H. Res. 129 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
July 15, 2019. 
Whereas the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been an impor-
tant strategic partner of the United States, and the 
United States and Saudi Arabia share broad interests, 
including defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria 
(ISIS), regional stability, and countering Iran’s malign 
activities in the Middle East; 
Whereas, in June 2018, the Government of Saudi Arabia re-
versed the longstanding ban on women driving; 
Whereas Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system requires 
women to attain the permission of their male guardian 
for a vast array of decisions, including health care, em-
ployment, applying for a passport, international travel, 
getting married, or even leaving prison; 
Whereas, since May 2018, the Government of Saudi Arabia 
has arrested prominent human rights advocates and im-
posed travel bans on numerous others, many of them 
longtime supporters of ending the ban on women driving 
and abolishing the male guardianship system; 
Whereas none of the jailed activists has been convicted of any 
crimes, and many reportedly have been held in solitary 
confinement for prolonged periods;
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Whereas Aziza al-Yousef, a United States resident who 
helped lead a campaign against the male guardianship 
system in Saudi Arabia, was imprisoned in May 2018; 
Whereas at least 10 activists supporting the rights of women 
have been subjected to psychological and physical abuse, 
including sexual violence, beatings, electric shocks, and 
sleep deprivation; 
Whereas one of the detained activists, Loujain al-Hathloul, 
was reportedly beaten, waterboarded, given electric 
shocks, sexually harassed, and threatened with rape and 
murder; 
Whereas the Department of State has undertaken some diplo-
matic measures to bring concerns about the detention of 
these activists to the attention of the Government of 
Saudi Arabia; 
Whereas, on January 14, 2019, Secretary of State Mike 
Pompeo said he had raised the case of the imprisoned ac-
tivists with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; 
Whereas the 2018 Department of State Country Report on 
Human Rights Practices for Saudi Arabia stated that, 
‘‘Women continued to face significant discrimination 
under law and custom, and many remained uninformed 
about their rights’’, and ‘‘women also faced discrimina-
tion in courts, where in most cases the testimony of one 
man equals that of two women’’; 
Whereas in March and in May of 2019, Saudi authorities 
temporarily released several activists pending trial; 
Whereas, on April 21, 2005, Dr. Hatoon al-Fassi, an asso-
ciate professor of history at King Saud University and 
prominent activist who was detained and later tempo-
rarily released, pending trial, testified before Congress
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that a Saudi woman ‘‘is considered legally and socially a 
minor; she is confined to limited areas of educational op-
portunities; she is restricted in employment opportunities; 
there are no legal bodies where women could seek sup-
port; and finally, she is distanced from any decision-
making position’’; 
Whereas serious impediments to women’s freedoms in Saudi 
Arabia remain, including a high prevalence of forced 
marriages, inequality in marriage, divorce, child custody 
and inheritance, laws that prevents women from directly 
transmitting citizenship to their children, and the male 
guardianship system; and 
Whereas the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability 
Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114–328) au-
thorizes the President to deny travel visas and freeze the 
United States-based assets of foreign government officials 
responsible for ‘‘extrajudicial killings, torture, or other 
gross violations of internationally recognized human 
rights’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) reaffirms that promoting human rights and de-
mocracy has long been a bedrock of United States for-
eign policy, including advancing the rights and empower-
ment of women and girls; 
(2) condemns the Government of Saudi Arabia’s 
continued detention and alleged abuse of women’s rights 
advocates jailed for peacefully exercising their human 
rights;
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(3) urges Government of Saudi Arabia officials to 
immediately and unconditionally release the imprisoned 
women’s rights advocates and other political prisoners, 
and hold accountable those involved in perpetrating 
abuses; 
(4) urges Government of Saudi Arabia officials to 
end the male guardianship system that restricts the abil-
ity of Saudi women to make decisions about their lives; 
and 
(5) calls on the United States Government to— 
(A) continue publicly and privately demanding 
the release of individuals wrongfully detained; 
(B) use the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public 
Law 114–328) to identify and impose travel and fi-
nancial restrictions on all Government of Saudi 
Arabia officials responsible for gross violations of 
internationally recognized human rights; 
(C) document relevant details of alleged torture 
and abuse in future annual Country Reports on 
Human Rights Practices; and 
(D) prioritize human rights, including the 
rights of women, as a key component of the rela-
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tionship between the United States and Saudi Ara-
bia. 
Attest: 
Clerk.