BANNED in Latin America Act

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

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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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