{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-boozman-and-19-colleagues-introduce-resolution-condemning-bahai-oppression-in-iran", "Wyden, Boozman, and 19 Colleagues Introduce Resolution Condemning Baha\u2019i Oppression in Iran", "2025-12-03", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "OR", "Ron Wyden", "W000779", "www.wyden.senate.gov", "wyden", "https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "The Iranian Baha'i community is the largest religious minority in Iran, with more than 300,000 members\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senator John Boozman, R-Ark., today led 19 Senate colleagues in introducing a bipartisan resolution condemning Iran\u2019s government for persecuting members of the Baha\u2019i faith.\n\n\u201cThe Iranian government has squeezed every freedom from members of the Baha\u2019i community,\u201d Wyden said. \u201cImprisoning and torturing Baha\u2019is and taking away their rights is immoral, unjust, and just plain wrong. The Baha'i community in Iran deserves to freely practice their religion without fear of state-sponsored persecution. I will not stop making it loud and clear that we will not stand for any part of Iran's full-scale attack on the Baha'i community.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe persecution of members of the Baha\u2019i community in Iran remains alarming and disturbing,\u201d Boozman said. \u201cAs Americans, we are blessed with religious freedom and stand with members of the Baha\u2019i faith in their pursuit of this fundamental principle. This resolution reaffirms our commitment to their cause and solidarity against efforts to repress minority religious expression.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Iranian government\u2019s relentless assault on its Baha\u2019i minority is an outrage that demands immediate action,\u201d Schakowsky said. \u201cWe are reintroducing this bipartisan resolution, which passed the House of Representatives last Congress, to send a strong, unified message from the United States to the government of Iran condemning its grave human rights abuses. The United States and our allies must use every diplomatic tool available to hold Iran accountable and put a stop to this hate-fueled campaign once and for all.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Iranian regime\u2019s assault on the peaceful Baha'i community is abhorrent and must be condemned by leaders across the free world,\u201d McCaul said. \u201cI\u2019m proud to have helped this resolution pass the House and look forward to the Senate following suit. Together, on a bipartisan and bicameral basis, the United States Congress is sending a clear message that we stand with the Baha\u2019i community and will not tolerate Iran's efforts to silence, intimidate, and persecute members of the Baha\u2019i faith.\u201d\n\nRep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Il., and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, are leading companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.\n\nThe Iranian government refuses to recognize Baha\u2019is and continues to persecute them by seizing their personal property, denying their access to education and employment, and detaining them based only on their religious beliefs, according to human rights observers and the U.S. State Department.\n\nThe Iranian government\u2019s reprehensible persecution of its Baha\u2019i minority is a continued violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In addition to denouncing the Iranian government\u2019s oppression of the Baha\u2019i community, Wyden and Boozman\u2019s resolution calls on Iran to immediately release imprisoned Baha\u2019is and put an end to its state-sponsored hate campaign against them. The resolution encourages the U.S. president and secretary of state to condemn Iran\u2019s continued rights violations and imposes sanctions on Iranian government officials who are responsible for those abuses.\n\nWyden has a longtime history in the Senate of standing up for free expression and human rights around the world. He has introduced a resolution in support of Iran\u2019s Baha\u2019is every year since 2009.\n\nThe legislation is cosponsored by Senators John Boozman, R-Ark., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Chris Coons, D-Del., Peter Welch, D-Vt., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Deb Fischer, R-Neb., Mike Crapo, R-Idaho., Chris Murphy D-Conn, and Jeanne Shaheen-D-N.H.\n\nThe text of the resolution is here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-boozman-and-19-colleagues-introduce-resolution-condemning-bahai-oppression-in-iran"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5487638302147388, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}