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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4301 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4301

    To support the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people by 
   enhancing their ability to access the Internet and communications 
                               services.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 14, 2009

   Mr. Moran of Virginia (for himself, Mr. Inglis, and Mr. Delahunt) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
    To support the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people by 
   enhancing their ability to access the Internet and communications 
                               services.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Iranian Digital Empowerment Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Government of Iran is engaged in a range of 
        activities that interfere with and infringe upon the right of 
        the Iranian people to access independent news and information 
        and to exercise basic freedoms, in particular through 
        electronic media.
            (2) On September 28, 2009, a consortium reportedly 
        controlled by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps purchased a 
        controlling interest in the Iranian Telecommunications Company.
            (3) On November 14, 2009, the Government of Iran announced 
        the establishment of a special security force to police 
        opposition activities on the Internet.
            (4) On numerous occasions, including most recently ahead of 
        student demonstrations on December 7, 2009, the Government of 
        Iran has restricted access to Internet and telecommunications 
        networks in order to limit popular dissent.
            (5) In the aftermath of the disputed June 2009 Iranian 
        presidential elections, the Iranian people utilized Twitter, 
        Facebook, and other personal communication technologies to 
        organize demonstrations and related activities.
            (6) Citing the crucial role that Internet communications 
        technologies were playing in post-election Iran, the Department 
        of State requested Twitter delay a planned maintenance so that 
        Iranians could continue use of the service without 
        interruption.
            (7) The United States has a vital interest in working to 
        ensure that its policies do not unintentionally aid the 
        repressive policies of the Government of Iran or hinder the 
        Iranian people's basic rights and freedoms.
            (8) Current sanctions on Iran have had the unintended 
        effect of stifling Iranians' access to the Internet and related 
        Internet technologies.
            (9) Microsoft and Google have ceased providing instant 
        messaging services to Iranians, citing United States economic 
        sanctions.
            (10) In a September 2009 response regarding the suspension 
        of messaging services within Iran by Microsoft and Google, 
        Director of the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign 
        Assets Control (OFAC), Adam Szubin, stated that, ``Ensuring the 
        flow and access to information available through the Internet 
        and similar public sources is consistent with the policy 
        interests of the United States Government.''.
    (b) Sense of the Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the 
United States--
            (1) respects the sovereignty of the Iranian people and the 
        universal values of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, 
        and the freedom to assemble;
            (2) supports the Iranian people seeking access to news, 
        electronic communication, and other forms of information;
            (3) encourages the development and provision of 
        technologies and services to the Iranian people that enable 
        them to communicate with each other and the outside world; and
            (4) encourages companies, organizations, and individuals to 
        enable large numbers of users to bypass censorship and 
        surveillance technologies, for the purposes of promoting 
        Iranians' unfettered access to the Internet, which is a civil 
        liberty that should be enjoyed by all people.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF EXPORTS OF CERTAIN SOFTWARE AND RELATED 
              SERVICES TO IRAN.

    (a) Authorization.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
export of software and related services described in subsection (b) to 
Iran by United States persons may not be prohibited or otherwise 
restricted.
    (b) Software and Related Services Described.--The software and 
related services referred to in subsection (a) are the following:
            (1) Software and related services that allow private 
        Iranian citizens to circumvent online censorship and monitoring 
        efforts imposed by the Government of Iran.
            (2) Software and related services that enable personal 
        communication by the Iranian people.
    (c) Exception.--
            (1) In general.--Subsection (a) shall not apply with 
        respect to the export of software and related services 
        described in subsection (b) to the Government of Iran.
            (2) Definition.--
                    (A) In general.--In this subsection, the term 
                ``Government of Iran'' includes the government of any 
                political subdivision of Iran, and any agency or 
                instrumentality of the Government of Iran.
                    (B) Agency or instrumentality.--For purposes of 
                subparagraph (A), the term ``agency or instrumentality 
                of the Government of Iran'' means an agency of 
                instrumentality of a foreign state as defined in 
                section 1603(b) of title 28, United States Code, with 
                each reference in such section to ``a foreign state'' 
                deemed to be a reference to ``Iran''.
    (d) Effective Date.--This section shall apply with respect to the 
export of software and related services referred to in subsection (a) 
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>
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