[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 99 (Thursday, June 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S3495]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 424. Mr. GARDNER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2020 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle E of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 12__. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON POLICY TOWARD HONG KONG.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The United States policy toward Hong Kong is guided by 
     the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 
     102-383; 106 Stat. 1448) (referred to in this section as the 
     ``Act''), which reaffirms that ``The Hong Kong Special 
     Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, 
     beginning on July 1, 1997, will continue to enjoy a high 
     degree of autonomy on all matters other than defense and 
     foreign affairs.''.
       (2) The Act furthermore states that ``The human rights of 
     the people of Hong Kong are of great importance to the United 
     States and are directly relevant to United States interests 
     in Hong Kong.''.
       (3) Pursuant to section 301 of the Act (22 U.S.C. 5731), 
     the annual report issued by the Department of State on 
     developments in Hong Kong (referred to in this section as the 
     ``Report''), released on March 21, 2019, states that 
     ``Cooperation between the United States Government and the 
     Hong Kong government remains broad and effective in many 
     areas, providing significant benefits to the United States 
     economy and homeland security.''.
       (4) The Report states that ``the Chinese mainland central 
     government implemented or instigated a number of actions that 
     appeared inconsistent with China's commitments in the Basic 
     Law, and in the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, to 
     allow Hong Kong to exercise a high degree of autonomy.''.
       (5) The Report furthermore states that the ``Hong Kong 
     authorities took actions aligned with mainland priorities at 
     the expense of human rights and fundamental freedoms. There 
     were particular setbacks in democratic electoral processes, 
     freedom of expression, and freedom of association.''.
       (6) On June 10, 2019, the spokesporson for the Department 
     of State issued a statement expressing ``grave concern about 
     the Hong Kong government's proposed amendments to its 
     Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, which, if passed, would permit 
     Chinese authorities to request the extradition of individuals 
     to mainland China.''.
       (7) According to media reports, in June 2019, over 
     1,000,000 residents of Hong Kong have taken part in 
     demonstrations against the proposed amendments to the 
     Fugitive Offenders Ordinance.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the government of the People's Republic of China and 
     the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's 
     Republic of China authorities should immediately cease taking 
     all actions that undermine Hong Kong's autonomy and 
     negatively impact the protections of fundamental human 
     rights, freedoms, and democratic values of the people of Hong 
     Kong, as enshrined in the Act, Hong Kong's Basic Law of 1997, 
     and the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984;
       (2) the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the 
     People's Republic of China authorities should immediately 
     withdraw from consideration the proposed amendments to its 
     Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and refrain from any unwarranted 
     use of force against the protestors that is inconsistent with 
     internationally recognized law enforcement best practices; 
     and
       (3) the United States should impose financial sanctions, 
     visa bans, and other punitive economic measures against all 
     individuals or entities violating the fundamental human 
     rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong, consistent 
     with United States and international law.
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