[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 139 (Wednesday, August 4, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5836-S5837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 337--RECOGNIZING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE EXPLOSION AT 
 THE PORT OF BEIRUT ON AUGUST 4, 2020, AND EXPRESSING SOLIDARITY WITH 
                          THE LEBANESE PEOPLE

  Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself and Mr. Rubio) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 337

       Whereas, on August 4, 2020, an estimated 2,750 tons of 
     ammonium nitrate detonated at the Port of Beirut, killing 
     more than 200 people, injuring more than 7,500, displacing an 
     estimated 300,000, and causing an estimated $4,600,000,000 in 
     property damage;
       Whereas reports suggest that the ammonium nitrate that 
     detonated in the blast had been confiscated from the MV 
     Rhosus, an abandoned cargo ship, in 2014 and had been 
     unsafely stored at the Port of Beirut despite warnings of the 
     risks posed by the stockpile from multiple customs and 
     security officials in successive governments;
       Whereas, in addition to the 300,000 estimated to be 
     displaced by the blast, Lebanon also hosts 1,500,000 refugees 
     from conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and the Palestinian 
     Territories;
       Whereas, the United Nations estimates that 3,200,000 
     Lebanese nationals and refugees are in need in Lebanon, 
     including 3,000,000 people in need of health assistance and 
     2,300,000 people in need of food and agricultural assistance;
       Whereas the people of Lebanon face what the World Bank has 
     described as a ``deliberate depression'' and an economic 
     crisis compounded by the explosion at the Port of Beirut and 
     impasse of governance;
       Whereas the World Bank projects that more than half of the 
     population of Lebanon lives in poverty in 2021 and 25 percent 
     lives in extreme poverty;
       Whereas the World Bank estimates that inflation increased 
     from 10 percent in January 2020 to 120 percent in August 2020 
     while, according to the Central Administration of Statistics 
     for Lebanon, food prices rose 402 percent between December 
     2019 and December 2020;
       Whereas, 3 days after the explosion on August 4, 2020, the 
     United States Agency for International Development activated 
     a Disaster Assistance Response Team (``DART'') and stood up a 
     Response Management Team (``RMT'') to coordinate the response 
     of the United States Government, which included--
       (1) $15,100,000 to support emergency food and health 
     response activities;
       (2) $10,500,000 to the World Food Program (``WFP'') in 
     order to reach 300,000 people affected by the explosions;
       (3) coordination at an international donors conference, 
     raising an additional $298,000,000 in assistance;
       (4) an airlift of emergency health kits containing critical 
     medical commodities sufficient to support up to 60,000 people 
     for 3 months; and
       (5) supporting the Office of the UN High Commissioner for 
     Refugees (``UNHCR'') to provide primary and secondary health 
     care services to vulnerable individuals, including in 
     response to the COVID-19 pandemic;
       Whereas, 1 year after the explosion, domestic Lebanese 
     investigations into the blast have been stalled and no 
     answers have been provided to the Lebanese public;
       Whereas, on August 10, 2020, the Lebanese government 
     referred the Beirut explosion to

[[Page S5837]]

     the Judicial Council for investigation and, on August 13, 
     2020, Judge Fadi Sawan was appointed to head the 
     investigation and possible prosecution;
       Whereas Judge Sawan charged several government officials 
     with criminal negligence for ignoring warnings regarding 
     unsafe conditions created by the storage of chemicals at the 
     Port of Beirut;
       Whereas those officials accused of negligence in the Port 
     blast have claimed immunity from prosecution and filed legal 
     efforts to remove Judge Sawan from the probe;
       Whereas, on February 18, 2021, Judge Sawan was removed from 
     the investigation, further delaying justice for the victims 
     of the blast and the people of Lebanon;
       Whereas Hezbollah, designated by the Department of State as 
     a foreign terrorist organization, benefits from governmental 
     corruption at the Port of Beirut that allows for the illicit 
     import and export of goods;
       Whereas, on July 30, 2021, the European Union, with the 
     support of the Department of State and the Department of the 
     Treasury, adopted a sanctions regime targeting corrupt actors 
     within the government of Lebanon; and
       Whereas the people of Lebanon across the political and 
     sectoral spectrum have demanded accountability for the tragic 
     events of August 4, 2020, and have requested that their 
     governing and economic institutions implement meaningful 
     reform, accountability, and transparency; Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) stands with the people of Lebanon 1 year on from the 
     horrific tragedy of the Port of Beirut explosion and 
     acknowledges the burdens that the Lebanese people have 
     shouldered;
       (2) supports the demands of the people of Lebanon for 
     transparency, accountability, and an end to systemic and 
     endemic corruption in the Government of Lebanon;
       (3) further supports continued efforts by the United States 
     Government to provide humanitarian relief in concert with 
     other governments and international partners in a manner that 
     directly benefits the Lebanese people and is through 
     properly-vetted channels, organizations, and individuals;
       (4) commends the European Union for developing, with the 
     support of the United States, the framework of sanctions 
     regime to prompt accountability and good governance in 
     Lebanon;
       (5) calls on all Lebanese officials to respect and abide by 
     an independent and transparent judiciary investigation into 
     the cause of, and responsibility for, the port explosion; and
       (6) further calls on Lebanese political leaders to form and 
     approve a stable, democratic, and legitimate government and 
     to immediately implement the reforms necessary to ensure good 
     governance and economic stability.

                          ____________________