IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 353 
Supporting a democratic Hungary and reaffirming the long-standing and 
mutually-beneficial relationship between the United States and Hungary. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 24, 2017 
Mr. MOULTON (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mrs. HARTZLER, 
and Mr. MEEKS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Supporting a democratic Hungary and reaffirming the long- 
standing and mutually-beneficial relationship between the 
United States and Hungary. 
Whereas Hungary has had a long-standing historic relation-
ship with the United States, with bilateral relations es-
tablished in 1921 and the first United States Ambas-
sador to Hungary, Theodore Brentano, appointed on 
February 10, 1922; 
Whereas the United States honored the efforts and sacrifices 
of democratic protestors in Hungary in 1956 who will al-
ways be cherished for valiantly and courageously standing 
up to Soviet tanks; 
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Whereas the United States in 1978 reached a bilateral trade 
agreement with Hungary, including the extension of 
most-favored-nation status to Hungary; 
Whereas in the following years, the United States offered 
Hungary extensive assistance and expertise to help estab-
lish a constitution, a democratic political system, and a 
plan for a transitional free market economy; 
Whereas between 1989 and 1993, the Support for East Eu-
ropean Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 (Public Law 
101–179) provided more than $136,000,000 for economic 
restructuring and private-sector development in Hungary; 
Whereas Hungary acceded to the North Atlantic Trade Orga-
nization (NATO) in April 1999, and became a formal 
treaty ally of the United States; 
Whereas the United States supported Hungary in its acces-
sion to the European Union (EU) in 2004; 
Whereas the United States is proud to count as many as 
1,500,000 Hungarian-Americans as strong contributors 
to the economic vibrancy of the United States, as well as 
to the social, cultural, and political fabric of our country; 
Whereas Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his ruling party 
‘‘Fidesz’’, 
has 
increasingly 
moved 
towards 
authoritarianism in word and action, declaring in 2014 
that he preferred an ‘‘illiberal state’’ and ‘‘illiberal de-
mocracy’’ citing Russia as his model; 
Whereas numerous independent human rights organizations 
have raised alarms about the situation in Hungary and 
enumerated concerns in an April 25, 2017, letter to the 
European Parliament, including the International Fed-
eration for Human Rights, the European Association for 
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the Defense of Human Rights, Amnesty International, 
Reporters without Borders, and Human Rights Watch; 
Whereas Prime Minister Orban has sought to stifle any oppo-
sition to his rule, including by suppressing free speech 
and assembly, from universities, civil society groups, and 
independent think tanks; 
Whereas the Fidesz-dominated legislature is considering the 
draft law on ‘‘the Transparency of Organizations Receiv-
ing Foreign Funds’’ (T/14967), submitted on April 7, 
2017, which would force nongovernmental organizations 
receiving more than 7,200,000 HUF per year from 
abroad to register as ‘‘civic organizations receiving for-
eign funding’’ and organizations which will fail to comply 
with the new law would face dissolution; 
Whereas this law and other policies are thinly disguised as 
attempts to consolidate Fidesz control and is modeled on 
Russia’s foreign agent law which the EU and inter-
national rights experts have criticized as a tool to silence 
independent civil society and would further shrink the 
space for independent civil society organizations which 
protect human rights and deliver valuable services to so-
ciety; 
Whereas Hungary continues to violate the rights of asylum- 
seekers and migrants by allowing for the blanket deten-
tion of almost all asylum-seekers, including persons above 
the age of 14, in border ‘‘transit zones’’ for the whole du-
ration of their asylum process, including any appeals; 
Whereas Hungary’s government continues to exert undemo-
cratic influence over the freedom of the press, including 
in October 2016, when both the print and online editions 
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of Hungary’s leading 
opposition 
daily 
newspaper, 
Ne´pszabadsa´g, were closed due to political pressures; 
Whereas media outlets must register with the Hungarian gov-
ernment’s National Media and Infocommunications Au-
thority, which can revoke licenses for minor infractions 
without clear explanation or due process; and 
Whereas politicians regularly file politically motivated crimi-
nal defamation charges against journalists and bloggers, 
including in 2015 when cases were brought against 17 
people for reports critical of government officials: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) reaffirms the long-standing and mutually- 
beneficial relationship between the United States 
and Hungary; 
(2) condemns Hungary’s movement towards a 
less free and democratic society; and 
(3) urges Hungary to reverse laws and policies 
that curtail individual rights and basic freedoms. 
Æ 
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