II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2528 

To call on the United States and its partners to continue support for the 

Iranian people in their fight for freedom and prosperity. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2018 

Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. LANKFORD, Ms. BALDWIN, and 

Mr. MANCHIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To call on the United States and its partners to continue 

support for the Iranian people in their fight for freedom 

and prosperity. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Continued Support for the Iranian People Act of 2018’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 4. Statement of United States policy. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2528 IS

Sec. 5. Requirements. 

Sec. 6. Appropriate congressional committees defined. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) The protests that began on December 28, 

4 2017, in Iran (in this Act referred to as ‘‘the pro5 tests’’) were instigated and supported by a diverse 

6 demographic of Iranian citizens, especially including 

7 the poor and economically disenfranchised popu8 lations across the country, located in both rural and 

9 urban areas. 

10 (2) Rather than invest in the legitimate econ11 omy and future of the Iranian people, the Govern12 ment of Iran budgeted billions of dollars to continue 

13 supporting illegitimate armed groups and terrorists 

14 in the region, primarily through its Islamic Revolu15 tionary Guard Corps (IRGC). 

16 (3) The Government of Iran has arrested at 

17 least 4,500 individuals for participating in the pro18 tests, at least 490 of whom remain in custody, ac19 cording to news reports. 

20 (4) According to Reuters, Iranian Deputy Inte21 rior Minister Hossein Zolfaghari stated on January 

22 1, 2018, that ‘‘more than 90 percent of the people 

23 arrested in these unrests were young people and 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2528 IS

1 teenagers under the age of 25 and virtually none of 

2 them have any arrest history’’. 

3 (5) On January 8, 2018, Hamid Shahriari, dep4 uty head of the Government of Iran’s judiciary, said 

5 that ‘‘those who organized and led the unrest 

6 against the establishment can expect the maximum 

7 penalty,’’ according to the Iranian Students News 

8 Agency (ISNA), as reported by Radio Free Europe/ 

9 Radio Liberty. 

10 (6) Three detained prisoners were reported to 

11 have ‘‘committed suicide’’ in Iranian prisons since 

12 their incarceration, including Iranian-Canadian aca13 demic Kavous Seyed-Emami. 

14 (7) The Iranian Security Forces have killed 

15 over 20 individuals during the protests, including 

16 13-year-old Armin Sadeghi. 

17 (8) The Government of Iran has consistently 

18 blocked Internet access and use of communications 

19 applications like Telegram and Instagram. As of 

20 January 31, 2018, protests continue throughout 

21 Iran, with demonstrations in the city of Ahvaz on 

22 January 23, 2018, and four more cities in the days 

23 since. 

24 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

25 Congress— 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2528 IS

1 (1) strongly condemns the Government of Iran 

2 for its human rights violations against the people of 

3 Iran during and in the wake of the protests; 

4 (2) urges the President to continue to pub5 licly— 

6 (A) condemn the Government of Iran for 

7 its human rights abuses against the Iranian 

8 people; and 

9 (B) support the human rights, economic 

10 prosperity, and democratic aspirations of the 

11 Iranian people; 

12 (3) reaffirms the right of the people of Iran to 

13 the freedom of speech and assembly in the face of 

14 oppression perpetrated by the Government of Iran; 

15 and 

16 (4) supports the right of the people of Iran to 

17 a democratic system of governance. 

18 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF UNITED STATES POLICY. 

19 It is the policy of the United States— 

20 (1) to condemn the Government of Iran’s viola21 tions of its citizens’ human rights, freedom of reli22 gious expression, and freedom of speech, including 

23 state-sanctioned violence against peaceful protestors; 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2528 IS

1 (2) to support, through appropriate actions and 

2 official public statements, the people of Iran in their 

3 fight for freedom and prosperity; and 

4 (3) to work with international allies and part5 ners to monitor and effectively respond to the pro6 tests in Iran in a manner that supports the human 

7 rights and democratic aspirations of the people of 

8 Iran and deters the Government of Iran from com9 mitting continued acts of oppression and persecution 

10 against its citizens. 

11 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS. 

12 (a) USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA.— 

13 (1) ARCHIVE.—The Secretary of State, in con14 sultation with the Secretary of Commerce, shall 

15 work with relevant social media companies to build 

16 an anonymized and public comprehensive archive of 

17 all social media communications, whether success18 fully transmitted or blocked by the Government of 

19 Iran, to and from protesters in Iran since December 

20 28, 2017. 

21 (2) STRATEGY.—The Secretary of State, in 

22 consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and 

23 the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 

24 shall work with relevant social media and tele25 communications companies, Internet service proVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:02 Mar 15, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2528.IS S2528

sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 2528 IS

1 viders, and expert public stakeholders, as appro2 priate, to develop a strategy consisting of potential 

3 government and private sector actions and best prac4 tices for preventing the Government of Iran from 

5 shutting down Internet access and blocking access to 

6 social media applications. 

7 (3) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 

8 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

9 Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate 

10 congressional committees an unclassified report, 

11 which may contain a classified annex, consisting of 

12 the archive described in paragraph (1) and the strat13 egy described in paragraph (2). 

14 (b) MODIFICATION OF ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS RE15 PORT.— 

16 (1) REPORT REQUIRED.—As part of the first 

17 Annual Country Report on Human Rights submitted 

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec19 retary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury, 

20 in consultation with other appropriate Federal agen21 cies, shall include an unclassified report docu22 menting the actions of the Government of Iran, the 

23 Iranian Revolutionary Court, the Iranian Revolu24 tionary Guard Corps, and their proxies in response 

25 to the protests that began on December 28, 2017. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 2528 IS

1 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 

2 paragraph (1) shall include— 

3 (A) an appendix detailing the cir4 cumstances of the incarcerations undertaken by 

5 the Government of Iran during this period and 

6 the treatment of prisoners; and 

7 (B) an appendix, which may contain a 

8 classified annex, detailing the sources and 

9 mechanisms used by the Government of Iran, 

10 the IRGC, and its proxies to fund its actions in 

11 response to the protests. 

12 (3) REQUIRED BRIEFING.—Not later than 60 

13 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and 

14 upon publication of the report described in para15 graph (1), the Secretary of State and the Secretary 

16 of the Treasury shall brief, in an unclassified and 

17 classified format, if necessary, the appropriate con18 gressional committees on the information required 

19 by the report described in paragraph (1). 

20 SEC. 6. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE21 FINED. 

22 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’’ means— 

24 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 

25 Committee on Commerce, Science, and TransporVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:02 Mar 15, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2528.IS S2528

sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 2528 IS

1 tation, and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

2 Senate; and 

3 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

4 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Com5 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Represent6 atives. 

Æ 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS