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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2689 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2689

     To provide for the appointment of a Special Envoy for Belarus.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 27, 2023

 Mrs. Shaheen introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
     To provide for the appointment of a Special Envoy for Belarus.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR BELARUS.

    (a) Special Envoy.--The President shall appoint a Special Envoy for 
Belarus within the Department of State (referred to in this section as 
the ``Special Envoy'').
    (b) Qualifications.--The Special Envoy--
            (1) should be a person of recognized distinction in the 
        field of European security, geopolitics, democracy, and human 
        rights; and
            (2) may be a career foreign service officer.
    (c) Central Objective.--The central objective of the Special Envoy 
is to coordinate and promote efforts--
            (1) to improve respect for the fundamental human rights of 
        the people of Belarus;
            (2) to sustain focus on the national security implications, 
        for the United States, of Belarus's political and military 
        alignment; and
            (3) to respond to the political, economic, and security 
        impacts of events in Belarus on neighboring countries and the 
        wider region.
    (d) Duties and Responsibilities.--The Special Envoy shall--
            (1) engage in discussions with Belarusian officials 
        regarding human rights and political, economic, and security 
        issues in Belarus;
            (2) support international efforts to promote human rights 
        and political freedoms in Belarus, including coordination and 
        dialogue between the United States and the United Nations, the 
        Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the 
        European Union, Belarus, and the other countries in Eastern 
        Europe;
            (3) consult with nongovernmental organizations that have 
        attempted to address human rights and political and economic 
        instability in Belarus;
            (4) make recommendations regarding the funding of 
        activities promoting human rights, democracy, the rule of law, 
        and the development of a market economy in Belarus;
            (5) review strategies for improving protection of human 
        rights in Belarus, including technical training and exchange 
        programs;
            (6) develop an action plan for holding to account the 
        perpetrators of the human rights violations documented in the 
        United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights report on the 
        situation of human rights in Belarus in the run-up to the 2020 
        presidential election and its aftermath (Human Rights Council 
        Resolution 49/36);
            (7) engage with member countries of the North Atlantic 
        Treaty Organization, the Organization for Security and 
        Cooperation in Europe, and the European Union with respect to 
        the implications of Belarus's political and security alignment 
        for transatlantic security; and
            (8) to work within the Department of State and among 
        partnering countries to sustain focus on the political 
        situation in Belarus.
    (e) Role.--The position of Special Envoy--
            (1) shall be a full-time position;
            (2) may not be combined with any other position within the 
        Department of State;
            (3) shall only exist for the period during which United 
        States diplomatic operations in Belarus at the United States 
        Embassy in Minsk have been suspended; and
            (4) shall oversee the operations and personnel of the 
        Belarus Affairs Unit of the Department of State.
    (f) Report on Activities.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the following 
5 years, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Special 
Envoy, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
report that describes the activities undertaken pursuant to subsection 
(d) during the reporting period.
    (g) Termination.--The position of Special Envoy for Belarus Affairs 
and the authorities provided by this section shall terminate on the 
date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>
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