[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 17, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E52]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN SUPPORT OF H. RES. 676

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. LOIS FRANKEL

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 17, 2018

  Ms. FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. 
Res. 676, a bipartisan resolution that expresses support for the 
citizens of Iran.
  The Iranian people should be allowed to express legitimate grievances 
without violent retribution from their own government. As Iranians 
chant ``think of us,'' their government has responded with brute force. 
Twenty-one people have been killed and hundreds more await an uncertain 
fate after being arrested. Three young Iranians have died in jail, 
including Sina Ghanbari, a student who was being held in Iran's 
notorious Evin prison.
  The regime's violent suppression of dissent should come as no 
surprise, given its long history of denying its own citizens 
fundamental human rights. Torture is widespread, members of religious 
minorities like the Baha'i face constant persecution, and the number of 
executions in Iran has skyrocketed under President Rouhani.
  These protests also highlight how the Iranian regime has harmed its 
own people by spending billions of dollars to foment aggression and 
destabilize the region. While Iran suffers from a youth unemployment 
rate of nearly 40 percent and economic hardship, the regime continues 
to bankroll the Assad regime in Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the 
Houthis in Yemen. The Iranian people are outraged, and their leaders 
should take notice when crowds are heard chanting, ``I give my life for 
Iran, not Gaza, [and] not Lebanon.''
  Adoption of this resolution will send a clear message to the brave 
voices in Iran crying out for a better future that the United States 
stands with them.

                          ____________________