[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 3 (Thursday, January 29, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S237]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TOUGH, SMART WOMEN WORKING TO BETTER IRAN

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, it has been almost twenty years since the 
overthrow of the Shah of Iran and the year-long ordeal of the American 
hostages in Tehran. The U.S. swiftly responded to those incidents by 
isolating Iran diplomatically, militarily, and economically. Today our 
policy of isolation continues.
  The U.S. has legitimate, serious concerns about the Iranian 
Government's support for international terrorism, its efforts to 
undermine the Arab-Israeli peace process, and its acquisition of 
weapons of mass destruction. We must continue to vigorously pressure 
Iran to modify its conduct in each of these areas.
  However, rather than adhere blindly to all aspects of a policy that 
was conceived in response to events in 1979, it is time to reevaluate 
our relationship with Iran and its people and consider the advantages 
that might result from a more open dialogue.
  Too often our antagonism toward Iran obscures the fact that many 
Iranian citizens desire better relations with the United States. On 
January 7, 1998 Iranian President Mohammad Khatemi said in an interview 
with CNN that he wanted people-to-people exchanges to ``crack the wall 
of mistrust'' between the United States and Iran. A December 10, 1997 
article in the ``International Herald Tribune'' by Ms. Catherine 
O'Neill, who recently visited Iran on behalf of UNICEF, entitled, 
``Tough, Smart Women, Working to Better Iran,'' illustrates that there 
are many similarities between us and the Iranian people and that 
citizens of both countries could benefit from the regular sharing of 
ideas and academic and professional advances if only the opportunity 
were there.
  Mr. President, I ask that excerpts from Ms. O'Neill's article be 
printed in the Record.
  The excerpts follow:

                [From the Herald Tribune, Dec. 10, 1997]

               Tough, Smart Women, Working to Better Iran

                         (By Catherine O'Neill)

       Tehran.--Somehow I had always felt that women who adopted 
     the chador had shut me out. That black cloak seemed a way of 
     saying: ``Don't approach! My values are different.''
       A recent visit to Iran has proved how wrong I was. It also 
     has taught me something about not imposing my values on 
     tough, smart women who are working to make changes in their 
     country.
       At the invitation of Unicef, I went to Tehran to attend a 
     conference on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. 
     The conference was organized by a group of Iranian women who 
     want to change some of Iran's laws affecting children and 
     women.
       Almost no non-Iranians were present in the hotel ballroom 
     as several hundred chador-clad women, and some men, 
     discussed, debated and criticized aspects of Iran's laws.
       One speaker criticized Iranian companies that profit from 
     cheap child labor.
       Another talked about the illogic of a 30-year-old woman 
     professor's being unable to choose a spouse without the 
     approval of a father or grandfather--while a 15-year-old boy 
     needs no approval to get married.
       Speakers noted Iran's effective village health care 
     programs, universal immunization for children and the high 
     percentage of girls and boys attending school.
       But the speakers wanted more for Iran's children and women.
       During breaks, women approached me to talk. They were 
     doctors, lawyers, teachers, psychologists, professors, child 
     education experts and mothers. We cared about the same 
     things: drug abuse among young people, child custody issues, 
     child abuse, juvenile delinquency, homeless children, foster 
     care and child labor.
       My experiences in Iran should not be so rare for Americans. 
     A new generation has arrived and almost two decades have 
     passed since the hostage crisis of 1979-80. The United States 
     is the only major power with no contact with Iran. But the 
     Iranian people have given a signal: They voted in a new 
     president against the recommendations of their religious 
     leaders.
       It's time for us in the United States to reach out to the 
     70 million children, men and women in Iran, who, I've found, 
     have much in common with us.

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