[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 117 (Thursday, June 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S3451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 1959. Mr. MENENDEZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
by him to the bill S. 4049, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2021 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 G of title XII, insert the 
     following:

     SEC. 1287. SENSE OF SENATE ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 
                   ENGAGEMENT ON INDIVIDUALS DETAINED FOR PEACEFUL 
                   EXPRESSION.

       It is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) United States diplomatic and security relationships 
     with countries around the world cannot realize their full 
     potential in the absence of respect for human rights and the 
     rule of law;
       (2) the practice by some countries of detaining individuals 
     for peacefully expressing their views violates such 
     individuals' human rights, and should be condemned;
       (3) prisoners throughout the world are particularly 
     vulnerable to COVID-19 due to crowded conditions and strains 
     on medical care, making the need to release individuals 
     detained for peacefully expressing their views more urgent;
       (4) the Senate--
       (A) supports the release of individuals held for peaceful 
     expressions of activism; and
       (B) affirms that a government should never detain its 
     citizens for exercising their rights of freedom of assembly, 
     association, and speech;
       (5) in the interactions with foreign governments that 
     detain individuals for peacefully expressing their views, 
     Department of Defense officials should coordinate with the 
     Department of State to encourage such governments to release 
     individuals detained for peaceful expression of views and end 
     the practice of detaining individuals who engage in acts of 
     peaceful expression; and
       (6) the encouragement described in paragraph (5) would 
     further a principal foreign policy goal of the United States, 
     as articulated in section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act 
     of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304) (relating to the provision of 
     defense articles and defense services): ``a principal goal of 
     the foreign policy of the United States shall be to promote 
     the increased observance of internationally recognized human 
     rights by all countries''.
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