IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1087 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that any attempt 

by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to remain 

in office beyond May 7, 2024, shall warrant nonrecognition on the 

part of the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2024 

Mr. COHEN (for himself and Mr. WILSON of South Carolina) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

any attempt by the President of the Russian Federation 

Vladimir Putin to remain in office beyond May 7, 2024, 

shall warrant nonrecognition on the part of the United 

States. 

Whereas the Russian Federation, as a member of the United 

Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, is bound by international commitments 

with regard to human rights and the rule of law; 

Whereas Article 81(3) of the Constitution of the Russian 

Federation, as enacted on December 25, 1993, holds that 

‘‘one and the same person cannot occupy the office of 

President of the Russian Federation for more than two 

consecutive terms’’; 


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•HRES 1087 IH 

Whereas Vladimir Putin has been President of the Russian 

Federation for two sets of consecutive terms on two occasions, the first lasting from May 7, 2000, to May 7, 

2008, and the second, current, and final consecutive 

terms beginning May 7, 2012, and expiring on May 7, 

2024; 

Whereas, on July 3, 2020, following votes in both chambers 

of the Federal Assembly and in regional legislatures and 

a nationwide popular vote, President Vladimir Putin 

signed Presidential Decree No. 445 enacting 206 amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, including an amendment waiving the term limit for him 

personally and for Dmitry Medvedev, allowing him to 

seek 2 more 6-year Presidential terms after May 7, 2024; 

Whereas the enactment of constitutional amendments had 

been conditioned on approval of such amendments in a 

nationwide vote, referred to as ‘‘all-Russia voting’’, that 

was held between June 25 and July 1, 2020, under the 

unprecedented conditions of the COVID–19 pandemic; 

Whereas the 2020 all-Russia voting was invented specifically 

for voting on Vladimir Putin’s constitutional amendments 

and was an ad hoc type of voting previously unknown in 

Russia; 

Whereas this voting was marked by widespread reports of organized voter coercion, multiple voting, ballot-stuffing, 

and violation of the secrecy of the ballot, and by onesided media coverage in favor of the amendments, while 

opponents of the amendments were not given airtime in 

the media and had their campaign rallies prohibited and 

their websites blocked; 


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•HRES 1087 IH 

Whereas voting was held over 7 days and was conducted not 

only in regular polling places but also in makeshift locations, including park benches, car trunks, and shopping 

carts, with ballots stored overnight by the electoral commissions with no independent oversight; 

Whereas in violation of the laws of the Russian Federation 

and the commitments of the Russian Federation under 

the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe, of which Russia was a 

member at the time, Russian authorities did not invite 

international observers to monitor the vote and limited 

domestic observers to those appointed by state-controlled 

Public Chambers; 

Whereas the Central Electoral Commission of the Russian 

Federation began announcing the results of the vote before voting had concluded; 

Whereas in a statement following the voting, the leaders of 

the United States delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation 

in Europe, Senator Roger Wicker and the late Representative Alcee Hastings, said that ‘‘the outcome of this vote 

was decided long before the ballots were tallied’’ and that 

‘‘State-sponsored fraud, coercion, and obfuscation make 

it impossible to know the true will of the Russian people’’; 

Whereas Senator James Risch, then-Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, has stated 

that the ‘‘sham vote, masquerading as a referendum, has 

swept away all remnants of Putin’s legitimacy’’; 

Whereas the Department of State has held that ‘‘[a]round 

the world, as a matter of principle, the United States opVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Mar 20, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1087.IH HR1087

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•HRES 1087 IH 

poses constitutional amendments that favor incumbents 

or extend their terms in office, particularly in contexts 

where necessary conditions for free and fair democratic 

processes are lacking’’; 

Whereas Vladimir Putin has violated every international 

norm and obligation freely undertaken by the Russian 

Federation with his unprovoked and brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine; 

Whereas Vladimir Putin has openly denied the existence of 

the Ukrainian people and authorized genocidal action to 

erase Ukrainian identity; 

Whereas Vladimir Putin has made clear his intention to push 

militarily beyond Ukraine if given the opportunity into 

NATO member countries and beyond in his expressed effort to reconstruct a Russian imperial entity; 

Whereas Vladimir Putin incarcerated Alexei Navalny, one of 

his strongest remaining opposition figures, who exposed 

the terrible extent of corruption present in his lawless regime and was nearly killed by a nerve agent attack carried out by Russian security services in 2020; and 

Whereas Alexei Navalny was imprisoned in inhumane conditions, often times in solitary confinement with very little 

food and little to no exercise in the most oppressive prison in Siberia, IK–3 penal colony, where he died under 

unknown but highly suspicious circumstances on February 16, 2024: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) the 2020 amendments to the Constitution 

4 of the Russian Federation were enacted in violation 


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1 of the laws and international commitments of the 

2 Russian Federation and many of the amendments 

3 are in breach of the so-called ‘‘unchangeable parts’’ 

4 of the Constitution: Chapter 1 ‘‘Fundamentals of 

5 the Constitutional System’’ and Chapter 2 ‘‘Human 

6 and Civil Rights and Freedoms’’; 

7 (2) the waiver of the Presidential term limit re8 sulting from those amendments is illegitimate; and 

9 (3) any attempt by President of the Russian 

10 Federation Vladimir Putin to remain in office be11 yond the end of his current and final term on May 

12 7, 2024, shall warrant nonrecognition on the part of 

13 the United States. 

Æ 


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