Pence-sponsored bill to benefit families of Beirut bombing

Legislation sponsored by Rep. Greg Pence, a Columbus Republican, to help terrorist victims and their families collect financial judgments from the 1983 Marine Barracks Terrorist Attack in Beirut, has passed in the House of Representatives. That attack killed 241 Americans, including 220 Marines.

The “Our Obligation to Recognize American Heroes (OORAH) Act” was passed by the House 397-31 on Wednesday night. The measure would allow Iran financial assets to be utilized to pay the families of the victims. “The Washington Examiner” is reporting that $1.6 billion in Iranian funds being held by a Luxembourg-based firm is being targeted.

Pence was a Marine at that time. He had just left the area prior to the attack.

“My battalion shipped out 10 days before the bombing,” Pence said on the House floor Tuesday night. “I was able to come home to my wife, who was expecting our first child, and my family in Columbus, Indiana.”

The bill has already passed in the Senate and will need to go through conference committee before it makes it to president Trump’s desk.