[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 17161-17162]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I rise today in recognition of 
International Human Rights Day. Sixty-four years ago this past Monday, 
on December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration enunciates a 
doctrine that serves as a foundation for human rights initiatives 
internationally and as an enduring guide for human rights advocates 
around the globe.
  On this annual celebration of International Human Rights Day, human 
rights defenders, champions of democracy, promoters of civil rights, 
and advocates of free speech across the globe can also be encouraged by 
Congress's recent passage of landmark human rights legislation. Last 
week, the Senate passed the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability 
Act, which the House passed in September in conjunction with approving 
permanent normal trade relations for Russia.
  The Magnitsky Act was inspired by the tragic case of Sergei 
Magnitsky, a 37-year-old Russian lawyer who uncovered massive 
corruption in Russia and then was arrested for his whistleblowing. 
Magnitsky died in 2009 after suffering torturous conditions in pretrial 
detention. Those implicated in the corruption Magnitsky exposed and 
those responsible for his torture and death have not been brought to 
justice, and some have even been decorated and promoted. The Magnitsky 
Act goes beyond the specific violators in this case to prohibit all 
gross violators of human rights in Russia from traveling to the United 
States and from using our financial system.
  President Obama is now poised to reaffirm our Nation's commitment to 
universal human rights by signing the Magnitsky Act into law. With the 
stroke of a pen, the President will set a new global standard that 
other nations are sure to follow. The act sets a precedent that can be 
applied to human rights abusers around the world, and I am committed to 
working with my colleagues in the next Congress to apply the Magnitsky 
sanctions globally. Human rights violators from Kinshasa to Beijing are 
now on notice that the United States stands in solidarity with those 
whose rights are trampled and will deny the legitimizing privileges of 
travelling to our country and accessing our financial system to those 
who violate fundamental freedoms.
  The United States remains the global leader in promoting and 
protecting human rights, but we need to do more. We need to ensure that 
women across the world have the liberty to determine the course and 
scope of their own lives and futures and that they have the tools to 
achieve their full potential. The horrific and cowardly attempt by 
assassins to silence the brave leadership of 15-year-old Malala 
Yousufzai must not be left unchallenged. We must take up her cause--the 
education of girls and women--and support both

[[Page 17162]]

that goal and its advocates, and we must redouble our efforts to 
protect the rights of ethnic, linguistic, and religious minorities, 
from the Christians in Egypt to the Roma population in Europe.
  As the legendary Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel has said, ``Wherever men 
and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political 
views, that place must--at that moment--become the center of the 
universe.'' This International Human Rights Day, the U.S. Congress 
sends a strong message to human rights defenders around the world that 
we stand in solidarity with them as they dare to stand up to injustice 
and oppression.

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