[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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