[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4258 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4258

  To ensure free, fair, and competitive elections in the Republic of 
                                Georgia.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 26, 2012

Mr. McDermott introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To ensure free, fair, and competitive elections in the Republic of 
                                Georgia.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Republic of Georgia Democracy Act of 
2012''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) A democratic and stable Republic of Georgia is in the 
        political, security, and economic interests of the United 
        States.
            (2) Georgia plays a key role in the security of the Black 
        Sea and South Caucasus region, which is important for Euro-
        Atlantic security, transportation, and energy diversification 
        to and from the Caspian Sea.
            (3) Georgia has been a reliable partner and ally in 
        enhancing global peace and stability with its significant 
        contribution to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
            (4) The United States-Georgia Charter on Strategic 
        Partnership, signed in January 2009, outlines the importance of 
        the bilateral relationship as well as the intent of both 
        countries to expand democracy and economic programs, enhance 
        defense and security cooperation, further trade and energy 
        cooperation, and build people-to-people cultural exchanges.
            (5) Georgia's democratic nature is one of its core 
        strengths and the basis for the deep friendship between Georgia 
        and the United States. As such, continued democratic reform, 
        the strength of Georgia's democratic institutions, and regular 
        free, fair, and competitive elections are key priorities for a 
        strong continuing relationship between the United States and 
        Georgia.
            (6) Democracy in Georgia is facing serious challenges and 
        political freedom and fair competition between political 
        parties is under assault. For example, the government has 
        increased detaining members of the political opposition and 
        civil society nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), limited 
        freedom of the press, undermined the right of workers to 
        organize and bargain collectively, and stopped opposition 
        groups from holding demonstrations--often by violent means.
            (7) According to the Department of State's 2010 Human 
        Rights Report on Georgia, when President Mikheil Saakashvili 
        was re-elected to the Presidency in 2008, ``the OSCE identified 
        significant problems, including widespread allegations of 
        intimidation and pressure, flawed vote-counting and tabulation 
        processes, and shortcomings in the complaints and appeals 
        process. These and other problems continued into the 
        parliamentary elections in May 2008, which international 
        observers concluded were uneven and incomplete in their 
        adherence to international standards.''.
            (8) On February 13, 2012, United Nations Special Rapporteur 
        on the Right to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association 
        Maina Kiai concluded at the end of his visit to Georgia that 
        the previous positive trajectory of the country was being 
        replaced with a ``widespread climate of fear, intimidation and 
        arbitrary restrictions of fundamental freedoms.'' He identified 
        multiple problems, including with the way in which the 
        government undermined political parties and NGOs, such as 
        prosecuting and detaining political activists with little to no 
        evidence. Furthermore, he noted, ``there have been long 
        standing concerns--by regional bodies and the UN--about the 
        inability to distinguish between the ruling party and the 
        state, which is especially relevant in light of the upcoming 
        parliamentary and presidential elections.''.
            (9) Georgia will hold parliamentary elections in October 
        2012. In the run-up to the election, Georgian President Mikheil 
        Saakashvili and the Georgian Parliament enacted constitutional 
        changes that reduce the power of the president and increase the 
        power of the prime minister.
            (10) Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's presidential 
        term ends in 2013 and it has been reported that he plans to 
        assume the role of Prime Minister if his political party, 
        United National Movement (UNM), wins the majority of the seats 
        in the Parliament, which it currently has.
            (11) Bidzina Ivanishvili, a Georgian businessman who has 
        never served in the Georgian Government, launched a new 
        political party called Georgian Dream, on October 5, 2011, in 
        an effort to unify the Georgian opposition parties and 
        challenge Saakashvili's increasingly dictatorial control over 
        Georgia's government.
            (12) In response to the creation of Georgian Dream, Mikheil 
        Saakashvili's regime stripped Bidzina Ivanishvili of his 
        citizenship despite the fact that Mikheil Saakashvili granted 
        Ivanishvili's citizenship in the first place, Ivanishvili was 
        born in Georgia, and there is no legal basis for his 
        citizenship to be revoked.
            (13) Since the launch of Georgian Dream, the Saakashvili 
        regime has launched a concerted, aggressive campaign to 
        undermine Georgian Dream's ability to compete against 
        Saakashvili's party in the Parliamentary elections. For 
        example, the Georgian Government has fired those employees, 
        especially teachers, who support Ivanishvili or other 
        opposition parties.
            (14) The Georgian Government has increased harassment and 
        detention of the supporters of Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream and 
        other opposition parties, often through violent means, without 
        due process. Hundreds of opposition supporters have been 
        detained in March 2012 as part of a concerted effort to 
        intimidate voters and opposition campaigners.
            (15) On February 27, 2011, Solomon Kimeridze, an 
        Ivanishvili supporter, died under suspicious circumstances 
        while in police custody.
            (16) On May 26, 2011, Georgian security officials killed 
        two protesters while using violent means to break-up a peaceful 
        protest. An investigation into this incident has been requested 
        by United States Ambassador Robert Bass, the United Nations 
        High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Commission, 
        Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.
            (17) On December 28, 2011, the Georgian Parliament passed 
        new election laws that will limit opposition parties' access to 
        funds. The OSCE and the U.S. State Department criticized this 
        law for both its substance and the abnormal way in which it was 
        enacted by the Saakashvili-controlled parliament. Furthermore, 
        the Chamber of Control, the state audit agency that is 
        controlled by Saakashvili, created a new division specifically 
        focused on investigating Georgian Dream and Bidzina Ivanishvili 
        and blocking Ivanishvili's financial support for opposition 
        candidates and party building.
            (18) United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to 
        Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association Maina Kiai 
        concluded that these changes to the election law ``appear to 
        affect the rights to association and to peaceful assembly . . . 
        these amendments, which at times use ambiguous language, are 
        fuelling an overall climate of distrust, and appear to largely 
        violate international human rights law.''.
            (19) The Saakashvili regime has warped the Georgian banking 
        sector, previously a model of post-Soviet success and 
        transparency, in an effort to destroy Bank Cartu, a bank owned 
        by Bidzina Ivanishvili. Based on a law passed at the end of 
        October 2011 after Ivanishvili announced the creation of 
        Georgian Dream, the Georgian Government seized over millions of 
        dollars in bank assets. The American Chamber of Commerce 
        criticized this new law, predicted that it would undermine a 
        model banking system that has been built with the support of 
        the United States Government, IMF, and World Bank. The Georgian 
        Government has only applied this new law, which gives the 
        Government the right to seize loan collateral before the banks 
        that issued the loan, to Bank Cartu and no other banks. As a 
        result, the Saakashvili regime continues to seize Bank Cartu 
        assets in an effort to force the bank out of business and 
        remove a source of Ivanishvili's financial support.
            (20) United States national security interests are best 
        served by a democratic Georgia no matter what individuals and 
        which parties are in control of the country. An undemocratic 
        Georgia will breed instability in a volatile region and 
        increase the likelihood of violent conflict. As such, it is 
        incumbent on the United States Government to clearly 
        communicate to President Saakashvili that if he continues down 
        his current path and does not allow free, fair, and competitive 
        elections, the special relationship between the United States 
        and Georgia will be at risk and Georgia will face the loss of 
        both United States political support and financial assistance.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON ASSISTANCE TO THE REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA.

    (a) Limitation.--No funds available to any United States department 
or agency for fiscal year 2013 may be used to provide assistance to the 
Republic of Georgia until the Secretary of State certifies and reports 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate that the parliamentary 
elections held in October 2012 or such other date if rescheduled were 
carried out in a free, fair, and competitive manner consistent with 
international standards.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The report required under subsection 
(a) shall include information on--
            (1) the presence and findings of election observers;
            (2) the ability of opposition parties to campaign 
        effectively; and
            (3) whether Bidzina Ivanishvili and the Georgian Dream 
        Party participated in the election, and, if not, the reason for 
        their absence.
                                 <all>