[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 190 (Tuesday, December 15, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13247-S13248]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAN

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I want to take a few moments today to 
comment on recent events in Iran, the continuing protests against that 
nation's ruling regime, the brutal response of that regime to the 
legitimate protests of Iran's people, and one small step the United 
States can and should take to aid the people of Iran in exercising the 
basic human right to protest and hold their own government accountable.
  As my colleagues know well, student protests in Tehran and other 
cities took place on Dec. 7, Student Day, the anniversary of the 1953 
attacks by the shah's security services that left three student 
protesters dead. Just as those students sought to protest against an 
unjust and repressive government, so did today's students. And again, 
Iran's government responded with intimidation, violence and repression.
  Iranian security forces, and paramilitary militias allied with 
government hard-liners, used teargas, batons and beatings to attack 
nonviolent protesters on the campus of Tehran University and at other 
universities. The government's chief prosecutor told the state-
controlled news agency--apparently without irony--``So far we have 
shown restraint,'' and threatened even harsher methods to end the 
protests.
  Sadly, this is a recurring theme in Iran. Outraged by overwhelming 
evidence of fraud designed to keep President Ahmadinejad in power last 
June, students and other Iranians took to the streets. These nonviolent 
protests were met by the regime with escalating levels of brutality. 
According to a recent report from the human rights group Amnesty 
International, government-sponsored violence and repression in Iran 
since the election has reached the highest level in 20 years. Hundreds 
of people have been rounded up and imprisoned, often under appalling 
conditions, without access to legal representation or indeed any 
contact with the outside world. Iranian citizens, according to the 
report, were charged with vague offenses unconnected to any 
recognizable criminal charge under Iranian law.
  More than 100 were paraded before cameras in show trials, with 
visible signs of abuse. The Amnesty International report includes 
evidence that the pace of executions by the Iranian government has 
increased, a clear and chilling message to the regime's critics. And 
citizens released from detention made credible and horrific charges of 
abuse while in custody, including allegations of the widespread use of 
rape.
  This deplorable record is why I and six colleagues introduced a 
resolution last month, approved by this body, expressing the sense of 
the Senate that the government of Iran has routinely violated the human 
rights of its citizens, and calling on the Iranian government to 
fulfill its obligations under international law and its own 
constitution to honor and protect the fundamental rights to which its 
citizens, and all human beings, are entitled. We recognized the need 
for a strong statement of condemnation of the regime's behavior, and of 
solidarity with those Iranians seeking to exercise their right to 
protest. The Iranian government must know that the world is watching.
  Mr. President, there is more the United States can do. I draw my 
colleagues' attention to a notice from the State Department that the 
administration will waive certain provisions of the Iran-Iraq Arms 
Nonproliferation Act of 1992 with respect to the export of personal, 
Internet-based communications tools to Iran. This is an important 
response to the Iranian government's crackdown on its people. The 
regime has sharply curtailed the actions of foreign media 
representatives in Iran, making independent observations of the 
situation there difficult or impossible to report. Much of what we know 
about the regime's repression has come from first-hand accounts by 
Iranian citizens, distributed via Internet tools such as YouTube and 
Twitter. These media outlets have become vital, not only to those of us 
outside Iran seeking information about events within the country, but 
to Iranian citizens seeking to communicate with one another. And they 
are especially important given the near total absence of independent 
news media in Iran. The regime has undertaken, even before the June 
election, a systematic effort to eliminate newspapers or broadcasters 
that report critically on the government's activities. And Iran's 
Revolutionary Guards, closely connected to government hardliners, have 
sought to add media and communication companies to its growing 
commercial empire,

[[Page S13248]]

tightening the regime's grip on communications within Iran.
  The State Department recently notified Congress that it intends to 
waive provisions of our sanctions against Iran to allow Iranians to 
download free, mass-market software used in activities such as e-mail, 
instant messaging and social networking. According to the State 
Department, ``U.S. sanctions on Iran are having an unintended chilling 
effect on the ability of companies such as Microsoft and Google to 
continue providing essential communications tools to ordinary Iranians. 
This waiver will authorize free downloads to Iran of certain nominally 
dual-use software (because of low-level encryption elements) classified 
as mass market software by the Department of Commerce and essential for 
the exchange of personal communications and/or sharing of information 
over the internet.''
  Granting of this waiver is an important step in ensuring that our 
actions here do not impede the attempts by Iranians to exercise their 
human rights. I applaud the administration for its decision, and hope 
the people of Iran will view this as one more sign of the solidarity 
between them and the people of the United States. I ask that a letter 
to me from Richard R. Verma, assistant secretary of state for 
legislative affairs, informing the Senate Armed Services Committee of 
this waiver decision, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                     U.S. Department of State,

                                Washington, DC, December 15, 2009.
     Hon. Carl Levin,
     Chairman, Committee on Armed Services,
     U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Mr. Chairman: The enclosed report is being provided 
     consistent with Section 1606 of the Iran-Iraq Arms Non-
     Proliferation Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-484) (the ``Act''). The 
     Under Secretary of State has determined that the issuance of 
     a license for a proposed export to Iran is ``essential to the 
     national interest of the United States.'' The attached report 
     provides a specific and detailed rationale for this 
     determination. The waiver authority under Section 1606 of the 
     Act will not be exercised until at least 15 days after this 
     report is transmitted to the Congress.
       The Department of State is recommending that the Department 
     of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issue a 
     general license that would authorize downloads of free mass 
     market software by companies such as Microsoft and Google to 
     Iran necessary for the exchange of personal communications 
     and/or sharing of information over the Internet such as 
     instant messaging, chat and email, and social networking. 
     This software is necessary to foster and support the free 
     flow of information to individual Iranian citizens and is 
     therefore essential to the national interest of the United 
     States.
       Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of 
     further assistance.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Richard R. Verma,
                         Assistant Secretary, Legislative Affairs.

     Report under the Iran-Iraq Arms Non-Proliferation Act of 1992

       This report is being provided consistent with Section 1606 
     of the Iran-Iraq Arms Non-Proliferation Act of 1992 (P.L. 
     102-484) (the ``Act''). Section 1603 of the Act applies with 
     respect to Iran certain sanctions specified in paragraphs (1) 
     through (4) of Section 586G(a) of the Iraq Sanctions Act of 
     1990 (P.L. 101-513) (the ``ISA''). This includes the 
     requirement under Section 586G(a)(3) of the ISA to use the 
     authorities of Section 6 of the Export Administration Act of 
     1979 (``EAA'') to prohibit the export to Iran of any goods or 
     technology listed pursuant to Section 6 of the EAA or Section 
     5(c)(1) of the EAA on the control list provided for in 
     Section 4(b) of the EAA, unless such export is pursuant to a 
     contract in effect before the effective date of the Act 
     (October 23, 1992).
       Pursuant to Section 1606 of the Act, the President may 
     waive the requirement to impose a sanction described in 
     Section 1603 of the Act by determining that it is essential 
     to the national interest of the United States to exercise 
     such waiver authority. On September 27, 1994, the President 
     delegated his authorities under the Act to the Secretary of 
     State. Subsequently, on January 12, 2007, the Secretary of 
     State delegated these authorities to the Under Secretary for 
     Arms Control and International Security (DA 293-1).
       Personal Internet-based communications are a vital tool for 
     change in Iran as recent events have demonstrated. However, 
     U.S. sanctions on Iran are having an unintended chilling 
     effect on the ability of companies such as Microsoft and 
     Google to continue providing essential communications tools 
     to ordinary Iranians. This waiver will authorize free 
     downloads to Iran of certain nominally dual-use software 
     (because of low-level encryption elements) classified as mass 
     market software by the Department of Commerce and essential 
     for the exchange of personal communications and/or sharing of 
     information over the Internet. The waiver will enable 
     Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control to issue a 
     broader general license covering these downloads and related 
     services. This general license will be comparable to 
     exemptions which already exist for the exchange of direct 
     mail and phone calls. The new general license will 
     specifically exclude from its authorization the direct or 
     indirect exportation of services or software with knowledge 
     or reason to know that such services or software are intended 
     for the Government of Iran.
       The Under Secretary has determined that it is essential to 
     the national interest of the United States to exercise the 
     authority of Section 1606 of the Act not to impose the 
     sanction described in Section 1603 of the Act and Section 
     586(a)(3) of the ISA and to permit the issuance of a general 
     license for this kind of software.

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