I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4173 

To direct the President of the United States to appoint a high-level United 

States representative or special envoy for Iran for the purpose of ensuring that the United States pursues all diplomatic avenues to prevent 

Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, to avoid a war with Iran, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2012 

Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Mr. JONES, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. WOOLSEY, 

Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. WATERS, Mr. STARK, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. FILNER, 

and Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the President of the United States to appoint 

a high-level United States representative or special envoy 

for Iran for the purpose of ensuring that the United 

States pursues all diplomatic avenues to prevent Iran 

from acquiring a nuclear weapon, to avoid a war with 

Iran, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prevent Iran from Ac3 quiring Nuclear Weapons and Stop War Through Diplo4 macy Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech 

8 on December 10, 2009, President Obama said, ‘‘I 

9 know that engagement with repressive regimes lacks 

10 the satisfying purity of indignation. But I also know 

11 that sanctions without outreach—and condemnation 

12 without discussion—can carry forward a crippling 

13 status quo. No repressive regime can move down a 

14 new path unless it has the choice of an open door.’’ 

15 (2) In his address to the American Israel Public 

16 Affairs Committee on March 4, 2012, President 

17 Obama said, ‘‘I have said that when it comes to pre18 venting Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, I will 

19 take no options off the table, and I mean what I say. 

20 That includes all elements of American power. A po21 litical effort aimed at isolating Iran; a diplomatic ef22 fort to sustain our coalition and ensure that the Ira23 nian program is monitored; an economic effort to 

24 impose crippling sanctions; and, yes, a military ef25 fort to be prepared for any contingency.’’ 


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1 (3) While the Obama Administration has re2 jected failed policies of the past by engaging in nego3 tiations with Iran without preconditions, only four of 

4 such meetings have occurred. 

5 (4) Official representatives of the United States 

6 and official representatives of Iran have held only 

7 two direct, bilateral meetings in over 30 years, both 

8 of which occurred in October 2009, one on the side9 lines of the United Nations Security Council negotia10 tions in Geneva, and one on the sidelines of negotia11 tions brokered by the United Nations International 

12 Atomic Energy Agency (referred to in this Act as 

13 the ‘‘IAEA’’) in Vienna. 

14 (5) All of the outstanding issues between the 

15 United States and Iran cannot be resolved instanta16 neously. Resolving such issues will require a robust, 

17 sustained effort. 

18 (6) Under the Department of State’s current 

19 ‘‘no contact’’ policy, officers and employees of the 

20 Department of State are not permitted to make any 

21 direct contact with official representatives of the 

22 Government of Iran without express prior authoriza23 tion from the Secretary of State. 

24 (7) On September 20, 2011, then-Chairman of 

25 the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, 


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1 called for establishing direct communications with 

2 Iran, stating, ‘‘I’m talking about any channel that’s 

3 open. We’ve not had a direct link of communication 

4 with Iran since 1979. And I think that has planted 

5 many seeds for miscalculation. When you miscalcu6 late, you can escalate and misunderstand.’’ 

7 (8) On November 8, 2011, the IAEA issued a 

8 report about Iran’s nuclear program and expressed 

9 concerns about Iran’s past and ongoing nuclear ac10 tivities. 

11 (9) On December 2, 2011, Secretary of Defense 

12 Leon Panetta warned that an attack on Iran would 

13 result in ‘‘an escalation that would take place that 

14 would not only involve many lives, but I think it 

15 could consume the Middle East in a confrontation 

16 and a conflict that we would regret.’’ 

17 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

18 It should be the policy of the United States— 

19 (1) to prevent Iran from pursuing or acquiring 

20 a nuclear weapon and to resolve the concerns of the 

21 United States and of the international community 

22 about Iran’s nuclear program and Iran’s human 

23 rights obligations under international and Iranian 

24 law; 


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1 (2) to ensure inspection of cargo to or from 

2 Iran, as well as the seizure and disposal of prohib3 ited items, as authorized by United Nations Security 

4 Council Resolution 1929 (June 9, 2010); 

5 (3) to pursue sustained, direct, bilateral nego6 tiations with the Government of Iran without pre7 conditions in order to reduce tensions, prevent war, 

8 prevent nuclear proliferation, support human rights, 

9 and seek resolutions to issues that concern the 

10 United States and the international community; 

11 (4) to utilize all diplomatic tools, including di12 rect talks, targeted sanctions, Track II diplomacy, 

13 creating a special envoy described in section 4, and 

14 enlisting the support of all interested parties, for the 

15 purpose of establishing an agreement with Iran to 

16 put in place a program that includes international 

17 safeguards, guarantees, and robust transparency 

18 measures that provide for full IAEA oversight of 

19 Iran’s nuclear program, including rigorous, ongoing 

20 inspections, in order to verify that Iran’s nuclear 

21 program is exclusively for peaceful purposes and 

22 that Iran is not engaged in nuclear weapons work; 

23 (5) to pursue opportunities to build mutual 

24 trust and to foster sustained negotiations in good 

25 faith with Iran, including pursuing a fuel swap deal 


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1 to remove quantities of low enriched uranium from 

2 Iran and to refuel the Tehran Research Reactor, 

3 similar to the structure of the deal that the IAEA, 

4 the United States, China, Russia, France, the 

5 United Kingdom, and Germany first proposed in Oc6 tober 2009; 

7 (6) to explore areas of mutual benefit to both 

8 Iran and the United States, such as regional secu9 rity, the long-term stabilization of Iraq and Afghani10 stan, the establishment of a framework for peaceful 

11 nuclear energy production, other peaceful energy 

12 modernization programs, and counter-narcotics ef13 forts; and 

14 (7) that no funds appropriated or otherwise 

15 made available to any executive agency of the Gov16 ernment of the United States may be used to carry 

17 out any military operation or activity against Iran 

18 unless the President determines that a military oper19 ation or activity is warranted and seeks express 

20 prior authorization by Congress, as required under 

21 article I, section 8, clause 2 of the United States 

22 Constitution, which grants Congress the sole author23 ity to declare war, except that this requirement shall 

24 not apply to a military operation or activity— 


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1 (A) to directly repel an offensive military 

2 action launched from within the territory of 

3 Iran against the United States or any ally with 

4 whom the United States has a mutual defense 

5 assistance agreement; 

6 (B) in hot pursuit of forces that engage in 

7 an offensive military action outside the territory 

8 of Iran against United States forces or an ally 

9 with whom the United States has a mutual de10 fense assistance agreement and then enter into 

11 the territory of Iran; or 

12 (C) to directly thwart an imminent offen13 sive military action to be launched from within 

14 the territory of Iran against United States 

15 forces or an ally with whom the United States 

16 has a mutual defense assistance agreement. 

17 SEC. 4. APPOINTMENT OF HIGH-LEVEL U.S. REPRESENTA18 TIVE OR SPECIAL ENVOY. 

19 (a) APPOINTMENT.—At the earliest possible date, the 

20 President, in consultation with the Secretary of State, 

21 shall appoint a high-level United States representative or 

22 special envoy for Iran. 

23 (b) CRITERIA FOR APPOINTMENT.—The President 

24 shall appoint an individual under subsection (a) on the 

25 basis of the individual’s knowledge and understanding of 


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1 the issues regarding Iran’s nuclear program, experience 

2 in conducting international negotiations, and ability to 

3 conduct negotiations under subsection (c) with the respect 

4 and trust of the parties involved in the negotiations. 

5 (c) DUTIES.—The high-level United States represent6 ative or special envoy for Iran shall— 

7 (1) seek to facilitate direct, unconditional, bilat8 eral negotiations with Iran for the purpose of easing 

9 tensions and normalizing relations between the 

10 United States and Iran; 

11 (2) lead the diplomatic efforts of the Govern12 ment of the United States with regard to Iran; 

13 (3) consult with other countries and inter14 national organizations, including countries in the re15 gion, where appropriate and when necessary to 

16 achieve the purpose set forth in paragraph (1); 

17 (4) act as liaison with United States and inter18 national intelligence agencies where appropriate and 

19 when necessary to achieve the purpose set for in 

20 paragraph (1); and 

21 (5) ensure that the bilateral negotiations under 

22 paragraph (1) complement the ongoing international 

23 negotiations with Iran. 


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1 SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE. 

2 (a) ELIMINATION OF ‘‘NO CONTACT’’ POLICY.—Not 

3 later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

4 the Secretary of State shall rescind the ‘‘no contact’’ pol5 icy that prevents officers and employees of the Depart6 ment of State from making any direct contact with official 

7 representatives of the Government of Iran without express 

8 prior authorization from the Secretary of State. 

9 (b) OFFICE OF HIGH-LEVEL U.S. REPRESENTATIVE

10 OR SPECIAL ENVOY.—Not later than 30 days after the 

11 appointment of a high-level United States representative 

12 or special envoy under section 4(a), the Secretary of State 

13 shall establish an office in the Department of State for 

14 the purpose of supporting the work of the representative 

15 or special envoy. 

16 SEC. 6. REPORTING TO CONGRESS. 

17 (a) REPORTS.—Not later than 60 days after the 

18 high-level United States representative or special envoy for 

19 Iran is appointed under section 4, and every 180 days 

20 thereafter, the United States representative or special 

21 envoy shall report to the committees set forth in sub22 section (b) on the steps that have been taken to facilitate 

23 direct, bilateral diplomacy with the government of Iran 

24 under section 4(c). Each such report may, when necessary 

25 or appropriate, be submitted in classified and unclassified 

26 form. 


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1 (b) COMMITTEES.—The committees referred to in 

2 subsection (a) are— 

3 (1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com4 mittee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Armed 

5 Services, and the Permanent Select Committee on 

6 Intelligence of the House of Representatives; and 

7 (2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com8 mittee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 

9 Armed Services, and the Select Committee on Intel10 ligence of the Senate. 

11 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

13 this Act such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal 

14 years 2012 and 2013. 

Æ 


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