Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HR73 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	IV
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. RES. 73
5	5	Condemning the fraudulent January 2025 Belarusian presidential election
6	6	and the Lukashenka regime’s continued autocratic rule, calling for con-
7	7	tinued support for the people of Belarus who seek a democratic future,
8	8	and calling for free and fair elections in Belarus in line with international
9	9	standards.
10	10	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
11	11	JANUARY28, 2025
12	12	Mr. K
13	13	EATING(for himself, Mr. WILSONof South Carolina, Ms. KAPTUR, and
14	14	Mr. S
15	15	MITHof New Jersey) submitted the following resolution; which was
16	16	referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
17	17	RESOLUTION
18	18	Condemning the fraudulent January 2025 Belarusian presi-
19	19	dential election and the Lukashenka regime’s continued
20	20	autocratic rule, calling for continued support for the
21	21	people of Belarus who seek a democratic future, and
22	22	calling for free and fair elections in Belarus in line
23	23	with international standards.
24	24	Whereas, on January 26, 2025, the Lukashenka regime ad-
25	25	ministered fraudulent presidential elections with
26	26	Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s illegal manipulation of the vote
27	27	totals and repression of the opposition ensuring his con-
28	28	tinued corrupt rule of Belarus;
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31	31	•HRES 73 IH
32	32	Whereas, the January 26, 2025, fraudulent elections did not
33	33	reflect the will of the Belarusian people who seek a free
34	34	and democratic future;
35	35	Whereas Alyaksandr Lukashenka has ruled Belarus for more
36	36	than 30 years and has consolidated his authoritarian rule
37	37	through attacks on civil society, fraudulent elections, and
38	38	repression of any semblance of opposition to his rule;
39	39	Whereas Lukashenka and his cronies have greatly intensified
40	40	their abhorrent crackdown on civil society including fol-
41	41	lowing the fraudulent 2020 presidential elections, and the
42	42	regime now holds more than 1,200 political prisoners in-
43	43	cluding peaceful protesters, journalists, and business
44	44	leaders;
45	45	Whereas the Lukashenka regime has been credibly accused of
46	46	torture, harassment, and violence against political pris-
47	47	oners forcing unlawfully detained individuals to sleep in
48	48	damp cells, depriving them of family visits and outside
49	49	contact, and regularly abusing and humiliating prisoners;
50	50	Whereas the United States, the European Union, and numer-
51	51	ous friends of Belarus have called for the immediate re-
52	52	lease of all political prisoners in Belarus;
53	53	Whereas the Belarusian regime has actively participated in
54	54	Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, providing a stag-
55	55	ing ground for Russian ground forces as well as air and
56	56	missile attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure;
57	57	Whereas public reporting has shown that, at the direction
58	58	and coordination of the Belarusian and Russian Govern-
59	59	ments, more than 2,400 children have been transported
60	60	from Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine to facilities in
61	61	Belarus where abducted children are forced to undergo
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64	64	•HRES 73 IH
65	65	political and cultural reeducation as well as military
66	66	training to serve the interests of Belarus and Russia;
67	67	Whereas Lukashenka has said his country is hosting dozens
68	68	of Russian nuclear weapons which threatens global secu-
69	69	rity and increases the risks of escalation;
70	70	Whereas, in addition to the fraudulent January 2025 elec-
71	71	tions, previous presidential elections on August 9, 2020,
72	72	as well as parliamentary elections on February 25, 2024,
73	73	have been deemed fraudulent and lacked any inter-
74	74	national observers from reputable organizations;
75	75	Whereas, in response to opposition candidates garnering sig-
76	76	nificant support both in the lead-up to and in the after-
77	77	math of the 2020 presidential election, the regime
78	78	cracked down imprisoning thousands and arresting oppo-
79	79	sition figures like Siarhei Tsikhanouski and Maria
80	80	Kalesnikava, as well as forcing countless others into exile;
81	81	Whereas Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty affiliated journal-
82	82	ists Andrey Kuznechyk and Ihar Losik as well as former
83	83	Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Ihar Karney
84	84	remain wrongfully imprisoned in Belarus and have been
85	85	recognized by international human rights organizations
86	86	as political prisoners;
87	87	Whereas, in direct response to the fraudulent August 9,
88	88	2020, Belarusian presidential elections, the United States
89	89	has initiated a Strategic Dialogue with the Belarusian
90	90	democratic movement and civil society to increase the ad-
91	91	vocacy of Belarusians, support civil society, independent
92	92	media, and the Belarusian people amid the regime’s on-
93	93	going crackdown, and coordinate accountability mecha-
94	94	nisms for the Lukashenka regime;
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97	97	•HRES 73 IH
98	98	Whereas the United States has imposed sanctions on hun-
99	99	dreds of Belarusian individuals and entities which enable
100	100	the regime’s repression of the Belarusian people as well
101	101	as numerous visa restrictions against regime officials and
102	102	affiliates for their ongoing undermining of democracy in
103	103	Belarus;
104	104	Whereas European national governments and the European
105	105	Union as well as other allies and partners have imposed
106	106	sanctions against the Lukashenka regime for its abhor-
107	107	rent crackdown on political prisoners, its facilitation of
108	108	the abduction of thousands of Ukrainian children, and its
109	109	participation in Russia’s war of aggression against a sov-
110	110	ereign Ukraine;
111	111	Whereas the United States has provided more than
112	112	$140,000,000 in assistance to Belarus since the 2020
113	113	fraudulent presidential elections to further the strong
114	114	partnership between the people of Belarus who support
115	115	democracy and rule of law and the United States;
116	116	Whereas the United States has committed to regular dialogue
117	117	with the Belarusian democratic opposition; and
118	118	Whereas the Belarusian people are tireless and dedicated ad-
119	119	vocates for their freedom amid an intense environment of
120	120	repression which exists inside of Belarus and the regime’s
121	121	efforts to silence Belarusians who live in exile around the
122	122	world: Now, therefore, be it
123	123	Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1
124	124	(1) strongly condemns the fraudulent 2
125	125	Belarusian presidential elections on January 26, 3
126	126	2025, which were neither free nor fair, and the 4
127	127	Lukashenka regime’s continued repression and 5
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130	130	•HRES 73 IH
131	131	crackdown against the Belarusian democratic oppo-1
132	132	sition; 2
133	133	(2) calls on the regime to hold free and fair 3
134	134	elections with credible international monitoring 4
135	135	mechanisms to ensure the voices of the Belarusian 5
136	136	people are accurately heard; 6
137	137	(3) condemns the Lukashenka regime’s contin-7
138	138	ued support for Russia’s illegal war of aggression 8
139	139	against Ukraine as well as the regime’s complicity in 9
140	140	the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children from 10
141	141	Ukraine and the use of Belarusian territory as a 11
142	142	staging ground for Russian armed forces attacks 12
143	143	against Ukraine; 13
144	144	(4) supports additional sanctions against the 14
145	145	Lukashenka regime and officials who undermine de-15
146	146	mocracy in Belarus or are complicit in Russia’s war 16
147	147	of aggression against Ukraine including judges, po-17
148	148	lice officials, and state-owned businesses that profit 18
149	149	on the regime’s repression; 19
150	150	(5) calls for continued support to the 20
151	151	Belarusian democratic opposition as well as regular 21
152	152	meetings of the Strategic Dialogue between the 22
153	153	United States and the Belarusian democratic opposi-23
154	154	tion to demonstrate the United States support for 24
155	155	and solidarity with the opposition and as an avenue 25
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158	158	•HRES 73 IH
159	159	for pursuing creative solutions to continue to hold 1
160	160	the Lukashenka regime accountable for its repres-2
161	161	sion; 3
162	162	(6) calls on the Lukashenka regime to imme-4
163	163	diately release the more than 1,200 political pris-5
164	164	oners who remain behind bars in Belarus; 6
165	165	(7) supports allied and partner governments ef-7
166	166	forts including sanctions, visa restrictions, and bilat-8
167	167	eral dialogue mechanisms to hold the Lukashenka 9
168	168	regime accountable and support the democratic op-10
169	169	position; and 11
170	170	(8) stands with the Belarusian people as they 12
171	171	pursue a democratic future free from authoritarian 13
172	172	repression. 14
173	173	Æ
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