A resolution condemning the violent insurrection in Brazil on January 8, 2023, and expressing United States solidarity with the people of Brazil, as well as support for safeguarding Brazil's democratic institutions.

III 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 32 Condemning the violent insurrection in Brazil on January 8, 2023, and expressing United States solidarity with the people of Brazil, as well as support for safeguarding Brazil’s democratic institutions. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 2, 2023 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. KAINE, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. MURPHY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations RESOLUTION Condemning the violent insurrection in Brazil on January 8, 2023, and expressing United States solidarity with the people of Brazil, as well as support for safeguarding Brazil’s democratic institutions. Whereas Brazil is a strategic partner and major non-NATO ally of the United States, and the bilateral relationship, which includes cooperation on economic, environmental, defense, and human rights issues, is predicated on a shared commitment to democratic values, including abso- lute respect for free and fair elections; Whereas the people of Brazil voted in the first and second round of general elections on October 2, 2022, and Octo- ber 30, 2022, respectively, which were unanimously rec- VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:00 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR32.IS SR32 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 32 IS ognized as free and fair electoral processes by inde- pendent electoral observers; Whereas Luiz Ina´cio Lula da Silva won the second round presidential election on October 30, 2022, receiving 50.9 percent of all votes cast by Brazilians for the presidency and defeating incumbent president Jair Bolsonaro; Whereas, in accordance with Brazil’s constitution, President Luiz Ina´cio Lula da Silva was sworn into office as the 39th President of Brazil on January 1, 2023; Whereas, prior to Brazil’s general elections, former president Jair Bolsonaro repeatedly made false and unfounded ac- cusations questioning the transparency and integrity of the country’s electoral processes, publicly attacked the impartiality of Brazil’s Supreme Court and Supreme Electoral Tribunal, and encouraged his supporters to am- plify these baseless claims; Whereas, on July 6, 2022, the then-head of Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal warned while in Washington, DC, that former president Jair Bolsonaro’s undemocratic rhetoric and baseless allegations of electoral fraud exacerbated the risk of Brazil experiencing political unrest as or more se- vere than the United States Capitol insurrection on Jan- uary 6, 2021; Whereas, in the aftermath of Brazil’s general elections, former president Jair Bolsonaro refused to formally con- cede to President Luiz Ina´cio Lula da Silva and contin- ued to share voter fraud conspiracies on social media; Whereas, on January 8, 2023, one week after President Luiz Ina´cio Lula da Silva was inaugurated, supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro engaged in a violent, or- ganized siege of Brazil’s presidential palace, Congress, VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR32.IS SR32 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 32 IS and Supreme Court and called for President Luiz Ina´cio Lula da Silva to be removed from office via military or other violent intervention if necessary, marking the worst assault on Brazilian democracy since the country’s tran- sition from a military dictatorship in the 1980s; Whereas, similar to the violent siege against the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, Brazil’s January 8, 2023, insurrection exposed the resiliency and fragility of democracy and the harmful consequences of public offi- cials deliberately spreading electoral disinformation and disregarding the rule of law; Whereas the heads of Brazil’s three branches of government issued a joint statement condemning the ‘‘terrorist acts’’ on January 8, 2023, and reaffirming support for Brazil’s democracy; Whereas President Joe Biden swiftly condemned the ‘‘assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil’’, and committed to fully supporting Brazil’s democratic institutions; and Whereas Brazilian authorities are currently pursuing inves- tigations to ensure all rioters, financiers, and public offi- cials responsible for the events on January 8, 2023, are held accountable, including by examining the role of so- cial media in organizing and amplifying the riots and opening investigations into the actions of former senior officials, including former president Jair Bolsonaro: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) expresses its ongoing solidarity with the 2 people of Brazil and unwavering support for Brazil’s 3 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:00 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR32.IS SR32 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 32 IS democratic institutions in the aftermath of the Jan- 1 uary 8, 2023, insurrection; 2 (2) condemns the violent siege conducted by 3 former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s sup- 4 porters against Brazil’s presidential palace, Con- 5 gress, and Supreme Court that was fueled, in part, 6 by disinformation spread by former president Jair 7 Bolsonaro over several months; 8 (3) commends Brazil’s electoral institutions for 9 conducting free, fair, and transparent elections on 10 October 2, 2022, and October 30, 2022; 11 (4) urges social media and group messaging 12 companies to take concrete steps to address the 13 ways its platforms are used to facilitate 14 disinformation and misinformation in Brazil, and to 15 work with Brazilian authorities to address any role 16 such platforms had in facilitating and amplifying the 17 violent events on January 8, 2023; 18 (5) urges the President to expeditiously review 19 all requests from Brazilian authorities related to the 20 investigation into the January 8, 2023, insurrection, 21 including any future extradition requests for former 22 senior Brazilian officials; 23 (6) encourages the United States Senate and 24 House of Representatives to support any requests 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:00 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR32.IS SR32 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •SRES 32 IS from the Brazilian Congress related to its investiga- 1 tion of the violent siege that occurred on January 8, 2 2023, including sharing best practices from the in- 3 vestigation conducted by the United States House 4 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th At- 5 tack on the United States Capitol; 6 (7) endorses President Biden’s invitation of 7 President da Silva to Washington, District of Co- 8 lumbia, to continue United States-Brazil collabora- 9 tion on a wide-ranging shared agenda; and 10 (8) reaffirms its commitment to strengthening 11 the alliance and strategic partnership between the 12 United States and the Government of Brazil on the 13 defense of democracy and human rights and other 14 issues of shared priorities, including defense co- 15 operation, food security, environmental cooperation, 16 and inclusive and sustainable development. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:00 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR32.IS SR32 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS