[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2947 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2947

To encourage respect for the rights of religious and ethnic minorities 
in Iran, and to deter Iran from supporting international terrorism, and 
       from furthering its weapons of mass destruction programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 27, 2000

 Mr. Schumer (for himself and Mr. Brownback) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To encourage respect for the rights of religious and ethnic minorities 
in Iran, and to deter Iran from supporting international terrorism, and 
       from furthering its weapons of mass destruction programs.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the Report of the National Commission on 
        Terrorism released in June 2000, pursuant to Public Law 105-
        277, ``Iran remains the most active state supporter of 
        terrorism. Despite the election of reformist President Khatami 
        in 1997, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and Ministry of 
        Intelligence and Security have continued to be involved in the 
        planning and execution of terrorist acts.''.
            (2) According to the Central Intelligence Agency's most 
        recent proliferation report, pursuant to section 721 of the 
        Fiscal Year 1997 Intelligence Authorization Act, ``Iran remains 
        one of the most active countries seeking to acquire Weapons of 
        Mass Destruction (WMD) and Advanced Conventional Weapons (ACW) 
        technology from abroad. In so doing, Iran is attempting to 
        develop an indigenous capability to produce various types of 
        weapons--nuclear, chemical, and biological and their delivery 
        systems.''.
            (3) On July 16, 2000, Iran successfully test-fired its 
        Shahab-3 missile, a medium-range weapon capable of delivering a 
        nuclear, biological, and chemical payload.
            (4) Iran's recent trial and conviction of 10 Iranian Jews 
        accused of spying on behalf of Israel was only the most recent 
        example of Iran's egregious mistreatment of minorities and 
        brazen violations of international human rights standards and 
        due process of law.
            (5) Prior to the verdict, United States Secretary of State 
        Madeleine K. Albright referred to the treatment of the Jews on 
        trial in Iran as ``a critical barometer of United States-Iran 
        relations''.
            (6) In March 2000, the President of the United States 
        partially lifted an import ban to permit the importation of 
        Iranian textiles and food products, such as carpets, dried 
        fruits, nuts, and caviar, which account for Iran's second 
        largest source of hard-currency earnings. This gesture was 
        intended as good-will efforts toward improving relations 
        between the United States and Iran.
            (7) This gesture was premature since Iran has not shown 
        signs of respecting the rights of minorities within Iran, has 
        not ended its support for international terrorism, and has not 
        terminated weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile 
        programs.

SEC. 2. IMMEDIATELY ENDING THE UNITED STATES IMPORTATION OF IRANIAN 
              GOODS.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law and except as provided 
in section 3, no textile or food article that is produced, grown, or 
manufactured in Iran shall enter or be imported into the United States.

SEC. 3. CONDITIONS FOR THE RESUMPTION OF UNITED STATES IMPORTATION OF 
              IRANIAN GOODS.

    (a) General Waiver.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the 
President may waive the prohibition on the importation of Iranian goods 
to the United States 90 days after submitting a certification to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on 
International Relations of the House of Representatives stating that--
            (1) Iran has shown substantial progress in respecting the 
        rights of ethnic and religious minorities and is meeting 
        internationally recognized human rights standards, including 
        due process under law;
            (2) Iran has ceased its support for international 
        terrorism; and
            (3) Iran has terminated its weapons of mass destruction and 
        ballistic missile programs.
    (b) National Security Interest Waiver.--If the President determines 
that it is in the national security interests of the United States to 
do so, the President may waive the prohibition on the importation of 
Iranian goods 90 days after submitting a certification to the 
congressional committees described in subsection (a) stating that Iran 
meets the requirements of subsection (a)(1).
                                 <all>