[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 147 (Tuesday, September 13, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4578-S4579]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

                                 ______
                                 

SENATE RESOLUTION 757--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE IN SUPPORT OF 
  THE PEACEFUL DEMOCRATIC AND ECONOMIC ASPIRATIONS OF THE SRI LANKAN 
                                 PEOPLE

  Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Leahy, and Mr. Booker) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 757

       Whereas Sri Lanka gained its independence peacefully in 
     1948, bringing an end to British colonial rule;
       Whereas, more than 100,000 Sri Lankans died or went missing 
     in subsequent decades of ethnic conflict, most acutely at the 
     end of the civil war in May 2009;
       Whereas the roots of the conflict, including historical 
     inequalities, remain largely unresolved;
       Whereas the period of peace, which began in 2009, 
     contributed to Sri Lanka's high growth and economic 
     development, building on a tourism-based economy;
       Whereas Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected as Sri Lanka's 
     President on November 16, 2019, and on November 21, 2019, he 
     appointed his brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, as Prime Minister;
       Whereas Sri Lanka's governance under President Rajapaksa 
     was highly corrupt, nepotistic, and lacked transparency;
       Whereas on August 8, 2020, Human Rights Watch described 
     President Rajapaksa's rule in 2020 as ``a campaign of fear 
     and intimidation against human rights activists, journalists, 
     lawyers, and others challenging government policy'';
       Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka declined $480,000,000 
     in United States assistance in 2020 in the form of a grant 
     from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which was designed 
     to reduce poverty through economic growth;
       Whereas, the Government of Sri Lanka, under the rule of 
     President Rajapaksa--
       (1) devoted state resources for personal political purposes 
     with little transparency;
       (2) implemented misguided agricultural policies; and
       (3) borrowed billions of dollars from China to develop 
     economically unviable mega projects;
       Whereas, since 2019, Sri Lanka has faced an economic 
     crisis, only further exacerbated by predatory loans from the 
     People's Republic of China as part of its debt trap 
     diplomacy;
       Whereas Sri Lanka's economic crisis caused millions of Sri 
     Lankan citizens to live in extremely dire conditions, with 
     severe shortages of medicine, food, and fuel;
       Whereas many Sri Lankans have immigrated in search of 
     income to support their

[[Page S4579]]

     families as a result of the ongoing crises, often separating 
     spouses and parents from children;
       Whereas, beginning in March 2022, the citizens of Sri Lanka 
     courageously exercised their fundamental freedoms of speech 
     and assembly to peacefully protest the government's failed 
     economic policies and repression;
       Whereas, the Government of Sri Lanka failed to make its 
     bond and loan payments in April 2022, resulting in the 
     country's first financial default in May 2022;
       Whereas tens of thousands of Sri Lankan citizens rallied in 
     largely peaceful protests on July 9, 2022, to which the 
     government responded with live fire and tear gas;
       Whereas the events of July 9, 2022, demonstrated that 
     President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has lost the confidence of the 
     Sri Lankan people;
       Whereas, on July 20, 2022, the parliament of Sri Lanka 
     elected Ranil Wickremesinghe as President of Sri Lanka;
       Whereas the current Government of Sri Lanka has thus far 
     failed to respond to public concerns, including establishment 
     of transparent investigations into credible allegations of 
     corruption;
       Whereas, on July 13, 2022, amid mounting public protests, 
     Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka for Singapore where he 
     formally resigned as president, only to return to Sri Lanka 
     on September 3, 2022;
       Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka has used the country's 
     Prevention of Terrorism Act to target peaceful political 
     opposition;
       Whereas the United States cosponsored United Nations Human 
     Rights Council resolution, HRC 46/1 (2021), includes 
     strengthening the capacity of the Office of the High 
     Commissioner for Human Rights to collect, analyze, and 
     preserve information and evidence for future accountability 
     processes for gross violations of human rights in Sri Lanka;
       Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
     Rights, Michelle Bachelet, issued a report on February 25, 
     2022, noting setbacks in efforts to hold individuals 
     accountable for human rights violations in Sri Lanka and 
     highlighting the need for ``deeper institutional and security 
     sector reforms that will end impunity and prevent the 
     recurrence of violations of the past'';
       Whereas the September 2022 Office of the High Commissioner 
     for Human Rights Report on Sri Lanka stated, ``[f]or 
     sustainable improvements to take place, however, it is vital 
     to recognize and address the underlying factors which have 
     contributed to the economic crisis, including embedded 
     impunity for past and present human rights violations, 
     economic crimes, and endemic corruption'';
       Whereas the United Nations Human Rights Council will 
     discuss the human rights situation in Sri Lanka at its 
     upcoming 51st regular session in September 2022; and
       Whereas President Wickremesinghe announced that Sri Lanka--
       (1) would restart bailout negotiations with the 
     International Monetary Fund in August 2022; and
       (2) had reached an initial agreement on September 1, 2022: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) supports the peaceful democratic and economic 
     aspirations of the Sri Lankan people;
       (2) urges Sri Lankan security forces to respect the 
     legitimate rights of Sri Lankans, including to protest 
     peacefully;
       (3) urges Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe to work with 
     opposition parties on behalf of all Sri Lankans, including 
     Tamils, Muslims, and other religious and ethnic minorities;
       (4) commends the United States Agency for International 
     Development for announcing more than $92,000,000 in economic 
     and humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka since June 2022;
       (5) commends the International Monetary Fund for calling 
     for structural reforms to address corruption vulnerabilities 
     that hamper Sri Lanka's long-term potential growth;
       (6) commends the Government of India for providing more 
     than $3,500,000,000 in lines of credit to the Government of 
     Sri Lanka for food, medicine, and fuel;
       (7) commends the Government of Japan and the Government of 
     Australia for providing urgent medicine, food, and health 
     care assistance for the Sri Lankan people;
       (8) calls on the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue nations to 
     mobilize additional humanitarian assistance, provide 
     desperately needed fuel, and offer economic support and 
     advice to the Government of Sri Lanka;
       (9) urges the United Nations Human Rights Council and the 
     Government of Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations 
     detailed in the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
     Right's report that was published on February 25, 2022; and
       (10) calls on the United National Human Rights Council to 
     extend and reinforce the Office of the High Commissioner for 
     Human Rights' mandate from HRC 46/1 (2021) for an additional 
     2 years and to fully resource the Sri Lanka Accountability 
     Project.

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