[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 279 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 279

Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to the 2005 presidential 
                 and parliamentary elections in Egypt.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 26, 2005

 Ms. Ros-Lehtinen submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 
        was referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to the 2005 presidential 
                 and parliamentary elections in Egypt.

Whereas promoting freedom and democracy is a foreign policy and national 
        security priority of the United States;
Whereas free, fair, and transparent elections constitute a foundation of any 
        meaningful democracy;
Whereas in his 2005 State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush stated 
        that ``the great and proud nation of Egypt, which showed the way toward 
        peace in the Middle East, can now show the way toward democracy in the 
        Middle East'';
Whereas in her June 20, 2005, remarks at the American University in Cairo, 
        Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated: ``[T]he Egyptian Government 
        must fulfill the promise it has made to its people--and to the entire 
        world--by giving its citizens the freedom to choose. Egypt's elections, 
        including the Parliamentary elections, must meet objective standards 
        that define every free election.'';
Whereas on February 26, 2005, Egyptian President Mubarak proposed to amend the 
        Egyptian Constitution to allow for Egypt's first ever multi-candidate 
        presidential election;
Whereas in May 2005, President Bush stated that Egypt's presidential election 
        should proceed with international monitors and with rules that allow for 
        a real campaign;
Whereas Egypt prohibited international monitoring in the presidential election, 
        calling such action an infringement on its national sovereignty;
Whereas domestic monitoring of the election became a major point of contention 
        between the government, the judiciary, and civil society organizations;
Whereas in May 2005, the Judges Club, an unofficial union for judges, took the 
        provisional decision to boycott the elections if their demand for a 
        truly independent judiciary was not met;
Whereas the Judges Club initially insisted that the 13,000 judges were in no 
        position to monitor the election if plans proceeded for polling at 
        54,000 stations on one day;
Whereas the government responded to their demands by grouping polling stations 
        to decrease their number to about 10,000, more or less matching the 
        number of available judges;
Whereas on September 2, 2005, a majority of the general assembly of the Judges 
        Club decided that the judges would supervise the election and report any 
        irregularities;
Whereas several coalitions of Egyptian civil society organizations demanded 
        access to polling stations on election day and successfully secured 
        court rulings granting them such access;
Whereas the Presidential Election Council, citing its constitutional authority 
        to oversee the elections process, reportedly ignored the court order for 
        several days, before they granted some nongovernmental organizations 
        access to polling stations a few hours before the polls opened;
Whereas the presidential campaign ran from August 17 to September 4, 2005;
Whereas the presidential election held on September 7, 2005, was largely 
        peaceful, but reportedly marred by low turnout, general confusion over 
        election procedures, alleged manipulation by government authorities, and 
        other inconsistencies;
Whereas the denial of full access by the Government of Egypt to domestic and 
        international monitors undermines the legitimacy of Egypt's presidential 
        and parliamentary elections;
Whereas parliamentary elections will be held in Egypt in three stages: on 
        November 9, 2005, in eight provinces, including Cairo and its twin city 
        of Giza, on November 20 in nine provinces, and on December 1 in nine 
        other provinces;
Whereas it is in the national interests of the United States and Egypt that a 
        truly representative, pluralist, and legitimate Egyptian parliament be 
        elected; and
Whereas the Government of Egypt now has the opportunity to take necessary 
        measures to ensure that the coming legislative elections are free, fair, 
        and transparent: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) recognizes the importance of the presidential election 
        held on September 7, 2005, as a first step toward greater 
        openness and political reforms in Egypt;
            (2) expresses concern over the lack of international 
        election monitoring and irregularities during the Egyptian 
        presidential election;
            (3) recognizes that the development of a democratically-
        elected representative and empowered Egyptian national 
        parliament is the fundamental reform needed to permit real 
        progress towards the rule of law and democracy;
            (4) calls on the Government of Egypt, during the 2005 
        parliamentary elections, to--
                    (A) authorize the judiciary to supervise the 
                election process across the country and at all levels;
                    (B) authorize the presence of accredited 
                representatives of all competing parties and 
                independent candidates at polling stations and during 
                the vote-counting; and
                    (C) allow local and international election monitors 
                full access and accreditation;
            (5) calls on the Government of Egypt to separate the 
        apparatus of the National Democratic Party from the operations 
        of government, to divest all government holdings in Egyptian 
        media, and to end the government monopoly over printing and 
        distribution of newspapers; and
            (6) calls on the Government of Egypt to repeal the 1981 
        emergency law and in the development of any future anti-
        terrorism legislation to allow peaceful, constitutional 
        political activities, including public meetings and 
        demonstrations, and allow full parliamentary scrutiny of any 
        such legislation.
                                 <all>