,,iii #aahth ,,congress #ast ,session ,s4 ,,con4 ,,res4 #b ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,january #bf1 #bjbc,mr4 ,menendez 7for himself1 ,mrs4 ,blackburn1 ,mr4 ,coons1 ,mr4 ,risch1 ,mr4 ,lankford1 ,mr4 ,barrasso1 ,mr4 ,blumenthal1 ,mr4 ,booker1 ,mr4 ,cardin1 ,mr4 ,casey1 ,mr4 ,cassidy1 ,mr4 ,cornyn1 ,mr4 ,cotton1 ,mr4 ,cramer1 ,mrs4 ,gillibrand1 ,mr4 ,graham1 ,mr4 ,hagerty1 ,mr4 ,hoeven1 ,mr4 ,kaine1 ,mr4 ,kelly1 ,mr4 ,king1 ,ms4 ,klobuchar1 ,mr4 ,markey1 ,mr4 ,merkley1 ,mr4 ,murphy1 ,mr4 ,padilla1 ,ms4 ,rosen1 ,mr4 ,rubio1 ,mr4 ,scott of ,florida1 ,mrs4 ,shaheen1 ,mr4 ,sullivan1 ,mr4 ,tillis1 and ,mr4 ,van ,hollen7 submitted the following concurrent resolution2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations ,,concurrent ,,resolution ,commending the bravery1 courage1 and resolve of the women and men of ,iran demonstrating in more than #acc cities and risking their safety to speak out against the ,iranian regime's human rights abuses4 ,whereas1 on ,september #af1 #bjbb1 #bb-year-old ,mahsa ,amini passed away in the custody of ,iranian morality police following a #c-;day coma due to wounds1 including bone fracture1 hemorrhage1 and cerebral edema consistent with severe beating1 inflicted by the police for purportedly wearing a hijab improperly2 ,whereas1 on ,september #af1 #bjbb1 ,iranians gathered in the streets of ,tehran to protest the killing of ,mahsa ,amini2 ,whereas demonstrations have since spread to more than #acc cities and #acj universities in ,iran1 where women are removing or burning hijabs1 cutting their hair1 and dancing in front of ,iranian security forces1 joined by their fellow ,iranian citizens1 in a call to end the ,iranian regime's systemic repression2 ,whereas ,iranian security forces have responded to such demonstrations with violence and detentions1 including detentions of journalists and activists for covering the protests2 ,whereas the security forces reportedly have killed more than #eaf protestors1 including at least #gj children1 although the number of injuries and deaths is likely higher1 but is unobtainable due to internet blackouts2 ,whereas at least #ai1bjj ,iranians have been arrested across ,iran according to official sources1 and many thousands more have been detained according to independent reports2 ,whereas more than #fj percent of ,iran's population is younger than #cj years old1 and the protests continue to be fueled by young people2 ,whereas ,iran's ,revolutionary ,courts have executed at least #d individuals who were involved in the protests1 namely ,mohsen ,shekari1 ,majid ,reza ,rahnavard1 ,mohammad ,mehdi ,karami1 and ,sayed ,mohammad ,hosseini1 and have charged at least #ajj more individuals with crimes that are punishable in ,iran by death2 ,whereas videos1 images1 and demonstrations have spread to social media platforms and are an important way for the voices of the ,iranian people to be heard2 ,whereas internet monitoring groups have reported that the ,iranian regime has-- 7#a7 caused near-total disruption of internet connectivity in parts of ,iran and partial disruptions in city centers2 and 7#b7 blocked ,whats,app1 ,twitter1 ,telegram1 ,facebook1 ,instagram1 and video games with chat functions2 ,whereas common protest chants include-- 7#a7 ,women1 life1 and freedom62 7#b7 ,iranians die but will not be suppressed62 and 7#c7 ,death to the dictator ,ayatollah ,ali ,khamenei62 ,whereas the ,iranian regime has a long history of structural and legal discrimination against women1 including barriers for women seeking justice against domestic violence and criminal prohibitions against women singing or showing hair in public and studying certain technical subjects2 ,whereas the ,iranian regime approved of depriving one social right or more for any woman who posts an unveiled picture of herself on social media1 and1 in ,august #bjbb1 approved of enforcing mandatory hijab laws through facial recognition2 ,whereas1 through misogynistic criminal statutes1 the ,iranian regime for decades has detained and engaged in the ongoing persecution of women1 including-- 7#a7 ,saba ,kord ,afshari1 who was sentenced to #ae years in prison for posting videos to social media without a hijab and transferred into ,ward #f of the notorious ,qarchak ,women's ,prison1 which the ,secretary of the ,treasury has identified as a place at which gross violations of human rights take place2 7#b7 ,raheleh ,ahmadi1 mother of ,afshari1 who was sentenced to #b years in prison for advocacy on behalf of ,afshari2 7#c7 ,yasaman ,aryani1 her mother ,monireh ,arabshahi1 and ,mojgan ,keshavarz1 who were sentenced to between #af and #bc years in prison for posting a video for ,international ,women's ,day in #bjai1 during which they walked without headscarves through a metro train in ,tehran1 handing flowers to female passengers2 7#d7 human rights attorney ,nasrin ,sotoudeh1 who was sentenced in #bjai to #ch years in prison and #adh lashes for providing legal defense services to women charged with not wearing a hijab2 7#e7 ,narges ,mohammadi1 a prominent rights advocate1 who-- 7,a7 was sentenced to #aj years in prison in ,may #bjae for establishing an illegal group1 assembly and collusion to act against national security1 and propaganda against the state2 7,b7 was arrested in ,november #bjai 7on the second anniversary of countrywide protests7 and rearrested in #bjba2 and 7,c7 had her prison sentence extended in ,october #bjbb to #aa years and #i months2 7#f7 former ,vice ,president for ,women and ,family ,affairs1 ,shahindokht ,molaverdi1 who was charged with encouraging corruption1 prostitution1 and sexual deviance1 a common charge against women refusing mandatory hijab laws1 and sentenced in ,december #bjbj to #cj months in prison for defending the right of women to attend sporting events and criticizing the practice of child marriage2 7#g7 #f women who were sentenced by the ,culture and ,media ,court of ,tehran in ,july #bjbb to each serve #a year in prison for the offense of singing songs in public2 7#h7 ,niloufar ,hamedi1 who was one of the first ,iranian journalists to report on ,mahsa ,amini's death1 who was arrested on ,september #bb1 #bjbb1 and is being held in solitary confinement2 and 7#i7 countless other women2 ,whereas the ,iranian regime consistently commits a range of human rights abuses in addition to its systematic persecution of women and peaceful protesters1 including-- 7#a7 unlawful or arbitrary killings and torture2 7#b7 trials without due process2 7#c7 forced disappearances2 7#d7 arbitrary arrest and detention2 7#e7 life-threatening prison conditions2 7#f7 transnational attacks against dissidents2 and 7#g7 severe restrictions on free expression and the media1 peaceful assembly and association1 and religious freedom2 ,whereas ,freedom ,house ranks the ,government of ,iran as one of the worst human rights violators in the world1 with a ,global ,freedom ,score of #ad out of #ajj and an ,internet ,freedom ,score of #af out of #ajj2 ,whereas peaceful protests in ,iran during #bjbb have focused on grievances such as-- 7#a7 mismanagement of the economy and national resources2 7#b7 prioritization of funding for terror groups and pariah regimes over social services for the people of ,iran2 and 7#c7 widespread political corruption3 ,now1 therefore1 be it ,that ,congress-- 7#a7 commends the bravery1 courage1 and resolve of the women and men of ,iran who are-- 7,a7 participating in the current protests to defend their fundamental human rights2 and 7,b7 risking their safety to speak out against the human rights abuses committed by the ,iranian regime2 7#b7 condemns-- 7,a7 the brutal beating and death of ,mahsa ,amini2 and 7,b7 the violent suppression by the ,iranian regime of women and men participating in the current demonstrations1 including children1 and calls for transparent accountability for all killings of protesters by ,iranian security forces2 7#c7 supports internet freedom programs that circumvent the regime1 including the ,open ,technology ,fund1 which provides support for ,v,p,ns1 proxy servers1 and other alternatives that can be used to bypass attempts by authoritarian governments to censor internet access during times of protest1 and commends private entities willing to provide programs to circumvent such censorship2 7#d7 encourages continued efforts by the ,biden ,administration to respond to the protests1 including the recent sanctioning of the ,iranian morality police1 and further encourages the ,biden ,administration-- 7,a7 to immediately impose1 under existing authorities1 additional human rights sanctions on officials and entities responsible for the repression of the current protests2 7,b7 to prioritize efforts to expand unrestricted internet access in ,iran1 consistent with existing law2 and 7,c7 to work to develop a strategy to prevent the ,iranian regime from obtaining and exploiting facial recognition data and software for the use of mass surveillance and enforcement of mandatory hijab2 7#e7 encourages the private sector1 following the recent clarification by the ,biden ,administration of sanctions exemptions on communications technology1 to work with the ,biden ,administration to ensure protestors and activists have access to tools needed to circumvent government surveillance and repression2 7#f7 encourages representatives of the private sector to coordinate with the ,department of the ,treasury and their subsidiaries to utilize licensing opportunities and expand access of key communications services to ,iranians residing within ,iran2 7#g7 welcomes the efforts of the international community to support protestors in ,iran1 including by removing ,iran from the ,united ,nations ,commission on the ,status of ,women2 and 7#h7 calls on the international community-- 7,a7 to publicly condemn violence by the ,iranian regime against peaceful protesters2 7,b7 to speak out against violations by the regime of fundamental human rights1 including the freedom of expression1 assembly1 and redress of grievances of the ,iranian people2 and 7,c7 impose human rights sanctions on officials and entities that are responsible for the repression of current protests and involved in violating the human rights of the ,iranian people4