1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Iran and Hizballah Western Hemisphere Prevention Act of 2017 . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) On June 26, 2017, Ali Issa Chamas, a dual Paraguayan-Lebanese national reportedly with ties to Hizballah, was indicted by a Miami Federal grand jury for drug trafficking after being arrested in the Tri-Border Area of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil for allegedly trying to smuggle cocaine to the United States. (2) On June 8, 2017, the Department of Justice announced the arrest of Ali Kourani and Samer El Debek for attempting to provide support to Hizballah, including in Panama, which involved locating the United States and Israeli Embassies and casing security procedures at the Panama Canal. (3) In April 2017, Commander, United States Southern Command, Admiral Kurt Tidd testified to Congress that as a continuing state sponsor of terrorism, Iranian involvement in the Western Hemisphere is always a matter of concern [and] with the easing of economic sanctions, Iran may be seeking to rebuild its relationships in the region . (4) In February 2017, the United States imposed sanctions on Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami, designating him as a drug kingpin for facilitating narcotics to the United States. A subsequent CNN investigation linked El Aissami to 173 Venezuelan passports and IDs that were issued to individuals from the Middle East, including people connected to the terrorist group Hezbollah . (5) In September 2016, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani conducted his first visit to Latin America, visiting Venezuela and Cuba. In the same month, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif also visited Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. (6) In February 2016, a Federal prosecutor in Argentina alleged that Special Prosecutor Alberto Nisman’s death in January 2015 was a homicide. Nisman had previously published two reports documenting Iranian activities in several countries in the region and filed a judicial complaint against former