I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 783 

To enhance diplomacy with Iran to peacefully prevent Iran from acquiring 

nuclear weapons, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 15, 2013 

Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 

DINGELL, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. HOLT, and Mr. MORAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To enhance diplomacy with Iran to peacefully prevent Iran 

from acquiring nuclear weapons, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prevent Iran from Ac5 quiring Nuclear Weapons and Stop War Through Diplo6 macy Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech 

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

3 know that engagement with repressive regimes lacks 

4 the satisfying purity of indignation. But I also know 

5 that sanctions without outreach—and condemnation 

6 without discussion—can carry forward a crippling 

7 status quo. No repressive regime can move down a 

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

9 (2) President Obama stated on November 14, 

10 2012, that, ‘‘With respect to Iran, I very much want 

11 to see a diplomatic resolution to the problem. I was 

12 very clear before the campaign, I was clear during 

13 the campaign and I’m now clear after the cam14 paign—we’re not going to let Iran get a nuclear 

15 weapon. But I think there is still a window of time 

16 for us to resolve this diplomatically. We’ve imposed 

17 the toughest sanctions in history. It is having an im18 pact on Iran’s economy. There should be a way in 

19 which they can enjoy peaceful nuclear power while 

20 still meeting their international obligations and pro21 viding clear assurances to the international commu22 nity that they’re not pursuing a nuclear weapon.’’. 

23 (3) While the United States has engaged in di24 rect negotiations with Iran without preconditions 

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1 atives of the United States and official representa2 tives of Iran have held only two direct, bilateral 

3 meetings in over 30 years, both of which occurred in 

4 October 2009, one on the sidelines of the United 

5 Nations Security Council negotiations in Geneva, 

6 and one on the sidelines of negotiations brokered by 

7 the United Nations International Atomic Energy 

8 Agency (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘IAEA’’) in 

9 Vienna. 

10 (4) Resolving all of the outstanding issues be11 tween the United States and Iran cannot be 

12 achieved instantaneously and will require a robust, 

13 sustained diplomatic effort involving multilateral and 

14 bilateral negotiations. 

15 (5) Under the Department of State’s current 

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

17 Department of State are not permitted to make any 

18 direct contact with official representatives of the 

19 Government of Iran without express prior authoriza20 tion from the Secretary of State. 

21 (6) On September 20, 2011, then-Chairman of 

22 the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen called 

23 for establishing direct communications with Iran, 

24 stating, ‘‘I’m talking about any channel that’s open. 

25 We’ve not had a direct link of communication with 


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1 Iran since 1979. And I think that has planted many 

2 seeds for miscalculation. When you miscalculate, you 

3 can escalate and misunderstand.’’. 

4 (7) While the International Atomic Energy 

5 Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of de6 clared nuclear material in Iran and has inspectors 

7 and monitoring devices located at Iranian nuclear 

8 facilities, the agency has expressed concerns regard9 ing Iran’s past and ongoing nuclear work that can 

10 only be resolved through increased transparency, 

11 more robust safeguards, and a more vigorous inspec12 tions regime. 

13 (8) On October 3, 2012, former Secretary of 

14 Defense Robert Gates stated, ‘‘The results of an 

15 American or Israeli military strike on Iran could, in 

16 my view, prove catastrophic, haunting us for genera17 tions in that part of the world.’’, adding that 

18 ‘‘[S]uch an attack would make a nuclear-armed Iran 

19 inevitable. They would just bury the program deeper 

20 and make it more covert.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

22 It should be the policy of the United States— 

23 (1) to prevent Iran from pursuing or acquiring 

24 a nuclear weapon and to resolve the concerns of the 

25 United States and of the international community 


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

2 rights obligations under international and Iranian 

3 law; 

4 (2) to ensure inspection of suspected prohibited 

5 cargo to or from Iran, as well as the seizure and dis6 posal of prohibited items, as authorized by United 

7 Nations Security Council Resolution 1929 (June 9, 

8 2010); 

9 (3) to pursue sustained, direct, bilateral nego10 tiations with the Government of Iran without pre11 conditions in order to reduce tensions, prevent war, 

12 prevent nuclear proliferation, support human rights, 

13 and seek resolutions to issues that concern the 

14 United States and the international community; 

15 (4) to utilize all diplomatic tools, including en16 gaging in direct bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, 

17 leveraging sanctions, engaging in Track II diplo18 macy, creating a special envoy described in section 

19 4, and enlisting the support of all interested parties 

20 to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran and to prevent war; 

21 (5) to secure an agreement that ensures Iran 

22 does not engage in nuclear weapons work and that 

23 Iran’s nuclear enrichment program is verifiably lim24 ited to civilian purposes through the implementation 

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1 tions, including through the implementation of the 

2 Additional Protocol; 

3 (6) to pursue opportunities to build mutual 

4 trust and to foster sustained negotiations in good 

5 faith with Iran and to explore areas of mutual ben6 efit to both Iran and the United States, such as re7 gional security, the long-term stabilization of Iraq 

8 and Afghanistan, the establishment of a framework 

9 for peaceful nuclear energy production, other peace10 ful energy modernization programs, and counter11 narcotics efforts; and 

12 (7) that no funds appropriated or otherwise 

13 made available to any executive agency of the Gov14 ernment of the United States may be used to carry 

15 out any military operation or activity against Iran 

16 unless the President determines that a military oper17 ation or activity is warranted and seeks express 

18 prior authorization by Congress, as required under 

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

20 Constitution, which grants Congress the sole author21 ity to declare war, except that this requirement shall 

22 not apply to a military operation or activity— 

23 (A) to directly repel an offensive military 

24 action launched from within the territory of 

25 Iran against the United States or any ally with 


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1 which the United States has a mutual defense 

2 assistance agreement; 

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

4 an offensive military action outside the territory 

5 of Iran against United States forces or an ally 

6 with which the United States has a mutual de7 fense assistance agreement and then enter into 

8 the territory of Iran; or 

9 (C) to directly thwart an imminent offen10 sive military action to be launched from within 

11 the territory of Iran against United States 

12 forces or an ally with which the United States 

13 has a mutual defense assistance agreement. 

14 SEC. 4. APPOINTMENT OF HIGH-LEVEL UNITED STATES 

15 REPRESENTATIVE OR SPECIAL ENVOY. 

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

17 President, in consultation with the Secretary of State, 

18 shall appoint a high-level United States representative or 

19 special envoy for Iran. 

20 (b) CRITERIA FOR APPOINTMENT.—The President 

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

22 basis of such individual’s knowledge and understanding of 

23 Iran and the issues regarding Iran’s nuclear program, ex24 perience in conducting international negotiations, and 

25 ability to conduct negotiations under subsection (c) with 


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1 the respect and trust of the parties involved in such nego2 tiations. 

3 (c) DUTIES.—The high-level United States represent4 ative or special envoy for Iran shall— 

5 (1) seek to facilitate direct, unconditional, bilat6 eral, and multilateral negotiations with Iran for the 

7 purpose of easing tensions and normalizing relations 

8 between the United States and Iran; 

9 (2) lead the diplomatic efforts of the United 

10 States with regard to Iran; 

11 (3) consult with other countries and inter12 national organizations, including countries in the re13 gion, where appropriate and when necessary to 

14 achieve the purpose specified in paragraph (1); 

15 (4) act as liaison with United States and inter16 national intelligence agencies where appropriate and 

17 when necessary to achieve the purpose specified in 

18 paragraph (1); and 

19 (5) ensure that the bilateral negotiations under 

20 paragraph (1) complement the ongoing international 

21 negotiations with Iran. 

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

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

24 later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this 

25 Act, the Secretary of State shall rescind the ‘‘no contact’’ 


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1 policy that prevents officers and employees of the Depart2 ment of State from making any direct contact with official 

3 representatives of the Government of Iran without express 

4 prior authorization from the Secretary of State. 

5 (b) OFFICE OF HIGH-LEVEL UNITED STATES REP6 RESENTATIVE OR SPECIAL ENVOY.—Not later than 30 

7 days after the appointment of a high-level United States 

8 representative or special envoy under section 4, the Sec9 retary of State shall establish an office in the Department 

10 of State for the purpose of supporting the work of such 

11 representative or special envoy. 

12 SEC. 6. REPORTING TO CONGRESS. 

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

14 high-level United States representative or special envoy for 

15 Iran is appointed under section 4 and every 180 days 

16 thereafter, such United States representative or special 

17 envoy shall submit to the committees specified in sub18 section (b) a report on the steps that have been taken to 

19 facilitate direct, unconditional, bilateral, and multilateral 

20 negotiations with the Government of Iran under section 

21 4(c). Each such report may, when necessary or appro22 priate, be submitted in classified and unclassified form. 

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

24 subsection (a) are— 


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1 (1) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com2 mittee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Armed 

3 Services, and the Permanent Select Committee on 

4 Intelligence of the House of Representatives; and 

5 (2) the Committee on Appropriations, the Com6 mittee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 

7 Armed Services, and the Select Committee on Intel8 ligence of the Senate. 

9 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

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

12 years 2013 and 2014. 

Æ 


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