[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3281]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       THE ASSASSINATION OF BORIS NEMTSOV WAS A REPREHENSIBLE ACT

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, the assassination of Russian opposition 
leader Boris Nemtsov last Friday in front of the Kremlin was a 
reprehensible act that demands a thorough and independent 
investigation.
  Mr. Nemtsov was a political leader who had fought for democracy 
inside the system. His murder took place against the backdrop of 
Putin's continued suppression of the rule of law, political debate, and 
human rights in Russia. His murder follows the murder of other critics 
of Putin's tyranny, Anna Politkovskaya and Sergei Magnitsky.
  Today, Putin is rebuilding many of the barriers to individual 
freedom, democracy, and self-determination that were thought relegated 
to what President Reagan called the ash heap of history.
  As a former chairman of the Helsinki Commission in the final years of 
the cold war, I witnessed the yearnings of the Russian people not to be 
bullied through fear and control by their leaders. Vladimir Putin and 
his henchmen have created a culture of terror for those who oppose his 
rule and have increasingly isolated Russia from the world.
  Congress and the American people must keep speaking out against the 
erosion of the basic freedoms the Russian people achieved in the 1990s.
  This week, Mr. Speaker, the thoughts and prayers of the American 
people are with the family of Mr. Nemtsov and millions whose hopes and 
dreams he fought for throughout his life.

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