[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S2670]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 538. Mrs. SHAHEEN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
by her to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2024 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle C of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1240A. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR BELARUS.

       (a) Special Envoy.--The President shall appoint a Special 
     Envoy for Belarus within the Department of State (referred to 
     in this section as the ``Special Envoy'').
       (b) Qualifications.--The Special Envoy--
       (1) should be a person of recognized distinction in the 
     field of European security, geopolitics, democracy, and human 
     rights; and
       (2) may be a career foreign service officer.
       (c) Central Objective.--The central objective of the 
     Special Envoy is to coordinate and promote efforts--
       (1) to improve respect for the fundamental human rights of 
     the people of Belarus;
       (2) to sustain focus on the national security implications, 
     for the United States, of Belarus's political and military 
     alignment; and
       (3) to respond to the political, economic, and security 
     impacts of events in Belarus on neighboring countries and the 
     wider region.
       (d) Duties and Responsibilities.--The Special Envoy shall--
       (1) engage in discussions with Belarusian officials 
     regarding human rights and political, economic, and security 
     issues in Belarus;
       (2) support international efforts to promote human rights 
     and political freedoms in Belarus, including coordination and 
     dialogue between the United States and the United Nations, 
     the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the 
     European Union, Belarus, and the other countries in Eastern 
     Europe;
       (3) consult with nongovernmental organizations that have 
     attempted to address human rights and political and economic 
     instability in Belarus;
       (4) make recommendations regarding the funding of 
     activities promoting human rights, democracy, the rule of 
     law, and the development of a market economy in Belarus;
       (5) review strategies for improving protection of human 
     rights in Belarus, including technical training and exchange 
     programs;
       (6) develop an action plan for holding to account the 
     perpetrators of the human rights violations documented in the 
     United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights report on 
     the situation of human rights in Belarus in the run-up to the 
     2020 presidential election and its aftermath (Human Rights 
     Council Resolution 49/36);
       (7) engage with member countries of the North Atlantic 
     Treaty Organization, the Organization for Security and 
     Cooperation in Europe, and the European Union with respect to 
     the implications of Belarus's political and security 
     alignment for transatlantic security; and
       (8) to work within the Department of State and among 
     partnering countries to sustain focus on the political 
     situation in Belarus.
       (e) Role.--The position of Special Envoy--
       (1) shall be a full-time position;
       (2) may not be combined with any other position within the 
     Department of State;
       (3) shall only exist for the period during which United 
     States diplomatic operations in Belarus at the United States 
     Embassy in Minsk have been suspended; and
       (4) shall oversee the operations and personnel of the 
     Belarus Affairs Unit of the Department of State.
       (f) Report on Activities.--Not later than 180 days after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 
     thereafter for the following 5 years, the Secretary of State, 
     in consultation with the Special Envoy, shall submit to the 
     appropriate congressional committees a report that describes 
     the activities undertaken pursuant to subsection (d) during 
     the reporting period.
       (g) Termination.--The position of Special Envoy for Belarus 
     Affairs and the authorities provided by this section shall 
     terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.
                                 ______