[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 9, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H1092]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
(Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to address the House
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I, too, rise in strong support of H.R.
3485, the Global Respect Act of 2021, which mandates a listing of and
visa restrictions on foreign persons responsible for or complicit in
human rights violations against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) persons.
It is very difficult for these individuals to suffer what they
suffer. This community, of course, faces discrimination, violence, and
bigotry all over the world. Sixty-eight countries criminalize same-sex
sexual relations, which means that more than one-third of the United
Nations' member states criminalize consenting adult and same-sex sexual
relations. It includes nation-states in Africa. In up to nine
countries, same-sex sexual relations may be punishable by death, and
so-called anti-LGBTQ-plus propaganda laws inhibit LGBTQ-plus advocacy
in at least three countries.
Let me thank Mr. Cicilline and the leadership for putting this bill
forward. This is a bipartisan bill with a list of foreign individuals
found responsible for human rights violations against this community.
I am supporting this bill because it has teeth because it requires
denial of and limitations on visas. Let me ask the Senate to pass
Global Respect Act, H.R. 3485.
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