[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 23, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S703-S704]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. McCAIN (for himself, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Durbin, 
        Mr. Bayh, Mr. Graham, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Thune, Mr. Casey, 
        Mr. Cornyn, Ms. Collins, Mr. Kaufman, Mr. Vitter, Mr. 
        Brownback, and Mr. Levin):
  S. 3022. A bill to impose sanctions on persons who are complicit in 
human rights abuses committed against citizens of Iran or their family 
members after the June 12, 2009, elections in Iran, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, February 11, 2010, was the 31st 
anniversary of the Islamic Republic of Iran. For most Iranians, the 
Islamic Republic is the only government they have ever known, and 
unfortunately, it is a record that many would rather forget--

[[Page S704]]

31 years of economic potential lost and the resources of a great and 
proud nation stolen by a corrupt ruling elite; 31 years of a regime 
that puts its own selfish interests and those of foreign terrorist 
groups ahead of the needs of the Iranian people; 31 years of justice 
denied, freedom curtailed, and dignity trampled.
  In recent months, the world has watched in awe as hundreds of 
thousands of Iranians have said ``enough,'' and demanded better for 
themselves. They have taken to the streets and the Internet, risking 
the violent reprisal of a regime without conscience, in order to insist 
on their universal human rights. In television news clips and YouTube 
videos, in Twitter updates and countless online exchanges, the world 
has seen the naked oppression of the Iranian regime and its masked 
agents.
  We have watched as peaceful Iranian demonstrators for human rights 
have been beaten, and shot--even murdered--in the streets of cities 
across Iran.
  We have watched as Iranian men and women--many not more than young 
boys and girls--have been rounded up in their homes and dormitories, 
and hauled away unlawfully to face torture and other abuses in the 
darkest corners of the country, where the eyes of the international 
community struggle to see.
  Just a few months ago, we watched as a young woman named Neda was 
shot in broad daylight by agents of the Iranian government. And as that 
young woman bled to death in the street, it became clear to me and many 
others that this was the beginning of the end of the Islamic Republic. 
After 31 years, that day cannot come soon enough, but how and when it 
does is up to the Iranian people.
  This struggle continues in Iran. On February 11, many Iranians took 
to the streets again to demonstrate peacefully for freedom and justice. 
Again, many were beaten. Again, many were detained unlawfully. Again, 
many were no doubt tortured--and worse. The world has watched these 
abuses long enough. Now the world must act. It is long past time for 
democratic, law-abiding nations to stand up together, to speak with one 
voice, and to show these courageous Iranian human rights advocates that 
the free world is on their side. The recent statement between the U.S. 
and the European Union supporting human rights in Iran is a welcome 
development, and I hope to see more and more such joint actions.
  It is also long past time for the U.N. Security Council to impose the 
crippling sanctions on the Iranian government that have been promised 
for so long. As that negotiation drags on, individual countries should 
not refrain from taking their own individual actions to impose pressure 
on the rulers of Iran for failing to abide by their own international 
agreements, both security agreements and human rights agreements. In 
that vein, I was pleased to see the White House recently announce a new 
set of sanctions against four Iranian entities and one individual 
active in Iran's nuclear program. I hope there is a lot more where that 
came from.
  I do not wish, however, to confine our sanctions effort only to those 
persons in Iran who threaten our security and that of our allies, 
either through their support for terrorism or Iran's weapons programs. 
I also want to bring the full force of America's economic power to bear 
against those in Iran who threaten that country's peaceful human rights 
and democracy activists. That is why, just a few weeks ago, I sought to 
introduce an amendment to the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, 
Accountability, and Divestment Act, which would impose targeted 
sanctions on persons in Iran who violate the human rights of their 
fellow citizens.
  Building on that earlier effort, today I am introducing, together 
with my good friend and colleague Senator Joe Lieberman, the Iran Human 
Rights Sanctions Act, which is co-sponsored by a broad bipartisan group 
of U.S. Senators.
  This bill has two parts.
  First, it would require the President to compile a public list of 
individuals in Iran who, starting with the presidential election last 
June, are complicit in human rights violations against Iranian citizens 
and their families, no matter where in the world those abuses occur. I 
want to stress: This would be a public list, posted for all the world 
to see on the websites of the State and Treasury Departments. We will 
shine a light on the names of Iran's human rights abusers, and we will 
make them famous for their crimes.
  Second, this bill would then ban these Iranian individuals from 
receiving U.S. visas, and impose on them the full battery of sanctions 
under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. That means, 
freezing any assets and blocking any property they hold under U.S. 
jurisdiction, and ending all their financial transactions with U.S. 
banks and other entities. If passed into law, this would be the first 
time the U.S. Government has ever imposed punitive measures against 
persons in Iran because of their human rights violations.
  In short, under this bill, Iranian human rights abusers would be 
completely cut off from the global reach of the U.S. financial system, 
and that would send a powerful signal to every country, company, and 
bank in the world that they should think twice about doing business 
with the oppressors of the Iranian people.
  Over the past year, the President has made every effort to extend a 
hand to the Iranian government--to seek to overcome 31 years of painful 
history, and to search for common ground on matters of common interest. 
Unfortunately, the President's generosity has been met defiantly, again 
and again, with the clenched fist of Iran's rulers--a fist that is 
increasingly stained with the blood of the Iranian people. It should 
now be clear that the Iranian regime has no desire to meet its 
international responsibilities and every desire to use all the tools of 
violence and repression at its disposal to crush the peaceful 
aspirations of Iran's citizens.
  Faced with this disturbing reality, America must lead an 
international effort to support the human rights of the Iranian people, 
and to put that effort at the center of our policy toward Iran. We must 
encourage our international partners, especially our European allies, 
to do the same, and to impose their own targeted sanctions on Iran's 
human rights abusers. This is not about picking winners in an internal 
Iranian matter. It is about standing up for the universal values we 
hold dear, and championing the cause of all who seek to secure those 
values for themselves.
  The Iran Human Rights Sanctions Act is an important start of this 
effort, and I encourage my colleagues in Congress to move quickly and 
pass it into law.
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