[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10964]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CONDEMNING THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN FOR ITS PERSECUTION OF PASTOR YOUCEF 
                               NADHARKANI

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, a few weeks ago, the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee passed a resolution condemning the government of 
Iran for its continued persecution of Pastor Youcef Nadharkani.
  Pastor Youcef sits in prison for the crime of practicing his faith 
and wishing to raise his two young boys in that faith. His crime was to 
go to his sons' school and ask that they not be subjected to Islamic 
indoctrination. For that, he was taken directly to a tribunal and 
sentenced to death by hanging.
  Despite years of imprisonment, his faith has held up under intense 
interrogation and torture. And now the government has extended its 
campaign of terror to Pastor Youcef's lawyer. Muhammed Ali Dadkhah has 
been disbarred and sentenced to 9 years imprisonment for representing 
the pastor. He's been pressured to confess to crimes he did not commit.
  The government of Iran has no respect for human rights, or even for 
their own written laws. I'm glad to see my Senate colleagues stand up 
for Pastor Youcef. The world needs to know what is happening here.
  I urge the government of Iran to return this father to his wife and 
his two sons.

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