[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 62 (Thursday, May 18, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H3402]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CONDEMNING THE ACTIONS OF IRAN REGARDING THIRTEEN JEWISH CITIZENS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, before I speak about what I want to speak 
about, listening to my colleague talk about 20 years to the day of the 
eruption of Mount St. Helens, that was May 18, 1980, and people are 
always amazed when they mention Mount St. Helens, and I say, ``Oh, yes, 
that was May 18, 1980,'' and they cannot understand how I can remember 
the exact date. I was married on May 18, 1980, so today is the 20th 
anniversary of my marriage.
  I do not know if there is some kind of lesson there, but I am glad 
the gentleman spoke about it, because it has been a good 20 years.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the plight of 13 Iranian Jews 
who are on trial in Iran in a phony trial, in a show trial, in a 
disgraceful trial. These people are charged with supposedly spying for 
the United States and Israel, and were arrested on Passover of 1999. 
They have been imprisoned for a year without legal representation, and 
they are denied the right to choose their lawyer. Their trials are 
going on now.
  Mr. Speaker, Iran must know that it cannot hope to normalize 
relations with the United States, certainly, and with most of the 
world, as long as these phony show trials are going on. These 13 people 
are innocent, even though some of them have been forced to supposedly 
confess. The trials are closed. No one is permitted to observe, not the 
diplomatic community, not the Jewish community, not human rights 
activists, and they are being tried in revolutionary courts which are 
not under the control of the reformist-minded President, Khatami. In 
fact, it is quite apparent that these 13 Iranian Jews are pawns, pawns 
in a power struggle between hard-liners and moderates in Iran. 
Unfortunately, these people are pawns, and no one knows how this trial, 
this staged trial, will turn out.
  We have a resolution in this House, H. Con. Res. 307, sponsored by 
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) and the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Gejdenson), and this House would do well to pass it 
very quickly, condemning these trials and exposing them for what they 
are.
  Today, unfortunately, the World Bank loaned Iran $232 million. Our 
government, the President and Madeleine Albright, the Secretary of 
State, rightfully said this was not the thing to do at the very time 
that these show trials are going on, and shame on the World Bank for 
doing this.
  I think that Iran ought to understand that there is a price to pay 
for what they are doing, and only if the world community expresses 
outrage, only if we in the United States keep the focus on this trial, 
then perhaps, and only perhaps, these 13 innocent Iranian Jews who are 
being used as pawns will be ultimately set free.

                              {time}  2045

  So I think it is very, very important that we in the Congress keep 
the focus on this trial; that we not allow Iran to continue this sham, 
and that they understand again that there is a price to pay for doing 
these kinds of phony trials.
  Jews have lived in Iran for 2,700 years. In 1979, before the so-
called Iranian revolution, there were 80,000 Jews in Iran. Today there 
are anywhere from 25,000 to 30,000. Seventeen Jews have been executed 
since 1979, and the community is very much threatened. They are allowed 
to travel somewhat, but not allowed to travel to Israel.
  So I think it is, again, very appropriate at this time that we 
continue to focus on this trial; that we not rest until these innocent 
people are set free and that the world community collectively let Iran 
know that there is a price to pay and there will be a price to pay if 
these people are harmed.

                          ____________________