I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5948 
To reauthorize the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 27, 2006 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. LANTOS, and Mr. MCCOTTER) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
International Relations, and in addition to the Committees on the Judici-
ary and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To reauthorize the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Belarus Democracy 
Reauthorization Act of 2006’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Section 2 of the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 (22 
U.S.C. 5811 note) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
‘‘Congress makes the following findings: 
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‘‘(1) The Government of the Republic of 
Belarus has engaged in a pattern of clear, gross, 
and uncorrected violations of human rights and fun-
damental freedoms. 
‘‘(2) The Government of Belarus has engaged 
in a pattern of clear, gross, and uncorrected viola-
tions of basic principles of democratic governance, 
including through a series of fundamentally flawed 
presidential and parliamentary elections under-
mining the legitimacy of executive and legislative au-
thority in that country. 
‘‘(3) The most recent presidential elections in 
Belarus held on March 19, 2006, failed to meet the 
commitments of the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for democratic elec-
tions and the arbitrary use of state power and wide-
spread detentions show a disregard for the basic 
rights of freedom of assembly, association, and ex-
pression, and raise doubts regarding the willingness 
of authorities in Belarus to tolerate political com-
petition. 
‘‘(4) The regime of Aleksandr Lukashenka has 
maintained power in Belarus by orchestrating an il-
legal and unconstitutional referendum that enabled 
him to impose a new constitution, abolish the duly- 
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elected parliament, the 13th Supreme Soviet, install 
a largely powerless National Assembly, extend his 
term of office, and remove applicable term limits. 
‘‘(5) The Government of Belarus has failed to 
make a credible effort to solve the cases of dis-
appeared opposition figures Yuri Zakharenka, Viktor 
Gonchar, and Anatoly Krasovsky in 1999 and jour-
nalist Dmitry Zavadsky in 2000, even though cred-
ible allegations and evidence exist linking top offi-
cials of the Lukashenka regime with these dis-
appearances. 
‘‘(6) 
Political 
opposition 
figures 
Mikhail 
Marynich, Mikalay Statkevych, Pavel Sevyarinets, 
Andrei Klimau, Valery Levaneusky, and Siarhei 
Skrebets have been imprisoned or served ‘corrective 
labor’ sentences because of their political activity. 
‘‘(7) Hundreds of pro-democratic political activ-
ists have been subjected to frequent harassment and 
jailings, especially during, and in the aftermath of 
the fatally flawed March 19, 2006, presidential elec-
tions in Belarus. 
‘‘(8) The Government of Belarus has attempted 
to maintain a monopoly over the country’s informa-
tion space, targeting independent media for system-
atic reprisals and elimination, while suppressing the 
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right to freedom of speech and expression of those 
dissenting from the regime. 
‘‘(9) The Belarusian authorities have perpet-
uated a climate of fear in Belarus by mounting a 
systematic crackdown on civil society through the 
harassment, repression, and closure of nongovern-
mental organizations and independent trade unions. 
‘‘(10) The Lukashenka regime has increasingly 
subjected leaders and members of minority and un-
registered religious communities to harassment, in-
cluding the imposition of heavy fines, denying per-
mission to meet for religious services, prosecutions, 
and jail terms for activities in the practice of their 
faith. 
‘‘(11) The Belarusian authorities have further 
attempted to silence dissent through retribution 
against human rights and pro-democracy activists 
through threats, firings, expulsions, beatings and 
other forms of intimidation.’’. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
The Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 (22 U.S.C. 5811 
note) is amended— 
(1) by striking section 8; 
(2) by redesignating sections 3 through 7 as 
sections 4 through 8, respectively; and 
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(3) inserting after section 2 the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
‘‘It is the policy of the United States— 
‘‘(1) to support the aspirations of the people of 
the Republic of Belarus for democracy, human 
rights, and the rule of law; 
‘‘(2) to support the aspirations of the people of 
the Republic of Belarus to preserve the independ-
ence and sovereignty of their country; 
‘‘(3) to seek and support the growth of demo-
cratic movements and institutions in Belarus, with 
the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in that country; 
‘‘(4) to refuse to accept the results of the fa-
tally flawed March 19, 2006, presidential elections 
held in Belarus and support the call for new presi-
dential elections; and 
‘‘(5) to work closely with other countries and 
international organizations, including the European 
Union, to promote the conditions necessary for the 
integration of Belarus into the European community 
of democracies.’’. 
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