Randy Weber: “I want to say that tonight I rise to speak as we continue to examine what is unfolding before us. It is important to…”

“I want to say that tonight I rise to speak as we continue to examine what is unfolding before us. It is important to remember that the fight for the Iranian people is not some distant, unfamiliar struggle. In many ways, it echoes the very heartbeat of our very own American story. Long before America became the beacon of liberty it is today, we were a people under the heavy hand of those who believed power belonged to rulers, not citizens. Our Founders knew what it meant to challenge an authority that refused to listen. They understood what it meant to stand up, too often alone, and declare that sovereignty belongs to the people. They risked their livelihoods, Mr. Speaker, their reputation, their families. They risked everything so that future generations might inherit a nation grounded in rights, not repression, but grounded in freedom. Mr. Speaker, that spirit is alive today in the streets of Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, and more than 1,000 towns and villages across Iran.”