[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 86 (Thursday, May 24, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6597-S6598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CALLING UPON THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN TO 
                IMMEDIATELY RELEASE DR. HALEH ESFANDIARI

  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to proceed to 
the immediate consideration of S. Res. 214 submitted earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 214) calling upon the Government of 
     the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately release Dr. Haleh 
     Esfandiari.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, this resolution brings to the Senate's 
attention the ongoing plight of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari. Dr. Esfandiari is 
the director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson 
International Center for Scholars here in Washington, DC. She holds 
dual citizenship with the United States and Iran and visits her ailing 
93-year-old mother twice a year in Iran.
  During her return to the United States on her last visit, Dr. 
Esfandiari's vehicle was robbed by three knife-wielding men. She lost 
her luggage and her travel documents. Later, when she requested the 
replacement documents, agents of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence began 
to question her for hours over the course of several days. The Ministry 
of Intelligence asked Dr. Esfandiari questions about her work and her 
work at the Woodrow Wilson International Center. The Woodrow Wilson 
International Center supplied exhaustive material about her education 
and information about her mission.
  Dr. Esfandiari was essentially kept under house arrest for 10 weeks. 
On May 7 she was informed she must return to the Intelligence Ministry 
on May 8. Upon honoring the summons, Dr. Esfandiari was immediately 
taken into custody and jailed. She has been denied contact with her 
family, her attorneys, and the outside world. Earlier this week, news 
reports stated that Dr. Esfandiari is suspected of espionage and 
supporting the ``soft revolution'' against the regime in Iran.
  Dr. Esfandiari is well known and well respected as a Middle East 
scholar. She has dedicated her professional career to bringing people 
together from the West to gain greater understanding of the Middle East 
and to gain common ground.
  Increasingly, Iran has begun to stifle debate among different people 
and international exchanges.
  The Department of State has called upon the Iranians to release Dr. 
Esfandiari. I am joined in this resolution by Senators Mikulski, Biden, 
Lieberman, Smith, Clinton, and Dodd, which encourages the State 
Department to keep up the pressure on the Iranians to do the right 
thing and release Dr. Esfandiari.
  I also wish to recognize the solid effort of the Woodrow Wilson 
International Center and its staff, led by our former colleague in the 
House of Representatives, Lee Hamilton, for its steadfast support of 
Dr. Esfandiari.
  Finally, I wish to express my support for Dr. Esfandiari's family 
during this trying time. She has a strong family and dozens of caring 
friends who refuse to give up her plight and refuse to let the Iranians 
suppress a beacon of peace and understanding.
  This is outrageous. The Iranians need to do the right thing and allow 
her to return home here in the United States.

[[Page S6598]]

I can tell my colleagues that this body needs to stand in strong 
opposition to what the Iranians are doing, urging them to release this 
U.S. citizen so she can return here to her home.
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be 
agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid 
upon the table, and that any statements relating there to be printed in 
the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 214) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 214

       Whereas Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Ph.D., holds dual citizenship 
     in the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran;
       Whereas Dr. Esfandiari taught Persian language and 
     literature for many years at Princeton University, where she 
     inspired untold numbers of students to study the rich Persian 
     language and culture;
       Whereas Dr. Esfandiari is a resident of the State of 
     Maryland and the Director of the Middle East Program at the 
     Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in 
     Washington, D.C. (referred to in this preamble as the 
     ``Wilson Center'');
       Whereas, for the past decade, Dr. Esfandiari has traveled 
     to Iran twice a year to visit her ailing 93-year-old mother;
       Whereas, in December 2006, on her return to the airport 
     during her last visit to Iran, Dr. Esfandiari was robbed by 3 
     masked, knife-wielding men, who stole her travel documents, 
     luggage, and other effects;
       Whereas, when Dr. Esfandiari attempted to obtain 
     replacement travel documents in Iran, she was invited to an 
     interview by a representative of the Ministry of Intelligence 
     of Iran;
       Whereas Dr. Esfandiari was interrogated by the Ministry of 
     Intelligence for hours on many days;
       Whereas the questioning of the Ministry of Intelligence 
     focused on the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center;
       Whereas Dr. Esfandiari answered all questions to the best 
     of her ability, and the Wilson Center also provided extensive 
     information to the Ministry in a good faith effort to aid Dr. 
     Esfandiari;
       Whereas the harassment of Dr. Esfandiari increased, with 
     her being awakened while napping to find 3 strange men 
     standing at her bedroom door, one wielding a video camera, 
     and later being pressured to make false confessions against 
     herself and to falsely implicate the Wilson Center in 
     activities in which it had no part;
       Whereas Lee Hamilton, former United States Representative 
     and president of the Wilson Center, has written to the 
     President of Iran to call his attention to Dr. Esfandiari's 
     dire situation;
       Whereas Mr. Hamilton repeated that the Wilson Center's 
     mission is to provide forums to exchange views and opinions 
     and not to take positions on issues, nor try to influence 
     specific outcomes;
       Whereas the lengthy interrogations of Dr. Esfandiari by the 
     Ministry of Intelligence of Iran stopped on February 14, 
     2007, but she heard nothing for 10 weeks and was denied her 
     passport;
       Whereas, on May 8, 2007, Dr. Esfandiari honored a summons 
     to appear at the Ministry of Intelligence, whereby she was 
     taken immediately to Evin prison, where she is currently 
     being held; and
       Whereas the Ministry of Intelligence has implicated Dr. 
     Esfandiari and the Wilson Center in advancing the alleged aim 
     of the United States Government of supporting a ``soft 
     revolution'' in Iran: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That--
       (1) the Senate calls upon the Government of the Islamic 
     Republic of Iran to immediately release Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, 
     replace her lost travel documents, and cease its harassment 
     tactics; and
       (2) it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (A) the United States Government, through all appropriate 
     diplomatic means and channels, should encourage the 
     Government of Iran to release Dr. Esfandiari and offer her an 
     apology; and
       (B) the United States should coordinate its response with 
     its allies throughout the Middle East, other governments, and 
     all appropriate international organizations.

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