[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 9, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6389-S6390]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      UNITED STATES POLICY DURING POLITICAL TRANSITION IN ZIMBABWE

  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 176, submitted 
earlier today.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 176) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate on United States policy during the political 
     transition in Zimbabwe, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or 
debate, and that any statements relating to the resolution be printed 
in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 176) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 176

       Whereas, over the course of the last decade, the Zimbabwean 
     African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), led by 
     Robert Mugabe, increasingly turned to violence and 
     intimidation to maintain power amidst government-directed 
     economic collapse and a growing humanitarian crisis;
       Whereas the Department of State's 2008 Country Report on 
     Human Rights Practices states that the Government of Zimbabwe 
     ``continued to engage in the pervasive and systematic abuse 
     of human rights, which increased during the year,'' including 
     unlawful killings, politically-motivated abductions, state-
     sanctioned use of excessive force and torture by security 
     forces against opposition, student leaders, and civil society 
     activists;
       Whereas Zimbabwe held presidential and parliamentary 
     elections on March 29, 2008, with official results showing 
     that Mr. Mugabe won 43.2 percent of the vote, while Morgan 
     Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition party Movement for 
     Democratic Change (MDC), won 47.9 percent of the vote;
       Whereas, in the wake of those elections, Mr. Mugabe and his 
     allies launched a brutal campaign of violence against members 
     and supporters of the MDC, voters and journalists, and other 
     citizens of Zimbabwe, leading Mr. Tsvangirai to withdraw from 
     the June 27, 2008, runoff presidential election, which Mr. 
     Mugabe, the only remaining candidate, then won with 85 
     percent of the vote;
       Whereas, on September 15, 2008, ZANU-PF and the MDC signed 
     a ``Global Political Agreement'' (GPA) to form a transitional 
     government under which Mr. Mugabe would remain President, Mr. 
     Tsvangirai would become Prime Minister, and the parties would 
     divide control of the ministries;
       Whereas the Global Political Agreement, as written, 
     included provisions to restore the rule of law and economic 
     stability and growth, establish a new constitution, end 
     violence by state and non-state actors, and promote freedom 
     of assembly, association, expression, and communication;
       Whereas the installation of the transitional government 
     stalled for five months as Mr. Mugabe and his allies refused 
     to compromise on control of key ministries and security 
     agencies and continued to use the state security apparatus to 
     intimidate and commit violence against political opponents;
       Whereas, according to the United Nations, the humanitarian 
     situation during that time deteriorated to unprecedented 
     levels, with an estimated 5,000,000 people in Zimbabwe 
     susceptible to food insecurity, and collapsing water and 
     sewerage services giving rise to a cholera epidemic that has 
     resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 people;

[[Page S6390]]

       Whereas, on February 11, 2009, the parties finally formed 
     the transitional government;
       Whereas there has since been some progress toward the 
     implementation of the Global Political Agreement, including 
     positive steps by the Ministry of Finance, such as the 
     issuance of a Short Term Economic Recovery Program (STERP) 
     and the abandonment of the Zimbabwe dollar in favor of 
     foreign currencies;
       Whereas many of the reform-minded individuals within the 
     new transitional government are limited by a severe lack of 
     qualified personnel and material resources;
       Whereas the full implementation of the Global Political 
     Agreement continues to be obstructed by hardliners in the 
     government, and important issues regarding senior government 
     appointments remain unresolved, notably the status of the 
     current Reserve Bank Governor and the Attorney General;
       Whereas ZANU-PF officials have made efforts to obstruct 
     implementation of the Global Political Agreement as they 
     continue to arrest legitimate journalists and human rights 
     activists and delay the swearing into office of properly 
     designated officials nominated by MDC; and
       Whereas the security forces continue to operate outside the 
     rule of law, condoning land invasions, restrictions on media 
     access and freedoms, and harassment, arbitrary arrests, and 
     detention of civil society activists in Zimbabwe: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 
     United States Government, in coordination with other 
     democratic governments and international institutions 
     desiring to help the people of Zimbabwe, should--
       (1) continue to provide humanitarian assistance to meet the 
     urgent needs of the people of Zimbabwe;
       (2) make available increased resources for nongovernmental 
     entities to provide assistance and to pay salaries or fees to 
     appropriately qualified people in Zimbabwe to enable progress 
     to be made in the critical areas of education, health, water, 
     and sanitation;
       (3) welcome and encourage responsible efforts by the 
     international community to support, strengthen, and extend 
     reforms made by ministries within the Government of Zimbabwe, 
     especially the Ministry of Finance;
       (4) provide concrete financial and technical assistance in 
     response to requests from the people of Zimbabwe and civil 
     society organizations in their efforts to draft and enact a 
     new constitution based on democratic values and principles 
     that would enable the country to hold fair and free elections 
     at an early date;
       (5) work with and encourage regional governments and 
     leaders to promote human rights, the restoration of the rule 
     of law, and economic growth in Zimbabwe;
       (6) maintain the existing ban on the transfer of defense 
     items and services and the suspension of most non-
     humanitarian government-to-government assistance until there 
     is demonstrable progress toward restoring the rule of law, 
     civilian control over security forces, and respect for human 
     rights in Zimbabwe; and
       (7) support the continuation and updating of financial 
     sanctions and travel bans targeted against those individuals 
     responsible for the deliberate breakdown of the rule of law, 
     politically motivated violence, and other ongoing illegal 
     activities in Zimbabwe.

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