II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2947

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 27, 2000

Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mr. BROWNBACK) introduced the following

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

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:

5 (1) According to the Report of the National

6 Commission on Terrorism released in June 2000,

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

8 most active state supporter of terrorism. Despite the
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1 election of reformist President Khatami in 1997, the

2 Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and Ministry of

3 Intelligence and Security have continued to be in4 volved in the planning and execution of terrorist

5 acts.’’.

6 (2) According to the Central Intelligence Agen7 cy’s most recent proliferation report, pursuant to

8 section 721 of the Fiscal Year 1997 Intelligence Au9 thorization Act, ‘‘Iran remains one of the most ac10 tive countries seeking to acquire Weapons of Mass

11 Destruction (WMD) and Advanced Conventional

12 Weapons (ACW) technology from abroad. In so

13 doing, Iran is attempting to develop an indigenous

14 capability to produce various types of weapons—nu15 clear, chemical, and biological and their delivery sys16 tems.’’.

17 (3) On July 16, 2000, Iran successfully test18 fired its Shahab-3 missile, a medium-range weapon

19 capable of delivering a nuclear, biological, and chem20 ical payload.

21 (4) Iran’s recent trial and conviction of 10 Ira22 nian Jews accused of spying on behalf of Israel was

23 only the most recent example of Iran’s egregious

24 mistreatment of minorities and brazen violations of
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1 international human rights standards and due proc2 ess of law.

3 (5) Prior to the verdict, United States Sec4 retary of State Madeleine K. Albright referred to the

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

6 barometer of United States-Iran relations’’.

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

8 States partially lifted an import ban to permit the

9 importation of Iranian textiles and food products,

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

11 account for Iran’s second largest source of hard-cur12 rency earnings. This gesture was intended as good13 will efforts toward improving relations between the

14 United States and Iran.

15 (7) This gesture was premature since Iran has

16 not shown signs of respecting the rights of minori17 ties within Iran, has not ended its support for inter18 national terrorism, and has not terminated weapons

19 of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.

20 SEC. 2. IMMEDIATELY ENDING THE UNITED STATES IMPOR21 TATION OF IRANIAN GOODS.

22 Notwithstanding any other provision of law and ex23 cept as provided in section 3, no textile or food article that

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

25 or be imported into the United States.
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1 SEC. 3. CONDITIONS FOR THE RESUMPTION OF UNITED

2 STATES IMPORTATION OF IRANIAN GOODS.

3 (a) GENERAL WAIVER.—Except as provided in sub4 section (b), the President may waive the prohibition on

5 the importation of Iranian goods to the United States 90

6 days after submitting a certification to the Committee on

7 Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on

8 International Relations of the House of Representatives

9 stating that—

10 (1) Iran has shown substantial progress in re11 specting the rights of ethnic and religious minorities

12 and is meeting internationally recognized human

13 rights standards, including due process under law;

14 (2) Iran has ceased its support for international

15 terrorism; and

16 (3) Iran has terminated its weapons of mass

17 destruction and ballistic missile programs.

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

19 President determines that it is in the national security in20 terests of the United States to do so, the President may

21 waive the prohibition on the importation of Iranian goods

22 90 days after submitting a certification to the congres23 sional committees described in subsection (a) stating that

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

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