Hi. I’m Congressman Dan Crenshaw from Houston, Texas.
I join you today because freedom and human rights matter. The Iranian people’s freedom and human rights matter. The regime of the Ayatollah has been built for decades on the violation of those rights with grave and serious oppression and violence against those who dare challenge them. The past few days, we saw the unjust and unreasonable execution of Navid Afkari, who had been tortured into making a confession. We know about Navid because he was an athlete. But how many executions happen that we don’t know about. How many more forced confessions? How many more denials of human rights is the regime guilty of? We know thousands were arrested and killed in 1988. We have the seen the regime again and again, since it came to power, exercise its brutality. In 1979, ’88, 2009 and from 2019 to today when the Iranian people take to the streets to demand their rights, rights given to them by God, not from the Ayatollah, not from government.
The regime has shown who they are. They have shown their violence and they have shown their brutality. We cannot allow the Ayatollah and his corrupt government to continue these atrocities against the Iranian people. And that’s why I was proud to support my colleagues and House Resolution 752 and support the rights of the people of Iran to free expression, condemning the Iranian regime for its crackdown on legitimate protests. We want the Iranian people to know we see what is happening in your country and we are with you. That is why 220 of my colleagues and I have joined Representative Tom McClintock’s House Resolution 374 to condemn the regime’s sponsorship for terrorism and support the Iranian people’s desire for a free Iran. Cannot be fooled by the regime like the previous administration was in 2015. There is no moderation with them.
There is no peacemaker among them. We cannot and must not legitimize them. We’ve seen those consequences of those actions as the Ayatollah has exploited his terror across the region while ignoring his people at home. We must recognize the brutality of the Ayatollah and his regime and instead of staying silent and hoping things get better, we proudly and openly stand with the brave Iranian people who are standing up and demanding to be recognized, who are demanding their God-given freedom and respect for their human rights. We support the Iranian people not just because we oppose the Ayatollah, but because we know the Iranian people. As a Houstonian, I’m proud to say that our city has approximately 70,000 residents of Iranian descent. They’re business owners, doctors, professors, even an astronaut, and a captain of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, many of whom I’ve come to know personally. I’m proud to stand with you and be your voice in this important and noble cause.
