’s national airline.

Argument in favor

It doesn’t make sense for the U.S. to allow a U.S. company to sell 80 airliners to Iran when that transaction has nothing at all to do with the nuclear deal. These are extra sanctions that should be enforced.

Argument opposed

This bill would undermine the Iran nuclear agreement by punishing Iran and blocking the sale of airliners despite the U.S. having committed to ease sanctions. If this could make Iran abandon the deal, it shouldn’t advance.

Impact

Boeing; Iran; the Treasury Department; and Congress.

Cost of H.R. 5711

The CBO estimates that enacting this bill would have a negligible cost, as potential revenue or spending increases would be minimal.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) introduced this bill because he was concerned that the Obama administration’s relaxation of sanctions against Iran would allow U.S. companies to make deals that end up strengthening the Iranian military. 

He said that there was no way to ensure that the 80 planes purchased by Iran aren’t used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has been accused of being a terrorist group:

“I’m extremely concerned that by relaxing the rules, the Obama administration has allowed U.S. companies to be complicit in weaponizing the Iranian regime.”

The Obama administration issued a policy statement through the Office of Management and Budget stating the president would veto this bill if it were passed by Congress.

The House Financial Services Committee passed this bill on a party-line, 33-21 vote. It currently has one cosponsor in the House, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA).

Media:

• House Financial Services Committee Press Release
  
• CBO Cost Estimate
  
• Al-Monitor
  
• Bloomberg
  
• The Hill
  
• USA Today
  
• Washington Times
  
• Office of Management and Budget (Opposed)