[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 21, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4908-S4909]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the nomination.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read the nomination of Arati 
Prabhakar, of California, to be Director of the Office of Science and 
Technology Policy.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.


                              S. Res. 753

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I rise today to say a few words about the 
state of democracy, both in terms of the upcoming election in Brazil as 
well as here in the United States.
  It is no great secret that, today, democracies around the world are 
under great threat from rightwing extremism. That obviously includes 
our own, as we all saw tragically on January 6, 2021, when there was an 
attack on this very building by those seeking to overturn our 
Presidential election.
  One of the countries where democracy is now under threat is Brazil, 
the largest nation in Latin America and one of the largest democratic 
countries in the world. On October 2, less than 2 weeks from now, 
Brazil will hold its Presidential election. According to many polls, it 
appears that the two major candidates in that election are President 
Jair Bolsonaro and former President Lula da Silva. If no candidate in 
that election receives over 50 percent of the vote, there will be a 
runoff election between the top two candidates on October 30.
  Mr. President, over the past many months, Brazilians from all sectors 
of society have publicly expressed serious concerns about ongoing 
efforts in that country to undermine democracy, including close to 1 
million Brazilians who signed an open letter released on July 26, 2022, 
defending the democratic institutions of Brazil and the rule of law.
  And there is, in fact, a very good reason as to why the people in 
Brazil are concerned about their democracy, and that is that the 
current President and candidate for reelection, Jair Bolsonaro, has 
made some very provocative statements which suggest that he might not 
accept the election results if he loses. In other words, Bolsonaro 
might attempt to destroy Brazilian democracy and remain in power no 
matter what the people of Brazil determine in a free and democratic 
election.
  Here are just a few examples of what Mr. Bolsonaro has said over the 
years.
  Back in September 2018, before he won his election, Bolsonaro stated:

       I will not accept an election result that is not my own 
     victory.

  On September 7, 2021, as reported by the Financial Times, Bolsonaro 
stated:

       There are those who think they can take me from the 
     presidency with the mark of a pen. Well, I say to everyone I 
     have only three possible fates: Arrest, death or victory. And 
     tell the bastards I'll never be arrested. Only God can take 
     me from the presidency.

  According to Human Rights Watch, previously, President Bolsonaro had 
claimed, without providing any evidence, that the last two Presidential 
elections were fraudulent, including his own election, in which he 
claimed he got more votes than the final tally showed.
  But it is not just Bolsonaro's words that should be of concern to 
those of us who still believe in democracy. According to a recent 
survey by the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 
is experiencing a 335-percent increase in violence directed against 
political leaders in 2022 relative to 2019.
  Mr. President, it is obviously not the business of the United States 
to determine who the next President of Brazil is or to get involved in 
Brazil's Presidential elections in any way. That is a decision to be 
made solely by the people of Brazil through a fair and free election. 
But it is the business of the United States to make clear to the people 
of Brazil that our government will not recognize or support a 
government that comes to power through a military coup or the 
undermining of a democratic election. That is our business.
  In that regard, Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to support a 
resolution

[[Page S4909]]

that I have introduced with Senator Kaine, S. Res. 753. And Senator 
Kaine, of course, is the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations 
Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, and that is also cosponsored by 
Senators Leahy, Merkley, Blumenthal, and Warren.
  This resolution is very simple and straightforward. It does not take 
sides in Brazil's election, obviously, and that would be unacceptable. 
But what it does do is express the sense of the U.S. Senate that the 
U.S. Government will make it unequivocally clear that the continuing 
relationship of the United States and Brazil depends upon the 
commitment of the government of Brazil to democracy and human rights.
  This resolution urges the Biden administration to make clear that the 
United States will not support any government that comes to power in 
Brazil through undemocratic means and to ensure U.S. security 
assistance to Brazil remains compliant with our laws related to the 
peaceful and democratic transition of power--in other words, no 
military aid to a military coup in Brazil.
  This does not seem to be a complicated or, in my view, controversial 
piece of legislation. Yet--and I say this with a great deal of sadness, 
and maybe it tells us the state of democracy in the United States--we 
have not been able to get one single Republican to cosponsor this very 
simple, straightforward resolution.
  Why is that? And the answer is, I would love for my Republican 
colleagues to explain to me why they cannot support and add their names 
to a resolution that simply supports Brazil's democracy and the 
peaceful transfer of power. Obviously, it would be most effective if 
this resolution had bipartisan support, and I hope that it will.
  Mr. President, in my view, it is imperative that the U.S. Senate make 
it clear through this resolution that we support democracy in Brazil. 
It would be unacceptable to the United States to recognize a government 
that came to power undemocratically; and, if we did that, it would send 
a horrific message to the entire world. So it is important for the 
people of Brazil to know that we are on their side.
  We are on the side of democracy, and that is what this resolution is 
about. I ask my colleagues, in a bipartisan way, to support it.

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