September 11, 2001 will be forever ingrained in our collective consciousness as one of the most vicious terrorist attacks against our nation. However, we have been victimized by the international terrorist network since November 4, 1979, when Iranian militants overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and innocent Americans were taken hostage-some held for 444 days.

I would like to thank Dr. Daugherty and Major Kirtley for being here today. We are honored by your presence.

Since that day, and the muted U.S. and international response to this provocation, the Iranian regime has increasingly viewed terrorism as a legitimate means to further its ideological and strategic aims.

This includes: "exporting the Revolution;" assisting Islamic terrorist organizations and other groups worldwide, especially in the Middle East; attacking Israel and attempting to sabotage the political process; and destabilizing the governments of the more pragmatic and reformist Arab countries.

The creation of a free and democratic Iraq and Afghanistan, and the pursuit of peace and stability between Israelis and Palestinians through democratic means, are efforts that contradict the Islamist aspirations of the Iranian regime.

In response, Iran has acted to prevent the attainment of these policies by supporting terrorist organizations and pursuing policies that act against U.S. interests.

One of the chief instruments for the implementation of these policies has been the terrorist organization Hezbollah, which, since its inception, has been trained, financed, and supported by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran provides Hezbollah with funding, safe haven, training, and weapons that have been estimated by some at more than $80 million per year. Iran has supplied Hezbollah with weapons that have drastically increased both the quantity and quality of their arsenal. According to public reports, this includes up to 13,000 artillery rockets, several hundred Iranian missiles and Syrian mortars, and at least, one recent account of the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle supplied by Iran over Israeli territory.

In return, Hezbollah has helped advance Iranian interests through continued terrorist attacks against the United States and our allies in the region.

Hezbollah has been linked to the 1983 attacks on the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon. I would like to welcome Ms. Lynn Smith Darbyshire who is representing the families of the victims of this deplorable attack.

Hezbollah has also been linked to the bombing of the U.S. Embassy and the Embassy annex, in Beirut in 1984. Three Hezbollah operatives were accused of the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847, and Hezbollah operatives have also been linked to the June 1996 truck bombing of the Khobar Towers U.S. military housing complex in Saudi Arabia.

Iran has used Hezbollah to assert a global reach that has extended into the Western Hemisphere. We witnessed the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Argentina and the July 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Center, also in Buenos Aires. Since that fateful day in 1994, there has been a marked increase in Islamist extremist activity in our own backyard.

Today, numerous public reports have stated that Hezbollah has been a critical component of Iran and Syria's efforts to destabilize Iraq, with the goal of establishing a political and armed presence there.

According to public reports, thousands of Iranian-sponsored clerics and Iranian intelligence agents have deployed throughout Iraq to gather intelligence on U.S. forces. According to these reports, these numbers have included members of Ansar al-Islam, a terrorist faction with close links to Al-Qaeda.

However, it is not the first time that Iran has closely cooperated with Al-Qaeda and its constituent elements. In December 2001, Matthew Levitt, one of our witnesses today, detailed the beginning of al-Qaeda's links with Iran.

He said: "According to U.S. intelligence reports, Osama bin Laden's operatives approached Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) agents in 1995 and again in 1996, offering to join forces against America.In fact, phone records obtained by U.S. officials investigating the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania revealed that 10 percent of the calls from the Compact-M satellite phone used by bin Laden and his key lieutenants were to Iran."

According to the 9-11 Report, terrorist mastermind al-Zarqawi is believed to have obtained safe haven in Iran in the past.

Testimony from defendants in the Kenya and Tanzania U.S. embassy bombings, indicate that Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, with Iranian assistance, have had strategic meetings throughout the years in Sudan and elsewhere. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Iran's fondness for using terrorism as statecraft against Western nations and interests has also seen Israel as a primary target.

The threat to Israel, our only truly democratic ally in the region, has grown with Iran's increasing involvement in the West Bank and Gaza, in support of the Palestinian's terrorist campaign.

Through Hezbollah, it is reported that Iran has not only enhanced its cooperation with Hamas' organizational infrastructure but is working to build a terrorist infrastructure and operational cells in those areas.

In June of 2001, Iran sponsored the "Support for the Palestinian Intifada" conference which brought together Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine- General Command.

Subsequently, it has been reported that Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas activists have attended terrorists training camps in both Iran and Lebanon under the guidance of Hizballah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

The January 2002 seizure by Israeli naval commandos of the Karine-A, with its cargo of over 50 tons of Iranian weapons and explosives, revealed the network of cooperation between elements of the Palestinian Authority and the terrorist regime in Iran.

Of increasing concern is that the dramatic increase in Iranian support for terrorist organizations has coincided with the expansion of Iran's conventional military capabilities, its biological and chemical weapons programs, ballistic missile development, and its pursuit of nuclear capabilities.

The rapid expansion of Iran's unconventional weapons programs, in particular its nuclear program, combined with its support for terrorist organizations worldwide, raises the prospect of a potential transfer of chemical, biological, or nuclear materials or components to terrorist organizations from Iran.

President Bush and Secretary of State Rice have made it clear that international pressure is important and necessary to change Iran's policies.

This, however, can only be effective if our allies are committed to containing the Iranian threat and holding Iran accountable for its sponsorship of terrorism and pursuit of deadly unconventional weapons.

We have seen how delays and inaction by the international community has led to an increased threat and an emboldened enemy.

This was the case in 1979 when we sought international support and consensus to punish Iran for the Embassy seizure and actions against our American hostages.

This was also the case in July 1992. At the G-7 summit, the United States proposed a strong condemnation of Iranian proliferation efforts, its sponsorship of terrorism and its human rights abuses. Amidst European opposition, this censure never took place.

During the 1990s, repeated appeals by the U.S. to its allies to follow a Dual Containment Policy toward Iran and Iraq were rejected by the European countries and Japan. They preferred to continue their policy of "constructive dialogue", increasing their economic assistance to Iran and their investments there.

At the G-7 summit in Ottawa in 1995 and in Lyon in 1996, some measures relating to counter-terrorism cooperation were adopted but, again, failed to mention any Iranian involvement in the global terrorist network.

Ten years later, I am encouraged by recent actions by companies to divest from Iran's energy sector. However, we should not and cannot stop there.

Given Iran's pursuit of a clandestine nuclear program; its support for Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations; its continued interference in Iraq, we no longer have the luxury of indecision.

There is still time but we must act quickly to deny Iran the technology, assistance, and financial resources it needs to pursue its unacceptable behavior.

I believe the Iran Freedom Support Act, my colleagues and I introduced last month provides the necessary tools to hold the Iranian regime accountable for its actions; to induce compliance; and to weaken the regime while supporting the human rights dissidents and pro-democracy forces in Iran.

I look forward to moving it quickly through the Congress.

I thank all of our witnesses for being here today and for their efforts on behalf of U.S. national security.