[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 138 (Tuesday, December 7, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




UNDERSTANDING ISLAM AND DEFENDING FREEDOM--LIFT THE DE FACTO GAG ORDER 
               ON NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE SHIRIN EBADI

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 7, 2004

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, it was religious freedom that brought the 
Pilgrims to America's shores. In our beloved Constitution and Bill of 
Rights, we affirm our steadfast commitment to freedom of expression and 
freedom of the press as pillars of our democracy. Consequently, it 
pains and embarrasses me, as an American that the executive branch of 
our government continues to betray our democratic values and preclude 
Ms. Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and other 
distinguished Muslims from publishing their views for all Americans to 
read.
  Ms. Shirin Ebadi is the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to 
receive the Nobel Peace Prize. She is a distinguished lawyer, scholar, 
and teacher. President Bush has praised her tireless work as a champion 
of democracy and human rights. She represents Reformed Islam, and 
argues for an interpretation of Islamic law which promotes 
international respect for universal human rights. She is devoted to 
religious freedom, even to the extent of risking her own life, for 
example, to defend the rights of other faiths inside Iran. In short, 
she personifies precisely the type of Islamic voice of faith and 
scholarship with whom our nation should be in dialogue.
  Why then is our government, through self-defeating U.S. Treasury 
Department Regulations, imposing a gag order on Ms. Ebadi? Why are 
Americans who attempt to help Ms. Ebadi publish her writings now being 
threatened with severe fines and lengthy prison sentences?
  The current over-reaching Treasury Department regulations are 
demonstrably short-sighted, counterproductive, and unrepresentative of 
American ideals. That is why I have written to President Bush urging 
him to reverse to reverse this policy and demonstrate anew America's 
commitment to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the free 
flow of ideas. I ask unanimous consent that my self-explanatory letter 
be reprinted in its entirety at the conclusion of my statement. The 
intent of the regulations, I presume, is to prevent giving beneficial 
trade revenue to governments that support terrorism, but preventing the 
publication of ideas is a clumsy, foolish way to try to protect 
Americans.
  Ms. Ebadi's views are the antithesis of those of Osama bin Laden. She 
is in the same tradition as Solzhenitzen, Sakharov, Sharansky, Walesa, 
and Havel--all of whom risked their lives to condemn Soviet repression, 
thus helping give hope to their oppressed countrymen and women and end 
the Cold War. America should extend Ms. Ebadi and others like her the 
same support. That would be in keeping with the democratic values and 
ideals of the American people that have been championed by Democratic 
and Republican Presidents alike since from the founding of our republic 
until recent years.
  Instead, unbeknownst to many Americans, the Bush Administration 
continues to enforce unreasonable regulations that silence Ms. Ebadi's 
voice in America just as effectively as if the Iranian mullahs 
imprisoned and silenced her, as they have on numerous occasions in the 
past.


                                Congress of the United States,

                                                November 24, 2004.
     Hon. George W. Bush,
     President of the United States, The White House, Washington, 
         DC.
       Dear Mr. President: I am writing to urge you to take 
     immediate corrective action to defend America's commitment to 
     freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the free flow of 
     ideas. Specifically, I ask you to overturn existing trade-
     related regulations of the U.S. Treasury Department and 
     substitute new regulations that will allow Ms. Shirin Ebadi 
     from Iran to be heard and published as widely as possible in 
     the U.S. and abroad. More generally, the regulations should 
     be changed to allow public speech and communications around 
     the world.
       Ms. Ebadi, a distinguished Muslim jurist, lawyer, scholar, 
     and teacher, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. You 
     have praised her tireless work as a champion of democracy and 
     human rights. She represents Reformed Islam, and argues for 
     an interpretation of Islamic law which promotes international 
     respect for universal human rights. She is devoted to 
     religious freedom, even to the extent of risking her own 
     life, for example, to defend the rights of the Ba'hai 
     community in Iran. In short, she personifies precisely the 
     type of Islamic voice of faith and scholarship with whom our 
     nation should be in dialogue.
       Yet, Ms. Ebadi is now prohibited by U.S. Treasury 
     Department regulations from writing and working with American 
     editors to publish her memoirs in the U.S. These regulations 
     are counterproductive for multiple reasons:
       They silence Islamic proponents of freedom, democratic 
     reform, tolerance, and universal human rights.
       They prohibit Americans from contracting or collaborating 
     with Ms. Ebadi and authors from other restricted countries to 
     create or revise new books for Americans to read, or pay them 
     in advance.
       They prohibit American editors, publishers, and agents from 
     working professionally on new or existing books with Ms. 
     Ebadi and other distinguished authors in restricted 
     countries.
       Under threat of severe fines and lengthy prison sentences, 
     they prohibit American publishers, editors, and agents from 
     marketing or promoting Ms. Ebadi's writing and those of other 
     pro-democracy authors from restricted countries in the 
     Islamic world and elsewhere.
       The practical consequence of these regulations is that 
     American publishers simply cannot do business with Ms. Ebadi 
     and other authors like her and cannot publish their books. 
     Furthermore, Americans who want to receive more information 
     and learn more about society and culture in Iran, Sudan, and 
     Cuba are limited now to reading what has already been written 
     in such restricted countries. These regulations of the U.S. 
     Government silence Ms. Ebadi's voice in America just as 
     effectively as if the Iranian mullahs imprisoned and silenced 
     her, as they have on numerous occasions in the past.
       This policy and the underlying Treasury Department 
     regulations are demonstrably shortsighted, counterproductive, 
     and unrepresentative of American ideals. They urgently need 
     to be replaced by less restrictive and proscriptive 
     regulations that are reflective of American values and 
     democratic traditions and that are consistent with the spirit 
     and letter of the laws enacted by Congress in 1988 and 
     further clarified in 1992 to ensure the free flow of 
     information and ideas in international trade. The revised 
     regulations clearly should enable Americans to contract, pay 
     in advance, and work freely with Ms. Ebadi on revisions of 
     her existing work and the creation of additional writings and 
     to market and promote her writings without constraints.
       Mr. President, you have the authority and power to rectify 
     this betrayal of America's commitment to freedom of speech, 
     press and religion. It is also noteworthy that the bipartisan 
     9/11 Commission has warned that if the U.S. does not act 
     aggressively to define itself in the Islamic world (including 
     the encouragement of more open societies), the Islamic 
     extremists will gladly do the job for us. Accordingly, the 9/
     11 Commissioners recommend, in relation to the war on 
     terrorism, that the U.S. Government use non-military means in 
     addition to force to define anew what we stand for, and to 
     lead by example in promoting freedom, democracy, and respect 
     for universal human rights.
       I can think of no clearer or easier example for America to 
     set than for you to take whatever action is necessary, as a 
     matter of urgency, to enable Ms. Ebadi to publish her 
     writings in America.
           Sincerely yours,
                                                        Rush Holt,
     Member of Congress.

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