119-hr4531

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4531 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4531

 To require a strategy to counter Iranian and Hezbollah influence 
 operations in Latin America.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 July 17, 2025

Mr. Shreve (for himself, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Huizenga, Ms. Salazar, and 
 Mr. Messmer) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To require a strategy to counter Iranian and Hezbollah influence 
 operations in Latin America.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Barring Adversarial Networks and 
Notorious Extremist Destabilizers in Latin America Act'' or the 
``BANNED in Latin America Act''.

SEC. 2. STRATEGY TO COUNTER IRANIAN AND HEZBOLLAH INFLUENCE OPERATIONS 
 IN LATIN AMERICA.

    (a) Strategy Required.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a comprehensive strategy to 
counter Iran's and Hezbollah's propaganda, missionary networks, and 
influence operations in Latin America.

    (b) Contents of Strategy.--The strategy required by subsection

    (a) shall include the following:

    (1) Measures to address the proliferation of Iranian 
 cultural centers in Latin America that promote Iranian 
 ideology, including diplomatic efforts to limit their 
 operations, sanctions on affiliated entities, and public 
 diplomacy to expose their activities.

    (2) Actions to restrict the travel and activities of 
 Iranian emissaries, including diplomats, cultural attaches, and 
 other agents who facilitate propaganda, radicalization, and 
 terror-supporting networks in Latin America, through visa 
 denials, sanctions, or other travel restrictions.

    (3) Initiatives to strengthen the capacity of United States 
 intelligence agencies to identify, monitor, and disrupt Iran's 
 and Hezbollah's networks, including their cooperation academic 
 institutions and nongovernmental organizations in Latin 
 America.

    (4) A framework for taking actions, similar to those 
 implemented against Al-Manar and Press TV, to disrupt Iran's 
 HispanTV and Hezbollah's Al Mayadeen Espanol platforms, 
 including sanctions, designations, and cooperation with 
 regional partners to limit their broadcasting reach and digital 
 presence.

    (5) A plan to address Iran's Al Mustafa International 
 University network and its affiliated entities, including their 
 designations as foreign terrorist organizations or specially 
 designated global terrorists, as appropriate, due to their role 
 in radicalization and recruitment for Iran's ideological and 
 terrorist objectives.
            (c) Form.--The strategy required by subsection

    (a) shall be 
transmitted in unclassified form and may include a classified annex.
            (d) Appropriate Congressional Committee Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--

    (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
 Representatives; and

    (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
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