Human Rights Enforcement Act of 2009

Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the Human Rights Enforcement Act of 2009, which I am introducing today. This narrowly-tailored, bipartisan legislation would make it easier for the Justice Department to hold accountable human rights abusers who seek safe haven in our country.

I would like to thank the lead Republican cosponsor of the Human Rights Enforcement Act, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. This bill is a product of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law. I am the chairman of this subcommittee and Senator Coburn is its ranking member.

The end of the last century was marked by horrific human rights abuses in places such as Bosnia and Rwanda. The early years of this century have seen ongoing atrocities being committed in, among other places, Darfur and Burma.

While a growing number of perpetrators of human rights abuses have been held accountable in international, hybrid and state tribunals, a much larger number have escaped accountability for their crimes. Some of these human rights violators have fled to the U.S.

How we as a country treat suspected perpetrators of serious human rights abuses in the U.S. sends an important message to the world about our commitment to human rights and the rule of law. It also signals to perpetrators of human rights abuses considering seeking refuge in the U.S. what treatment they can expect to receive.

The U.S. has been a leader in holding the perpetrators of serious human rights violations accountable for their crimes. Over 60 years ago, following the Holocaust, we led the efforts to prosecute Nazi perpetrators at the Nuremberg trials. We have also supported the prosecution of human rights crimes before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

In some circumstances, the U.S. Government has also made valiant efforts to hold accountable human rights violators who have found safe haven in our country, but more must be done. Federal law enforcement reportedly has over 1,000 open cases involving suspected perpetrators of serious human rights abuses from almost 90 countries who are now in the U.S. While no one knows the total number of human rights abusers living in the U.S., the number of open cases presumably represents only a small portion of the total number of such perpetrators.

In the last Congress, the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law held hearings which identified loopholes in the law that hinder effective human rights enforcement. In order to close some of these loopholes and make it easier to prosecute human rights abuses, Senator Coburn and I introduced the Genocide Accountability Act, the Child Soldiers Accountability Act and the Trafficking in Persons Act, legislation passed unanimously by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush that denies safe haven in the United States to perpetrators of genocide, child soldier recruitment and use, and human trafficking.

We also examined the U.S. Government agencies which bear responsibility for investigating human rights abusers and how to increase the likelihood that human rights violators will be held accountable.

There are two offices within the Justice Department that investigate and prosecute suspected human rights abusers. The Office of Special Investigations, established by Attorney General Richard Civiletti in 1979, was assigned:

[T]he primary responsibility for detecting, investigating,

and, where appropriate, taking legal action to deport,

denaturalize, or prosecute any individual who was admitted as

an alien into or became a naturalized citizen of the United

States and who has assisted the Nazis by persecuting any

person because of race, religion, national origin, or

political opinion.

Over the years, the Office of Special Investigations, also known as OSI, has led the way in investigating, denaturalizing and removing World War II-era participants in genocide and other Nazi crimes. I want to commend OSI for its outstanding work tracking down and bringing to justice Nazi war criminals who have found safe haven in our country. Since 1979, OSI has successfully prosecuted 107 Nazis.

Just this year, OSI has succeeded in deporting two Nazi war criminals. Josias Kumpf, who immigrated to the United States in 1956 and lived in Racine, Wisconsin, was a guard at the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Germany and the Trawniki Labor Camp in Nazi- occupied Poland. Kumpf allegedly participated in the extermination of 8,000 Jews in one day at the Trawniki camp. OSI Director Eli Rosenbaum said, ``The removal of Josias Kumpf to Austria has achieved a significant measure of justice on behalf of the victims of Nazi inhumanity and it reflects the unswerving commitment of the U.S. government to continuing the quest for justice.''

OSI also deported John Demjanjuk to Germany, where last week he was charged with involvement in the murder of 27,900 people at the Sobibor extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Demjanjuk came to the United States in 1952 and lived in Seven Hills, Ohio. During World War II, Demjanjuk allegedly served as a guard at a number of Nazi concentration camps. Lanny Breuer, the Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division, said, ``The removal to Germany of John Demjanjuk is an historic moment in the federal government's efforts to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. Mr. Demjanjuk, a confirmed former Nazi death camp guard, denied to thousands the very freedoms he enjoyed for far too long in the United States.''

Due to OSI's outstanding work, the U.S. is the only country in the world to receive an ``A'' rating from the Simon Wiesenthal Center for bringing Nazi war criminals to justice. I especially want to commend Eli Rosenbaum, who has worked at OSI for more than two decades and has been OSI's director since 1995. OSI's success is due in large measure to Mr. Rosenbaum's leadership and personal dedication to holding Nazi perpetrators accountable.

In 2004, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act further strengthened the Office of Special Investigations by statutorily authorizing it and expanding its jurisdiction to include serious human rights crimes committed after World War II.

The Domestic Security Section, which was established more recently, seeks to investigate and prosecute major human rights violators and has jurisdiction over the criminal laws relating to torture, genocide, war crimes, the use or recruitment of child soldiers, and other atrocities. In 2008, the Domestic Security Section and the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida obtained the first federal conviction for torture against Chuckie Taylor, son of former

Liberian president Charles Taylor, for committing torture in Liberia when he served as the head of the Anti-Terrorist Unit. Taylor and other Anti-Terrorist Unit members engaged in horrific acts of torture, including shocking victims with an electric device and burning victims with molten plastic, lit cigarettes, scalding water, candle wax and an iron. Then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey said, ``Today's conviction provides a measure of justice to those who were victimized by the reprehensible acts of Charles Taylor Jr. and his associates. It sends a powerful message to human rights violators around the world that, when we can, we will hold them fully accountable for their crimes.''

I commend the Office of Special Investigations and the Domestic Security Section for their successes in holding human rights abusers accountable.

The Human Rights Enforcement Act would seek to build on this important work by creating a new office in the Criminal Division that would focus exclusively on enforcing human rights laws. My bill would combine the Office of Special Investigations, which has significant experience in investigating and denaturalizing human rights abusers, with the Domestic Security Section, which has broad jurisdiction over human rights crimes. Consolidating these two sections would allow limited law enforcement resources to be used more effectively and ensure that one section in the Justice Department has the necessary expertise and jurisdiction to investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute, denaturalize or deport perpetrators of serious human rights crimes.

The Human Rights Enforcement Act also includes a number of technical an conforming amendments, including: technical changes to the criminal law on genocide, 18 U.S.C. 1091, that the Justice Department requested in 2007 to make it easier to prosecute perpetrators of genocide; clarifying that the immigration provisions of the Child Soldiers Accountability Act apply to offenses committed before the bill's enactment; a conforming amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act required by the enactment of the Genocide Accountability Act; and a conforming amendment to the material support statute, made necessary by the enactment of the Genocide Accountability Act and the Child Soldiers Accountability Act, making it illegal to provide material support to genocide and the use or recruitment of child soldiers.

The United States has a proud tradition of leadership in the promotion of human rights and the world watches our steps in this field closely. By holding perpetrators of serious human rights abusers found in the U.S. accountable, we will demonstrate our commitment to upholding the human rights principles we have long advocated and discourage human rights violators from fleeing to the U.S.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the Human Rights Enforcement Act of 2009, which I am introducing today. This narrowly-tailored, bipartisan legislation would make it easier for the Justice Department to hold accountable human rights abusers who seek safe haven in our country.

I would like to thank the lead Republican cosponsor of the Human Rights Enforcement Act, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. This bill is a product of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law. I am the chairman of this subcommittee and Senator Coburn is its ranking member.

The end of the last century was marked by horrific human rights abuses in places such as Bosnia and Rwanda. The early years of this century have seen ongoing atrocities being committed in, among other places, Darfur and Burma.

While a growing number of perpetrators of human rights abuses have been held accountable in international, hybrid and state tribunals, a much larger number have escaped accountability for their crimes. Some of these human rights violators have fled to the U.S.

How we as a country treat suspected perpetrators of serious human rights abuses in the U.S. sends an important message to the world about our commitment to human rights and the rule of law. It also signals to perpetrators of human rights abuses considering seeking refuge in the U.S. what treatment they can expect to receive.

The U.S. has been a leader in holding the perpetrators of serious human rights violations accountable for their crimes. Over 60 years ago, following the Holocaust, we led the efforts to prosecute Nazi perpetrators at the Nuremberg trials. We have also supported the prosecution of human rights crimes before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

In some circumstances, the U.S. Government has also made valiant efforts to hold accountable human rights violators who have found safe haven in our country, but more must be done. Federal law enforcement reportedly has over 1,000 open cases involving suspected perpetrators of serious human rights abuses from almost 90 countries who are now in the U.S. While no one knows the total number of human rights abusers living in the U.S., the number of open cases presumably represents only a small portion of the total number of such perpetrators.

In the last Congress, the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law held hearings which identified loopholes in the law that hinder effective human rights enforcement. In order to close some of these loopholes and make it easier to prosecute human rights abuses, Senator Coburn and I introduced the Genocide Accountability Act, the Child Soldiers Accountability Act and the Trafficking in Persons Act, legislation passed unanimously by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush that denies safe haven in the United States to perpetrators of genocide, child soldier recruitment and use, and human trafficking.

We also examined the U.S. Government agencies which bear responsibility for investigating human rights abusers and how to increase the likelihood that human rights violators will be held accountable.

There are two offices within the Justice Department that investigate and prosecute suspected human rights abusers. The Office of Special Investigations, established by Attorney General Richard Civiletti in 1979, was assigned:

[T]he primary responsibility for detecting, investigating,

and, where appropriate, taking legal action to deport,

denaturalize, or prosecute any individual who was admitted as

an alien into or became a naturalized citizen of the United

States and who has assisted the Nazis by persecuting any

person because of race, religion, national origin, or

political opinion.

Over the years, the Office of Special Investigations, also known as OSI, has led the way in investigating, denaturalizing and removing World War II-era participants in genocide and other Nazi crimes. I want to commend OSI for its outstanding work tracking down and bringing to justice Nazi war criminals who have found safe haven in our country. Since 1979, OSI has successfully prosecuted 107 Nazis.

Just this year, OSI has succeeded in deporting two Nazi war criminals. Josias Kumpf, who immigrated to the United States in 1956 and lived in Racine, Wisconsin, was a guard at the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Germany and the Trawniki Labor Camp in Nazi- occupied Poland. Kumpf allegedly participated in the extermination of 8,000 Jews in one day at the Trawniki camp. OSI Director Eli Rosenbaum said, ``The removal of Josias Kumpf to Austria has achieved a significant measure of justice on behalf of the victims of Nazi inhumanity and it reflects the unswerving commitment of the U.S. government to continuing the quest for justice.''

OSI also deported John Demjanjuk to Germany, where last week he was charged with involvement in the murder of 27,900 people at the Sobibor extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. Demjanjuk came to the United States in 1952 and lived in Seven Hills, Ohio. During World War II, Demjanjuk allegedly served as a guard at a number of Nazi concentration camps. Lanny Breuer, the Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division, said, ``The removal to Germany of John Demjanjuk is an historic moment in the federal government's efforts to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. Mr. Demjanjuk, a confirmed former Nazi death camp guard, denied to thousands the very freedoms he enjoyed for far too long in the United States.''

Due to OSI's outstanding work, the U.S. is the only country in the world to receive an ``A'' rating from the Simon Wiesenthal Center for bringing Nazi war criminals to justice. I especially want to commend Eli Rosenbaum, who has worked at OSI for more than two decades and has been OSI's director since 1995. OSI's success is due in large measure to Mr. Rosenbaum's leadership and personal dedication to holding Nazi perpetrators accountable.

In 2004, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act further strengthened the Office of Special Investigations by statutorily authorizing it and expanding its jurisdiction to include serious human rights crimes committed after World War II.

The Domestic Security Section, which was established more recently, seeks to investigate and prosecute major human rights violators and has jurisdiction over the criminal laws relating to torture, genocide, war crimes, the use or recruitment of child soldiers, and other atrocities. In 2008, the Domestic Security Section and the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida obtained the first federal conviction for torture against Chuckie Taylor, son of former

Liberian president Charles Taylor, for committing torture in Liberia when he served as the head of the Anti-Terrorist Unit. Taylor and other Anti-Terrorist Unit members engaged in horrific acts of torture, including shocking victims with an electric device and burning victims with molten plastic, lit cigarettes, scalding water, candle wax and an iron. Then-Attorney General Michael Mukasey said, ``Today's conviction provides a measure of justice to those who were victimized by the reprehensible acts of Charles Taylor Jr. and his associates. It sends a powerful message to human rights violators around the world that, when we can, we will hold them fully accountable for their crimes.''

I commend the Office of Special Investigations and the Domestic Security Section for their successes in holding human rights abusers accountable.

The Human Rights Enforcement Act would seek to build on this important work by creating a new office in the Criminal Division that would focus exclusively on enforcing human rights laws. My bill would combine the Office of Special Investigations, which has significant experience in investigating and denaturalizing human rights abusers, with the Domestic Security Section, which has broad jurisdiction over human rights crimes. Consolidating these two sections would allow limited law enforcement resources to be used more effectively and ensure that one section in the Justice Department has the necessary expertise and jurisdiction to investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute, denaturalize or deport perpetrators of serious human rights crimes.

The Human Rights Enforcement Act also includes a number of technical an conforming amendments, including: technical changes to the criminal law on genocide, 18 U.S.C. 1091, that the Justice Department requested in 2007 to make it easier to prosecute perpetrators of genocide; clarifying that the immigration provisions of the Child Soldiers Accountability Act apply to offenses committed before the bill's enactment; a conforming amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act required by the enactment of the Genocide Accountability Act; and a conforming amendment to the material support statute, made necessary by the enactment of the Genocide Accountability Act and the Child Soldiers Accountability Act, making it illegal to provide material support to genocide and the use or recruitment of child soldiers.

The United States has a proud tradition of leadership in the promotion of human rights and the world watches our steps in this field closely. By holding perpetrators of serious human rights abusers found in the U.S. accountable, we will demonstrate our commitment to upholding the human rights principles we have long advocated and discourage human rights violators from fleeing to the U.S.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, today I am proud to introduce the Catalyst to Better Diabetes Care Act, which is S. 1473. Without question, diabetes is an epidemic in our country, and we have to do something. Twenty-three million adults and children suffer from diabetes. Another 57 million Americans are prediabetic cases. In North Carolina, my State, 600,000 adults have been diagnosed with diabetes and another 288,000 are undiagnosed and over 400,000 have prediabetes. But with our lifestyle choices, it is not surprising that these numbers are so high. Nearly three in five North Carolinians are overweight

or obese. Being overweight is a leading cause of diabetes. A quarter of our State's citizens do not exercise. Unfortunately, it is not just adults who are suffering from this disease. In North Carolina, there are over 4,000 children who have diabetes. While type 1 diabetes is the most frequent diabetes in children, it is because of increasing obesity rates that the incidence and prevalence of type 2 diabetes is growing.

Not only is diabetes wreaking havoc on people's health, it is also costing the country millions of dollars to treat. In my State of North Carolina, diabetes costs $5.3 billion annually in medical interventions, lost productivity, and premature mortality. Annually diabetes accounts for 16,000 hospitalizations. People suffering from diabetes have greater risk of renal disease, heart attack, stroke, and blindness. Diabetics also have a high risk of amputations if they fail to get appropriate foot care.

However, with proper prevention and treatment, we can curb the staggering cost of diabetes and people can live healthier, happier lives. Lifestyle changes in diet and physical activity can reduce the development of diabetes in prediabetics. Early detection and treatment of diabetic eye disease can reduce blindness and lowering one's blood pressure can reduce the decline in kidney function, thereby averting renal failure. It is because of these proven interventions that I introduce this important bill today.

The Catalyst to Better Diabetes Care Act will address five major issues to further the fight against this debilitating and deadly disease. This bill creates a cross-agency, collaborative patient and provider outreach program to increase the utilization of the Medicare diabetes screening benefit. Although this screening program was established in 2003, at present, very few seniors are taking advantage of this benefit. Early screening allows diabetics to better monitor and control their condition and prevent complications. This provision will save money and lives. When employees have incentives to select more nutritious food and to exercise, not only are they more productive, their overall health is improved. Companies like Pitney Bowes are implementing innovative practices to encourage their employees to live healthier lives, and such initiatives have shown remarkable results.

Building upon these experiences, this bill establishes an advisory group to promote innovative private sector wellness and disease management programs. Diabetes takes an enormous toll on society. Yet we have very little consolidated data which measures the true impact and outcome of this disease. To address this gap, this bill creates a national and State-by-State level diabetes report card which will track our progress toward beating diabetes. The report card will contain information on preventative care practices and quality of care, risk factors, and outcomes of individuals who are diagnosed with diabetes and prediabetes.

Studies indicate that only 35 to 40 percent of diabetics who die have diabetes listed anywhere on their death certificate, and only about 10 to 15 percent have diabetes listed as the underlying cause of death. Without this information, our country is not able to grasp the full impact that complications from diabetes has on our health care system and society.

In order to better understand the scope of this epidemic, this bill requires the director of the CDC to promote the education and training of physicians on properly completing a birth and death certificate as well as the possibility of promoting language to improve the collection of diabetes mortality data, despite estimates that nearly one in three children today will go on to develop diabetes. Today's medical students are only required to have 4 hours of education in diabetes to become a board-certified physician. As diabetes touches more and more Americans, it will be critical that our doctors recognize this disease and have the tools and understanding to discuss prevention and proper treatment with their patients. That is why this bill requires HHS to collaborate with the Institute of Medicine and other related entities to study the impact of diabetes on the practice of medicine and develop recommendations to appropriate levels of diabetes medical education that should be required prior to licensure, board certification, and board recertification.

Diabetes has taken an enormous toll on our society's health and our economy. But in many cases, this disease can be preventable.

The Catalyst of Better Diabetes Care will address some of the fundamental obstacles that prevent us from tackling this disease head on. Better outreach, better data, and better education of patients and physicians are the keys to reducing morbidity and mortality from diabetes and lessening the costly burden this condition has inserted upon our country.

I wish to thank my Republican colleague, Senator John Cornyn, for joining me in cosponsoring this measure. I urge my other colleagues to join us in supporting this very important bill.

Mr. President, I am always looking for ways in which we can improve the investigation and prosecution of international human rights abusers, including those who seek safe haven in the United States. That is what led me to develop and fight for several years to enact the Anti-Atrocity Alien Deportation Act, which became law in 2004. That is what I did in supporting and implementing legislation for the Convention Against Torture. That is what I have done in my work on the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee.

It is vital that the United States reclaim its historic role as a world leader on issues of human rights. President Obama and Secretary Clinton are working hard to make that a reality. I worked in the last Congress to create the Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, and to reconstitute it again this Congress. I have worked closely with Senator Durbin as he has ably chaired it.

This country should not provide a refuge for those who commit human rights violations. Congress took an important step when we passed the Anti-Atrocity Alien Deportation Act. That statute closed loopholes in our immigration law, making it easier to keep out perpetrators of human rights abuses, and to deport those who are already here. It established by statute the Office of Special Investigations, OSI, within the Department of Justice, an office that previously existed only under the discretionary authority of the Attorney General. The Anti-Atrocity Alien Deportation Act expanded OSI's mission from denaturalizing Nazi war criminals, to investigating, extraditing, or denaturalizing any alien who participated in genocide, torture, or extrajudicial killing abroad. This law has prompted, among other accomplishments, the deportation of Kelbessa Negewo to Ethiopia, where he is now serving a life sentence for torture and multiple killings.

The Human Rights Enforcement Act of 2009, a bill which I was pleased to cosponsor, builds on the foundation created by the Anti-Atrocity Alien Deportation Act. It seeks to improve our ability to identify and prosecute human rights abusers. It proposes consolidating two sections within the Department of Justice: the Office of Special Investigations, and the Domestic Security Section, which is charged with criminally prosecuting human rights abusers.

This bill also amends a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that makes those who ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in genocide, as defined in section 1091(a) of title 18, United States Code, inadmissible, and therefore ineligible for the protection of our asylum laws. This bill does not alter our intent, which the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized, that asylum laws are meant to implement our obligations under the 1967 United Nations Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. Like our asylum laws, that international treaty bars those who have committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity from qualifying as a refugee.

During its last term, in Negusie v. Holder, the Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, held that nearly identical language barring those who ``ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution'' of others from the benefits of our asylum laws did not automatically disqualify those whose conduct was coerced or otherwise the product of duress. Individuals who have been forced to commit such crimes under duress have been determined to be exempt from that bar by both the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Handbook and by nations that have interpreted the Refugee Convention and Protocol. This bill is consistent with that interpretation.

It is vital that the United States reclaim its historic role as a world leader on issues of human rights. We can support the work of President Obama and members of his cabinet, who are working hard to make that a reality. I am pleased that the Senate will pass the

Human Rights Enforcement Act of 2009.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand before you today in support of S. 1472 to establish a section within the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice to enforce human rights laws, to make technical and conforming amendments to criminal and immigration laws pertaining to human rights violations, and for other purposes.

This bipartisan legislation would make it easier for the Justice Department to hold accountable human rights abusers who seek safe haven in the United States. The end of the 20th century and the beginning of the current 21st century have seen ongoing human rights atrocities all over the globe, such as Burma, Sudan, and Bosnia. While an increasing number of perpetrators of such human rights abuses are held accountable in international or state tribunals, many have escaped accountability for their crimes. Some of these human rights abusers have even fled to the United States.

As a representative of the state of Texas, I understand the urgency of creating an effective mechanism for investigating human rights violators that seek to hide out here in the United States. In a 2008 report, retired five-star General Barry McCaffrey warned of a refugee catastrophe that could greatly affect the state of Texas. General McCaffrey warns that ``Mexico is on the edge of abyss'' and that ``it could become a narco-state in the coming decade.'' According to General McCaffrey's report, there could be a surge of millions of refugees crossing the U.S. border. Those millions will almost certainly include individuals who have committed human rights violations in Mexico. And those individuals must be held accountable for their actions.

How the United States treats suspected perpetrators of human rights abuses sends an important message to the world about our commitment to human rights and the rule of law.

The United States has a rich history of protecting human rights and holding violators of such rights accountable. Over 60 years ago, the U.S. led efforts to prosecute Nazi perpetrators at the Nuremberg Trials. The U.S. also supported the prosecution of human rights crimes before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Special Court of Sierra Leone, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. But, the United States must do more. The U.S. must make a stronger effort to hold those human rights violators who have found safe haven in the United States accountable for their atrocities.

The Human Rights Enforcement Act would seek to build on the foundations already laid by creating a section inside the Department of Justice's Criminal Division that would focus entirely on enforcing human rights laws. The bill combines the Office of Special Investigations, whose work includes investigating and denaturalizing human rights offenders and the Domestic Security Section, which has broad jurisdiction over human rights violations. This consolidation allows for the Department of Justice to more effectively utilize law enforcement resources to investigate and, where necessary, prosecute, denaturalize, or deport human rights offenders.

The rule of law and human rights are fundamental American values. In accordance with those values, the United States has a rich history of leading the promotion of human rights worldwide. We have a responsibility to set an

example for the rest of the world by demonstrating our commitment to end human rights atrocities and hold perpetrators accountable.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly encourage all of my colleagues to join me in support of S. 1472.