[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14597-14600]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   CALLING ON THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN TO RELEASE DR. HALEH ESFANDIARI

  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 430) calling on the Government of the Islamic 
Republic of Iran to immediately release Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 430

       Whereas Haleh Esfandiari, Ph.D., holds dual citizenship in 
     the United States and 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 now-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 
     three 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 summoned to an 
     interview by Iran's Ministry of Intelligence;
       Whereas Dr. Esfandiari was interrogated by the Ministry of 
     Intelligence for seven to eight hours per day;
       Whereas the questioning by 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 Lee Hamilton, former United States Representative 
     and president of the Wilson Center, has written to Iranian 
     leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 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 heard nothing for ten weeks and was denied her 
     passport;
       Whereas, on May 7, 2007, Dr. Esfandiari was summoned to the 
     Ministry of Intelligence and taken immediately to Evin 
     prison, where she was arrested and is currently being held;
       Whereas Iran's Intelligence Ministry has implicated Dr. 
     Esfandiari and the Wilson Center in advancing what it alleges 
     is the United States Government's aim of a ``soft 
     revolution'' in Iran;
       Whereas Parnaz Azima holds dual citizenship in the United 
     States and Iran;
       Whereas Ms. Azima is a journalist for Radio Farda;
       Whereas the Iranian Government confiscated the passport of 
     Ms. Azima when she arrived in Iran to visit her ill mother in 
     January of 2007;
       Whereas the Iranian authorities have interrogated Ms. Azima 
     on multiple occasions;
       Whereas Ms. Azima's attorney was told in April 2007 that 
     she would be detained in Iran for at least two years or more;
       Whereas social scientist Kian Tajbakhsh was arrested in 
     mid-May by Iranian security officials while consulting for 
     the Open Society Institute, which runs humanitarian programs 
     in Iran;
       Whereas Mr. Tajbakhsh holds dual citizenship in the United 
     States and Iran;
       Whereas Mr. Tajbakhsh was retained by the Open Society 
     Institute as a consultant to facilitate public health, 
     humanitarian assistance, and urban planning projects that 
     were undertaken openly and with the knowledge of the Iranian 
     Government;
       Whereas on May 31, 2007, a State Department spokesman 
     announced that California businessman Ali Shakeri, who holds 
     dual citizenship in the United States and Iran, had been 
     arrested approximately ten days earlier;
       Whereas Mr. Shakeri serves on the board of University of 
     California at Irvine's Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, a 
     research institution that seeks to promote reconciliation and 
     sustainable peace in areas of international conflict;
       Whereas Mr. Shakeri's arrest occurred as he sought to leave 
     the country after having visited his ill mother, who passed 
     away during his stay;
       Whereas reports indicate that a fifth dual American-Iranian 
     citizen, who has thus far remained anonymous, has also been 
     imprisoned unjustly by Iranian authorities;
       Whereas the Iranian Government has yet to produce evidence 
     of wrongdoing by any of these individuals to justify its 
     actions toward them; and
       Whereas Dr. Esfandiari, Ms. Azima, and Mr. Tajbakhsh have 
     been charged with espionage and, if convicted, face 
     execution: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved,  That Iran should immediately and unconditionally 
     release dual Iranian-American citizens Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, 
     Ms. Parnaz Azima, Mr. Kian Tajbakhsh, Mr. Ali Shakeri, and a 
     fifth unnamed individual also being detained against his 
     will, replace their lost travel documents, cease its tactics 
     of harassment, and permit them to leave Iran.
       Amend the title so as to read: A resolution ``calling for 
     Iran to immediately release five dual Iranian-American 
     citizens currently being held unjustly.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Tanner) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Tennessee.


                             General Leave

  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Tennessee?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution and 
yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, just a few short months ago, a remarkably accomplished 
Iranian American woman, Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, made a decision that any 
of us would make under a similar circumstance. Her 93-year-old mother 
was

[[Page 14598]]

failing and she needed to visit her in Tehran without delay. She 
boarded a flight to Iran, completely unsuspecting of what would unfold.
  After a visit with her ailing mother, Dr. Esfandiari reached the 
Tehran airport. As one of the leading Middle East scholars in the 
United States at the highly respected Woodrow Wilson Institute, she had 
no reason to believe she was about to encounter trouble. But on her way 
to the airport, she was attacked by plain-clothed, knife-wielding thugs 
and her passport was stolen.
  This was only the beginning of her nightmare. Iranian authorities 
refused to grant her a new passport. She was interrogated and put under 
house arrest. She was told she would not return to the United States. 
And the ordeal grew worse. Dr. Esfandiari, a slender woman of 67 years, 
has been detained without just cause ever since, under the outlandish 
pretense of being an enemy of Iran. And, ominously, late last month she 
was formally charged with espionage.
  She now sits in Iran's notorious Evin Prison. She has been allowed to 
make but a few painfully brief phone calls to her family. She has been 
interrogated at excruciating length. At the height of absurdity, she 
has been pressured to acknowledge participation in some kind of alleged 
coup against the Iranian government. This type of effort at forced 
confession is beyond absurd. It goes to the heart of the injustice of 
the Iranian regime.
  Despite quiet initiatives of diplomacy undertaken by many countries, 
organizations, and individuals on Dr. Esfandiari's behalf and 
frustrated by her audacious commitment to the truth, the Iranian 
security services have done what they know best, and that is arrest 
without cause.
  In discussing Dr. Esfandiari's case, news articles have also cited at 
least four other cases of dual Iranian American citizens deplorably 
being detained in Iran for no justifiable reason. It is particularly 
worrisome that two of these detainees, like Dr. Esfandiari, have now 
been charged with espionage.

                              {time}  1645

  Oddly enough, what all of these five seem to have in common is a 
commitment to U.S.-Iranian engagement. The government of Iran has 
unjustly detained five American citizens without due legal process. And 
Mr. Van Hollen's resolution today aptly expresses the serious concern 
we have on their behalf and our justifiable demand that they be 
released without delay. These outrageous arrests are indicative of the 
blatant excesses and obvious shortcomings of the Iranian political 
system, too much tyranny and too little rule of law. This is a matter 
of basic human rights, and we cannot allow the Iranian government to 
continue trampling on the fundamental liberties of our citizens in this 
manner.
  Ten Iranian parliamentarians have recently formed a Parliamentarian 
American friendship group. I call on these parliamentarians and all 
Iranians of good will, all people of good will, to use whatever 
influence they have to help bring about the immediate release of all 
American citizens in Iran who are held so unjustly and against their 
will.
  I commend my friend and colleague from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen) for 
introducing this important measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 430, which 
decries the unlawful imprisonment of dual U.S.-Iranian citizens by the 
regime in Tehran. As this resolution illustrates, Iranian intelligence 
officials have unlawfully detained, interrogated and imprisoned 
numerous dual U.S.-Iranian citizens, in particular Dr. Haleh 
Esfandiari, who works for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for 
Scholars.
  The Iranian government incarcerated Dr. Esfandiari in Evin Prison in 
Tehran on May 9 of this year. However, as I noted, this is not an 
isolated incident by any means. The Iranian government also confiscated 
the passport of Radio Farda journalist Parnaz Azima, an American 
citizen, when she arrived in Iran to visit her ill mother in January 
earlier this year.
  Iranian government officials have interrogated Ms. Azima and 
pressured her to collaborate with Iranian intelligence. Iran has also 
imprisoned a consultant for the Open Society Institute and a fourth 
American citizen who has chosen to remain anonymous and who has been 
unlawfully detained in Iran for 6 months.
  Mr. Speaker, this cannot stand. The Iranian government's recent 
actions are particularly egregious in light of that regime's past 
involvement in the killing of Americans and its past incitement and 
support of the taking of 66 American citizens hostages at the U.S. 
embassy in Tehran on February 4, 1979, with 52 of those Americans held 
in captivity for 444 days.
  In response, we must remain resolute in our condemnation of the 
Iranian regime for detaining innocent American citizens for political 
purposes and demand that the Iranian regime immediately and 
unconditionally permit all American citizens detained in Iran against 
their will to leave.
  These threatening actions by the Iranian regime come amidst Tehran's 
ongoing support for Islamic militants in Iraq that are killing Iraqis 
and Americans alike, its arming and support for Hezbollah in Lebanon 
and Hamas in Gaza and its continued pursuit of nuclear capability in 
contempt of international demands that it suspend its enrichment 
activities. I therefore believe that the United States should suspend 
all contact with any agent, instrumentality or representative of the 
Iranian regime until Americans held hostage by Iran are released and 
other issues critical to the United States are addressed.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Van Hollen), the author of the resolution.
  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Tennessee (Mr. 
Tanner) for his leadership on the Foreign Affairs Committee and for our 
national security interests around the world, and I thank the chairman 
of the committee, Mr. Lantos, and the ranking member, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, 
for their bipartisan support in sending a strong message to the 
government of Iran that their actions are absolutely unacceptable and 
to pass this legislation to immediately and unconditionally release the 
Americans of Iranian descent that are being held by the government of 
Iran.
  It was on May 30 of 2007, just a few weeks ago, the day after 
Washington and Tehran held their high profile talks with respect to 
Iraq that Iran turned around and charged three Iranian Americans, one 
academic, Haleh Esfandiari, a social scientist, Kian Tajbakhsh, and a 
journalist, Parnaz Azima, with spying, a charge which under Iran's 
Islamic law is punishable by death.
  These trumped up charges are absolutely ridiculous. Haleh Esfandiari 
is a constituent of mine. She lives in Bethesda, Maryland. She is a 67-
year-old Director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson 
International Center for Scholars. Kian Tajbakhsh is a respected social 
scientist who is consulted by George Soros' Open Society Institute at 
the World Bank, and Parnaz Azima is a Radio Farda journalist.
  The government of Iran accused these Iranian Americans of endangering 
state security and fomenting a, quote, soft revolution. These are 
ridiculous charges under any circumstances and clearly an excuse by 
Iran to once again take action in violation of international law.
  Just to emphasize the point, Ms. Esfandiari is someone who has 
invited scholars and statesmen from Iran to the United States to 
conferences and events and has even been criticized by some members of 
the Iranian American community for being too soft on the current regime 
in Tehran. Mr. Tajbakhsh has consulted directly for the Iranian 
government and, working with the Open Society Institute, helped

[[Page 14599]]

run its humanitarian health outreach program in Iran with full 
cooperation of the Iranian government.
  The lists of foreign detainees doesn't stop there. Iranian American 
businessman Ali Shakeri, who is on the board of the University of 
California at Irvine's Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, was arrested 
on May 8 as he returned to the United States from visiting his ill 
mother, who died during his stay.
  These detainees have dedicated their lives to building bridges 
between the Americans and the people of Iran. Their presence in Iran to 
visit their parents or to conduct humanitarian work poses absolutely no 
threat to the people or the government of Iran.
  Their detention is a gross perversion of the rule of law. And the 
claim that the Iranian government has made that they seek dialogue and 
improved relations with the West is belied by the actions they have 
taken with respect to these individuals.
  So we call today upon the Iranian government to do as they say they 
want to do, which is to have a better relationship with the United 
States and the people of the United States and to immediately, 
unconditionally release these Americans.
  Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong 
support of H. Res. 430.
  This resolution calls on the government of Iran to release Dr. Haleh 
Esfandiari, who is being held captive in Evin prison, despite the 
Ministry of Intelligence offering no evidence of wrongdoing.
  Dr. Esfandiari is a respected member of academia, holding the 
position of director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson 
Center for International Scholars, having previously taught Persian 
language and literature at Princeton University.
  While visiting her ailing 93-year-old mother in Iran, Dr. Esfandiari 
was held up at knifepoint; her travel documents and luggage were taken 
in the process. It was while attempting to procure subsequent documents 
that Dr. Esfandiari was taken into custody by the Ministry of 
Intelligence in Iran.
  Dr. Esfandiari is not the only American taken prisoner in Iran under 
the guise of being a ``spy.'' With U.S. and Iranian diplomatic 
relations resuming again after 25 years, it is important that the 
United States remain vigilant in opposing these unconscionable tactics 
employed by the Iranian Government toward United States citizens 
abroad.
  This resolution is a strong first step in standing up for the safety 
of all American citizens traveling abroad. No American should ever be 
deprived of their liberty simply because they crossed the safe haven of 
U.S. borders.
  I encourage my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of 
the H.R. 430, introduced by my esteemed colleague Mr. Van Hollen of 
Maryland, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of dual 
Iranian-American citizens Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Ms. Parnaz Azima, and a 
third unnamed individual also being detained against her will. Mr. 
Speaker, these three Americans have been unjustly incarcerated without 
due legal process. They have had their travel documents stolen, and 
they have been subjected to tactics of harassment. I strongly support 
this legislation, which expresses the serious concerns we have for 
these three individuals, and I urge my colleagues to do so as well.
  Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, one of the detained individuals, is head of the 
Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International 
Scholars and widely recognized as one of Washington's top experts on 
Iran. Dr. Esfandiari was robbed of her passport upon her arrival at 
Tehran airport in December of last year when she went to visit her 
ailing, 93-year old mother. After being refused new documents, she was 
interrogated at excruciating length by Iranian intelligence, and 
pressured to make forced confessions that would falsely implicate 
herself and the Wilson Center in trying to launch a full-fledged coup 
in Iran. She consistently refused to tarnish her good name or the 
reputations of her colleagues.
  Dr. Esfandiari was arrested on May 7th, and has been incarcerated, 
despite numerous efforts by countries, organizations, and individuals 
on her behalf. She faces ludicrous charges of seeking to launch a one-
woman coup against the Iranian government. The United States government 
has called for her immediate release.
  Unfortunately, Dr. Esfandiari is only one of a number of American 
citizens who have recently been detained in Iran without adequate legal 
grounds. Another case involved a journalist for Radio Farda, who was 
courageously involved in the effort to bring free and open media to the 
Iranian people. These outrageous arrests are indicative of the Iranian 
political system, including the concentration of power and the lack of 
rule of law.
  Another American missing in Iran, former FBI agent Robert Levinson, 
disappeared after flying to Iran's Kish Island in March. I call on the 
Iranian government to use all the powers at its disposal to locate Mr. 
Levinson, if it has not already done so, and to repatriate him.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe this is an issue of basic human rights. We as 
a Congress, and we as a nation, cannot allow the Iranian government to 
continue trampling on the fundamental liberties of our citizens in this 
manner. Therefore, I rise in strong support of this resolution, calling 
for the unconditional release of these three American citizens unjustly 
being held in Iranian prisons, and I call upon all of my colleagues to 
do likewise.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. 
Res. 430, which calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately 
release Dr. Haleh Esfandiari.
  Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, a highly respected member of the Washington, DC 
and Maryland communities, is currently serving as the Director of the 
Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for 
Scholars. In December, she traveled to Iran to visit her ailing mother, 
something that she has done countless times before. On her return to 
the airport, her travel documents and personal effects were taken from 
her. When she attempted to obtain replacement travel documents in Iran, 
she was instead subjected to days upon days of interrogation and 
essentially placed under house arrest for several months.
  Last month, Dr. Esfandiari was summoned by the government and was 
taken to the infamous Evin prison, where she is currently being held. 
She has been accused by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry of trying to 
set up networks of Iranians to start a revolution to bring down the 
government. In fact, she has long advocated for building bridges 
between the United States and the Middle East
  Iran's imprisonment of Dr. Esfandiari is entirely baseless and shows 
a disregard for the rule of law as well as the Iranian government's 
continued claim that they would like to gain the world's respect. We 
must demand Dr. Esfandiari and all other Americans that are being held 
without just cause be released by the Iranian government.
  I urge all my colleagues to join us in support of this important 
resolution.
  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, on December 30, 2006, Dr. Haleh 
Esfandiari, a prominent Iranian-American scholar, was in Iran to visit 
her sick 93-year-old mother when she was stopped by the Iranian 
authorities.
  What followed was nearly 5 months of a series of intense 
interrogations and pressure tactics where she was harassed, threatened, 
and forced to make false statements against her employer, the Woodrow 
Wilson Center for International Scholars. On May 8, she was again 
detained and imprisoned.
  Her arrest and detention has angered analysts, human rights groups 
and lawmakers throughout the world. Yet still, the Iranian regime 
refuses to release her, claiming she is a spy who was plotting to 
overthrow the Iranian government.
  I would like to submit a statement issued from the Woodrow Wilson 
Center for International Scholars on May 21, 2007 for the record.
  Mr. Speaker, these charges are a farce. Professor Esfandiari is an 
accomplished scholar of Persian literature, language and history who 
taught at Princeton University before becoming the Director of the 
Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars Middle East Program. 
Her husband, Mr. Shaul Bakhash, is a professor at George Mason 
University of Fairfax, VA. The Woodrow Wilson Center is a non-profit, 
non-partisan organization whose work is to research and foster dialogue 
within the scholarly world on current and future public policy issues.
  Dr. Esfandiari's tireless dedication to teaching and advocating on 
behalf of Iran is clear. She has focused on building bridges and 
opening doors for peace in the Middle East. She has sought to 
facilitate and strengthen Iranian-American relations through numerous 
seminars, lectures and workshops with educators, policymakers and 
groups from both countries and has pressed wider freedoms to 
communicate about our common bonds and negotiate over our 
disagreements.
  Like thousands of other Iranians living abroad, Professor Esfandiari 
is an academic who took a personal trip to see her family. If she as 
one individual scholar threatens this regime so much that they have to 
interrogate her for almost five months and detain her in a notorious 
prison cell known for human rights

[[Page 14600]]

abuses, then one has to assume this regime is desperate to retain 
whatever control it can.
  Today, the Iranian leadership's lack of courage and conscience is as 
clear as it is disappointing.
  It is evident that this regime is criminalizing scholarly work of any 
kind, despite the fact that Iran's very own history is filled with 
centuries of scholarly research and discovery. This regime's egregious 
decision to imprison Dr. Esfandiari reflects a deepening departure from 
the values and ideals the Iranian people have historically prided 
themselves on.
  Iran's renowned nationalist Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh once 
said ``There is no better way to govern Iran than democracy and social 
justice!''
  Professor Esfandiari should be released immediately. Every day she is 
so unjustly detained, Iran proves the case of its detractors and makes 
it all the more difficult for institutions like Dr. Esfandiari's Wilson 
Center to treat the Iranian people with the respect that should be 
afforded to ah historic civilization and citizenship of 70 million 
people.

   Statement on the Arrest in Tehran of Esfandiari, Director of the 
              Woodrow Wilson Center's Middle East Program

       Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at 
     the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and a 
     dual Iranian-American national, was arrested in Tehran on May 
     8 and incarcerated in the Evin Prison.
       The background to this entirely unjustified arrest is as 
     follows. Timeline of events:
       December 21, 2006, Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle 
     East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for 
     Scholars, and a dual Iranian-American national, traveled from 
     Washington D.C. to Tehran, Iran to visit her 93-year-old 
     mother for one week.
       On December 30, 2006, on her way to the airport to catch a 
     flight back to Washington, the taxi in which Dr. Esfandiari 
     was riding was stopped by three masked, knife-wielding men. 
     They threatened to kill her, and they took away all of her 
     belongings, including her Iranian and American passports.
       On January 3, when applying for replacement Iranian travel 
     documents at the passport office, Dr. Esfandiari was invited 
     to an ``interview'' by a man from Iran's Ministry of 
     Intelligence.
       Beginning on January 4, she was subjected to a series of 
     interrogations that stretched out over the next six weeks, 
     sometimes continuing for as many as four days a week, and 
     sometimes stretching across seven and eight hours in a single 
     day. Dr. Esfandiari went home every evening, but the 
     interrogations were unpleasant and not free from intimidation 
     and threat.
       The questioning focused almost entirely on the activities 
     and programs of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center. 
     Dr. Esfandiari answered all questions fully; when she could 
     not remember details of programs stretching back five and 
     even eight years, the staff at the Wilson Center provided her 
     all the information requested. As a public organization, all 
     Wilson Center activities are on the public record. Repeatedly 
     during the interrogation, she was pressured to make a false 
     confession or to falsely implicate the Wilson Center in 
     activities in which it had no part, but she refused.
       On Friday, January 15, in the third week of interrogations, 
     Dr. Esfandiari was told (misleadingly as it turned out) the 
     questioning was over. On January 18, the interrogator and 
     three other men showed up at Dr. Esfandiari's mother's 
     apartment. Dr. Esfandiari was taking a nap and was startled 
     to wake up and see the door to her bedroom open, her privacy 
     violated, and three strange men, one of them wielding a 
     video-camera, staring into her bedroom.
       On February 14, the lengthy interrogations stopped.
       On February 17, Haleh received one threatening phone call, 
     and then she did not hear anything from her interrogators for 
     ten weeks.
       On February 20, Lee Hamilton, president and director of the 
     Wilson Center, wrote to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 
     asking that Dr. Esfandiari be allowed to travel. However, 
     President Ahmadinejad did not reply to the letter.
       At the end of April or early May, she was telephoned once 
     again and invited to ``cooperate.'' In effect, she was being 
     asked to make a confession. She refused to make the false 
     statements.
       On Monday, May 7 she was summoned to the Ministry of 
     Intelligence once again. When she arrived for her appointment 
     on Tuesday morning, May 8th, she was put into a car and taken 
     to Evin prison. She was incarcerated and was allowed only one 
     phone call to her mother.
       On May 9 she called her mother asking her to bring her 
     clean clothes and her medicine. Her mother delivered the 
     small package at Evin Prison on May 10, but was not allowed 
     to see her.
       On May 12, the hard-line daily ``Kayhan'' in an article 
     accused Dr. Esfandiari of working with the U.S. and Israeli 
     governments and with involvement in efforts to topple Iran's 
     Islamic regime.
       On May 15, Iranian judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi 
     said that Dr. Esfandiari was being investigated for crimes 
     against national security and that her case was being handled 
     by the Intelligence Ministry.
       On May 15, Haleh made a brief telephone call to her mother.
       On May 16, Haleh's family retained the legal services of 
     Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi to represent her.
       On May 17, in an interview with Washington Post Staff 
     Writer Robin Wright, Shirin Ebadi indicated that the Iranian 
     government has rejected her request to represent Dr. 
     Esfandiari. She also noted the court refused information on 
     the legal charges against Dr. Esfandiari, and denied her 
     legal team the ability to see Haleh.
       On May 21 state-run television broadcasts in Iran indicated 
     that Haleh is being charged with seeking to topple the 
     government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
       Our efforts to obtain Haleh's release will continue and 
     will be redoubled. She will be in our thoughts and prayers 
     every day.

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, I have no more requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 430, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. TANNER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this question will 
be postponed.

                          ____________________