Expressing Sense of House Regarding Anniversary of Disputed Iraninan Elections

Floor Speech

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Mr. COSTA. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution today, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

House Resolution 1457 expresses the sense of the House of Representatives on the 1-year anniversary of the Government of Iran's manipulation of the Iranian elections, the continued denial of human rights, and their continued pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability. And I would like to thank my friend, Congressman Judge Poe of Texas, for joining me in the introduction of this important resolution.

Madam Speaker, just over a year ago, on June 12, 2009, the world watched as Iran's rulers manipulated and stole an election for their chosen candidate, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Thousands of Iranians took to the streets following that sham presidential election that had been orchestrated for the regime. Following that, we all know what happened. So we speak in this resolution on the anniversary of that disputed election result because I believe, and those who are supporting this resolution believe, that Congress must reaffirm its commitment to supporting democracy and freedom around the world, including in Iran.

We know that as the street protest continued against the fraudulent election and it intensified, the Government of Iran, its riot police, and members of the Revolutionary Guard Corps engaged in a brutal crackdown on the Iranian people. Sadly, many Iranians were injured, imprisoned, or killed.

Human rights in Iran, we know, have deteriorated precipitously over the years since the first election of President Ahmadinejad. But since that disputed presidential election last year, Iran's slide into what is clearly a brutal dictatorship has sharply accelerated. Iran's Revolutionary Guard, its militia, and its police arbitrarily arrest thousands of peaceful protesters and dissidents, including students, women's rights activists, lawyers, and journalists, in a clear effort to intimidate their critics and stifle dissent. This regime obviously cannot withstand these critics.

But as champions of freedom and democracy, the United States must, must condemn these abuses of this Iranian regime whenever possible as we witness such actions around the world. It is in our Constitution, and it is one of the reasons why we still remain a beacon of light around the world as we stand up for human rights, human rights that have sadly been abused in Iran by this regime.

But it's not just in our Constitution. In the Koran it states: Help one another in a righteousness and goodness way. Help not one another when in sin and aggression.

Clearly, this despotic regime in Iran is engaged in full-time sin and aggression of its own people. But this quote, of course, is from the Koran, which is the book of the major religion of the people of Iran. Yet they violate their own faith in this way.

Madam Speaker, the people of the United States stand behind the people of Iran, who simply want to live their lives in peace and freedom, free of the brutal oppression of their government. Let us be clear: At the end of the day, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is nothing more than a bully and a dictator. His regime uses every tactic they can to subdue and terrorize their own people.

And we need to recognize this phony regime for what it is. It's a killer of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of press. And I believe that when history is written, that the record of this terrorism regime in the 21st century will compare, sadly, to those same brutal dictatorships that we witnessed in the 20th century. I am talking about Hitler, Stalin, Tojo, and Mussolini. That is the level of despotic dictatorship that we are witnessing today in Iran.

So, therefore, this resolution before us confirms Congress's support for all Iranian citizens who struggle for freedom, human rights, and civil liberties. It condemns the ongoing violence and human rights abuses against the people of Iran by their government, and it urges immediate release of all political prisoners detained by this regime.

House Resolution 1457 also calls for freedom and democracy for the people of Iran, including fair, democratic, and independent elections, unlike the ones that were held a year ago. Finally, this resolution condemns the Government of Iran's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons capability and a ballistic missiles program, for clearly we know what they are intended for.

This is especially timely, Madam Speaker, since later this week the House is expected to vote on the conference committee report H.R. 2194. We hope by the end of this week, certainly by next week. The Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 is an important measure. I am proud to be a conferee on the conference committee. This piece of legislation represents, I think, a monumental step toward our fight against Iran's nuclear proliferation. These sanctions reinforce and go far beyond the enacted United Nations sanctions aimed at persuading Iran to change its conduct that was voted on over a week ago.

These tough new petroleum and financial sanctions will restrict the ability of Iran's regime and its thugs to continue their nuclear aspirations and their oppression of the Iranian people. The legislation also increases penalties for sanction violations and bolsters the U.S. trade embargo against Iran. These sanctions will send a strong signal that our Nation will not stand for the escalation of this regime's aims at a nuclear arms program, especially with violent threats against our strategic ally Israel, and the threat of that ally and its impact throughout the regions of Europe and Southeast Asia, along with the Middle East.

Clearly, their medium-range missiles are capable of reaching all of those countries within that area, and, therefore, we stand with Israel and our allies. These sanctions are a powerful step forward. We must continue to take all necessary actions and to keep every option on the table to prevent nuclear arms races in that region.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this important resolution and to send a strong message to Iran and the entire world that America will not stand by while these human rights abuses continue and they continue to pursue nuclear weapons capabilities.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. COSTA. Madam Speaker, I, too, want to thank my friend and colleague, the gentlewoman from Florida, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, for her strong bipartisan comments on a resolution that there is strong bipartisan support for, as witnessed by the statements here this afternoon.

Make no mistake about it, Madam Speaker, and to those who are listening. This resolution is about human rights violations in Iran. This resolution is about the despotic, sham regime that is currently governing in Iran that is oppressing the people of that country. This resolution speaks to the higher values and goals that are enshrined in our country's Constitution and Bill of Rights, those freedoms that we hold most dear, that are at the end of the day the basis for all human rights, not just in our country but throughout the world.

Therefore, today, the Congress must speak to these human rights violations that are existing in Iran. Today, the Congress must voice its opinion on the despotic rule of this regime, and by passing this resolution in a bipartisan fashion, we will not only put the House of Representatives firmly on record as to the year anniversary of the sham election that took place in Iran, but we will also reiterate our strong support for sanctions against this country that, in fact, is violating these human rights and that is turning its back on the rest of the world.

Make no mistake about it. The Iranian Government today, not its people but the Iranian Government today, is, in my view, the largest concern not only in the Middle East but throughout the world in terms of achieving peace that we all hold most dear. The goals of peace in the Middle East and throughout the world are at greatest risk by the actions and the activities and the supports of terrorist activities by this Iranian regime, whether it be to Hezbollah, whether it be to Hamas, or whether it be to other terrorist groups that it supports in so many different ways because they know at the end of the day they cannot support the family of nations throughout the world in expressing freedoms that we hold most dear.

So I ask my colleagues to support this bipartisan resolution.

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