[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 181 (Thursday, November 2, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5344-S5345]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1360. Mr. SCHUMER (for Mr. Cardin) proposed an amendment to the
concurrent resolution S. Con. Res. 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; as follows:
Strike the preamble and insert the following:
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, on February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin launched
another unprovoked, unjustified, and illegal invasion into
Ukraine in contravention of the obligations freely undertaken
by the Russian Federation to respect the territorial
integrity of Ukraine under the Budapest Memorandum of 1994,
the Minsk protocols of 2014 and 2015, and international law;
Whereas, since February 24, 2022, Mr. Kara-Murza has used
his voice and platform to join more than 15,000 citizens of
the Russian Federation in peacefully protesting the war
against Ukraine and millions more who silently oppose the
war;
Whereas, on March 5, 2022, Vladimir Putin signed a law
criminalizing the distribution of truthful statements about
the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation and
mandating up to 15 years in prison for such offenses;
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 independent investigations conducted by Bellingcat,
the Insider, and Der Spiegel found that the same unit of the
Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation
responsible for poisoning Mr. Kara-Murza was also responsible
for poisoning Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and
activists Timur Kuashev, Ruslan Magomedragimov, and Nikita
Isayev;
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, on May 26, 2022, the United States Senate
unanimously agreed to Senate Resolution 632 (117th Congress)
calling for the immediate release of Mr. Kara-Murza, Alexei
Navalny, and other citizens of the Russian Federation
imprisoned for opposing the regime of Vladimir Putin and the
war against Ukraine;
Whereas, on July 27, 2022, the Investigative Committee of
the Russian Federation charged Mr. Kara-Murza for his
engagements with Free Russia Foundation and Open Russia, both
of which are nongovernmental organizations targeted by the
law of the Russian Federation on undesirable organizations;
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'' due to his public
condemnations of the Kremlin's military aggression on Ukraine
and domestic repressions;
Whereas, on April 17, 2023, Mr. Kara-Murza was sentenced to
25 years in prison, one of the highest sentences given to any
Russian opposition figure;
Whereas, since Mr. Kara-Murza's arrest, the state of his
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
incarceration;
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
[[Page S5345]]
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 April 2023, 81 Members of Congress sent a
letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urging that Mr.
Kara-Murza be designated under the Robert Levinson Hostage
Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C.
1741 et seq.) as ``unlawfully and wrongfully detained''; and
Whereas Mr. Kara-Murza remains a political prisoner and a
victim of Vladimir Putin's authoritarian state: Now,
therefore, be it
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