AMENDMENT NO. 406 Offered by Mr. Zeldin of New York
Floor Speech
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Mr. McGovern. Mr. Speaker. I want to thank Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith and Ranking Member Thornberry for including my bipartisan amendment in this en bloc amendment.
Mr. Speaker, the whole world is suffering through the terrible coronavirus pandemic. More than 14.5 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed globally, more than 600,000 people have already died, and both numbers continue to grow. All of us are witnessing the devastating consequences in lost livelihoods and increased food insecurity.
As if that were not enough, some governments are using the pandemic as a pretext to infringe on the human rights of their people and to grab political power at their expense.
It's clear that during public health emergencies governments may take steps to halt the spread of disease, such as restricting the movement of people, closing businesses, and limiting access to public spaces.
But even during emergencies countries must comply with their human rights obligations. That means that emergency measures must meet certain criteria like being narrowly tailored, limited in duration, non-discriminatory and subject to oversight.
Yet what we're seeing is that many governments are taking measures that do not meet these criteria. We're seeing unjustified restrictions on information and freedom of expression that block access to crucial information. We're seeing emergency measures that shift power to the executive branch and erode democratic checks and balances. And we're seeing the use of intrusive surveillance technology without privacy safeguards, to name only some of the worst trends.
The coronavirus pandemic is a human tragedy of enormous scale. To allow it to become an excuse for governments to further erode democracy and human rights would amplify that tragedy many times over. We must not let that happen. The key to recovery is more democracy and respect for human rights, not less.
This amendment authorizes actions to push back on those countries that use the pandemic to justify violating human rights. It includes reporting on how our government is working to counter disinformation about the pandemic, and on the nature and impact of the emergency measures countries take that result in rights abuses. It authorizes analyzing a country's response to the pandemic when determining eligibility for security sector assistance and requires the Department of Defense to track whether partner security forces have taken advantage of the pandemic to the detriment of the civilian population. And it requires the annual Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices to include attention to the misuse of emergency powers or surveillance technology.
I'm very grateful for the strong bipartisan support this amendment has received from the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Armed Services Committee. I would like to thank my colleagues who have joined me as cosponsors: Rep. Ann Wagner (MO), Rep. Tom Malinowski (D- NJ), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Rep. Gus Bilirakis (F-FL), and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD).
I am also grateful for the support this bipartisan initiative has received from a number of well-known and highly respected human rights organizations, including the American Jewish World Service, Amnesty International USA, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Council for Global Equality, Freedom House, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, PEN America, Project on Middle East Democracy, Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, the U.S.-Europe Alliance and the Washington Office on Latin America.
Mr. Speaker, this amendment makes clear that the United States continues to support the protection of internationally recognized human rights, including the freedom of speech and a free press, during and after the coronavirus pandemic, and opposes using the coronavirus pandemic to justify policies that violate or undermine human rights. I ask all my colleagues to support this amendment and En Bloc 2 amendment in which it is included.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of Amendment No. 253 offered by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (NY) and myself. I want to thank Armed Services Chairman Adam Smith (WA) and Ranking Member Mac Thornberry (TX) for including this amendment in En Bloc Amendment No. 2.
Mr. Speaker, 39 years ago, in December 1981, the worst massacre in modern Latin American history took place in a remote village in El Salvador and surrounding communities.
Known as the El Mozote massacre, it's estimated that between 800-to- 1200 men, women and children were killed by units of the Salvadoran military.
I'm sorry to say that some of the units participating in the massacre, in particular the Atlacatl Battalion, were created, trained and equipped by the United States.
I've had the privilege to visit the community of El Mozote. I've talked to survivors of the massacre and to relatives whose family members were victims of the massacre. I've seen the names of those killed on the memorial walls of the church and community square.
A garden is planted to remember the over 140 children who were murdered. The average age is six. But many were so young that their age is noted as ``zero'' because they were only infants. It is so very difficult, Mr. Speaker, for any of us to contemplate any soldier being ordered to murder infants and then being forced to carry out that order.
Over the past two years, a trial has been underway in El Salvador to investigate the El Mozote massacre and hold accountable those responsible. The presiding judge has asked the United States for any and all relevant documents we might have in various agency files.
Mr. Speaker, this is a very important trial. It is among a handful of cases deemed by the Salvadoran Attorney General's Office as cases of historical significance. Holding accountable those who ordered, commanded and carried out this massacre would be a powerful act in breaking the dominant culture of impunity in El Salvador that protects from any consequence, judicial or otherwise, those who perpetrate violent human rights crimes against Salvadoran civilians.
Last year, Congress charged the State Department with coordinating a government-wide search among all Federal agencies to identify and release to Salvadoran judicial authorities, including the presiding judge in the El Mozote trial, any and all documents and materials relevant to the period surrounding the time of the massacre.
The McGovern-Engel amendment offered today simply requires the Defense Department to do its part and provide these documents to the Salvadoran judicial authorities.
I hope we can count on everyone's support for this amendment. I urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment and for En Bloc No. 2 in which it is included.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith and Ranking Member Thornberry for including my bipartisan amendment in this en bloc amendment.
Mr. Speaker, on October 3, 2016, then Secretary of Defense Carter sent a memo to United States military leaders on the subject of ``Principles Related to the Protection of Medical Care Provided By Impartial Humanitarian Organizations During Armed Conflict'' and included a statement of principles that had been drafted by military and civilian lawyers within the Department of Defense and reflected relevant legal principles. Where the principles were not already legally binding as a matter of treaty or custom, the memo conveyed United States support for recognition of the principles as customary international law.
The memo also conveyed the Secretary's expectation that Department of Defense orders and guidance were already consistent with the principles. But he nonetheless included a request for a ``prompt review of all relevant orders, rules of engagement, directives, regulations, policies, practices, and procedures'' to ensure consistency.
This bipartisan amendment, cosponsored by Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, requests the results of that review--or, if the review was not completed, requires that it be undertaken.
Mr. Speaker, attacks on health care workers and facilities occur all over the world. The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition recently reported that in 2019 there were at least 1,203 attacks on health care workers, health facilities and health transports in 20 countries in conflict around the world. At least 151 health workers died and at least 502 were injured as a result of these attacks.
We know the Department of Defense has sought to be responsive to the need to protect health care during conflicts. This amendment affirms the importance of United States leadership in ensuring global respect and protection for health care workers, their vehicles and equipment, and health care facilities. Having the review requested in 2016 will contribute to the development of practical guidance for U.S. armed forces on the ground.
I'm very grateful for the bipartisan support this amendment has received from the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Armed Services Committee. I ask all my colleagues to support this amendment and En Bloc No. 2 amendment in which it is included.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker. I want to thank Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith and Ranking Member Thornberry for including my bipartisan amendment in this en bloc amendment.
Mr. Speaker, during the last 20 years journalists, human rights organizations and courts in Colombia have repeatedly uncovered evidence of unlawful surveillance and intelligence gathering by units of the Colombian security forces. This unlawful activity has been directed at human rights defenders, journalists, judicial authorities and the political opposition. It violates their rights, and may put them in mortal danger.
The problem keeps recurring in spite of reforms like the elimination of the Department of Administrative Security, the presidential intelligence agency, in 2011, and in spite of major court cases in which some of the officials responsible for the abuses were convicted. New allegations have emerged this year, including credible claims that U.S. security sector assistance may have been misused in the process.
Colombia is an ally of the United States. The U.S. has invested billions of dollars in the country over the last two decades, including important investments in security assistance.
We simply cannot afford for this problem to continue. We need a solid understanding of what has gone wrong in order to figure out how best to work with the Colombian government to fix it.
That is why this amendment requires a comprehensive report on any involvement by the Colombian government in unlawful surveillance and intelligence gathering since 2002. The report incorporates an assessment of whether any U.S. security sector assistance was involved, as well as a description of the actions taken by U.S. and Colombian authorities in response, and recommendations for preventing any recurrence going forward. The report will also include a review of Colombian security doctrine and training to ensure that intelligence operations are conducted consistent with human rights obligations.
I'm very grateful for the bipartisan support this amendment has received from the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Armed Services Committee. I ask all my colleagues to support this amendment and En Bloc 2 amendment in which it is included.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith and Ranking Member Thornberry for including my bipartisan amendment in this en bloc amendment.
This amendment, co-sponsored by Representative Jackie Walorski (IN), would permanently establish the Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program--a lifechanging program which has been a part of the DOD ``Defense Health Programs'' at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences for the last six years, and has consistently received bipartisan support.
Mr. Speaker, this amendment would ensure the program can continue to aid our nation's veterans by awarding grants to nonprofit organizations that stand-up, operate, and provide free assistance dogs to veterans and service members with physical disabilities, PTSD, or traumatic brain injuries.
I first became passionate about this issue in 2013 when I visited the National Education for Assistance Dog Services (NEADS), which is located in my district in Princeton, Massachusetts. Service dogs often become an integral part of a veteran or servicemember's treatment team because they provide both physical and emotional support
NEADS told me amazing stories about how service dogs are helping veterans with physical disabilities, as well as those suffering from post-traumatic stress. They are trained to help veterans having a seizure, to remind them to take medications, and even to create a protective physical barrier in a crowded space.
Mr. Speaker, this amendment would allow the Wounded Warrior Service Dog Program to continue to effectively expand treatment options for our veterans and service members around the country.
I ask all my colleagues to support this amendment and En Bloc 2 amendment in which it is included.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith and Ranking Member Thornberry for including my bipartisan amendment in this en bloc amendment.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Kuwait owes $677 million to about 45 U.S. hospitals for care provided to Kuwaiti citizens. These debts are from 2018, 2019 and the first quarter of 2020.
The hospitals affected include some of the finest medical institutions in the United States. Six of these are in Massachusetts-- as well as hospitals and medical institutions in California, Texas, Ohio, Illinois, New York, Minnesota and elsewhere.
Our medical facilities have shown great patience with the Government of Kuwait, waiting for Kuwait to meet its obligations and make these payments. As my colleagues in the House can understand, hospitals across the nation are now operating under significant financial stress because of the COVID-19 pandemic and these debts are adding to their hardship.
The Kuwaitis say this matter is pending in their parliament. But that's what they said last year. And the year before that.
It is my understanding that the State Department has been respectfully trying to resolve this matter, but Kuwait continues to drag its feet. This lack of responsiveness and accountability is very frustrating, Mr. Speaker. And I hope this bipartisan expression of concern might provide a little push towards resolution.
Let me assure the House that we would not have put forward this bipartisan measure if we thought it might bring economic hardship on the people of Kuwait. But if you're concerned that $677 million is a lot to ask from Kuwait, then you will be relieved to know that the Kuwait sovereign fund, under the Finance Ministry, is the 5th largest in the world, with assets exceeding $592 billion.
Mr. Speaker, this bipartisan amendment is very simple: it's a sense of Congress that says to the Kuwaitis ``pay your bills.'' That's all we ask: Do the right thing and make these outstanding payments to U.S. hospitals and medical institutions.
I'm very grateful for the strong bipartisan support this bipartisan amendment has received from the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Armed Services Committee. I would like to thank my colleagues who have joined me as cosponsors: Representatives Stephen Lynch (MA), Ayanna Pressley (MA), Bill Keating (MA), Juan Vargas (CA), Lori Trahan (MA), Joseph P. Kennedy, III (MA), Tim Ryan (OH), Anthony Gonzalez (OH), David Joyce (OH), John Garamendi (CA) and Jimmy Gomez (CA).
Mr. Speaker, this is a respectful and very measured amendment. We hope to signal to Kuwait that this matter has been brought to our attention and we are deeply concerned by the amount and detrimental impact of these outstanding payments. It is our hope that Kuwait will resolve this matter promptly and pay its outstanding debts to American hospitals and medical institutions. Should these debts continue to linger unresolved, then perhaps next time, Congress will need to express its concerns in stronger terms.
I ask all my colleagues to support this amendment and the en bloc amendment in which it is included.
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