[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 157 (Wednesday, September 28, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5140-S5141]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    URGING THE GOVERNMENT OF BRAZIL TO ENSURE THAT THE OCTOBER 2022 
  ELECTIONS ARE CONDUCTED IN A FREE, FAIR, CREDIBLE, TRANSPARENT, AND 
                            PEACEFUL MANNER

  Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration 
and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 753.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 753) urging the Government of Brazil 
     to ensure that the October 2022 elections are conducted in a 
     free, fair, credible, transparent, and peaceful manner.

  There being no objection, the committee was discharged and the Senate 
proceeded to consider the resolution.
  Mr. SANDERS. I know of no further debate on the resolution.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
  If not, the question is on adoption of the resolution.
  The resolution (S. Res. 753) was agreed to.
  Mr. SANDERS. I ask unanimous consent that the preamble be agreed to 
and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  (The resolution, with its preamble, is printed in the Record of 
September 7, 2022, under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, I have risen today to ask unanimous 
consent for S. Res. 753, expressing the sense of the Senate on the 
upcoming election in Brazil.
  This Sunday, October 2, Brazil will hold its Presidential election. 
According to many polls, it appears that the two major candidates are 
President Jair Bolsonaro and former President Lula da Silva. If no 
candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote, there will be a runoff 
election between the top two candidates on October 30.
  Madam President, over the past several months, Brazilians from all 
sectors of society have publicly expressed serious concern about 
ongoing efforts to undermine democracy in their country, including 
close to 1 million Brazilians who signed an open letter released on 
July 26, defending the democratic institutions of Brazil and the rule 
of law.
  And there is a very good reason why these people in Brazil signed 
that letter. And that is that the current President, and candidate for 
reelection, Mr. Bolsonaro, has made some very provocative statements 
which suggest that he might not accept the election results if he 
loses. In other words, he might attempt to destroy Brazilian democracy 
and remain in power no matter what the people of Brazil determine in a 
free, fair, and democratic election.
  And let me just quote some of what Mr. Bolsonaro has been saying over 
the last several 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, Mr. 
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 believe in democracy. According to a recent survey by 
the Federal University of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is facing 
a 335-percent increase in violence directed against political leaders 
in 2022 relative to 2019.
  Last month, a Workers' Party official was shot dead by a Bolsonaro 
supporter. Yesterday, Reuters reported that the Federal Police guarding 
former President Lula da Silva, who is the current frontrunner to 
unseat Bolsonaro, sent a classified memo to senior colleagues across 
Brazil calling for backup in order to protect Lula from possible 
assassination attempts.
  It is clearly 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 free and fair 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.
  In that regard, I have asked to receive unanimous consent today for a 
resolution that I introduced with Senator Tim Kaine, the chair of the 
Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. That 
resolution is also cosponsored by Senators Durbin, Leahy, Merkley, 
Blumenthal, and Warren.
  I would also like to thank Senator Menendez, the chair of the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee, for allowing this resolution to come to 
the floor.
  This resolution is very simple and straightforward. It does not take 
sides in Brazil's elections. All it does is express the sense of the 
U.S. Senate that the U.S. Government should make 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.
  It 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 that U.S. security assistance 
to Brazil remains compliant with our laws related to the peaceful and 
democratic transition of power. This includes longstanding legal 
restrictions on the provision of security assistance in the event of a 
military coup.
  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 for the United States to recognize a government that 
came to power undemocratically, and it would send a horrific message to 
the entire world if we did that.
  It is important for the people of Brazil to know we are on their 
side, on the side of democracy. This resolution sent that message. And 
I thank my colleagues for supporting it.
  With that, I yield the floor.

[[Page S5141]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.

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