Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. RISCH. Madam President, first of all, this is an important step that we are taking here. This is a matter that we have been discussing for a long time. There has been a lot of action on it, and I want to thank Senator Rubio and Senator Cardin, who are the lead supporters of this bill and who have, on behalf of the committee, done yeoman's work getting it together and getting the bipartisan compromise to get the language here. Also, virtually all members of the committee have had fingerprints on this bill, and so in that regard, I think it is going to pass quite handily.

I want to thank the Banking staff, particularly my colleague from Idaho, Senator Crapo, who, of course, has the expertise--the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee--on these kinds of things on sanctions. They were very helpful in hammering out the language that we needed for the sanctions.

I want to thank the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee staff, who were helpful.

I want to thank the staff of the Foreign Relations Committee, who work for us--both the minority staff, Senator Menendez's staff, and my staff, the majority staff--for doing this and all of the people who worked on this. So thank you to all of you.

Since June, millions of people in Hong Kong have taken to the streets protesting the erosion of their rights and freedoms.

Hong Kong was supposed to maintain a high degree of autonomy after China regained sovereignty over the territory in 1997. This wasn't just a verbal understanding. This was in the treaty that China signed with Great Britain. However, since that time, China has gradually chipped away at Hong Kong's autonomy, and this is now becoming a real problem.

China now refers to its treaty with Great Britain as ``a historical document,'' and says it is no longer bound by its terms. This is just one of many examples that show that the Chinese Government has no respect for the rule of law.

After two decades of broken commitments, it is past time that we hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable. What it is doing in Hong Kong is just wrong.

That is why I am proud to join Senator Rubio and Senator Cardin and all the others who have had hands on this bill in bringing the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act to the Senate floor. This bill is the result of a strong, strong bipartisan consensus that we must act in support of the Hong Kong people.

Thank you all for helping. We will get to the unanimous consent here in a little bit.

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