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26–428PDF 2017

VARIOUS MEASURES

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON

H.R. 1918, H.R. 2061, H.R. 2408, H. Res. 128, 

H. Res. 259, H. Res. 311, H. Res. 357, H. Res. 359, 

and H. Res. 449

JULY 27, 2017

Serial No. 115–56

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

DARRELL E. ISSA, California 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

PAUL COOK, California 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

LEE M. ZELDIN, New York 

DANIEL M. DONOVAN, JR., New York 

F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., 

Wisconsin 

ANN WAGNER, Missouri 

BRIAN J. MAST, Florida 

FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida 

BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania 

THOMAS A. GARRETT, JR., Virginia 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

AMI BERA, California 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas 

ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania 

DINA TITUS, Nevada 

NORMA J. TORRES, California 

BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York 

ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York 

TED LIEU, California

AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director

JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

MARKUP ON 

H.R. 1918, To oppose loans at international financial institutions for the 

Government of Nicaragua unless the Government of Nicaragua is taking 

effective steps to hold free, fair, and transparent elections, and for other 

purposes ................................................................................................................ 2

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1918 offered by the 

Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of Florida ................................................................................................. 18

H.R. 2061, To reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, 

and for other purposes ......................................................................................... 30

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 2061 offered by the 

Honorable Ted S. Yoho, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Florida ........................................................................................................... 37

Amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 

2061 offered by the Honorable Ted S. Yoho ............................................ 45

H.R. 2408, To enhance the transparency, improve the coordination, and intensify the impact of assistance to support access to primary and secondary 

education for displaced children and persons, including women and girls, 

and for other purposes ......................................................................................... 49

H. Res. 128, Supporting respect for human rights and encouraging inclusive 

governance in Ethiopia ........................................................................................ 56

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 128 offered by the 

Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from 

the State of New Jersey ................................................................................... 66

Amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. 

Res. 128 offered by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith ..................... 72

H. Res. 259, Expressing concern and condemnation over the political, economic, social, and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela ........................................ 73

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 259 offered by the 

Honorable Ron DeSantis, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Florida ........................................................................................................... 79

H. Res. 311, Recognizing that for 50 years the Association of South East 

Asian Nations (ASEAN) has worked toward stability, prosperity, and peace 

in Southeast Asia ................................................................................................. 87

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 311 offered by the 

Honorable Joaquin Castro, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Texas ............................................................................................................. 100

H. Res. 357, Reaffirming the strategic partnership between the United States 

and Canada, recognizing bilateral cooperation that advances United States 

national interests, and urging increased bilateral cooperation on security, 

economic issues, and energy, and for other purposes ....................................... 105

Amendment to H. Res. 357 offered by the Honorable Jeff Duncan, a Representative in Congress from the State of South Carolina ........................... 109

H. Res. 359, Urging the European Union to designate Hizballah in its entirety 

as a terrorist organization and increase pressure on it and its members ....... 112

Amendment to H. Res. 359 offered by the Honorable Theodore E. Deutch, 

a Representative in Congress from the State of Florida ............................... 118

H. Res. 449, Urging the Government of Kenya and Kenya’s political parties 

to respect democratic principles and hold credible, peaceful, and transparent elections in August 2017 ......................................................................... 122

Page

IV

APPENDIX 

Markup notice .......................................................................................................... 148

Markup minutes ...................................................................................................... 149

Markup summary .................................................................................................... 151

(1)

VARIOUS MEASURES 

THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2017

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:08 a.m., in room 

2172 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Edward Royce (chairman of the committee) presiding. 

Chairman ROYCE. This committee will come to order. 

Pursuant to notice, we meet today to mark up nine bipartisan 

measures and, without objection, all members may have 5 days to 

submit statements or extraneous materials on today’s business. 

As members were notified yesterday, we intend to consider today’s measures en bloc and so, without objection, the following 

items previously provided to members and also in your packets will 

be considered en bloc and are considered as read. 

We have H.R. 1918, this is the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act with the Ros-Lehtinen Amendment 33 in the nature 

of a substitute; we have H.R. 2061, the North Korea Human Rights 

Reauthorization Act, with Yoho Amendment 60 in the nature of a 

substitute and Yoho Amendment 58 to Amendment 60; we have 

H.R. 2408, Protecting Girls’ Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings; we have House Resolution 128, Supporting respect for 

human rights in Ethiopia, with the Smith Amendment 48 in the 

nature of a substitute and Smith Amendment 49 to Smith Amendment 48; we have House Resolution 259, Condemning the crisis in 

Venezuela with the DeSantis amendment in the nature of a substitute to House Resolution 259; House Resolution 311, Recognizing 

the work of ASEAN nations with the Castro amendment in the nature of a substitute to the House resolution; we have House Resolution 357, Reaffirming the U.S.-Canada partnership with Duncan 

Amendment 29; House Resolution 359, Urging the EU to designate 

Hezbollah as a terrorist organization with Deutch Amendment 27; 

and, lastly, House Resolution 449, Urging peaceful and transparent 

elections in Kenya. 

[The information referred to follows:]

2


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lliim CONGRESS 

18'1' SJ<J8Sl0!\ H. R. 1918 

To oppoHe JoanN at international finmwial institntionN for the GovenlmPnt 

of NicaragLta unless the Government of NicaragLta is taking effective 

seeps to hole! free, fair, and transparent electious, and for other purposes. 

IK THE HOUSE OF REPRESE)JTATIVES 

APRIL 5. 3017 

.VIs. HoR-l,F,HTTNJ']l\ (for llCrsclf, Mr. Sn{P.S, lVIr. J)n)!CA:\ of Soutl1 Carolin::t, 

lVh WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, }Ir. YOHO, Mr. lVIr. DIAZBM..cillT, }Ir. NORCR088, lVIr. CURBELO of Florida, lVIr. DEUTCH, Mr. 

Bu_.lcl.MUS, lVIr. Cul£LLAl(, Mr. S_VllTll of New Jersey, Ms. 'NILSON of 

Florida, Mr. PoF. of Texas, l\h TTASTTl\GR, Mr. DRSANTTf', Mr. 

HRF,NDAN !<'. Hon,l'] of Pennsylvania, Mr. lvlcCAn,, Ms. Ke;T,LY of Illinois, ..VIr .. WEBER of T!'xas, }Ir. DONOVAN, l\Ir. Cl!illOT, Mr. THOJ\L'\.S 

J. RooNEY of Florida, and Mr. F&\.NCI8 RooNEY of Florida) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreig11 Affairs, a11d i11 addition to the Con1n1ittee on Fi11311cial 8ervi<",f'S, for a period to be NnllNe<pwntly dPtermin<~d by the Speaker, in <~adt <·.as!' for <'onsideration of sttch provisions as fall within the Jttrisdic!ion of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To oppose loans at international fimmcial institutions for 

the Government of Nicaragua unless the Government 

of Nicaragua is taking effective steps to hold free, fair, 

and transparent eleetions, and for other puqJoses. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House Represent a2 tives !!{'the ·unded States !~{ 1-hm:n:ea in Congress assembled, 
3


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2 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Aet may he eite!l as the "Ni(~aragnan Invest3 ment Conditionality Act (NlCA) of 2017". 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 CougTess makes the following findings: 

6 ( 1) In 200G, :'\icarag1m, under President 

7 Enri!ple Bolanm;, entered into a $175,000,000, 5-

8 year compact vvith the Millemtium Challenge Cor9 poration (:V[CC). 

10 (2) .After the 2008 municipal elections, the 

11 MCC stated that there was a pattern of decline m 

12 political rights and civil liberties in Nicaragua. 

13 (~3) In 2009, the MCC terminated the eompact 

14 and reduced the amount of MCC funds avail able to 

15 Nicaragua by $61,500,000, which led to the compact 

16 ending in 2011. 

17 (4) Aeeording to Niearagmm law, the National 

18 Assembly is the only institution allowed to change 

19 the constitution hut in 2009, Daniel Ortega cir20 cunweHted the leg·islature and went to the Supreme 

21 Court, which he controls, to rule in his favor that 

22 Presidential term limits were inapplieahle. 

23 ( 5) The House Committee on Foreign Affairs 

24 convened a congressional hearing on December 1, 

25 2011, entitled "Democracy Held Hostage in 1'\ica26 ragua: Part 1" where former United States Amhas-
4


26428g-3.eps

sador to Kiearagna Robert Callahan testifiea, 

2 "First, that Daniel Ortega's candidacy was illegal, 

3 illegitimate, and uneonstitutional; seeond, that the 

4 period leading to the elections and the elections 

5 themselves were marred by serious fraud; third, that 

6 Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista party have system7 atically undermined the country's fragile govern8 mental institutions.". 

9 (6) From fiscal year 2012 until present, the 

l 0 Department of State found that "\ficarag11a did not 

11 meet international standards of fiscal transparency. 

12 (7) On ,January 26, 2012, a press statement 

13 from See.retary of State Hillary Clinton said: "'As 

14 noted by international observers and Kicaraguan 

15 eivil so<~iet.y g.roups, Ni<~aragna's reeent eleet.ions 

16 were not conducted iu a transparent and impartial 

17 manner, and the entire electoral process was marred 

18 by significant irregularities. The electicms marked a 

19 setback to democracy in Niearagua and undermined 

20 the ability of "\fiearag1Hlns to hold their government 

21 aecountable.". 

22 (8) According to the Department of State's 

23 2015 Fiseal Transpareney Report: "Nicaragua's fis24 cal transparency would be improved by inc.luding all 

25 off-budget revenue and e"Xl)Pnditure in the budget, 
5


26428g-4.eps

4 

auditing state-owned ente11Jrises, and (~omlueting a 

2 full audit of the government's annual financial state3 ments and making audit reports pnblidy available 

4 within a reasouable period of time.". 

5 (9) According to the DepartmPnt of Statp's 

6 Couutry Heports on Human Hights Practices for 

7 2015: "In 2011 the Supreme Electoral Council 

8 (CSE) annmmee!l the re-ded,ion of President Daniel 

9 Ortega Saavedra of the Sandinista National Liberal 0 tion Front (FSTJN) in elections that international 

11 and domestic observers characteri,..;ed as seriously 

12 flawed. International and domestic organihations 

13 raised eoneerns regarding the eonstitutional legit14 nnacy of Ortega's re-election. The 2011 elections 

15 also provided the ruling party with a superuu~jority 

16 in the National Assembly, allowing for changes in 

17 the constitution, including extending the reach of ex18 ecutive branch power and the elimination of restric19 tions on re-election for executive branch officials and 

20 mayors. Observers noted serious flaws during the 

21 2012 municipal elections and :Yiarch 201,± regional 

22 elections.". 

23 (10) Aceording to the Department of State's 

24 Country Heports on Human Rights Practices for 

25 2015 in "\!ie.aragna: "The prineipal human rights 
6


26428g-5.eps

abuses were restrietions on (~itizens' right to vote; 

2 obstacles to freedom of speech and press, including 

3 government intimidation and harassment of journal4 ists and indepemleut media, as well as increased re5 striction of access to public information, including 

6 national statistics from public offices; and increased 

7 government harassment and intimidation of non8 governnwntal orgnnizations (NGOs) and eiv:il soeiety 

9 organizations.". 

l 0 (11) The same 2015 report stated: "Additional 

11 significant humau rights abuses induded eonsidcr12 ably biased policies to promote si11gle-party domi13 nanee: arbitrary poliee arrest and !letention of sus14 pects, including abuse during detention; harsh and 

15 life-threatening prison eonditions v,ith arbitrary and 

16 leugthy pretrial detention; diserimination against 

17 ethnic minorities and indigenous persons and com18 munities.". 

19 (12) In February 2016, the Ortega reg1me de20 tained and expelled Freedom House's TJatin America 

21 Director, Dr. Carlos Ponce, from Nicaragua. 

22 (1:3) On .June 3, 2016, the Niearagnan Su23 prcme Court-which is eolltrolled by Nicaragua's 

24 leader, Daniel Ortega-instructed the Supreme Elec25 toral Council not to swear in Nicaraguan opposition 
7


26428g-6.eps

6 

members to the departmental and regional eleetoral 

2 councils. 

3 (14) On .Tune 5, 2016, reganling international 

4 observers for the 201() Presidential electious, Presi5 dent Ortega stated: "Here, the observation ends. Go 

6 observe other countries . . There will be no obser7 vation, neither from the European rnion, nor the 

8 OAS ... ". 

9 (15) On ,June 7, 2016, the Department of 

l 0 State's Dureau of Dernocracy, Human Rights and 

11 Labor posted on social media: "Disappoiuted govern12 ment of Nicaragua said it vvill deny electoral ohserv13 ers requested by Niearaguan eitizenH, dmreh, and 

14 private sector . . . vV e continue to encourage the 

15 government of Ni(~aragna to allow eledoral observers 

16 as requested by Kicaraguaus.". 

17 (16) On ,June 14, 2016, President Ortega ex18 pcllccl three C nitcd States Government officials (two 

19 officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection 

20 and one professor from the National Defense Uni21 versity) from Nicaragua. 

22 (17) On ,June 29, 201G, the Department of 

23 State issued a Nicaragua Travel Alclt whieh stated: 

24 "The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens about 

25 inereased government scrntiny of foreigners' activi-
8


26428g-7.eps

7 

ties, new requirements for volunteer groups, aml the 

2 potential for demonstrations during the upcoming 

3 deetion season in Kiearag1u1 ... ~i(~a.raguan au4 thorities have deuied entry to, detained, questioned, 

5 or ex1•elled foreigners, inclnding United States Gov6 ernment officials, academics, KGO workers, aud 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

23 

24 

journalists, for discussions, >vritten reports or artides, photogntphs, and/or videos related to these topics. Authorities may monitor and question private 

United States citi~ens concerning their activ-ities, includiug contact with Kicaraguau citiz:;ens.". 

(18) On Aug11st 1, 20Hi, the Department of 

State issued a press release to express grave (•oneern 

over the Xicaraguan government limiting democratic 

spaee leading up to the de(~tions in November and 

stated that "loJn ,June 8, the Nicaraguan Supreme 

Court stripped the opposition Independent Liberal 

Party (PLl) from its loug recognized leader. The 

Supreme Court took similar action on June 17 when 

it inwtlidated the leadership of the Citi~en Action 

Party, the only remaining opposition party w-ith the 

legal standing to present a presidential candidate. 

Most recently, on July 29, the Supreme Electoral 

Council removed 28 PLI national assembly members 
9


26428g-8.eps

R 

(16 seated and 12 alternates) from their popnlarly2 elected positions.". 

3 (19) On November 7, 2016, the Department of 

4 State issued a press release statiug: "The Cnited 

5 States is deeply concerned by the flawed presidential 

6 and legislative electoral process in .:.Jicamgua, which 

7 precluded the possibility of a free and fair election 

8 on )Jovemher 6. In atlvanee of the eleetions, the Ni(~-

9 arag<twn government sidelined opposition candidates 

l 0 for president, limited domestic observation at the 

11 polls and access to voting credcutials, and took other 

12 actions to deny democratic space in the process. The 

13 deeision hy the Ni(~araguan government not to invite 

14 independent international electoral observers further 

15 degnuled the legitimacy of the eledion.". 

16 (20) In November aud December of 2016, the 

17 Board of Executive Directors of the Inter-American 

18 Development Bank postponed cousidcratiou of a pol19 icy based loan of $65 million to the Government of 

20 Nicaragua due to the efforts of the rnited States 

21 mission that eA.1Jressed serious concerns of the ab22 sence of transparency, systemic corruption, and the 

23 lack of free and fair elections in Nicaragua. 

24 (21) On February 2017, the European Par25 liament issued a resolution on the situation of 
10


26428g-9.eps

human rights and demoeraey in Kiearagua aml ex2 pressed concern of the "deteriorating human rights 

3 situation in Niearagua aml deplores the att<wks and 

4 acts of harassment to whieh human rights org·aui~a5 tions and their members and independent journalists 

6 have been sul1jected by individuals, political forces 

7 and bodies linked to the State''. 

8 (22) Aeeording to the Department of State's 

9 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 

10 2016: "fAlctions by the ruling Sanclinista National 

11 Liberatiou Prout (PSLK) party resulted in de facto 

12 c-oncentration of power in a single party, with an au13 thoritarian executive brand1 exereising signifi(~ant 

14 eontrol over the legislative, judicial, and electoral 

15 funetions.". 

16 (23) According to the Department of State's 

17 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 

18 20Hi in Nicaragua, "'l'hc November 6 elections for 

19 president, vice president, national assembly mem20 bers, and representatives for the Central American 

21 parliament did not meet the conditions of being free 

22 and fair ... The November G presidential and leg23 islativc clcetions were marred by allegations of insti24 tutional fraud and the absence of independent oppo25 sition political parties. National observers and oppo-
11


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10 

sition le~ulers dairned rates of abstention from 60 to 

2 70 pereent.". 

3 (24) Aeeording to the Department of State's 

4 Country Reports on Human Rights Practiees for 

5 2016: "Compa11ies reported that bribery of public. of6 fieials, unlawful sci~urcs, and arbitrary assessments 

7 by eustoms and tax authorities were eommon . 

8 The eourts remained particularly suseeptible to 

9 bribes, manipulation, and other forms of eorruption, 

l 0 espeeially by the FSTJN, giving the sense that the 

11 FSLI\ heavily inf1ueneed CSJ and lower-level eourt 

12 aetions.". 

13 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

14 It is the policy of the United States to supportIS (1) the rnle of law and an imlependent judi(~ia17 

16 and cleetoral eouneil in Niearagua; 

17 (2) independent pro-democracy organizations in 

18 Nicaragua: 

19 ( 3) free, fair, and transparent eleetions under 

20 international and domestic observers i11 :\ficarag1m; 

21 and 

22 ( 4) anti-eorruption and transparency efforts m 

23 Nicaragua. 
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11 

1 SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 

2 IK GE:N'ERAL.-The Pre'lident shall instruet the 

3 United States Executive Director at each interuational fi4 nancial institution to use the voice, vote, and influence of 

5 the United States to oppose auy loan for the benefit of 

6 the Government of Nicaragua, other than to address basic 

7 hnman needs or promote demoeraey, unless the Seerehny 

8 of State certifies and reports to the appropriate congres9 sional committees that the Government of Nicaragua is 

10 taking effective steps toll ( 1) hold free, fair, and transparent elections 

12 overseen by credible domestic and international elec13 toral observers; 

14 promote democracy, as well as an inde15 pendent judicial system and electoral eouucil; 

16 ( 3) strengthen the rule of law; 

17 ( 4) respeet the right to freedom of assoeiation 

18 and e:xl)ression; 

19 (5) eombat eorruption, including investigating 

20 and prosecuting government officials that are 

21 credibly alleged to be eorrupt: and 

22 ( 6) proteet the right of politi(~al opposition par23 ties, journalists, trade unionists, human rights de24 fenders, and other ci,~l soeiety aetiv-ists to operate 

25 without iutcrfcrenec. 
13


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12 

(h) REPORT.-The Seeretary of the Treasury shall 

2 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 

3 vvritten report assessing4 ( 1) the effectiveness of the intemational fiuan5 cial institutions in enforcing applicable program 

6 safeguards in Nieara12ua; and 

7 ( 2) the effects of the matters described in see8 tion 2 on long-term prospeets for positive develop9 ment outcomes in Niearagua. 

10 (e) DF:FT1'.'1TTONS.-Tn this section: 

11 ( 1) ~lPPROPRlATE CO.\IGRESSlONAL COlVL\11'1'-

12 TRF.S.-The term "appropriate congressional eom13 mittees" rneans14 (A) the Committee on Foreign ~i\.ffairs, the 

15 Committee on Appropriations, aml the Corn16 mittee ou Pimuwial Services of the House of 

17 Representatives: and 

18 (B) the Committee ou Foreign Relations, 

19 the Committee on Appropriations, and the 

20 Committee on Banking, Housing, and rrhan 

21 ~i\.ffairs of the Senate. 

22 (2) INTERNATIONAL FIKA~C:U\L INSTITU23 'l'lON .-The term "international financial institu24 tion" means the International Monetary Fund, 

25 International Dank for Reconstruetion and Develop-
14


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18 

ment, European Bank for Re(~<mstrudion and Devel2 opment, International Development Association, 

3 International Finanee Cm1Joration, Multilateral In4 vestment Guarautee Ag·ency, ""\fricau Development 

5 Dank, African Development Fund, Asian Develop6 mcut Bank, lutcr-1Lmcrican Development Bank, 

7 Baril..: for Economic Cooperation and Development in 

8 the :.VIiddle East and North Afri(~a. and Inter-Amer9 ican Investment Corporation. 

10 (d) TF:Rl\HNATTON.-This section shall terminate on 

11 the day after the earlier of---

12 (1) the date on which the Secretary of State 

13 eertifies and reports to the appropriate (~ongressional 

14 committees that the requirements of subsection (a) 

15 are met; or 

16 (2) 5 years after the date of the enactment of 

17 this Act. 

18 (c) WAlVBR.-'l'he President may waive this seetiou 

19 if the President determines that such a waiver is in the 

20 national interest of the rnited States. 

21 SEC. 5. ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES. 

22 (a) FI)JDINGS.-Congress finds that, according to the 

23 Organi;,-;ation of American States (OAS) report on the Nic24 araguan 2011 Presidential elections, :.Jicaragua: Final R,e25 port, General Elections, OAS (2011 ), the OAS made the 
15


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14 

follmving reeommemlations to the Government of Kiea2 ragua: 

3 ( 1) "Prepare alternative pro(~edures for upaat4 ing the electoral roll when a registered voter dies.". 

5 (2) "Publish the electoral roll so that new addi6 tions, changes of address aud exclusions can be 

7 checked.". 

8 ( 8) "Reform the rneehanism for <:W(~re(litation of 

9 poll watchers using a formula that ensures that the 

l 0 political parties v.~ll have greater autonomy to ac11 credit their respcetivc poll vvatchers.". 

12 ( +) "Institute regnlations to ensure that party 

13 poll watehers are involvetl in all areas of the ele(~-

14 toral structure, including the departmental, regional 

15 and mnnieipal eledoral eoun(~ils and polling stations. 

16 Rules should be crafted to spell out their authorities 

17 and functions and the means by which they can ex18 crcise their authority and perform their funetions.". 

19 ( 5) "Redesign the CSE administrative structure 

20 at the central and field levels, while standardi~ing 

21 technical and operational proc.edures, including the 

22 design of control mechanisms from the time registra23 tion to the delivery of the document to the citizens; 

24 the process of issuing identity cards should be timed 
16


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15 

to the calendar and, to avoid congestion within the 

2 process, be evenly spaced.". 

3 (h) ELECTORAL 0BSERVATI0)[ MISSION.-The Presi4 dent shall direct the United States Permanent RepresentS ative to the OAS to use the voice, vote, and influence of 

6 the U nitcd States at the OAS to strongly advoeate for an 

7 Electoral Observation :\fission to be sent to Niearagua in 

8 2017. 

9 SEC. 6. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

l 0 1'he Department of State and the United States 

11 Ageuey for lnteruational Development should prioritize 

12 foreign assistance to the people of "\ficarag11a to assist ci,~l 

13 SO(~iety in derno(~raey and governanee progTarns, induding 

14 human rights documentation. 

15 SEC. 7. REPORT ON CORRUPTION IN NICARAGUA. 

16 (a) HEPORT RI£QUIRK\U::~T.-Not later than 90 days 

17 after the elate of the enactment of this Act. the Secretary 

18 of State, iu coHsultation with the intelligence eommunity 

19 (as defined in section 3(1) of the "\fational Seeurity Aet 

20 of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 300:3( 4) ), shall submit to Congress 

21 a report on the involvement of senior Niearaguan govern22 ment offieials, including members of the Supreme Elee23 toral CounciL the "\fational _Assembly, and the judieial sys24 tem, in acts of publie eorruption or human rights v:iola25 tions in "\fiearag11a. 
17


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16 

(h) FORM.-The report required in i-mhsedion (a) 

2 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 

3 a dassified annex. Th<~ nndassified portion of the report 

4 shall ·be made available to the public. 
18


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AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE 

TO H.R. 1918 

OFFERED BY Ms. Ros-LEHTINEN OF FLORIDA 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 

follmving: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the "Nicaraguan lnvcst3 ment Conditionality Act (NICA) of 2017". 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the follovving findings: 

6 (1) The House Committee on Foreign Affairs 

7 convened a congTessional hearing on December 1, 

8 2011, entitled "Democracy Held Hostage in Kica9 ragua: Part 1" where former United States Ambas1 0 saclor to l\icaragua Robert Callahan testified, 

11 "First, that Daniel Ortega's candidacy was illegal, 

12 illegitimate, and unconstitutional; second, that the 

13 period leading to the elections and the elections 

14 themselves were rnarre!l by serious fraud: third, that 

15 Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista party have system16 atically undermined the country's fragile govern17 mental institutions.". 
19


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2 

(2) Aee<mling t<l the ()rganizati<m <lf Amerimm 

2 States (OAS) report on the Nicaraguan 2011 Presi3 dential eledions, the OAS re<~ommended that the 

4 Govermneut of Nicaragua take a number of steps to 

5 improve its electoral systems, including accrediting 

6 poll watchers to cusurc political parties and civil so7 ciety are represented to observe elections, and rede8 signing the stnwture of the Kiearaguan eleetoral 

9 council to allow proper registration of the electorate. 

10 (3) On ,January 25, 2012, a press statement 

11 from Secretary of State Hillary Clintou said: "As 

12 noted by international obser·vers and Kicarag11an 

13 eivil so<~iety gToups, Ni<~aragna's reeent eleetions 

14 were not conducted in a transparent and impartial 

15 manner, and the entire eleetoral proeess was marred 

16 by significaut irregularities. The clcctious marked a 

17 setback to democracy in Nicaragua and undermined 

18 the ability of .:.Jicaraguaus to hold their govcmmcut 

19 accountable.". 

20 ( 4) According to the Department of State's 

21 2015 Fiscal Transparency Report: "Nicaragua's fis22 cal transparency would be improved by inc.luding all 

23 off-budget revenue and expenditure iu the budget, 

24 auditing state-owned enteq)l·ises, and conducting a 

25 full audit of the government's annual financial state-
20


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ments and making- audit reports publidy available 

2 >"V'ithin a reasonable period of time.". 

3 ( 5) Aeeording- to the Department of State's 

4 Couutry Reports on Human Rights Practices for 

5 2015: "In 2011 the Supreme Electoral Council 

6 (CSE) annouuced the re-election of President Daniel 

7 Ortega Saavedra of the Sanclinista National Libera8 tion Front (FSLN) in eleetions that international 

9 and domestic observers characterized as seriously 

10 f1awed. International and domestic organihations 

11 raised coucerns regarding the constitutioual legit12 imacy of Ortega's re-election. The 2011 elections 

13 also prov'ided the ruling party with a supernn~jority 

14 in the National Assembly, allowing for changes in 

15 the eonstitution, im~luding- extending the reaeh of ex16 ecutive branch power and the elimination of restric17 tions on re-election for executive branch officials and 

18 mayors. Observers noted serious flaws during the 

19 2012 municipal elections and ~/[arch 2014 regional 

20 elections.". 

21 (6) According to the Department of State's 

22 Country Heports on Human Rights Practices for 

23 2015 in :\ficaragua: "The principal human rights 

24 abuses were restrictions on citizens' right to vote; 

25 obstacles to freedom of speech and press, including 
21


26428p-4.eps

4 

government intimidation and harassment of journal2 ists and independent media, as well as increased re3 stridion of ae(~ess to publie information, induding 

4 national statistics from public offices; aud iucreased 

5 government harassment and intimidation of non6 governmental organi:,-;ations (NGOs) and civil society 

7 organizations.". 

8 (7) The same 2015 report stated: "Additional 

9 significant human rights abuses included consider-

] 0 ably biased policies to promote single-party domi11 nance; arbitrary police arrest and detention of sus12 pects, including abuse during detention; harsh and 

13 life-threatening prison eonditions with arbitrary and 

14 lengthy pretrial detention; discrimination against 

15 etlmie minorities aml indigenous persons and eorn16 munities.". 

17 (8) On .June 7, 2016, the Department of 

18 State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and 

19 Labor posted on social media: "Disappointed govern20 ment of Nicaragua said it vvill deny electoral observ21 ers requested by Nicaraguan citizens, church, and 

22 private sector . . . \V e continue to encourage the 

23 government of Nicaragua to allow electoral observers 

24 as requested by Kiearaguans.". 
22


26428p-5.eps

5 

(9) On ,June 14, 2016, President Ortega ex2 pelled three rnited States Government officials (two 

3 offieiab from U.S. Customs and Border Proteetion 

4 and one professor from the National Defense Uni5 versity) from Nicaragua. 

6 (10) On August 1, 2016, the Department of 

7 State issued a press release to eAlJress grave concern 

8 over the Xieara1-man government limiting demoeratie 

9 space leading up to the elections in November and 

10 stated that "r o ln ,June 8, the Nicaraguan Supreme 

11 Court stripped the opposition lndcpcndcnt Liberal 

12 Party (PLT) from its long recognir.ed leader. The 

13 Supreme Court took similar a(~tion on ,June 17 when 

14 it invalidated the leadership of the Citizen Action 

15 Party, the only remaining opposition party ~with the 

16 legal stamling to present a presidential candidate. 

17 Most recently, on .July 29, the Supreme Electoral 

18 Council removed 28 PLl national assembly members 

19 (16 seated and 12 alternates) from their popularly20 elected positions.". 

21 (11) On November 7, 2016, the Department of 

22 State issued a press release stating: "The rnited 

23 States is deeply concerned by the flawed presidential 

24 and legislative electoral process in ='Jicaragua, which 

25 precluded the possibility of a free and fair election 
23


26428p-6.eps

6 

on )Jovernher 6. In a!lvanee of the eleetions, the Ni(~-

2 araguan government sidelined opposition candidates 

3 for presi!lent, limited domestie observation at the 

4 polls and access to voting credeutials, aud took other 

5 actions to deny democratic space in the proeess. The 

6 decisiou by the Nicaraguan governmeut not to iuvite 

7 independent international electoral observers further 

8 degnuled the legitirmwy of the eled,ion.". 

9 (12) In November and December of 2016, the 

10 Board of Executive Directors of the Inter-American 

11 Development Bank postpoued cousideratiou of a pol12 icy based loan of $G5 million to the Government of 

13 Niearagua due to the efforts of the 1~nited States 

14 mission that eA.'J)ressed serious concerns of the ab15 serwe of transparem~y. systerni(~ (~orruption, and the 

16 laek of free and fair elcctious iu Niearagua. 

17 (1:3) According to the Department of State's 

18 Couutry Reports on Human Rights Practices for 

19 201G: "[A]etions by the ruling Sandinista National 

20 TJiberation Front (FSU\) party resulted in de facto 

21 concentration of power in a single party, with an au22 thoritarian executive branch exercising significant 

23 control over the legislative, judicial, aud electoral 

24 functions.". 
24


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7 

(14) Aeeording to the Department of State'~ 

2 Country Heports on Human Rights Practices for 

3 2016 in Ni(~aragua, "The November 6 eleetiom; for 

4 presideut, vice president, national assembly mem5 hers, and representatives for the Central American 

6 parliament did not meet the couditions of being free 

7 and fair ... The November 6 presidential and leg8 i~lative elediom; were marred by allegation~ of in~ti9 tutional fraud and the absence of independent oppo1 0 sition political parties. National observers and oppo11 sition leaders claimed rates of abstentiou from 60 to 

12 70 pereent.". 

13 (15) Aeeording to the Department of State'~ 

14 Country Heports on Human Hights Practices for 

15 2016: "Companie~ reportecl that bribery of puhli(~ of16 ficials, unlawful sei11ures, and arbitrary assessments 

17 by customs and tax authorities were common . 

18 The courts remained particularly susceptible to 

19 bribes, manipulation, and other forms of corruption, 

20 especially by the FSTJN, giving the sense that the 

21 FSLK hemrily influenced CSJ and lower-level court 

22 actions.''. 

23 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

24 It is the policy of the United States to support-
25


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R 

( 1) the rule of law and an imlependent judi(~ia17 

2 and electoral council in Nicaragua; 

3 (2) independent pro-clemoeraey organizations in 

4 Nicaragua; 

5 (3) free, fair, and transparent elections under 

6 international and domestic observers in .:.Jicaragua; 

7 and 

8 ( 4) anti-eorruption and transpareney efforts m 

9 Nicaragua. 

] 0 SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 

11 (a) ll'\ GENERAL.-'l'he President shall instruct the 

12 United States Executive Director at each international fi13 nam~ial institution to use the voi(~e, vote, aml influenee of 

14 the United States to oppose any loan for the benefit of 

15 the Government of Ni(~aragua, other than to address hasie 

16 human needs or promote democracy, unless the Secretary 

17 of State certifies and reports to the appropriate cmlgres18 sional committees that the Government of Nicaragua is 

19 taking effective steps to20 (1) hold free, fair, and transparent elections 

21 overseen by credible domestic and international elec22 toral observers; 

23 (2) promote democracy, as well as an inde24 pendent judicial system and electoral council; 

25 (3) strengthen the mle of law; 
26


26428p-9.eps

9 

( 4) respeet the right to freedom of assoeiation 

2 and expression; 

3 ( 5) eornbat <~orruption, induding investigating 

4 and prosecuting government officials that are 

5 credibly alleged to be eorrupt; and 

6 ( 6) protect the right of political opposition par7 ties, journalists, trade unionists, human rights de8 femlers, and other eivil S<H~iety ~wtivists to operate 

9 Yvithout interferenee. 

10 (h) REPOI\.T.-Not later than 180 days after the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act, the Seeretary of the Treasury 

12 shall submit to the appropriate eongressional eommittees 

13 a written report assessing14 ( 1) the effectiveness of the intemational finan15 eial institutions in enforeing applim1.hle prognnn 

16 safeguards in Nicaragua; and 

17 ( 2) the effects of the matters described in see18 tion 2 on long-term prospects for positive develop19 ment outeomes in Niearagua. 

20 (e) DRFTNTTTONS.-Tn this seetion: 

21 ( 1) APPROPRIATE CO~GRESSIONAL COJYDIIT22 TEES.-The term "appropriate eongressional com23 mittees" means24 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 

25 Comrnittee on Appropriations, and the Com-
27


26428p-10.eps

10 

rnittee on Finaneial Serviees of the House of 

2 Hepresentatives; and 

3 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 

4 the Committee on Appropriations, and the 

5 Comrnittee on Banking, Housing, and rrhan 

6 Affairs of the Senate. 

7 (2) INTERNATIONAL FIKA __ '-WIAL INSTITU8 TION.-The term "international finan(~ial institu9 tion" means the International Monetary Fund, 

10 International Dank for Reconstmction and Develop11 meut, European Bank for Reconstruction aud Devel12 opment, International Development Association, 

13 International Fimnwe Cm1Joration, Multilateral In14 vestment Guarantee Agency, African Development 

15 Bank, Afriean Development Fund, Asian Develop16 meut Bank, lnter-1\.Jnerican Development Bank, 

17 Bank for Economic Cooperation and Development in 

18 the Sliddlc East and North Africa, aud lnter-1\.Jner19 ican Investment Corporation. 

20 (d) TRR!VrTNATTON.-This section shall terminate on 

21 the day after the earlier of22 ( 1) the elate on which the Secretary of State 

23 certifies and reports to the appropriate congressional 

24 committees that the requirements of subsection (a) 

25 are met; or 
28


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11 

(2) 5 years after the date of the emwtment of 

2 this Act. 

3 (e) \VAIVER.-The President may waive this seetion 

4 if the President determines that such a waiver is in the 

5 national interest of the rnited States. 

6 SEC. 5. ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES. 

7 The President shall direct the United States Perma8 nent Representative to the OAS to use the voi(~e, vote, and 

9 influence of the rnited States at the OAS to strongly ad1 0 vocate for an Electoral Observation Mission to be sent to 

11 Nicaragua in 2017 to observe the possibility of credible 

12 elections. 

13 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

14 The Department of State and the United States 

15 Ageney for International Development should prioritize 

16 foreign assistance to the people of .:.Jicaragua to assist civil 

17 society in democracy and governance programs, including 

18 human rights documentation. 

19 SEC. 7. REPORT ON CORRUPTION IN NICARAGUA. 

20 (a) RRPOR'l' RRQUm.~K\m~T.-Not later than 90 days 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

22 of State, in consultation with the intelligence community 

23 (as defined in section 3( 4) of the :\fational Security Act 

24 of 194 7 (50 U.S.C. 3003( 4) ), shall submit to Congress 

25 a report on the involvement of senior Nicaraguan govern-
29


26428p-12.eps

12 

ment offieials, induding members of the Supreme Ele(~-

2 toral Council, the :\!" ational Assembly, and the judicial sys3 tem, in aets of publi(~ (~orruption or human rights viola4 tions in ~ icarag·ua. 

5 (b) Fomvr.-The report required in subsection (a) 

6 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 

7 a classified annex. The unclassified portion of the report 

8 shall he made available to the puhlie. 

[ZJ 
30


26428q-1.eps

ll:im CONGRESS 

18'1' SJ-.:88101\ H.R.2061 

To reanthorize the North Korean Hnrnan Rights Ad. of 2004, and for 

other pttrposes. 

U\ THE HOUSE OP REPHES.E)J'l'A'l'lV.BJS 

i\PRTT,\3, 2017 

}Is Ros-LEHTI"fEN (for herself, Mr. E"fC+EL, lVIr. YOHO, and }Ir ~HERJYL>L'I) 

introduced the follow~ng bill; which waR referred to the Committee on 

F(\reign Affairs 

A BILL 

To reauthorize the North Korean Human Rights Aet of 

2004, and for other puq)oses. 

1 Be d enacted by the Senate and Honse of Representa2 liees of the Um:led Slates of .:imerica in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Art may be cited as the "North Korean Human 

5 Rights Reauthorization Art of 2017". 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congres;;; find;;; the following: 

8 ( 1) The North Korean Human Rights Act of 

9 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.), the North Korean 

10 Human Rights Reauthori~ation Act of 2008 (Public 
31


26428q-2.eps

2 

Law 110-846), and the Ambassador .Tames R. 

2 Lilley and Congressman Stephen ,J. Solarz ~orth 

3 Korea Human Rights Reauthorization A(~t of 2012 

4 (Publie Law 112-172) were the produets of broad, 

5 bipartisan eonsemms regarding the promotion of 

6 human rights, trauspareney iu the delivery of hu7 manitarian assistanee, and the importanee of refugee 

8 proteetion. 

9 (2) Fundamental human rights and humani1 0 tarian eomlitions inside ~orth Korea remain cleplor11 able, Korth Koreau refugees remain aeutcly vulucr12 able, and the eongressional fimlings included in the 

13 A(~ts listed in paragraph ( 1) remain substantially <W14 eurate today. 

15 (8) The United States. whieh has the largest 

16 international refugee resettlement program iu the 

17 world, has resettled 212 ~orth Koreans since the en18 aetment of the 1\ orth Korean Human Rights Aet of 

19 200,1. 

20 ( 4) In adclition to the longstanding eommitment 

21 of the United States to refugee and human rights 

22 aclvoeaey, the United States is home to the largest 

23 Koreau population outside of northeast Asia, aml 

24 many people in the Korean-American eommunity 

25 have family ties to ~orth Korea. 
32


26428q-3.eps

:1 

( 5) Notwitlu.;tanding high-level advo(~aey by the 

2 United States, South Korea, and the United :\f ations 

3 High Commisl'lioner for Refugee~'!, China hal'! foreihly 

4 repatriated tens of thousamls of 1\orth Koreans. 

5 (6) Congressman Eni F.TT. Faleomavaega 

6 served 25 years in the House of Representatives, in7 eluding as the Chairman and the Ranl;:ing Member 

8 of the Foreign Affair~'! Subcornrrrittee on ~~sia and 

9 the Pacific, was a leader in strengthening the relal 0 tionship between the American and Korean peoples, 

11 authored multiple resolutions regarding issues on the 

12 Korean Peninsula, \Yas a champion of human rights, 

13 and i'!tated, in i'!npport of the Amb<t88ador .Tame~'! R. 

14 Lilley and Congressman Stephen ,J. Solarz :\forth 

15 Korea Human Rights Reauthorization A(~t of 2012, 

16 that "just as i\..:rnbassador lJillcy and Congrcssmau 

17 Solarz worked hard to protect the human rights of 

18 the North Korcau people, we must remain vigilant 

19 in helping the people of N mth Korea vdw struggle 

20 daily to escape the oppression and tyranny of the 

21 North Korean regime". 

22 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

23 It is the sense of Congress that24 (1) the United States should continue to seek 

25 cooperation from all foreign governments to allow 
33


26428q-4.eps

4 

the United Kationo-; High Commissioner for Refugee,.; 

2 access to process ~ orth Korean refugees overseas 

3 for resettlement and to allow Unite(1 States offieialo-; 

4 aceess to proeess refugees for resettlement in the 

5 United States (if that is the destination eountry of 

6 the refugees' choosing); 

7 (2) the Secretary of State, through persistent 

8 diplormwy hy senior offieials, induding 1~nited 

9 States ambassadors to Asia-Pacific countries, and in 

l 0 close cooperation \vith United States ally South 

11 Korea. should make every effort to promote the pro12 teetion of North Korean refugees and defeetors; and 

13 (0) beeause North Koreans fleeing into China 

14 face a well-founded fear of persecution upon their 

15 foreihle repatriation, the rnited States should urge 

16 China to17 (A) immediately halt the forcible repatri18 ation of North Koreans; 

19 (B) allow the United Nations High Com20 missioner for R.efugees unimpeded access to 

21 Korth Koreans inside China to determine 

22 whether such North Koreans require protection 

23 as refugees; and 

24 (C) fulfill its obligations under the 1951 

25 United Nations Convention Relating to the Sta-
34


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2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

5 

tus of Refugees, the 1967 Protoeol Relating to 

the Status of Refugees, and the Agreement on 

the UpgnHling of the UNHCR Mission in the 

People's Republic of China to UNHCR Branch 

Office in the People's Republic of China (signed 

December 1, 1995). 

7 SEC. 4. REAUTHORI7ATION OF THE NORTH KOREAN 

8 HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2004. 

9 (a) HUJVIAN RIGHTS ~'L.'JD DEMOCRADY PROGRAMS.-

10 Paragraph (1) of section 102(b) of the North Korean 

11 Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7812(b)) is amend12 ed by striking "2017" and inserting "2022". 

13 (h) PROMOTINC+ FREEDOM OF INFORlVL~TION.-Se(~-

14 tion 10,1 of the :\forth Korean Human Rig·hts Act of 2004 

15 (22 U.S.C. 7814) is amended hy striking "2017" in eaeh 

16 place it appears and inserting "2022". 

17 (c) REPORT BY SPECIAL EJ\TYOY ON NORTH KOREA'J 

18 HUL'li'\ RIGHTS.-Subscetion (d) of seetion 107 of the 

19 Nmih Korean Human Rights Act of 200'1 (22 U.S.C. 

20 7817) 1s amended by striking "2017'' and inserting 

21 "2022". 

22 (d) REPORT OK Hl~J\IANITARIAJ'J ASSISTA:-JCE.-Sec23 tion 201 of the :\forth Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 

24 (22 r.s.c. 78:31) is amended in the matter preceding 

25 paragraph (1) by striking "2017" and inserting "2022''. 
35


26428q-6.eps

6 

(e) A88I8T~lliCE PROVIDED OrTSIDE OF NORTH 

2 KOREA.-Paragraph (1) of section 20:3(e) of the ~orth 

3 Korean Human R,ights Aet of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7888((~)) 

4 is amended by striking· "2017" and inserting "2022". 

5 (f) ANNTL\T, REPOI\.TT~G.-Section 305 of the ~orth 

6 Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7845) is 

7 amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by strik8 ing "2017" and inserting "2022". 

9 SEC. 5. REPORT BY THE BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOV10 ERNORS. 

11 (a) Li\1 GENERAL.-1\ot later than 120 days after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Broadcasting Board 

13 of Governors shall submit to the appropriate (•.ongressional 

14 c-ommittees a report that15 (1) deserihes the status of eurrent 1~nited 

16 States broadcasting to North Korea and the extent 

17 to whieh the Board has achieved the goal of 12-

18 hour-per-day broadeasting to North Korea, m ae19 eordanee vvith section 103(a) of the ~mih Korean 

20 Human Rights Aet of 2004 (22 r.S.C. 781 :3(a)); 

21 and 

22 (2) indudes a strategy to overeome obstaeles to 

23 such communicatiou with the ~ orth Koreau people, 

24 induding through unrestric-ted, unmonitored, and in25 ex1)ensive eleetronie means. 
36


26428q-7.eps

7 

(h) FORM.-The report re<plired under sulmedion (a) 

2 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but ma;v include 

3 a dassifie!l annex. 

4 (e) APPROPRLA'TB COl\GRBSSIO:..filli CCHVHVll'l"l'BBS.-

5 In this seetion, the term "appropriate congressional eom6 mittces" has the meaning given sueh term iu seetion 5 

7 of the North Korean Human Rights Aet of 2004 (22 

8 U.S.C. 7R0;1). 

u 
37


26428t-1.eps

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE 

TO H.R. 2061 

OFFERED BY MR. YOHO OF FLORIDA 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 

follmving: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the "North Korean Human 

3 Rights Reauthorization Act of 2017". 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The North Korean Human Rights Act of 

7 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7801 et seq.), the North Korean 

8 Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2008 (Public 

9 Law 110-846), and the Ambassador .Tames R. 

10 Lilley and Congressman Stephen J. Solarz ~ orth 

11 Korea Human Rights Reauthori:;mtion Act of 2012 

12 (Public Law 112-172) were the products of broad, 

13 bipartisan consensus regarding the promotion of 

14 human rights, transpareney in the delivery of hu15 manitarian assistance, and the importance of refugee 

16 protection. 

17 (2) 1<\wdamcntal human rights and humani18 tarian conditions inside "\forth Korea remain deplor-
38


26428t-2.eps

2 

able, Korth Korean refugees remam ~wutely vnlner2 able, and the congressional findings included in the 

3 A(~ts listed in paragraph ( 1) remain substantially e:w4 curate today. 

5 (3) The United States, which has the largest 

6 international refugee resettlement program in the 

7 world, has resettled 212 :\forth Koreans since the en8 e:wtment of the Korth Korean Human Rights A(~t of 

9 2004. 

10 ( 4) In addition to the longstanding commitment 

11 of the United States to refugee and human rights 

12 advocacy, the United States is home to the largest 

13 Korean population outsicle of northeast Asia, and 

14 many people in the Korean-American community 

15 have family ties to :\forth Korea. 

16 ( 5) Notwithstanding high-level advocacy by the 

17 United States, South Korea, and the United :\!" ations 

18 High Commissioner for Refugees, China has forcibly 

19 repatriated tens of thousands of Korth Koreans. 

20 (6) Congressman Eni F.TT. Faleomavaega 

21 served 25 years in the House of Representatives, in22 eluding as the Chairman and the Ranking Member 

23 of the Foreign 1\ffairs Subcommittee on Asia and 

24 the Pacific, was a leader in strengthening the rela25 tionship between the American and Korean peoples, 
39


26428t-3.eps

authored multiple re~olution~ regarding i~~ue~ on the 

2 Korean Peninsula, was a champion of human rights, 

3 and ~tated, in ~up port of the Arnba~~ador .T arne~ R. 

4 Lilley and Cougressmau Stephen J. Solar,; ~ orth 

5 Korea Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2012, 

6 that "just as .L\.mbassador Lilley and Cougressmau 

7 Solarz worked hard to protect the human rights of 

8 the North Korean people, we rnu~t remain vigilant 

9 in helping the people of N mth Korea who struggle 

10 daily to escape the oppression and tyranny of the 

11 North Korean regime". 

12 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

13 It i~ the ~en~e of CongTe~~ that14 (1) the United States should continue to seek 

15 eooperation from all foreigTl governments to allow 

16 the U uited !\ ations High Commissiouer for Refugees 

17 access to process :\!" orth Korean refugees overseas 

18 for resettlement and to allow Uuited States officials 

19 access to process refugees for resettlement in the 

20 United States (if that is the destination country of 

21 the refugees' choosing); 

22 (2) the Secretary of State, through persistent 

23 diplomacy by seruor officials, including L'nited 

24 States ambassadors to Asia-Pacific countries, and in 

25 close cooperation \vith United States ally South 
40


26428t-4.eps

4 

Korea, ~hould make every effort to promote the pro2 tection of North Korean refugees and defectors; and 

3 ( 8) beeau~e North Korean~ fleeing into China 

4 face a well-founded fear of persecution upon their 

5 forcible repatriation, the rnited States should urge 

6 China to7 (A) immediately halt the forcible repatri8 ation of North Koreans; 

9 (B) allow the United Nations High Com-

] 0 missioner for Refugees unimpeded access to 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

!\ orth Koreans inside Chiua to determiue 

whether such North Koreans require protection 

a~ refugee~; and 

(C) fulfill its obligations under the 1951 

United Nation~ Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Relating to 

the Status of Refugees, and the Agreement on 

the Upgrading of the UNHCR Mission in the 

People's Republic. of China to UNHCR Branch 

Office in the People's Republic of China (signed 

December 1, 1995). 

22 SEC. 4. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE NORTH KOREAN 

23 HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2004. 

24 (a) HUMAN RIGHTS ~'L'JD DEJVIOCRADY PROGRAMS.-

25 Paragraph (1) of seetion 1 02(b) of the North Korean 
41


26428t-5.eps

5 

Human Rights Ad of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7R12(b)) is arnend2 eel by striking "2017" and inserting "2022". 

3 (h) PROMOTINCt FREEDOM OF INFORlVL~TION.-Se(~-

4 tion 104 of the ~orth Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 

5 (22 U.S.C. 7814) is amended6 ( 1) in subsection (b)( 1 )-

7 (A) by striking "$2,000,000" and inserting 

8 "$8,000,000"; and 

9 (B) by striking "2017" and inserting 

10 "2022"; and 

11 (2) in subsection (c), by striking "2017" aud 

12 inserting "2022". 

13 (e) REPORT BY SPECIAL ENVOY ON NORTH KOREA.'J 

14 Hl~::\1AK RIGHTS.-Subsection (d) of section 107 of the 

15 North Korean Human Rights Ad, of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 

16 7817) rs amended by striking "2017'' and inserting 

17 "2022". 

18 (d) RJ<;POR'l' OK HclVlANI'l'ARIAN ASSIS'l'A_'\fCE.-Sec19 tion 201 of the ~orth Korean Human Rig·hts Act of 2004 

20 (22 r.s.c. 7831) is amended in the matter preceding 

21 paragraph (1) by striking "2017" and inserting "2022". 

22 (e) ASSISTANCE PROVIDED Ol~TSIDE OF NORTH 

23 KORJ<;A.-Paragraph (1) of section 203(c) of the :\forth 

24 Korean Human R,ights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7833(c)) 

25 is amended by striking "2017" and inserting "2022". 
42


26428t-6.eps

6 

(f) ANNUAL REPORTI~Ct.-Sed,ion :105 of the )Jorth 

2 Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 7845) is 

3 amended in the matter preeeding- paragraph (1) by ~trik4 ing "2017" and inserting· "2022". 

5 SEC. 5. REPEAL OF DUPLICATE AUTHORIZATIONS. 

6 Section 403 of the .:.J orth Korea Sanctions and Policy 

7 Enhancement Act of 201G (Public Law 114--122; 22 

8 U.S.C. 925:1) i~ hereby repealed. 

9 SEC. 6. REPORT BY THE BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOV· 

10 ERNORS. 

11 (a) lN GJ<;NJ<;RAL.-1\ot later than 120 days after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Broadcasting Board 

13 of Governor~ ~hall ~ubrnit to the appropriate (~ongre~sional 

14 committees a report that15 (1) deseribe~ the ~tatu~ of eurrent 1~nited 

16 States broadcasting to North Korea and the extent 

17 to which the Board has achieved the goal of 12-

18 hour-per-day broadcasting to North Korea, m ac19 corclance ~with section 10:3(a) of the )Jorth Korean 

20 Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 r.S.C. 781 :3(a)); 

21 and 

22 (2) includes a strategy to overcome obstacles to 

23 such communication with the )J orth Korean people, 

24 including through unrestricted, unmonitored, and in25 e"Xl)ensive electronic means. 
43


26428t-7.eps

7 

(h) FORM.-The report re<plired under suhsed,ion (a) 

2 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include 

3 a dassified annex. 

4 (c) APPROPRIA'l'l£ COl'\GRBSSIO.\fAL COlVlMl'l''l'l£1£8.-

5 In this seetion, the term "appropriate congressional eom6 mittees" has the meaning given such term in section 5 

7 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 

8 U.S.C. 7R0:1). 

9 SEC. 7. REPORT BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 

10 (a) TN GRNRR.Ah-Kot later than 120 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 

12 in eonsultation >vith the heads of other relevant Federal 

13 departments and agen<~ies, shall submit to the appropriate 

14 congressional committees a report that includes a clescrip15 tion of any ongoing or planned efforts of the Department 

16 of State with respect to each of the followiug: 

17 ( 1) Resuming the repatriation from :\!" orth 

18 Korea of members of the United States 1\.rmed 

19 Forces missing or unaccounted for during the Ko20 rean \Var. 

21 ( 2 ) Reuniting Korean Americans w~th their rel22 atives in North Korea. 

23 (3) Assessing the security risks posed by travel 

24 to Korth Korea for United States citizens. 
44


26428t-8.eps

R 

(h) FORM.-The report re<plired under suhsed,ion (a) 

2 shall be submitted in unclassified form. 

3 (e) APPROPRIATE COKC+RE88IO~AL COMMITTEES.-

4 ln this section, the term "appropriate cong-ressional com5 mittees" has the meaning given such term in section 5 

6 of the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 (22 

7 U.S.C. 7803). 
45


26428u-1.eps

AMENDMENT TO THE AMENDMENT IN THE 

NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE TO H.R. 2061 

OFFERED BY MR. YOHO OF FLORIDA 

Redesignate sections 5 through 7 as sections 6 

through 8, respectively. 

Insert after section 4 the following: 

SEC. 5. ACTIONS TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 

2 AND DEMOCRACY IN NORTH KOREA. 

3 The North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, as 

4 amended hy this Aet, is further arnended5 (1) in subsection (a) of section 103 (22 U.S.C. 

6 781:'3)-

7 (A) by striking "radio broadcasting" aud 

8 inserting "broadcasting, including news re9 broadcasting,''; and 

10 (B) by striking "increase broadcasts" and 

11 inserting "increase such broadcasts, including 

12 news rebroadcasts,"; and 

13 (2) in subsection (a) of section 104 (22 U.S.C. 

14 7814)-

15 (A) by striking "The President" and m16 serting the following: 
46


26428u-2.eps

2 

"(1) I~ cm~EHAL.-The President": 

2 (B) by inserting ", USB drives, micro SD 

3 eards, audio players, video players, (~ell phones, 

4 wi-fi, wireless internet, webpages, iuternet, wire5 less telecommunications, and other electronic 

6 media that share information" before the period 

7 at the end; and 

8 (C) by adding at the eml the follmving new 

9 paragraphs: 

10 "(2) DTS'T'TUDU'l'TON.-Tn accordance \vith the 

11 sense of Congress described iu section 103, the 

12 President, acting through the Secretary of State, is 

13 authorized to distribute or provide gnmts to dis14 tribute information receiving de~vices, electronically 

15 readable devi(~es, and other informational soun~es 

16 into ~ orth Korea, iucluding devices and informal? tional sources specified in paragraph ( 1). To earry 

18 out this paragraph, the President is authorized to 

19 issue directions to facilitate the free-flow of informa20 tion into North Korea. 

21 "(3) RESEARCH ~~'JD DRVELOPMEKT GR.~'\T 

22 PROGR.~I.-In aecordance \vith the authorization de23 scribed iu paragraphs (1) and (2) to increase the 

24 availability and distribution of sourees of informa25 tion inside North Korea, the President, acting 
47


26428u-3.eps

through the Seeretary of State, 1s authorized to es2 tablish a grant progTam to make grants to eligible 

3 entities to develop or distribute (or both) new prod4 ucts or methods to allow North Koreans easier ac5 cess to outside information. Such program may in6 volve public-private partnerships. 

7 "(4) CULTl~RE.-In accordance \vith the sense 

8 of Congress des(~rihed in seetion 10:1, the Broad9 casting Board of Governors may broadcast A.mer1 0 ican, Korean, and other popular music, te]e,~sion, 

11 movies, and popular cultural references as part of its 

12 progTamming. 

13 "(5) RIG-HTS AND L..~WS.-In ;-weonlam~e with 

14 the sense of Congress described in section 10:3, the 

15 Broad(~asting Board of Governors shall hroadeast to 

16 North Korea in the Korean language infonnation on 

17 rights, laws, and freedoms afforded through the 

18 North Korean Constitution, the Universal Declara19 tion of Human Rights, the United Kations Commis20 sion of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic 

21 People's Republic of Korea, and any other applicable 

22 treaties or international agreements to which :\forth 

23 Korea is bound. 

24 "(6) BROADCASTI~G REPORT.-Not later 

25 than-
48


26428u-4.eps

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

4 

"(A) 180 !lays after the !late of the ene:wtment of this paragraph, the Secretary of State, 

in eonsultation with the Broadeasting Board of 

Governors, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that sets forth a 

detailed plan for improving broadcastiug content for the purpose of reaching additional audienees and inereasing (~onsurnption of mwensored news and information using all available 

and reasonable means; and 

" (B) one year after the date of the euactment of this paragraph and annually thereafter 

for ee:wh of the next five years, the Seeretary of 

State, in consultation with the Broadcasting 

Boar!l of Governors, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the 

effectiveness of actions taken pursuant to this 

sectiou, iucluding data reflecting audieuce aud 

listenership, device distribution and usage, technological development and advancement usage, 

and other information as requested by such 

committees.". 
49


26428r-1.eps

ll:im CONGRESS 

1ST SB88101\ H.R.2408 

To enhanee the transpar!'n<:y, improve the eoordination, and intensifY the 

impact of assiscance to support access to primary and secondary edueation for displaced children and persons, induding women and girls, 

and for other purposes. 

IK THE HOUSE OF REPRESE.\fTATIVES 

lYLw 11, ~017 

}Ir. CHABOT (for himself and Ms. KELLY of lllinoisl introdu<:ed the following 

bill: whieh was referred !o che Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To enhance the transpareney, improve the coordination, and 

intensity the impact of assistanee to support aeeess to 

prirmny and seeondary edm~ation for displ~wed ehildren 

and persons, ineluding women and girls, and for other 

purposes. 

Be d enaded by fhe 8enate and IIouse !!{ Repn:senta2 tives ofthe United States of.:imerl:ca in Congress as;>en,IDtea, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the "Protecting Girls' Ac5 cess to Edueation in Vulnerable Settings Act'' or the 

6 "Proteeting Girls' Ae(~ess to Ed1wation Aet". 
50


26428r-2.eps

2 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 CongTess finds the following: 

3 (1) At the start of 2017, more than 65,000,000 

4 people have been displaced by disasters and conflicts 

5 around the world, the highest number recorded since 

6 the end of \Vorld \Var II, of which more than 

7 21,000,000 people are refugees. 

8 ( 2) More than half of the population of dis9 placed people are children and, aceording to the 

10 Uuited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 

11 nearly 4,000,000 school-aged displaced children laelc 

12 aceess to primary education. 

13 ( 3) Education offers socioeconomic. opportuni14 ties, psychologieal stability, and physical protection 

15 for displaced people, partieularly for \Nomen and 

16 girls, vdw might otherwise be ~vulnerable to severe 

17 forms of traffieking in persons (as sneh term is de18 fined in seetion 10:3(9) of the Trafficking Vietims 

19 Proteetion Aet of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 71 03(9))), ehild 

20 marriage, sexual exploitation, or eeonomic disenfran21 chisement, and contributes to long-term recovery 

22 and eeonomi(~ opportunities for aisplaeed people and 

23 for the communities hosting them. 

24 (4) Displaced children faee considerable har25 ricr·s to accessing educational services aud, because 

26 the duration of such displacement is, on average, 20 
51


26428r-3.eps

years, s1wh ehildren may speml the entirety of their 

2 childhood without access to such services. 

3 ( 5) Despite the rising need for :-nwh servwes, 

4 less than two percent of g·lobal emerg·ency aid was 

5 directed toward educational services in 2016. 

6 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that8 (1) it is eritieal to emmre that ehilaren, part.ieu9 larly g1rls, displaced by conflicts overseas are able to 

l 0 access educational services because such access can 

11 combat extremism and reduce exploitation and pov1 2 erty; and 

13 (2) the edueational needs of v11lnerahle 'Nomen 

14 and girls should be considered in the design, imple15 mentation. and evaluation of related United Rtates 

16 foreign assistance policies aud programs. 

17 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

18 It is the policy of the United States to19 ( 1) partner w-ith and encourage other countries, 

20 public and private multilateral institutions, and non21 gowrnmental and civil society organizations, inelud22 ing faith-based organizations and organizations rep23 resenting parents and childreu, to support efforts to 

24 ensure that displaced children have access to safe 

25 primary and secondary education; 
52


26428r-4.eps

4 

(2) work with donors to enhanee training and 

2 capacity-building for the governments of countries 

3 hm;ting signifimmt numbers of displaeed people to 

4 design, implement, and monitor programs to effec5 tively address barriers to such education: 

6 (3) iucorporatc iuto the design aud implcmenta7 tion of such programs measures to evaluate the im8 pad of the prognnns on girls, with respeet to the re9 duction of child marriage, gender-based violence, and 

l 0 severe forms of trafficking in persons :;;uch term 

11 is dcfiucd iu section 103(9) of the Trafficking Vic12 tims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S. C. 71 0:3(9))); 

13 and 

14 ( 4) coordinate with the governments of coun15 tries hosting signifieant nnrnlwrs of displaeea people 

16 to17 (A) promote the inclusion of displaced clul18 drcn into the educational systems of such coun19 tries; and 

20 (B) develop innovative approaehes to pro21 viding safe primary and seeondary edueational 

22 opportunities in cireumstanees in whieh sueh in23 elusion is not possible or appropriate, such as 

24 schools that permit more ehildren to be edu-
53


26428r-5.eps

5 

eated by extemling the hours of sdwoling and 

2 e}q)anding the number of teachers. 

3 SEC. 5. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO SUPPORT EDU· 

4 

5 

CATIONAL SERVICES FOR DISPLACED CHILDREN. 

6 (a) lN GJ£.\II£RAL.-'l'he Secretary of State and the 

7 Administrator of the rnited States Agency for InterS national Development are authorized to prioritize and ad9 vance ongoing efforts to support programs that10 (1) provide safe primary and secondary edu11 ca.tiou for displaced children; 

12 (2) build the capacity of institutions in coun13 tries hosting displ<wed people to prevent diserimina14 tion against displaced children, espeeially displaeed 

15 girls, who seek aeeess to sud1 edueation; and 

16 (3) help inerease the aecess of displaeed cllil17 dren, espeeially displaeed girls, to edueational, eeo18 nomic, and entrepreneurial opportunities, including 

19 through the governmental authorities responsible for 

20 erlueational or youth serviees in such host countries. 

21 (b) COORDINATIOK WITH 1\!Iur,TILATERAL ORG~~'\I22 ZATIOKS.-The Seeretary and the Administrator are au23 thoriL~ed to eoordinate with the ·world Bank, appropriate 

24 agencies of the United Nations, and other relevant multi25 lateral organizations to work with governments in other 
54


26428r-6.eps

6 

eountries to (~olled relevant !lata, rlisaggregated hy age 

2 and gender, on the ability of displaced people to access 

3 edneation and partieipate in eeonomie aetiv:ity, in order 

4 to improve the targeting, monitoring, and evaluation of re5 lated assistance efforts. 

6 (c) COORDll\A'l'lON WITH PmVA'l'E SECTOR A1"JD 

7 CIVIL SOCIETY 0RG~~~IZATIONS.-The Secretary and the 

8 Administrator are authorized to work with private sedor 

9 and civil society organizations to promote safe primmy 

10 and secondary education for displaced chiklren. 

11 SEC. 6. REPORT. 

12 During the five-year period beginning on the date of 

13 the enaetment of this Aet, the Seeretary aml the Adminis14 tr·ator shall inelude in any report or evaluation submitted 

15 to Congress relating to a foreign assistanee program for 

16 natural or manmade disaster relief or response the fol17 lowing information (to the eY.ient practicable and appro18 priate): 

19 ( 1) A breakdcnvn of the beneficiaries of such 

20 progTam by location, age, gender, marital status, 

21 and school enrollment status. 

22 ( 2) A description of how such program benefits 

23 displaced people. 
55


26428r-7.eps

7 

( :1) A des(~ription of any primary or se('omlary 

2 educational services supported by sueh program that 

3 spe(~ifieally adtlress the neeas of displaee<l girls. 
56


26428a-1.eps

IV 

lli1m CONGRESS H RES 128 18'1' SESSIOt\ 

• • 

Supporting resped, for hnman rights and eneonraging inelusive governan<oe 

iu Elhiopia, 

lK THE HOUSE OP REPRESE~TA'l'lVl~S 

PruBRUARY 15, 2017 

}Ir, i'i:-iE'H of New Jersey (for himself, Ms, I3ASS, }Ir COFFJ'.IAN, }Is, KELLY 

of Illinois, lV!r, VF:ASF:Y, and Mr. l~LT.TSONI submitted t]·,c follrm~ng rcso· 

lntion; whieh was referrP<l to the Conunittee on Fon~ign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting respect for human rights and encouraging 

inclusive governance in Ethiopia. 

\\l1ereas the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has 

been an ally of the United States and a partner in the 

\Var on Terrorism, as well as a contributor to international peacekeeping; 

Whereas the first pillar of the United States Strategy Toward 

Sub-Saharan Africa, announced in 2012, is to strengthen 

!lernoeratie institutiom;, and the Dern(H~rac.y, Human 

Rights, and Governance Strategy of the United States 

Agenf'y for International Development states that "strong 

democratic institutious, respect for human rights, aud 

participatory, accountable governance are crucial elements for improving people's lives in a sustainable way"; 
57


26428a-2.eps

2 

v\:l1ereas the third pillar of the United States Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa is to advance peace and security, indnding supporting se(mrit.y seetor reform; 

Whereas democratic space in Ethiopia has steadily diminished since the general elections of 2005; 

Whereas elections were held in 2015 in which the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front party 

daimell 100 pereent of parliament;ny seats; 

vVhereas the 2016 Department of State Country Report on 

Human Rights Practices for Ethiopia cited serwus 

human rights ~violations, ineluding arbitrary arrest;,;, 

killings, and torture committed by security forces, restrictions on freedom of e;q)ression and freedom of association, politically motivated trials, harassment, and intimidation of opposition members and journalists; 

vvl1ereas the Ethiopian Human Rights Comwil reported 102 

deaths by April 2016 and Human Rights ~Watch subse-

(plently reported that the Ethiopian se(mrity fon~es had 

killed between 500 and 800 peaceful protestors in the 

Oromia and Amhara regions by November 201G, and the 

number is likely higher; 

vVhereas state-sponsored violence against those exercising 

their rights to peaeeful assembly, in Oromia and elsewhere in the country, and the abuse of laws to stifle journalistic freedoms stand in direct eontrast to demoeratic 

principles and violate the constitution of Ethiopia: 

~Whereas since protests started in Oromia in 2015, the Ethiopian government h11s charged more than 150 students, 

opposition leaders, and activists at the l<'ederal High 

Court under the 2009 Anti-Terrorism Proclamation 

(ATP) and repeatedly has abused such law to limit the 
58


26428a-3.eps

free!lom of the pres;;, silenee indepemlent journalists, and 

persecute members of the political opposition, including 

hy-

(1) charging 20 uuivcrsity students in March 201G 

under the criminal code for protesting in front of the 

United States Embassy in Addis Ababa, based only ou a 

video of their protest and a list of demands; 

(2) arresting Merera Gudiua, Cl1airman of the 

Oromo Federalist Congress in December 2016 to be investigated under the ATP after he held meetings vv:ith 

European Union offieials in Brn;;sels: 

(:3) charging Yonatan Tesfaye Hegassa, the former 

head of public relations for the opposition Semayav\~ 

Patty (the Blue Party), with "plarming, preparation, conspiracy, incitement and attempt" of a terrorist act, citing 

Fa(•ebook posts by Rega;;sa about the protests as evidence; and 

( 4) arresting Getachew Shiferaw (the editor-in-chief 

of the online newspaper "::.J egere Ethiopia"), Fikadu 

lVlirkana, (a news editor and reporter \v:ith the public 

""Oromia Radio and TV"'), and blog·ger Zelalem 

Worka§:tenehu (with an imlependeut diaspora blog) under 

charges of conspiring to overthrow the government and 

supporting terrorism under the ATP; 

~Whereas, on April 25, 2016, the Federal High Court sentem~ed the former governor of the Gambdla region, 

Okello Akway Ochalla, to nine years imprisonment, and 

the trial of Ochalla and his co-defendants was marred by 

~violations of fair trial guarantees and ineluded the use of 

witness testimonies in exchange for non-prosecution 

under the A TP; 
59


26428a-4.eps

4 

vv1tereas in August 2015, eighteen Ethiopian Muslim leaders 

received prison sentences ranging from seven to 22 years 

in prison for peaeefully protesting against government interference in the religious affairs of the Islamic community, some of whom were later pardoned; 

\Vhereas criminal courts in Ethiopia arc weak, overburdened, 

subject to politieal influenc·.e, aeeept the use of forced eonfessions. and allow detainees to be held for months >>vithout eharge; 

\\1:lereas serious eoneerns have been raised regarding prison 

('Oll(litions in Ethiopia, including overerowaing, poor sanitation, lack of aeeess to potable water, excessive use of 

solitary eonfinement, the use of rape and torture, withholdiag aeeess to medieal treatment, and denial of aeeess 

to proper legal eounsel or to visitors: 

\\1tereas laws sndt as the 2009 Charities and So(~ieties Pro(~­

lamation have been used to restriet the operation of civil 

soeiety orgauihatious iu Ethiopia, especially those investigating alleged violations of human ri12·hts by govenlInental authorities; 

\\1lereas in June 2016, the Government of Ethiopia announeed that it elosed down more than 200 nongovernmental organi:.mtions within a nine-month period from 

2015 to 20Hj for failing to eomply with the rcstrietivc 

provisions of the 2009 Charities and Soeieties Proelamation; 

\Vhereas the development strategy of the Government of 

Ethiopia has targeted the relocation of more than 

1,500,000 people, including indi12·enous Anuaks in the 

Gambella region, from their ancestral lands for large-
60


26428a-5.eps

seale laml development under the "v:illagization" program: 

\\l1ereas the (~ase of the "Zone 9 Bloggers", whose arrest, detention, and trials on tclTorism chaq;z·cs brought iuternational attention to the restrictions on the freedom of 

the press in Ethiopia, is indicative of the coercive environment in which Ethiopian journalists operate; 

\\11ereas, on Oetoher 9, 2016, the Government of Ethiopia 

imposed a far-reaching, six-month state of emergency 

that restricts a broad range of actions, including blocking 

mobile Internet aeeess and soeial me!lia eommunieation, 

undermining freedoms of association, expression, and 

peaceful assembly, which led to the arrest of over 22,000 

persons according to Ethiopian Govennncnt accounts, 

and codifying such tactics as arbitrary detention; 

\\l1ereas serious abuses have heen aml <~ontinue to he (~ornmitted in the Somali regional state federal and regional seeurity forces, some of which may eoustitute war 

crimes and crimes against humanity; 

\v1<ereas there has been no credible independent investigation 

into any of the abuses mentioned herein and no indieation that anyone has been held to account for these 

abuses; and 

Whereas during President Baraek Obama's historic visit to 

Addis Ababa in .July 2015, Prime Minister Hailemariam 

Desale~m e::qJresse!l the eommitment of his government to 

deepen the democratic process and work towards improvmg govermmee and respect for human rights, and noted 

the need to step up efforts to strengthen institutions: 

Now, therefore, be it 

ResolPerl, That the House of Representative:;;-
61


26428a-6.eps

( 1) eondernnH2 (A) the killing of peaceful protesters and 

3 ex(;eHHlVe use of fon~e by Ethiopian Heeurity 

4 forces; 

5 (D) the arrest and detention of journalists, 

6 students, activists, and political leaders who ex7 ercise their constitutional rights to freedom of 

8 assembly and expression through pee:weful pro9 tests; and 

10 (C) the abuse of the Anti-Terrorism Proc11 lamatiou to stifle political aud civil dissent aud 

12 journalistic freedoms; 

13 (2) urgeH protesters in Ethiopia to refrain from 

14 violence and to refrain from encouragement or ac15 eeptanee of v:iolenee in demonstrations: 

16 (3) urges all armed factions to cease their con17 flict with the Government of Ethiopia and engage in 

18 peaceful negotiations directly and throu~th iuter19 national intermediaries; 

20 ( 4) calls on the Government of Ethiopia to21 (A) lift the state of emergeney; 

22 (B) end the use of excessive force by secu23 rity forees; 

24 (C) conduct a full, credible, and trans25 parent investigation into the killings and in-
62


26428a-7.eps

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

23 

24 

7 

NtaneeN of exeeNNive nNe of foree that took plaee 

as a result of protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions and hold Neeurity fon~es aeeountable for wrong-doing- through public. proeeediugs; 

(D) release dissidents, aeti,~sts, and journalists who have been imprisoned, ineluding 

those arrested for reporting about the protests, 

for exen·iNing (~onstitutional rights; 

(E) respect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and guarantee the freedom of the 

press and mass media, in keeping with Artides 

:30 and 29 of the Rthiopian constitution; 

(F) engage in open and transparent eonsultations with citizens regarding its developrnent strategy, espeeially those strategies that 

could result in the displaeement of people from 

their land; 

(G) allow a rapporteur appoiuted by the 

United K ations to conduct an independent examination of the state of human rights in Ethiopia; 

(H) address the grievanees brought for-

\vard by rcpreseutatives of registered oppositiou 

parties; 
63


26428a-8.eps

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

lO 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

R 

(I) hold aeeountahle those re;.;ponsihle for 

killing, torturing, and detaining innocent civilians who exereised their constitutional rights; 

( J) repeal proelamatious that-

(i) can be used as a politieal tool to 

harass or prohibit fumliug for eivil society 

organizations that investigate human 

rights violations, engage in peaeefnl politieal dissent, or advoeate for greater politieal freedoms; 

(ii) prohibit or otherwise limit those 

displaeed from their land from seeking 

remeay or re!lress in courts, or do not provide a transparent, aceessible means to ae-

(~ess justi(~e for those so displaeed: 

(iii) allow for the arrest and detention 

of peaceful protesters and political opponents who le~mlly cxereise their rights to 

freedom of ex1Jression and association; and 

(iv) prohibit or othenv"ise limit peaeeful nonprofit operations in Ethiopia; and 

(K) investigate the cireumstanees surrounding the September 3, 2016, shootings aud 

fire at Qilinto Prison, the deaths of persons m 

attendanee at the annual Trreeeha festivities at 
64


26428a-9.eps

9 

Lake Hora m~ar Bishoftu on Oetober 2, 2016, 

2 and the ongoing killings of civilians over several 

3 years in the Somali R.egional State by federal 

4 aud regional police, and publically release a re5 port 011 such investigations in an e:x1)edient 

6 mtumer: 

7 ( 5) calls on the Secretary of State to conduct 

8 a review of seenrity assistarwe to Ethiopia in light 

9 of recent developments and to improve transparency 

l 0 >vith respect to the purposes of such assistance to 

11 the people of Ethiopia; 

12 (G) calls on the Administrator of the rnited 

13 States Ag·eney for International Development to irn14 mediately lead efforts to develop a comprehensive 

15 strategy to support improved demoC'raey and govern16 ance in Ethiopia; 

17 (7) calls on the Secretary of State, in conjunc18 tion with the Administrator of the Cnited States 

19 Agency for International Development, to improve 

20 oversight and accountability of United States assist21 anee to Ethiopia, pursuant to the e:xlJectations estab22 lishecl in the United States Strategy Toward Sub23 Saharan 1\J'riea; 

24 calls on the Secretar,y of State, in coopera25 tion ~with the Secretar,y of the Treasury, to apply ap-
65


26428a-10.eps

10 

propriate sandiom; on fon~ign persons or entities re2 sponsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other 

3 gToss violations of internationally rel~ognized human 

4 rights committed agaiust any nationals in Ethiopia 

5 as provided for in the Global 1\Tag11itsky Human 

6 Rights Accountability Act: and 

7 ( 9) stands by the people of Ethiopia and sup8 ports their pe~weful efforts to inerease demoeratie 

9 space and to exercise the rights guaranteed by the 

l 0 Ethiopian constitution. 
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AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE 

TO H. RES. 128 

OFFERED BY MR. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY 

Strike the preamble and insert the following: 

~Whereas the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has 

been an important partner of the United States and a regional leader in promoting e(~onornie growth, global 

health, and peace and security; 

\,vl1ereas Ethiopia has helped advance the national interests 

of the U uited States and regional partners, including 

through contributions to international peacekeeping, combating radieal Islamist eA'ixemisrn and other forms of terrorism, and regional cooperation through the African 

Union; 

Whereas Ethiopia has made great strides in addressing significant challenges in global health, child survival, and 

food se(mrity; 

\,Vhereas Ethiopia's transition from authoritarian rule to 

participatory democracy has not kept pace with other refonns; 

"'1<ereas general elections in 2005 were marred by violence, 

manipulation, and the detention of thousands of opposition members, journalists, and civic activists; 

"'11ereas the ruling Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic lhont (EPRDF) claimed to win 99.6 percent of 

the vote in elections that were deemed neither free nor 

fair in 2010 and all 546 parliamentary seat:-: in 2015, 
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2 

thereby further (~onsoli!lating the EPRDF's single party 

rule; 

\,v11ereas the Charities and Soeieties Prodamation and AntiTerrorism Proclamation, both enacted in 2009, have accelerated the contraction of democratic space, severely 

limited the practice of fundamental humau rights, enabled abuses by security forces, and impeded efforts to 

promote accountability for such abuses in Ethiopia; 

\,Vhereas government forces launched a violent crackdcnvn on 

protests by ethnic Oromo and An1hara over their pereeived marginalization in 2015, resulting in humlreds of 

deaths and tens of thousands of arrests; 

"11ereas on October 9, 2016, the Government of Ethiopia imposed a six-mouth state of emergency, which was extended on March 30, 2017, that even further restricts 

free!loms of assembly, asso(~iation, and ex1Jression, induding through blockage of mobile Internet access and social 

media commuuication; 

Whereas the 2016 Department of State Couutry Report ou 

Human Rights Practices for Ethiopia cited serwus 

human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, 

killings, and torture committed by security forces, restrictions on freedom of ex1)ression and freedom of association, politically motivated trials, harassment, and intimidation of opposition members and journalists; 

"11ereas these persistent human right abuses, in(~luding 

state-sponsored violence against civilians in the Oromia, 

Amhara, and Ogaden regions of Ethiopia, as well as the 

abuse of laws to stifle journalistic freedoms, stand in direct contrast to democratic principles, violate the Constitution of Ethiopia, and undermine Ethiopia's position 
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a~ a regional leader for e(~onomie grmvth, pee:we, and ~ecurity: :\!"ow, therefore, be it 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 

following: 

1 That the House of Representatives2 (1) recognizes and commends Ethiopia's effmis 

3 to promote regional pee:we and ~eeurity, induding 

4 through the contribution of peacekeeping forces to 

5 regional and United :\fations peacekeeping oper6 ations; 

7 ( 2) recognizes the importance of continued 

8 United State~ and Ethiopian partner~hip in eomhat9 ting terrorism, promoting economic growth and op10 portunity, and addressing global health challenges; 

11 (3) notes with deep concern persistent reports 

12 of widespread human rights abuses and the contrac13 tion of democratic space in Ethiopia, which may 

14 threaten stability and reverse economic progress over 

15 the long term; 

16 ( 4) condemns the use of excessive force by Ethi17 opian security forces, including the killing of un18 armed protesters, aml the \Vrongful arrest aml de19 tention of journalists, students, activists, and polit20 ical leaders exercising their constitutional rights to 

21 freedom of assembly, association, and expression; 
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2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

4 

( 5) (~alls on the Government of Ethiopia to-

( A) lift the state of emergency, repeal or 

amend prodamations used as a tool to suppress 

humau rights in Ethiopia, including the Charities and Societies Proclamation and Anti-Terrorism Proclamatiou of 2009, and respect the 

rights of Ethiopian citizens to freedom of assembly and expression, in keeping \vith Artides 

30 and 29 of the Ethiopian Constitution; 

(D) end the use of excessive force by Ethiopian security forces and hold accouutablc those 

responsible for killing, torturing, or othenvise 

abusing the human rights of (~ivilians exen~ising 

their constitutional rights through fair and publie trials; 

(C) release activists, journalists, and opposition figures who have been wrongfully imprisoned for exercising their coustitutional rights, 

inc.luding those arrested for reporting about 

public protests: 

(D) improve transparency around development policies and activities that may infringe 

upon the human rights of local communities; 

and 
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5 

(E) allow for an imlependent examination 

2 of the state of human rights in Ethiopia by a 

3 rapporteur appointed by the 1~ nited Nations: 

4 ( 6) urges protesters in Ethiopia to refraiu from 

5 the use or ineitement of '~olenee in demonstrations; 

6 (7) urges oppositiou groups and the Govcrn7 ment of Ethiopia to direetly engage in peaeeful nego8 tiations; 

9 ( 8) calls on the Department of State and the 

10 United States Ageney for International Develop11 mcut12 (A) to engage in a eooperative effort with 

13 the Government of Ethiopia in the formulation 

14 of a eomprehensive strategy, in coordination 

15 with other donors, to help advam~e demoeraey, 

16 rule of law, human rights, ceonomic growth, 

17 and peaee and seeurity in Ethiopia; 

18 (B) eontinuc to strcngthcu tics with Ethi19 opia, ineluding through the provision of appro20 priate levels and forms of seeurity assistanee, in 

21 eon·elation to the Ethiopian Government's own 

22 demonstrated eommitment to demoeraey, rule 

23 of law, human rights, ceonomic growth, aud 

24 peaee and seeurity in the region; 
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6 

(C) eondemn human rights abuses aml the 

2 excessive use of force by Ethiopian security 

3 forees while pressing for the release of individ4 uals wrongfully detained; and 

5 (D) hold accountable individuals respon6 siblc for gross human rights violations in Ethi7 opia through appropriate mechanisms, which 

8 may indude the imposition of targeted smw9 tions pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human 

10 Rights Accountability Act (Public TJaw 114-

11 328); and 

12 (9) stands by the people of Ethiopia and sup13 ports their pe~weful efforts to inerease demoeratie 

14 space and to exercise the rights guaranteed by the 

15 Ethiopian Constitution. 

[ZJ 
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26428i.eps

AMENDMENT TO THE AMENDMENT IN THE 

NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE TO H. RES. 128 

OFFERED BY MR. SMITH OF NEW JERSEY 

In the 11th clause of the preamble, strike "Ogaden" 

and insert "Somali". 

Page 5, beginning on line 7, strike "negotiations" 

and insert "discussions to air grievances aud broaden political discourse". 
73


26428b-1.eps

lL'im CONGRESS 

18'1' SE88101\ H. RES. 259 E"Jlr~ssing eoneern and <·ondenmation over the politi<oal, e<•onomie, soeial, 

and humaniLarian o·isis in Vene;'.uela. 

H\ THE HOUSE OP HEPRESE~TATIVES 

.'\PRTT, 6, 2017 

IV 

:VIr. DESANTIS (for himself, :VIs. Ros-LEHTINEN, Mr. lVIcCATTL, :VIr. CTTRBELO 

of !<'lorida, Mr. YOHO, Mr. WJCBBR. of To:as, Mr. Bn,TR.AKTR, lvlr. SmBR, 

and lVIr. SMITH of New .Jersey) submitted the follovv:ing resolntion; whieh 

was referred Lo the Committee on Foreig·n Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

E:x1Jressing concern and condemnation over the political, 

economic, social, and humanitarian crisis in Vene:;~uela. 

\Vhereas there is no separation of powers or independent mstitutious in V enehuela and President lVladuro controls 

the Presidency, a majority of the municipalities, the Supreme Court, the rnilitm-y leadership, and the leadership 

of Petr6leos de Vene;.mela (PDVSA); 

\Vhereas Venezuela's National Electoral Council postponed 

elections for governors and mayors schedLLlcd for December 2016 and has not set a date to reschedule elections; 

\V1lereas there have been several attempts at dialogue between President Maduro and the opposition over the past 

year, which have all failed to achieve results; 
74


26428b-2.eps

2 

\'v1wreas a politi(~al solution is the 'Nay to provide sustainable 

change for the Venezuelan people, but the dialogues up 

until now have helped provide Madnro a lifeline while his 

government is collapsiug; 

\'vl1ereas the Vene7>uelan government continues to silence its 

eiti~ens through political arrests, with more than 100 political prisoners eurrently in jail, inc.luding opposition 

leader Leopoldo Lopez; 

\Vhereas Joshua Holt, a United States citizen, remams nnprisoned in Venezuela awaiting a trial, ·with five postponea hearings to date; 

v\11.ereas police and militar:v- raids have led to widespread allegations of abnse, ineluding e:xirajudicial killings, mass arbitrary detentions, torture in prisons, forced evictions, 

and arbitrary deportations; 

\'vl1ereas Venezuela is immersed m a deep eeonorme (ms1s, 

w"ith the highest inflation in the world and current inflation estimated to top roughly 1,600 pereent in 2017, aecording to the lnteruational Monetary .B'und; 

vvl<ereas in .July 2016, President Maduro handed over control 

of the food supply system to the military, which has enabled corruption, fraud, and food trafficking by the military contributing to food shortages, a scarcity of basie 

goods, and political cliserimirmtioll in the distribution of 

food and basie goods; 

\'vl1ereas deteriorating· eonditions in health eare persist, with 

the \Vorld Health Organization estimating that there are 

shortages for 75 pereent of necessary medications and 

medical supplies, up from 55 pereent ia 2014 and 67 percent in 2015; 
75


26428b-3.eps

\\<1lereas the <•ountry is facing inereasing outbreaks of malaria and diphtheria, previously eradicated diseases in 

Venezuela; 

\Vhereas the couutry has experienced au increase m emigration, according to multiple press reports, ineluding the 

Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washiugtcm 

Post; 

\\11ereas Venezuela is the leading (•ountiy for asylum requests 

to the United States in the world, according to data reported by the U.S. Citizenship and ImmigTation Ser·vices; 

\\1wreas the Government of Venezuela hat> e~-pumled its pmvers to regulate media and reduce the number of dissenting media outlets, including CN:.J en Espafiol after 

CNN broadcasted a report alleging that Vice Presideut 

Tareck El Aissami was directly linked to passport fraud 

invohing members of Hezhollah; 

\Vhereas, on Februmy 1:3, 2017, the United States Depmtment of the Treasury's Office of Foreig11 Assets Control 

desiguated 'l'areck .l';aidan El Aissami Maddah as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker pursuant to the 

Foreig11 Nareotic8 Kingpin De8ignation Act for pla}ing a 

significant role in international narcotics trafficking and 

imposed sanctions on Mr. El Aissami and froze his assets 

in the C nited States; 

"l1ereas, on JYiarch 14, 2017, the Secretary General of the 

Organization of A.meriean States (OAS), Luis AlmagTo, 

issued a second repmt on the crisis in Venezuela following his May 201 G report, documenting an altercation 

of the luter-1\Jneriean Democratic Charter by the Government of Venezuela and calling for free, fair, and open 
76


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4 

elel'tions and the release of politi(~al pnsoners >cv'ithout 

delay; 

l.\1tereas, on Mareh 2:1. 2017, fourteen OAS Member States 

published a joint statement calling for the Govemmeut of 

Vene;;mela to hold elections, restore the constitutional 

powers of the N atioual Assembly, and release political 

prisoners: 

\\1lereas, on Mareh 2R, 2017, the OAS Permanent Couneil 

agreed by a vote of 20 in favor, 11 against, 2 abstentions, and 1 absent/nonvoting Member States to move 

fonvanl in disenssing the situation in Venezuela; 

l.\11ereas, on March 28, 2017, the Supreme Court of Vene:;mela stripped opposition leaders of the National Assembly of their parliameutary immunity and began to take 

steps to consider prosecuting them for treason; 

\\11ereas, on Mareh 29, 2017, the Venezuelan Supreme Court 

seized power from the democratically elected National As-

::·wrnhly and nullified the legislative brand1's ability to 

fuuctiou; 

\\l1ereas, on :VIarch :31, 2017, m the first major break of a 

sitting Veuc;,-;uelan public officiaL Veuezuelau ~\.ttorue.v 

General Luisa Ortega Diaz affirmed the Supreme Court's 

actions "had broken constitutional order"; 

\Vhereas, on March 31, 2017, VeueLjuelan eiti;,-;ens took to the 

streets protesting the Supreme Court's breach of power; 

\\11ereas, on April 1, 2017, !luring an emergen(~.v meeting of 

the Mereosur eountries, the foreign ministers of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and rrng11ay released a statement urgiug the Govennneut of V euezuela to follow its 

constitution and guarantee "the effective separation of 

puwers": and 
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\\11ereas, on April 1, 2017, the Supreme Court reversed its 

earlier decisions taking over the ='J ational Assembly's legislative powers aml stripping the legislators of their parliamentary immunity: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Represe11tatives2 (1) condemns the decisions b.Y the Venezuelan 

3 Supreme Court on :Yiarch 28, 2017, and March 29, 

4 2017, stripping the opposition legislators of their 

5 parliamentary immunity and seizing power from the 

6 National Assembly, nullif}ci11g all legislative actions; 

7 ( 2) recognizes the decision by the V cnezuclau 

8 Supreme Court on April 1, 2017, to restore the op9 position legislators' parliamentary immunity aml the 

10 National Assembly's legislative powers; 

ll (3) urges the Government of Venehuela to heed 

12 the calls of the international community to hold free, 

13 fair, and open elections, release all political pris14 oners, including U.S. eitizens, and immediately ac15 cept international humanitarian assistance only 

16 through nongovernmental organihations; 

17 ( 4) urges OAS Member States to continue all 

18 efforts, inc.luding the consideration of a potential 

19 suspension of Venezuela from the OAS, if the Gov20 ernment of Venezuela fails to hold free, fair, and 

21 open elections and release all political prisoners in a 

22 timely manner; and 
78


26428b-6.eps

6 

( 5) eneourages the President of the 1~ nited 

2 States to prioritize a resolution of the political, eco3 norni(~, social, and humanitarian erisis in Venezuela, 

4 inelucling through bilateral, targeted sanctions 

5 against inclividuals in the Government of Vene:-mela 

6 responsible for the deterioration of democratic insti7 tutions and the rule of lavv in the country. 
79


26428j-1.eps

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE 

TO H. RES. 259 

OFFERED BY MR. DESANTIS OF FLORIDA 

Strike the preamble and insert the following: 

\,Vhereas in Venezuela, President Kicolas Maduro controls the 

Presidency, a majority of the municipalities, the Supreme 

Court, the military leadership, and the leadership of 

Petr6leos de Venezuela (PDVSA), and has gutted the 

National Assembly of the power it constitutionally holds; 

Whereas in late October 2016, Venezuela's state courts and 

National Electoral Council, which are comprised of politi(~al allies of President Maduro, halted efforts to hold a 

referendum pursuant to provisions of the Venezuelan constitution to recall President Maduro, thereby denying the 

V enezuclan people the ability to pursue a democratic solution to Venezuela's crisis; 

\,v11ereas Venezuela's National Eledoral Couneil postponed 

elections for governors and mayors scheduled for December 2016 and has not set a date to reschedule these elections; 

"1<ereas there have been several attempts at dialogue between President Maduro and the opposition over the past 

year, which have all failed to yield tangible results; 

"11ereas the Government of Vene:;mela continues to silence its 

citizens through political arrests, with more than 444 political prisoners currently in jail; 
80


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2 

\,v11ereas .Joshua Holt, a United States (~itizen, rernmns unprisoned in Venezuela ~with no due process, and four postponecl hearings to date; 

Whereas iu its 2016 report, Vcuc11ucla's Violence Observatory 

assessed a \videspread use of firearms by criminals and 

increased usc of violence by police and military officials, 

contributing to a homicide rate of 91.8 per 100,000 residents, making Venezuela one of the most violent countries in the world; 

"1<ereas police and military raids have led to widespread allegations of human rights abuses, ind1Hling extn~judi(~ial 

killings, mass arbitrary detentions, torture, forced evictions, and arbitrary deportations; 

\Vhcrcas V cnczucla is immersed iu a deep ccouonuc cns1s, 

''~th shortages of basic food supplies and medicines, and 

inflation estimatecl to top roughly 1,600 pen~ent in 2017, 

according to the International ~/[onetary Fund; 

"11ereas the Venezuelan military (~ontrols the produ(~tion and 

distribution of basic food supplies, which has enabled corruption, fraud, and food trafficking, and exacerbated 

shortages throughout the countiy; 

\,Vhereas deteriorating conditions in health care persist, with 

the \Vorld Health Organization estimating that there are 

shortages of 7 5 percent of necessary medications aud 

medical supplies, up from 55 percent in 2014 and 6 7 pereent in 2015; 

\,Vhereas a recent survey - conducted jointly by the Central 

University of Venezuela, the Andres Bello Catholic University aud the Sim6u Bolivar University- found that almost 75 percent of Venezuelans lost an average of at 
81


26428j-3.eps

least 19 pounds in 2016 as a result of a lack of proper 

nutrition amidst the country's economic crisis; 

\,v1rereas the (~onntry is fe:wing inereasing outbreaks of previously eradicated diseases, such as malaria aud diphtheria; 

Whereas the Health lVliuistry in Veue11ucla published an epidemiological hulletin in May 2017 (the first since 2015), 

showing a :10 pereent increase in infant mortality, a 66 

percent rise in maternal mortality, and a 76 percent increase in malaria cases; 

"1wreas the deteriorating conditions in Venezuela have 

prompted tens of thousands of Venezuelans to flee to 

countries throughout the \Vestern Hemisphere, including 

Brazil, Carmela, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Peru, and the 

United States, which threatens a w"ider refugee crisis in 

the region; 

\,Vhereas there were 18,000 asylum requests from Venezuelans seeking to enter the United States in 2016, 

which according to U uited States Citi11enship aud Immigration Services was the highest number of requests 

made by any nationality last year; 

\,Vhereas the Government of Venezuela has regulated and rechlCed the number of local and international media outlets 

with opposing views, including C!\N eu Espafwl following 

its broadcast of a report alleging that Vice President 

Tare(~k El Aissami was dire(~tly linke<l to a ring of fraudulent Venezuelan passports provided to foreigners includmg kno\vn members of the terrorist organization 

He11bollah; 

"1<ereas, on February B, 2017, the Department of the 

Trea:-;ury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated 
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4 

Venezuela's Viee President Tareek Zai<lan El Aissami 

Maddah as a Specially Designated K arcotics Trafficker 

pursuant to the Foreign N an~oties Kingpin Designation 

Ac.t for playing a significant role in international narcotics trafficking, and imposed sanctions on Mr. El 

~\issami and froze his assets in the Uuited States; 

\,Vhereas, on March 2:3, 2017, fourteen Member States of the 

Organization of American States (OAS) published a joint 

statement calling for the Government of Venezuela to 

hold elections, restore the constitutional powers of the 

National Assembly, and release politieal prisoners; 

\,v1<ereas, on March 28, 2017, the OAS Permanent Council 

agreed by a vote of 20 in favor, 11 against, 2 abstentions, and 1 absent/nonvoting Member States to move 

forward in discussing the situation in Vene7.uela; 

"'11ereas, on Mard1 28, 2017, the Supreme Coud of Venezuela stripped opposition leaders of the National Assembly of their parliamentary immuuity awl begau to take 

steps to cousider prosecuting them for treasou; 

"'1<ereas, on March 29, 2017, the Venezuelan Supreme Court 

seized power from the democratically elected National Assembly and nullified the legislative branch's ability to 

function; 

Whereas, on Slarch 31, 2017, m the first major break of a 

sitting Venezuelan public official, Venezuelan Attorney 

General Luisa Ortega Diaz affirmed the Supreme Court's 

ac.tions "had broken constitutional order"; 

"'11ereas, on March 31, 2017, Vene:1.uelan citi:1.ens took to the 

streets protesting the Supreme Cmut's breach of power; 

"'1<ereas, on April 1, 2017, the Supreme Court reversed its 

earlier de(~isions taking over the )Jational Assembly's leg-
83


26428j-5.eps

islative powers aml stripping the legislators of their parliamentary immunity; 

\,v11ereas, on April 26, 2017, the Government of Venezuela 

annouuced its iutent to withdraw from the OAS; 

"11ereas on May 1, 2017, President Maduro announced a national vote to create a Constituent Assembly to rewrite 

the Venezuelan Constitution of 1999, which OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro stated (in testimony before 

the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate on 

,July 19, 2017) was "imposed by decree without the people and against the people, setting the will of the didatorship above the popular >vill expressed through universal and direct vote"; 

Whereas, on lVlay 2, 2017, the Department of State stated, 

"\,Ve have deep concerns about the motivation for this 

eonstituent assembly, whieh overrides the >vill of the Venezuelan people and further erodes Venezuelan democraev"· "•_; ' 

Whereas peaceful protests by V enezuelau citizens since March 

of 2017 have been met with violence from Venezuelan authorities that has caused 100 deaths; 

\,Vhereas, on May 17, 2017, the United Nations Security 

Council met to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela; 

"1<ereas, on May 18, 2017, the Department of the Treasury 

annomwed United States sanetions against eight Venezuelan Government officials, all members of Venezuela's 

Supreme Court, pursuant to Executive Order 13692, for 

their responsibility in issuiug a number of rulings that 

"interfere with or limit the National Assembly's author-
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26428j-6.eps

ity" and that ''limit the ability of the )Jational Assembly 

to conduct its constitutional duties"; 

\,v11ereas, on May 2:1, 2017, President Maduro signed a do(mment formally establishing the terms for electing members of a Constituent Assembly, presenting the proposed 

body as a way to rewrite the Constitution: 

\,Vhereas, on June 2, 2017, President Macluro pledged to hold 

a referemlum on the proposed new eonstitution; 

\,Vhereas, on June 20, 2017, the OAS General Assembly 

meeting was held in Canclin, Mexico, where a resolution 

regarding the preearious situation in V enezucla failed to 

gain the votes needed for passage; 

"11ereas Venezuela's Attorney General Tmisa Ortega Diaz is 

being legally pursued for defying President lVladuro, with 

the Supreme Court banning her from leaving the country 

and freezing her assets: 

\,Vhereas, on July 8, 2017, opposition leader Leopolda Lopez 

was releasecl from prison but remains under house arrest; 

Whereas, on July 16, 2017, more than seveu million people 

cast votes in a popular consultation to reject the Constituent Assembly; 

Whereas on July 19, 2017, Secretary General of the OAS, 

Tmis AlmagTo, issued a third report on the crisis in Venezuela which documented the violations of the constitution and systemic violations of human rights by the Government of Venezuela aml (~ailing for the imme(liate suspension of the Constituent Assembly, the cessation of violent repression, the opening of a channel for humanitarian assistance, and the release of political prisoners; 

and 
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26428j-7.eps

7 

\,v11ereas, on .Tuly 20, 2017, the govermnent-(~ontrolled Venezuelan Supreme Court annulled the process of the appointment of judges hy the opposition-eontrolled National 

Assembly: ~ow, therefore, be it 

Strike all after the resolved text and insert the following: 

That the House of Representatives2 ( 1 ) urges the Govennnent of Venezuela to sus3 pend the convening of the Constituent Assembly 

4 scheduled on July 30, 2017, and to heed the calls 

5 of the international community >vithout delay to hold 

6 free, fair, and open elections, release all political 

7 prisoners, including United States citizens, respect 

8 the constitutional rights of the National Assembly, 

9 and open a channel for international humanitarian 

10 assistance and medicines; 

11 (2) urges Organization of Ameri(~an States 

12 (OAS) Member States to continue all efforts to sup13 port the principles of the Inter-American Democratic 

14 Charter, reg·ardless of Vene11uela's intent to withIS draw from the OAS, and continue calls for the Gov16 ernment of Venezuela to hold free and fair eleetions 

17 and release all political prisoners in a timely man18 ner; 
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26428j-8.eps

R 

( 8) re(~ogmze~ the strong leader~hip of OAS 

2 Secretary General Luis Almagro in building a coali3 tion of OAS Member State~ in ~upport of <lemoeraey 

4 and human rights for the Venezuelan people; and 

5 ( 4) encourages the President of the rnited 

6 States to prioritize a resolution to the political, eco7 nomic, social, and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela 

8 and an effeetive re~pon~e to the gTovving regional 

9 refugee crisis that is emanating from Venezuela, 

10 through multilateral cooperation v.~th partners at 

11 the OAS and United Nations, and through targeted 

12 sanctions against individuals responsible for the de13 terioration of demo(~ratie institution~ and the rule of 

14 law in Venezuela. 
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26428c-1.eps

lHi'l'H CONGRESS 

hl'l' SBSSIOI\ H. RES. 311 

IV 

Reeognizing that for :'iO yeam the A~so<•iation of Sonth EaNt A~i:m NationN 

(ASE1lu~) has worked toward stability, prosperity, and peace in SoLLtheasL 

Asia, 

IK THE HOUSE OF REPRESE)JTATIVES 

:VLw :3, 2017 

Mr. CA81'RD of Trxas (for l1imself and Mrs. WAGNRR,) suhmittrd the follo"~11g 

reNolnt.ion; whid1 wa~ referred to the Couunittke on Foreig11 Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Reeognizing that for 50 years the Assoeiation of South East 

Asian Nations (ASEAN) has >vorked toward stability, 

prosperity, and pe1we in Southeast Asia. 

\\1lereas the United States and the Assoeiation of South East 

Asian Kations (ASE~'J) and its ten members-Brunei, 

Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Phillppmes, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam-have worked 

together to advance our shared goals for 40 years, having 

established dialog11e relations on September 10, 1977, 

with the issuing of the 1977 Joint Communique of the 

First ASEAK-r.S. Dialog11e, and the United States acceding to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) at the ASEAK Post Ministerial Conference Session with the United States in Thailand on 

July 22, 2009: 
88


26428c-2.eps

2 

''11ereas the United States was the first non-ASEAN country 

to appoint an ambassador to ASEAN on April 29, 2008, 

and the first dialogue partner to establish a permanent 

mission to ASE1L\l in 2010; 

\"1lereas the United States has supported efforts to strengthen the ASEAN Secretariat and expand its role in pro-

\riding greater coordination among, and enhanc·ing the effectiveness of, regional institutions; 

\Vhereas, ~working together, the Governments and people of 

the United States and ASEAN can help realize their 

(;ommon vrision of a p(~~wefnl, prosperous, rules-based 

Asia-Pacific region that offers security, opportunity, and 

dig11ity to all of its citihens; 

Whereas ASE_:LI\I's ten members, taken collectively, arc the 

seventh-largest economy in the world, 1vith an annual 

Gros:;; Domestic: Produd (GDP) of $2.4 trillion, ;md represent the United States fourth-largest export market 

·with total two-way trade iu goods aml serviees readliug 

$254 billiou and accounting for more than 500,000 jobs 

in the r nited States; 

\\l1ereas ASEAK's ten members represent a diverse gnmp of 

nations and d,ynamic economies w-ith an expanding workforee, a growing middle class, and a diverse set of skills, 

cultures, and resources: 

\\1<ereas ASEA1'J is home to critical global sea lanes located 

at the eenter of the world's strongest t~(~onomie gTmvth 

area, ''rith $5.:3 trillion of global trade and more than half 

of total shipped tonnage transiting through ASEAN's 

waters each year; 

''11ereas ASEAN, taken collectively, is the third-fastest growing economy in A:;;ia after China and India, expanding by 
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:10 pereent snwe 2007 and exeeeding the glohal gTmvth 

average for the past ten years; 

\\l1ereas the ASEAN Eeonornie Community anns to (~reate 

one of the largest siuglc nmrl,ct economics iu the wodd, 

facilitating the free movement of goods, sen~ces, and professionals and engendering a sense of economic community among its member states; 

\\l1ereas the Unite!l States is the largest investor in Southeast Asia, vvith total foreign direct investment stock of 

nearly $226 billion in 2014, creating millions of jobs m 

the Unitea States and in ASEA_l'J member states, while 

investment in the United States from Southeast Asia has 

increased more than any other region's investment in the 

past decade; 

Whereas the United States has helped ASEA~ create a Single \Vindow em;toms fa(·ilitation system that \vill aid in 

ex'J)editing intra-ASEA._'J trade and make it easier for 

United States businesses to operate iu the region: 

Whereas the C.S.-AS]}.~'L.\J Business 1\lliancc for Competitive 

SMEs has already trained 4,600 small to medium enterprii:les, with nearly half of the individuals trained being 

young ~women entrepreneurs; 

\Vhereas rnited States-ASEA~ development eooperation has 

focused ou innovatiou aud capacity-building efforts in 

teehnology, edueation, disaster management, food seeurity, human rights, and trade f~wilitation: 

\Vhereas the Lower Mekong Initiative, established on ,Tuly 

23, 2009, is a multinational effort that helps promote 

sustainable economic development in mainlaud Southeast 

Asia to foster integTated, multisectoral, subregional eooperation and capacity building; 
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4 

\\l1ereas the Dedaration on the Condu(~t of Parties in the 

South China Sea (DOC) was signed by all members of 

ASEAN and the People's Repuhli(~ of China (PRC) on 

November 4, ~002, committing ASEAN and the PHC to 

"exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that 

would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace 

and stability." and reaffirming "that the adoption of a 

code of conduct in the South China Sea would further 

promote peace and stability in the region and agTee to 

work, on the basis of consensus, toward the eventual attainrnent of this ohjeetive"; 

\\1<ereas the leaders of the rnited States and ASEAc"'J. at 

their Special TJeaders Summit in Smmylands, California, 

on J1'cbruary Hi, 20Hi, reaffirmed their shared commitment to maintain peace, security, and stability in the reg1on. 

\Vhereas the United States supports the East Asia Summit 

(EAS) as the premier leaders-led forum for dialogue and 

cooperation ou political, security, and ecouomic issues iu 

the region and commends the direction set in the Kuala 

Lampnr Dedaration at the EAS lOth anniversary, inc·luding the new exchange mechanism for EAS members' 

ambassadors; 

Whereas ASE~'L'I 10< a pattncr to the United States on ke.Y 

transnational challenges, such as te1Torism, violent extremism, en'\'ironmental degntdation, pollution, energy, mfectious diseases, disarmament, proliferation of \veapons 

of mass destruction, cybersecurity, trafficking in persons, 

illieit traffickillg of wilcUife and timber, and illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing; 

Whereas the United States, ASEAN, and other Dialogue 

Partners, through the 2015 East Asia Summit, adopted 
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a statement on transnational (~yber issues that emphasizes the importance of regional cooperation to improve 

the seeurity and stability of eyher networks, setting an 

important precedent for strengthening practical cooperation, risk reduction, and eonfidence building m e.vberspacc; 

~Whereas the 201G East Asia Summit in Vientiane adopted a 

statement on nonproliferation that reaffirmed the 1~nited 

States, ASE~Lti'J, and other Dialogue Partners' leaders' 

support for efforts at the national, regional, and international level to promote nndear disarmament, nndear 

nonproliferation, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and 

reiterated the importanee of nuclear seeurity to eombating 11uclear terrorism; 

\\1wreas :.Jorth Korea's provocative missile launches and nudear tests highlightetl the threat posed by its nudear and 

ballistic missile programs and contradicts calls by 

ASEAN leaders at the 2016 East Asia Summit in Vientiane for North Korea to abide by multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions and international obligations; 

\Vhereas the ASEAK region has e:x.l)erienced natural disasters 

including Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and T:yl)hoon 

Haiyan in the Philippines; 

vv11ereas conservation and sustainable management of forests 

throughout ASE~'L"I\J play an important role in helping- to 

reduce the risks of extreme weather events and other natural disasters, and provide sustainable economic livelihood opportunities for local eommunities: 

vv1rereas the rnited States w-ill pursue initiatives that are 

consistent "~th broader sustainable development goals, 
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induding the a(~hievernent of food Neenrity and poverty alleviation throughout the ASEAK region; 

\\1Jereas the United StateN is a (•ommitted partner with 

ASE~Li\1 ou the protcetion of human rights, which arc not 

only e:;;:sential for fostering and maintaining stability, security, and good govcrnauce, but protecting the basie 

rights and fundamental dignities of the people of 

ASEAN; 

~Whereas, on November 18, 2012, ASEAN member states 

came together and adopted an ASEAN Human Rights 

Dedaration that, by its own termN, "affirms all the e:ivil 

and politieal rights" and the "economic social and cultural rights" in the Universal Declaration of Human 

Rights; 

\Vhereas the rnited States supports the work and mandate 

of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human 

Rights (AIGHR), including capacity building for the promotiou and proted.iou of human rights aud the AICIIR':;;: 

priorities programs, and aetivitics; 

\\l<ereas the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Program has 

now engaged over 100,000 people hetvveen the ages of 18 

and 35 across all ten ASEA-L~ nations to promote innovation among young people while also providing skills to a 

new generation who will create and fill the jobs of the future; 

\\l1ereas the irregular movement of perNonN eontinnes to he 

one of the main security threats in the Southeast Asia reWhereas addressing migration flows and combating human 

smuggling and human traffieking in ASEAN is an impor-
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7 

tant, ongomg dmllenge reqn1nng inereased eoorllination 

and shared responsibility; 

\'v1tereas, on November 21, 2015, ASE~~"'J mernher o-;tates 

signed the ASE11l'\J Convention 1\gainst Trafficking iu 

Persons, Especially ·women and Children, which represents an important step forward in preventing humau 

traffieking, proseeuting the peqJetrators, and proteeting 

the survivors: 

\Vhereas the United States suppmt.s ASE..c'L~ member states 

in antieorruption efforts through, among other initiatives, 

the implementation of the Unite!l Nations Convention 

Against Corruption: 

\Vl1ereas Vice President Penee traveled to .Jakarta, Indonesia, 

on April 20, 2017, where he met with the ASE.Al\ Secretary General and ASEAK Permanent Representatives, 

eongratulated ASEAN on its 50th anniversaiy, and remarked on the 40th anniversary of the rnited States diplomatie relationship ,,vith ASE~~' uotiug that the U.S.-

ASEAN relationship has "without a doubt has benefitted 

both ASE1\.N and Ameriea-diplomatically, economieally, 

and from the standpoint of national ::;eenrity": 

·whereas, on this ,cisit, Viee President Penee pledged that the 

United States would "redouble our eooperation with 

ASEA1\I on issues of regional sceurity" and eoutinuc to 

support "increased information sharing and seeurity effort::; to prot.eet our people and our way of life aeross the 

ASE.r\N region and aeross the wider world," and "eontinue to work elosely with ASEA:\1" to promote peaee and 

stability in the South China Sea by upholding a rulesbased order, ensuring the lmvful and unimpeded flow of 

commeree, and eneonraging the peaeeful and diplomatic 

resolution of disputes."; 
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\\11ereas, on this ~visit, Vi(·e President Pen(~e remarked that 

"By strengthening our economic ties, the United States 

and ASEAK member nations ean foster jobs, prosperity, 

and grmvth iu new and unprcccdcutcd ways." aud that 

"American e:q)orts to ASEAN member nations already 

support mon; than 550,000 jobs in the United States, 

and almost '12,000 U.S. companies e:;;q)ort more than 

$1 00 billion i11 goods and seniees to ASEAN nations 

every year."; and 

\V:hereas, on this visit, Viee President Pence announeed that 

President Trump vvill attend the U.S.-ASEAc"'J Summit, 

the East A"Sia Summit, and the APEC Leaders :V[eeting 

in Vietnam and the Philippines in ~ovemher 2017: Now, 

therefore, be it 

Resolued, That the House of Hepresentatives2 ( 1) wel(~omes the leaders of the ~~sso('iation of 

3 South East Asian ~ations (ASEA..~) to the rnited 

4 States for the meetings ~:vith Seeretary of State Rex 

5 Tillerson and members of Cougress aud affirms the 

6 meeting as the first of regular United States7 ASEAK meetings; 

8 ( 2) supports and affirms the elevation of the 

9 United 8tate8-ASE~iL1>,J relation8hip to a 8trategic 

10 partnership and recommits the rnited States to 

11 ASEAK eentrality and to helping to build a strong, 

12 stable, politically cohesive, ecouomically integrated, 

13 and socially responsible ASE~~~ community with 

14 common rules, norms, procedures, and standards 
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eono-;istent with international law and the prineipleo-; 

2 of a rules-based Asia-Pacific community; 

3 ( :1) nrgeo-; ASEA)J to eontinue its efforts to fos4 ter gTeater integTation and unity toward the ASEAI\ 

5 community; 

6 ( 4) recognizes the value of ASBJ;\._c~ working 

7 >vith economic, political, and security partners, such 

8 as Australia, Canada, the European Union, India, 

9 Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of 

l 0 Korea, and Taiwan both inside of and outside of 

11 Asia, as the advantage of strategic economic initia12 tives like the U.S.-ASEAN Cmmect that dem13 onstrate a eornrnitrnent to ASEJli'J aml the AEC and 

14 build upon eeonomic relationships in the region; 

15 (5) reaffirms the enhan(·ement of rnited 

16 States-ASEAN ecouom1c engagement, iucludiug the 

17 elimination of barriers to eross-borcler eommerce, 

18 and supports the AS!Di~ Economic Commuuity's 

19 goals, ineluding strong, inclusive, and sustainable 

20 grovvth and cooperation with the rnited States that 

21 focuses on innovation and capacity building efforts 

22 in technology, education, disaster management, food 

23 sceurity, human rights, aud trade facilitation, m24 eluding for ASEAN' s poorest eountries; 
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10 

( 6) supports effmis by ASE~U\ member states 

2 to address maritime and territorial disputes in a 

3 eono-;tnwtive manner and to pursue (•laims through 

4 peaeeful, diplomatic., and leg·itimate reg·ional and 

5 international arbitration mechanisms, eonsistent 

6 with international law, ineluding through the adop7 tion of a eode of eonduet in the South China Sea to 

8 further promote pt~aee and stability in the region; 

9 ( 7) urges all parties to maritime and territorial 

l 0 disputes in the Asia-Pacific region, including the 

11 People's Republic. of China, to12 (A) exercise self-restraint in the conduct of 

13 aetiv:ities that would undermine stability or 

14 complicate or escalate disputes through the use 

15 of (~oer(,ion, intimidation, or military foree: and 

16 (B) refrain from new efforts to militarize 

17 uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, and other 

18 features, including but not limited to the con19 struction of new garrisons and facilities, and 

20 the relocation of additional military personnel, 

21 materiel, or equipment; 

22 (8) opposes actions by any countr:y to prevent 

23 any other country from cxcrcisiug its sovcrc1gn 

24 rights to the resources of the exclusive eeonom1c 

25 zone (EE/';) and continental shelf by seeking to en-
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11 

foree (·laims to those areas in the South China Sea 

2 that have no support in international law; 

3 (!)) opposes unilateral dedarations of adminis4 trative and military districts in contested areas m 

5 the South China Sea; 

6 (10) supports efforts to negotiate the joint 

7 management of maritime resources through diplo8 ma(-y and peaceful negotiation; 

9 (11) urges parties to refrain from unilateral ac10 tions that cause permanent physical damage to the 

11 marine environment and supp01ts the efforts of the 

12 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

13 and ASEAJ'J to implement guidelines to address ille14 gal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the re15 g1on; 

16 (12) supports efforts by Cnited States partuers 

17 and allies in ASEA:\f18 (A) to enhance maritime capability aud 

19 maritime domain awareness; 

20 (B) to protect unhindered access to and 

21 use of international vmterways in the Asia-Pa22 cific region that are critical to ensuring the se23 curity and free flow of commerce: 

24 (C) to counter piracy; 
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12 

(D) to di;;rupt illieit maritime traffi(~king 

2 activities such as the trafficking of persons, 

3 goods, and drngs; and 

4 (E) to enhance the maritime capabilities of 

5 countries or regional organi~ations to respond 

6 to emerg·ing threats to maritime security in the 

7 Asia-Pacific region; 

8 (18) urges ASEAN member states to develop a 

9 common approach to reaffirm the decision of the 

l 0 Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague's rul11 ing with respect to the case between the Republic of 

12 the Philippines and the People's Republic of China; 

13 (14) reaffirms the eornrnitrnent of the rnited 

14 States to continue joint efforts '""ith ASKA.1\ to halt 

15 human smngg'ling and traffieking in persons and 

16 urges ASE_.:\.1\l to make increased efforts to ereate 

17 and strengthen regional mechanisms to prm"ide as18 sistauec and supp01t to refugees and migrauts; 

19 (15) supports the Lcrwer ~Iekong Initiative, 

20 which has made signifieant progress m promoting 

21 sustainable econonnc development m mainland 

22 Southeast Asia and fostering integrated subregional 

23 cooperation and capacity building; 

24 (16) urges ASEAN to build capacity for the 

25 promotion and protection of human rights by 
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18 

ASEAK rnernher states, aml the implementation of 

2 related priorities, programs, and activities; 

3 (17) urges ASEAl\f governments to engag·e di4 rectly with leaders of civil society aucl human rights, 

5 ineluding v-ietims of human rights abuses, and 

6 prioritize the eoustruction of forums that give these 

7 stakeholders a voice to instruet publie policy; 

8 (lR) eneourag·es the President to eornrnunieate 

9 to ASEA..\f leaders the importanee of proteeting 

l 0 human rights, releasing politieal prisoners and end11 ing politically motivated prosecutions, strengthening 

12 ch-il society, safeguarding the freedom of the press, 

13 the free!lom of assemhly, and the free flovv of infor14 mation and ideas, and promoting open and trans15 parent government: and 

16 (Hl) supports the Young Southeast Asian Lcad17 ers Initiative program as an example of people-to18 people partnership buildiug that provides skills, net19 works, and leadership capabilities to a new genera20 tion of people who w-ill ereate anrl fill jobs, foster 

21 cross-border cooperation and partnerships, and rise 

22 to solve the regional and global challenges of the fu23 ture. 
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AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE 

TO H. RES. 311 

OFFERED BY MR. CASTRO OF TEXAS 

Strike the preamble and insert the following: 

~Whereas on September 10, 1977, the United States and the 

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (in this resolution referred to as "ASEAN") established dialogue relations, \vith 2017 marking the 40th anniversary of rnited 

States-ASEA:.J relations; 

Whereas on August 8, 2017, ASEAN will celebrate fifty 

years of regional cooperation towards gTeater stability, 

peaee, and prosperity in Southeast Asia; 

~Whereas on April 29, 2008, the United States was the first 

nou-ASEAN eouutry to appoiut au ambassador to 

ASE1\N and the United States became the first dialogue 

partner to establish a permanent mission to ASEAN in 

2010; 

~Whereas the United States committed in 2009 to hold an annual United States-ASEA:.J Leaders' Meeting, and upgraded the commitment in 2012 to an auuual Cnited 

States-ASEA.c\f Summit; 

\,v11ereas on April 20, 2017, Viee President Mike Pen(~e met 

with the ASEAN Secretary General and ASEAN Permanent Representatives in ,Jakarta, Indonesia, and stated 

that the Cnited States-ASE~'L.\1 relationship "without a 

doubt has benefitted both ASEAK and ~t\merica-dip-
101


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2 

lomatimJlly, e(~onomieally, aml from the standpoint of national security''; 

\,v11ereas on Febn1ary 16, 2016, at the Sunnylands Summit 

in California, the United States and ASEAN reaffirmed 

their shared commitment to maintain peace, security, and 

stability throughout the region; 

\,Vhereas in 201:3 ASEAN, as a whole, was the seventh-largest e(~onomy in the world with an annual Gross Domestie 

Product (GDP) of $2.4 trillion, and is the United States' 

fourth-largest export market ''ith total e)q)orts reaching 

$102,000,000,000 in 2015; 

"1<ereas the United States and ABEAN have strong economic ties, as the United States is the single largest investor in ASE.AN with accumulated C nited States foreign 

direct investment totaling almost $226,000,000,000 as of 

2014, and e(~onomie relations with ASEAK supporting 

more than 500,000 jobs in the rnited States; 

"11ereas the United States-ASEAK partnership is vital to the 

security interests of the C nited States, as both the 

United States and the members of ASEAN have a shared 

eommon interest in a peaceful resolution of the South 

China Sea disputes and achieving a denuclearizecl .:.J orth 

Korea; 

Whereas on November 4, 2002, the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea was signed by all 

members of ASEA..\f and the People's Repuhlie of China, 

committing all parties to "exercise self-restraint in the 

conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate 

disputes and affect peace and stability"; 

"1<ereas ASEA..\f is a partner to the United States on key 

trammational challenge:-;, such as terrorism, violent extre-
102


26428k-3.eps

nmun, environmental degnulation, energy, infe(~tious cliseases, disarmament, proliferation of weapons of mass destruetion, (~yberseeurity, traffi(~king- in persons, illi(~it trafficking of wildlife and timber, and illegal, unregulated, 

and unreported fishing; and 

Whereas the 2016 East Asia Summit in Vientiane adopted a 

statement on nonproliferation that reaffirmed the rnited 

States, ASEAN, and other Dialogue Partners' support 

for efforts at the national, regional, and international 

level to promote nuclear disarmament, nuclear nonproliferation, and pea(~eful uses of nudear energy, and reiterated the importance of nuclear security to combating 

nuclear terrorism: Now, therefore, be it 

Strike the resolved text and insert the following: 

That the House of Representatives2 ( 1) supports and affirms the elevation of the 

3 Unitecl States-ASEAN relationship to a strategic 

4 partnership, and reaffirms the United States com5 mitment to promoting a rules-based order in the 

6 Asia-Pacific and economic growth, peace, human 

7 rights and stability in Southeast Asia; 

8 ( 2) recognizes the value of ASEAN working 

9 Yvith economic, political, and security partners, such 

10 as Australia, Canada, the European Union, India, 

11 Japan, New ~ealand, Norway, the Republic of 

12 Korea, and Taiwan both inside and outside of Asia, 

13 to both strengthen existing initiatives such as the 
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4 

Unite!l State~-ASEAN Conned, and to develop new 

2 initiatives that address mutual strategic concerns; 

3 ( 8) eneourage~ the enhmwernent of eeonornie 

4 eugagemeut between the United States aud ASEA!\ 

5 through the elimination of trade barriers; 

6 ( 4) supports cooperation with ASEA.:.J to imple7 ment practical counter-terrorism and countering vio8 lent extremi~m rnea~ure~, induding effort~ to 

9 counter homegrown radicalization and stem foreign 

10 fighter travel; 

11 ( 5) supports efforts by ASE.Al\ member states 

12 and other regional states, including the People's Re13 puhli(~ of China, to addre~~ maritime and territorial 

14 disputes in a constructive mmmer and to pursue 

15 dairn~, through diplormwy and the n~e of legitimate 

16 regional and interuational arbitration mechanisms, 

17 consistent vvith international law, including through 

18 the adoption of a code of couduct in the South 

19 China Sea to further promote peace and stability in 

20 the region; 

21 ( 6) urges all parties to maritime and territorial 

22 disputes in the Asia-Pacific region to23 (A) exercise self-restraint iu the couduct of 

24 activities that would undermine stability or es-
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2 

3 

ealate !lisputes through the use of (~oereion, Intimidation, or military force; and 

(B) refrain from efforts to militarize 

4 uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, and other 

5 features, through actions including the con6 struction of new garrisons and facilities, aud 

7 the relocation of additional military personnel, 

8 materiel, or e(plipment; aml 

9 (7) reaffirms the commitment of the rnited 

10 States to continue joint efforts \vith ASEAK to halt 

11 human smuggling aud trafficking in persons aud 

12 urges ASEAN to make increased efforts to create 

13 and strengthen regional medmnisms to provide as14 sistance and support to refugees and migrants. 

Amend the title so as to read: "A bill reaffirming 

the 40 years of relations between the United States aml 

the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), 

and the shared pursuit of economic gmwth and regional 

security in Southeast Asia.". 
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lli'im CONORE88 

hrr 8BSSIOJ\ H. RES. 357 

IV 

Reaffirming the Ntrategie partnership between the United States and Canada, 

recog·niziug bilateral cooperation that advances United States national 

interests, and ttrging· increased bilateral cooperation oa sect~rity, economic 

issues, and energy, and for other purposes. 

IK THE HOUSE OF REPRESE::\fTATIVES 

JYL~Y 25, 2017 

}Ir. DrNCAN of South Carolina (for himNelf, Mr. }lEEKS, Mr. CRAMER. and 

lVIr. HUIZE:-<GA) sttbmitted the following resoltttion; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreig11 Mfairs, and in addition to the Committee on 

·ways and Mrans, for a prriod to be subsequrntly determinrd by tllC 

Speaker, in earh case for consideration of sud1 prrwisions as fall within 

the jnriHdietion of the eommittee emwenwd 

RESOLUTION 

R~affirrning th~ strategie partnership hetwe~n th~ 1~ nited 

States and Canada, recognizing bilateral cooperation that 

advanees U nitetl States national interests, and urging 

increased bilateral cooperation on security, econorruc 

issues, and energy, and for other purposes. 

\\l1ereas history, proximity, commerce, security, and shared 

democratic values underpin a close relationship between 

the rnited States and Canada; 

\\1wreas this y~ar marks 150 y~ars of the Canadian Confederation; 
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2 

''11ereas Amerieam; and Canadians have the longest international border and one of the largest commercial relationships in the world, w-ith $1.7 billion of traae aml 

uearly 400,000 people cr-ossing the shared border daily; 

'Vhereas Canada is the United States largest trading partner, 

and a majority of States of the United States also consider Canada their top export destination, with 15 States 

counting Canada as their top point of origin for imports; 

'Vhereas the rnited States and Canada cooperate extensively 

w-ithin the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 

United States Northern Commaml (N()R,THCOM), and 

North ~\merican Aerospace Defense Command 

(NOR~D); 

Whereas Canada has been a critical ally of the UHited States 

in the global war 011 terror, deploying approA.-imately 

2,ROO Canadian troops in the NATO-led International 

Security Assistam~e Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan from 

2006-2011, the fifth-largest uatioaal eoutiugeut iu the 

l8AB'; 

"l<ereas 158 Canadian Armed Forces personnel bravely gave 

their lives \vhile participating in the ISAF in Afghanistan; 

\'1wreas Canada has 830 Canadian Armed Forces personnel 

currently serving in the Middle East in support of the 

United States-led coalition to counter the Islamic State; 

"11ereas longstail(ling bilateral bordt~r se(mrity eooperation 

between the United States and Canada protects vital 

United States seeurity interests while promoting trade 

and travel; 

"l1ereas the \Vestern Hemisphere Travel Initiative, Beyond 

the Border Initiative, United States-Camtda )JEX:CS 
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26428d-3.eps

Tn1sted Traveler Program, Bonler Enforeement Seeurity 

Taskforces (BEST), Shiprider Integrated Cross Border 

Maritime Law Enforeement program, Cross Border 

Crime 11'orum, Integrated Border Euforcement Teams, 

and United States preclearance operations conducted at 

eight Canadian airports enhance LT nited States-Cauadiau 

border security efforts; 

''1wreas Canada is the world's fifth-largest petroleum producer in the world and is the United States largest foreign supplier of energy, including oil, uranium, natural 

gas, and ele(~trieity; 

"11ereas Canada is the largest source of imported oil for 

United States refineries and while the United States produces 90 percent of the natural gas it uses, of the remaining natural gas that the rnited States imports, 97 

pereent eomes from Canada; 

\Vhereas Canada is a net e:x'})orter of electricity to the rnited 

States, with more thau 80 ar~tive eledrieity trawnnissiou 

COlHleetors betweeH the two eountries; 

"11ereas Canada is a strategie leader in international affairs, 

a member of the G7 and G20, and an important voice 

for democratie prineiples, market-oriented polieies, and 

human rights in the United Nations, Organi:.-;ation for 

Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), aud 

Organization of ~~meriean States; and 

"1wreas, on February 1:1, 2017, Presiaent Donald Trump 

and Prime Minister ,Justin Trudeau of Canada held their 

first official meeting and reaffirmed the importanee of 

the United States-Canadian relationship: Now, therefore, 

be it 

Resolil'erl, That the House of Representatives-
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26428d-4.eps

4 

( 1) reaffirms its robust eornmitment to the erit2 ical importance of the United States-Canadian part3 nership; 

4 (2) supports stronger trade relations with the 

5 Government of Canada and the creation of more 

6 }u:ncrican jobs; 

7 (3) encourages gTeater security collaboration in 

8 the areas of defense, horder seeurity, (~yher-seeurity, 

9 and Arctic security; and 

l 0 ( 4) supports an increased focus on energy secu11 rit,v through greater energy infrastructure intcgra12 tion, including oil and natural gas and renewable 

13 sourees, planning·, aml (~oordination. 

CJ 
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AMENDMENT TO H. RES. 357 

OFFERED BY MR. DUNCAN OF SOUTH CAROLINA 

Strike the preamble and insert the follo"~ng: 

\,v11E'reas history, proximity, eommerce, security, and shared 

demoeratie values underpin a dose relationship between 

the rnited States and Canada; 

"'11ereas this year marks 150 years of the Canadian Confederation; 

"'11ereas Amerieans and Canadians have the longest interuatioual border aud oue of the largest eommercial relationships in the world, vvith $1.7 billion of trade and 

nearly 400,000 people erossing the shared border daily; 

\,Vhereas Carmela is the United States seeond-largest trading 

partuer aml the largest export rlestiuatiou for 1~uited 

States goods and serviees, aud a majority of States of the 

United States eonsider Canada their top e2.1)ort destination, with 15 States eounting Canada as their top point 

of origin for imports; 

"'11ereas the rnited States and Canada eooperate extensively 

within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 

and through a "Tri-Command Framework" vvith rnited 

States Northern Cornrnaml (KORTHCOM), Canadian 

Joint Operations Command (CJOC), and ~orth American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD); 

Whereas Canada has been a critieal ally of the Uuited States 

in the global war on terror, deploy-ing approximately 

2,800 Canadian troops in the NATO-led International 
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26428l-2.eps

2 

Seeurity Assistarwe Fon~e (ISAF) m Afghanistan from 

2006-2011, the fifth-largest national contingent in the 

ISAF: 

\Vhcrcas 158 Canadian Anncd Forces personnel bravely gave 

their lives while participating in the TSAF in Afghanistan; 

\,Vhereas Canada has 830 Canadian Armed Forces personnel 

eurrently serving in the Middle East in support of the 

United States-led coalition to counter the Islamic State; 

\,v1<ereas longstanding bilateral border security cooperation 

between the United States and Canada protect:s vital 

United States security interests while promoting trade 

and trave 1 ; 

Whereas the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, Beyond 

the Border Initiative, United States-Canada :.JE:\.~~S 

Tn1sted Traveler Program, Bonler Enforeement Seeurity 

Taskforces (BEST), Shiprider Integrated Cross Border 

Maritime Law Enforeement program, Cross Border 

Crime J<'orum, Integrated Border Enforcement Teams, 

and United States preclearance operations conducted at 

eight Canadian airports enhance United Staters-Canadian 

border security efforts; 

"'11ereas Canada is the world's sixth-largest petroleum producer in the world and is the U nitcd States largest foreign supplier of energy, including oil, uranium, natural 

gas, and ele(~trieity; 

\,Vhereas Canada is the largest source of imported oil for 

United States refineries and while the United States produces 90 percent of the natural gas it uses, of the remaining natural gas that the rnited States imports, 97 

percent comes from Canada; 
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\,v11ereas Canada is a net e:Allorter of eleetrieity to the 1~nited 

States, with more than 30 active electricity transmission 

eonneetors between the two eountries; 

Whereas Canada is a strategic leader in international affairs, 

a member of the G7 and G20, and an important voiee 

for democratic principles, market-oriented policies, aud 

human rights in the United Nations, Organization for 

Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and 

Organization of A.merican States; and 

"11.ereas, on February 1:3, 2017, President Donald Trump 

and Prime Minister ,Justin Trmleau of Canada held their 

first offieial meeting and reaffirmed the importance of 

the United States-Canadian relationship: Now, therefore, 

be it 
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lL'i'rH CONGRESS 

hn SJ-.:8810!\ H. RES. 359 

l:rging tl1e Enropean Union to designate Hizballah in its entirety as a 

terrorist orgauihaliou and increase pressure on it and ils members. 

11\ 'l'HE HOUSE OP REPRESE:-JTA'l'lVES 

lVIAY 35, 2017 

IV 

J.Ir. DEUTCH (for himself, Mr. DILIE.AIITS. Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. RosL]<;HTTNBN, !VIr. Kc:u,y of l'rnnsylvaniJ, Mr. ,Je:FFR.TBS, Mr. TRD I,mn 

of California, ..\Ir. ZELDIN, and Mr. SCHKEIDEE.I snbmitted the following 

resohtlion: which was refened to the Committee ou Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the European Union to designate Hizballah m its 

entirety as a terrorist organi:1.ation and increase pressure 

on it and its members. 

Whereas in July 2012 a llizballah terror attack m Bulgaria 

killed five Israeli tourists and one Bulgarian; 

·vv11ereas in Man~h 2018 a Hizhallah operative in Cnm1s was 

convicted of planning terror attacks after admitting he 

was a member of TTi11ballah, was trained in the use of 

weapous, and used a dual Swedish-Lebanese passport to 

travel around Europe on missions as a courier and scout 

for Hizballah; 

\Vhereas though such Hizballah operative was convicted on 

criminal-related charges, authorities had to drop ter-
113


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2 

ron1'\m dmrges against him heeamw Hizballah was not 

listed as a terrorist organization; 

\,\1lereas the European Union (E1~) in .Tnly 2018 de1'\ignated 

Hizballah's so-called "milittU)' wing"-but not the organi:r.ation as a whole-as a terrorist organi;;mtion; 

Whereas despite restrictions put on Hizballah since the designation of its military vving, the group continues to conauet illi(·it nareo-traffieking, money laundering, aml 

weapons trafficking throughout Europe; 

''1'lereas EU designation of Hizballah's military 1ving has enabled substantial and important eooperation between 

United States and European authorities aimed at uncovering and thwarting TTi:r.ballah's international criminal activities, such as drug traffiekiug aud money laundering, 

the proceeds of which are used to purchase weapons and 

advanee Hizballah'" terrorist aims: 

~Whereas in December 2015 the Hizballah International Finam~ing· Prevention Aet of 2015 (Publie Law 114-102) 

was signed into law iu the United States, broadcniug financial sector sanctions against Hizballah to compel foreign financial institutions to refrain from supporting the 

terrorist group; 

\,vl1ereas in February 201 G the rnited States Drug Enforcement Admiuistration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection partnered with counterparts in France, Germany, 

Italy, and Belgium to arrest top leaders of the European 

cell of Hizballah's External Security Organization Business Affairs Component-a cell that engages in interuatioual money laundering and drug traffickin12· to support Hizballah's terror activities: 
114


26428e-3.eps

\'11ereas for many years, the Governments of Iran and Syria 

have been the prime sponsors of Hizballah, harboring, finarwing, training, and arming the group: 

Whereas Department of Defense officials estimate that Iran 

provides as nmch as $200,000,000 per year to TTihballah 

iu the form of financial and logistical support, weapons, 

and training: 

\\l1ereas Hizballah now has an arsenal of approximately 

150,000 missiles and rockets, many of whic·h can reach 

deep into Israel, at a time when Hizballah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah is t.hreat.PlTin1l· to attaek and invade Israel; 

\'1wreas TTihballah fighters have been supporting the Assad 

regime in Syria, often leading operations in the conflict 

>vhich has left more than 465,000 dead; 

"11ereas Russia has estahliNhell fusion eenten:; in S:vria to eoordinate with Iran, the Assad regime, and Hizballah, and 

Russian air (~over has given Hizballah an advantage on 

the battlefield against Syria rebels; 

"1'lereas the conflict in SyTia has fueled a migrant crisis that 

has brought nearly 400,000 migrants and refugees to 

Europe in 2016 and 2017 alone; 

\\1lereas TJebauon continues to be plagned by instability and 

violeuce; 

'\'1:lereas due to Hizballah' s actions in Syria, the Islamic 

State of IrcHl and the Levant haN mJ.rried out retaliatory 

terrorist attaeks in Beirut; 

\\1wreas the TJebanese Armed Forces, the legitimate security 

establishment of the couutry as set forth iu United N ations Security Council Resolution 1701 (200G), are strug-
115


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4 

gling to (~ontrol the flow of weaponN and Hizballah fighters at its borders; 

Vvl1ereas Hizballah trains aml provides vveapons for Shiite militias in Iraq and Yemen, ful"ther dcstabili:,-;ing the regicm 

and perpetuating violence in those countries; 

Whereas in October 2012 HitilJallah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem stated that "[Hizballah does not] have 

a military wing and a politieal one . . . Every element of 

Hizballah, from commanders to members as well as our 

various capabilities, are in the service of the resistance"; 

vv1wreas the r nited States, Canada, Israel, and the K etherlands have designated Hizballah in its entirety as a terror 

organization, while Australia and New healand have applied the designation to the organization's so-called military <ving: 

vvl1ereas in Mareh 2016 the Gulf Cooperation Conn(~il, the 

bloc of s1x Gulf Arab nations, formally branded 

Hizhallah, in its entirety, a terrorist organization, and 

the League of ""hab States shortly thereafter adopted the 

same designation; 

vv1wreas in April 2016 the Organi:,-;ation of Islamic Cooperation, denounced Hizballah's "terrorist acts'' in the Middle 

East; 

Whereas Hi:,-;ballah Secretary General N asrallah said in May 

2017 that the conflict in S;v-ria had entered a "new and 

eritieal phaNe" in whieh Damaseus, Mos(,OW, Tehran, aml 

Hezbollah were "in more harmony politieally and militarily than at any time"; and 

Whereas in lVlay 2017 the Uuited States and Saudi -<\r·abia 

sanctioned Hashem Saffiedine, a member of Hizballah's 

exeentive eouneil <vhidl oversees the organization's polit-
116


26428e-5.eps

ieal, organizational, so(~ial aml educational adivities. for 

his involvement in terrorist activity: Now, therefore. be it 

Rf:soll'ed, That the House of Representatives2 (1) expresses appreciation to the Europeau 

3 Union (EU) for the progress made in countering 

4 llizballah since the E U designated Hizballah's mili5 tary wing as a terrorist organization: 

6 (2) applawls and eA1lresses support for the eon7 tinued, increased eooperation between the r nited 

8 States and the EU in thvvarting TTi7.hallah's criminal 

9 and terrorist activities: 

10 (:3) supports transcontinental efforts 1vithin Eu11 rope to share intelligen(;e information among poliee 

12 and security services to facilitate greater cooperation 

13 iu traekiag, apprehemliug, aml proReeutiug terror14 ists, foreign fighters, a.nd potential offenders; 

15 ( 4) encourages the EU to, whenever possible 

16 and applicable with due process standards, imple17 ment sanetions against Hizballah-affiliated terrorists 

18 in tandem \Vith the rnited States; alld 

19 (5) urges the EU to designate Hizballah in its 

20 entirety as a terrorist organization and mcrease 

21 pressure on the gToup, induding through22 (A) facilitating better cross-border coopera23 

24 

tion between EU members m combating 

Hizballah; 
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2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

6 

(B) is8uing arre8t warrant" agaim;t members and active supporters of Hizballah; 

(C) freezing Hizhallah's assets in Europe, 

ineluding those masquerading as c-harities; aud 

(D) prohibiting fundraising activities in 

support of Hiz:ballah. 

'\__) 
118


26428o-1.eps

AMENDMENT TO H. RES. 359 

OFFERED BY MR. DEUTCH OF FLORIDA 

Strike the preamble and insert the follo"~ng: 

\,v11E'reas in ,July 2012 a TTi~ballah terror attack in Bulgaria 

killed five Israeli tourists and one Bulgarian; 

"'1<ereas in March 201:3 a Hizballah operative in C:n)rus was 

eonvieted of planning terror atta(~ks after admitting he 

was a member of Hizballah, was trained in the use of 

weapons, and used a dual Swedish-TJebanese passport to 

travel arouud Europe on missions as a courier aud scout 

for Hi~ballah; 

"'11ereas though sueh Hizhallah operative was (~onvieted on 

criminal-related charges, authorities had to drop terrorism charges against him because TTir.ballah was not 

listed as a terrorist organizatiou; 

"'1<ereas the European Union (Er) in ,July 201:3 designated 

Hizballah's so-ealled "military vving"-but not the organization as a whole-as a terrorist organization; 

"'11ereas despite restrictions put on TTir.hallah since the designation of its military wing, the group coutinues to conduct illicit nareo-trafficking, money laundering, and 

weapons traffieking throughout Europe; 

\,Vhereas EU designation of Hizballah's military \ving has enabled substantial and important eooperation between 

United States and European authorities aimed at uncovering and thwarting Hizballah's international criminal aetiv~ties, such as drug trafficking and money laundering, 
119


26428o-2.eps

2 

the proceeds of whieh are used to purdwse weapons and 

advance Hizballah's terrorist aims; 

\,v11ereas in Deeemher 2015 the Hizballah International Fiuancing Prevention Act of 2015 (Public Law 114-102) 

was signed into law in the United States, broadening fiuancial sector sanctious against Hizballah to compel foreign financial institutions to refrain from supporting the 

terrorist group; 

\,Vhereas in February 2016 the rnited States Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Prote(~tion partnered with (~ounterparts in Franee, Germany, 

Italy, and Belgium to arrest top leaders of the European 

cell of TTi:T.ballah's External Security Organi:1.ation Dusiuess .Affairs Component-a cell that eugages in iuternational money laundering and dmg trafficking to support Hizballah's terror aetivities: 

\,Vhereas for many years, the Governments of Iran and Syria 

have beeu the prime spousors of IIizballah, harboriug, fiuancing, training, and arming the group; 

"1<ereas Department of Defense officials estimate that Iran 

provides as much as $200,000,000 per year to Hizballah 

in the form of financial and logistical support, weapons, 

and training; 

Whereas Hizballah now has an arsenal of approximately 

150,000 missiles and rockets, many of which can reach 

deep into Israel, at a time when Hizballah Se(~retary General Hassan Nasrallah is threatening to attack and invade Israel; 

Whereas Hizballah fighters have been supporting the Assad 

regime in Syria, often leading operations in the conflict 

which has left more than 465,000 dead; 
120


26428o-3.eps

\,v11ereas Russia has establishe!l fusion eenters in S:vria to eoordinate with Iran, the Assad regime, and Hizballah, and 

Russian air (~over has given Hizballah an advantage on 

the battlefield agaiust Syria rebels; 

"11ereas TTi~ballah's destabili~ing actions m the conf1ict in 

Syria has fueled a migrant crisis that has brought nearly 

400,000 migrants and refugees to Europe in 2016 and 

2017 alone; 

\,Vhereas Lebanon continues to be plagued by instability and 

violence; 

"1wreas due to Hizballah's action:s in Syria, the Islamic 

State of Iraq and the Levant has carried out retaliatory 

terrorist attacks in Beirut; 

Whereas the Lebanese 1\.rmed J<'orces, the legitimate security 

establishment of the country as set forth in United N ations Se(mrity Couneil Resolution 1701 (2006), are struggling to control the flow of weapons and Hizballah fighters at its borders; 

Whereas Hi:,-;ballah trains and provides weapons for Shiite nlilitias in Iraq and Yemen, further destabilizing the region 

and perpetuating violence in those countries; 

\,Vhereas in October 2012 Hizballah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem stated that "rni~ballah does notl have 

a military wing and a political one . . . Every clement of 

Hizballah, from commanders to members as well as our 

various m1.pabilities, are in the serviee of the resistanee"; 

\,Vhereas the r nited States, Canada, Israel, and the K etherlands have designated TTi~ballah in its entirety as a terror 

organization, wllile Australia and New ~ealand have applied the designation to the organization's so-called military >ving: 
121


26428o-4.eps

4 

\,v11ereas m Mard1 2016 the Gulf Cooperation Coun(~il, the 

bloc of s1x Gulf ~t\rab nations, formally branded 

Hizballah, in its entirety, a terrorist organization, and 

the League of ~\.rab States shortly thereafter adopted the 

same designation; 

Whereas in April 2016 the Organi11ation of Islamic Cooperation, denounced Hizballah's "terrorist acts" in the Midclie 

East; 

\,Vhereas Hizballah Secretary General N asrallah said in May 

2017 that the conflict in S:yria had entered a "new and 

eritieal phase" in whieh Damaseus, Mos(~ow, Tehran, aml 

Hezbollah were "in more harmony politically and militarily than at any time"; 

Whereas the United States has designated Hi11ballah's J1'oreig11 Relations Department, which has representatives 

around the world, as a Spe(~ially Designated National, 

subject to United States primary and secondary sanctious; 

Whereas the Departmeut of the Treasury has diligently 

added persons and entities to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists who have provided material 

support to the Hizballah terrorist organization, thereby 

hampering its financing and logistical capabilities; and 

Whereas in lVlay 2017 the Uuited States and Saudi ~\rabia 

sanctioned Hashem Saffiedine, a member of Hizballah' s 

exeeutive eouneil whid1 oversees the organization's political, organizational, social and educational activities, for 

his involvement in terrorist activity: Now, therefore, be it 
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ll"im CONGRESS 

18'1' SBSSIOJ\ H. RES. 449 

IV 

Urging the Government of K<'nya and Kenya's politi<:al partie~ to resped 

democratic principles aud hold credible, peaceful and transparent elections in August 2017. 

IK THE HOUSE OF REPRESE:.JTATIVES 

JL"LY 14, 2017 

.Vlr. l~"\"Gm, (for himself. Mr. Sl\TTl'H of l\cw .Jersey, and .Vis. HA:<Rl S11bmit.t.cd 

the follm~ing re~olntion; whieh was rpferrecl to the Couunit.t!'e on Foreig11 

Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the Government of Kenya and Kenya's political parties to respect democratic principles and hold credible, 

peaeeful, and transparent eleetiom; in August 2017. 

Whereas the L:nited States has deep interests in Ken.va's 

clemorratic stability and regional leadership, and a free 

and fair eledion in Kenya holds regional signifieanee as 

an example for other ~ilirican countries with elections 

scheduled in the near future; 

\Vhereas Kenya's general elections arc scheduled for August 

8, 2017; 

\'11ereas eledoral violem~e m 2007 and 2008 resulted in the 

deaths of at least 1,:300 people and the displacement of 

600,000, effectively paralyzing the eountry and the \Vider 
123


26428f-2.eps

2 

regwn for more than two months before the ereation of 

a power-sharing government; 

''11ereas Kenyans adopted a new Constitution in 2010 that 

sought to devolve power to 47 counties and their elected 

governors and local representatives; 

\Vhereas the public confidence in the electoral process is critical both to Kenya's continued democratic progress and 

to ensuring transparem~y in eleetoral preparations, and is 

vrital for the success of the August 8 elections; 

'"1<ereas despite ha\ring a permissive legal emrironment, the 

Government of Kenya has taken aetions to limit democratic space for ci\ril society and media organizations, 

which could adversely affect their contributions to a credible, peaceful election and broader democratic consolidation; 

"11ereas there have been deeply ('oneerning- instanees of hate 

speech by all sides, inciting supporters to ethnic vriolence 

as a means by whieh to g·ain eledoral advantage, intimidate electoral rivals, or suppress voter turnout; and 

"l1ereas the politieal parties. monitoring gToups, and the 

media have the legal authority to reeord polling station 

results and tallies at the eonstitueney and national levels 

in order to ensure that the proeess is perceived as honest 

and transparent: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives2 ( 1) ealls upon Kenya to3 (A) hold credible, peaceful, free, and fair 

4 Presidential elections in August 2017 in order 

5 to advance Kenya's democratic cousolidatiou 

6 and promote stability in the broader region; and 
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26428f-3.eps

:1 

(B) eondemn m the ;;trongest terms the 

2 use of hate speech and the incitement of v1o3 lenee by political eandidates, the me!lia, or any 

4 Kenyan citizens; 

5 (2) calls upon Kenyan citize11s to peaeefully 

6 participate in the general clcetions and seck to rc7 solve any disputes over results through the legal sys8 tern; 

9 ( 3) calls upon Kenyan politieal candidates at 

10 the national, county, and local levels to respect the 

11 Electoral Code of Conduct and the Politieal Party 

12 Code of Conduct; 

13 ( 4) en(~ourages politieal parties, eivil soeiety, 

14 and the media to act responsibly vvith their parallel 

15 vote tabulations so as not. to usurp the role of the 

16 electoral commission as the official sourec for dcclar17 ing offieial election results; 

18 ( 5) cneouragcs Kenyan civil society o rgamzm19 tions to continue providing critical early warning 

20 and response measures to mitigate eleetion-related 

21 v-iolence and further strengthen democ·ratic proc22 esses; 

23 (6) commeuds the key role the faith-based emn24 munity has played in ensuring a peaceful pre- and 

25 post-election em~ronment through periodically eon-
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4 

vemng the l\Iulti-Seetoral Forum to deliberate on 

2 matters of governance, election management, and 

3 looming in14eeurity; 

4 (7) supports efforts by the Departmeut of 

5 State, including the Bureau of Conflict and Sta6 bili,.;atiou Operations, the Bureau of Democracy, 

7 Human Rights, and Labor, and the Bureau of Afri8 ean Affairs, and the rnited States Ageney for Int.er9 national Development (rSAID) to assist election-reI 0 lated preparations in Kenya, including programs foIl eused on eonf1iet mitigation: 

12 (8) strongly encourages the Administration to 

13 appoint an Assistant Seeretary of State for Afriean 

14 Affairs in order to bolster diplomatic. engagement 

15 cwross the ~\friean eontinent, induding with the Gov16 crnment of Kenya, Kenya's political parties, aud the 

17 donor eommunity, ~which has historieally been eritieal 

18 during Kenya's elections: and 

19 (9) calls upon the United States and Kenya's 

20 other international partners, especially election-fo21 cused nongovernmental organizations, to continue to 

22 support Kenya's efforts to address the remaining 

23 electoral preparatiou challenges and idcnti~y 12·aps iu 

24 whieh additional resources or diplomatic engagement 
126


26428f-5.eps

5 

could make important eontributions to the eonduet 

2 of the elections. 
127

Chairman ROYCE. I now recognize myself to speak on today’s 

business. 

I recognize here the good work of Representative Deutch on this 

House Resolution 359. This urges the European Union to designate 

Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Hezbollah has one leadership, fungible finances, and a singular hostile mission. All its 

branches and operations serve its terrorist agenda and it is dangerous to try and distinguish among its arms. We must work with 

our allies to deprive this terrorist organization of its financial support and its logistical support. 

H.R. 2061 reauthorizes important provisions of the North Korea 

Human Rights Act. This is the decades-old U.S. humanitarian policy that provides much needed assistance to North Korean defectors and to refugees. 

It also promotes freedom of information inside North Korea 

through radio broadcasting, an issue on which this committee has 

a long history of promoting critical reforms. As the Kim regime desperately tries to preserve its monopoly on information, these broadcasts are critical to empowering the people of North Korea, and I 

want to thank Chairman Emeritus Ros-Lehtinen and Asia Subcommittee Chairman Yoho for their work on this bill’s provisions. 

House Resolution 311 recognizes the growing importance of the 

ASEAN nations. For 40 years, the U.S. has expanded its cooperation with this collection of 10 Southeast Asian nations. It has a 

combined economy of $2.5 trillion. Southeast Asia represents a 

major opportunity for strengthening U.S. commerce and security 

interests across that region. 

On the other side of the globe, the situation in Venezuela continues to deteriorate and President Maduro continues to dig in with 

plans to rewrite Venezuela’s constitution and give himself full dictatorial powers. This would undo any semblance of democratic 

order. 

I want to thank Mr. DeSantis for his leadership on House Resolution 259, which echoes strong words and actions from the administration including yesterday’s sanctions—these are sanctions on 

certain individuals in Venezuela who are part of that dictatorship—to warn Maduro against his illegal efforts to rewrite the constitution. 

As we look at the crisis in Venezuela, we must be mindful that 

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has been decidedly unhelpful 

to regional efforts to respond. Indeed, he has been among the corrupt few trying to bolster President Maduro, not to mention pursuing his own undemocratic consolidation of power at home. 

So I want to thank Chairman Emeritus Ros-Lehtinen for authoring H.R. 1918. This measure requires U.S. representatives to international financial institutions to oppose any loan that benefits the 

Government of Nicaragua unless we can certify that Nicaragua is 

taking steps to reestablish free and transparent elections and respect basic human and democratic rights. 

I want to thank Chairman Duncan of the Western Hemisphere 

Subcommittee for his leadership on these measures and his resolution reaffirming the U.S. Canada relationship. Canada continues to 

be one of our most important allies and a vital trading partner, and 

128

House Resolution 357 encourages even greater commercial collaboration. 

Mr. Duncan will be leading a delegation of lawmakers to Canada 

in September for the U.S.-Canada IPG. So we wish him well. 

I am also proud to support Representative Chabot’s bill to protect 

girls’ access to education in vulnerable settings. With many developing countries hosting large numbers of refugees for longer 

stretches of time, we are seeing a concerning trend of more children out of school due to conflict. These children, and girls in particular, face an increased risk of exploitation and less hope for their 

future. 

So I am pleased to support H.R. 2408, which authorizes U.S. support for improving girls’ access to education in conflict settings. 

I also want to thank Mr. Smith, chairman of the Africa Subcommittee, for his work on House Resolution 128. While we recognize our longstanding partnership with Ethiopia, we must also 

stress the importance of that government’s respect for human 

rights and democratic principles, including the need for Ethiopia to 

take tangible steps to ensure opposition voices are protected, are 

respected, and are welcomed. 

And I would also like thank my colleague, Representative 

Coffman, for his dedication and leadership in ensuring that this 

resolution be considered today. 

And, lastly, I want to thank Ranking Member Engel for his timely resolution underscoring the importance of Kenya’s upcoming 

elections. As a critical leader in the region, this election holds important significance as an example for other African countries with 

their upcoming elections. 

I understand two of our colleagues—Representative Bass and 

Representative Frankel—will travel to observe these elections next 

month, and we look forward to monitoring the results and wish 

Kenya the best as they prepare for this momentous occasion. 

I now recognize our ranking member, Mr. Engel, for his remarks. 

Mr. ENGEL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for calling the 

markup. We have a number of good bipartisan measures and I am 

glad to support all of them. 

I would like to start with the measure I authored which sends 

a strong message as Kenya prepares for its next elections and I am 

grateful to you, Mr. Chairman, for bringing this resolution up 

today. I also am grateful to Mr. Smith of New Jersey and Ms. Bass 

of California, the chair and ranking members of the Africa Subcommittee, who are lead co-sponsors of this legislation. 

Kenya is an important partner of the United States. This is a 

country that promotes regional stability and serves as an economic 

and humanitarian hub for East Africa. We want Kenya to remain 

strong and that’s why the State Department and USAID have long 

supported credible, open elections in that country. 

This has been a challenging time for Kenya. A decade ago, a 

wave of violence following elections and, in 2013, troubling irregularities plagued the voting process there. 

In advance of the election scheduled for August 8th, this resolution calls upon Kenya to hold credible, peaceful, free, and fair elections and condemn in the strongest terms hate speech and the inVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:30 Sep 07, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00132 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_FULL\072717M\26428 SHIRL
129

citement of violence by political candidates, the media, or any Kenyan citizen. 

It also calls upon the United States and Kenya’s other international partners to continue to support Kenya’s efforts to address 

the remaining electoral preparation challenges and to identify gaps 

where additional resources or diplomatic engagement could make 

important contributions to the conduct of the elections. 

This measure isn’t about taking sides in Kenya’s politics but instead reaffirms the importance of our partnership with Kenya and 

our support for the people of that country as they go to the polls. 

I wish Ms. Bass and Ms. Frankel well. I am proud that they are 

representing us during that election and I ask all members to support this resolution. 

I would like to say a few words about some other measures we 

are conducting today. I am proud to be an original co-sponsor of the 

North Korean Human Rights Act introduced by my friend, Representative Ros-Lehtinen. This measure authorizes the current law 

until 2022, extending American efforts to promote the human 

rights of North Koreans and making important adjustments to U.S. 

broadcasting and other efforts to get unbiased information in to the 

people of North Korea. 

These are timely changes as we are all very concerned by North 

Korea’s advancing weapons capability. I know the chairman has 

done a lot of work with Korea. I have been there twice. I don’t 

think we are going to go in the short future. But I am glad to support this measure. I think it sends a very strong message to the 

North Korean regime. 

I am also glad to support another resolution from Chairman 

Smith calling on authorities in Ethiopia to lift the state of emergency and end the excessive use of force by Ethiopian security 

forces, urging protestors to refrain from violence, and calling on the 

administration to hold accountable individuals responsible for gross 

human rights violations. 

I am grateful to Mr. DeSantis for his resolution highlighting the 

devastating political, economic, and humanitarian prices in Venezuela. With its massive energy resources, Venezuela should be one 

of the wealthiest countries in the world. 

It marks a profoundly sad day when our Congress and others 

and the international community must consider how to most effectively provide food and medicine to the Venezuelan people. 

But that’s the deeply troubling record of the Maduro government, 

and we have all been very vocal on that, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen probably the most vocal and right on the money, so the speak, through 

the years by talking about Maduro and his predecessor, Mr. Chavez, both of whom have run that country and are running that 

country to the ground. 

Chairman Duncan of our Western Hemisphere Subcommittee has 

offered a good resolution reaffirming the strategic partnership between the United States and Canada. I am particularly pleased 

that this resolution takes note of extensive cooperation between our 

two countries within NATO at a time when our own administration 

has questioned the importance of this alliance. 

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Next, I would again like to thank Representative Ros-Lehtinen 

and also Representative Sires for introducing the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act, also known as the NICA Act. 

President Ortega and his lackeys have shown zero regard for democracy and the rule of law in Nicaragua. This legislation is an important step in holding the Nicaraguan Government accountable by 

opposing loans to these corrupt leaders while taking precautions 

not to make things worse for the many Nicaraguans who are already suffering in what is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. 

I remember when I was the chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee and we visited Ortega in Nicaragua, and we 

knew there were problems then. There are certainly even greater 

problems now. 

I am also glad to support a measure by Mr. Deutch of Florida 

urging the EU to name the Hezbollah organization as a terrorist 

organization and put greater pressure on Hezbollah fund-raising 

within Europe. 

In July 2013, the European Union announced that it would consider the military wing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization 

after a spike of terrorist activity in Europe. 

This came after a wave of attacks and attempted attacks perpetrated by Hezbollah in Europe. The United States does not make 

the distinction, and rightfully so, between the military and political 

wings of Hezbollah and, frankly, neither does Hezbollah. We consider the whole organization to be a terrorist organization and the 

European Union should do the same. 

I appreciate Representative Castro and Wagner’s leadership on 

the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which we call ASEAN, 

both in offering this measure and launching the Congressional 

ASEAN Caucus. This resolution recognizes the 50 years ASEAN 

has promoted stability, prosperity, and peace in Southeast Asia and 

underscores why this institution and, most importantly, the countries that make it up, matter to America’s economy and security. 

And lastly, I am glad to support a bill by Representatives Chabot 

and Kelly to help improve access to education to displaced children, 

especially girls. 

Around the world, nearly 4 million displaced children don’t have 

access to public education. We know, obviously, this disadvantage 

can set these young people back for the rest of their lives. So this 

bill would make it a priority for the State Department and USAID 

to work with multilateral organizations with civil society and with 

private sector partners to help these vulnerable young people access education and get on a better path forward. 

I am grateful to both of my colleagues for introducing this measure and I am grateful to members on both sides of the aisle for all 

their hard work, their willingness to collaborate, and their commitment to advancing good, bipartisan legislation that enhances American leadership and security. 

Mr. Chairman, this has been a hallmark of our committee under 

your leadership and I am delighted to play a part in it. 

Thank you. I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. 

We go now to Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. 

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Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, Chairman Royce and 

Ranking Member Engel, for bringing forth these various bipartisan 

measures before us today. 

Mr. Chairman, H.R. 1918, the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act (NICA) of 2017 is a bipartisan bill that I authored alongside my colleague, Albio Sires. I am also thankful that Mr. Duncan, 

chair of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, has also supported the legislation. The bill aims to press the Ortega regime to 

improve its human rights practices to address its problems with 

corruption within the government and increase its transparency. 

And until the government starts implementing some reforms, 

there should be no reason for the United States to support the Ortega regime receiving more cash while it continues to violate 

human rights, ignores the rule of law, and perpetuates fraudulent 

elections. The U.S Congress has passed bills which have become 

law, imposing similar conditions on El Salvador, Honduras, and 

Guatemala, and they have been effective in moving these countries 

in the right direction. 

The NICA Act seeks to do the same with Nicaragua. If the electoral system is not changed in Nicaragua, the fraud orchestrated 

by Ortega will continue, and let us not forget that Ortega invited 

the Russians into Nicaragua, has let them set up operations there 

to undermine U.S. national security interests and it is Ortega who 

has been leading the charge at the Organization of American 

States to undermine our efforts to hold the Venezuelan regime accountable. 

So passing this measure is the right thing to do because the time 

to take action in support of the people of Nicaragua and their 

democratic future is now. 

The House already passed a similar version of this bill last Congress. Let us make sure that this becomes law. 

And the next bill, Mr. Chairman, the Reauthorization of North 

Korea Human Rights Act—I first authored it in 2004. It has been 

an important piece of our U.S.-North Korea policy ever since. I am 

proud to lead the law’s reauthorization in 2008 and then again in 

2012, and I am thankful to Ranking Member Engel for being our 

Democratic lead on this bill. 

Thank you to Chairman Yoho and Ranking Member Sherman for 

also joining us in introducing this measure. This bill ensures that 

essential tools for promoting North Korea human rights continues 

to be available, including grants for advancing human rights, democracy, and rule of law, humanitarian assistance for North Korean refugees, defectors, migrants, orphans, and women victims of 

trafficking, and continued reporting by the special envoy for North 

Korea human rights issues. 

I also want to thank Chairman Yoho for his leadership and his 

important amendment which makes some valuable additions to the 

bill, including adding new methods of communication so that North 

Koreans can be aware of their inherent rights and their absent 

freedoms. 

I want to briefly express my support for Ted Deutch’s and Gus 

Bilirakis’ resolution, House Resolution 359. Because the idea that 

somehow a terrorist group can be split into a military wing and a 

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political and that somehow one part is a terror group yet another 

is not is beyond absurd. 

Iran is a state sponsor of terror. Hezbollah is its biggest tool. 

There can be no justification for this bifurcation. 

And, finally, briefly to express my support for Ron DeSantis’ resolution in support of the Venezuelan people. Mr. DeSantis has been 

a real champion in this. 

The deteriorating situation in Venezuela is unacceptable and I 

am grateful that the administration took action yesterday to sanction regime officials in anticipation of the illegal Constituent Assembly planned for this Sunday. 

We have to keep the pressure on Maduro, staying in solidarity 

with the people of Venezuela as they continue with their quest for 

freedom, democracy, and fundamental human rights. So thank you 

to Mr. DeSantis. 

And I yield back, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman ROYCE. I now recognize Mr. Connolly to speak on today’s bills. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to support all of the bills in front of us en bloc and congratulate all of 

our colleagues for their fine efforts. 

I thank you and Mr. Engel for your leadership of bringing these 

bipartisan measures before us. Would that all committees in the 

Congress could have such comity as we have today. 

I would like to speak to one of those bills in particular, which is 

H.R. 2061, the North Korea Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 

2017. I want to thank my friend, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, for introducing this bill, the Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act. 

The North Korean regime has conducted 17 ballistic missile tests 

in 2017 alone, including the July 4th launch of an intercontinental 

ballistic missile capable of reaching Alaska. The United States, the 

Republic of Korea, and other regional stakeholders must demonstrate a commitment to addressing this threat. 

At the same time, it is vital that our North Korea policy be informed with an understanding that there are human victims of the 

ongoing conflict on the peninsula who reside on both sides of the 

38th Parallel. This bill responds to that imperative by reauthorizing the Human Rights Act of 2004 and prioritizing the protection 

of North Korean refugees and defectors. 

I want to thank Ms. Ros-Lehtinen for working with me on an 

amendment we adopted to H.R. 2061 that requires a report on ongoing or planned efforts regarding the repatriation of members of 

the United States Armed Forces, the reunification of Korean Americans with relatives in North Korea, and an assessment of security 

risks posed by travel to North Korea for U.S. citizens. And, of 

course, we now have a ban on such travel. 

The division of North and South Korea along the 38th Parallel 

offers one of the world’s most striking dichotomies. Yet, on both 

sides of the DMZ resides a shared pain. The pain is that of families 

ripped apart by the Korean War and an enduring division of one 

people into two countries. 

Reunions are a welcome respite from that separation but, in the 

end, provide yet another reminder that family reunification on the 

peninsula is all too fleeting. Many of these Americans, more than 

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100,000 according to the last estimate, have been waiting to reunite with their family members in North Korea, in some cases 

since the armistice or the cease fire of the Korean War 60 years 

ago. Too many have already passed away without realizing that 

fervent hope that they would see the faces of their loved ones one 

more time. 

This amendment would require an update on efforts to conduct 

family reunification for those Korean-Americans. It would also help 

heal old wounds by addressing the issue of repatriation of members 

of the U.S. Armed Forces who have been missing since the Korean 

War 60 years ago. 

I thank the chair, thank all of my colleagues for their hard efforts, and I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. 

I now recognize Mr. Smith to speak on today’s bills. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

Let me, first of all, thank you for co-sponsoring, and Eliot Engel, 

a resolution that Karen Bass and I put together—H. Res. 128—and 

I want to thank Mike Coffman for his leadership—it has been extraordinary—on this resolution as well. Thank you, Mike. 

This resolution is like a mirror held up to the Government of 

Ethiopia on how others see them and it is intended to encourage 

them to move on reforms. 

Ethiopia is an important ally and partner in international peacekeeping. However, the continuing violations of human rights are 

absolutely unacceptable. 

I would note that the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices couldn’t be more clear, put out by the U.S. Department of 

State, and they cite serious human rights violations including arbitrary arrests, killings, and torture committed by security forces, restrictions on freedom of expression and the freedom of association, 

politically-motivated trials, harassment, and intimidation of opposition members and journalists. And when you read the report, it is 

like an indictment against the Government of Ethiopia. 

Let me say to my colleagues that just yesterday I sent a letter 

to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on behalf of 

Demssew Abebe to get his family humanitarian parole to enter the 

United States and to remove the threats expressed to them by government forces. 

Demssew was a track star, a world-class track star, who was tortured by the Ethiopian security forces in a way that made his ability to run go away. They tortured him on his feet so he couldn’t 

run. 

I mean, that is so despicable and it is just part of what I think 

is a very malevolent attitude toward people who disagree with 

them on human rights. 

I spoke to him in person on this. We had him at a press conference, and again, his story was absolutely compelling. 

Another victim of government torture, Abaguya Deki, testified at 

our subcommittee’s hearing on Ethiopia on March 9th. Abaguya is 

disabled and headed a government organization for disabled persons in Ethiopia. 

When he refused to join the ruling party or to sign off on what 

he described as the misuse of donated equipment for disabled peoVerDate 0ct 09 2002 11:30 Sep 07, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00137 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\_FULL\072717M\26428 SHIRL
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ple, he was jailed and made to crawl around his cell without his 

wheelchair, and in a subsequent imprisonment he was taken from 

his cell and left in a forest without his wheelchair to die, vulnerable to wild animals. Fortunately, he was able to set a fire and was 

saved by some kind people who spotted the fire and came to his 

aid. 

These are not actions of a government that respects human 

rights as they say they do and they have a very good PR campaign, 

I have to admit. But it is all about the deeds, not the words, and 

the deeds, again, continue to be, I think, egregious. 

My staff and I—Greg Simpkins and I—first traveled on one of 

the many trips to Ethiopia in 2005 and I can tell you, we had been 

trying to get this government to respect fundamental human rights 

and one of the findings or the sense of Congress statements is that 

we want individuals to be held accountable for gross violations of 

human rights in Ethiopia through appropriate mechanisms, including using the new Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability 

Act to hold those individuals to account. 

Again, I want to thank the 50 members how have co-sponsored 

and I do hope the members will support the resolution. 

Chairman ROYCE. Mr. Ted Deutch of Florida. 

Mr. DEUTCH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I would like to join my colleagues in expressing support for all 

of the measures before us today and to join all who have already 

expressed their appreciation for the bipartisan leadership of this 

committee from our chairman and our ranking member. 

I would like to especially thank the chairman for bringing forward my resolution urging the EU to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and I thank the members of this committee on 

both sides of the aisle who have co-sponsored this legislation. 

Mr. Chairman, in 2013 the EU designated Hezbollah’s military 

wing but not its political wing as a terrorist organization. This is 

a false distinction. Hamas in Gaza, ISIS in Iraq and Syria—they 

both administer government services. But the EU, no one would 

ever suggest that they aren’t terrorist organizations. 

Hezbollah is a terrorist organization—one unified terrorist organization. It has one leader, Hasan Nasrallah, a U.S.-designated terrorist, who even before becoming leader of Hezbollah was directly 

involved in attacks, hostage taking, and airline hijacking. 

Hezbollah was responsible for the 1983 bombings in Beirut, one 

on the U.S. Embassy that killed 17 Americans and 46 others, and 

one on the U.S. Marine barracks that killed 241 American Marines 

and dozens of French service members. Hezbollah killed 23 more 

Americans the following year in an attack on the U.S. Embassy 

annex in Beirut, and then in 1985 summarily executed a U.S. Navy 

diver during the hijacking of TWA 847. 

Hezbollah is also responsible for the 1992 Israeli Embassy bombing in Argentina, which killed 29 people, and the 1994 bombing of 

a Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. In 1996, 

Hezbollah killed 19 more U.S. service members in the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, and 5 years ago this month a 

Hezbollah suicide bomber blew up a bus in Bulgaria, killing six 

Israelis and Bulgarians. And thousands of Hezbollah fighters at the 

direction of Iran have now been sent to Syria to prop up the brutal 

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Assad regime, which is responsible for hundreds of thousands of 

deaths. 

Iran’s leaders seek to cement Hezbollah’s hold on parts of Syria 

so there is a direct line to Hezbollah in Lebanon and to add to its 

arsenal over 150,000 rockets at every corner of Israel. 

This is not an organization that should be allowed to skirt the 

consequences of its terrorist activity by parading as a political entity. 

Last year, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League 

both designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization. I urge our European friends to take note and to finally designate Hezbollah without artificial distinction as a terrorist organization. 

The EU’s designation of Hezbollah’s military wing has already 

enabled substantial cooperation with the United States to uncover 

and to thwart Hezbollah’s international criminal activities including drug trafficking, counterfeiting, and money laundering, and we 

appreciate that cooperation. The full designation, though, would 

allow for significantly improved cooperation to freeze Hezbollah’s 

assets in Europe and prohibit fund-raising activities in support of 

Hezbollah, all to help prevent more devastating terror attacks by 

this terrorist organization. 

I urge my colleagues to join me in sending this important message to our European friends and allies, and I yield back the balance of my time. 

Chairman ROYCE. I recognize Mr. Rohrabacher of California to 

speak on today’s bills. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Thank you very much. I rise in support of the 

bills that have been presented to us today. I especially would like 

to focus on a number of areas. 

Ethiopia, for example—I want to congratulate Chairman Smith 

on a great job of analyzing the type of tyranny that is evident in 

Ethiopia. This is a corrupt regime that is also oppressive and brutal with its own people. 

Let me note that its corruption spills beyond its own borders. We 

have U.S. citizens whose property was confiscated by the Ethiopian 

Government and, arrogantly, the Ethiopian Government expects 

the U.S. to continue in a good relationship with it and perhaps 

even giving some type of aid to Ethiopia when it actually has stolen 

property that it refuses to give back to U.S. citizens. 

I know that personally because we have a very prominent family 

in Orange County, California, whose property was confiscated and 

after continuing to try they get nowhere after years of attempting. 

But that property damage and property theft is nowhere near as 

offensive to our values as is the murder and repression and the torture that goes on in Ethiopia. What we have is a dictatorship that 

knows no bounds. So I appreciate this bill. 

I also would like to note that Venezuela keeps sinking further, 

further into the depths of tyranny and injustice. Let us hope that 

while the situation is still fluid enough that we stand with the people of Venezuela in creating a real democracy there rather than 

these tough guy leftists who love Fidel Castro and other lowlife dictators who then serve as their model. 

And finally, about Hezbollah—I identify myself with the remarks 

that were just made by my colleague about Hezbollah. 

136

Look, it is time for the Palestinians to understand peace is in 

their hands and they have the ability to make peace with Israel. 

There was a two-state solution that was accepted and there was 

great hopes for that. But it is the continuing violence against 

Israel—organized violence against Israel that is destroying any 

chances for peace in that region, and we cannot blame Israel for 

retaliating against forces that are killing their own people and 

shooting rockets into their country. 

So today we are reaffirming that Hezbollah should be designated 

as a terrorist organization as it continues to push for war and continues to kill innocent people. 

Let me just note that there was a hearing here—I believe it was 

yesterday—in which we were talking about Qatar, and one of the 

things they said about Qatar was the good was that they helped 

rebuild destruction in Gaza. That is not a pro-peace solution and 

in fact Qatar’s rebuilding those buildings that had been destroyed 

in retaliation for the missile attacks and rocket attacks on Israel 

only encourages more missile attacks on Israel. 

So Hezbollah and Hamas and the other Palestinian organizations 

that are active in that part of the world, we must be very clear that 

we want peace. We want them to make peace with the rest of the 

world and they are not doing so and they are conducting themselves in a way that they should become the pariahs of decent peoples and countries throughout the world. 

That whole notion is something that runs through this list of resolutions. I want to thank the chairman and I want to thank the 

ranking member for helping focus this committee with this—you 

know, with our basically bipartisan support on these type of values. 

So thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I rise in support 

of these resolutions. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. 

We go to Lois Frankel of Florida on today’s bills. 

Ms. FRANKEL. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I want to thank you, 

the ranking member, and all the members who have participated 

in putting together these very fine bills, which I proudly co-sponsor 

some of them. 

I really wanted to make a comment on three of those. The first, 

on urging the European Union to designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization and increase pressure on it and 

its members, so I am going to try—I am going to start with an 

analogy. It is probably not the best one but maybe my colleague 

here can help me figure out a better one. 

But I came in here today and I saw a bottle of water, which is 

pretty good. You can drink the water but when you think about it 

what is water made out of? Hydrogen and oxygen. Is that right? 

So, to me, and I don’t think you can have water without the hydrogen or the oxygen, and to me this is what this resolution is. 

I know it is an analogy. I am not sure if it is that great. But I 

think—you all tell me, all right? Yes. You know, to try to separate 

the political and the military wing of Hezbollah, to me, is like saying, well, you know, separating the hydrogen and oxygen is saying, 

well, you have water. Okay. I think you get what I mean. 

My colleagues have made a lot of good comments about this. I 

think that the piece that I want to stress is how Hezbollah is really 

137

being used as a proxy by what I think many of us consider one of 

the most if not the most dangerous country in the world and that 

is Iran, which is trying to take over Iraq, Syria, to name a couple 

of countries—Yemen. They are destabilizing and dangerous in 

many areas that we are very, very concerned about and so they 

have to be stopped. And I think this resolution goes toward that 

direction. 

On what I would hope is a more positive note of inspiration is 

our urging or our resolution to work with displaced children toward 

education. 

You know, in reading about it, I think there is about 25 million 

of the world’s out of school children who are in conflict zones. 

Think about that. 

What does that mean? We are talking about a lost generation, 

and here is what is happening. Not only are the kids not getting 

educated but here is what is happening. We will use Syria as an 

example. They are not only not getting educated but the number 

of young girls who are now forced into child marriage has doubled 

from 12 to 26 percent. I mean, you imagine 12-year-olds, 14-yearold girls being forced to get married. 

You have child labor rapidly increasing in very illegal and unsafe 

conditions and I think as important is a complete lack of hope for 

young people. What happens to young people when they have no 

hope, no education, no potential of a real job other than maybe 1 

day joining some terrorist organization or being the victims of one? 

So I thank this committee for that resolution on education. 

And then I know Ms. Bass is not here but I also want to say 

something about urging Kenya to have a fair and safe election. 

Some of us will be traveling to the region to monitor that election 

and I wish us well on that. 

But I think it is very important for us to support democracies 

and fair election anyplace in this world. And with that, Mr. Chair, 

I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Mr. Steve Chabot of Ohio on today’s bills. 

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for holding this important markup. I support all the bills. I will focus on 

one in particular. 

It has become apparent that the challenges that many girls 

across the globe face are daunting. Many of those difficulties begin 

at birth when millions of children, mostly girls, are not properly 

registered. They don’t have birth certificates, making it easier for 

those children to disappear in human trafficking networks or be coerced into a childhood marriage, as Ms. Frankel just indicated, or 

forced labor. 

That is why in the House Betty McCollum and myself, in a bipartisan way, and Marco Rubio and Senator Shaheen over in the 

Senate introduced legislation to bolster efforts to develop birth certificates and national registries for children in developing countries. That legislation was passed by this committee, it was passed 

by both Houses, and President Obama signed it into law. That was 

about 2 years ago. 

However, another equally important aspect of the problem facing 

girls, as Ms. Frankel just indicated, is access to education. As a 

138

former teacher, myself, in an inner city school I’ve seen firsthand 

how education empowers children. 

Unfortunately, millions of children receive no education due to 

circumstances beyond their control. This is particularly true for the 

growing number of displaced people around the world as it is exceedingly difficult for children in conflict zones to receive a primary 

or a secondary education. 

Armed conflicts across the world, particularly in places like 

Syria, South Sudan, and others have resulted in the internal displacement of millions of women and children and forced them to literally flee their homes. 

Education is one of the key components in helping lift this most 

vulnerable population out of the depths of poverty and the difficult 

circumstances that they are facing. Access to education not only 

gives children the opportunity to grow and learn but also offers 

safety and shelter from the violence that is going on and the circumstances around them, safety from extremist ideology and 

human trafficking networks and a horrible cycle of abuse. 

Simply stated, access to education provides stability and consistency to children living in extremely unstable conditions, especially 

girls. Boys also are involved in this but girls are particularly vulnerable to this. 

It is our responsibilities as leaders of the free world to step up 

and ensure that education, a basic right, is accessible to all. 

I want to thank my colleague on the other side of the aisle, Robin 

Kelly of Illinois, for her leadership in introducing the legislation—

one of the pieces that we are discussing here this morning, H.R. 

2408, the Protecting Girls’ Access to Education Act. 

It will move us in the right direction by calling on the Secretary 

of State and U.S. AID, previously known as USAID—I still have 

a hard time, whether it is U.S. AID, USAID. USAID makes more 

sense but if you’ve been around here a while like I have, sometimes 

you struggle with that one. But USAID now—to prioritize access 

to primary and secondary education. 

It aims to directly benefit displaced children, specifically girls, 

and will help to address one of the world’s biggest challenges facing 

refugees. This legislation also encourages greater international coordination and promotes needed education for refugees where they 

are through local schools. 

The Protecting Girls’ Access to Education Act will ensure that 

millions of child refugees will have an opportunity to reach their 

highest potential, even those in the most dire conditions. 

So I, again, want to thank my colleague, Robin Kelly, for her 

hard work on this legislation and hopefully we can continue to 

work on things down the road because, as the chairman knows, 

this is one committee that really does work in a bipartisan fashion. 

I wish the rest of the Congress did it. The other committee that 

I happen to chair, the House Small Business Committee with 

Nydia Velazquez, we actually work in a pretty bipartisan way as 

well. 

So the rest of the Congress should model themselves after those 

two committees. 

So with that, I will yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. 

139

Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii to speak on today’s bills. 

No? We then go to—Norma Torres, I think, is next in the queue. 

All right. Who seeks recognition? Joaquin Castro of Texas. 

Mr. CASTRO. Thank you, Chairman. 

I want to thank all of the members whose bills are being considered before us today. 

Representative Wagner and I co-founded the Congressional Caucus on ASEAN earlier this year to deepen the United States and 

Congress’ engagement with Southeast Asia. 

ASEAN, as you know, serves as an example of successful regional cooperation. The nations of Southeast Asia, despite distinct 

histories, cultures, and religions have placed their faith in cooperation rather than conflict. 

U.S. security interests in Southeast Asia are wide ranging and 

supported by many regional partners. Members of ASEAN have 

worked closely with the United States to address mutual security 

concerns. 

Two members—the Philippines and Thailand—are treaty allies 

of the United States. Singapore and the United States cooperate 

closely to safeguard the maritime passageways of Southeast Asia 

and maintain a rules-based order in the Asia Pacific region. 

U.S. relationships with other ASEAN members such as Vietnam 

have grown in recent years as we not only acknowledge our past 

but also partner for a brighter future the member states of ASEAN 

hold significant economic promise and our economic relationship 

underpins much of U.S. engagement with the region. My home state of Texas exports over $13 billion worth of goods 

to ASEAN countries each year. These exports support over 70,000 

Texas jobs and over 500,000 jobs across the United States. 

The U.S.-ASEAN relationship is also built on history and cultural exchange. Millions of Americans can trace their family roots 

to the countries of ASEAN including over 400, 000 Texans. 

Tourism to and from ASEAN exposes hundreds of thousands of 

people to our cultures and communities across the Pacific. Language, literature, food, and music link our cultures across the 

ocean, set roots, and enrich both of our societies. 

House Resolution 311, the resolution we are considering here 

today, is part of America’s continuing engagement with ASEAN. It 

commemorates the 50th anniversary of the founding of ASEAN and 

I am proud to present it here today. 

Thank you. 

Chairman ROYCE. Is Mr. Duncan seeking recognition? 

Mr. DUNCAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Just a few quick words. I want to thank you and the committee 

for continuing to stand up for the people of Venezuela against oppression. 

I want to commend Mr. DeSantis for his Resolution 259, which 

I fully support, and I appreciate the president talking about sanctions yesterday and continuing to point out how bad a Constituent 

Assembly would be in the face of democratic principles that should 

be in place in Venezuela. 

I also want to thank the committee for its continued efforts to 

support democracy and human rights all across the globe, not just 

in Venezuela but anywhere that human rights are violated. 

140

On the Canada Resolution 357, the time is right to reaffirm our 

partnership with our close friends and Canada is our best friend. 

They are our second largest trading partner. The strategic alliances 

that we have with our friends to the north are important and this 

resolution reaffirms that. 

Thirdly, I want to point out that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization and anytime we can point that out and point out the fact 

that they are backed by Iran—and neither Iran nor Hezbollah has 

America’s best interest at heart. We should encourage our allies, 

whether they are in Europe or anywhere they may be, to point out 

that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. So I commend and even 

support the words of Ms. Frankel. 

And with that, Mr. Chairman, this is a good markup with a good 

slate of bills and I look forward to supporting them all. 

I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Duncan. 

Any other members seeking recognition? 

Mr. Brad Sherman of California on today’s bills. 

Mr. SHERMAN. I want to commend the chair and the ranking 

member for bringing to us nine well-crafted bipartisan bills. I want 

to commend the authors of each of them. 

I particularly want to thank the committee for focusing at the 

full committee level on human rights in east Africa. My wife works 

on that every day at the State Department and it is good that I 

can go back and tell her that I am also doing my part. 

In particular, I want to praise the chair of the Africa Subcommittee, Mr. Smith, and I would lavishly praise the ranking 

member, Karen Bass, if she were here, and in any case, the work 

of that subcommittee is to be commended. 

I want to associate myself with Ted Deutch’s remarks about 

Hezbollah. This is an international terrorist organization and no 

one in Europe should be fooled into thinking that it is a Lebanese 

political party or that you can separate the actions of the political 

wing from the military wing, which is like blaming some of the fingers but not all of the fingers on the hand that holds the gun and 

shoots the innocent person. 

Keep in mind that Hezbollah has done more than any other organization that I—perhaps but along with Russia and Iran to support 

Assad’s tyranny in Syria kill nearly 500,000 people and create a 

refugee crisis that Europe is suffering from. Perhaps if Europe had 

dealt with Hezbollah effectively in the past Europe would not face 

the refugee crisis that it faces today. We can’t be sure. 

As ranking member of the Asia Subcommittee, I commend to the 

full committee two bills on Asia and thank Chairman Yoho for his 

leadership of that subcommittee. 

The first deals with North Korean human rights. I want to commend our former chair of the full committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, 

and I also support Chairman Yoho’s amendment to authorize the 

President to distribute or provide grants to provide information-receiving devices—electronically reachable devices. So many North 

Koreans get their information smuggled in through devices that 

simply didn’t exist 10 or 20 years ago. 

Finally, I should commend the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Castro, for his bill on ASEAN. 

141

And with that, I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Mr. Yoho of Florida on today’s bills. 

Mr. YOHO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I want to share my support for H.R. 2061, the North Korean 

Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2017. I commend Chairman 

Emeritus Ros-Lehtinen for leading this reauthorization effort as 

she has done in the past. 

The substitute amendment I have offered for this legislation reflects the work performed at the subcommittee markup and I thank 

my colleagues on the Asia Pacific Subcommittee for joining me to 

move this legislation forward in the legislative process. 

The horrific human rights abuses committed by Kim Jong-Un are 

an integral part of his power structure. Countering these unspeakable crimes however we can is both a moral imperative and sound 

strategy. 

I have also offered a second amendment to this legislation and 

I thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for including 

it in today’s en bloc package. 

This amendment will attach the distribution and promotion of 

Right to Knowledge Act to today’s reauthorization. Importantly, 

this amendment will expand the authority of the President and the 

Broadcasting Board of Governors to transmit and distribute information inside North Korea, one of the surest ways to weaken Kim’s 

regime’s grip on power. 

The two bills are natural partners and represent an important 

step to promote human rights and the free flow of information in 

North Korea. 

Again, I thank the chairman and ranking member, and yield 

back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. 

We go to Brad Schneider of Illinois to speak on the bills. 

Mr. SCHNEIDER. Thank you, Chairman Royce. 

I want to thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for 

holding this markup today. I appreciate the consideration of these 

bipartisan pieces of legislation that address key foreign policy 

issues and I am proud to add my voice to those of my colleagues 

in supporting these measures. 

I am particularly pleased that today we are marking up House 

Resolution 359, which I am honored to cosponsor with my colleagues. This resolution urges the European Union to designate 

Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization. 

The EU designated Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organization in 2013 and has made notable progress in countering 

Hezbollah activities. 

But more must be done. As the resolution states, we urge the EU 

to take practical and tangible steps to reduce the terrorist threat 

posed to the United States, Europe, Israel, and our other allies in 

the Middle East by Hezbollah. 

For example, increasing cross-border intelligence sharing, freezing Hezbollah’s assets, prohibiting Hezbollah fund-raising activities, and issuing arrest warrants for Hezbollah members and supporters in Europe would not only send a strong message but it 

would have a concrete impact, inhibiting the ability of Hezbollah 

to operate with impunity. 

142

Let us be clear. There is no distinction between the military and 

political wings of Hezbollah. They are part and parcel of the same 

entity and that is a terrorist organization that threatens the 

United States and our allies and contributes to the instability in 

the Middle East and the suffering of millions of people. 

I am also proud to co-sponsor H.R. 2061 that reauthorizes the 

North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004, extending its provisions 

until 2022. 

While North Korea poses a grave and growing threat to the security of the United States, those who suffer most at the hands of the 

brutal regime of Kim Jong-Un are the North Korean people themselves who lack basic freedoms, are subject to torture and oppression, and are denied access to the basic goods and services. 

This bill also authorizes support for democracy and governance 

and humanitarian assistance programs for North Korea in recognition of the vital role that our diplomacy and development programs 

play in addressing conflict situations. 

In addition, I offer my support for the other pieces of legislation 

being marked up today supporting human rights and democratic 

elections, protecting vulnerable women and girls, and reaffirming 

the United States’ enduring bilateral and multilateral relationship 

with allies around the world. 

The national security of the United States rests upon three pillars—defense, diplomacy, and development. 

We must ensure that our foreign policy continues to use all of the 

tools available to us in appropriate balance with each other. 

Indeed, these pieces of legislation exemplify how crucial it is that 

we maintain robust support for the Department of State and the 

U.S. Agency for International Development so that they can continue to advance our national priorities and sustain our position as 

a global leader in democracy, human rights, poverty alleviation, 

and defense of the world’s most vulnerable populations. 

I would like to thank the committee again for considering these 

important and relevant bills, and with that, I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. 

We go to Mr. Ted Poe of Texas on today’s bills. 

Mr. POE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I would like to comment on two of these pieces of legislation. 

First, the North Korea Human Rights Reauthorization Act. If we 

look around the world there is no greater violator of human rights 

than North Korea. The people of that country live in a life of hopeless slavery and they are denied nearly all the basic human rights 

that most countries believe in. Freedom of expression, freedom of 

religion, and freedom of movement are nonexistent in the kingdom 

of North Korea. 

Little Kim and his cronies have absolutely no concern for human 

life and decency. Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans are held 

in camps for political prisoners. In many cases, three generations 

of the same family are detained together in these prison work 

camps. They are routinely beaten, they are tortured, and if they 

are not executed, many die from starvation. Live births are prohibited in these prison camps. Forced abortions, killing of the newborn 

babies, are standard procedure in North Korea in these prison 

camps. 

143

The North Korean regime is not content simply with controlling 

these camps. Little Kim is a paranoid dictator. He and his fathers 

have tried to control all aspect their people’s lives, even their beliefs. According to the regime, only the Kim family should be worshiped and they expect that. Christians are particularly singled out 

for persecution. Bibles are outlawed. A person can be thrown in jail 

for professing any and all religious beliefs. 

The people of North Korea suffer on a scale not imaginable anywhere in the world today. Two million people—two million people 

have died of starvation since the 1990s. Nearly one out of every 10 

children suffers from malnutrition and 4 out of 10 are chronically 

malnutritioned. 

These tragic figures are the direct result of decisions of the North 

Korean regime. Their slavery of their people does not just include 

the borders of North Korea. 

North Korea takes people in North Korea and sells them on the 

marketplace of slavery to other countries like China and sends 

their workers to China where they work and the money that is 

paid to the workers never goes to the workers. It goes to the Government of China. China is complicit in this slave trade and the 

slavery of humans from North Korea going to its country. 

The world basically did away with slavery many, many years ago 

but yet we see it raising its ugly head again in Little Kim’s regime. 

It is amazing to me what a country can do to its own people. I 

think we are morally and legally obligated on behalf of those people 

who cannot help themselves and we can’t just watch while millions 

starve to death. 

I support this reauthorization of the North Korean Human 

Rights Act. I commend my colleague, the gentlelady Ros-Lehtinen, 

for her work. North Korean people deserve basic humanity. 

The other issue that I’d like to mention is the Hezbollah bill, 359, 

and encouraging our European friends to recognize them as a terrorist organization. 

Historically, if we look at Europe especially since the ’30s, they 

are late coming to the table to realize threats to their own nation 

and their own continent. And then Europe tries to act, sometimes 

successfully, sometimes not, to threats that are obvious from outsiders. 

And I would hope that Europe understands that Hezbollah is a 

threat to them—that they are not, as my friend, Mr. Sherman said 

from California, a political organization. They are a terrorist organization that does things politically as well. 

So I hope they realize the importance of working with the United 

States on Hezbollah. Hezbollah is in many places in the world, not 

just one place, and Hezbollah is funded from the number-one terrorist state in the world out of 195 countries and that is the country of Iran. 

Europe needs to recognize the threat within their own borders 

and they need to do it as soon as they can, and that is just the way 

it is, Mr. Chairman. 

I will yield to you. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you. Thank you for yielding back, Mr. 

Poe. 

144

I think—I think our last speaker is Robin Kelly of Illinois on this 

measure. 

Ambassador Wagner, did you seek time as well? 

We go to Robin Kelly in Illinois. 

Ms. KELLY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am honored to introduce, with Congressman Steve Chabot, H.R. 2408, the Protecting 

Girls’ Access to Education Act, a bill that would provide all children of all genders access to quality education. 

I thank the chairman for including this bill in our final markup 

before August recess and I encourage all of my colleagues to support it. 

At the beginning of this year, 65 million people had been displaced from their homes, half of whom were 18 or younger. Too 

often these children are not only subject to violence and discrimination but they are also stripped of their basic human right to an 

education. 

The U.N. refugee agency recently reported that 4 million displaced children are without access to elementary school and 88 percent of displaced children will never attend college. 

Without access to primary and secondary education these children become increasingly vulnerable to the most appalling human 

rights abuses. Lacking comfort and stability, displaced children are 

targeted for sex trade, abduction, child labor, early marriage, extreme poverty, and abuse. 

For the millions of displaced children, especially young girls, 

school may provide their only means of escape. Education helps 

children cope with trauma, avoid sexual violence, and transition 

into their new lives. The classroom environment gives them a sense 

of normalcy, community, support, and helps them overcome isolation and resentment. 

In addition, college and career training programs equip displaced 

students with the skills and confidence they need to become responsible members of their communities. For this reason, I have 

worked closely with Congressman Chabot to introduce H.R. 2408, 

the Protecting Children’s Access to Education Act. 

With this bill, Congressman Chabot and I hope to provide displaced children, especially young girls, with economic, emotional, 

and educational opportunities they deserve. 

H.R. 2408 calls on the U.S. Government to collaborate with donors, private organizations, and other countries to include displaced children into the global public school system. 

Our bill supports programs that close the language barrier between teachers and displaced students and that train displaced 

students for college and careers. 

The Protecting Girls’ Access to Education Act would authorize 

the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for 

International Development to provide efforts that provide safe accessible education to displaced children and to measure the success 

of these efforts. 

Most importantly, our bill would help educational institutions 

prevent discrimination against displaced children, especially young 

girls, who often become victims of bullying and sexual harassment. 

I also applaud Congressman Rubio and Congressman Menendez 

for introducing their companion bill in the Senate. Together, we 

145

have led a comprehensive bipartisan effort to improve the lives of 

displaced children. I look forward to seeing its enactment. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Ambassador Ann Wagner of Missouri. 

Ms. WAGNER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I would like to first state my strong support for all of the bills 

that we are marking up today but I want to speak specifically in 

support of House Resolution 311, the resolution that I was honored 

to introduce with my colleague, Representative Castro, to commemorate ASEAN’s 50th anniversary and the 40th anniversary of 

U.S.-ASEAN relations. 

Southeast Asia has tremendous cultural, political, historical, and 

religious diversity. ASEAN was formed in part to create a bulwark 

against communism in Southeast Asia among these diverse nations. Today, ASEAN’s goals have evolved and the region is experiencing tremendous growth. Nearly $100 billion of U.S. goods and 

services are exported to the ASEAN, rivaling our $113 billion market in China. 

In January, I founded the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on 

ASEAN with my friend and colleague, Congressman Castro. The 

caucus acknowledges America’s special relationship with ASEAN 

and is pushing Congress forward in strengthening engagement in 

Southeast Asia. 

House Resolution 311 was one of our first initiatives and the resolution encourages the enhancement of economic and defense cooperation with ASEAN. 

It reaffirms the U.S. commitment to continue joint efforts with 

ASEAN to halt human smuggling and human trafficking and urges 

ASEAN to improve assistance to refugees and migrants. 

I am grateful that the chair and ranking member are strong supporters of this effort and I look forward to next seeing this resolution on the House floor. 

I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back. 

Chairman ROYCE. Thank you very much, Congresswoman Wagner. 

Hearing no further requests for recognition, the question occurs 

on the items considered en bloc. 

All those in favor, say aye. 

All those opposed, no. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and the measures 

considered en bloc are agreed to. 

Without objection, the measures considered en bloc are ordered 

favorably reported as amended. Staff is directed to make any technical and conforming changes and the Chair is authorized to seek 

House consideration under suspension of the rules. 

And that concludes our business here today. I thank the ranking 

member and all of our committee members for their contributions 

and assistance with this markup. 

And the committee is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 11:16 a.m., the committee was adjourned.] 

(147)

A P P E N D I X 

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

148

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26428n.eps

FULL COMMITTEE MARKUP NOTICE 

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

U S HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

WASHINGTON, DC 20515-6128 

I<;ctward R. Royce (R-CA), Chairman 

Juh27.2017 

TO: MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

DATE: 

TIME: 

You are respectfully requested to attend an OPEN meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, to be held in 

2172 of the House Office Building (and available live on the Committee website at 

Thursday. July 27,2017 

10:00 a.m. 

MARKUP OF: H. Res. 128. Supporting respect for human rights and encouraging inclusiYc governance in 

Ethiopia: 

H. Res. 259, Expressing concern and condemnation over the political, economic. sociaL and 

humanitarian crisis in V cnczucla: 

H. Res. 311, Recognizing that for 50 ~ears the Association of South East Asian Nations 

(ASEAN) has worked tmvard stability. prosperity, and peace in Southeast Asia: 

H. Res. 357. Reaffinning the strategic partnership betv.een the United States and Canada. 

recognizing bilateral cooperation that adyances United States national interests, and urging 

increased bilateral cooperation on security. economic issues. and energy, and for other purposes: 

H. Res. 359. Urging the European Union to designate Hizballah in its entirety as a terrorist 

organization and increase pressure on it and its members; 

H. Res. 449, Urging the Government of Kenya and Ken~ a· s political parties to respect democratic 

principles and hold cn.:::diblc. peacefuL and transparent elections in Au!:,rust 2017: 

H.R 1918, Nicaraguan Imestment Conditionalit~ Act of 2017: 

H.R 2061, North Korean Hmnan Rights Reauthorization Act of 2017: and 

H.R. 2408_ Protecting Girls' Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act. 

By Direction of the Chairman 
149


26428m-1.eps

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

MIN1J'l'bS OJ< l'ULL COMMl'lTJJJJ J'vLA,.RK.UP 

Day_--"'T"''h"'u'-'rs,d,a"'v __ .Date. ___ 7,,1.~'2,_,7/._..'2"'0'c1,_7 ___ Room, ___ _-2:-cl,_72.._ __ _ 

Starting Time -----'l'-'0'-:0'-8'----_-·Ending Time -----'1-=1,_: 1,_,5'---

Recesses [j~~ (_to __ )( __ to __j ( __ to __j ( __ to __ ) (_to __j ( __ to __j 

Presiding Member(s) 

('hairman Edward R. Rayce 

Check all o(thefollowlnf? that apply: 

Oven Session 0 Executive (closed) Session 0 Televised 0 

Eleclronically Recorded (taped) 0 

Stenographic Record [Z] 

BILLS FOR MARKUP: (Include bill number(s) and tit/e(s) of/e{;islation.) 

See utta<:hecL 

COMMITTKE MRMBERS PRESENT: 

See uttachecL 

NON-COMMITTEE MRMRERS PRESENT: 

none 

STATEJ\'IENTS FOR TilE RECORD: (T.i.l'! wlJ.r 8lutement.\' ,\·uhmit!edfhr !he rec()rd.) 

ACTIONS TAKEN DURING THE MARKUP: (Attach copies ofkf:is/ation and amendments.) 

See mm·kup summwy. 

llliC01Wl£D VOTLS TAKI!:N (FOR MARKUP): (Attach final vote tally sheet listing each memher.) 

NotVotiug 

TIME SCHEDULED TO RECONVENE ___ _ 

or 

TIME ADJOURNED "'1""l."'•l.,c5 __ _ 

ring Coordinator 
150

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26428m-2.eps

PRESF)\'T 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

FUU COMMTTTF.F. MARKUP 

MEMJJER PRESE"!T MEMBER 

Edward R Rovce, CA X Eliot L. Engel, NY 

Christopher H. Smith, NJ X Brad Sherman, CA 

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, FL Gregory W. Meeks. NY 

Dana Rohrabacher, CA Albia Sires, NJ 

Steve Chabot OH X Gerald E. Connolly, VA 

Joe Wilson, SC X Theodore E Deutch, FL 

Michael T. McCaul, TX X Karen Bass, CA 

Ted Poe. TX X William Keating. MA 

Darrell lssa. CA David Cicilline, Rl 

Tom Marino. PA Ami Bera, CA 

Jefr Duncan. SC X Lois FrankeL FL 

Mo Brooks. AL X Tulsi Gabbard, HI 

Paul Cook, CA X Joaquin Castro, TX 

Scott Perrv, PA X Robin Kelly, TL 

Ron DeSantis. FL Brendan Boyle, PA 

Mark Meadows, NC Dina Titus, NV 

TedYoho.FL X Norma Torres. CA 

Adam Kinzinger,!L X Brad Schneider, !L 

Lee Zeldin, NY X Tom Suozzi, NY 

Dan Donovan, NY X Adriano Espaillat, NY 

James F. Sensenbrenner, Jr., WI X Ted Lieu, CA 

Ann Wagner. MO 

Brian l Mast FL 

Brian K. FilLpatrick, PA 

Francis Rooney, FL 

Thomas A. Garrett, Jr., VA 
151

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26428s.eps

7/27117 Foreign Affairs Committee Markup Summary 

By unanimous consent, the Chair called up the following measures and amendments, previously 

provided to Members, to be considered en bloc: 

l. H. Res. 128 (Smith), Supporting respect for human rights and encouraging inclusive governance 

in Ethiopia; 

a. Smith amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 128; 

a. Smith 49, an amendment to the Smith ANS. 

2. H. Res. 259 (DeSantis), Expressing concern and condemnation over the political, economic, 

social, and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela; 

a. DeSantis amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 259. 

3. H. Res. 311 (Castro), recognizing that for 50 years the Association of South East Asian Nations 

(ASEAN) has worked toward stability, prosperity, and peace in Southeast Asia; 

a. Castro amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 311. 

4. H. Res. 357 (Duncan), Real1im1ing the strategic between the United States and 

Canada, recognizing bilateral that advances States national interests, and 

urging increa~cd bilateral on security, economic 1s~ues, and energ~r, and for other 

purposes: 

a. Duncan 29, an amendment to H. Res. 357. 

5. H. Res. 359 (Deutch). Urging the European Union to designate Hizballah in its entirety as a 

terrorist organization and increase pressure on it and its members; 

a Deutch 27, an amendment to H. Res. 359. 

6. H. Res. 449 (Engel), Urging the Government of Kenya and Kenya's political parties to respect 

democratic principles and hold credible, peaceful, and transparent elections in August 2017. 

7. H.R. 1918 (Ros-Lehtinen), Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act of2017; 

a. Ros-Lehtinen amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1918. 

8. H.R. 2061 (Ros-Lehtinen), North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act of 2017; 

a Yoho amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 2061; 

a. Yoho 58, an amendment to the Yoho ANS. 

9. H.R. 2408 (Chabot), Protecting Girls' Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act. 

The measures considered e11 hloc were agreed to by voice vote 

By unanimous consent, the measures as amended were ordered favorably reported to the House, and the 

Chairman was authorized to seek House consideration under suspension of the rules. 

The Committee adjourned.