Congress Moves Closer to Cutting Off Taxpayer Funds to Taliban

By Jerry Dunleavy | Just the News

Momentum is building in Congress to formally ban U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding the Taliban, after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday followed the House’s lead in passing the “No Taxpayer Dollars for Terrorists” bill.

The bill – which “requires the Department of State to develop and implement a strategy to discourage foreign countries and nongovernmental organizations from providing financial or material support to the Taliban” – passed in the Senate committee on a 12-10 party-line vote, with all Republicans voting for the bill and all Democrats voting against it.

The Taliban conducted a lightning-fast takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 and swept into the Afghan capital of Kabul in mid-August of that year. The chaotic and deadly non-combatant evacuation operation by the U.S. was conducted through Hamid Karzai International Airport while the U.S. military relied upon a hostile Taliban – including the Haqqani Network – to provide security outside the airport.

Watchdog reports have shown the U.S. government continued to send billions to Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, with the Taliban skimming millions in taxes.

A driving force for the anti-terrorism bill inside the Senate was Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Montana, while the leading voice behind the House’s successful passage of the bill last year was Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who had repeatedly urged the Senate to follow the House’s lead.

Idaho GOP Sen. Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate committee, said before voting, “The most commonsense bill we have before us today is the No Tax Dollars for Terrorists Act,” according to prepared remarks provided to Just the News.

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