[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 53 (Thursday, March 23, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S939]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 7--CONDEMNING RUSSIA'S UNJUST AND 
 ARBITRARY DETENTION OF RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER VLADIMIR KARA-MURZA 
WHO HAS STOOD UP IN DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACY, THE RULE OF LAW, AND FREE AND 
                        FAIR ELECTIONS IN RUSSIA

  Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. Wicker) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                             S. Con. Res. 7

       Whereas, on April 11, 2022, Vladimir Kara-Murza was 
     unjustly detained by Russian authorities for spreading 
     supposedly ``false information'' in a speech in March 2022 to 
     the Arizona House of Representatives;
       Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza in his March 15, 2022, speech 
     presented a defiant condemnation of Vladimir Putin's policies 
     and leadership outlining his corruption and malign 
     intentions, and condemning the illegal war of aggression 
     Putin has unleashed against Ukraine;
       Whereas, prior to his arrest in April 2022, Mr. Kara-Murza 
     was poisoned twice by agents of the Russian government and 
     the Russian Federation in 2015 and 2017 with a military-grade 
     agent banned internationally, likely in retaliation for his 
     defiant stance in support of rule of law and democracy in 
     Russia;
       Whereas, despite having survived two assassination attempts 
     and the subsequent side effects of these poisonings, Mr. 
     Kara-Murza regularly returned to Russia to advocate for 
     democratic representation in Russia;
       Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza has consistently advocated for 
     democracy in Russia and insisted that democracy in Russia 
     must be advanced by Russians for all those living in Russia;
       Whereas, in August 2022, new charges were brought against 
     Mr. Kara-Murza for ``carrying out the activities'' of an 
     ``undesirable foreign organization'' and his arrest was 
     extended for his work as a leading member of Russian civil 
     society;
       Whereas, in October 2022, Mr. Kara-Murza was further 
     charged unjustly with ``high treason'' in part due to his 
     public condemnations of the Kremlin's military aggression on 
     Ukraine and domestic repressions;
       Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza remains in pretrial detention and 
     faces a prison sentence of up to 24 years on high treason and 
     other charges;
       Whereas the state of Mr. Kara-Murza's health has 
     deteriorated and in addition to losing over 45 pounds, he was 
     diagnosed with polyneuropathy, a condition that under Russian 
     law should preclude him from his current detainment;
       Whereas, as a result of his diagnosis, he has lost feeling 
     in both his feet and has experienced symptoms similar to 
     those he experienced following his 2015 poisoning due to 
     peripheral nerve damage;
       Whereas section 5599F of the James M. Inhofe National 
     Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (Public Law 
     117-263) condemned Mr. Kara-Murza's unjust detention, 
     expressed solidarity with Mr. Kara-Murza, his family, and all 
     individuals imprisoned in Russia for their beliefs, and urged 
     the United States and other ally governments to work to 
     secure the release of Mr. Kara-Murza and other citizens of 
     the Russian Federation imprisoned for opposition to Vladimir 
     Putin's regime and his illegal war in Ukraine;
       Whereas, in April 2022, Vladimir Kara-Murza was presented 
     the McCain Institute's Courage and Leadership Award for his 
     unwavering commitment to fundamental values and his acts of 
     selfless courage which have inspired the world;
       Whereas, in October 2022, Mr. Kara-Murza was awarded the 
     Vaclav Havel Prize honoring outstanding civil society action 
     in defense of human rights;
       Whereas the late Senator John McCain said Mr. Kara-Murza 
     ``is a brave, outspoken, and relentless advocate for freedom 
     and democracy in Russia'' and introduced Mr. Kara-Murza as 
     ``a personal hero whose courage, selflessness, and idealism I 
     find awe-inspiring'';
       Whereas, in March 2023, the Department of the Treasury and 
     the Department of State imposed Global Magnitsky and other 
     targeted sanctions on six Russians involved in Mr. Kara-
     Murza's ongoing arbitrary detention, recognized his role as 
     ``a major advocate for the adoption of Magnitsky-style 
     sanctions authorities by the United States, Canada, European 
     Union, and United Kingdom to target human rights abusers and 
     corrupt actors in Russia'', and called for his immediate 
     release; and
       Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza remains a political prisoner and a 
     victim of Vladimir Putin's authoritarian state: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) condemns in the strongest possible terms the unjust and 
     arbitrary detention of Russian democratic opposition leader 
     Vladimir Kara-Murza;
       (2) calls on the Russian Federation to immediately release 
     Mr. Kara-Murza and all other Russian opposition leaders who 
     are detained as a result of their opposition to the Putin 
     regime;
       (3) calls on all Russian citizens to outright condemn 
     Russia's illegal and unjust invasion of Ukraine in the spirit 
     of Mr. Kara-Murza's defiant opposition stance in front of the 
     Arizona House of Representatives in March 2022;
       (4) expresses solidarity and calls for the release of all 
     political prisoners in Russia and Belarus as well as 
     Ukrainian citizens illegally held as prisoners by Putin's 
     regime in violation of the rule of law as a result of their 
     support for liberal democratic values; and
       (5) calls on the President of the United States and leaders 
     from across the free world to work tirelessly for the release 
     of political prisoners in Russia and increase support for 
     those advocating for democracy in Russia as well as 
     independent media and civil society which Mr. Kara-Murza has 
     worked to further.

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