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2d Session
S. 2681
To establish a program to support a transition to democracy in
Iran
.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 16, 2004
Mr. SANTORUM (for himself and Mr. CORNYN) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
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A BILL
To establish a program to support a transition to democracy in
Iran.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America
in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Iran Freedom and Support Act of
2004'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The people of the United States have long demonstrated an
interest in the well-being of the people of Iran, including
through the work of missionaries whose work in Iran dates back
to the 1830s.
(2) Famous Americans such as Howard Baskerville, Dr. Samuel
Martin, Jane E. Doolittle, and Louis G. Dreyfus, Jr., made
significant contributions to Iranian society by furthering the
educational opportunities of the people of Iran and improving
the opportunities of the less fortunate citizens of Iran.
(3)
Iran
served as a key ally of the
United States
following World War II and through the late 1970s serving as an
important regional ally and a key bulwark against Soviet
influence.
(4) In November 1979, following the arrival of Mohammed Reza
Shah Pahlavi in the
United States
, a mob of students and extremists seized the United States
Embassy in
Tehran
,
Iran
, holding
United States
diplomatic personnel hostage until January 1981.
(5) Following the seizure of the United States Embassy,
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the repressive
revolutionary movement in
Iran
, expressed support for the actions of the students in taking
American citizens hostage.
(6) Despite the historic victory of Mohammad Khatami in the
presidential election of May 1997, an election which Khatami won
with 69 percent of the vote and in which an estimated 91 percent
of the electorate participated, control of the internal and
external affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran is still
exercised by the courts in Iran and the Revolutionary Guards,
Supreme Leader, and Council of Guardians of the Government of
Iran.
(7) The election results of the May 1997 election and the high
level of voter participation in that election demonstrate that
the people of
Iran
favor economic and political reforms and greater interaction
with the
United States
and the Western world in general.
(8) Despite the election of President Khatami and the outreach
of the Clinton administration to ease sanctions and to promote
people-to-people exchanges, Leader of the Islamic Revolution
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Militant Clerics' Society, the
Islamic Coalition Organization, and Supporters of the Party of
God have all opposed efforts to open Iranian society to Western
influences and have opposed efforts to change the dynamic of
relations between the United States and Iran.
(9) For the past two decades, the Department of State has found
Iran
to be the leading sponsor of international terrorism in the
world.
(10) In 1983, the Iran-sponsored Hezbollah terrorist
organization conducted suicide terrorist operations against
United States
military and civilian personnel in
Beirut
,
Lebanon
, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Americans.
(11) Intelligence analysts and law enforcement personnel have
linked
Iran
to attacks against American military personnel at
Khobar
Towers
in
Saudi Arabia
in 1996 and to al Qaeda attacks against civilians in
Saudi Arabia
in 2004.
(12) Iran has provided a safe haven and a base of operations for
terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, Islamic Jihad, and Ansar
al Islam, and to terrorist leaders, including Abu Musab al
Zarkawi, Zayman al Zawahiri, and members of the bin Laden
family.
(13)
Iran
currently operates more than 10 radio and television stations
broadcasting in
Iraq
that support violent actions against
United States
and coalition personnel in
Iraq
.
(14) The current leaders of
Iran
, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Hashemi Rafsanjani, have repeatedly
called upon Muslims to kill Americans in
Iraq
and install a theocratic regime in
Iraq
.
(15) The
United States
intelligence community believes the Government of Iran is
pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons program.
(16) The Government of
Iran
has failed to meet repeated pledges to arrest and extradite
foreign terrorists in
Iran
.
(17) The United States Government believes that the Government
of Iran supports terrorists and extremist religious leaders in
Iraq
with the clear intention of subverting coalition efforts to
bring peace and democracy to
Iraq
.
(18) The Ministry of Defense of
Iran
confirmed in July 2003 that it had successfully conducted the
final test of the Shahab-3 missile, giving
Iran
an operational intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of
striking both
Israel
and
United States
troops throughout the Middle East and
Afghanistan
.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD
IRAN
.
It is the sense of Congress that it should be the policy of the
United States
to support regime change for the Islamic Republic of Iran and to
promote the transition to a democratic government to replace
that regime.
SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY IN
IRAN
.
(a) IN GENERAL- The President is authorized to provide
assistance to foreign and domestic pro-democracy groups opposed
to the non-democratic Government of Iran, including the award of
grants to qualified pro-democracy radio and television
broadcasting organizations.
(b) ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE- Financial assistance may only be
provided under this section to individuals, organizations, or
entities that have--
(1) officially renounced the use of terrorism;
(2) pledged to adhere to nonproliferation regimes for nuclear,
chemical, and biological weapons and materiel;
(3) pledged to support the destruction of all prohibited
stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in Iran; and
(4) supported the adoption of a democratic form of government in
Iran.
(c) POLITICAL ASSISTANCE-
(1) IN GENERAL- The President is authorized to provide
assistance to support foreign and domestic pro-democracy groups
opposed to the non-democratic Government of Iran that--
(A) are dedicated to democratic values;
(B) show a commitment to human rights, equality of women, and
freedom of religious worship;
(C) demonstrate a commitment to fostering equality of
opportunity; and
(D) support freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom
of association.
(2) FUNDING- The President may provide assistance under
paragraph (1) using--
(A) funds available to the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI)
and National Endowment for Democracy (NED); and
(B) amounts authorized to be appropriated under subsection (g).
(d) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT- The President shall notify the
Committees on Foreign Relations and Appropriations of the Senate
and the Committees on International Relations and Appropriations
of the House of Representatives at least 15 days in advance of
each obligation of assistance under this section in accordance
with the procedures under section 634A of the Foreign Assistance
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2394-l).
(e) COORDINATION OF POLICY- In order to ensure maximum
coordination among Federal agencies, the President shall appoint
a senior member of the National Security Council as special
assistant to the President on
Iran
matters.
(f) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON DIPLOMATIC ASSISTANCE- It is the sense
of Congress that--
(1) contacts should be expanded with opposition groups in Iran
that meet the criteria under subsection (b);
(2) support for transition to democracy in Iran should be
expressed by United States representatives and officials in all
appropriate international fora;
(3) official meetings with representatives of the Government of
Iran should be terminated;
(4) efforts to bring a halt to the nuclear weapons program of
Iran, including steps to end the supply of nuclear components or
fuel to Iran, should be intensified, with particular attention
focused on the cooperation of the Government of Russia with that
nuclear weapons program; and
(5) officials and representatives of the United States
Government should strongly and unequivocally support indigenous
efforts in Iran to call for a national referendum on the form of
government in Iran, including drawing international attention to
the violations by the Government of Iran of human rights,
freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the
press.
(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Department of State $10,000,000 to carry out
activities under this section.
SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF DEMOCRATIC OPPOSITION ORGANIZATIONS.
(a) INITIAL DESIGNATION- It is the sense of Congress that, not
later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the President should designate at least one democratic
opposition organization as eligible to receive assistance under
section 4.
(b) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT- At least 15 days before
designating a democratic opposition organization as eligible to
receive assistance under section 4, the President shall notify
the Committees on Foreign Relations and Appropriations of the
Senate and the Committees on International Relations and
Appropriations of the House of Representatives of the proposed
designation.
SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize or otherwise
approve of the use of the Armed Forces of the
United States
in carrying out activities under this Act.
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