[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14115-14116]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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   SENATE RESOLUTION 214--CALLING UPON THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ISLAMIC 
      REPUBLIC OF IRAN TO IMMEDIATELY RELEASE DR. HALEH ESFANDIARI

  Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Biden, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. 
Smith, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Bingaman, and Mr. Coleman) submitted 
the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 214

       Whereas Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Ph.D., holds dual citizenship 
     in the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran;
       Whereas Dr. Esfandiari taught Persian language and 
     literature for many years at Princeton University, where she 
     inspired untold numbers of students to study the rich Persian 
     language and culture;
       Whereas Dr. Esfandiari is a resident of the State of 
     Maryland and the Director of the Middle East Program at the 
     Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in 
     Washington, D.C. (referred to in this preamble as the 
     ``Wilson Center'');
       Whereas, for the past decade, Dr. Esfandiari has traveled 
     to Iran twice a year to visit her ailing 93-year-old mother;
       Whereas, in December 2006, on her return to the airport 
     during her last visit to Iran, Dr. Esfandiari was robbed by 3 
     masked, knife-wielding men, who stole her travel documents, 
     luggage, and other effects;
       Whereas, when Dr. Esfandiari attempted to obtain 
     replacement travel documents in Iran, she was invited to an 
     interview by a representative of the Ministry of Intelligence 
     of Iran;
       Whereas Dr. Esfandiari was interrogated by the Ministry of 
     Intelligence for hours on many days;
       Whereas the questioning of the Ministry of Intelligence 
     focused on the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center;
       Whereas Dr. Esfandiari answered all questions to the best 
     of her ability, and the Wilson Center also provided extensive 
     information to the Ministry in a good faith effort to aid Dr. 
     Esfandiari;
       Whereas the harassment of Dr. Esfandiari increased, with 
     her being awakened while napping to find 3 strange men 
     standing at her bedroom door, one wielding a video camera, 
     and later being pressured to make false confessions against 
     herself and to falsely implicate the Wilson Center in 
     activities in which it had no part;
       Whereas Lee Hamilton, former United States Representative 
     and president of the Wilson Center, has written to the 
     President of Iran to call his attention to Dr. Esfandiari's 
     dire situation;
       Whereas Mr. Hamilton repeated that the Wilson Center's 
     mission is to provide forums to exchange views and opinions 
     and not to take positions on issues, nor try to influence 
     specific outcomes;
       Whereas the lengthy interrogations of Dr. Esfandiari by the 
     Ministry of Intelligence of Iran stopped on February 14, 
     2007, but she

[[Page 14116]]

     heard nothing for 10 weeks and was denied her passport;
       Whereas, on May 8, 2007, Dr. Esfandiari honored a summons 
     to appear at the Ministry of Intelligence, whereby she was 
     taken immediately to Evin prison, where she is currently 
     being held; and
       Whereas the Ministry of Intelligence has implicated Dr. 
     Esfandiari and the Wilson Center in advancing the alleged aim 
     of the United States Government of supporting a ``soft 
     revolution'' in Iran: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That--
       (1) the Senate calls upon the Government of the Islamic 
     Republic of Iran to immediately release Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, 
     replace her lost travel documents, and cease its harassment 
     tactics; and
       (2) it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (A) the United States Government, through all appropriate 
     diplomatic means and channels, should encourage the 
     Government of Iran to release Dr. Esfandiari and offer her an 
     apology; and
       (B) the United States should coordinate its response with 
     its allies throughout the Middle East, other governments, and 
     all appropriate international organizations.

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