[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 99 (Friday, July 16, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S8278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SANTORUM (for himself and Mr. Cornyn):
  S. 2681. A bill to establish a program to support a transition to 
democracy in Iran; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise today to offer remarks about a 
bill that Senator Cornyn of Texas and I have introduced, the Iran 
Freedom and Support Act of 2004. This legislation seeks to promote the 
transformation of the Islamic Republic of Iran to a democratic form of 
government.
  Our bill expresses the sense of the Congress that it should be the 
policy of the United States to support regime change in Iran and that 
the U.S. government should promote the transition to a new democratic 
Iranian government. In addition, so as to help make this transition 
possible, our bill authorizes the President to provide up to $10 
million in assistance to qualified foreign and domestic pro-democracy 
groups opposed to the non-democratic government of Iran. To maximize 
the efforts of these pro-democracy groups, our bill authorizes 
activities such as aid to pro-democracy radio and television 
broadcasting organizations as a way of directly reaching the people of 
Iran.
  For many years now, the people of Iran have dramatically demonstrated 
their desire for greater social and political freedoms. Literally 
millions of Iranians have massed in the streets of the major cities, 
demanding the right to choose their form of government and their own 
leaders. Even public opinion polls conducted by the dictatorial regime 
show upwards of seventy percent of Iranians want democratic change. But 
Iran remains in the grip of a brutal tyranny that has silenced 
dissident voices by arbitrary arrests, closure of newspapers and 
magazines, destruction of satellite television dishes, widespread 
torture and the second-highest execution rate in the world.
  Our bill seeks to help the Iranian people achieve freedom by 
supporting pro-democracy groups and enabling freedom-supporting Farsi 
language radio and television broadcasting stations to broadcast 
information directly to Iran.
  The current leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran are not only 
brutal tyrants. Their support of anti-American elements and terrorist 
organizations poses a direct threat to the interests of the United 
States and our allies. For two decades, the Department of State has 
identified Iran as THE leading sponsor of international terrorism. Iran 
has been linked to the deaths of United States military personnel in 
Beirut, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. Iran has long provided financial and 
operational assistance to Hezbollah and is presently the leading state 
sponsor of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who conduct lethal attacks against 
the citizens of Israel.
  Finally, Iran may be engaged in a crash program to develop nuclear 
weapons. In October 2003, after strong and concerted pressure by the 
international community, Iran agreed to sign an agreement to suspend 
uranium enrichment and open its nuclear facilities to more intrusive 
international inspections. Despite this pledge, Iran has repeatedly 
withheld key information and documentation about its clandestine 
nuclear efforts. In February 2004, blueprints containing instructions 
for building a type of gas centrifuge known as the P2, a super-
efficient machine used in producing enriched uranium, were discovered. 
The Iranians had not revealed these plans.
  Additionally, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has found 
multiple traces of highly-enriched uranium, with no civilian use, at a 
Kalaye Electric Company workshop in Tehran and at the Natanz pilot fuel 
enrichment plant 150 miles south of the Iranian capital. To the best of 
my knowledge, Iran has not offered a satisfactory explanation as to the 
IAEA's discovery of this materiel.

  Reports are that Iran has sought magnets for thousands of such gas 
centrifuges. Also, Iran has not been able to explain experiments with 
polonium-210, a radioactive element primarily useful as a bomb trigger. 
Finally, Iranian government officials have barred access to selected 
sites for a period of time while--as recent satellite imagery shows--
they almost certainly sanitized them of incriminating evidence.
  I believe it urgent for the United States to support regime change in 
Iran. Without regime change, Iran will soon constitute the world's 
leading supporter of terrorism armed with nuclear weapons. That would 
be a great catastrophe for the Middle East, and for the United States 
and our democratic allies everywhere.
  The bill I have introduced with Senator Cornyn will facilitate this 
change by reaching out to the people of Iran and supporting what 
President Bush and Secretary of State Powell have called the legitimate 
desire of the Iranian people to be free.
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