WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback today held a news conference to introduce legislation designed to help create a democratic, secular government in Iran which doesn't support terrorism and recognizes basic human rights.

"As we proceed through the difficult task of establishing an open society in Iraq and fighting terrorist networks around the world, it is crucial that American policymakers understand the role Iran is playing in the region - and why we will never have true stability as long as the Iranian regime is in power," Brownback said. "After all, by the U.S. State Department's own admission, Iran remains one of, if not the largest state-sponsor of terrorism left in the world today.

"Just this week, Iran's so-called reformist President Khatemi, met with the leaders of Hizbollah in Lebannon and praised this terrorist group publicly saying that they 'stood heroically' against Israel. Also, last week, U.S. intelligence officials reported that they are increasingly concerned about Iran's links to Al-Qaeda while an Iranian opposition group reported on Iran's accelerated bio-weapons program which is rapidly developing.

"Now is not the time to coddle this terrorist regime. Now is the time to stand firm and support the people of Iran - who are the only ones that can win this important battle. In a country where nearly 70 percent of the people are under the age of 35, the majority of Iranians today have never known a system of government other than the tyranny of the mullahs. They rightly place the blame for their miserable lives on the regime that promised to care for them, but has instead only brought sorrow, domination and torture.

"The experiment that was the Islamic revolution as a form of government has failed. To see this, you need only look into the faces of Iran's youth as they bravely and peacefully demonstrate against a torturous regime. What we are seeing in Iran is truly historic - the people are resisting the regime through non-violent means and they are successfully weakening it from the inside.

"There is too much at stake in the region and in protecting our own shores to shy away from this responsibility. If Iranians are willing to be imprisoned, tortured and killed for merely demanding a better life for themselves and their children, the very least we can do is to support them whole-heartedly," Brownback said.

The bill would provide funds to expand pro-democracy broadcasting into Iran, increase the amount of influence that Iranian-Americans have in the U.S. Persian radio service, Radio Farda; and provide grants for the translation of materials into Persian. The bill also sets as U.S. policy as supporting an internationally-monitored referendum in Iran to allow the Iranian people to peacefully change their system of government. The bill states that U.S. policy will stand with the people of Iran in their struggle for freedom, rather than engaging the so-called "reformers" who have failed to improve life in Iran for the past seven years.

Cosponsors include Sens. Brownback, Cornyn, Coleman and Santorum.