[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 148 (Wednesday, October 5, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1776-E1777]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                PEOPLE'S MOJAHEDIN ORGANIZATION OF IRAN

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JUDY CHU

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 5, 2011

  Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, last July, the DC U.S. Court of Appeals found 
that People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, PMOI/MEK, was not awarded 
due process when their petition to be removed as a terrorist 
organization was denied by the State Department. The Court ordered the 
State Department in conjunction with the Attorney General to review the 
decision and make a decision.
  But I stand here today, over 500 days after the Court made this 
decision, and the State Department still has not given a response. 
Every day of delay means another day where peaceful MEK democratic 
leaders and activists are at risk.

[[Page E1777]]

  Nearly 100 of my colleagues have joined together by cosponsoring H. 
Res. 60 to ask the State Department to heed a federal court order and 
remove Iran's largest opposition group called the People's Mojahedin 
Organization of Iran, PMOI/MEK, from the U.S. list of Foreign Terrorist 
Organizations, FTO.
  Because the U.S. needs to use its influence to protect Iranian 
dissidents fighting for democracy, Iran is using the U.S. terrorist 
designation to attack MEK leaders opposed to their rule. As long as the 
MEK is listed as a foreign terrorist organization, thousands of its 
members living in Camp Ashraf, Iraq are subject to further brutality by 
the Iraqi government. The longer we wait to remove the MEK from this 
list, the more we put Ashraf residents and fighters for democracy at 
risk.

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