[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 115 (Wednesday, July 13, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S3276]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 706--REMEMBERING FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF JAPAN 
                               SHINZO ABE

  Mr. HAGERTY (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Risch, Mr. Menendez, Mr. 
Tillis, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. 
Blumenthal, Ms. Lummis, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Coons, Mr. 
Moran, Mr. Durbin, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Warnock, 
Mr. Cramer, Mr. Hickenlooper, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Schatz, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. 
Markey, Mr. Romney, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Booker, Mr. Boozman, 
Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Daines, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Rounds, Mr. Lujan, Mr. 
Rubio, Mr. King, Mr. Toomey, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Padilla, 
Mr. Cotton, Mr. Bennet, Ms. Collins, Ms. Smith, Mr. Wicker, Mrs. 
Murray, Mr. Hawley, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Thune, 
Mr. Graham, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Portman, Mr. Young, Mrs. Hyde-
Smith, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Reed, Mr. 
Inhofe, Mr. Carper, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Burr) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                              S. Res. 706

       Whereas the emergence of a prosperous and democratic Japan 
     over the past 75 years has been one of the foundations of 
     global stability and peace in the world;
       Whereas former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe was 
     tragically assassinated on July 8, 2022, resulting in the 
     loss of a leading statesman and tireless champion of 
     democratic values around the world;
       Whereas former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe served as the 
     Prime Minister of Japan from 2006 to 2007 and 2012 to 2020, 
     while leaving an indelible mark on the politics, economy, and 
     society of Japan, as well as prosperity and security around 
     the world;
       Whereas, in August 2007, at the Parliament of the Republic 
     of India, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a 
     historic speech entitled ``The Confluence of the Two Seas'', 
     which inspired the vision of the free and open Indo-Pacific;
       Whereas, in December 2012, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 
     launched the concept of the democratic security diamond--the 
     precursor to the modern-day Quadrilateral Security Dialogue--
     in which he envisaged a strategy under which the United 
     States, Australia, India, and Japan would form a ``diamond to 
     safeguard'' the maritime commons stretching from the Indian 
     Ocean region to the Western Pacific;
       Whereas, in April 2015, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 
     made the first address by a Japanese leader to a joint 
     session of Congress where he called the relationship between 
     the United States and Japan ``an alliance of hope'' and 
     offered his ``eternal condolences to the souls of all 
     American people that were lost during World War II'';
       Whereas former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advanced the 
     United States-Japan alliance through multiple Presidential 
     administrations of the United States by strengthening 
     diplomatic, military, and economic cooperation, including the 
     Trade Agreement between the United States of America and 
     Japan, done at Washington October 7, 2019;
       Whereas former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe tirelessly sought 
     to resolve the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by the 
     Democratic People's Republic of Korea and continuously sought 
     the safe return of such citizens to Japan;
       Whereas former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe relentlessly 
     pursued the denuclearization of the Democratic People's 
     Republic of Korea by leading a global campaign to cut off 
     revenue to the unlawful nuclear weapons program the 
     Democratic People's Republic of Korea; and
       Whereas the United States lost a great friend and ally with 
     the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose 
     leadership laid a lasting foundation for the United States 
     and Japan to partner for decades to come in promoting 
     freedom, prosperity, and security around the world and 
     opposing authoritarianism and tyranny: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) remembers former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe and 
     his work to strengthen the alliance between the United States 
     and Japan; and
       (2) extends condolences to the family of former Prime 
     Minister Shinzo Abe and the people of Japan.

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