of terrorism". During testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee in January 2019, Coats said that Iran "continues to sponsor terrorism". According to Coats, "Iran's regional ambitions and improved military capabilities almost certainly will threaten US interests in the coming year." Palestine Coats co-sponsored the Taylor Force Act. The legislation proposes to stop American economic aid to the Palestinian Authority unless it stops payments to individuals who commit acts of terrorism and to the families of deceased terrorists. In September 2016, in advance of a UN Security Council resolution 2334 condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, Coats signed an AIPAC-sponsored letter urging President Barack Obama to veto "one-sided" resolutions against Israel. Other Coats co-sponsored, with former senators Edward M. Kennedy, Christopher Dodd, and James Jeffords, S.2206: Coats Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1998. This bill, which was enacted into law, "amended the Head Start Act, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981, and the Community Services Block Grant Act... in order to provide an opportunity for persons with limited means to accumulate assets." In 1996, Coats co-sponsored the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, which President Clinton signed into law. The bill allowed the President to "rewrit[e] legislation by vetoing single items of spending or specific tax breaks approved by Congress." In June 1998, The Supreme Court of the United States declared the law unconstitutional in Clinton v. City of New York in a 6–3 decision. Coats made headlines in August 1998, when he publicly questioned the timing of President Bill Clinton's cruise missile attacks on Afghanistan and Sudan, suggesting they might be linked to the Lewinsky scandal: "While there is clearly much more we need to learn about this attack and why it was ordered today, given the president's personal difficulties this week, it is legitimate to question the timing of this action." Political campaigns 2010 On February 10, 2010, Coats confirmed that he would return to Indiana to run for the seat held by incumbent Evan Bayh in the 2010 United States Senate election. Bayh had made no previous announcements and was fully expected to run for another term, but after Coats announced his candidacy, Bayh announced his retirement on February 15, 2010. On May 4, 2010, Coats won the Republican primary over State Senator Marlin Stutzman and former U.S. Representative John Hostettler. Coats defeated Democratic U.S. Representative Brad Ellsworth by a 15-point margin to return