Welcome to the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. Today is May 13, 2014, and this is our 27th meeting, which is televised.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), we are continuing our study of the human rights situation in Iran. This was something we've done in the past, and we referred to it as Iran accountability week; however, it has sort of become Iran accountability fortnight. That is, in part, due to the large number of high-quality witnesses we are able to bring before our subcommittee.
Today we have as witnesses two individuals from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. One is Mark Dubowitz, who has been here before. It's good to see you back again. The other is Ali Alfoneh.
Gentlemen, I assume that our ever-efficient clerk has explained the general process to you, but just to refresh your memories, we normally look for about a 10-minute presentation. We do not hold you to it strictly, but just to state what is obvious to us, and should be obvious to anybody, the briefer your presentation, the longer and more fulsome the question and answer session can be. I will determine how much time is available for each question and answer based on how much time remains at the end of your testimony.
With that being said, I assume that you'll just divide the time between yourselves as you see fit. I encourage you to begin.