S.Amdt. 2433

SA 2433. Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. Cornyn, and Mr. Lankford)
submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2282
submitted by Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Mr. McCain) and intended to be
proposed to the bill H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for fiscal
year 2019 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for
military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of
Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year,
and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:

At the end of title XII, add the following:

Subtitle H--Support for the People of Iran

SEC. 1281. SHORT TITLE.

This subtitle may be cited as the ``Continued Support for
the Iranian People Act of 2018''.

SEC. 1282. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The protests that began on December 28, 2017, in Iran
(in this subtitle referred to as ``the protests'') were
instigated and supported by a diverse demographic of Iranian
citizens, especially including the poor and economically
disenfranchised populations across the country, located in
both rural and urban areas.
(2) Rather than invest in the legitimate economy and future
of the Iranian people, the Government of Iran budgeted
billions of dollars to continue supporting illegitimate armed
groups and terrorists in the region, primarily through its
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
(3) The Government of Iran has arrested at least 4,500
individuals for participating in the protests, at least 490
of whom remain in custody, according to news reports.
(4) According to Reuters, Iranian Deputy Interior Minister
Hossein Zolfaghari stated on January 1, 2018, that ``more
than 90 percent of the people arrested in these unrests were
young people and teenagers under the age of 25 and virtually
none of them have any arrest history''.
(5) On January 8, 2018, Hamid Shahriari, deputy head of the
Government of Iran's judiciary, said that ``those who
organized and led the unrest against the establishment can
expect the maximum penalty,'' according to the Iranian
Students News Agency (ISNA), as reported by Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty.
(6) Three detained prisoners were reported to have
``committed suicide'' in Iranian prisons since their
incarceration, including Iranian-Canadian academic Kavous
Seyed-Emami.
(7) The Iranian Security Forces have killed over 20
individuals during the protests, including 13-year-old Armin
Sadeghi.
(8) The Government of Iran has consistently blocked
Internet access and use of communications applications like
Telegram and Instagram. As of January 31, 2018, protests
continue throughout Iran, with demonstrations in the city of
Ahvaz on January 23, 2018, and four more cities in the days
since.

SEC. 1283. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

Congress--
(1) strongly condemns the Government of Iran for its human
rights violations against the people of Iran during and in
the wake of the protests;
(2) urges the President to continue to publicly--
(A) condemn the Government of Iran for its human rights
abuses against the Iranian people; and
(B) support the human rights, economic prosperity, and
democratic aspirations of the Iranian people;
(3) reaffirms the right of the people of Iran to the
freedom of speech and assembly in the face of oppression
perpetrated by the Government of Iran; and
(4) supports the right of the people of Iran to a
democratic system of governance.

SEC. 1284. STATEMENT OF UNITED STATES POLICY.

It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to condemn the Government of Iran's violations of its
citizens' human rights, freedom of religious expression, and
freedom of speech, including state-sanctioned violence
against peaceful protestors;
(2) to support, through appropriate actions and official
public statements, the people of Iran in their fight for
freedom and prosperity; and
(3) to work with international allies and partners to
monitor and effectively respond to the protests in Iran in a
manner that supports the human rights and democratic
aspirations of the people of Iran and deters the Government
of Iran from committing continued acts of oppression and
persecution against its citizens.

SEC. 1285. REQUIREMENTS.

(a) Use of Social Media.--
(1) Strategy.--The Secretary of State, in consultation with
the Secretary of Commerce and the Office of the Director of
National Intelligence, shall work with relevant social media
and telecommunications companies, Internet service providers,
and expert public stakeholders, as appropriate, to develop a
strategy consisting of potential government and private
sector actions and best practices for preventing the
Government of Iran from shutting down Internet access and
blocking access to social media applications.
(2) Report required.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an
unclassified report, which may contain a classified annex,
containing the strategy described in paragraph (1).
(b) Modification of Annual Human Rights Report.--
(1) Report required.--As part of the first Annual Country
Report on Human Rights submitted after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State and the
Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with other
appropriate Federal agencies, shall include an unclassified
report documenting the actions of the Government of Iran, the
Iranian Revolutionary Court, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard
Corps, and their proxies in response to the protests that
began on December 28, 2017.
(2) Elements.--The report required under paragraph (1)
shall include--
(A) an appendix detailing the circumstances of the
incarcerations undertaken by the Government of Iran during
this period and the treatment of prisoners; and
(B) an appendix, which may contain a classified annex,
detailing the sources and mechanisms used by the Government
of Iran, the IRGC, and its proxies to fund its actions in
response to the protests.
(3) Required briefing.--Not later than 60 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act and upon publication of the
report described in paragraph (1), the Secretary of State and
the Secretary of the Treasury shall brief, in an unclassified
and classified format, if necessary, the appropriate
congressional committees on the information required by the
report described in paragraph (1).

SEC. 1286. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED.

In this subtitle, the term ``appropriate congressional
committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on
Energy and Commerce, and the Committee on Appropriations of
the House of Representatives.
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