On Friday, October 21, 2022, a bi-partisan congressional meeting in support of Iran’s uprising meeting was held in the U.S. Congress. The meeting called for a secular, democratic, and non-nuclear Iranian republic. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI president-elect, addressed the congregational meeting. Some members of Congress also spoke at the meeting. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee’s remarks are as follows.
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee’s remarks
Thank you so very much. What an honor and privilege to be with you today on this momentous occasion and the opportunity to listen to our beloved and courageous freedom fighter Madam Rajavi.
Thank you for saying to us that we are at the moment of history, of freedom for Iran and the Iranian people. Let me also thank my colleagues who are joining us today. I’m delighted to join them in their belief and support for democracy and freedom. Madam Rajavi is correct in the act and the words: Iran is on the brink of freedom, and women have been at the forefront, but she has been leading.
For women to be reminded of the fact that freedom is precious, and, yes, it causes severe loss of life, let me say that the young women that are there in the streets today, and others who have joined them, the men, families, children even, are thirsting for freedom, and it is in the name of, Mahsha Amini, the young woman who had enough courage to say that I am a person, a human being, a free person, that we say today that we can never give up on the peaceful resistance that is necessary for free Iran.
We are reminded of the ultimate price of freedom. In the summer of 1988, when 30000 political prisoners were massacred by the Ayatollah’s regime, there were thousands of women, thousands of women among them, and we know that Mrs. Rajavi took over the leadership of the movement in 1989. She paved the way for a generation of women to take up the most senior positions of political leadership and was massacred. Those individuals were having to be necessarily strong and vital to be able to do this work.
This is an important step forward and I want to congratulate the Iranian women for leading the nation and ensuring that there is freedom. I want to thank MRS Rajavi, who has offered a 10-point plan for the future of Iran. It was noted in 118 that I’m a proud cosponsor of, with a number of other members, 257, and it’s important to take note of what was in her point plan: free elections, a market economy, advocates for Gender, religious and ethnic equality, a foreign policy based on peaceful coexistence and a non-nuclear Iran.
We can applaud these peaceful and forceful points, but we can emphasize that this task is not yet finished, and it is long from finished. It is important for the members of Congress who are here to continue to advocate with our fellow colleagues the importance of supporting those who support a free Iran and to be reminded of the movement led by Madame Rajavi, who in fact I had the opportunity to speak with as well, noted some few weeks ago about this protest. How should I say this? Direct to the outrageous and volatile and brutal regime that is running around now, women who stood up, young women who stood up and their families who came to join them. So, I applaud the leadership of women in the ranks of the Iranian resistance, as well as the visible participation and sacrifice in resistance with those units across Iran. It is inspiring and at the core of their grievances is the illegitimacy of the regime itself, both in the years leading up to 1988 and even today. It is in fact the chant of the protesters, as they say, they don’t want this regime anymore.
To save the lives of the innocent, I believe the United States should make the internet readily accessible to the people of and urge tech companies to provide secure lines that will allow them to communicate with each other. We can be a viable part of freedom, and I thank President Biden for his comments, of which he’s taken note of the protest, and I asked the administration to in fact provide that comfort and support for free movements around the world and the free movement in Iran. We cannot do this alone. We must do this, collaborating with Madam Rajavi and all that she had and the free people in the United States who are of Iranian descent. I applaud the Iranian diaspora, of whom I walked with and spoke with and spoke at the rally right here in Houston, Texas, as rallies are taking place around the cities of America. We are standing united for freedom in Iran. We are grateful, Madam Rajavi, for your leadership and I am grateful to stand with you, as we have done over the years, more than a decade, fighting for that voice to be heard and I must say in sympathy to the family of Masha Amini, I am meaning may she rest in peace, but may her spirit and memory and strength and courage never be forgotten. May she be honored among the heroes in Iran.
And among the cheers for freedom around the world, Madam Rajavi, may you continue to lead a spirited and peaceful movement, so that your 10-point plan may become a true reality and a reality of which leadership ascends with your guidance that leads a free Iran for generations to come. I’m glad to be here with my fellow colleagues and I say to you: go on and on and on being self-defense for those who are in the streets and fighting.
Also, let the regime stop the violence and brutality and stop the killing of women and families and children and freedom fighters who are simply asking for democracy. We will be instead alongside and supportive of the fight for democracy, justice, and freedom.
Thank you so very much.
