Title: Requesting the President to strongly condemn Jamal Khashoggi's killing, hold accountable individuals identified as culpable, and condemn imprisonment of and violence against journalists around the world.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution requests that the President condemn the killing of Jamal Khashoggi and take certain actions to encourage other countries to promote press freedom and cease violence against journalists.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 472 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 472

Requesting the President to strongly condemn Jamal Khashoggi's killing, 
   hold accountable individuals identified as culpable, and condemn 
   imprisonment of and violence against journalists around the world.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 27, 2019

 Ms. Speier (for herself, Mr. Hastings, Mrs. Bustos, Mr. McGovern, Mr. 
  Thompson of California, Ms. Titus, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Takano, Ms. 
  DelBene, Ms. Schakowsky, Mrs. Davis of California, Ms. Judy Chu of 
  California, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Sires, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Castro of 
  Texas, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Costa, Ms. 
 DeLauro, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Malinowski, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. 
 Morelle, Mr. Casten of Illinois, Ms. Bass, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Garamendi, 
 Mr. Gallego, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Cisneros, and Mr. DeFazio) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Requesting the President to strongly condemn Jamal Khashoggi's killing, 
   hold accountable individuals identified as culpable, and condemn 
   imprisonment of and violence against journalists around the world.

Whereas Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist born on October 13, 1958, who was 
        murdered in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey on October 2, 2018;
Whereas Mr. Khashoggi wrote for and edited a number of publications, including 
        the Washington Post, Al Watan, Arab News, and Al Madina;
Whereas, during his career, Mr. Khashoggi covered events in Afghanistan, 
        Algeria, Kuwait, and across the Middle East;
Whereas Mr. Khashoggi represented a rare example of a journalist in Saudi Arabia 
        by questioning regime policies and covering unfavorable events;
Whereas Mr. Khashoggi became a champion of American values, including democracy, 
        freedom of the press, and women's rights;
Whereas Mr. Khashoggi openly questioned the Saudi regime's policies, including 
        its war in Yemen, crackdown on dissenters, and isolation of Qatar;
Whereas voicing differences with Saudi Arabia's rulers forced Mr. Khashoggi to 
        flee Saudi Arabia;
Whereas Mr. Khashoggi became a permanent resident of the United States in June 
        2017 and began writing for the Washington Post in September 2017;
Whereas the Saudi regime targeted Mr. Khashoggi and his writings by marshaling a 
        host of online trolls to delegitimize and harass Mr. Khashoggi and other 
        Saudi dissidents;
Whereas Saudi officials lured Mr. Khashoggi to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul 
        under a false sense of security;
Whereas upon arrival Mr. Khashoggi was tortured, killed, and dismembered by 
        Saudi agents flown in from Saudi Arabia for this purpose;
Whereas the Saudi regime subsequently engaged in a weeks-long campaign of 
        obfuscation, deception, and lying to deny Saudi involvement in Mr. 
        Khashoggi's murder;
Whereas, when confronted with clear evidence of Mr. Khashoggi's death at the 
        hands of Saudi agents, Saudi officials blamed the murder on rogue 
        operators within its Government;
Whereas the Trump administration subsequently sanctioned only relatively junior 
        Saudi officials, many of whom had been identified as culpable by the 
        Saudi regime;
Whereas an independent report conducted by United Nations investigator Agnes 
        Callamard concluded that there is ``sufficient credible evidence'' that 
        Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince bears responsibility for the assassination 
        and that, based on definitions in international law, the kingdom 
        conducted Khashoggi's ``deliberate, premeditated execution''; and that 
        Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince should face ``targeted sanctions . . . until 
        and unless evidence is provided and corroborated that he carries no 
        responsibilities for this execution.'';
Whereas President Trump has explicitly prioritized Saudi purchases of United 
        States weaponry over the Saudi regime's murder of Mr. Khashoggi and 
        continues to show disrespect for journalistic freedoms;
Whereas Saudi Arabia's leaders continue to crack down on dissenters and reforms, 
        disregard basic rights, and perpetrate destabilizing foreign policies;
Whereas the Committee to Protect Journalists found that, in 2018, there were at 
        least 251 journalists imprisoned because of their work globally;
Whereas, in 2018, Saudi Arabia imprisoned at least 16 journalists for their 
        work;
Whereas Turkey, China, and Egypt all imprison high numbers of journalists;
Whereas, in 2018, the Committee to Protect Journalists found that there were at 
        least 54 journalists killed globally, including in the United States;
Whereas President Trump has been reluctant to condemn the killing and 
        imprisonment of journalists generally and Mr. Khashoggi in particular; 
        and
Whereas President Trump has himself praised violence against journalists and 
        called the media the ``enemy of the American people'': Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives requests that the 
President--
            (1) strongly condemn Jamal Khashoggi's killing and hold 
        accountable individuals identified as culpable by United States 
        intelligence agencies;
            (2) condemn imprisonment of and violence against 
        journalists around the world;
            (3) cease describing the media in terms that could 
        encourage violence against journalists; and
            (4) use tools of United States power, including diplomacy, 
        sanctions, and military sales, to encourage other countries to 
        respect and further press freedom.
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