[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17314-17315]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     THE IRANIAN MASSACRE HAS BEGUN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the people of Iran are embroiled in a 
noble struggle against tyranny. The Government of Iran is engaged in 
the massacre of its own people. And what is their crime? They dare to 
speak out against fraud and corruption in their own government. They 
question the results of an election steeped in fraud.
  Their peaceful dissent has resulted in violent and brutal crackdowns 
from the hard-line government, a government that has shed the blood of 
the innocent.
  The people of Iran have boldly and bravely exercised the first basic 
human right, the right of free speech. The crackdown is startling news 
to the students who believed their government, despite its flaws, had 
the best interests of its people at heart. That veil has been forever 
lifted from their eyes.
  In America, we faced a similar awakening to the brutality of the 
Government of England when that ruled us. The city of Boston was 
occupied by British troops to enforce harsh taxes and punishments 
intended to exert control over American colonies by force and 
intimidation. Citizens took to the streets to vocally decry the 
tyranny. Tense words were exchanged, and the British soldiers opened 
fire on a group of unarmed patriots. Five people were killed and eight 
others were injured.
  We call it the Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre has ended, but 
the Iranian Massacre has begun. And the silent voices of the slain 
still cry from the graves of the martyred oppressed.
  These students have embraced the ideals of liberty and freedom. They 
value human life and dignity. Now they are faced with the realization 
that the republic they were taught to believe is not what it claims to 
be. They suffer the consequences of demanding human rights from a 
violent and tyrannical government.
  The streets of Iran are eerily silent now, but the opposition does 
continue. A quiet and righteous anger builds in these oppressed and 
brutalized young people. One young student said, ``My friend, a 26-
year-old fellow student, was on the streets last week. She is now home 
with a broken arm and a broken leg. `I saw hell right before my eyes 
last week,''' she said. `You can never imagine the sight of a huge man 
beating you to death.'''
  It looks to me, Mr. Speaker, that these young students of Iran, these 
sons of liberty and daughters of democracy, have joined the few, the 
noble few who throughout history have stood and faced vicious tyrants.
  A noted historian once said, ``You see these dictators on their 
pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers. Yet in their 
hearts there is unspoken, unspeakable fear. They are afraid of words 
and thoughts, words spoken and thoughts stirring at home that are all 
the more powerful because they are forbidden to be spoken.''
  These young students are not alone, Mr. Speaker. We are kindred 
spirits. America has earned its freedom through struggle and shed its 
blood in many countries around the world in defense of freedom and 
liberty.

[[Page 17315]]

  You see, Mr. Speaker, each of us throughout the ages of time are born 
with the unbroken spirit in our soul to be free, to desire liberty and 
freedom. Tyrants have always tried to enslave people in a brutal dark 
nightmare for the sake of their personal political power and financial 
gain. Indeed, the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
  The closing words written by this young Iranian student could have 
come right from the pages of America's own history books in the fight 
for our liberty.
  He said, ``One thing we know for certain. This isn't a fight that 
will end tomorrow or next month. It is not a fight that any group or 
party can fight alone. The path is uncertain, the road ahead is quite 
bleak. But my generation, born on the sidelines only to watch and to 
obey, has now been given the opportunity to write its own history, to 
tell its own story. And to the best of our ability, we will do that.''
  Americans should stand with these young people of Iran who have 
suffered much in their struggle for human rights and human dignity. 
Their courage in the face of overwhelming odds is an example to all who 
honor freedom. They have earned their own place of honor in the pages 
of history among those who have so valiantly fought and died for the 
cause of human dignity.
  Sam Adams was one of America's sons of liberty, and he said, ``It 
does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless 
minority keen to set brush fires in the minds of people.''
  May the students of Iran prevail in their holy cause of freedom.
  And that's just the way it is.

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