Posted on 07/25/2009 8:42:34 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
Cross Posted from www.niacouncil.org
Washington DC – Last night, the Senate voted unanimously to adopt legislation that aims to aid the ability of the Iranian people to access news and information by overcoming the electronic censorship and monitoring efforts of the Iranian government.
The Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act was introduced by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT), Ted Kaufman (D-DE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Robert Casey (D-PA) as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.
“The world has been astonished and inspired by the courage of millions of Iranians pressing their regime for nothing more than their inalienable rights,” said Senator John McCain. “The Iranian government has taken numerous steps to stop these citizens from communicating with each other and with the outside world. As this cruel regime works to close off Iranian society, the VOICE Act, by providing assistance for broadcasting and new internet and communications technologies, will help to open it up.”
(Excerpt) Read more at niacblog.wordpress.com ...
They deserve credit for this.
Liberman and McCain sponsored and I respect them for that.
I am not normally that excited about McCain, but he did the right thing here.
Obama will have to sign the legislation....cough....
Let’s read between the lines here . . .
“The VOICE Act also requires the President to list all non-Iranian companies that have assisted the government of Iran’s efforts to monitor and censor internet usage.”
Hmmm.
Oh well, at least we know Michael Jackson died recently.
Similar article on same subject.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.8f5d2b88fed27707d7d1aed60a30ec8a.5b1&show_article=1
” The measure calls for providing 30 million dollars for expanding Radio Free Europe-backed Farsi-language radio broadcasts into Iran, to be used to try to counter Iranian government efforts to jam radio, satellite, and Internet-based transmissions.
The funding would also go to try to overrun the Iranian government’s efforts to block access to websites or text messages over cell phone networks.
Another 20 million dollars would go to create a special fund to develop ways for Iranians to get access to and share information, and counter Tehran’s “efforts to block, censor, or monitor the Internet in Iran.”
“Now is the time to come to the aid of the Iranian people,” said Graham. “We must deny the regime the tools they desperately need to continue repressing their own people.”
The legislation also calls for a report from President Barack Obama on non-Iranian companies, including those with US operations, that have aided Iranian Internet censorship efforts. “
Here is a link with some of the important text of the bill. The article on the link referenced the complete bill, but I got an error in the search.
http://cyrusfarivar.com/blog/?p=2459
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