Subject: [big campaign] Re: Berman-Pence resolution on Iran --onHousefloortomorrow
From: "Adam Blickstein" <[email-masked]>
To: "bigcampaign@googlegroups. com" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:50:02 +0000
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

http://washingtonindependent.com/47903/berman-with-pence-introduces-a-changed-iran-resolution

Berman, With Pence, Introduces a Changed Iran Resolution   
By Spencer Ackerman 6/18/09 7:15 PM  
This dropped in the last hour and I’ve obtained the full text. Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has changed Rep. Mike Pence’s (R-Ind.) resolution on Iran significantly, chopping out the more provocative preambles that David Weigel reported on. It now reads: 

RESOLUTION Expressing support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and rule of law, and for other purposes. Resolved, That the House of Representativesâ€”(1) expresses its support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and rule of law;(2) condemns the ongoing violence against demonstrators by the Government of Iran and pro-government militias, as well as the ongoing government suppression of independent electronic communication through interference with the Internet and cellphones; and(3) affirms the universality of individual rights and the importance of democratic and fair elections. 

The first and third points are unchanged from Pence’s version. The second used to read that the House “condemns the ongoing violence against demonstrators by the Government of Iran, pro-government militias, and affiliated entities against the people of Iran, which has escalated since the June 12, 2009, process of selecting Iranâ€™s next political leader.” That would seem to simultaneously add an important human rights consideration (freedom of communication) while keeping support for Iranian human rights and not reducing the Iranian population, with its multiplicity of perspectives, to just the opposition. The preambly stuff, as you can read in Weigel’s post, put the United States out in front on the side of the demonstrators, who haven’t expressed any such desire for the U.S. Congress to be anywhere near them. I’m told this is now an agreed-upon text and is expected to go up for a vote tomorrow.  
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