H.L.C. AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE OFFERED BY MR. LANTOS OF CALIFORNIA AND Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN OF FLORIDA Strike the preamble and insert the following: Whereas Iran is a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and is legally bound to respect ILO core principles, including freedom of association; Whereas Iran, in violation of ILO principles, refuses to recog nize independent labor unions; Whereas, on April 9, 2007, Iranian agents arrested and imprisoned Mahmoud Salehi, founder of the Saghez Bakery Workers Association, a labor union that is independent and therefore not recognized under Iranian law; Whereas Salehi's life is in grave danger as he sits in the Sanandaj prisons without access to kidney dialysis treatment; Whereas, on July 10, 2007, plainclothes Iranian agents severely beat and arrested Mansour Osanloo, president of the Syndicate of Bus Drivers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, another labor union that is independent and therefore not recognized under Iranian law; Whereas this arrest was the third time in less than two years that Syndicate president Osanloo has been arrested by Iranian agents; 2 H.L.C. Whereas Osanloo now sits in Iran's notorious Evin prison with a chronic heart condition and a serious eye condition that requires immediate surgery; Whereas Osanloo has no access to medical or legal assistance and no contact with his family; and Whereas, on August 9, 2007, the International Transport Workers' Federation, together with the International Trade Union Confederation, staged an international "day of action" to free Osanloo and Salehi: Now, therefore, be it Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the following: That Congress (1) condemns the Iranian regime for the arrest imprisonment of Iranian union leaders Mahmoud Salehi and Mansour Osanloo and de mands their immediate release; 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 (2) expresses its solidarity with the workers of Iran and stands with them, and with all Iranians, in their efforts to bring political freedom and individual liberty to Iran; and (3) calls on the Iranian regime to respect the right of Iranian workers to form independent asso ciations and unions, as required by its membership Chairman LANTOS. I would like at this moment to acknowledge the family members of the Nairobi bombing victims who are with us today who have advocated tirelessly on behalf of the families and Foreign Service officers generally. We are deeply in your debt for your dedicated service. We are sharing in your grief, in your sorrow and tragedy, and we want to commend you. Would you please stand? [Applause.] Chairman LANTOS. The chair recognizes Mr. Smith of New Jer sey. Mr. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Let me just say that I, too, want to join in your very heartfelt condolences to those who survived the horrific blasts in Dar es Salaam and in Kenya. I would remind my colleagues that as a direct result of those blasts, as you well remember because you and I worked so very hard on it, we enacted the Embassy Security Act. This legislation significantly beefed up the amount of money for hardening and providing setbacks, providing more diplomatic security personnel and a whole host of other upgrades to our Embassies and missions abroad, not just to protect our own Foreign Service personnel, and that certainly is a significant priority, but also to protect and to provide additional safeguards to the local population so that our Embassies and missions abroad would not become targets for Jihadists and transnational terrorists. I will never forget that when Admiral Crowe testified here he made it very clear that we needed to do much more, and the Crowe Commission was very significant in its recommendations to us. Real reform came out of that, and I think that that was a turning point. I remember when the Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security testified and told us that it was the turning point when we realized that transnational terrorists could hit any potentially vulnerable target anywhere. It didn't have to be in close proximity to them. I also want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for introducing the amendment to H.R. 2828 which amends the Foreign Service Act to increase the amount of payment made to surviving dependents of Foreign Service employees who die as a result of injuries sustained while they are serving abroad. As you know, Mr. Chairman, this provision is included in two bills, H.R. 3202 and 3203, that I have introduced to address the Foreign Service compensation locality pay discrepancy. I hope the inclusion of your amendment will allow this particular provision to finally move forward and provide the increased compensation that we all hope will never be needed, but which will provide greater peace of mind to our Foreign Service men and women courageously serving in dangerous postings overseas. I support the amendment, and I am grateful for your leadership on it. Chairman LANTOS. Thank you very much. Does any other colleague want to talk on this issue? Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Chairman? Chairman LANTOS. Yes, Mr. Payne? Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much. I, too, would like to express my appreciation for moving this forward. It has been an issue that we have dealt with for many, many years. I know the families, some of the families, in particular the Barkneys. I was in that Embassy just 1 week before the tragedy struck and so I would like to once again express our appreciation to the family, their loss. Our hearts are still heavy, and I appreciate you moving this forward. Thank you very much. Chairman LANTOS. Thank you, Mr. Payne. Pursuant to notice, I call up the bill, H.R. 2003, the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007, for purposes of markup and move that the chairman be authorized to seek the consideration of H.R. 2003 by the House under suspension of the rules. Without objection, the amendment in the nature of a substitute before the members will be considered as the base text for purposes of amendment, will be considered as read and will be open for amendment at any point. [The information referred to follows:] 110TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2003 To encourage and facilitate the consolidation of peace and security, respect for human rights, democracy, and economic freedom in Ethiopia. I IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 23, 2007 Mr. PAYNE (for himself, Mr. HONDA, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Ms. WATSON, and Mr. CLAY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To encourage and facilitate the consolidation of peace and security, respect for human rights, democracy, and economic freedom in Ethiopia. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Act may be cited as the "Ethiopia Democracy 5 and Accountability Act of 2007”. 6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 7 8 9 It is the policy of the United States to (1) support the advancement of human rights, democracy, independence of the judiciary, freedom of |