Mohammed Shyaa Al-Sudani, Iraq's prime minister, left, and US President Joe Biden, right, during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, April 15, 2024 (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Three of the militias were designated by the U.S. as terrorist groups, Wilson and Hearn explained, and those groups have attacked Americans at least 180 times since Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing three Americans and injuring over 100 others.
"The Iraqi federal budget last year also passed massive funding for the Iranian-backed militias’ financial arm, the Muhandis General Company, which gives the IRGC and Iraqi militias almost unlimited access to terrorist threat funding and land grants – the last one of which was half the size of Lebanon, in the exact area from which the same militias launched drones at Saudi Arabia," the letter read. "The [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp’s] influence is also now extending to Iraq’s judiciary which has spearheaded the campaign against American interests, most notably in the Kurdistan Region."
Members of the terrorist groups, according to the Republican lawmakers, are members of Iraq’s parliament and the Finance Committee, which authorizes funding for the U.S.-designated terrorist groups while also blocking the funding for the Kurdistan Regional Government, which is an ally with the U.S.
TURKISH WARPLANES STRIKE KURDISH MILITANT POSITIONS IN IRAQ AFTER ATTACK KILLS SOLDIER, WOUNDS 4
Hezbollah militants gather to pay their respects for one of the militant group's commanders. Ali al-Debs was killed by an Israeli air raid in Lebanon's southern city of Nabatieyh on February 16, 2024. (MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)
"These are the officials you have determined are worthy to visit the White House. Furthermore, China and Russia have exploited U.S. investments in Iraq, such that China now operates more than 50% of Iraq’s oil fields and the Iraqi Oil Ministry now turns to Russian and China for the bulk of its sales and investments," the letter reads. "In essence, the US has effectively overseen China, Russia and Iran dominate Iraq, despite our overwhelming financial and human commitment to Iraq’s latest chapter."
To make matters worse, the added, Iraq, which is supported by Iran, has turned on the Kurds and refuses to allocate the Kurdistan Region its full Constitutional Budget.
Ahead of the meeting, the lawmakers requested answers to several questions, including whether the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury can certify that no U.S. money is transferring to Iraq’s Central Bank and being used to fund Iran or its proxies in Iraq.
Wilson and Hearn also asked why the Treasury Department continues to support money transfers to Iraq when the funds are used by U.S.-designated terrorist groups, and how the State Department is addressing the Iraqi government’s blockade on U.S. Congress appropriated military equipment to the Kurdistan Region.
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The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the letter.
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
Story tips and can be sent to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and on Twitter @GregWehner.
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