Condemning the Government of Russia's attempted assassination of Mr. Navalny and criminal acts to intimidate and silence Russian freedom defenders.

IV 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 340 Condemning the Government of Russia’s attempted assassination of Mr. Navalny and criminal acts to intimidate and silence Russian freedom defenders. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 21, 2021 Ms. KAPTUR (for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. KEATING, Mr. PFLUGER, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Mr. MEIJER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Af- fairs, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, Ways and Means, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned RESOLUTION Condemning the Government of Russia’s attempted assas- sination of Mr. Navalny and criminal acts to intimidate and silence Russian freedom defenders. Whereas Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition leader and anticorruption activist, has effectively used social media and modern digital channels to connect with Russian citi- zens, counter Kremlin propaganda, and organize mass prodemocracy protests; Whereas Mr. Navalny has been illegally detained and impris- oned on numerous occasions for political reasons, includ- VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Apr 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR340.IH HR340 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 340 IH ing partaking in peaceful and constitutionally protected protests in Russia; Whereas the investigative work of Mr. Navalny’s Anti-Cor- ruption Foundation has uncovered corruption at the highest levels of the Government of Russia, including ac- tivities orchestrated by Russian dictator, Vladimir Putin, and the oligarchs closely associated to him; Whereas Russia is a signatory of the Helsinki Final Act obliging the Government of Russia to respect and protect human rights, including freedom of thought, conscience, or belief; Whereas the Government of Russia has a deeply disturbing history of employing extrajudicial assassinations and other forms of violence to cover up its crimes and silence independent political leaders, anticorruption investigators, and prodemocracy activists, including Boris Nemtsov, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Alexander Litvinenko, and Sergei Magnitsky who died tragically in a Russian prison; Whereas, on August 20, 2020, Mr. Navalny was poisoned by the Russian security forces with a Novichok nerve agent, putting him in grave condition which required him to be placed into a medically induced coma; Whereas Mr. Navalny was evacuated to Berlin, Germany, where he eventually recovered; Whereas, on January 17, 2021, Mr. Navalny bravely re- turned to Russia to continue the fight for democracy de- spite outstanding arrest warrants against him; Whereas upon his arrival at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, Mr. Navalny was immediately detained by Russian offi- cials on false charges, and after a sham trial on February 2, 2021, was convicted to 2.5 years imprisonment; VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Apr 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR340.IH HR340 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 340 IH Whereas the United States has imposed sanctions on Russia under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 for the second time in response to the Russian Government’s poisoning of Mr. Navalny; Whereas Mr. Navalny was transferred to Penal Colony 2 (IK–2), where he complained of torture, sleep depriva- tion, denial of medical care, and other gross human rights abuses; Whereas Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has played a crit- ical role in ensuring Russian and global audiences hear the truth of the Government of Russia’s gross human rights abuses towards Mr. Navalny and other Russian political prisoners; Whereas Mr. Navalny’s health has rapidly deteriorated in prison, and on March 31, 2021, he started a hunger strike to protest the lack of medical access and the grim prison conditions; Whereas reports indicate that Mr. Navalny is experiencing renal failure and heart problems, and in a moribund state; Whereas European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said, ‘‘we make the Russian au- thorities responsible for the health of Mr. Navalny,’’ and many leading Members of the European Parliament and other European and officials of the United States have also condemned Russian authorities’ cruel treatment of Mr. Navalny; and Whereas Mr. Navalny’s life is in grave and immediate dan- ger: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Apr 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR340.IH HR340 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 340 IH (1) strongly condemns the Government of Rus- 1 sia’s attempted assassination of Mr. Navalny and 2 criminal acts to intimidate and silence Russian 3 human rights, democracy, and anticorruption activ- 4 ists; 5 (2) condemns the Government of Russia’s ongo- 6 ing chemical weapons program in contravention of 7 international law and norms, particularly the Chem- 8 ical Weapons Convention, to which Russia is a 9 party; 10 (3) demands the immediate release of and the 11 provision of robust medical care to Mr. Navalny; 12 (4) reaffirms congressional support for the Ad- 13 ministration to robustly implement the second round 14 of sanctions on the Government of Russia under the 15 Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and War- 16 fare Elimination Act of 1991 if it does not dismantle 17 its chemical weapons and biological weapons within 18 90 days of the date of the adoption of this resolu- 19 tion; 20 (5) condemns the Government of Russia’s ef- 21 forts to stifle the freedom of the press, including 22 through attempts to expel Radio Free Europe/Radio 23 Liberty, and urges the Department of State to place 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Apr 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR340.IH HR340 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 340 IH higher priority on efforts to protect Radio Free Eu- 1 rope/Radio Liberty’s physical presence in Moscow; 2 (6) expresses deep concern with the near com- 3 pletion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a tool of Rus- 4 sian malign influence which would endanger Ukraine 5 and transatlantic security, and calls for the imme- 6 diate halt of its construction; and 7 (7) urges the President of the United States to 8 raise Alexei Navalny’s wrongful imprisonment and 9 rapidly deteriorating health in all high-level engage- 10 ments with the Government of Russia as well as 11 take all appropriate actions to achieve the release of 12 Mr. Navalny, including through additional sanctions 13 of Kremlin officials and Kremlin-directed oligarchs 14 in coordination with our transatlantic allies and 15 partners. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Apr 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR340.IH HR340 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS