[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 15, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S251-S252]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  REAFFIRMING THE SUPPORT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE 
  REPUBLIC OF SOUTH SUDAN AND CALLING ON ALL PARTIES TO UPHOLD THEIR 
 COMMITMENTS TO PEACE AND DIALOGUE AS OUTLINED IN THE 2018 REVITALIZED 
                            PEACE AGREEMENT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 338, S. Res. 371.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will read the resolution by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 371) reaffirming the support of the 
     United States for the people of the Republic of South Sudan 
     and calling on all parties to uphold their commitments to 
     peace and dialogue as outlined in the 2018 revitalized peace 
     agreement.

  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 strike all after the resolving clause 
and insert the part printed in italic and an amendment to the preamble 
to strike the preamble and insert the part printed in italic:

       Whereas the people and Government of the United States have 
     a deep and abiding interest in South Sudan's democratic 
     development and post-conflict stabilization;
       Whereas the United States was a critical partner in the 
     drafting and implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace 
     Agreement that laid the groundwork for the 2011 referendum on 
     self-determination, through which the people of South Sudan 
     overwhelmingly voted for independence;
       Whereas the United States recognized South Sudan as a 
     sovereign, independent state on July 9, 2011;
       Whereas, since the onset of the civil war in South Sudan in 
     December 2013, nearly 400,000 South Sudanese citizens are 
     estimated to have been killed, 1,900,000 have been internally 
     displaced, and 2,300,000 have fled the country and registered 
     as refugees;
       Whereas violence erupted in Juba in July 2016 and spread 
     throughout the country in violation of the August 17, 2015, 
     Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic 
     of South Sudan (ARCSS);
       Whereas the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the 
     Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS), signed on 
     September 12, 2018, affirmed the Parties' commitment to the 
     permanent ceasefire, humanitarian access, and respect for 
     human rights, and established two phases of implementation, 
     an 8-month Pre-Transitional Period followed by a 36 month 
     Transitional Period that includes the establishment of a 
     Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity 
     (RTGoNU), and calls for elections 60 days prior to the end of 
     the Transitional Period to establish a democratic government;
       Whereas the R-ARCSS stipulates that the signatories will 
     create an enabling political, administrative, operational, 
     and legal environment for the delivery of humanitarian 
     assistance and civilian protection;
       Whereas two extensions to the deadline to form the RTGoNU 
     have been granted to allow additional time to complete 
     critical Pre-Transitional tasks, including agreement on the 
     number and boundaries of states and important security 
     arrangements;
       Whereas the United States Department of State 2018 Country 
     Report on Human Rights Practices in South Sudan states that 
     both the government and opposition forces engaged in serious 
     human rights abuses by perpetrating extrajudicial killings, 
     including ethnically based targeted killings of civilians, 
     and by engaging in arbitrary detentions, torture, rape, 
     beatings, and looting of property;
       Whereas, on March 15, 2019, the United Nations Security 
     Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in 
     South Sudan (UNMISS) for one year and authorized UNMISS to 
     use all necessary means to deter violence against civilians, 
     to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence, 
     and to foster a secure environment for the return or 
     relocation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 
     refugees;
       Whereas the people of South Sudan continue to suffer from a 
     humanitarian crisis, despite over $4,500,000,000 in United 
     States humanitarian aid provided since the conflict began, 
     with more than half the population experiencing acute food 
     insecurity at the peak of the lean season in 2019, and 
     humanitarian organizations are providing more than 5,300,000 
     people with lifesaving assistance and other vital support 
     services, such as medical care to survivors of sexual 
     violence and facilitating access to education to over 690,000 
     children;
       Whereas South Sudan has been at the lowest tier of the 
     Department of State's Trafficking in Persons rankings since 
     2015, indicating that its government does not fully meet the 
     minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is 
     not making significant efforts to do so;
       Whereas impunity for past atrocities, corruption, and 
     capture of key sectors of the national economy, such as the 
     oil and mining sectors, continues to drive violence in South 
     Sudan, and signatories to the R-ARCSS committed to the 
     establishment of transitional justice and economic and 
     resource management measures;
       Whereas the United Nations Security Council adopted 
     resolution 2471 on May 30, 2019, to extend its sanctions 
     regime in South Sudan and renew the prohibition of the 
     supply, sale, or transfer to South Sudan of arms and related 
     material or the provision of training, technical, and 
     financial assistance related to military activities or 
     materials until May 31, 2020; and
       Whereas peace and security in South Sudan is critical to 
     peace and security in East Africa: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved,
     That the Senate--
       (1) supports a sustainable peace and democracy in South 
     Sudan;
       (2) calls on the incumbent government and all other 
     signatories of the R-ARCSS to--
       (A) take concrete and meaningful steps to create an 
     enabling environment, to include security arrangements for 
     Juba and the unification of forces, for all relevant 
     stakeholders to participate actively in the formation of the 
     RTGoNU and South Sudan's democratic development and post-
     conflict stabilization;
       (B) take immediate action to resolve peacefully the 
     remaining political issues for negotiation during the Pre-
     Transitional Period, including agreement on the number and 
     boundaries of states;
       (C) adhere to the cessation of hostilities and ensure 
     humanitarian access;
       (D) immediately release all political prisoners and fulfill 
     their responsibility to protect civilians;
       (E) ensure respect for the right to freedom of expression, 
     association, and peaceful assembly; and
       (F) cease recruitment and immediately release all child 
     soldiers under the command or influence of the South Sudan 
     People's Defense Forces (SSPDF) and its associated militias;
       (3) calls on heads of state of member countries of the 
     Intergovernmental Authority on Development in East Africa to 
     engage South Sudanese leaders and parties to uphold their 
     commitments to the peace agreement, including maintaining the 
     cease-fire, to make good-faith progress toward peacefully 
     forming the RTGoNU, and to resolve other key issues;
       (4) calls on the Secretary of State and the Administrator 
     of the United States Agency for International Development 
     (USAID) to--
       (A) intensify bilateral and multilateral diplomatic efforts 
     to demonstrate the commitment of the United States to helping 
     achieve a permanent and sustainable peace in South Sudan on 
     par with its commitment to ameliorate the suffering of the 
     South Sudanese people;
       (B) elevate and consult additional voices in South Sudan to 
     broaden the constituency and shared responsibility for 
     maintaining peace and fulfilling the commitments of the Pre-
     Transitional and Transitional periods; and
       (C) continue to support civilians, particularly women and 
     children, who have been adversely affected by the civil war, 
     and provide assistance to meet humanitarian needs and support 
     peacebuilding, conflict prevention, transitional justice, and 
     reconciliation efforts led by local civil society;
       (5) urges the Secretary of State and the United States 
     Permanent Representative to the United Nations to monitor 
     implementation of the UNMISS mandate authorized by United 
     Nations Security Council Resolution 2459 (2019) and ensure 
     that any return or relocation of IDPs from United Nations 
     Protection of Civilian sites are safe, informed, voluntary, 
     dignified, and conducted in coordination with humanitarian 
     actors;
       (6) urges the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the 
     Secretary of the Treasury to continue to monitor human rights 
     abuses and corruption in South Sudan and take decisive action 
     using authorities granted under the Global Magnitsky Human 
     Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public 
     Law 114-328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note);

[[Page S252]]

       (7) urges the Secretary of the Treasury to exercise all 
     options to prevent, detect, investigate, and mitigate money 
     laundering activities; and
       (8) supports implementation and subsequent renewal of the 
     United Nations Security Council arms embargo in South Sudan 
     to prevent continued illicit acquisition of arms and military 
     equipment by all parties and the proliferation of weapons 
     throughout the country.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported 
substitute amendment to the resolution be agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendment, in the nature of a substitute, was 
agreed to.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I know of no further debate on the resolution, as 
amended.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there is no further debate, the question is 
on the adoption of the resolution, as amended.
  The resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported 
amendment to the preamble be agreed to; that the preamble, as amended, 
be agreed to; and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and 
laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendment to the preamble was agreed to.
  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
  The resolution (S. Res. 371), as amended, was agreed to, and the 
preamble, as amended, was agreed to.

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