[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 2416-2418]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

  Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise today to talk about some of the 
recent developments in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
  We have a lot of activity today. There is a hearing in the Foreign 
Relations Committee, as well as some dissidents who are in town to talk 
about the state of affairs in Iran.
  As many of my colleagues know, the Iranian Government's track record 
with respect to supporting acts of terror inflicted upon innocent 
persons and inflicting damage on peaceful relations among Middle 
Eastern countries is abysmal. Iran's bad activities in the Middle East 
and, candidly, bad actions in the world--at the head of the list, from 
my perspective, is promoting terrorism activities and Islamic fascism 
ideology that undergirds that terrorist activity in the Middle East--
have secured a designation by the U.S. Department of State as a state 
sponsor of terrorism. Iran supports terrorist organizations such as 
Hezbollah, the entity behind the 1983 suicide terrorist attack against 
U.S. military and civilian personnel in Lebanon. Hamas is another 
organization that they are now supporting, the Palestinian Islamic 
Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General 
Command. All of these are reprehensible organizations that the Iranian 
Government is directly sponsoring as a state sponsor of terrorism.
  Additionally, Iran has been implicated in the 1996 attack on U.S. 
military personnel at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.
  Iran's reach into Iraq, which many of us have been complaining about 
for a couple of years and which is now being recognized by our 
Government, by our Department of State, and which is now being 
recognized by the world--Iran is one of the fomenters of terrorism 
within the country of Iraq. Iran's connection to the Supreme Council 
for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the organization's Badr Brigades 
means that Iran has a hand in shaping the allegiances of both Iraq's 
police and military forces.
  Iran's human rights violations, in addition to their terrorist 
activities, are no less chilling. The State Department reported that 
the Government of Iran engages in widespread use of torture and other 
degrading treatment and the Iranian Government continues to 
discriminate against religious and ethnic minorities. They do not 
discriminate as to who they discriminate against. Other Muslim sects--
whether Sunni or Suffi or Jews or Christians, they discriminate against 
them all.
  Iran's record of degradation of women is appalling and should not be 
tolerated by the international community. Iranian women are severely 
oppressed and their voices are constantly suffocated by the government. 
There are numerous examples of Iranian women who have been arrested and 
severely beaten for the simple fact they are females. One example is 
Dr. Roya Toloui, a women's rights activist and the editor of a 
publication that is now banned in Iran. She was arrested last summer in 
the wake of a 2005 July demonstration in the town of Mahabad. Dr. 
Toloui was held in prison for 66 days. While she was there, she was 
raped and she was tortured. Though she has since been released from 
prison, Dr. Toloui is in constant fear of rearrest and of death.
  The State Department also noted Iran's continued restrictions on 
workers' rights. In short, the Government of Iran oppress its people 
and terrorizes the world and is a threat to the security of this 
country and to the security of democracies throughout the West.
  The one additional aspect that has now taken a lot of press is Iran's 
pursuit of nuclear capability. This is very unsettling when you have a 
regime with this kind of track record to be in pursuit of nuclear 
capability. Iran, of course, is permitted to pursue peaceful nuclear 
research under the terms of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Its 
record on transparency and the true purpose of its program, obviously, 
is very much in doubt. In November of 2003 the International Atomic 
Energy Agency reported that Iran has been developing an undeclared 
nuclear enrichment program for 18 years and had covertly imported 
nuclear material and equipment. Furthermore, the IAEA reported that 
Iran had conducted over 110 unreported experiments to produce uranium, 
metal, and separated plutonium, and had possession of designs clearly 
related to the fabrication of nuclear weapons.
  In 2005, in August, following the election of President Ahmadinejad, 
Iran announced that the ongoing negotiations under the terms of the 
2004 Paris agreement, the agreement that suspended activities brokered 
by the EU-3, were ``satisfactory'' according to Iran. Then they 
announced they were resuming the conversion of raw uranium into gas for 
enrichment. In January of 2006, Iran removed the IAEA seals on the 
research enrichment plant in Natanz.
  Recently, the IAEA board voted 27 to 3 to report Iran to the U.N. 
Security Council, and in so doing noted Iran's many failures and 
breaches of its obligations to comply with the Nuclear Nonproliferation 
Treaty. Iran's aggressive behavior and concealment of ongoing nuclear 
activities can only lead to one conclusion, and that is that Iran is 
seeking to enrich uranium to use for nuclear weapons.
  In response to this nuclear gambit, I believe we need smart sanctions 
for the U.N. to impose. For example, the U.N. should consider imposing 
a travel ban on Iran's leaders, banning international flights from 
Iranian air, banning the transportation of cargo carried by Iranian 
Government-owned ships, and possibly to pursue legal action against 
Iranian leaders responsible for human rights and terrorism abuses, as 
well as executions.
  I recently introduced legislation with my colleague, Senator Norm 
Coleman, that seeks to empower the forces of democracy in Iran and 
support efforts to foster peaceful change within Iran. It is S. 333, 
the Iran Freedom and Support Act. It seeks to make it harder for the 
Government of Iran to have access to revenue and foreign investment. 
Resources that those investments accrue are used by the Iranian 
Government to support terrorist organizations and to pursue nuclear 
activity as well as to repress its people.
  The bill also codifies sanctions, controls, and regulations currently 
in place against Iran by Executive order. It codifies those in statute. 
The bill declares it should be a policy of the United States to support 
the Iranian people in their prodemocracy movements. We believe, and the 
bill says, that the people of Iran are entitled to self-determination, 
to free and fair elections, and we want to provide the resources in 
helping those groups attain those free and fair elections. We 
authorized $10 million in this bill, but thanks to the effort on the 
supplemental the administration has sent up to the Congress, they have 
requested $75 million for prodemocracy efforts in Iran. I hope the 
introduction of our legislation last year perhaps gave some 
encouragement to ask for such funding. They have asked for $75 million. 
I will amend our bill to ask for $100 million for those efforts.

[[Page 2417]]

  The Iran Freedom and Support Act is a nonviolent way to try to effect 
change in Iraq. I agree with the President and all who have talked 
about keeping our military options on the table, but it is vitally 
important to try to use our diplomatic options first and foremost. At a 
time when the threat from Iran is real, it is not only real to this 
country, not only real to the Middle East and Iraq, but it is, 
obviously, real to their own people in the way they treat them.
  This is an important piece of legislation. It is something I hope we 
can do. It is important in spite of what the President has done. I 
support his policies that we show the Congress is 100 percent behind 
his effort to do something about the nuclear gambit Iran is engaged in 
right now. I am hopeful we can pass this legislation in a timely 
fashion.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Graham). The Senator from Minnesota.
  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I rise to join my colleague from 
Pennsylvania on underscoring the urgency that surrounds the threat to 
our Nation and the entire world community with Iran.
  I listened to my esteemed colleague talk about the Iranian repression 
of women. I thought to myself, how sad; Iran was a country that at 
times led that part of the world in its respect for women and women's 
rights at a time few talked about it. And how low they have sunk.
  It was 100 years ago Iran's constitutional revolution was the first 
genuine democracy in the Middle East, over half of the population of 
that part of the world. When we look where we are today, I have a touch 
of sadness in my heart as I reflect upon the plight of the Iranian 
people.
  Make no mistake, as my colleague from Pennsylvania noted, Iran is a 
nation with painful rhetoric, rhetoric of its president, who says: Our 
goal is to destroy Israel. We should take people at their word that is 
the goal.
  This is not, by the way, the rantings of a madman. This is the clear 
policy of the regime backed by the ruling mullahs. It is the clear 
policy, not the rantings of some wild man. Take him at his word, that 
is his goal, his objectives, and Iran's goal and objective.
  Painful rhetoric is backed by their concrete actions. They are the 
largest state sponsor of state-supported terrorism in the world. It is 
not just cheap rhetoric; it is a disconcerting and frightening reality 
we have to deal with.
  Now we have a regime that is clearly in pursuit of nuclear weapons. 
We are dealing with a lot of security issues out there today. There is 
lots on the agenda dealing with concerns about port security. Let's not 
let this issue slip away.
  Some say Washington is a town of a thousand issues and few 
priorities. This is a priority and continues to be a priority. As I 
said before, they have been clear about their regime and their desire 
to destroy Israel and the western civilization.
  At the conference where Ahmadinejad talked about destroying Israel, I 
remember the picture behind him vividly, a picture of an hourglass. In 
this hourglass, the ball is dropping through. This is posted not by 
accident but by design. In the hourglass, the fragile glass ball is 
falling through the glass, about to be shattered. That is Israel. But 
already lying on the floor of the shattered glass is a shattered USA.
  That is the vision, that is the plan. We have to understand that. 
Clearly, the vitriolic rhetoric is backed by a clear vision and plan 
and it merits immediate action by the international community.
  All in all, the Tehran regime's previous and ongoing activities 
indicate that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an unprecedented threat 
to American national security as well as to the existence of the State 
of Israel. Have no doubt about it; if Iran were to use a nuclear weapon 
in the Middle East, we are not protected, even being thousands of miles 
away. We will all be impacted by that. We are all in this. The outcome 
of Iran's vision and the destruction of Israel is unacceptable. Common 
sense and responsibility demand that action be taken now. Time is not 
on our side.
  The scenario we face with Iran today has many parallels to the 1930s 
when the League of Nations failed to confront the aggression of the 
dictatorships in Japan, Italy, and Germany. Hitler said what he would 
do and the international community chose to ignore that very clear red 
flag. In ``Mein Kampf,'' Hitler meant what he said. When he had the 
opportunity, he acted on that.
  The President of Iran has not written a book such as ``Mein Kampf,'' 
but he has been very clear about what his intentions are, public about 
his intentions to destroy Israel and the rest. And at the same time he 
is pursuing a strategy to campaign to obtain nuclear capacity. Will the 
international community continue to wring its hands and allow this 
murderous regime to align its intentions with its capabilities or will 
it take action? The answer must be yes. The answer must be now. And the 
United States must be part of leading that charge.
  The IAEA has taken some action. There is a meeting of the board of 
governors March 6. They must continue to put pressure on Iran. But that 
is not enough. The reality is, negotiations are not enough. There is a 
Russian proposal on the table. The European three have been negotiating 
with Iran. The problem with this, it may seem as if there is something 
there, but when you pursue this negotiation you are presuming that the 
other side wants a solution. They are negotiating with someone who is 
not looking for a solution to divert a crisis but playing a cat-and-
mouse game to buy time. You have to realize enough time for talk and we 
have to take action. Talk is what the other side wants as it buys time. 
It is clear they are not looking for a solution to avert a crisis. They 
have a vision. They have a path.
  They have demonstrated time and again they are not serious about 
negotiating. They deserve no further opportunities to prevent them from 
being held to account for their intransigence. I think it is high time 
the international community called the Iranian bluff. They have had 
more than enough opportunities to negotiate and have brazenly violated 
every agreement. The Security Council must take strong action. This 
needs to be the focus of our policy now and in the immediate future.
  While all of us recognize that actions must be taken to deal with the 
imminent threat of Iran's nuclear intentions, a true long-term solution 
to the problem with Iran lies in efforts to promote a free and 
democratic society. As Secretary Rice has noted:

       Attempting to draw neat, clean lines between our security 
     interests and our democratic ideals does not reflect the 
     reality of today's world. Supporting the growth of democratic 
     institutions in all nations is not some moralistic flight of 
     fancy; it is the only realistic response to our present 
     challenges.

  In his State of the Union Address, President Bush made a direct 
appeal to the Iranian people and voiced our country's support for their 
right to freedom. Here in Congress, we need to act to convert moral 
support into concrete actions to help foster democratic change in Iran.
  I commend my colleague, Senator Santorum, for his introduction of the 
Iran Freedom and Support Act of 2005. I am a cosponsor of that 
legislation. He has talked about that and clearly seeks to support the 
roots of democratic change in Iran. We need to support democracy in 
Iran. And supporting them is not being an American voice preaching 
moralistically about democracy; it is an opportunity to connect with 
the Iranians around the world, not just there. There are folks who have 
been fighting for freedom in Iran. Some are still in Iran. We need to 
figure out a way to connect with Iranian voices, with dissidents in 
Iran and around the world, to let them know we are there to support 
freedom, we are there to support democracy.
  I urge passage of Senator Santorum's bill. It is a step in the right 
direction.
  Finally, I would note that March 20 and 21 is the Iranian new year. I 
say that because the regime is repressing the celebration of the 
Iranian new year. I want to conclude my comments by wishing the Iranian 
people a happy

[[Page 2418]]

new year, one in which, hopefully, they will be closer to freedom, 
closer to freedom in the year to come. And we will take those steps 
necessary to help make that happen.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I commend the Senator from Minnesota. 
I think he is right on target. He is putting the burden where it should 
be, and that is directly on the United Nations to do what is right with 
regard to Iran.
  Our President has tried to put the Europeans out front to negotiate 
with the Iranians. I believe they have been less than forthcoming about 
what they were doing the last 2 years with nuclear capabilities. Now it 
is time for us to all step in as world leaders and say to Iran: You 
must stop making nuclear weapons. And further, if you do not, there 
will be repercussions.
  But it will take the entire world community, led by the United 
Nations, to make an impact on Iran. The United States cannot do this 
alone. We do not trade with Iran. We need the people who are trading 
with Iran to say there will be consequences if a nuclear weapon is 
produced in that country.
  So I thank the Senator from Minnesota. I hope very much the United 
States will step forward with the other leaders of the world to say we 
are of one mind.
  Mr. President, I wish to take a moment because today is Texas 
Independence Day.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Time for morning business has expired.
  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be 
allowed to speak for 5 minutes in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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