IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1081 
Recognizing the role of democracies in responding to the COVID–19 pan-
demic, democracy’s resiliency, the dangers of authoritarianism, and re-
affirming the commitment of the United States to democratic principles. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 11, 2020 
Mr. LOUDERMILK submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the role of democracies in responding to the 
COVID–19 pandemic, democracy’s resiliency, the dan-
gers of authoritarianism, and reaffirming the commit-
ment of the United States to democratic principles. 
Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic is a significant event in 
world history and will continue to challenge governments 
around the world; 
Whereas current research shows the novel COVID–19 strain 
was first transmitted in China in late 2019 and the 
World Health Organization declared COVID–19 a global 
pandemic on March 11, 2020; 
Whereas democracies have responded to the pandemic by 
sharing scientific information and medical resources 
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internationally and remaining committed to the human 
rights and freedoms of their people; 
Whereas authoritarian regimes have taken advantage of the 
pandemic as an opportunity to centralize power, spread 
disinformation, expand their corrupt practices, or other-
wise deny basic human rights to their people; 
Whereas democracies contribute to the construction of a vast 
network of international partnerships, authoritarian re-
gimes see these partnerships as instruments to be ex-
ploited for unilateral benefit and for realizing their long- 
held vision of having these institutions under their direc-
tion; 
Whereas democracies share information transparently and en-
sure that journalists operate freely, authoritarian regimes 
manipulate the content journalists can share and orga-
nize disinformation through their state-controlled media 
systems; 
Whereas democracies have shown resilience during this global 
crisis by encouraging constructive debate, authoritarian 
regimes suppress internal criticisms, tightening their 
grip, giving their people yet more reason to resist; 
Whereas democracies have taken steps to ensure the health 
and safety of their people, authoritarian regimes have re-
moved fundamental protections with no intention of re-
turning basic, indispensable rights; 
Whereas Taiwan’s democratic government was among the 
first to recognize this new strain of the coronavirus and 
they chose to build an extensive and coordinated domestic 
response while seeking to share evidence of human-to- 
human transmission with the world, authoritarian re-
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gimes declined to share early evidence of the virus to mis-
lead the world; 
Whereas the Republic of South Korea has taken its place on 
the world stage as one of the most vibrant democracies, 
they built a concentrated domestic testing program and 
were the first to share test kits, authoritarian regimes 
concealed the truth through an elaborate disinformation 
campaign and blamed democracies as the origin of 
COVID–19; 
Whereas the United States remains committed to a system 
of checks and balances and protecting access to govern-
ment officials, authoritarian regimes detain or imprison 
those who dare to criticize their leaders; 
Whereas Denmark was an early adopter of recommended so-
cial distancing practices and its citizens rallied behind 
their leaders in hopes of having an early return to nor-
malcy, authoritarian regimes mislead and disenfranchised 
their people; 
Whereas Australia established a working group of Federal, 
State, and local leaders to share information and increase 
resource utilization, authoritarian regimes centralized 
power to ensure only the dissemination of information fa-
vorable to the state and prevent citizen oversight of cor-
rupt practices; 
Whereas Iceland built their response on a robust testing pro-
gram, authoritarian regimes’ censorship actions delayed 
the implementation of public health strategies, exposing 
a deep mistrust of the government; 
Whereas Canada trusted their medical experts to lead public 
health initiatives, authoritarian regimes rejected the find-
ings of medical experts, such as Dr. Li Wenliang; 
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