Hezbollah Terrorist Designation Praised by Florida Congressmen

Almost 50 members of Congress from both parties joined in a letter sent to Baroness Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy for the European Union (EU), praising the EU for classifying Hezbollahs military operations as terrorism. The congressmen urged the EU to classify all of Hezbollah as terrorists.

Members of both parties signed the letter, including Florida Republicans Gus Bilirakis, Jeff Miller and Mario Diaz-Balart, and Florida Democrats Ted Deutch, Alcee Hastings and Lois Frankel.

The European Unions decision to designate Hezbollahs military wing as a terrorist organization is encouraging, said Bilirakis on Wednesday. This designation will make it more difficult for Hezbollah to raise money to fund its terrorist activities and will hopefully weaken the organizations support and eventually render it obsolete. While I continue to call on members of the EU to designate the entire Hezbollah operation as a terrorist organization, I applaud them for taking this important step in the fight against terrorism.

By designating Hezbollahs military arm as a terrorist organization, the European Union took a major step toward preventing future acts of terrorism around the world, said Deutch. While we welcome this important step, we urge our allies in Europe to take the same action against Hezbollahs political wing, which continues to help finance its network of terror. Designating the entirety of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization will further restrict its ability to launch future terrorist attacks and ensure the United States and the European Union stand united against this global threat.