Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Mr. RUBIO. Madam President, I stand here to talk about the case of an abuse of another kind than we are currently speaking of with regard to China and its currency manipulation. Youcef Nadarkhani was arrested in October of 2009 in Iran. I will read the charges against him, pursuant to a document signed by two judges, and I will say their names because I think one day they will be held accountable: Morteza Fazel and Azizoallah Razaghi. I think I got the pronunciation right. Here is what the document says, as reflected in a news article: ``Mr. Youcef Nadarkhani, son of Byrom, 32 years old, married, born in Rasht in the state of Gilan, is convicted of turning his back on Islam, the greatest religion the prophesy of Mohammad at the age of 19,'' the document states.

The article goes on to say:

He has often participated in Christian worship and organized home church services, evangelizing and has been baptized and baptized others, converting Muslims to Christianity. He has been accused of breaking Islamic Law that from puberty ..... until the age of 19 the year 1996, he was raised a Muslim in a Muslim home. During court trials, he denied the prophecy of Mohammad and the authority of Islam. He has stated that he is a Christian and no longer Muslim. During many sessions in court with the presence of his attorney and a judge, he has been sentenced to execution by hanging.

He was sentenced to hanging for this alleged crime, and that is what he has been convicted for. That conviction was upheld by an appeals court in Gilan in September 2010.

In July, the Supreme Court of Iran overturned the death sentence. Again, this is according to media reports. They did not overturn the conviction, just the death sentence, and sent the case back to his hometown of Rasht. Here is what has happened since it has gone back to his hometown.

The deputy governor of that province says, while he is guilty of apostasy, that is not why he was sentenced to death. They have come up with some new charges. They say he is a security threat--in particular he is an extortionist and, they claim, he is a rapist.

By the way, they had never said this before until the case came back to them.

By the way, he is also a Zionist, which in and of itself, according to them, is punishable by death in Iran. That is where the case stands today.

There have been reports time and again about what has been happening in Iran with this case. His lawyers have now been publicly saying they expect to know by Saturday whether their client will be executed in Iran, quite frankly for the crime of not just being a Christian but of converting others to Christianity.

Obviously, this is an outrage. I am glad to see that the voices from this government and from all over the world have expressed themselves against it. But I think it is important for us to express ourselves against it for another reason. This is a time when Americans in this Nation have increasingly been asked to turn to international bodies to resolve disputes. Let's visit that for a moment because we have international bodies and we have international conventions that Iran has signed--particularly two. One is the Declaration of Human Rights. They signed it in 1948. The other is the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights. They signed that in 1966. Any nation that signed on to these covenants--any action like this in the courts of your country are unconscionable, illegal. They violate these agreements.

I hope we will see some action on the part of the United Nations and nations such as Russia and China, for example. Of course it would be difficult for China to speak out against oppressing religious minorities when they do that quite often in that country as well. But that being said, we are interested in seeing where some of these countries will be on this matter. We are obviously very encouraged that the European Union has spoken about this matter. We would like to see some of these other countries step up. We would like to see the United Nations take a break from figuring ways to sanction and take on Israel and maybe focus a little bit on these sorts of things, where people are facing a hangman's noose because of their religion.

By the way, in Iran this sort of thing is not just happening to Christians. Not only Christians feel oppressed, but non-Shiite Muslims experience great oppression.

But here is the greater point. Beyond this outrage, let me say I encourage everyone to pray tonight for the safety of Youcef Nadarkhani and his family. We hope this will resolve itself. We hope, in that nation and in that Government of Iran, there are reasonable people who realize what an outrage, what an atrocity, what a human rights violation, what a crime it would be for this man not just to be sentenced to death but even to be in jail.

We should be sorry for the people in Iran. It is hard to believe that the vast majority of people in that country agree with us. In fact, they look at their government and say: You are isolating us from the world.

If the people of Iran want to know what it is that is isolating them from progress in this 21st century, they need to look no further than Tehran and the people running that government. It is sad because I think, going back to 2009, the evidence is there that especially young people in that country just want to have normal lives and live in a normal country. Instead, their country is being run by individuals who think this sort of thing is OK.

By the way, I also point out to leaders in places such as Venezuela and other nations of Latin America who so warmly welcome leaders from Iran when they visit that this is whom you are doing business with. I encourage those people in Latin America to turn to their leaders and ask them: Why do we have a relationship with people like this? Why are people like this being invited to come into our countries and do business with us and tour our streets as heroes?

This is who they are. Forget the rhetoric, put everything aside, if you want to know what the leadership and Government of Iran is about, it is about this. This is who they are. I can think of no other case before us today with regard to Iran that more clearly outlines the monsters we are dealing with within that government than this case I have outlined.

I believe there is a broader conversation to be had about what Iran means. There is a lot going on in the world, but what is happening in Iran is important, and Iran's neighbors know it. Whether they will admit it publicly, Iran's neighbors know what a danger that government and its vision for the region and the world poses.

But I think this case is one we should all speak out about. The eyes of the world should be turned to this case. It is an absolute outrage, and there is no way in the world we should stand by and allow anyone to be silenced or anyone to be silent, particularly our allies around the world and other countries and members of the so-called international community. It is time to step to the plate and condemn these acts because Youcef Nadarkhani should not--not only should he not be facing a death sentence, he should not even be in jail.

I yield the floor.

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