[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 14, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H2043-H2044]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1915
            SUPPORTING A FREE, DEMOCRATIC, AND SECULAR IRAN

  (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. 
McClintock of California was recognized for 30 minutes.)


                             General Leave

  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order 
hour.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this week, we passed a major milestone when a majority 
of the entire House of Representatives signed on as cosponsors of H. 
Res. 166, supporting a democratic, secular, and nonnuclear Republic of 
Iran.
  This truly bipartisan and broad-based House majority of 224, 
consisting of 139 Republicans and 85 Democrats, endorses the general 
principles propounded by Iranian democracy groups, most notably the 10-
point plan proposed by the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
  It calls for the universal right to vote; free elections; a market 
economy; separation of religion and state; gender, religious, and 
ethnic equality; foreign policy based on peaceful coexistence; peace in 
the Middle East; and a nonnuclear Republic of Iran. It also condemns 
the Iranian regime's terrorism, regional proxy war, and internal 
oppression.
  Over 4,000 parliamentarians worldwide, the majority of 33 national 
legislative assemblies, over 130 world leaders, and 80 Nobel laureates 
have endorsed these principles. I am gratified that a majority of the 
entire House has stepped forward to support this resolution.
  There are several Iranian groups fighting the Iranian dictatorship, 
and it will ultimately be up to the people of Iran to chart their own 
future, as the 10-point plan proposes.
  One cause should unite us all, and that is the collapse of the 
current regime. To this end, we have organized the Iran Human Rights 
and Democracy Caucus within the House of Representatives. This is a 
truly bipartisan caucus. Like the various liberation groups of Iran, we 
Republicans and Democrats differ and quarrel about many things, but we 
are solidly united in the support of the people of Iran and their 
struggle for their own liberation from the tyranny of the mullahs.
  The Iranian regime has made clear that it intends to acquire nuclear 
weapons and, once acquired, to use them. President Trump has made clear 
that this cannot be allowed to happen. I, for one, appreciate the 
efforts of this

[[Page H2044]]

administration to stop that from happening without bloodshed. The 
Iranian regime has proven itself to be utterly untrustworthy to abide 
by any agreement it makes. That makes any negotiation with this regime 
highly problematic.
  There is only one solution that promises to resolve this danger 
without the risk of a terrible war that could claim many thousands of 
innocent lives, and that is the collapse of the regime from within. 
Opposition to the oppression of the mullahs has been simmering in Iran 
for many years. It is time to provide material support to help these 
groups liberate their country.
  Past administrations sent cargo pallets of cash on cargo planes to 
these bloodthirsty mullahs in hopes of currying their favor and 
cooperation. However good the intentions, the result was to help fund 
the oppression of the Iranian people and the export of terrorism 
throughout the world.
  I believe the time has now come to provide the same assistance, not 
to the oppressors of Iran, but to the people of Iran and the resistance 
groups actively seeking their overthrow.
  The overthrow of this regime from within would be the cheapest, 
surest, and most peaceful way to remove it as a threat to the freedom 
of the Iranian people, the stability of the region, and the peace of 
the world. That is what the Iran Human Rights and Democracy Caucus was 
organized to promote and what H. Res. 166 pledges to accomplish.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Fine).
  Mr. FINE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. 
McClintock) for asking me here to talk about this important subject.
  Mr. Speaker, I came to speak because the cause of Iran is not just a 
cause that we should care about for the Iranian people, though we 
should. As Americans, we are a people whose country was founded because 
a group of people were unhappy by the tyranny we faced. There is no 
question they face it over there, as well.
  The cause of Iran is one that we should care about because it is in 
the best interest of the United States to care about it. We live in a 
world that, unfortunately, is on fire, whether it is in China, whether 
we see it in Russia, or certainly in Iran.
  Iran has chosen to not only take their horrific, genocidal, lunatic 
policies to kill their own people, to hurt women, and to hurt people 
who won't abide by their radical Islamic faiths, but they have done it 
to other people around the world. They are the leading sponsor of 
terrorism around the world.
  We saw this most dramatically just a little over 18 months ago when, 
on October 7, 2023, 1,200 people, most of which were Jews, but not all, 
people from dozens of countries, including Americans, were attacked and 
killed.
  We focus on Hamas, but Hamas only exists because Iran funds and 
supports it. Just as we saw President Trump free the last American 
citizen who was being held hostage because of Iran, those problems and 
challenges continue to happen today.
  I did a little research. Obviously, I have an affinity for Jewish 
problems around the world because I am Jewish. I have always been part 
of a small minority throughout my life. I am one here in Congress, as 
well, and it is a great honor to be here.
  In 1979, 100,000 Jews lived in Iran. The same people who Iran likes 
to fund to talk about genocide, suffering, and rooting out people and 
all these problems around the world, Mr. Speaker, you can say: How many 
of those folks still live in Iran today?
  Today, estimates are that 10,000 Jews live in Iran. I am not saying 
that 90,000 of them have been killed. Certainly, some of them have. Mr. 
Speaker, 90,000 have left. That is 90 percent of this population, of 
just one population. There are many populations of people who would be 
at risk in a place like Iran, but 90 percent have left and fled. Many, 
by the way, have come to the United States.
  They do that because they are not free to live their lives the way 
they want to live them. Today, when we talk about this, we stand with 
Iran not only because we believe in freedom for all people around the 
world but freedom of self-determination and to decide what kind of 
government we want.
  Frankly, we want to allow women to vote, to have equal rights with 
men, to live in a society where religion is important but is not a tool 
for oppression.
  We care about these issues because they create peace and security in 
the Middle East. Ultimately, that leads to peace and security here in 
the United States.
  It is my honor to speak here today to support the gentleman and his 
resolution. We must do everything we can to get these lunatics out of 
power and allow the great Persian people, where many say civilization 
began thousands and thousands of years ago, to reseize that initiative 
that they had at the founding of civilization and to rebuild the kind 
of society they once had and certainly could have again.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Fine has been here only about 6 
weeks. As you can see, he is already distinguishing himself as a vital 
voice for freedom abroad and for liberty at home. I couldn't be more 
pleased to have him here today to speak on behalf of this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, Iran is one of the oldest and greatest civilizations in 
history. It was one of the most free, advanced, prosperous, and open 
countries in the Middle East just a few decades ago. Then, came the 
revolution of 1979, when the progress abruptly ended with the takeover 
by the theocratic despots who introduced a reign of terror that has 
gone on now for decades.
  Twice before, Iranians were on the verge of overthrowing this regime. 
In 2009, as Iranians took to the streets during the so-called Green 
Movement, they looked to the United States for support but got only 
silence. In 2016, the American Government sent $1.7 billion in cash to 
the mullahs on shrink-wrapped cargo pallets. In 2015, we released $150 
billion more in frozen assets, all to get a nuclear agreement that Iran 
never honored.
  Today, America must stand with the people of Iran. The regime in 
Tehran has been crystal clear about its intent to develop nuclear 
weapons and, once developed, to use them.
  There are only two ways this is going to end. It will end either with 
thousands, perhaps millions, dead in a terrible war or with a 
successful revolution and the long-overdue collapse of this regime.
  The President is speaking out forcefully, and he is acting 
decisively. So must Congress.
  H. Res. 166 has 224 cosponsors, representing both political parties. 
It expresses support for the Iranian resistance and its vision of a 
free, secular, and nonnuclear Iran. I urge the leadership to bring it 
to the floor for a vote.
  Our Declaration of Independence proclaims that whenever a government 
becomes destructive of the natural rights of its people, it becomes 
their right to alter or abolish it. This critical hour has come for the 
people of Iran.
  I believe it is time for the United States to step forward with 
material support for the freedom movement. For every dollar this 
government has given over the years to this brutal dictatorship, we owe 
many times over to the Iranians who are desperately trying to overthrow 
their oppressors and restore the blessings of liberty to themselves and 
their posterity.
  They need the direct satellite access to the internet that the regime 
has denied them on the ground. They need us to restore economic 
sanctions, as the President is doing against the regime in a renewed 
boycott of Iran.
  Mr. Speaker, decisive turning points in history do not come often. 
When history commands, we must answer. That answer will follow us far 
into the future.
  This time and in this hour, let the United States take a stand with 
the people of Iran and, by so doing, fulfill those proud words in our 
Liberty Bell, to proclaim liberty in all the land and to all the 
inhabitants thereof.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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