[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 7, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S82]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REGARDING CRITICAL NEED FOR POLITICAL REFORM IN BANGLADESH
Mr. REED. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 273, S. Res.
318.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 318) expressing the sense of the
Senate regarding the critical need for political reform in
Bangladesh, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign
Relations, with an amendment to the title.
Mr. REED. I further ask unanimous consent that the resolution be
agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the committee reported title
amendment be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered
made and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The resolution (S. Res. 318) was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 318
Whereas the nation of Bangladesh was established in 1971
after a bitter war in which it split from Pakistan, and for
many of the ensuing years until 1990, it was ruled by
military governments;
Whereas political tensions have at times turned to violence
in Bangladesh, undermining the democratic process;
Whereas the last parliamentary elections in Bangladesh
originally scheduled for January 2007, were postponed
indefinitely after the military intervened amid rising
violence and questions about the electoral process's
credibility;
Whereas a military-backed civilian caretaker government
held power until December 2008 when Bangladeshis returned to
the polls to elect a new parliament for the first time in
many years;
Whereas ongoing antagonism between the country's two ruling
parties, the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist
Party, distracts from the important needs of the country;
Whereas concerns have grown about religious extremism in
the otherwise usually tolerant country;
Whereas the United States-Bangladesh relationship is strong
and involves many shared interests, including regional
economic integration, counterterrorism, counter-piracy,
poverty alleviation, food security, regional stability, and
mitigation of natural disasters;
Whereas bilateral trade between the United States and
Bangladesh now tops $6,000,000,000 annually, with major
United States companies making significant long-term
investments in Bangladesh;
Whereas the economy of Bangladesh has grown six percent per
year over the last two decades, despite a range of
challenges;
Whereas the poverty rate in Bangladesh dropped from 40
percent to 31 percent between 2005 and 2010--a notable
accomplishment in a country in which poverty has been deep
and widespread;
Whereas the Grameen Bank's revolutionary microfinance
lending to the poor has helped reduce poverty not only in
Bangladesh, but has served as an innovative and powerful
model for helping the poor elsewhere in the world;
Whereas the Department of State, Congress, and other high
profile international voices have recognized the Grameen
Bank's innovative work and expressed great concern over
actions by the Government of Bangladesh that undermine the
Bank's independence;
Whereas Bangladesh, an example of a moderate and diverse
Muslim-majority democracy, is scheduled to have national
elections on January 5, 2014;
Whereas, in 2013, hundreds of Bangladeshis died in violent
clashes as a result of political violence and unrest, and
some opposition and human rights activists have been
arrested;
Whereas trials held by the International Crimes Tribunal in
Bangladesh--set up to prosecute those responsible for
atrocities committed during Bangladesh's war of liberation
with Pakistan in 1971--have fallen short of international
standards;
Whereas the Government of Bangladesh eliminated a
constitutional provision requiring the governing party to
cede power to a neutral caretaker government three months
before an election;
Whereas the 18-member opposition coalition in Bangladesh
called for numerous nationwide strikes and transportation
blockades in 2013, resulting in dozens of deaths;
Whereas Bangladeshi students cannot attend school and
complete mandatory exams due to the strikes and blockades and
related violence;
Whereas many citizens of Bangladesh have had their work and
daily activities disrupted due to the strikes and related
violence, which come at a cost to the economy and stability
of Bangladesh;
Whereas a stable, moderate, secular, Muslim-majority
democracy with the world's seventh-largest population, and
the world's fourth-largest Muslim population, will have
lasting positive impacts in the region and beyond;
Whereas the success of the democratic process in Bangladesh
is of great importance to the United States and the world;
and
Whereas during the week of December 8, 2013, United Nations
Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco visited
Bangladesh to foster political dialogue between Bangladeshi
political parties and leaders in order to bring a halt to
violence and allow for a credible peaceful election: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) condemns the political violence in Bangladesh and urges
political leaders in that country to engage directly and
substantively in a dialogue toward free, fair, and credible
elections;
(2) expresses great concern about the continued political
deadlock in Bangladesh that distracts from the country's many
important challenges;
(3) urges political leaders in Bangladesh to take immediate
steps to rein in and to condemn the violence as well as to
provide space for peaceful political protests;
(4) urges political leaders in Bangladesh to ensure the
safety and access of observers in its upcoming elections;
(5) supports ongoing efforts by United Nations Assistant
Secretary General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco to foster political
dialogue between political factions in Bangladesh; and
(6) urges the Government of Bangladesh to ensure judicial
independence, end harassment of human rights activists, and
restore the independence of the Grameen Bank.
The title was amended so as to read: ``A resolution expressing the
sense of the Senate regarding the critical need for political dialogue
in Bangladesh, and for other purposes.''
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