Thank you for this opportunity to provide the Congress with some observations about United States policy towards the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran with respect to that government's conduct and sponsorship of international terrorism, and to share with you some reminders of that time 25 years ago when 52 Americans, indeed the entire United States, was held hostage by that regime.

The capture of the United States embassy in 1979 and subsequent imprisonment of American diplomats was directly contrary to the Vienna Conventions on diplomatic and consular relations, of which Iran was a signatory. This was and must be considered to be the first act of state sponsored terrorism against the United States in modern times. But it was not the last. Since 1983 the Department of State has annually labeled Iran as the world's most significant perpetrator of terrorism. There is no question but that Iran has used its own intelligence and security agencies to conduct acts of terrorism (including political assassinations) while also providing essential training and resources to terrorist groups such as Lebanese Hezbollah, Palestine Islamic Jihad, Saudi Hezbollah, and Hamas, enabling them to attack United States citizens and interests.

The undeniable truth is that the United States Government has utterly failed to hold Iran accountable in any sustained and effective manner for its direct role in the deaths of over 275 American citizens and the wounding of over 600 more. Moreover, the United States Government has failed to undertake any action with the force or impact sufficient to deter that the Iranian Government from conducting terrorism against our interests. The absence of any credible response has served only to encourage the continuation of Iranian sponsored terrorism. Nor have those of us who are victims of Iranian terrorism received any justice from those acts.

On the 4th of November, 1979 Iranian militants attacked the United States Embassy in Tehran capturing 66 American citizens, all but three of whom were diplomats accredited to and accepted by the Iranian Government. Ignoring international law, the Iranian regime in the person of the Ayatollah Khomeini, quickly gave official sanction to the actions of the militants. The Government of Iran subsequently assumed control of the American hostages and provided all assistance necessary to sustain our captivity, including the use of prisons and other Governmental facilities and resources.

Fifty-two of the captured Americans, including myself, were held for nearly 15 months, denied our freedom by a deliberate policy decision on the part of the Government of Iran. We were subjected to psychological and physical abuses, mock executions, and threats of trials as "war criminals," treatment that has been thoroughly documented elsewhere. I personally endured 425 days of solitary confinement, as well as a series of hostile interrogations with some sessions lasting well over 12 hours. Our families suffered greatly as well, never knowing the conditions of our captivity nor having any assurances that their loved one would be released. Because the Iranian Government held me completely incommunicado, my family went over a year without knowing whether I was dead or alive. The stress took a terrible toll on my mother's health, from which she has never completely recovered.

Upon our return to the United States, we were hosted at the White House by President Reagan on January 27th, 1981. At that time, the President informed the world that future acts of terrorism against American citizens would be met with "swift and effective retribution." This threat was tested in April of 1983 when Hezbollah sent a truck bomb into the American embassy in Beirut, killing 17 Americans and 46 others. The United States Government knew which terrorist group did it and where their headquarters and training facilities were located. Despite hard intelligence of the Iranian Government connection, absolutely no action was taken. On October 23rd, 1983, the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut was truck bombed by Hezbollah with 241 Marines killed and scores wounded. Secretary of State George Schultz argued for that "swift and effective retribution," while Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger argued against it. The President in fact ordered an air strike but - amazingly - at the last minute the Secretary of Defense cancelled it without notification to the President. In 1984 the newly built US embassy in East Beirut was car bombed by Hezbollah, again without any meaningful US Government response. Thus, it became clear to Hezbollah that they could act without fear of consequences.

There then began a succession of American citizens taken hostage by Hezbollah in Beirut, including my friend and colleague, CIA station chief Bill Buckley, who was tortured and ultimately suffered a terrible death. The response to these kidnappings by the Reagan administration resulted in the Iran-Contra scandal, which did not, it may fairly be said, enhance the credibility of an American deterrence in the eyes of the Iranians or their surrogates in Hezbollah. And in 1996 an Iranian-supported group bombed the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, killing 19 and wounding over 350.

Yet from 1979 until today, our Government has never made Iran pay in any substantial manner for these acts. In response to the capture of the embassy in Tehran, unilateral economic sanctions were imposed, but these did nothing to deter Iranian terrorism and little to punish the regime for past acts. Meanwhile, European allies have traded aggressively with Iran. From 1979 until September 11th, 2001, the United States looked at acts of terrorism only as a law enforcement issue. And while a very small handful of terrorists from Iranian Government sponsored groups have been arrested and brought to trial, the overall effect of this policy was that Iran as a government and the great majority of the perpetrators of the actual terrorist acts have escaped any punishment. Convinced that it need have no fear of retribution or penalty, terrorism has been and remains a central component in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic.

Among the common threads running through these acts is the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, where Iran's ambassador serves as the conduit for Iranian support to Hezbollah and Hamas. His role is no secret to the Syrian Government, by whose grace this support is enabled. Hezbollah has, as discussed, deliberately and successfully, targeted American citizens, while Hamas, by dint of their suicide bombers, has victimized Americans traveling in Israel. Iranian Government support to these groups includes the provision of funds, training, arms, and explosives. The truck bombs used in Beirut came via Damascus. (Thus, the Syrians have a secondary responsibility for the American deaths, but they have not been held to account, either.) In the 1990s, the Iranian ambassador to Damascus was one of the leaders in the capture of our embassy in Tehran in 1979. I know him well, for he was my principle interrogator. After the takeover of the embassy, he went on to serve as a deputy foreign minister, a position in which he also played a significant role in the bombings of our embassy and our Marines in Beirut. He continues to serve in the Iranian Government today, without any penalty or cost from the United States.

Despite these American deaths and Iran's continued hostility, there are elements in the Department of State who have strongly resisted attempts to hold Iran accountable for their actions. In this, they see any positive act or statement on the part of any Iranian official, no matter how minor, as a sign that the Iranian Government wishes better relations. While there are sound reasons why a friendly and productive relationship with Iran is desirable, the reality is that the radical fundamentalists who have firm control over the key institutions of Government - the foreign, defense, and interior ministries, the Revolutionary Guards, and the intelligence and security services - have always been and remain adamantly opposed to the resumption of any relations with the United States Government. Yet apparently this has not been understood by those who, for some indecipherable reason, somehow can't seem to bear the thought of not having a relationship with Iran.

For example, in the summer of 1980, after we had been held hostage for nearly ten months with the attendant humiliation to the United States, a senior State officer advocated telling the Iranian Government that if they would let us go, the US would be willing to have a relationship on any grounds the regime wanted. Leaving aside the groveling tone of the suggestion, it showed a complete lack of understanding that the militants captured the embassy precisely because they wanted no relationship with the United States, a position that was fully endorsed by the Government of Iran.

In late 1999, in an effort to seek a rapprochement with the Iranian regime, the Clinton administration made multiple concessions to Iran, including a partial lifting of sanctions, an apology for past American actions against Iran(!), an agreement for cultural exchanges, the removal of Iran from a list of countries trafficking in narcotics, and permitting the delivery of spare parts for the Iranian fleet of Boeing aircraft (which have a military capability). The Iranian response was that the United States had not done enough. The lesson that has yet to be learned in some circles in Washington is that you cannot be friends with a government that has absolutely no wish to be friends with you. And nothing within the ruling circles of Iran has changed since. It is still "death to America" for the radicals.

The Congress today has the opportunity to influence, through legislation, a policy that will - at long last and way overdue - back up United States rhetoric with concrete action. Iran is still the leading sponsor of terrorism, and Hezbollah and Hamas still pose a threat to US lives and interests. Without question, Hezbollah cells outside of the Middle East pose a potential danger to American citizens and interests, should the regime choose to so direct them. American deaths at the hands of the Iranians or its surrogates have gone unpunished, despite tough language by every presidential administration from Jimmy Carter to the present . Likewise, Americans held hostage either by the regime itself or by its surrogates in Hezbollah have received no justice. United States economic sanctions were for all practical purposes eviscerated by permitting foreign-based subsidiaries of major corporations to have a "business as usual" status with Iran, for clearly the Iranians well knew they were dealing with American corporations. I note that within the last several weeks that a number of companies have altered their course and have announced their intention to withdraw from Iran. The US has an opportunity to, likewise, alter its course with regard to Iran and with regard to justice and compensation for US citizens victimized by Iranian Government sponsored terrorism.

It is time for the United States Government to implement a firm and strong policy that matches its rhetoric, so that the Iranian regime fully comprehends that any future acts of terrorism against United States citizens and interests will in fact be met with the "swift and effective retribution" promised by President Reagan. It is time for Iran to be called to account - not by pronouncements merely deploring Iranian terrorism but by clear, sustained, and overwhelming action - for its past as well as any future violations of international law. And it is time for American victims of Iranian terrorism, like those of us who were held hostage by the Iranian Government, to receive the justice that is quite literally two decades delayed. The Congress can see that this happens and I ask you today to take the steps necessary to do so.

Thank you.