[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 24, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E84]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           PEACEFUL REGIME CHANGE IN IRAN IS A MUST FOR PEACE

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 24, 2017

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, in a little over two weeks, we will 
mark the 38th anniversary of the Iranian revolution. The 1979 
revolution in Iran was supposed to herald a better future for the 
Iranian people. Instead, the revolution ushered in an age of 
repression, tyranny, and persecution.
  For 38 years, the Iranian people have been living under one of the 
most brutal regimes in the world. This regime is a maniacal theocracy 
that wields an iron grip over its people.
  The regime has been described by Human Rights Watch consistently as a 
``regional leader in executions.'' In 2015 alone, Iran executed 
approximately one thousand people with virtually no due process.
  Iranian authorities announced in August 2016 that they had executed 
20 prisoners found guilty of ``enmity against God'' which carries the 
death penalty.
  Other crimes that can get you killed in Iran are ``attempts against 
the security of the state,'' ``outrage against high ranking 
officials,'' and insulting the Supreme Leader.
  The Iranian regime routinely jails journalists, human rights 
defenders, and anyone who speaks out against the deplorable practices 
of the regime.
  Once in jail, prisoners can expect to be tortured and abused. The 
State Department's Human Rights report claims that Iranian prisoners 
are commonly subjected to threats of rape, sexual humiliation, threats 
of execution, electroshocks, and severe beatings.
  This is a sick tyrannical government that imposes its will on its 
people through brute force. The Iranian people have suffered immensely 
since 1979.
  Unfortunately, since its founding the regime has also sought to 
``export the revolution,'' code for wreaking havoc abroad.
  Iran's awful human rights record rivals only its long record of 
sponsoring terrorism throughout the world.
  Iran remains the world's number one state sponsor of terrorism. In 
fact, Iran has only increased its support to terrorist groups in the 
past two years.
  The regime uses its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to implement 
its foreign policy goals and create instability throughout the Middle 
East. The IRGC cultivates and supports terrorists abroad in service of 
Tehran.
  It provides financial assistance, weapons, and training to groups 
like Hezbollah in Lebanon, Palestinian terrorists Hamas and Islamic 
Jihad, Shia militants in Bahrain, and terrorist militias in Iraq.
  Its support for these groups has helped Tehran's ally in Syria Bashar 
al Assad butcher over half a million of his own citizens.
  But it doesn't just end there. Iran has a tacit agreement with al-
Qaeda, allowing the terrorist group to move money, arms, and fighters 
through Iran since at least 2009.
  On February 11 the clerics in Tehran will celebrate 38 years of 
oppressing the people of Iran.
  On that day we should remember the many victims of this evil regime, 
both in Iran and across the world.
  The Iranian people deserve better.
  They deserve a democratic government whose priority is not to keep 
themselves in power no matter the cost but to improve the lives of the 
Iranian people.
  And that's just the way it is.

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