Commending the Bravery, Courage, and Resolve of the Women and Men of Iran Demonstrating in More Than 133 Cities and Risking Their Safety to Speak Out Against the Iranian Regime's Human Rights Abuses

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution. Let me first thank Representative Tenney and former Representative Malinowski for their hard work on this bill. We wanted so much to get it done in the last Congress, but it is important that it is one of the first things that we get done in the 118th Congress.

Mr. Speaker, last year, the world held their breath as Iranian women took to the streets protesting the devastating murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic's strict dress code. The world thought maybe, just maybe, the regime would be ushered by their own people into the dustbin of history.

The protests quickly escalated into calls for the overthrow of Iran's theocracy and posed one of the most serious challenges to the ruling clerics since the 1979 revolution that brought them to power.

Although today the protests have slowed some, and the regime remains firmly in place, something has changed. The Iranian people have a new understanding of their power. Despite bullets, despite arrests and the threat of execution, they have persisted. Cracks have been formed within the Iranian leadership elite.

The regime is not willing to meet the people's demands, and the people are not willing to accept the status quo forever. This is going to be a long, drawn-out domestic conflict.

The Supreme Leader is a corrupt old man who has stolen from and killed his own people for decades. The Iranian people know it. The Iranian President has not delivered on any of his promises and has left the Iranian economy in tatters through mismanagement, corruption, and international pressure. And guess what? The Iranian people know it.

It will not be instant, and it will not be easy, but change will come. Brighter days await the Iranian people.

The Iranian people, and also this regime know, it is only a matter of time. This resolution commends the bravery, the courage, and the resolve of the women and men of Iran who have participated in the protests to defend their human rights, their dignity, at the risk of their own safety to speak out against the horrific abuses committed by the Iranian regime.

It asks the Biden administration to continue its important work to support the people of Iran, as well as encourages the private sector to do even more to help Iranians to communicate with one another in a safe manner.

Also, this resolution before us today sends a clear message to the Iranian people that we in the United States Congress and the millions of Americans that we represent stand with them in their time of struggle for freedom. We want the Iranian people to know that we see you. We know the risk you are taking and the danger that you face. Stay strong. Stay strong, as freedom will always win over tyranny.

Mr. Speaker, we want the Iranian people to hear our voices. We want the world to hear our voices that the United States of America, in a bipartisan way--I know it is bicameral--and people all across this country stand with those brave people.

It reminds me of struggles of others when they had to fight for their freedom in the streets. Freedom will come in the morning because the voices of the people cannot be deterred.
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Mr. MEEKS. Manning).

Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to point out that this is a bipartisan bill in which we are working together. Just last week, the Biden administration hit Iran with fresh new sanctions.

Not only did he do that individually, as he has been doing throughout the world, but he is bringing others together so that we can speak with one voice. Of course, the European Union was a part of it. Of course, he brought along other countries so that the world is speaking with one voice, collectively, keeping us together.

As things go on, we are continually ratcheting it up so that the people of Iran can get their freedom. In fact, the only thing that was somewhat changed and was done in this bill is where it encouraged the private sector, following the recent clarification by the Biden administration of sanction exemptions or communication technology, to work with the Biden administration to ensure protesters and activists have access to tools needed to circumvent government surveillance and repression.

The only thing that was eased some, so that we can make sure we are communicating and allowing the Iranian people to communicate with others as they protest, is what is in this bill. I think, in a bipartisan way, we agree with that.

Jackson Lee).

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member and I thank Ms. Tenney for her leadership on this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the name of Iranian freedom. Freedom now for Iran and the Iranian people.

This legislation is brave, as it speaks clearly in a clear tone without fear for the courageous persons who have gone to the streets, not regarding their life or the lives of their families. I call them brave, courageous, resolved freedom fighters, fighting for their very life.

This legislation is absolutely necessary, and it is, of course, bipartisan. I thank Mr. Meeks for indicating the strength of the Biden administration and the sanctions that have been offered, and the manner in which the Biden administration, Democrats, and Republicans have said to Iran: No nonsense. No nonsense, and certainly no nuclear capacity.

Anything that we have to do to ensure that that does not happen should not be tabled. But what should be tabled is the unbelievable brutal fighting and killing that has occurred against freedom-loving people.

I have been a longtime fighter with the people of Iran who are here in the United States. Iranian Americans have taken to the streets to be able to say: No more.

We will stand with our brothers and sisters in Iran.

I have seen the various attacks that have resulted in mass killings. I have seen the fight in Camp Ashraf in Iraq where there has been a large loss of life of people who have been fighting for freedom. I went to the camp to see the devastation.

I have supported plans for democracy in Iran. I understand that they need us to stand by them.

What a horrible and brutal scene that we have seen: children falling dead, mothers, brothers, fathers, and uncles.

What about Mahsa Amini?

She was just 22 years old, wanting her life to be before her, seeking democracy and freedom. She was a young, bright woman with courage that was taken away viciously in an ugly attempt to show how domineering this regime is. In the course of taking her away, her life was snuffed out.

We don't know her last hours, last days, last minutes, or last seconds. We don't know how brutal it might have been, how she might have cried out for someone to be able to be empathetic and sympathetic, someone to understand that her life deserved an opportunity to live, and yet this brutal regime continues to be without concern for anything that it does.

I want to say to all of the Iranian women, men, and children protesters who are leading the fight, I say loudly and clearly that we are standing with you.

I support this legislation entirely, and I want to continue the U.S.- Iran friendship with those people who are fighting for freedom.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me conclude my remarks by saying I support Iranian women struggling against dictatorship.

Let me continue to say that I want this relationship between the U.S. and Iran to continue with the Iranian people who are fighting for democracy. I believe it is important that this legislation pass to show that America is a champion for global democracy.

I would like to also indicate that I look forward to organizing the Iranian women's struggle against dictators congressional caucus, and I hope there will be many who will join us. Let us keep our voices alive.

I rise again to support H. Con. Res. 7. I thank the gentleman from New York for his leadership, and I thank the sponsors of this legislation for their leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 7, a resolution that commends the bravery, courage, and resolve of the women and men of Iran protesting and speaking out against the Iranian Regime's human rights abuses.

As a long-time advocate and fighter for justice and equality, I am inspired by the millions of Iranians that are putting their lives on the line day after day in hopes that one day they will live in a country that values justice, freedom, and the rule of law.

The U.S. Department of State cites Iran for a wide range of human rights violations; among them injustices such as arbitrary arrest, torture, and unjust executions.

I remember the attack on Iranian refugees at Camp Ashraf by Iraqi soldiers on April 3, 2011.

Camp Ashraf was the home to more than 3,000 members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), an opposition group against the Iranian regime.

I went to Camp Ashraf in solidarity and support of the democracy and freedom loving Iranian people and that support continues to this day.

In July 2019, I penned a letter to President Maryam Rajavi to commemorate the occasion of the Annual Gathering for a Free Iran and to extend my heartfelt congratulations on her election.

I expressed my support for her 10-Point Plan for the future of Iran, which ensures freedom of parties and assembly, an abolition of the death penalty, a separation of church and state, gender equality and several other promising policy positions that will thrust Iran into the future.

Under President Maryam Rajavi's leadership, women have risen to hold pivotal positions in the Iranian Resistance.

Iranian women will be the engine for change in Iran.

The uprising in Iran started with the murder of Mahsa Amini, a 22- year-old woman arrested by morality police in Tehran on September 13, 2022, for allegedly violating Iran's strict rules requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf.

Since the day of Mahsa Amini's funeral, women, men, and children have taken to the streets, risking their lives for a free and democratic Iran.

It is estimated that since the start of the protests in September, over 500 protesters have been killed, and thousands more arrested.

To all the Iranian women, men, children, and protestors who are leading the fight, I say loud and clear that I stand with you. America stands with you.

I am proud to support the women of Iran, the youth, and the brave men and women who are struggling to make these freedoms possible for the people of their nation.

Let us continue to foster U.S.-Iran friendship and collaboration as we work together to advance the universal rights of all humans, including basic respect for human rights and the rule of law.

The mountaintop of justice for women, for men, for children and for all Iran is on the horizon.

I will always champion global democracy, stand against human rights violations, and never shy away from speaking truth to power in the presence of oppression.

That is why I encourage my colleagues to work toward putting human rights at the center of America's diplomacy by supporting H. Con. Res. 7.

Together, we will put an end to the indiscriminate violation of human rights in Iran.

Mr. TORRES of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution.

Iran is the leading aggressor in the Middle East, the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world, and a longstanding oppressor of its own people.

The Iranian regime, which has repressed far too many for far too long, has been shaken to the core by a revolution led by powerful women. The women in Iran who are risking their lives in confronting a monstrous and murderous regime are among the most courageous freedom fighters in the world.

The United States must stand unequivocally with our Iranian sisters in their fearless fight for freedom.

On September 13, 2021, Mahsa Amini was brutally beaten to death by Iran's Orwellian morality police merely for not wearing a head covering. Out of the tragedy of Mahsa's murder came a spontaneous groundswell of thousands of Iranian women rising up for their freedom, some removing their head coverings and cutting their hair as a poignant form of protest.

The revolution reminds us that the future of Iran does not belong to a regime whose malevolence and obsolescence have become too glaring to ignore.

Iran's future belongs to its people led by its fearless formidable female freedom fighters. The vision of a free and democratic Iran is an unrealized dream whose time has come and whose realization is long overdue.

Mr. Speaker, H. Con. Res. 7 commends the brave people--the brave Iranian freedom fighters--for their fight against the brutal Iranian regime and demonstrates that the United States' commitment is with them, standing with the men and women of Iran.

In the face of so many human rights abuses, the Iranian people have remained strong.

I say to our Iranian friends: Though change won't happen overnight, continue to stand strong because the time of this regime will soon be up.

The international community recognizes--and that is us pulling together, all of the people of the United States and the international community around the world--the bravery and the strength of the Iranian people in the fight for their human rights, for their freedom from tyranny, and for a better tomorrow.

We have got to keep our voices.

Dr. King once said that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

We have got to stand together, and that is what this resolution does. It puts the regime on notice that its people are on the march because freedom cannot be denied.

So, Mr. Speaker, I am sure that there will be a resounding voice by this United States Congress by passing this bill to say to the Iranian people who put everything on the line that we hear you, we see you, and we stand with you until you get your freedom.

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