Supporting the rights of the people of Iran to free expression, condemning the Iranian regime for its crackdown on legitimate protests, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bishop).

Paying Tribute to Two Oakland County Sheriff's Deputies

Mr. Speaker, 39 years ago, a collective nightmare was foisted

upon the people of the nation of Iran, and so when roughly 2 weeks ago, while on recess, I became aware of the courage manifest in the action of the Iranian people in standing up to a brutal totalitarian regime, I immediately contacted our office and suggested that we secure this Special Order hour, and reached out to a number of my colleagues, several of whom join me today, to speak loudly and clearly on behalf of the United States and the nearly 6 million people represented by myself and the individuals who will speak here today in support of those who would stand up and risk their very existence for those most basic human rights, which we as Americans take, tragically, for granted.

As I stand in this well, Mr. Speaker, in cities that the bulk of Americans have never heard of, in Isfahan and Karaj and Tabriz and Mashhad and Tehran, indeed, tens of thousands stand in the face of a regime with a record of destroying not only freedom but life itself in the instance of those who would stand up and demand freedom, stand up and demand basic human rights and dignity.

Mr. Speaker, to put this into perspective, if you were to take the population of the nation of Iran circa 1979 and compare it to the population of the United States circa 1941 and then align the numbers of Americans killed in combat during the entire Second World War, it would proportionally be roughly equal to the number of people who have given their lives at the hands of the brutal Iranian regime inside the borders of Iran. Think about that for a moment. Roughly 60,000 during the coup d'etat revolution in 1979, about 12,500 from 1981 to 1984, almost 33,000 during the 1988 uprising. We don't know how many were murdered in 2009, when this Nation stood silent as Iranians, brave, took to the streets to demand self-determination and toleration; that a regime should not be able to dictate how one worships, who one marries, what one believes; that people should be given basic rights to self- determination.

Today, we know very little about what is going on in Iran except for the brave women and men who are confronting challenges that we, by virtue of the fortune of our birth as Americans, will hopefully never have to confront. We know that roughly 50 have been murdered; we know that roughly 3,000 are imprisoned.

This time, I will not be silent. I have spoken with Iranian Americans of all different facets from a number of different groups. I ask these Iranian Americans, as well as those resisting within Iran and Iranians disbursed across the globe, to set aside their political differences and join together for the common goal of deposing a regime that murders its own sons and daughters to a tune that is comparable to the total number of American combat deaths during the Second World War. Enough is enough.

Today, I stand beside an image of Habib Khabiri. Habib was the former captain of the Iranian national soccer team. He and 40 others were executed in 1984 at the Evin Prison for having the temerity to criticize their government. He was 29 years old. The evidence indicates that he was tortured before he was executed.

In fact, again, as we stated earlier, over 12,000 people were executed by the Islamic Republic Security Forces just from 1981 to 1984.

Next is a young woman who tragically became something of an international folk hero for those who were paying attention, in that she had the temerity to stand and protest during the Green Revolution in 2009, suggesting that the Iranian people had a right to self- determination, when she was publicly, on film, murdered in the streets, 26 years old. The United States remained silent. The second of three children from a middle class neighborhood, she had the courage to stand up and point out injustice when she saw it, and paid with her life. Indeed, the protesters with whom she marched shouted, ``America, you are either with us or with the mullahs,'' and we did not respond.

Today, I am responding. This administration is responding.

The Iranians, with whom I have spoken across a diverse sect of opposition, do not want tanks and bombers and missiles, nor do I, having worn the uniform of this Nation, but while we can't rule out any particular alternatives, all they ask is a word of support; that when we act legislatively in this body and in the Chamber down the hallway, we have the follow-through to ensure that our actions are backed up; that unlike the 1990s, when the Iran Sanctions Act was passed, we don't let our so-called European allies turn a blind eye as their corporate entities continue to do business with the IRGC that uses the money generated through this business not only to murder their own citizens but to fund the likes of Hezbollah, and fast forward to current day, create instability, peril, death, and destruction literally across the entire region from the Mediterranean to the Khyber Pass.

There is no blind eye being turned this time.

Next we see Shekar Mohammadzadeh. A nurse, she was arrested, imprisoned, and tortured for rendering medical assistance to other Iranian brothers and sisters who were brutalized by the revolutionary guards in the streets of Iran. She was tortured viciously at Evin Prison, served a significant portion of a prison sentence, 7 of 15 years, before being executed along with nearly 33,000 others circa 1988.

Now, three names, three faces, three stories, probably 30 seconds to a minute on each. Let me put this into perspective, Mr. Speaker. If we were to take 5 minutes to show the pictures and speak briefly on every individual murdered by the mullah regime in Iran, we would be here for over a year going 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I don't stand here saber rattling, suggesting American military action. I stand here suggesting that what my Iranian-American friends and what people of Iranian dissent who are dissidents throughout the world have suggested to me is that if the American Government will stand up and say, ``We stand with you against these mullahs,'' that is the support that they need to continue the movement to see that there is a regime change, which leads to self-determination and democracy in Iran and the lifting of a dark cloud of terror from across the globe.

Don't believe me? I was born in 1972, and I have grown up with the perpetual mention of Hezbollah. There are those who think that Hezbollah is something that has been around for a long time, but I point out today that Hezbollah is actually younger than the mullah regime; that, in fact, the mullah regime created Hezbollah; and Hezbollah has the unique distinction of being one of a very few terrorist entities that has actually killed human beings on every single inhabited continent on planet Earth.

No trade with Iran, no money to the IRGC; no money to the IRGC, no money to Hezbollah; no money to Hezbollah, we have self-determination in Lebanon, we have less of an oppressive interference in Iraq, we have more stability in Syria, and we have freedom in Iran. Enough is enough.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for standing with me today, and I ask the American people and my colleagues to take the time to inform themselves about places like Isfahan and Karaj and Tabriz and Mashhad, and to think about the women and men who have the courage to walk through the threshold of a door of a home where, when they leave, they know full well they may very well not come back.

The time is now, the cause is just, the mullah regime must go. Enough is enough.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Curtis).

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho).

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus).

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Budd).

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from North Carolina (Mr. Budd) for his remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan) for his remarks.

Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert).

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert), who is my good friend, for speaking.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).

Mr. Speaker, I will conclude. If we were to spend 5 minutes on each of the individuals murdered by the Iranian regime since that regime took power some 39 years ago, we would be here 24/7 for over a year. If we were to name each country and spend 1 day where Iran and their proxies, such as Hezbollah, have taken human life, we would literally be here for months, 1 day per country.

Mr. Yoho articulated basic concepts of natural law, that people are endowed by their Creator with fundamental rights to include the right to life, the right to freedom, and the right to pursue happiness.

Mr. Duncan, Mr. Rothfus, and Mr. Rohrabacher spoke to the JCPOA, and the circumstances surrounding it, how our Nation turned its back on the multibillion-dollar criminal enterprise wholly subsidized by Iran that is Hezbollah, making a bad deal, ignoring trafficking of deadly narcotics throughout the world and, indeed, in our own country to get a worse deal.

I stand with my colleagues who renounce the JCPOA, and I would point out that it is my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, the broad bipartisan opposition to the JCPOA, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which I have referred to repeatedly, and only somewhat jokingly, as the ``Joint Comprehensive Piece of Something, JCPOS.''

But if you want to see the JCPOA go away, the best way to do that is to empower the people of Iran to empower themselves, and that is why I thank my colleagues, one and all, for standing with me here today to speak loudly and clearly. Mr. Speaker, it is my hope that people watching at home will take to social media where the youth of Iran have fomented this revolution, that hashtags such as #freeiran, #iranprotests and #iran will pick up steam, that the world can communicate with those who risk their very lives to assert their basic, fundamental, and Creator-granted rights of

life, liberty, and the right to pursue happiness by showing them that we support them.

Mr. Speaker, I would point out that Mr. Gohmert so articulately spoke to the role of Rouhani in Iran and the fawning Western media that speaks to his role as a moderate. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Rouhani, quite literally, represents the mullahs, and so, as such, that would be as if suggesting that Mr. Goering or Mr. Goebbels was a moderate Nazi. There is nothing moderate about the leadership of this regime.

So with this, I conclude: Americans have been killed by Iran or its proxies in this country, in Lebanon, in Iraq, in Kenya, and in Tanzania. People have given their lives at the hands of Iran in Australia, Argentina, Syria, Israel, Germany, the United Kingdom, in Tanzania, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. It is time for this to end. Enough is enough.

I would quote Edmund Burke: ``All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.''

This time we will not stand idly by. Enough is enough.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4744) to impose additional sanctions with respect to serious human rights abuses of the Government of Iran, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on H.R. 4744, currently under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, in January this body came together. It was a near unanimous vote to support the Iranian people, who were engaged in legitimate protests against a very oppressive regime. I want to thank Mr. Mike McCaul here, chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, and Mr. Eliot Engel, the ranking member of our Committee on Foreign Affairs, for their engagement in this issue.

At the time, we were witnessing tens of thousands of Iranians who had taken to the streets in the largest demonstration that we had seen since the Green Revolution of 2009. The protests, aimed at economic stagnation, aimed at widespread corruption--and people were talking about that all the time--aimed at the Revolutionary Guard Corps' control over that economy because they had nationalized, seized, so much of that economy. And quickly we saw that spread across Iran, as Persians sought to exercise the fundamental right of freedom of expression, as people across that country, of every ethnicity and every religion, began to speak out.

Many demonstrators shouted slogans aimed at Iran's costly support for Syria's Bashar al-Assad, if you recall, from reading the press accounts. And they attacked, they argued about the cost, the support that went to the terrorist groups such as Hezbollah. Predictably, the Iranian regime moved swiftly to quash the demonstrations and throttle social media.

More than 1,000 Iranians were jailed, dozens were killed. H. Res. 676 condemned this brutal violence back in January, called for targeted sanctions to hold the regime to account. But today we act to make good on that call, because the bill before us today, Chairman McCaul's H.R. 4744, requires the administration to determine whether senior Iranian officials should be sanctioned for human rights abuses. And it also requires determinations on whether Iranian businesses should be sanctioned for public corruption with respect to those who are involved in corruption. And it mandates sanctions on those officials responsible for Iran's wrongful, politically motivated jailing of U.S. citizens.

Mr. Speaker, for years the regime in Tehran has systematically beat down all opposition inside Iran. It regularly uses brutal tactics back in Iran, including torture and mass executions, as it seeks to export violence and radical ideology abroad as well. I think all of us can think back to that 1979 revolution and contemplate how much better Iran would have been had it not went off onto a path of becoming a rogue state.

As this legislation details, today the regime flagrantly disregards commitments it has made to respect the fundamental rights of the Iranian people. Many of us recall the barbaric mass executions carried out over a 4-month period in 1988. And I dare say, if you know any Persians, if you know people who escaped from Iran, you know that, during that period of time leading up to 1988, there were over 30,000 students and young professionals who lost their lives as a consequence.

We know that the political prisoners there went through a grueling experience, in Evin Prison and other prisons. Many were executed by hanging, many by firing squad. They refused to renounce their political affiliations, and that was the fate that was handed out to them.

And today the regime still persecutes ethnic and religious minority groups; such as, the Baha'i; Christians, of course; Sufi; Sunni; dissenting Shia Muslims. And we all remember the way the ayatollah brutally suppressed the peaceful political dissent during the Green Revolution, during which the previous administration remained embarrassingly silent, in my view. And many of us here on this floor today spoke up often at that time about that dissent during the Green Revolution, because I think this was a real opportunity missed by the United States.

So again, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman McCaul and I want to thank Ranking Member Engel for their leadership on this legislation. I am glad we have strong bipartisan support for this measure. Regardless of how one views the Iran nuclear agreement, it is critical that the United States and our allies continue to press Iran for its dangerous and threatening acts that fall outside of the JCPOA.

This is an area where officials from both the Trump and Obama administrations agree, and they agree for good reason here. Remember, this is the same regime that is holding American citizens, including one who is in very poor health, on sham charges in one of the largest ransom schemes, from my standpoint, that was ever devised.

This regime, of course, held its first American hostages in 1979, when it overran our U.S. Embassy. The regime's MO remains the same. It is far past time the regime faced consequences for its attacks on Iranians and Americans alike.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Ways and Means,

Washington, DC, April 13, 2018.

Hon. Edward R. Royce,

Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs,

Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman Royce: I am writing with respect to H.R.

4744, the ``Iran Human Rights and Hostage-Taking

Accountability Act,'' on which Ways and Means was granted an

additional referral.

As a result of your having consulted with us on provisions

in H.R. 4744 that fall within the Rule X jurisdiction of the

Committee on Ways and Means, I agree to waive formal

consideration of this bill so that it may move expeditiously

to the floor. The Committee on Ways and Means takes this

action with the mutual understanding that we do not waive any

jurisdiction over the subject matter contained in this or

similar legislation, and the Committee will be appropriately

consulted and involved as the bill or similar legislation

moves forward so that we may address any remaining issues

that fall within our jurisdiction. The Committee also

reserves the right to seek appointment of an appropriate

number of conferees to any House-Senate conference involving

this or similar legislation, and requests your support for

such request.

Finally, I would appreciate your response to this letter

confirming this understanding, and would ask that a copy of

our exchange of letters on this matter be included in the

Congressional Record during floor consideration of H.R. 4744.

Sincerely,

Kevin Brady,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul), chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and the author of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), who chairs the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

In closing, I would again like to thank my colleagues, Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Engel, for their bipartisan leadership to hold Iran accountable, to hold them accountable for their brutality: their brutality in the 1988 massacres, and their brutality in terms of the way they are treating their religious minorities today.

We know that Americans formerly imprisoned by Iran describe being subjected to electric shock and whippings. We have heard that before our committee. We have heard them say that they were denied medical care.

Today, U.S. citizens, such as Siamak and Baqer Namazi, Xiyue Wang, and U.S. permanent resident Nazar Zaka, are all sitting in Iranian jails on bogus accusations of collaborating with a hostile government for espionage. And U.S. citizen Robert Levinson is still missing, and that is more than 10 years after he disappeared in Iran. Our hearts go out to these victims and our hearts go out to their families as we renew our call for the immediate release of all U.S. citizens and permanent residents held in Iran.

With this legislation, we will impose tough sanctions on the regime. And we do that for its corruption, for its attacks on innocent Americans, and for its attacks on Iranians alike.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend, Mr. Garrett for yielding.

It is important that we discuss what has been going on in Iran. I recall I was on Active Duty in the United States Army back when President Carter stood by and basically encouraged the taking out of the Shah of Iran. No prince according to his own conduct, but he made a statement welcoming the Ayatollah Khomeini back to Iran as what he called him, I believe it was a man of peace. He could not have been more wrong.

There has been less peace because the Ayatollah Khomeini took over a state government, a national government, and a powerful military than any time since World War II. They have been the largest state sponsor of terrorism. They have, we have been told, probably provided most of the IEDs that have killed and maimed Americans fighting for freedom in the Middle East, especially in Iraq.

They have worked to stir up trouble all over the Middle East, north Africa, and have created massive mayhem, and they are looking to do even more. And with the $100 billion or more that President Obama sent to Iran, they have been able to make more IEDs to kill more Americans, create more havoc, and stir up more sentiment against the United States since that unconstitutional sending under a treaty that was never ratified was done by the last administration.

Some have blamed President Trump for the problems in Iran. That is a bit ridiculous. The problems are the radical Islamist leadership in Iran. In fact, the same people that would like to blame President Trump are some of the same ones who hailed the $100 billion sent under a treaty that was never ratified that would be used to kill innocent people around the world, including Americans.

The people of Iran are to be congratulated for saying: Enough is enough.

There is a great article from Commentary magazine titled: ``What the Iran Protests Have Already Achieved.''

Sohrab Ahmari says: ``More than 1,700 arrests and at least two dozen deaths later, the Tehran regime seems to have suppressed Iran's latest mass uprising. Scattered protests and skirmishes continue nationwide, according to the citizen-journalists who, braving regime violence, continued to post footage on social media. But for now, the demonstrations don't seem to be growing in numbers or frequency. Yet outside observers tempted to write off the movement should recall that the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Shah began decades earlier. There were lulls through the years, which tempted President Carter at one point to describe the Shah's Iran as an `island of stability' in the Middle East.

``Whatever the ultimate outcome, however, the protesters have already accomplished a great deal and shattered many myths in the West. Let's review their achievements:

``First, the Iran protests showed that the people are not rallying to the regime under the press of President Trump's hawkish rhetoric.''

``Far from being `swept up in a wave of nationalist fervor,' as The New York Times' Thomas Erdbrink reported a few weeks before the uprising, Iranians still detest their corrupt, repressive regime. As my colleague''--and this is the author, Mr. Ahmari, speaking--``Noah Rothman has noted on our podcasts, Americans have an almost religious conviction that world events revolve around the U.S. and specifically the White House. To be sure, America remains the most important Nation on the world stage. Yet the average Iranian doesn't wake up in the morning cursing Donald Trump for trying to undo the nuclear deal. More likely, he curses the fact that he can't even afford eggs to feed his children, and there are more proximate actors whom he blames for that: namely, the mullahs.

``Second, the uprising revealed, once and for all, that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has been no moderate, and that the reformer versus hardliner distinction is meaningless. Ever since he came to power, Rouhani has been the subject of adulation among members of the Western foreign policy establishment. The media attached the `moderate' and `reformer' labels to Rouhani on the night of his first election, in June 2013, and refused to remove them even as evidence mounted that he was no such thing. There was Rouhani's leading role in the violent repression of the 1999 student uprising; his support for the post-2009 crackdown; his long record of anti-American rhetoric (`the

beautiful cry of ``Death to America'' unites our nation'); his decidedly immoderate cabinet; his work overseeing Iran's campaign of assassinations targeting dissidents abroad; and much else of the kind.

``But now Iranians themselves are plainly telling the West that Rouhani is no moderate. Their slogans--`Not Gaza; Not Lebanon; My Life Only for Iran' and `Let Syria Be; Do Something for Me'--are a reminder that Tehran has continued to underwrite terror and bloodshed across the Middle East during the 4-plus years of Rouhani's Presidency. The people have also been chanting, `Reformists; Hardliners; the Whole Game is Over.' Let's hope the same realization soon dawns in Washington and Brussels.

``Third, the protesters put the lie to the Obama administration's claims about the 2015 nuclear deal. Remember when senior Obama officials reassured Americans that Iran would use the sanctions relief under Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to improve the lots of its people? Here is how Obama Treasury Secretary Jack Lew put it in an April 2015 address: `Many Americans, and many of our closest allies, are understandably concerned that Iran will use the money it receives as a result of sanctions relief to fund terrorism and support destabilizing proxies throughout the Middle East. We share those concerns, and we are committed to maintaining sanctions that address these activities, even after Iran takes the steps required to get relief from nuclear sanctions. But it is important to note that the connection between nuclear sanctions relief and Iran's other malign activities is complicated, and most of the money Iran receives from sanctions relief will not be used to support those activities.' ''

I would interject here he had absolutely, 100 percent, no basis for making such ridiculous statements.

``Two months later, Colin Kahl, a National Security Advisor to then- Vice President Joe Biden, told the Truman Center: `It is our assessment . . . that the Iranians are not going to spend the vast majority of the money on guns. Most of it will go to butter.' ''

I would insert here he had no basis whatsoever for making such statements.

The article said: ``Millions of jobless and impoverished Iranians now beg to differ. It turns out that the regime was happy to spend the JCPOA''--the Iran treaty that was never ratified--``funds on Hezbollah, Hamas, the Yemeni Houthis, and other nasties, even if that meant Iranians would go hungry. And those hungry people aren't mistaken about the roots of their hunger. Iran remains the world's top state sponsor of terror, according to the U.S. State Department. Deal opponents warned of this, only to be brushed aside by Obama and his media allies. The Trump administration now has an opportunity to correct course, by walking away from Obama's bad deal. The American people are under no obligation to finance Iran's terrorist statecraft.

``The mullahs would have no one to blame but themselves. The Iranian people, defeated but unbowed, are sure to have another day.''

So, Mr. Speaker, let me just add here: God bless President Donald J. Trump for recognizing the Iranian treaty for the horrible deal it was and is to peace in our time. He paid for war, he paid for terrorism, and it is time to stop it.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge support for my bill to hold the Iranian regime accountable for its continued human rights violations.

I introduced the Iran Human Rights and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act with Congressman Deutch, and I am grateful for Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel's support in this effort.

The Iranian regime continues to perpetrate gross human rights abuses against its own people. They continue to suppress and censor their people's calls for democratic reform. They recklessly use their nation's resources to expand their destabilizing influence and support of terrorism. They continue to engage in corrupt practices, and they continue to illegally detain and imprison our citizens without just cause. This is simply unacceptable.

Mr. Speaker, this bill serves as a clear signal to the people of Iran that we support their quest for freedom. It shines a light on the regime's human rights violations and targets Iranian officials guilty of corruption, censorship, and the diversion of goods intended for the Iranian people. It requires the President to work with our international partners to develop a strategy to end this inhumane behavior and sanctions those officials complicit in those crimes. Finally, it sanctions those individuals who take Americans hostage.

Mr. Speaker, today, there are more than six American citizens and permanent U.S. residents held by the Iranian regime in a shameful attempt to use innocent human lives as political bargaining chips. These hostages include: Bob Levinson, Congressman Deutch's constituent, who has been missing since 2007 and remains America's longest held hostage; Siamak Namazi and his 81-year-old father, Baquer, held since 2015 and 2016, respectively; Ph.D. student, Xiyue Wang, held since 2017; internet freedom activist, Nizar Zakka, held since 2016; and others.

The United States has a moral responsibility to devote resources to these hostages and make their return a priority. I sent a letter with Congressman Lieu and 46 other Members of Congress requesting that the administration keep Congress informed as to what steps they are taking to guarantee this happens.

So, again, I thank the chairman and ranking member, Congressman Deutch, for their leadership on this bipartisan effort to hold Iran accountable.

Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the letter dated April 23, 2018.

Congress of the United States,

Washington, DC, April 23, 2018.

Hon. John J. Sullivan,

Acting Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State,

Washington, DC.

Dear Acting Secretary Sullivan: We write to request

information regarding the Administration's efforts to secure

the release of American citizens and permanent U.S. residents

held hostage by the government of Iran.

As you know, Iran has a long history of unjustly holding

hostages in violation of international law dating back to

1979. Over the years, the Iranian regime has arrested dozens

of foreigners on spurious charges and convicted them in sham

trials held in secretive courts. Many of the detained

American citizens and permanent residents are also held in

deplorable conditions, where they experience severe health

and psychological issues.

Today, there are more than six American citizens and

permanent U.S. residents held by the Iranian regime in a

shameful attempt to use innocent human lives as political

bargaining chips. These hostages include Bob Levinson, who

has been missing since 2007 and remains America's longest-

held hostage; Siamak Namazi and his 81-year-old father

Baquer, held since 2015 and 2016, respectively; PhD student

Xiyue Wang, held since 2016; internet freedom activist Nizar

Zakka, held since 2016; and others. The United States has a

moral responsibility to devote resources to these hostages

and make their return a priority.

This past month, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed

H.R. 4744, the Iran Human Rights and Hostage-Taking

Accountability Act, to increase U.S. leverage by levying new

sanctions on those responsible for detaining U.S. citizens or

legal permanent respondents in Iran. But more sticks must be

complemented with a coordinated diplomatic effort with our

allies.

According to media reports, the State Department has

increased efforts in recent months to secure the release of

these hostages, including outreach to the Iranian regime in

December 2017 that has gone unanswered. On April 6, 2018, the

Department outlined efforts that have been undertaken in a

report to Congress pursuant to Section 110 of the Countering

America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. We request that

the Department provide some additional details to Congress.

Specifically, please provide answers to the following

questions in either written responses or a briefing:

1. How has Iran responded to the various lines of effort

made by the U.S., as detailed in the April 6 report to

Congress, to raise the detention cases?

2. According to a June 20, 2017, article from the

Washington Post, two senior officials from the Trump

administration stated a range of options were being

considered, which included ``sticks more than carrots.'' What

specific tools are being considered to secure the release of

detained Americans and permanent U.S. residents?

3. Does the Administration require any new authorities from

Congress to utilize these tools?

4. What is the Administration's strategy for

disincentivizing and deterring foreign

governments, particularly Iran, from taking Americans and

permanent U.S. residents hostage in the future?

Thank you for your attention to this important issue.

Sincerely,

Ted W. Lieu, Member of Congress; Michael McCaul, Member of

Congress; Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Member of Congress; Ted

Deutch, Member of Congress; James P. McGovern, Member of

Congress; Brian Fitzpatrick, Member of Congress; Donald M.

Payne, Jr., Member of Congress; Randy Hultgren, Member of

Congress; Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Member of Congress;

Jerrold Nadler, Member of Congress; Steve Cohen, Member of

Congress; Bobby L. Rush, Member of Congress; David N.

Cicilline, Member of Congress; Nita M. Lowey, Member of

Congress; Jose E. Serrano, Member of Congress.

Daniel W. Lipinski, Member of Congress; Joe Wilson, Member

of Congress; Peter King, Member of Congress; Francis Rooney,

Member of Congress; Mark Meadows, Member of Congress; Adriano

Espaillat, Member of Congress; Brad Sherman, Member of

Congress; Eleanor Holmes Norton, Member of Congress; Lee

Zeldin, Member of Congress; Steve Chabot, Member of

Congress; Paul Cook, Member of Congress; Eliot Engel,

Member of Congress; Ted Poe, Member of Congress; Bradley

S. Schneider, Member of Congress; Grace Meng, Member of

Congress.

Tom Suozzi, Member of Congress; Pete Sessions, Member of

Congress; Albio Sires, Member of Congress; Frank Pallone,

Jr., Member of Congress; Thomas A. Garrett, Jr., Member of

Congress; John Ratcliffe, Member of Congress; Josh

Gottheimer, Member of Congress; Lois Frankel, Member of

Congress; Derek Kilmer, Member of Congress; Patrick Meehan,

Member of Congress; Leonard Lance, Member of Congress; Randy

Weber, Member of Congress; Bill Johnson, Member of Congress;

David P. Joyce, Member of Congress; Adam Kinzinger, Member of

Congress; Elise Stefanik, Member of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my continued support for the people of Iran and continued support for freedom of speech as it is encapsulated in H. Res. 676, a resolution supporting the rights of the people of Iran to free expression and condemning the Iranian regime for its crackdown on legitimate protests.

On Sunday, January 7, 2018, I stood in protest with Iranian-Americans on the streets of Houston to take a stand for human rights in Iran.

At that event, I stated ``It is time for freedom to take over'' and I stand by that statement here in Congress and add that separation of church and state is essential for a free and democratic Iran.

On December 28, 2017, popular protests against the Iranian regime began in the city of Mashad and rapidly spread throughout the country, in the most significant antigovernment protests in Iran since June 2009.

The protesters have expressed numerous economic grievances, including the regime's widespread corruption and the Revolutionary Guard Corps' control of the country's economy.

Protesters have decried the regime's costly, destabilizing activities abroad, including its support for terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and the murderous Assad regime in Syria.

Reports indicate that more than 1,000 Iranians have been arrested and almost two dozen killed in connection with the protests.

The Iranian regime has shut down mobile internet access and has blocked and pressured companies to cut off social media applications used by activists to organize and publicize the protests.

Congress has provided authority to license the provision of communications technology to Iran to improve the ability of the Iranian people to speak freely.

I encourage the Administration to expedite the license of communications technology to Iran to improve the ability of the Iranian people to speak freely and I call on companies to reject requests by the regime to cut off the Iranian people from social media and other communications platforms.

On January 1, 2018, regime officials threatened to crack down, with Brigadier General Esmaeil Kowsari of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps stating, ``If this situation continues, the officials will definitely make some decisions and at that point this business will be finished.''

Congress has provided authority to designate and sanction elements of the Iranian regime involved in significant corruption and serious human rights abuses.

I urge the Administration to use targeted sanctions and work to convene emergency sessions of the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations Human Rights Council to condemn the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the Iranian regime and establish a mechanism by which the Security Council can monitor such violations.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Basij militia have been sanctioned by the United States for planning and carrying out serious human rights abuses against the Iranian people, including for the cruel and prolonged torture of political dissidents, behavior that is absolutely intolerable.

The regime has routinely violated the human rights of Iranian citizens, including ongoing, systematic, and serious restrictions of freedom of peaceful assembly and association and freedom of opinion and expression, including the continuing closures of media outlets, arrests of journalists, and the censorship of expression in online forums such as blogs and websites.

The Department of State's 2016 Human Rights Report on Iran noted:

severe restrictions on civil liberties, including the

freedoms of assembly, association, speech, religion, and

press.

Other human rights problems included abuse of due process

combined with use of capital punishment for crimes that do

not meet the requirements of due process, as well as cruel,

inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; and disregard

for the physical integrity of persons, whom authorities

arbitrarily and unlawfully detained, tortured, or killed.

For a country that once enjoyed great pride in its freedom of thought, the information in this Report comes with sadness.

On December 29, 2017, the Department of State strongly condemned the arrest of peaceful protesters and noted that ``Iran's leaders have turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos.''

On January 1, 2018, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, stated that:

The UK is watching events in Iran closely.

We believe that there should be meaningful debate about the

legitimate and important issues the protesters are raising

and we look to the Iranian authorities to permit this.

On January 2, 2018, the French Foreign Ministry stated that:

French authorities are closely monitoring the situation in

Iran.

Demonstrating freely is a fundamental right.

The same is true for the free movement of information.

France expresses its concern over the large number of

victims and arrests.

On January 1, 2018, a spokesman for the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that:

We call on the Iranian authorities to uphold and respect

democratic and human rights and ``We are encouraged by the

Iranian people who are bravely exercising their basic right

to protest peacefully.

Canada will continue to support the fundamental rights of

the Iranians, including freedom of expression.

As hypocrisy has it, Iran is a member of the United Nations, voted for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and is a signatory to

the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, among other international human rights treaties.

In violation of these and other international obligations, Iranian regime officials continue to violate the fundamental human rights of the Iranian people.

Today, I rise with my colleagues in Congress to stand with the people of Iran that are engaged in legitimate and peaceful protests against an oppressive, corrupt regime.

I rise in support of H. Res. 676 which condemns the Iranian regime's serious human rights abuses against the Iranian people, significant corruption, and destabilizing activities abroad.

I call on all democratic governments and institutions to clearly support the Iranian people's right to live in a free society.

I rise to urge the Iranian regime to abide by its international obligations with respect to human rights and civil liberties, including freedoms of assembly, speech, and press.

The Iranian regime must do the right thing and respect the proud history and rich culture of the Iranian nation.

The people of Iran want nothing more than to promote the establishment of basic freedoms that build the foundation for the emergence of a freely elected, open, and democratic political system.

I whole-heartedly support H. Res. 676 and continue fighting for a free Iran.