[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 91 (Thursday, July 13, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1402-E1403]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TIME FOR A SECULAR DEMOCRACY IN IRAN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. WM. LACY CLAY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 13, 2006

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, on July 1, 2006, thousands of Iranians from 
around the world, including the members of the Iranian American 
Cultural Association of Missouri, gathered in Paris to express their 
interest in a free Iran and their support for the National Council of 
Resistance of Iran.
  At this gathering, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi gave a speech about the need to 
bring freedom and democracy to the people of Iran. I would like to take 
this opportunity to share with my colleagues an excerpt from her 
inspiring address.

       In the name of God, in the name of Iran, in the name of 
     freedom, fellow Iranians, dear friends: With warmest 
     greetings to all of you who represent the freedom, dignity 
     and the resistance of our homeland, Iran. The sound of 
     shackles of the religious dictatorship breaking apart and the 
     song of victory can be heard in your resolve and faith, in 
     the uprisings of our Azeri compatriots, and in the victory of 
     those who persevered after the events of June 17, 2003. I 
     also send my greetings to the distinguished personalities 
     from France and other countries that have honored us by their 
     presence. I thank Madam Edith Cresson, the former Prime 
     Minister of France and the honorable mayors in different 
     cities in the province of Val d'Osie as well as the dignified 
     deputies of various parliaments from around the world.
       Dear Friends: We are standing at a very extraordinary 
     juncture of Iran's history: The turning point for a major 
     birth and a magnificent destiny toward which we are being 
     steered. Today, all the paths to ensure the survival of the 
     velayat-e faqih regime have reached a dead end. Neither the 
     deceitful spin game of reform nor the policy of appeasement 
     bore any fruit. Propelling Ahmadinejad to power submerged the 
     regime in its entirety in a mortal crisis. Today, the sun for 
     the future of our nation is on the horizon. The terrorist 
     label (against the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran) 
     has become a source of shame for the appeasers and the June 
     17 dossier has discredited them further. The waves of victory 
     and freedom rush ahead in the declaration of 5.2 million 
     Iraqis, in the ruling by the Paris Court of Appeals and in 
     the spate of uprisings in Iranian cities. So, with a voice 
     louder than ever, we again say, the only option, the only 
     correct path and the only correct answer to the Iranian 
     problem is the establishment of democracy. We say no to war, 
     no to appeasement, yes to the third option: which is 
     democratic change by the Iranian people and their Resistance. 
     We say that the great nation of Iran itself has the 
     capability and the capacity to change its own destiny to 
     achieve democracy. And it undoubtedly will. Accordingly, I 
     will present the outlines of the Resistance's program for 
     the Iran of tomorrow. This program reflects the Iranian 
     people's historic aspirations.
       1. In the future Iran the natural and inalienable human 
     rights of every Iranian must be respected. The rights to 
     life, freedom, and security of every citizen of the Iranian 
     nation will be considered equal under the law regardless of 
     their gender, race, religion, ethnic makeup, and dialect. We 
     are committed to the ``Universal Declaration of Human 
     Rights''.
       2. In the future Iran all individual freedoms will be 
     recognized. These include freedom of speech, clothing, 
     marriage and divorce, employment, travel, choosing one's 
     residency and citizenship.
       3. The litmus test of the legitimacy of the country's 
     political and legal makeup is the universal suffrage. In the 
     future Iran the right to make key political decisions in 
     society and the people's right to change the government will 
     be respected and various councils will be set up in all 
     spheres of society in order to uphold and guarantee 
     democracy.
       4. We seek a pluralistic republic, in which complete 
     freedom of parties, associations and unions are guaranteed.
       5. In the free Iran of tomorrow we will defend the 
     abolition of the death penalty. This is our response to the 
     ruthless killings and brutality with which the mullahs have 
     ruled clutched on to their reign. Torture will be banned 
     under any circumstances. There will be no room for cruel and 
     degrading punishments under whatever pretext, including under 
     the cloak of religion.
       6. The Iranian Resistance is committed to the separation of 
     church and state. In the Iran of tomorrow the principle of 
     freedom of religion will be respected. The country's laws 
     will not ban any religion. No religion will enjoy privilege 
     over another and no citizen will be subjected to any personal 
     or social privilege or privation in their individual or 
     social rights because of their belief or non-belief in any 
     religion.
       7. We are committed to the Convention on the Elimination of 
     All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. In the Iran of 
     tommorow, men and women will enjoy equal rights in all 
     political, social and economic sectors. Women will have equal 
     participation in the political leadership of the country.
       8. In the Iran of tomorrow all forms of sexual exploitation 
     of women will be prevented. Polygamy will be banned. 
     Physical, sexual and psychological violence against women 
     will be considered a crime.
       9. In the Iran of tomorrow oppression, discrimination and 
     lawlessness concerning children and child labor will be 
     banned.
       10. The judiciary of the future Iran will be founded upon a 
     uniform system of justice. It will be a two-tiered system 
     based on the presumption of innocence, the right to defense, 
     the right to seek justice, the right to be tried in open 
     courts with the presence of the jury. In this system, their 
     will be no discrimination on issuing judgment. The complete 
     independence of the judges and the Bar Association will be 
     guaranteed.
       11. In the Iran of tomorrow the free market will be 
     respected. Economic opportunity will be provided to the 
     people equitably and all restrictions on self employment will 
     be lifted.
       12. We are determined to ensure that in the Iran of 
     tomorrow every member of society will enjoy access to social 
     services, including education, hygiene and athletic 
     opportunities. Universities will be governed by independent 
     councils elected by the faculty and students.
       13. In the Iran of tomorrow the just right to autonomy of 
     the people of Kurdistan will be recognized. We seek the 
     eradication of dual discrimination against all ethnic 
     minorities in Iran in the framework of the country's 
     indivisible territorial integrity.
       14. In the Iran of tomorrow, interference in the internal 
     affairs of other countries will be banned and others will be 
     banned from interfering in our internal affairs. We demand 
     peace, mutual respect in international relations, good 
     neighborliness and the establishment of diplomatic relations 
     with all countries of the world. The Iran of tomorrow will be 
     a non-nuclear country and devoid of weapons of mass 
     destruction.
       Dear compatriots, honorable friends, What I enumerated was 
     the synopsis of the Iranian Resistance's views and program 
     for our nation once it is liberated from the oppression of 
     the mullahs. To realize this program, free elections will be 
     held for a national constituent assembly within six months of 
     the toppling of the ruling religious dictatorship. At the end 
     of the six-month period, the provisional government will step 
     down and the people's elected constituent assembly will begin 
     work to appoint the new government and draft the new 
     constitution. Three years ago, when the French police 
     launched an unprecedented raid against the office of the 
     National Council of Resistance of Iran, freedom was again at 
     stake. From the onset, it was obvious that the raid was the 
     outcome of a deal with the theocracy ruling Iran. In truth, 
     the Resistance of a victimized nation was being suppressed. 
     Fortunately, in the past three years, this Resistance's 
     perseverance overcame the June 17 conspiracy. Two weeks ago, 
     on the anniversary of the June 17, 2003 raid, the Paris Court 
     of Appeals revoked the oppressive and unwarranted 
     restrictions against members and officials of the resistance. 
     This ruling clearly testifies to the innocence of this 
     resistance and the hollow nature of the June 17 dossier and 
     the accusations of cult and terrorism that go with it.
       Dear Friends, Today, there is only one way to thwart this 
     threat. The West must reverse course and respect the will of 
     the Iranian people to establish democracy. Any step in other 
     directions, any delay in this respect will benefit the 
     regime. The Resistance is the solution not only for 
     establishing democracy in Iran but also for peace and 
     security in the entire world. The solution to the nuclear 
     crisis and to thwart the danger of a war is democratic change 
     in Iran. Indeed, by relying on its beloved nation, this 
     Resistance holds the key to the Iranian equation. The mullahs 
     are trying to give the impression that opposition to war 
     means supporting their regime. Thus, any opposition to war is 
     only justified when accompanied by opposition to religious 
     fascism. Opposition to war is effective only when it is 
     accompanied by supporting the Iranian people's Resistance for 
     freedom. On behalf of the Iranian people's Resistance, I want 
     to remind the Western countries to learn of the catastrophic 
     experience of giving concessions to the religious One day, 
     the late Dr. Mossadeq in his trip to the United States told 
     President Harry Truman, I have not come to ask for anything. 
     I have come to ask you to remain neutral in the dispute over 
     oil. Today, we are not asking you for anything, neither 
     money, nor weapons. But we demand that you remain neutral in 
     the struggle the Iranian nation is waging to attain freedom 
     and democracy. We are demanding that you remove the MEK from 
     the terrorist list and recognize the right of the Iranian 
     people to resist dictatorship. The declaration by 5.2 million 
     Iraqis who demanded the eviction of the clerical regime from 
     Iraq and the recognition of the status of the People's 
     Mojahedin Organization of Iran is a brilliant achievement by 
     this front. This declaration is a great victory and 
     breakthrough which presents Iraq and the rest of the world 
     with the correct path to democracy, security and independence 
     of Iraq, by rejecting the Iranian regime's meddling which has 
     targeted Iraq's survival and democracy. The fact that some 
     5.2 million Iraqis above the age of 18 declared that ``the

[[Page E1403]]

     terrorist allegation against the People's Mojahedin 
     Organization of Iran has no legitimacy or credibility and 
     must not be taken as a criterion for dealing with the 
     MEK,'' demonstrates first and foremost that the near 
     unanimous majority of Iranians have rejected this label. 
     Fortunately, Iraqis invited the United Nations, 
     international organizations and the International 
     Committee of Lawyers to study and examine the signed 
     documents of their historic declaration. We urged those 
     organizations and especially the United Nations Security 
     Council to accept the invitation. For this reason, we have 
     said time and again that we will accept free elections 
     under the auspices of the United Nations and based on 
     popular sovereignty and not the velayat-e faqih and will 
     accept a referendum. At the same time, however, we said 
     that a viper would never give birth to a dove. One should 
     not expect anything other than killings and repression 
     from the ruling theocracy. Twenty-seven years of crime and 
     suppression are enough. It is now time for freedom and the 
     people's sovereignty. Our salutes to Ashraf and its great 
     commander Mojgan Parsai, and to MEK's Secretary General 
     and her proud colleagues, my beloved brothers and sisters 
     in Ashraf City, who in the past three years on stepped up 
     their steadfastness as they confronted an assortment of 
     difficulties, bombings, the denial of their water, 
     electricity, medicine and supplies, the massacre of Iraqi 
     workers of Ashraf City and intelligence, terrorist 
     conspiracies and kidnappings. The Iranian people and 
     Iran's brave women and men who are resolved in the 
     struggle for freedom hold the key to our nation's freedom. 
     It is the Iranian people and Resistance who endeavor for 
     change, bring about change and build the future. It is the 
     Iranian people and their Resistance who will overthrow the 
     evil of fundamentalism. Iran will become the land of 
     democracy and human rights. The Iranian nation will 
     triumph and will be free.
       May God bless you all.

                          ____________________