Tom Harkin: “we all remember the dark days of the Iran hostage crisis between 1979 and 1981. Fifty-two Americans were taken hostage…”

“we all remember the dark days of the Iran hostage crisis between 1979 and 1981. Fifty-two Americans were taken hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held in captivity by the Ayatollah Khomeini and his followers for the ensuing 444 days in the newly-established Islamic Republic of Iran. They were brutalized by their captors and the pain and suffering of these brave Americans and their families throughout that ordeal cannot be over-estimated. A constituent of mine, Ms. Kathryn Koob, from Waverly, IA, is one of two women former hostages who endured this nightmarish experience. Last December, she joined the other 51 American heroes taken hostage and their families in filing a lawsuit in the Federal District Court of the District of Columbia seeking redress of this grievous miscarriage of justice and payment by the Government of Iran for the damages and injuries they incurred. If these plaintiffs are successful, the Federal courts could order payment from Iranian cash and assets still frozen in the United States. Incredibly, the U.S. Justice and State Departments in mid-October and, at the latest possible hour, intervened in this case, Roeder v. the Islamic Republic of Iran, seeking to vacate the Federal judge's default judgment in favor of the former hostages and their families and to have this lawsuit dismissed altogether.”