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106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5006

To encourage respect for the rights of religious and ethnic minorities in

Iran, and to deter Iran from supporting international terrorism, and

from furthering its weapons of mass destruction programs.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 27, 2000

Mr. SHERMAN (for himself, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. WEINER, Mr. LAZIO, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. PORTER, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. KING, Mr. ENGEL,

Mr. PALLONE, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. NADLER, Mr. FROST, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mrs. LOWEY) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of

such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To encourage respect for the rights of religious and ethnic

minorities in Iran, and to deter Iran from supporting

international terrorism, and from furthering its weapons

of mass destruction programs.

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

4 Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) According to the Report of the National

2 Commission on Terrorism released in June 2000,

3 pursuant to Public Law 105–277, ‘‘Iran remains the

4 most active state supporter of terrorism. Despite the

5 election of reformist President Khatami in 1997, the

6 Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and Ministry of

7 Intelligence and Security have continued to be in8 volved in the planning and execution of terrorist

9 acts.’’.

10 (2) According to the Central Intelligence Agen11 cy’s most recent proliferation report, pursuant to

12 section 721 of the Fiscal Year 1997 Intelligence Au13 thorization Act, ‘‘Iran remains one of the most ac14 tive countries seeking to acquire Weapons of Mass

15 Destruction (WMD) and Advanced Conventional

16 Weapons (ACW) technology from abroad. In so

17 doing, Iran is attempting to develop an indigenous

18 capability to produce various types of weapons—nu19 clear, chemical, and biological and their delivery sys20 tems.’’.

21 (3) On July 16, 2000, Iran successfully test22 fired its Shahab-3 missile, a medium-range weapon

23 capable of delivering a nuclear, biological, and chem24 ical payload.
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1 (4) Iran’s recent trial and conviction of 10 Ira2 nian Jews accused of spying on behalf of Israel was

3 only the most recent example of Iran’s egregious

4 mistreatment of minorities and brazen violations of

5 international human rights standards and due proc6 ess of law.

7 (5) Prior to the verdict, United States Sec8 retary of State Madeleine K. Albright referred to the

9 treatment of the Jews on trial in Iran as ‘‘a critical

10 barometer of United States-Iran relations’’.

11 (6) In March 2000, the President of the United

12 States partially lifted an import ban to permit the

13 importation of Iranian textiles and food products,

14 such as carpets, dried fruits, nuts, and caviar, which

15 account for Iran’s second largest source of hard-cur16 rency earnings. This gesture was intended as good17 will efforts toward improving relations between the

18 United States and Iran.

19 (7) This gesture was premature since Iran has

20 not shown signs of respecting the rights of minori21 ties within Iran, has not ended its support for inter22 national terrorism, and has not terminated weapons

23 of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.
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1 SEC. 2. IMMEDIATELY ENDING THE UNITED STATES IMPOR2 TATION OF IRANIAN GOODS.

3 Notwithstanding any other provision of law and ex4 cept as provided in section 3, no textile or food article that

5 is produced, grown, or manufactured in Iran shall enter

6 or be imported into the United States.

7 SEC. 3. CONDITIONS FOR THE RESUMPTION OF UNITED

8 STATES IMPORTATION OF IRANIAN GOODS.

9 (a) GENERAL WAIVER.—Except as provided in sub10 section (b), the President may waive the prohibition on

11 the importation of Iranian goods to the United States 90

12 days after submitting a certification to the Committee on

13 Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on

14 International Relations of the House of Representatives

15 stating that—

16 (1) Iran has shown substantial progress in re17 specting the rights of ethnic and religious minorities

18 and is meeting internationally recognized human

19 rights standards including due process under law;

20 (2) Iran has ceased its support for international

21 terrorism; and

22 (3) Iran has terminated its weapons of mass

23 destruction and ballistic missile programs.

24 (b) NATIONAL SECURITY INTEREST WAIVER.—If the

25 President determines that it is in the national security in26 terests of the United States to do so, the President may
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1 waive the prohibition on the importation of Iranian goods

2 90 days after submitting a certification to the congres3 sional committees described in subsection (a) stating that

4 Iran meets the requirements of subsection (a)(1).

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