III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 266 

Reaffirming the United States-Liberia partnership, and calling for free, fair, 

and peaceful elections in Liberia in October 2017. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2017 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. BOOKER) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Reaffirming the United States-Liberia partnership, and calling for free, fair, and peaceful elections in Liberia in 

October 2017. 

Whereas the United States and Liberia share broad and deep 

bilateral ties over the course of a nearly 200-year relationship; 

Whereas the United States established diplomatic relations 

with Liberia in 1864; 

Whereas it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Liberians died in the country’s two interconnected civil wars 

from 1989 to 2003 and many more fled as refugees; 

Whereas today the United States is home to an estimated 

80,000 people of Liberian ancestry in vibrant commuVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Sep 26, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR266.IS SR266

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•SRES 266 IS 

nities across the country, many of whom sought refuge 

from the violence during the civil wars; 

Whereas the people and Government of the United States 

have a deep and abiding interest in Liberia’s democratic 

stability and post-conflict development; 

Whereas United States assistance to Liberia since the end of 

its second civil war in 2003 has supported post-conflict 

recovery and a subsequent sustained transition toward 

broad-based economic growth, improved access to highquality education, health system strengthening, enhanced 

socioeconomic welfare for the people of Liberia, the 

professionalization of the country’s military and civilian 

security forces, efforts to foster the capacities, accountability, and transparency of government institutions, and 

the consolidation of participatory democracy; 

Whereas in 2005, and again in 2011, the citizens of Liberia 

elected Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as their President, making 

her the first woman to be elected President of an African 

nation; 

Whereas President Sirleaf was awarded the United States 

Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 5, 2007, for 

defending and advancing the democratic rights of her fellow citizens, in the face of house arrest, foreign exile, 

death threats, and imprisonment, and the Noble Peace 

Prize on October 7, 2011, for contributing to the nonviolent struggle for the security and rights of women; 

Whereas the Government of Liberia has contributed to efforts 

to foster peace, stability, democratization, as well as regional economic growth, development, and integration in 

West Africa, as demonstrated by President Sirleaf’s role 

in mediating a peaceful transfer of power in the Gambia 


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in January 2017 and her broader leadership as 2016– 

2017 Chairperson of the Authority of Heads of State and 

Government of the Economic Community of West African 

States; 

Whereas Liberia will hold Presidential and legislative elections on October 10, 2017; 

Whereas successful 2017 elections are expected to lead to Liberia’s first democratic transfer of power since 1944; and 

Whereas public confidence in the electoral process is vital to 

advancing democracy in Liberia and for ensuring the success of the elections: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) upholds its commitment to maintain and 

3 foster the enduring relationship between the people 

4 and the Governments of the United States and Libe5 ria; 

6 (2) commends President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 

7 for efforts to consolidate post-conflict peacebuilding 

8 and democratic gains, promote social and economic 

9 development, and foster ties with the international 

10 community, and for her work to advance inter11 national gender equality; 

12 (3) urges the Government and people of Liberia 

13 and all of the country’s political parties to— 

14 (A) hold free, fair, credible, and peaceful 

15 elections in October 2017 and in the future; 


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•SRES 266 IS 

1 (B) adhere to the objectives set out in the 

2 Ganta and Farmington River Declarations and 

3 promote and ensure peaceful conduct among 

4 candidates, their supporters, and Liberian citi5 zens generally; 

6 (C) ensure that there is robust civic edu7 cation and electoral campaign outreach to often 

8 politically marginalized groups, including 

9 women, urban youth, and rural communities; 

10 and 

11 (D) raise awareness of and express zero 

12 tolerance for violence against women, gender 

13 discrimination, or social bias of any nature in 

14 the electoral process; 

15 (4) supports efforts by the Department of State 

16 and the United States Agency for International De17 velopment to assist in election preparations; 

18 (5) calls on Liberian citizens to fully participate 

19 in the general elections and to pursue legal avenues 

20 to resolve any disputes over the results; 

21 (6) encourages Liberian civil society organiza22 tions to intensify civic and voter education, particu23 larly among women, youth, and rural communities, 

24 and in local languages; 


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1 (7) condemns any external interference in the 

2 election, including any communication or action by 

3 convicted war criminal and former armed faction 

4 leader Charles Taylor to influence the elections from 

5 prison; 

6 (8) encourages President Donald Trump to ap7 point an Assistant Secretary of State for African Af8 fairs to bolster diplomatic engagement with the Gov9 ernment of Liberia, electoral stakeholders, and civil 

10 society and robustly engage with other sub-Saharan 

11 African countries and governments; 

12 (9) calls upon the United States Government 

13 and international partners, especially election-fo14 cused nongovernmental organizations, to continue to 

15 support successful elections and Liberia’s anticipated 

16 historic democratic post-electoral transition of Exec17 utive power; and 

18 (10) welcomes the visit of President Ellen 

19 Johnson Sirleaf to the United States Congress for 

20 her final address as President of Liberia. 

Æ 


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