[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 23, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S7542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   TREATMENT OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Foreign 
Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Con. 
Res. 39, and that the Senate then proceed to its consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 39) expressing the 
     sense of the Congress regarding the treatment of religious 
     minorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and particularly 
     the recent arrests of members of that country's Jewish 
     community.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I offer this resolution on behalf of Mr. 
Brownback of Kansas, Mr. Lieberman of Connecticut, and many other 
cosponsors.
  Last March, 13 Iranian Jews from the southern cities of Shiraz and 
Esfahan were arrested on preposterous charges of spying for Israel and 
the United States. These men have not been allowed visits by family or 
legal counsel, nor has any evidence been produced to warrant their 
arrest and imprisonment. For more than 2 months, leaders of the 
American Jewish community and the U.S. Government officials have worked 
behind the scenes for the release of these men.
  Iran has done this sort of thing many times before, and they are 
usually just seeking some ransom money. Unfortunately, this situation 
is different. Iran went public with this issue first, meaning something 
far more nefarious is at work.
  It is clear that these 13 people are being used as unfortunate pawns 
between two warring political factions in Iran: moderate followers of 
President Mohammad Khatami and hardline ayatollahs who remain 
entrenched in high positions of power and seek to undermine Khatami's 
domestic reforms and overtures to the West. These men may very well be 
hanged without a trial under preposterous and trumped-up charges. We 
must not let that happen. Indeed, we must do all we can to secure their 
release.
  We have a resolution before the Senate condemning in the strongest 
possible terms the arrest of these men and calling for their immediate 
release. I thank all my colleagues for supporting this resolution which 
denounces the worst form of religious intolerance.
  The notion that Iranian Jews, particularly those living hundreds of 
miles from Teheran, even have the capacity to spy for Israel or the 
United States is laughable. What access would these individuals have to 
any valuable information whatsoever?
  The truth is that since 1979, Iran has habitually utilized the term 
``spy'' for anyone it arrests for political reason. Schoolgirls and 
blind old men have been hanged as ``spies'' simply because they were 
religious minorities.
  Some say we should not come down too hard on Iran on this issue, lest 
we play into the hands of the hardline ayatollahs and set back 
Khatami's reform movement. I say that is out of the question. We are 
not going to sacrifice innocent lives to help one side in a political 
battle of wills.
  Khatami has the power to stand up to the hardliners on behalf of 
these 13 pawns and for all of Iran's 30,000-member Jewish community, as 
well as other religious minorities. He won the Presidency with a 70-
percent landslide vote, and moderate candidates continue to score big 
victories in local elections. He can choose the political battles he 
wishes to fight, and this resolution before us today makes it perfectly 
clear that this needs to be one of those battles.

  In fact, any talk of a kinder, gentler Iran under the supposedly 
moderate President Khatami is simply empty rhetoric as long as Jews and 
other religious minorities are victims of the most vicious forms of 
religious intolerance.
  The Koran in Islam treats justice like all the great religions, as 
something at the highest pinnacle of human values. If Khatami cannot 
deliver on this issue, then what is his reform movement about in the 
first place? And if Iran seeks to do this in the name of Islamic 
fundamentalism, what about the teachings of the Koran in terms of 
justice and fairness?
  The administration has spoken out strongly on this issue, but they 
have to make this a top priority. President Clinton and Secretary of 
State Albright should immediately press influential regional states--
Syria, Saudi Arabia, Russia--to help secure the release of the 13.
  Iran must know from the United States, and the world, that should 
these men be executed, as 17 other Jews have been since 1979, Iran will 
slip back into pariah status for decades. That means no loans, no 
trade, no international respect.
  With this resolution, the Congress, the Senate, has spoken today, and 
the world is watching.


                           Amendment No. 734

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my 
amendment, which is at the desk, be considered and agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Crapo). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  The amendment (No. 734) was agreed to, as follows:

       On page 3, line 3, strike ``Clinton administration'' and 
     insert ``United States''.
       On page 3, Strike line 4 to line 5 before ``continue''.
       On page 3, begin with line 7, strike the word 
     ``recommendation'' and insert ``the recommendation of 
     resolution 1999/13''.
       On page 3, line 9, insert after ``(2)'' ``continue to''.

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
concurrent resolution, as amended, be agreed to, the preamble be agreed 
to, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, without 
intervening action.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Con. Res. 39), as amended, was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  [The resolution (S. Con. Res. 39) will be printed in a future edition 
of the Record.]
  Mr. SCHUMER. I thank the Chair.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative assistant proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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