[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 96 (Thursday, May 21, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2606-S2607]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 596--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE HONG 
 KONG NATIONAL SECURITY LAW PROPOSED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S 
  REPUBLIC OF CHINA WOULD VIOLATE THE OBLIGATIONS OF THAT GOVERNMENT 
 UNDER THE 1984 SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION AND THE HONG KONG BASIC 
 LAW AND CALLING UPON ALL FREE NATIONS OF THE WORLD TO STAND WITH THE 
                          PEOPLE OF HONG KONG

  Mr. HAWLEY (for himself, Mr. Lee, Mr. Cotton, Mrs. Blackburn, Ms. 
McSally, Mr. Peters, Mr. Wicker, Mrs. Loeffler, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. 
Rubio, Mr. Inhofe, and Mr. Daines) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 596

       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     has proposed a new national security law for Hong Kong that 
     would ban secession, subversion of state power, and foreign 
     interference, as defined by the Government of the People's 
     Republic of China;
       Whereas, if the new national security law is passed, the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China is expected to 
     use this law to justify and facilitate an expanded crackdown 
     against peaceful protests and other forms of nonviolent 
     protest by the people of Hong Kong;
       Whereas this proposed law constitutes a significant 
     escalation in the campaign by the Government of the People's 
     Republic of China and its proxies in Hong Kong to erase the 
     basic liberties and human rights promised to the people of 
     Hong Kong under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and 
     the Hong Kong Basic Law;
       Whereas the announcement by the Government of the People's 
     Republic of China of its intent to pass this new national 
     security law reflects that government's fundamental 
     opposition not only to the basic rights and liberties of free 
     persons championed by the people of Hong Kong and the United 
     States, but also to upholding its obligations under 
     international law; and
       Whereas the efforts by the Government of the People's 
     Republic of China to silence peaceful protestors in Hong Kong 
     are part and parcel of a broader hegemonic vision that would 
     see the Government of the People's Republic of China impose 
     its will upon all free people of Asia and beyond: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) the Hong Kong national security law proposed by the 
     Government of the People's Republic of China would violate 
     the legal obligations of that government under--

[[Page S2607]]

       (A) the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, which 
     guarantees for 50 years the protection of the basic rights 
     and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong, including those of 
     speech, press, assembly, association, travel, movement, 
     correspondence, and strike; and
       (B) the Hong Kong Basic Law, which reserves the authority 
     for enacting laws prohibiting treason, secession, sedition, 
     subversion, and foreign interference to the Government of the 
     Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; and
       (2) the United States Government should use all diplomatic 
     means available, including targeted sanctions, to--
       (A) dissuade the Government of the People's Republic of 
     China from passing the proposed Hong Kong national security 
     law;
       (B) compel the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     to rescind the proposed Hong Kong national security law, if 
     it is passed; and
       (C) rally all free nations to stand with the people of Hong 
     Kong against increasingly severe violations by the Government 
     of the People's Republic of China of the rights and liberties 
     guaranteed to them under the 1984 Sino-British Joint 
     Declaration and the Hong Kong Basic Law.

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