[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S.J. Res. 46 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. J. RES. 46

 Commemorating the fifth anniversary of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi 
                    and calling for accountability.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

           September 29 (legislative day, September 22), 2023

  Mr. Kaine (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Merkley, Mr. 
 Murphy, Mr. Coons, Mr. Welch, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Van Hollen, 
 Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Markey, Mrs. Murray, Ms. Warren, Mr. 
  Booker, and Mr. Warner) introduced the following joint resolution; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
 Commemorating the fifth anniversary of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi 
                    and calling for accountability.

Whereas Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist, author, and a former general 
        manager and editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel who fled Saudi 
        Arabia in June 2017 and went into self-imposed exile in Virginia in the 
        United States;
Whereas, on September 18, 2017, Jamal Khashoggi published his first article in 
        the Washington Post, stating, ``I have left my home, my family and my 
        job, and I am raising my voice. To do otherwise would betray those who 
        languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot. I want you to know 
        that Saudi Arabia has not always been as it is now. We Saudis deserve 
        better.'';
Whereas, on October 2, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by 
        agents of the Government of Saudi Arabia in the consulate of Saudi 
        Arabia in Istanbul, Turkey;
Whereas, in February 2021, the Government of the United States submitted an 
        unclassified report to Congress, providing transparency on the killing 
        and announced the Khashoggi Ban, a measure that allows the Department of 
        State to impose visa restrictions on individuals who ``directly engage 
        in serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities, including 
        those that suppress, harass, surveil, threaten, or harm journalists, 
        activists, or other persons perceived to be dissidents'';
Whereas the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found that the Crown 
        Prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman, approved an operation in 
        Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Khashoggi;
Whereas, since the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Government of Saudi 
        Arabia continues to crack down on free expression through the use of 
        enforced disappearances, unjust detentions, threats, intimidation, and 
        transnational repression;
Whereas Freedom House defines transnational repression as ``governments reaching 
        across borders to silence dissent among diasporas and exiles, including 
        through assassinations, illegal deportations, abductions, digital 
        threats, Interpol abuse, and family intimidation'';
Whereas the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, 
        including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of 
        State are part of a recently launched ``whole-of-government'' response 
        to transnational repression, which is being coordinated by the National 
        Security Council;
Whereas, according to Freedom House, the Governments of Iran, the People's 
        Republic of China, Egypt, the Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, 
        and other states are increasingly disregarding the laws of the United 
        States to threaten, harass, surveil, stalk, and, in some cases, plot 
        physical harm to individuals across the United States;
Whereas citizens of the United States Areej al-Sadhan, sister of detained 
        humanitarian aid worker Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, and Abdullah Alaoudh of 
        Virginia, son of detained scholar Salman Alodah, have been subject to 
        intimidation and harassment in the United States;
Whereas, in August 2022, a former Twitter employee was found guilty of acting as 
        an unregistered agent of the Government of Saudi Arabia, spying on Saudi 
        dissidents and sharing their private information with Saudi leadership;
Whereas Saudi officials have continued to arrest, ban the travel of, and 
        otherwise intimidate women and women human rights defenders, including 
        Loujain Alhathloul, Manahel and Fouz al-Otaibi, Fatima al-Shawarbi, Dr. 
        Lina al-Sharif, Salma al-Shehab, and Nourah al-Qahtani;
Whereas Saudi border security systematically killed hundreds of Ethiopian 
        migrants, including women and children, crossing the Saudi-Yemeni border 
        between March 2022 and June 2023, subjecting others to brutal violence 
        and sexual assault;
Whereas Saudi officials continue to unjustly imprison and ban individuals from 
        the United States from travel, including Walid Fitahi and his family, 
        Salah Haidar, Aziza Yousef, and Saad Almadi;
Whereas Saudi human rights abuses, including against individuals of the United 
        States, place unnecessary strain on the United States-Saudi Arabia 
        relationship, which is an essential element of regional stability; and
Whereas the United States has an important strategic relationship with Saudi 
        Arabia, one based on a long history of cooperation on regional security 
        issues and energy supply: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress--
            (1) acknowledges the Government of the United States has 
        sanctioned 17 Saudi individuals under the Global Magnitsky 
        Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of 
        Public Law 114-328; 22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) for their roles in 
        the murder of Jamal Khashoggi; and
            (2) calls for the Government of Saudi Arabia to--
                    (A) ensure appropriate accountability for all 
                individuals responsible for the murder of Jamal 
                Khashoggi, including the individuals sanctioned by the 
                United States;
                    (B) release all individuals wrongfully detained, 
                including Salma Alshehab, Nourah al-Qahtani, 
                Abdulrahman Alsadhan, Muhammed al-Qahtani, Salman 
                Alodah, Waleed Abu al-Khair, and Sarah and Omar 
                Aljabri;
                    (C) lift travel bans and other arbitrary 
                restrictions on dissidents and former political 
                prisoners, including Raif Badawi; and
                    (D) respect the rights of Saudi citizens and ensure 
                the protection of the freedoms of assembly, 
                association, and the press.
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