[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17216]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



          U.S. SHOULD SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH IRANIAN RESISTANCE

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. JAMES A. TRAFICANT, JR.

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 6, 2000

  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, Mohammad Khatami, the president of Iran, 
is scheduled to speak at the United Nations' Millennium Summit in New 
York today. More than 10,000 Iranian-Americans protested yesterday in 
front of the United Nations saying that Khatami does not represent the 
Iranian people, and should not be speaking at this summit.
  Unfortunately I was not able to join U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli, 
and my colleagues in the House, Carolyn Maloney, Gary Ackerman, and 
Gregory Meeks at this impressive rally. But, Mr. Speaker, I want to 
voice my strong support for the 10,000 Iranian-Americans who were in 
front of the UN yesterday rallying for freedom and democracy in Iran. 
The crowd was chanting yesterday that the true representative of the 
Iranian people is the National Council of Resistance of Iran, and its 
president-elect, Maryam Rajavi. I couldn't agree more.
  The United States should not be supporting Khatami. He is not the 
reformer the press has made him out to be. The fact is, under Khatami, 
Iran's human rights record has gotten worse. Under Khatami, Iran 
continues to be an aggressive supporter of international terrorism. The 
fact is, the Khatami presidency has brought more misery and despair to 
the Iranian people.
  I would like to send this message to all the world leaders attending, 
the summit: support the Resistance's call for democracy in Iran and ban 
tyrants like Khatami from the UN.

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