WASHINGTON–Illinois Republicans Sen. Mark Kirk and Bob Dold addressed Iranian human rights violations.
Said Kirk at a press conference here, “today we’re introducing the Iran human rights and democracy promotion act in both the House and the Senate. Our legislation would make it the policy of the U.S. to deny the Iranian regime the ability to oppress the people of Iran, to fully support democratic activities inside Iran, and to help the Iranian people freely and safely with access to information.
“Our legislation would impose new sanctions on companies that empower the Iranian government’s human-rights violations, would force the administration to investigate the individual human-rights abusers of Iran, like President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and to help create a comprehensive strategy to promote Internet freedom and access to information inside Iran. We would also create a new special representative on human rights and democracy in Iran to coordinate U.S. funding on this issue.”
Said Dold, “Certainly the protests that have gone on throughout the Arab world in the past few months have captivated our attention. And as the momentum of the democratic protests continues to build in the Middle East, we are compelled to confront the Iranian regime’s willingness to brutally crack down on its own people.”
