WASHINGTON — A bipartisan bill that demands a tougher line against Hizbullah was introduced in the House of Representatives Monday, April 7. The Hizbullah International Financing Prevention Act urges the Obama administration to turn the screws on financial institutions — including the central banks of Lebanon and other nations — as well as media providers accused to aiding the Shia’ militia and its media arm.

“It shall be the policy of the United States to prevent Hizbullah’s global logistics and financial network from operating in order to curtail funding of its domestic and international activities; and utilize all available diplomatic, legislative, and executive avenues to combat the criminal activities of Hizbullah as a means to block that organization’s ability to fund its global terrorist activities,” the bill states.

The effort comes as lawmakers are seeking to undermine Hizbullah’s ability to aid Bashar al-Assad’s forces in Syria while harming its patron, Iran.

The bill gives the Treasury Department 90 days to prohibit the U.S. accounts or “impose strict conditions on” the accounts of any foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate the activities of Hizbullah, including money laundering. Domestic financial institutions maintaining accounts for foreign firms will be required to inform Treasury of such activities.

The department can waive those requirements for “national security interests” but must inform Congress.

The bill also gives the president 30 days to provide Congress with a full list of all satellite, broadcast and other providers that “knowingly” transmit the content of Al-Manar TV. It requires a breakdown of which providers have been sanctioned and which haven’t — the United States designated Al-Manar a terrorist entity in 2004 — and an explanation for the latter.