[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 86 (Thursday, May 24, 2007)] [Senate] [Pages S6597-S6598] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] CALLING UPON THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN TO IMMEDIATELY RELEASE DR. HALEH ESFANDIARI Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 214 submitted earlier today. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title. The assistant legislative clerk read as follows: A resolution (S. Res. 214) calling upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately release Dr. Haleh Esfandiari. There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution. Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, this resolution brings to the Senate's attention the ongoing plight of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari. Dr. Esfandiari is the director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars here in Washington, DC. She holds dual citizenship with the United States and Iran and visits her ailing 93-year-old mother twice a year in Iran. During her return to the United States on her last visit, Dr. Esfandiari's vehicle was robbed by three knife-wielding men. She lost her luggage and her travel documents. Later, when she requested the replacement documents, agents of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence began to question her for hours over the course of several days. The Ministry of Intelligence asked Dr. Esfandiari questions about her work and her work at the Woodrow Wilson International Center. The Woodrow Wilson International Center supplied exhaustive material about her education and information about her mission. Dr. Esfandiari was essentially kept under house arrest for 10 weeks. On May 7 she was informed she must return to the Intelligence Ministry on May 8. Upon honoring the summons, Dr. Esfandiari was immediately taken into custody and jailed. She has been denied contact with her family, her attorneys, and the outside world. Earlier this week, news reports stated that Dr. Esfandiari is suspected of espionage and supporting the ``soft revolution'' against the regime in Iran. Dr. Esfandiari is well known and well respected as a Middle East scholar. She has dedicated her professional career to bringing people together from the West to gain greater understanding of the Middle East and to gain common ground. Increasingly, Iran has begun to stifle debate among different people and international exchanges. The Department of State has called upon the Iranians to release Dr. Esfandiari. I am joined in this resolution by Senators Mikulski, Biden, Lieberman, Smith, Clinton, and Dodd, which encourages the State Department to keep up the pressure on the Iranians to do the right thing and release Dr. Esfandiari. I also wish to recognize the solid effort of the Woodrow Wilson International Center and its staff, led by our former colleague in the House of Representatives, Lee Hamilton, for its steadfast support of Dr. Esfandiari. Finally, I wish to express my support for Dr. Esfandiari's family during this trying time. She has a strong family and dozens of caring friends who refuse to give up her plight and refuse to let the Iranians suppress a beacon of peace and understanding. This is outrageous. The Iranians need to do the right thing and allow her to return home here in the United States. [[Page S6598]] I can tell my colleagues that this body needs to stand in strong opposition to what the Iranians are doing, urging them to release this U.S. citizen so she can return here to her home. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating there to be printed in the Record. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The resolution (S. Res. 214) was agreed to. The preamble was agreed to. The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows: S. Res. 214 Whereas Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Ph.D., holds dual citizenship in the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran; Whereas Dr. Esfandiari taught Persian language and literature for many years at Princeton University, where she inspired untold numbers of students to study the rich Persian language and culture; Whereas Dr. Esfandiari is a resident of the State of Maryland and the Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. (referred to in this preamble as the ``Wilson Center''); Whereas, for the past decade, Dr. Esfandiari has traveled to Iran twice a year to visit her ailing 93-year-old mother; Whereas, in December 2006, on her return to the airport during her last visit to Iran, Dr. Esfandiari was robbed by 3 masked, knife-wielding men, who stole her travel documents, luggage, and other effects; Whereas, when Dr. Esfandiari attempted to obtain replacement travel documents in Iran, she was invited to an interview by a representative of the Ministry of Intelligence of Iran; Whereas Dr. Esfandiari was interrogated by the Ministry of Intelligence for hours on many days; Whereas the questioning of the Ministry of Intelligence focused on the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center; Whereas Dr. Esfandiari answered all questions to the best of her ability, and the Wilson Center also provided extensive information to the Ministry in a good faith effort to aid Dr. Esfandiari; Whereas the harassment of Dr. Esfandiari increased, with her being awakened while napping to find 3 strange men standing at her bedroom door, one wielding a video camera, and later being pressured to make false confessions against herself and to falsely implicate the Wilson Center in activities in which it had no part; Whereas Lee Hamilton, former United States Representative and president of the Wilson Center, has written to the President of Iran to call his attention to Dr. Esfandiari's dire situation; Whereas Mr. Hamilton repeated that the Wilson Center's mission is to provide forums to exchange views and opinions and not to take positions on issues, nor try to influence specific outcomes; Whereas the lengthy interrogations of Dr. Esfandiari by the Ministry of Intelligence of Iran stopped on February 14, 2007, but she heard nothing for 10 weeks and was denied her passport; Whereas, on May 8, 2007, Dr. Esfandiari honored a summons to appear at the Ministry of Intelligence, whereby she was taken immediately to Evin prison, where she is currently being held; and Whereas the Ministry of Intelligence has implicated Dr. Esfandiari and the Wilson Center in advancing the alleged aim of the United States Government of supporting a ``soft revolution'' in Iran: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That-- (1) the Senate calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately release Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, replace her lost travel documents, and cease its harassment tactics; and (2) it is the sense of the Senate that-- (A) the United States Government, through all appropriate diplomatic means and channels, should encourage the Government of Iran to release Dr. Esfandiari and offer her an apology; and (B) the United States should coordinate its response with its allies throughout the Middle East, other governments, and all appropriate international organizations. ____________________