Exclusive: Boebert Introduces Bill Designating Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan State Sponsor of Terrorism

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is announcing Tuesday legislation that would add Afghanistan to the U.S. list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, a little more than a year after the Taliban, a jihadist terrorist organization, took control of the country.

Boebert, along with a handful of Freedom Caucus cosponsors, are introducing the “Taliban Sponsor Terrorism Act,” which would direct Secretary of State Antony Blinken to add Afghanistan to a list that currently includes four countries: Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Syria.

“As a result of Biden’s botched Afghanistan surrender that killed 13 American service members, Afghanistan has once again become a safe haven for terrorists,” Boebert said in a statement about the legislation, adding that the Islamic State and al-Qaeda “are flourishing, have close ties to the Taliban, and now have the capability to attack us on U.S. soil.”

Boebert noted, “One of the best ways to protect the American people from these terrorists is to stop the money from flowing by formally designating Afghanistan as a state sponsor of terrorism.”

The United States imposes stringent economic sanctions and prohibitions and controls of certain exports on countries labeled State Sponsors of Terrorism, but some politicians oppose adding Afghanistan to the list because it would imply recognizing the Taliban as the country’s legitimate government.

Boebert’s bill is similar to an effort led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) last year to apply the designation to Afghanistan because, he said, the country was “already becoming a safe haven for terrorists who hate America.”

The bill comes as “the future status” of $3.5 billion of the $7 billion in assets the Biden administration froze Afghanistan’s access to upon the Taliban’s takeover remains “unclear,” according to a recent NPR report.

The bill also follows a United Nations official assessing in September that “human rights had deteriorated under” Afghanistan’s new leadership, with the official citing a “staggering repression” of women and a “descent towards authoritarianism.” Additionally, Afghanistan Ambassador to the U.N. Nasir Ahmad Andisha accused the Taliban of imposing “gender apartheid” on its population.

Write to Ashley Oliver at aoliver@breitbart.com. Follow her on Twitter at @asholiver.