Sam Brownback: “Over the past 4 years, we have been able to get some funding for democracy-building activity inside of Iran. It has been…”

“Over the past 4 years, we have been able to get some funding for democracy-building activity inside of Iran. It has been a difficult project. We have not been able to get much money secured, but it follows a long tradition of successful efforts at targeting regimes that do not support democracy, that undermine democracy, indeed, even support terrorism around the world, by building civil society organizations within that country. It is very interesting to me you can get a message into Iran, and there is a good possibility, there is an excellent prospect of building civil society organizations inside Iran. You can look at some of the things that have taken place recently where there has been a bus driver strike and the possibility of a labor union movement forming there or even with some of the teacher strikes or some of the student strikes. You are clearly seeing the people inside Iran are opposed to the regime. We need to work, I believe, with them and with others to form civil society organizations inside Iran to go at the regime itself, and to undermine the regime itself, of saying: If you are not going to support our civil rights here, we are going to oppose you.”