III 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 44 

Supporting democracy, universal rights, and the peaceful transition to a 

representative government in Egypt. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2011 

Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. GRAHAM, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. 

CARDIN, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. LEVIN) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting democracy, universal rights, and the peaceful 

transition to a representative government in Egypt. 

Whereas the United States and Egypt have long shared a 

strong bilateral relationship; 

Whereas Egypt plays an important role in global and regional 

politics as well as in the broader Middle East and North 

Africa; 

Whereas Egypt has been, and continues to be, an intellectual 

and cultural center of the Arab world; 

Whereas on January 25, 2011, demonstrations began across 

Egypt with thousands of protesters peacefully calling for 

a new government, free and fair elections, significant constitutional and political reforms, greater economic opportunity, and an end to government corruption; 


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•SRES 44 ATS 

Whereas on January 28, 2011, the Government of Egypt 

shut down Internet and mobile phone networks almost 

entirely and blocked social networking websites; 

Whereas on January 29, 2011, President Hosni Mubarak appointed Omar Suleiman, former head of the Egyptian 

General Intelligence Directorate, as Vice President and 

Ahmed Shafik, former Minister for Civil Aviation, as 

Prime Minister; 

Whereas the demonstrations have continued, making this the 

longest protest in modern Egyptian history, and on February 1, 2011, millions of protesters took to the streets 

across the country; 

Whereas hundreds of Egyptians have been killed and injured 

since the protests began; 

Whereas on February 1, 2011, President Hosni Mubarak announced that he would not run for reelection later this 

year, but widespread protests against his government 

continue; 

Whereas on February 1, 2011, President Barack Obama 

called for an orderly transition, stating that it ‘‘must be 

meaningful, it must be peaceful, and it must begin now.’’ 

He also affirmed that: ‘‘The process must include a 

broad spectrum of Egyptian voices and opposition parties. It should lead to elections that are free and fair. 

And it should result in a government that’s not only 

grounded in democratic principles, but is also responsive 

to the aspirations of the Egyptian people.’’; 

Whereas despite President Hosni Mubarak’s pledge in 2005 

that Egypt’s controversial emergency law would be used 

only to fight terrorism and that he planned to abolish the 

state of emergency and adopt new antiterrorism legislaVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:02 Feb 04, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR44.ATS SR44

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•SRES 44 ATS 

tion as an alternative, in May 2010, the Government of 

Egypt again extended the emergency law, which has been 

in place continuously since 1981, for another 2 years, 

giving police broad powers of arrest and allowing indefinite detention without charge; 

Whereas the Department of State’s 2009 Human Rights Report notes with respect to Egypt, ‘‘[t]he government’s respect for human rights remained poor, and serious 

abuses continued in many areas. The government limited 

citizens’ right to change their government and continued 

a state of emergency that has been in place almost continuously since 1967.’’; 

Whereas past elections in Egypt, including the most recent 

November 2010 parliamentary elections, have seen serious irregularities at polling and counting stations, security force intimidation and coercion of voters, and obstruction of peaceful political rallies and demonstrations; 

and 

Whereas any election must be honest and open to all legitimate candidates and conducted without interference from 

the military or security apparatus and under the oversight of international monitors: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) acknowledges the central and historic im3 portance of the United States-Egyptian strategic 

4 partnership in advancing the common interests of 

5 both countries, including peace and security in the 

6 broader Middle East and North Africa; 

7 (2) reaffirms the United States’ commitment to 

8 the universal rights of freedom of assembly, freedom 


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•SRES 44 ATS 

1 of speech, and freedom of access to information, in2 cluding the Internet, and expresses strong support 

3 for the people of Egypt in their peaceful calls for a 

4 representative and responsive democratic govern5 ment that respects these rights; 

6 (3) condemns any efforts to provoke or insti7 gate violence, and calls upon all parties to refrain 

8 from all violent and criminal acts; 

9 (4) supports freedom of the press and strongly 

10 condemns the intimidation, targeting, or detention of 

11 journalists; 

12 (5) urges the Egyptian military to demonstrate 

13 maximum professionalism and restraint, and empha14 sizes the importance of working to peacefully restore 

15 calm and order while allowing for free and non-vio16 lent freedom of expression; 

17 (6) calls on President Mubarak to immediately 

18 begin an orderly and peaceful transition to a demo19 cratic political system, including the transfer of 

20 power to an inclusive interim caretaker government, 

21 in coordination with leaders from Egypt’s opposition, 

22 civil society, and military, to enact the necessary re23 forms to hold free, fair, and internationally credible 

24 elections this year; 


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•SRES 44 ATS 

1 (7) affirms that a real transition to a legitimate 

2 representative democracy in Egypt requires concrete 

3 steps to be taken as soon as possible, including lift4 ing the state of emergency, allowing Egyptians to or5 ganize independent political parties without inter6 ference, enhancing the transparency of governmental 

7 institutions, restoring judicial supervision of elec8 tions, allowing credible international monitors to ob9 serve the preparation and conduct of elections, and 

10 amending the laws and Constitution of Egypt as 

11 necessary to implement these and other critical re12 forms; 

13 (8) pledges full support for Egypt’s transition 

14 to a representative democracy that is responsive to 

15 the needs of the Egyptian people, and calls on all 

16 nations to support the people of Egypt as they work 

17 to conduct a successful transition to democracy; 

18 (9) expresses deep concern over any organiza19 tion that espouses an extremist ideology, including 

20 the Muslim Brotherhood, and calls upon all political 

21 movements and parties in Egypt, including an in22 terim government, to affirm their commitment to 

23 non-violence and the rule of law, the equal rights of 

24 all individuals, accountable institutions of justice, re25 ligious tolerance, peaceful relations with Egypt’s 


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•SRES 44 ATS 

1 neighbors, and the fundamental principles and prac2 tices of democracy, including the regular conduct of 

3 free and fair elections; 

4 (10) underscores the vital importance of any 

5 Egyptian Government continuing to fulfill its inter6 national obligations, including its commitments 

7 under the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty signed on 

8 March 26, 1979 and the freedom of navigation 

9 through the Suez Canal; and 

10 (11) ensures that United States assistance to 

11 the Egyptian Government, military, and people will 

12 advance the goal of ensuring respect for the uni13 versal rights of the Egyptian people and will further 

14 the national security interests of the United States 

15 in the region. 

Æ 


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