Libya Stabilization Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Libya Stabilization Act.

After years of civil war and violence, there are finally glimmers of optimism in Libya. Elections are scheduled for December. We hope these elections will help Libya continue on the path to democracy.

Unfortunately, as we have seen many times in this conflict, there is still the possibility that spoilers could upend this peace process.

We need to incentivize all parties to embrace a productive political track to establish stable governance in Libya and end the violence. That is the purpose of the legislation before us today.

Under this bill, if individuals are threatening the peace, security, and stability of Libya, they will be subject to sanctions.

Throughout this conflict, violent militias and foreign actors have threatened Libya and its citizens.

Russia is using the chaos in Libya to its advantage. As AFRICOM publicized last year, Russia deployed high-performance fighter aircraft to Libya.

Through this bill, we are turning up the pressure to ensure that Russia and other unhelpful foreign actors withdraw from Libya and to incentivize Libyan actors to support the emerging political process and a peaceful future for the people of Libya.

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Mrs. KIM of California. Madam Speaker, in closing, I want to thank the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch) and the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson) for their leadership on this bill, and I urge all Members to support this legislation.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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