Washington, D.C. — A broad and ideologically diverse coalition of national security organizations, human rights groups, technology companies, and former senior U.S. officials urged Senate leaders to include two complementary, bipartisan measures in the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA): Amendment #5902, the Iran Human Rights, Internet Freedom, and Accountability Act (S. 3900), and Amendment #6327, the Feasibility Review of Emerging Equipment for Digital Open Media (FREEDOM) Act (S. 3360).
In a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Democratic Leader Charles E. Schumer, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, and Ranking Member Jack Reed, the coalition emphasized that both measures already enjoy bipartisan support and cross-party sponsorship in the Senate. The FREEDOM Act was introduced by Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) and advanced through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) earlier this year. The Iran Human Rights, Internet Freedom, and Accountability Act, led by Sens. McCormick and Rosen, was approved by SFRC on June 17, 2026, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
The push comes after the Iranian regime imposed a nationwide internet blackout in January that enabled a lethal crackdown on civilian protesters while shielding the violence from international scrutiny. Authorities later imposed a second sweeping restriction lasting 88 days—the longest nationwide internet blackout recorded in Iran to date—underscoring the regime’s continued capacity to isolate its citizens from one another and the outside world.
“Helping ordinary Iranians communicate with one another and with the outside world remains one of the most effective steps the United States can take to support the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people while advancing broader U.S. national security interests,” the coalition wrote.
The letter’s signatories reflect the rare, cross-cutting coalition these bills have assembled, spanning national security think tanks, Iranian American civic organizations, human rights groups, and leading circumvention-technology providers, alongside former senior U.S. diplomats and career congressional staff who have worked under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Notably, the coalition also includes leading circumvention-technology and digital-security organizations with no partisan affiliation, including Psiphon, Lantern (Brave New Software), NetFreedom Pioneers, and the Digital Impact Lab, alongside human-rights monitors such as the Center for Human Rights in Iran and the National Union for Democracy in Iran. These organizations build and maintain the secure communications tools that Iranians rely on to evade government censorship, and their support underscores that the case for these bills rests on technical and humanitarian merit rather than partisan politics.
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