Title: Continued Support for the Iranian People Act of 2018
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Continued Support for the Iranian People Act of 2018
This bill states that it is U.S. policy to: (1) condemn the government of Iran's violations of its citizens' human rights and freedoms of religion and speech, (2) support their fight for freedom and prosperity, and (3) work with international allies and partners to monitor and respond to protests in Iran in a manner that supports human rights and democratic aspirations and deters the Iranian government from committing acts of oppression against its citizens.
The Department of State shall: (1) work with social media companies to build an archive of social media communications to and from protesters in Iran, and (2) work with social media and telecommunications companies and Internet service providers to develop a strategy to prevent the Iranian government from shutting down Internet access and blocking social media access.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2528 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Continued Support 
for the Iranian People Act of 2018''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for 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.
Sec. 5. Requirements.
Sec. 6. Appropriate congressional committees defined.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The protests that began on December 28, 2017, in Iran 
        (in this Act referred to as ``the protests'') were instigated 
        and supported by a diverse demographic of Iranian citizens, 
        especially including the poor and economically disenfranchised 
        populations across the country, located in both rural and urban 
        areas.
            (2) Rather than invest in the legitimate economy and future 
        of the Iranian people, the Government of Iran budgeted billions 
        of dollars to continue supporting illegitimate armed groups and 
        terrorists in the region, primarily through its Islamic 
        Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
            (3) The Government of Iran has arrested at least 4,500 
        individuals for participating in the protests, at least 490 of 
        whom remain in custody, according to news reports.
            (4) According to Reuters, Iranian Deputy Interior Minister 
        Hossein Zolfaghari stated on January 1, 2018, that ``more than 
        90 percent of the people arrested in these unrests were young 
        people and teenagers under the age of 25 and virtually none of 
        them have any arrest history''.
            (5) On January 8, 2018, Hamid Shahriari, deputy head of the 
        Government of Iran's judiciary, said that ``those who organized 
        and led the unrest against the establishment can expect the 
        maximum penalty,'' according to the Iranian Students News 
        Agency (ISNA), as reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
            (6) Three detained prisoners were reported to have 
        ``committed suicide'' in Iranian prisons since their 
        incarceration, including Iranian-Canadian academic Kavous 
        Seyed-Emami.
            (7) The Iranian Security Forces have killed over 20 
        individuals during the protests, including 13-year-old Armin 
        Sadeghi.
            (8) The Government of Iran has consistently blocked 
        Internet access and use of communications applications like 
        Telegram and Instagram. As of January 31, 2018, protests 
        continue throughout Iran, with demonstrations in the city of 
        Ahvaz on January 23, 2018, and four more cities in the days 
        since.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    Congress--
            (1) strongly condemns the Government of Iran for its human 
        rights violations against the people of Iran during and in the 
        wake of the protests;
            (2) urges the President to continue to publicly--
                    (A) condemn the Government of Iran for its human 
                rights abuses against the Iranian people; and
                    (B) support the human rights, economic prosperity, 
                and democratic aspirations of the Iranian people;
            (3) reaffirms the right of the people of Iran to the 
        freedom of speech and assembly in the face of oppression 
        perpetrated by the Government of Iran; and
            (4) supports the right of the people of Iran to a 
        democratic system of governance.

SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF UNITED STATES POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States--
            (1) to condemn the Government of Iran's violations of its 
        citizens' human rights, freedom of religious expression, and 
        freedom of speech, including state-sanctioned violence against 
        peaceful protestors;
            (2) to support, through appropriate actions and official 
        public statements, the people of Iran in their fight for 
        freedom and prosperity; and
            (3) to work with international allies and partners to 
        monitor and effectively respond to the protests in Iran in a 
        manner that supports the human rights and democratic 
        aspirations of the people of Iran and deters the Government of 
        Iran from committing continued acts of oppression and 
        persecution against its citizens.

SEC. 5. REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Use of Social Media.--
            (1) Archive.--The Secretary of State, in consultation with 
        the Secretary of Commerce, shall work with relevant social 
        media companies to build an anonymized and public comprehensive 
        archive of all social media communications, whether 
        successfully transmitted or blocked by the Government of Iran, 
        to and from protesters in Iran since December 28, 2017.
            (2) Strategy.--The Secretary of State, in consultation with 
        the Secretary of Commerce and the Office of the Director of 
        National Intelligence, shall work with relevant social media 
        and telecommunications companies, Internet service providers, 
        and expert public stakeholders, as appropriate, to develop a 
        strategy consisting of potential government and private sector 
        actions and best practices for preventing the Government of 
        Iran from shutting down Internet access and blocking access to 
        social media applications.
            (3) Report required.--Not later than 180 days after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 
        submit to the appropriate congressional committees an 
        unclassified report, which may contain a classified annex, 
        consisting of the archive described in paragraph (1) and the 
        strategy described in paragraph (2).
    (b) Modification of Annual Human Rights Report.--
            (1) Report required.--As part of the first Annual Country 
        Report on Human Rights submitted after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State and the Secretary 
        of the Treasury, in consultation with other appropriate Federal 
        agencies, shall include an unclassified report documenting the 
        actions of the Government of Iran, the Iranian Revolutionary 
        Court, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and their proxies 
        in response to the protests that began on December 28, 2017.
            (2) Elements.--The report required under paragraph (1) 
        shall include--
                    (A) an appendix detailing the circumstances of the 
                incarcerations undertaken by the Government of Iran 
                during this period and the treatment of prisoners; and
                    (B) an appendix, which may contain a classified 
                annex, detailing the sources and mechanisms used by the 
                Government of Iran, the IRGC, and its proxies to fund 
                its actions in response to the protests.
            (3) Required briefing.--Not later than 60 days after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act and upon publication of the 
        report described in paragraph (1), the Secretary of State and 
        the Secretary of the Treasury shall brief, in an unclassified 
        and classified format, if necessary, the appropriate 
        congressional committees on the information required by the 
        report described in paragraph (1).

SEC. 6. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 
        Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the Committee on 
        Appropriations of the Senate; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 
        Energy and Commerce, and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
        House of Representatives.
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