Iran Democracy Bill Passed in the U.S. Senate - 2003-07-10

The Iran Democracy Bill has been passed in the U.S. Senate - 2003-07-10. Finally, the efforts of Sam Brownback, a Republican senator from Kansas, to pass the 'Iran Democracy Bill' have succeeded, and this bill was approved as an amendment on Wednesday, July 9, in the U.S. Senate. Amendment No. 1145 is actually following Senate Bill No. 1136, which Senator Brownback submitted to the U.S. Senate after presenting it at a press conference last May in support of establishing freedom and democracy in Iran. At the same time that the Iran Democracy Bill was being discussed in the U.S. Senate, a crowd of over a thousand people gathered under the scorching hundred-degree sun in Washington on the lawn and steps of the U.S. Congress to support Iranian students who are fighting for their freedom inside Iran and are imprisoned. Amendment No. 1145 states that the U.S. Congress believes that: 1- Iran is a country lacking freedom and democracy. Iranian women and men are not treated equally. Women have been legally deprived of recognized global standards regarding human rights. Religious freedom is not respected in Iranian laws. Undemocratic institutions like the Guardian Council have the right to nullify and invalidate the decisions of elected leaders. 2- According to the April report of this year from the U.S. Department of State, the Iranian government was still the most active government in supporting international terrorism in 2002. 3- The U.S. Department of State report indicates that the Iranian government continues its financial support to recognized terrorist groups, especially Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Palestinian Liberation Front, providing them with living quarters, necessary weapons, and training. The policy of the United States is that: 1- Currently, there is no free and fully democratic government in Iran. 2- The United States supports a transparent and fully democratic government in Iran. 3- The United States supports the rights of the Iranian people to choose their desired government, and 4- The United States condemns the imprisonment, brutal treatment, and torture of civilian opponents in Iran by the Iranian government.