[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 60 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 60

    Urging the Secretary of State to remove the People's Mojahedin 
  Organization of Iran from the Department of State's list of Foreign 
                        Terrorist Organizations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 26, 2011

  Mr. Poe of Texas (for himself, Mr. Rohrabacher, Ms. Jackson Lee of 
Texas, Mr. Dicks, Mr. Towns, Ms. Chu, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. Cleaver, 
    Mr. Schock, and Mr. Franks of Arizona) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 
  in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Urging the Secretary of State to remove the People's Mojahedin 
  Organization of Iran from the Department of State's list of Foreign 
                        Terrorist Organizations.

Whereas the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) seeks freedom, 
        democracy, and human rights for the people of Iran;
Whereas tens of thousands of MEK members have been executed by the Iranian 
        regime;
Whereas tens of thousands of MEK members have been jailed and tortured by the 
        Iranian regime;
Whereas in 2001, the MEK ceased its military activities against the Iranian 
        regime and rejected violence;
Whereas in 2003, the MEK voluntarily handed over all its arms to United States 
        forces in Iraq and cooperated with United States military at Camp 
        Ashraf;
Whereas in 2004, MEK members in Camp Ashraf obtained ``protected persons'' 
        status under the Fourth Geneva Convention based on the United States 
        investigators' conclusions that none was a combatant or had committed a 
        crime under any United States laws;
Whereas in 2004, all members of the MEK in Camp Ashraf, including its 
        leadership, signed a document rejecting violence and terrorism;
Whereas according to the Intelligence Community Terrorist Threat Assessment: 
        ``The August 2002 public disclosure by the MEK of two Iranian nuclear 
        facilities was a watershed event that led to intrusive inspections by 
        the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and further public 
        revelations of previously undeclared efforts by the civilian Atomic 
        Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) to develop a large nuclear fuel 
        cycle.'';
Whereas the MEK has continued to reveal valuable intelligence about Iran's 
        nuclear program, including additional secret and underground sites, 
        which according to a senior Los Alamos Laboratory analyst is ``right 90 
        percent of the time'';
Whereas senior United States military officers have acknowledged on multiple 
        occasions that MEK's intelligence has played a positive and effective 
        role in saving the lives of American soldiers by exposing the threats 
        and dangers of Iran's terrorist interventions in Iraq;
Whereas in 2007, the United Kingdom's Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission 
        (POAC) concluded after reviewing classified and unclassified evidence, 
        that the designation of the MEK was ``perverse'' and had to be set 
        aside;
Whereas in 2008, the English Court of Appeal, in upholding the judgment of POAC, 
        emphasized that a review of classified material had reinforced its view 
        that the MEK was not engaged in terrorism nor did it intend to engage in 
        such activity in the future;
Whereas in 2008, the United Kingdom removed the MEK from the list of proscribed 
        organizations and lifted all the consequent restrictions;
Whereas in 2006 and 2008, the Court of First Instance of the European 
        Communities in three separate judgments concluded that the European 
        Union had denied the MEK's right to defense and failed to provide any 
        evidence that would justify the inclusion of the MEK in its terrorist 
        lists, and therefore annulled the MEK's designation;
Whereas in 2009, the Council of Ministers of the European Union voted 
        unanimously to remove the MEK from the European Union's list of 
        terrorist organizations;
Whereas in 2010, some 3,500 European Parliamentarians supported the MEK and its 
        platform;
Whereas in July 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 
        Circuit held that the Department of State's designation of the MEK as a 
        Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under section 219 of the 
        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189) was faulty because it 
        violated the due process rights of the group;
Whereas section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act allows the Secretary 
        of State to revoke an FTO designation if ``the circumstances that were 
        the basis for the designation have changed in such a manner as to 
        warrant revocation; or the national security of the United States 
        warrants a revocation'';
Whereas the Secretary of State has so far failed to present the Congress with 
        credible evidence showing that the MEK engages in terrorist activity, or 
        terrorism, or has the capability and intent to engage in terrorism that 
        threatens the national security of the United States or the security of 
        United States nationals;
Whereas the Government of Iran has used the FTO designation of the MEK as a 
        pretext to execute its members in Iran;
Whereas the FTO designation of the MEK has been used by Iranian surrogates in 
        Iraq as well as the Nuri al-Maliki Government in Iraq to attack the MEK 
        members in Camp Ashraf or impose inhumane restrictions on them, which 
        has led to loss of life;
Whereas the Iranian regime ignored international calls for their release, 
        including those made by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and hanged 
        Jafar Kazemi, age 47, and Mohammad Ali Hajaghaie, age 62, on January 24, 
        2011, and Ali Saremi, age 63, on December 28, 2010, for visiting their 
        sons at Camp Ashraf and voicing their support of MEK; and
Whereas Congress, by an Act of Congress, may block or revoke a designation of an 
        organization as an FTO under section 219 of the Immigration and 
        Nationality Act: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) urges the Secretary of State to remove the People's 
        Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) from the Department 
        of State's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations; and
            (2) urges the Secretary of State to lift all restrictions 
        imposed on the MEK, its members, and its affiliates, which has 
        emanated from its designation as a Foreign Terrorist 
        Organization.
                                 <all>