[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 16030-16035]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              CONDEMNING IRAN FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 754) condemning the Government of Iran for its 
gross human rights violations.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 754

       Whereas Iran is a member of the United Nations and a 
     signatory to both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 
     and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 
     among other international human rights treaties, without 
     reservation;
       Whereas in violation of these and other international 
     obligations, officials of the Government of Iran continue to 
     perpetrate gross violations of the fundamental human rights 
     of the Iranian people;
       Whereas Iranian women are increasingly subject to heinous 
     acid attacks, either condoned by, or sponsored by, the 
     Government of Iran, through the Basij and other vigilante 
     groups;
       Whereas the Parliament of Iran recently enacted a law 
     providing legal protection to private citizens to enforce a 
     strict Islamic dress code and other behavior prescribed under 
     Sharia law, emboldening the Basij and other vigilante groups;
       Whereas the Government of Iran ``manipulates the electoral 
     process'', according to the United States Department of 
     State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013, 
     ``severely limit[ing] citizens' right to change their 
     government peacefully through free and fair elections'';
       Whereas following voting irregularities that resulted in 
     the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Government 
     of Iran brutally suppressed peaceful political dissent from 
     wide segments of civil society during the Green Revolution in 
     2009 in a cynical attempt to retain its undemocratic grip on 
     power;
       Whereas the Government of Iran has kept the principal 
     leaders of the Green Revolution, Mir Hussein Moussavi and 
     Mehdi Karroubi, under house arrest since February 2011;
       Whereas the United States Department of State consistently 
     finds that Iranian authorities have ``limited freedom of 
     association through threats, intimidation, the imposition of 
     arbitrary requirements on organizations, and the arrests of 
     group leaders and members'';
       Whereas the United States Department of State's Virtual 
     Embassy Tehran website highlights human rights violations and 
     abuses in Iran on a weekly basis;

[[Page 16031]]

       Whereas the Government of Iran continues to restrict 
     freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, particularly for 
     journalists and human rights activists;
       Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the 
     Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran 
     found in its August 2014 report that the laws and policies of 
     the Government of Iran ``continue to place overly broad 
     restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and 
     access to information'', including ``severe content 
     restrictions, intimidation and prosecution of Internet users 
     and limitations on Internet access through throttling and 
     filtering'';
       Whereas the ability of religious freedom and human rights 
     activists to freely express themselves, and mobilize civil 
     society, is actively thwarted by the Government of Iran;
       Whereas the Special Rapporteur found that the Government of 
     Iran continues to apply capital punishment to offenders 
     convicted of crimes below the international human rights law 
     threshold of ``most serious crimes''; political prisoners; 
     and juvenile offenders, including 8 individuals in 2014 
     believed to be less than 18 years of age at the time of their 
     alleged crimes;
       Whereas Iranian women continue to face legal and societal 
     discrimination, as well as rampant domestic violence, which 
     is not specifically prohibited under domestic law;
       Whereas, on October 25, 2014, Iranian authorities executed 
     Reyhaneh Jabbari, an Iranian woman convicted of killing a man 
     she said she stabbed in self-defense during a sexual assault, 
     an execution preceded by the lack of due process, including a 
     reported forced confession;
       Whereas the United States Department of State issued a 
     statement condemning Jabbari's execution and calling on Iran 
     to ``respect the fair trial guarantees afforded to its people 
     under Iran's own laws and its international obligations'';
       Whereas the United States Commission on International 
     Religious Freedom found in its 2014 Annual Report that the 
     Government of Iran ``continues to engage in systematic, 
     ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, 
     including prolonged detention, torture, and executions based 
     primarily or entirely upon the religion of the accused'';
       Whereas the Government of Iran persecutes such religious 
     minority groups as the Baha'is, Christians, Sufi, Sunni, and 
     dissenting Shi'a Muslims (such as imprisoned Ayatollah 
     Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi) through harassment, arrests, 
     and imprisonment, during which detainees have routinely been 
     beaten, tortured, and killed;
       Whereas since 1999, the United States Department of State 
     has repeatedly designated Iran as a ``country of particular 
     concern'' for severe violations of religious freedom pursuant 
     to the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public 
     Law 105-292), most recently on July 28, 2014;
       Whereas the Government of Iran has long persecuted with 
     particular intensity the Baha'i community, the largest non-
     Muslim religious minority in Iran, who number at least 
     300,000, and are viewed as ``heretics'', and therefore are 
     subjected to repression on the grounds of apostasy;
       Whereas according to the United States Commission on 
     International Religious Freedom, since 1979, Iranian 
     authorities have killed or executed more than 200 Baha'i 
     leaders;
       Whereas ordinary Iranian citizens who belong to the Baha'i 
     faith are disproportionately targeted, interrogated, and 
     detained under the pretext of national security;
       Whereas senior governmental, military, and public security 
     officials in Iran are responsible for ordering, controlling, 
     and committing gross human rights violations that, in many 
     cases, represent national policies of the Iranian regime;
       Whereas the United States Department of the Treasury, 
     pursuant to section 413 of the Iran Threat Reduction and 
     Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8753), issued a 
     General License in September 2013 to permit the exportation 
     of services and the transfer of funds for activities related 
     to human rights and democracy building projects in Iran, 
     which facilitate United States nongovernmental organizations' 
     activities that increase Iranian access to information and 
     freedom of expression;
       Whereas since 2010, the United States Department of the 
     Treasury, in consultation with the United States Department 
     of State, has sanctioned 19 Iranian officials and 18 Iranian 
     entities for their involvement or complicity in serious human 
     rights abuses or in restricting the freedom of expression or 
     assembly of the Iranian people;
       Whereas the most recent designation was for Morteza 
     Tamaddom, former Governor-General of Tehran Province, 
     designated May 23, 2014, under Executive Order 13628 for his 
     involvement in censorship and other activities that limit the 
     freedom of expression and freedom of assembly of Iran's 
     citizens;
       Whereas the United States led the effort in the United 
     Nations Human Rights Council to renew the mandate of the 
     Special Rapporteur on Iran in order to further expose Iranian 
     human rights abuses; and
       Whereas it is important that the President of the United 
     States consistently and rigorously exercise the statutory 
     authorities granted by the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, 
     Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 and the Iran 
     Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 to impose 
     sanctions on officials of the Government of Iran and other 
     individuals directly responsible for human rights abuses, 
     engaging in censorship, or engaging in the diversion of goods 
     intended for the people of Iran: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) calls on the Government of Iran to abide by all of its 
     international and domestic obligations with respect to human 
     rights and civil liberties, including freedoms of assembly, 
     speech, and press;
       (2) deplores the dramatic rise in executions of Iranian 
     citizens by authorities since the election of President 
     Hassan Rouhani in June 2013;
       (3) condemns, in particular, the recent cruel execution of 
     Reyhaneh Jabbari, an Iranian woman convicted of killing a man 
     she said she stabbed in self-defense during a sexual assault;
       (4) deplores the Government of Iran's mistreatment of its 
     religious minorities, including through the deprivation of 
     life, liberty, and property;
       (5) condemns, in particular, the Government of Iran for its 
     relentless persecution of its Baha'i minority;
       (6) calls on the Government of Iran to release all 
     political prisoners and prisoners of conscience;
       (7) notes that the Administration has designated only one 
     Iranian person for the commission of serious human rights 
     abuses under the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, 
     Accountability, and Divestment Act, as amended, since May 30, 
     2013;
       (8) urges the President to increase the utilization of all 
     available authorities, including the Comprehensive Iran 
     Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010, to 
     impose sanctions on officials of the Government of Iran and 
     other individuals directly responsible for serious human 
     rights abuses, including by freezing those individuals' 
     assets and barring their entry into the United States;
       (9) urges the United States Government to adopt and 
     implement the following recommendations of the United States 
     Commission on International Religious Freedom with respect to 
     Iran--
       (A) continue to seek that violations of freedom of religion 
     or belief and related human rights are part of multilateral 
     or bilateral discussions with the Government or Iran whenever 
     possible, and continue to work closely with European and 
     other allies to apply pressure through a combination of 
     advocacy, diplomacy, and targeted sanctions;
       (B) continue to speak out publicly and frequently at the 
     highest levels about the severe religious freedom abuses in 
     Iran, press for and work to secure the release of all 
     prisoners of conscience, and highlight the need for the 
     international community to hold authorities accountable in 
     specific cases; and
       (C) continue to call on Iran to cooperate fully with the 
     United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights 
     Situation in Iran, including allowing the Special Rapporteur, 
     as well as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom 
     of Religion or Belief, to visit and continue to support an 
     annual United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning 
     severe violations of human rights, including freedom of 
     religion or belief in Iran and calling for officials 
     responsible for such violations to be held accountable;
       (10) condemns the undemocratic elections process that 
     denies Iranians the ability to freely choose their own 
     government; and
       (11) stands with the people of Iran who seek the 
     opportunity to freely elect a government of their choosing.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
any extraneous material on this resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today in support of this resolution, which condemns the 
Government of Iran for its gross human rights violations.
  This bipartisan resolution, which I have introduced together with my 
good friend from New York--the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs 
Committee, Eliot Engel--comes at a very important moment. The 
administration, together with the world's powers, is seeking a 
diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear program. We all want

[[Page 16032]]

this outcome, though, at this point, it is unclear how an agreement 
that is in the long-term national security interests of the United 
States can be reached.
  One thing is clear: we can have no illusions about the true nature of 
the Iranian regime. The history of rogue regimes teaches us that the 
manner in which these governments treat their own people is a pretty 
good indicator of how they will treat their neighbors and of whether 
they will abide by international agreements. This is a regime that has 
systematically violated the fundamental human rights of large segments 
of Iranian society since embarking upon the Revolution that brought it 
to power in 1979. It is a regime that rules by force, preventing the 
people of Iran from choosing their own government.
  The world saw the undemocratic nature of this regime back in 2009 
when millions of Iranians took to the streets to peacefully protest a 
stolen election. Not many are going to forget the images of the young 
girl bleeding to death in the capital city there, and today, the 
leaders of the Green Revolution opposition movement are confined to 
their homes, they are under house arrest, and, of course, at the time, 
thousands were imprisoned, many disappeared, and hundreds were 
tortured. It is a regime that has brutally suppressed the voice of 
human rights activists and journalists and religious minorities. But 
what I want to focus on today is the plight of women, who, in 
particular, face heinous treatment.
  Recently, the parliament in Iran enacted a law. What they were 
responding to were acid attacks that had occurred because young men in 
this Basij militia had taken it on their own responsibility to go up to 
women who were uncovered and throw acid in their faces. The reason for 
the enactment of the law--which followed the harassment and arrest of a 
human rights activist, a woman who protested the fact that young men 
were themselves taking on this responsibility of enacting shari'a law, 
and doing it sometimes by motorcycle, driving by and throwing the acid, 
sometimes by walking up to the women--was that they were doing this 
with impunity. The state, the government, was not coming in. The 
argument that these young men were making was, it is shari'a law that 
they do this, so this is our enforcement mechanism.
  What strikes me is the brutality of the law passed by parliament that 
would enact a law providing legal protection to citizens to enforce a 
strict Islamic dress code and other behavior prescribed under shari'a 
law. In other words, it is cover for these young men. It says if you 
are going to go out there and if you are going to enforce the Islamic 
revolution, and you are going to do it by throwing acid, you now have 
protection under the courts to do it.
  This law will embolden these Basij. It will embolden them and other 
vigilante groups, who in recent months have prowled the streets of 
Iran's cities, conducting these cruel acid attacks on innocent women. I 
was going to hold up one of these pictures today, but I thought better 
of it. I think what we should do is appeal to reason here and make an 
appeal to the parliament in Iran and say, Reverse this law. Reverse 
this act. You are only going to encourage more acid attacks.
  Let me underscore this point: today, Iranian women face the terror of 
knowing that state-sanctioned vigilantes may attack them by dousing 
them with corrosive acid, disfiguring them and blinding them. This is 
an unspeakable reality there. In 2014, the women of Iran, frankly, are 
under siege, not by an external force but by their own theocratic 
government. This is not the history of Cyrus the Great. Iran was the 
home of the first human rights document thousands of years ago. That 
was Persian culture. What is this?
  We who live in freedom have a moral responsibility to condemn this 
brutal regime and insist that it treat its people with the dignity and 
respect that they deserve. This resolution stands for the principle 
that U.S. foreign policy can and must pursue strategic objectives like 
the dismantling of Iran's nuclear program while promoting the 
importance of democracy and human rights. Ultimately, the best chance 
for a peaceful Iran is a democratic Iran. These two go hand in hand.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in strong support of H. Res. 754, a resolution condemning the 
Government of Iran for its gross human rights violations.
  When President Hassan Rouhani was elected in June 2013, he came to 
office with a reputation as a so-called ``moderate.'' Some hoped that 
the human rights situation inside Iran would improve. A year later, we 
know that was a false hope. In fact, on so many fronts, things have 
gotten worse.
  It is interesting when people say Rouhani is a moderate. No moderates 
were allowed to run for President in the Iranian election. There were 
six hard-liners at the end who were allowed to run. Rouhani may be the 
most moderate of those six hard-liners, but he is still a hard-liner, 
and I think we are seeing it time and time and time again. In fact, we 
don't even really know that he has the power to make decisions. Supreme 
Leader Khamenei is the one who really makes all of those decisions. So, 
while we can hope for certain things, I think we have to deal with 
things, unfortunately, as they are and not as we wish they were.
  For example, Iranian authorities have dramatically escalated the 
number of executions of Iranian citizens. This is from the so-called 
``moderate'' Rouhani regime. According to the U.N., there were 852 
executions between July 2013 and June 2014.
  Last month, Iran executed Reyhaneh Jabbari. She was convicted of 
killing a man whom she apparently stabbed in self-defense while she was 
being sexually assaulted. That evidence wasn't allowed to be a part of 
her trial. While she was in prison, awaiting execution, she was 
tortured.
  We all remember the massive protests, as the chairman mentioned, 
after the fraudulent 2009 Iranian elections. We all remember the images 
of tens of thousands of Iranians--brave Iranian citizens--taking to the 
streets, and we all remember how the Iranian government responded--
sending the Basij militia to brutally beat peaceful protesters. The 
leaders of that Green Revolution remain under house arrest to this very 
day.
  Religious minorities also face constant danger in Iran. This is 
especially true for members of the Baha'i faith. The Baha'i people are 
frequently detained and interrogated by Iranian security forces. Since 
1979, hundreds of Baha'i leaders have been executed.
  The United States has helped to shine a light on Iran's human rights 
violations. We have pushed the U.N. Human Rights Council to continue 
the work of the Special Rapporteur on Iran. Now, I have been one of the 
strongest critics of the Human Rights Council and its outrageous bias 
against Israel, but this Rapporteur has done important work to reveal 
the scale of human rights abuses in Iran.
  Since 2010, the administration has sanctioned 19 Iranian officials 
and 18 Iranian entities. We have gone after them for their involvement 
or complicity in serious human rights abuses or in restricting the 
basic freedoms of the Iranian people. I am proud of the role that 
Congress has provided in putting forth these sanctions.
  The most recent designation was for Morteza Tamaddon. He was the 
governor-general of Tehran Province. On May 23 of this year, we singled 
him out for his involvement in censorship and other activities that 
limit the freedom of expression and the freedom of assembly of Iran's 
citizens. This designation occurred even while the P5+1 is negotiating 
with Iran on its illicit nuclear program. Even as those negotiations 
continue, we cannot and must not turn a blind eye to the horrific 
abuses taking place in Iran every single day.

                              {time}  1600

  The resolution we are now considering urges the administration to use 
every tool at its disposal to target, expose, and punish those who 
violate the human rights of the Iranian people because, at the end of 
the day, Mr. Speaker, despite the sharp differences between our 
governments, we have no

[[Page 16033]]

ill will toward the people of Iran, to the citizens of Iran.
  They are, unfortunately, oppressed by a government that calls itself 
their government, but it is really a brutal oppressor of the Iranian 
people.
  On the contrary, I believe the people of our two nations should be 
natural friends. Iran would be the natural U.S. ally in the region, but 
because of the Iranian regime, this of course cannot happen and will 
not happen as long as they are in power.
  I hope that this resolution will demonstrate to the people of Iran, 
who are our friends--not the government, but the people of Iran--that 
we join them in seeking a future for their country based on respect for 
democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
  I thank the chairman, as always, for his cooperation, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Smith), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on 
Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International 
Organizations.
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. 
Res. 754, condemning the government of Iran for its gross human rights 
violations, authored by my good friend and colleague, Chairman Ed Royce 
of California.
  I want to thank him, especially on the eve of the November 24 
deadline for the Iranian-U.S. talks on nuclear, as it is very important 
to have this discussion on the floor of the House, so your timing as 
well as the substance is deeply appreciated by all, especially the 
victims of Iran.
  Ironically, Iran wants the world to lift sanctions and trust them 
with nuclear capabilities, despite ongoing reckless and violent 
disregard for even the most basic of human rights of its own citizens, 
as well as U.S. citizens.
  U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Iran, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, 
noted in a March 2014 statement that hundreds of individuals remain in 
some form of confinement for exercising their basic rights, including 
179 Baha'i, 97 Sunni Muslims, 49 Christians, and 14 Dervish Muslims.
  Mr. Speaker, it has now been nearly 2\1/2\ years since American 
pastor Saeed Abedini has seen or hugged his children, Rebecca and 
Jacob, or his wife, Naghmeh; and she has been a tireless advocate on 
his behalf. She was back here yesterday on Capitol Hill, pleading for 
her husband.
  Members will recall that Pastor Abedini was arrested in Iran in 
September of 2012. He was in Iran to help orphans. Orphans. He was 
arrested while he was there, and he was there with the full knowledge 
and consent of the Iranian Government.
  I have chaired two congressional hearings on Saeed Abedini. His wife 
testified at both, and to hear this noble, brave, and loving wife 
present her husband's case brings tears to your eyes.
  She testified at a hearing that Frank Wolf had chaired previous to 
the two that I had, and you could heard a pin drop when she told her 
story and told about the agony that both she and her family--especially 
her two young children--experience, knowing that their father has now 
been given an 8-year sentence and has been subjected to torture of 
many, many kinds.
  We are also concerned about Robert Levinson, a retired agent of the 
FBI. His daughter lives in my district. That family is in utter agony. 
He got 7 years.
  Amir Hekmati, a 31-year-old retired U.S. Marine, disappeared while 
visiting his grandmother in Iran in 2011. He got 10 years.
  Now, recently, Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter, has 
disappeared.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution sends a clear message to the Iranians 
and to the world that we care about human rights, but I would also ask 
that the President of the United States invite to the White House the 
family members of these Americans unjustly held captive in Iran and to 
ask, petition, push for, and link to our negotiations the release of 
these Americans and for a fuller expression of human rights in Iran.
  I thank Chairman Royce for yielding the time.
  Mr. ENGEL. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry), a member of the Foreign Affairs, Homeland 
Security, and Transportation Committees.
  Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Royce for this legislation, 
and I offer my strongest support because, if nothing else, it reminds 
us of what the Iranian regime really is at its foundational core, what 
its essence is.
  With much of today's focus on the prospects of a nuclear deal with 
Iran and the potential military cooperation of our Nation with theirs 
against ISIS, we absolutely cannot and must not forget the unacceptable 
and appalling human rights abuses the Iranian regime commits on a daily 
basis.
  Just today, a U.N. resolution condemned Iran's numerous human rights 
abuses, which include an ``alarmingly high frequency'' of the use of 
the death penalty, the persecution and imprisonment of religious and 
ethnic minorities, and the suppression of multiple individual freedoms, 
and the list just goes on.
  Firsthand reports continue to emerge, describing how, of the over 800 
documented executions over the past year, 80 percent were for drug 
offenses, and legal due process was almost never given to defendants. 
We don't even know if the defendants committed any offenses whatsoever.
  Also, disturbingly, in 2014 alone, at least eight people under the 
age of 18 at the time they allegedly committed their crimes were 
executed.
  Mr. Speaker, President Hassan Rouhani promised to improve the Iranian 
regime's human rights record. Really? Does anybody take that seriously 
at all? Realistically, the Iranian regime has only ramped up the 
oppression of its citizens.
  We absolutely must remain clear-eyed when dealing with this extremist 
regime in all accounts, whether it is a nuclear deal, whether it is in 
cooperation against ISIS, and certainly when it comes to their human 
rights violations.
  Mr. ENGEL. I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Clawson), a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 
the Committee on Homeland Security.
  Mr. CLAWSON of Florida. I thank the chairman.
  Mr. Speaker, I am here in support of H. Res. 754, and I 
wholeheartedly support this resolution, and I commend Chairman Royce 
for his important work and leadership on this issue.
  Any successful negotiation must be based on mutual trust and respect. 
Trusting and respecting the Iranian regime as an equal member of the 
world's community of nuclear power producers would be a tragic mistake, 
in my view. Iran has not earned our trust or Israel's trust or the 
world's trust. For 35 years, Iran has done anything but earn our trust.
  It is time for Iran to free Christian pastor Saeed Abedini. Iran's 
horrific human rights violations, their state sponsorship of terrorism, 
their public condemnations of our own country, and their repeated 
denials of Israel's right to exist spell potential disaster here, I am 
afraid. Let's not trust the untrustworthy.
  This dilemma reminds me of a scorpion and the frog fable that my 
friend from Arkansas, Tom Cotton, recently used. A frog is about to 
cross a river when he is asked for a ride by a scorpion. Now, the frog 
knew that scorpions are poisonous and untrustworthy. He knew that, if 
the scorpion stung him on the way across the river, they would both 
drown.
  When the frog asked for assurance from the scorpion, the scorpion 
replied, ``Of course, I won't sting you. If I do, we will both drown.'' 
Halfway across the river, of course, the scorpion struck, and as they 
were both headed for their demise, the frog asked, ``Why did you sting 
me?'' The scorpion responded, ``Because it is my nature.''

[[Page 16034]]

  Even though the frog knew that the safe way to go was to say ``no'' 
to the scorpion, he caved in, dismissed better judgment, and the result 
was tragic.
  Let us not repeat the mistake of the frog. We cannot give Iran a free 
ride across the Rubicon to nuclear weapons. We must not hand the keys 
of nuclear proliferation to a scorpionlike regime that cannot be 
trusted.
  So what do we do? We can't do a bad deal. We can't walk away, but we 
also can't trust Iran. What must Iran do to gain our trust? Treat its 
people right. Treat its neighbors right. Treat Israel right, with 
dignity and respect. I think we have many rivers to cross before we get 
to that state.
  As we work on this Iranian nuclear dilemma, which will take years, we 
need to see concrete progress toward the civil liberties that have been 
mentioned today. They must stop the crimes against humanity exposed in 
Chairman Royce's resolution.
  To gain our trust, Iran must acknowledge the right of Israel to 
exist.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Marchant). The time of the gentleman has 
expired.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 
seconds.
  Mr. CLAWSON of Florida. I thank the chairman.
  Mr. Speaker, in the 1930s, the world trusted a scorpion, thinking 
that we had achieved peace in our time, and millions paid the price for 
that mistake with their lives. Let's not stand here someday and admit 
that we messed up because we trusted an Iranian scorpion.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Ellison).
  Mr. ELLISON. I thank the gentleman from New York for the time.
  Mr. Speaker, I have said time and time again that the Iranian 
Government must improve the status of human rights in their country. 
Let's not pretend though that this resolution is taking place at this 
time outside of any context. There is a context, and the context is 
that we are closer than we have ever been to reaching a peaceful 
agreement with Iran on nuclear weapons.
  I don't know what is going to happen on November 24, and I suspect 
the people who do know aren't telling the public just yet, but I do 
know that we have made substantial progress and that we are close.
  The context is important that we should stand with the people of Iran 
and stand for their human rights. I absolutely believe that that is the 
right thing to do; therefore, I ask for a ``yes'' vote on this.
  I have to ask the question: Is this the most well-timed time for this 
resolution? I do worry that we could undermine the negotiations, but 
the four corners of this resolution are right, so I am a ``yes'' vote.
  I think today's resolution, which highlights the human rights abuses 
in Iran, also could be improved if it included words and language about 
the best way to bring those abuses to an end.
  I believe improving human rights in Iran is much more likely if we 
secure a nuclear agreement. The best way to empower human rights 
leaders within Iran is to engage, not isolate.
  Increased sanctions and the threat of war hurts human rights 
activists because it allows the hard-liners in Iran to claim that they 
are under imminent threat and, therefore, there is no time or space or 
room for human rights. I believe that a nuclear agreement will actually 
increase the likelihood for human rights advocacy.
  I don't want to see us go back to the days when we talked in terms of 
the ``axis of evil.'' It didn't improve the set freedom and security of 
Americans or anyone. I liked the fact that we have embarked on the path 
of diplomacy.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. ENGEL. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.
  Mr. ELLISON. President Rouhani has prioritized diplomacy, and I think 
this is an important opportunity that we should pursue.
  In the final analysis, human rights are what the United States should 
always stand for, and we in this Congress should never not stand for 
human rights. I am proud that we are clear on human rights in this 
resolution.
  I simply want to admonish and warn us that taking action that could 
undermine very delicate negotiations may not be the best timing that we 
have ever pursued and that for the last 30 years--and I hope for the 
next 30 years--we will always raise the banner of human rights whenever 
and wherever, but I think we should be sensitive of the reality of the 
moment that we are in.
  Let me just say thank you to the brave souls who stand up for human 
rights under very difficult conditions in Iran.

                              {time}  1615

  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes to respond.
  One of the reasons the timing on this is important is because this is 
the timing that the Iranian regime has chosen to pass legislation that 
would protect those young men in the Basij who carry out these acid 
attacks against women. One of the reasons I am bringing this bill to 
the floor is because I am concerned about what it tells us about a 
regime that, rather than come to the defense of these women who 
admittedly were in violation of the dress code in terms of their 
facial, in terms of their mode of dress, to allow individuals in a 
theocratic country to make the decisions that they are the arbitrator 
of what is shari'a law and then to exonerate them by saying it is the 
right of the individual to step in against another and enforce shari'a 
law rather than have the state do it, this is a theocratic state that 
is taking a principle against the individual, against individual 
freedom, and especially against rights of women to an extra step that 
is so injurious to human liberty, but also the fact that they would do 
this now and that they would be so unconcerned that we might not even 
respond to this or that the international community would have a 
reaction to this, I think it demands a reaction. Because if we do not, 
in the court of international opinion, hold them to account for these 
kinds of acts in their Parliament, what is the message that is given to 
those who are encouraged to further violate women's rights and minority 
rights in Iran? That is why I am pushing this bill today.
  Mr. Speaker, I had a conversation a little over a week ago with a 
group of Iranian American women about their experiences in Iran and 
their reaction to this parliamentary act and their reaction to the acid 
attacks which are increasing in number to a truly alarming percentage. 
There have been over a dozen of these now. So that is why the timing of 
the legislation. It is in response to this. In the process, it catalogs 
the other abuses that the regime recently has undertaken under 
President Rouhani at a time when we thought they might put a different 
foot forward to the international community.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time to close.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to send a message of 
support to the Iranian people that they build a better future for 
themselves and their children. Today this House exposes the gross 
violations of human rights by the Iranian regime. The Iranian people 
deserve better. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this 
resolution.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, there were observers that were tempted to 
believe that Iran's President Rouhani would usher in a more tolerant 
attitude at home. I think many of us suspected that might be the case 
because he did occasionally offer less antagonistic rhetoric than his 
predecessor, even if he had had the history he did have in the security 
services. But it turns out that was wrong. That assumption was wrong.
  In a new report, the U.N. Special Rapporteur has documented an 
alarming increase in the number of executions, including political 
prisoners, juveniles, and religious minorities, such as the peaceful 
Baha'i, since President Rouhani took office in August of 2013. The 
motif of this regime is becoming a religious dissident swinging by the 
neck from a crane, if you watch the news coming out of Iran.

[[Page 16035]]

  I won't again articulate my concerns about these acid attacks that 
are going on, but this comes, I think, at a time when millions of 
Iranians yearn for basic freedoms--basic freedoms--that we in the West 
take for granted.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is incumbent upon all of us, as the House is 
doing today, to stand with the people of Iran who suffer under this 
theocracy and to speak out.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 754.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________