A bipartisan group of senators and House members introduced a bill on Tuesday to impose sanctions on the Popular Resistance Committees, reportedly the third-largest terrorist group in Gaza, which claimed credit for participating in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and is not currently designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization.

The bill was introduced for the first time in the Senate by Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and Adam Schiff (D-CA), and reintroduced in the House by Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA), David Kustoff (R-TN), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Sarah McBride (D-DE).

The legislation passed easily out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee by a voice vote during the previous Congress. It also requires the administration to assess whether to designate the Popular Resistance Committees and the Lion’s Den, another terrorist group, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, a classification that provides additional sanctions authorities.

“The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) is the third-largest terrorist organization in Gaza and another puppet of Iran,” Ricketts said in a statement. “Despite decades of attacks against Americans and Israelis, including on October 7th, the PRC has yet to be properly sanctioned for its barbarism. This bill will help hold accountable every terrorist that participated in the October 7th attacks.”

Schiff also emphasized that the group has a long history of terrorist activity, clearly meriting a designation.

“They were willing and cruel participants with Hamas during the horrific October 7th massacre, killing innocent Israelis and taking and holding hostages after that terrible attack. Any organization engaging in this level of violence should be sanctioned under U.S. law and officially designated as a terrorist group,” Schiff said. “The United States stands with Israel, and this is an important step to holding those responsible for October 7th accountable.”

The Popular Resistance Committees are a confederation of armed terrorist groups in Gaza and the West Bank. The group has attacked both Israelis and Americans in incidents dating back decades. Iran has provided the group with training and support.

“Every day that we fail to sanction the terrorist Popular Resistance Committees — which have murdered Americans and Israelis for decades, and participated in the barbaric October 7th massacre including by taking hostages — is another day that we fail to secure justice for their victims,” Sherman said in a statement.

“It is long overdue that the Popular Resistance Committees are designated as a terrorist organization and sanctioned, alongside Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” he continued. “I’m proud to reintroduce my legislation to finally hold these monsters accountable for the terror they have wreaked on innocents in the region.”

Kustoff said that “enough is enough.”

“The terrorists responsible for the barbaric October 7th attack on Israel must be held accountable for their abhorrent actions against innocent men, women, and children,” Kustoff said. “For years now, the Popular Resistance Committees, the third largest terror group in the Gaza strip, have terrorized Israelis and Americans in the region.”

McBride, a House freshman and a new member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a new sponsor of the bill. In a statement, she similarly highlighted the group’s long history of terrorism.

“The Popular Resistance Committees have committed heinous acts of terror against Israelis and Palestinians for decades but have evaded any accountability. Their role in the October 7th massacre, the murder of American citizens, and their ongoing role in the hostage crisis demands immediate action,” McBride said. “I am proud to join Rep. Brad Sherman in leading this bipartisan, bicameral effort to finally sanction this brutal terror group and cut off its access to our financial networks. We must remain unwavering in our commitment to holding all perpetrators of terrorism accountable.”