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[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2681 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  2d Session
                                 S. 2681

  To establish a program to support a transition to democracy in Iran.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 16, 2004

  Mr. Santorum (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
  To establish a program to support a transition to democracy in Iran.

    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 ``Iran Freedom and Support Act of 
2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

     Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The people of the United States have long demonstrated 
        an interest in the well-being of the people of Iran, including 
        through the work of missionaries whose work in Iran dates back 
        to the 1830s.
            (2) Famous Americans such as Howard Baskerville, Dr. Samuel 
        Martin, Jane E. Doolittle, and Louis G. Dreyfus, Jr., made 
        significant contributions to Iranian society by furthering the 
        educational opportunities of the people of Iran and improving 
        the opportunities of the less fortunate citizens of Iran.
            (3) Iran served as a key ally of the United States 
        following World War II and through the late 1970s serving as an 
        important regional ally and a key bulwark against Soviet 
        influence.
            (4) In November 1979, following the arrival of Mohammed 
        Reza Shah Pahlavi in the United States, a mob of students and 
        extremists seized the United States Embassy in Tehran, Iran, 
        holding United States diplomatic personnel hostage until 
        January 1981.
            (5) Following the seizure of the United States Embassy, 
        Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the repressive 
        revolutionary movement in Iran, expressed support for the 
        actions of the students in taking American citizens hostage.
            (6) Despite the historic victory of Mohammad Khatami in the 
        presidential election of May 1997, an election which Khatami 
        won with 69 percent of the vote and in which an estimated 91 
        percent of the electorate participated, control of the internal 
        and external affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran is still 
        exercised by the courts in Iran and the Revolutionary Guards, 
        Supreme Leader, and Council of Guardians of the Government of 
        Iran.
            (7) The election results of the May 1997 election and the 
        high level of voter participation in that election demonstrate 
        that the people of Iran favor economic and political reforms 
        and greater interaction with the United States and the Western 
        world in general.
            (8) Despite the election of President Khatami and the 
        outreach of the Clinton administration to ease sanctions and to 
        promote people-to-people exchanges, Leader of the Islamic 
        Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Militant Clerics' 
        Society, the Islamic Coalition Organization, and Supporters of 
        the Party of God have all opposed efforts to open Iranian 
        society to Western influences and have opposed efforts to 
        change the dynamic of relations between the United States and 
        Iran.
            (9) For the past two decades, the Department of State has 
        found Iran to be the leading sponsor of international terrorism 
        in the world.
            (10) In 1983, the Iran-sponsored Hezbollah terrorist 
        organization conducted suicide terrorist operations against 
        United States military and civilian personnel in Beirut, 
        Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Americans.
            (11) Intelligence analysts and law enforcement personnel 
        have linked Iran to attacks against American military personnel 
        at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996 and to al Qaeda 
        attacks against civilians in Saudi Arabia in 2004.
            (12) Iran has provided a safe haven and a base of 
        operations for terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, Islamic 
        Jihad, and Ansar al Islam, and to terrorist leaders, including 
        Abu Musab al Zarkawi, Zayman al Zawahiri, and members of the 
        bin Laden family.
            (13) Iran currently operates more than 10 radio and 
        television stations broadcasting in Iraq that support violent 
        actions against United States and coalition personnel in Iraq.
            (14) The current leaders of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 
        and Hashemi Rafsanjani, have repeatedly called upon Muslims to 
        kill Americans in Iraq and install a theocratic regime in Iraq.
            (15) The United States intelligence community believes the 
        Government of Iran is pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons 
        program.
            (16) The Government of Iran has failed to meet repeated 
        pledges to arrest and extradite foreign terrorists in Iran.
            (17) The United States Government believes that the 
        Government of Iran supports terrorists and extremist religious 
        leaders in Iraq with the clear intention of subverting 
        coalition efforts to bring peace and democracy to Iraq.
            (18) The Ministry of Defense of Iran confirmed in July 2003 
        that it had successfully conducted the final test of the 
        Shahab-3 missile, giving Iran an operational intermediate-range 
        ballistic missile capable of striking both Israel and United 
        States troops throughout the Middle East and Afghanistan.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD IRAN.

     It is the sense of Congress that it should be the policy of the 
United States to support regime change for the Islamic Republic of Iran 
and to promote the transition to a democratic government to replace 
that regime.

SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY IN IRAN.

    (a) In General.--The President is authorized to provide assistance 
to foreign and domestic pro-democracy groups opposed to the non-
democratic Government of Iran, including the award of grants to 
qualified pro-democracy radio and television broadcasting 
organizations.
    (b) Eligibility for Assistance.--Financial assistance may only be 
provided under this section to individuals, organizations, or entities 
that have--
            (1) officially renounced the use of terrorism;
            (2) pledged to adhere to nonproliferation regimes for 
        nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and materiel;
            (3) pledged to support the destruction of all prohibited 
        stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in Iran; and
            (4) supported the adoption of a democratic form of 
        government in Iran.
    (c) Political Assistance.--
            (1) In general.--The President is authorized to provide 
        assistance to support foreign and domestic pro-democracy groups 
        opposed to the non-democratic Government of Iran that--
                    (A) are dedicated to democratic values;
                    (B) show a commitment to human rights, equality of 
                women, and freedom of religious worship;
                    (C) demonstrate a commitment to fostering equality 
                of opportunity; and
                    (D) support freedom of the press, freedom of 
                speech, and freedom of association.
            (2) Funding.--The President may provide assistance under 
        paragraph (1) using--
                    (A) funds available to the Middle East Partnership 
                Initiative (MEPI) and National Endowment for Democracy 
                (NED); and
                    (B) amounts authorized to be appropriated under 
                subsection (g).
    (d) Notification Requirement.--The President shall notify the 
Committees on Foreign Relations and Appropriations of the Senate and 
the Committees on International Relations and Appropriations of the 
House of Representatives at least 15 days in advance of each obligation 
of assistance under this section in accordance with the procedures 
under section 634A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2394-l).
    (e) Coordination of Policy.--In order to ensure maximum 
coordination among Federal agencies, the President shall appoint a 
senior member of the National Security Council as special assistant to 
the President on Iran matters.
    (f) Sense of Congress on Diplomatic Assistance.--It is the sense of 
Congress that--
            (1) contacts should be expanded with opposition groups in 
        Iran that meet the criteria under subsection (b);
            (2) support for transition to democracy in Iran should be 
        expressed by United States representatives and officials in all 
        appropriate international fora;
            (3) official meetings with representatives of the 
        Government of Iran should be terminated;
            (4) efforts to bring a halt to the nuclear weapons program 
        of Iran, including steps to end the supply of nuclear 
        components or fuel to Iran, should be intensified, with 
        particular attention focused on the cooperation of the 
        Government of Russia with that nuclear weapons program; and
            (5) officials and representatives of the United States 
        Government should strongly and unequivocally support indigenous 
        efforts in Iran to call for a national referendum on the form 
        of government in Iran, including drawing international 
        attention to the violations by the Government of Iran of human 
        rights, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and freedom 
        of the press.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Department of State $10,000,000 to carry out 
activities under this section.

SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF DEMOCRATIC OPPOSITION ORGANIZATIONS.

    (a) Initial Designation.--It is the sense of Congress that, not 
later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
President should designate at least one democratic opposition 
organization as eligible to receive assistance under section 4.
    (b) Notification Requirement.--At least 15 days before designating 
a democratic opposition organization as eligible to receive assistance 
under section 4, the President shall notify the Committees on Foreign 
Relations and Appropriations of the Senate and the Committees on 
International Relations and Appropriations of the House of 
Representatives of the proposed designation.

SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

     Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize or otherwise 
approve of the use of the Armed Forces of the United States in carrying 
out activities under this Act.
                                 <all>
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