Condemning the violence, persecution, intimidation, and murders committed by the Government of Nicaragua against its citizens.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this measure.

In response to Ortega's brutal crackdown on peaceful protests and human rights violations, I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 981, condemning the violence, persecution, and intimidation committed by the Government of Nicaragua against its citizens.

As we know, the Nicaraguan people are suffering as the Ortega government continues to punish citizens for pursuing greater democratic rights. Since Ortega came into power, he has worked hard to consolidate power in the hands of his family and party loyalists at the expense of Nicaraguan citizens.

The peaceful protests that began in April initially opposed the proposed government reform to social security. However, as Ortega ordered violent crackdowns by government security forces, the demonstrations gradually became a call for a more democratic Nicaragua.

The Catholic Church has attempted numerous times to mediate dialogue between Ortega and opposition groups, but the Ortega regime has repeatedly failed to uphold its end of the agreement. We are seeing new reports every week on how Ortega's paramilitary forces are opening fire against sanctuaries and shooting and injuring people seeking refuge in churches across the country. It is shameful. As negotiations over dialogue have devolved, hundreds of Nicaraguan citizens are estimated to have been killed, with thousands more injured.

Recently, international observers from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and the European Union have arrived in Nicaragua to begin investigating the violence. Now, many Nicaraguans are demanding political reform and the resignation of Ortega and his wife before the scheduled elections in 2021.

Mr. Speaker, the United States cannot stand idly by and ignore the demands of the Nicaraguan people while the Ortegas and his confidants push the country towards authoritarianism. That is why my colleagues, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Member Engel, Chairman Cook, and I have introduced this bipartisan resolution condemning the ongoing violence in Nicaragua. We are urging the administration to impose sanctions on individuals who qualify under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

I have also worked with my friend Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to pass the Nicaragua Investment Conditionality Act, to hold the regime accountable for its misuse of international loans. This bill would direct the U.S. to not support international loans to Nicaragua until the government increases transparency and has free and fair elections.

Unified pushback from the international community shows the courageous Nicaraguans on the ground that the world stands shoulder to shoulder with them. It is the only way for Ortega to see the writing on the wall. He has to give up his grip and enact long overdue and meaningful political reform that people are yearning for.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for their continued bipartisanship on these important issues. I urge my colleagues to support the resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for the purpose of closing.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this measure.

In response to Ortega's brutal crackdown on peaceful protests and human rights violations, H. Res. 981 condemns the violence, persecution, and intimidation committed by the Government of Nicaragua against its citizens.

The Nicaragua National Police, or militias, controlled by the Nicaraguan

Government have murdered, detained, and tortured innocent people peacefully standing up for their rights. Stories of Nicaraguan protesters being electrocuted and waterboarded by gangs aligned with the Ortega regime continue to horrify the international community.

While the Ortegas may condemn foreign interference in their affairs, let us be clear: The United States condemns the violence, the persecution, the intimidation, and the murders of peaceful protesters by the Ortega security forces and his henchmen.

We support the people of Nicaragua in their pursuit for democracy, including their call for free and fair elections overseen by credible domestic and international observers, and we demand that Nicaragua release those individuals wrongfully detained by the government.

Again, I want to thank the chairman and ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce and Eliot Engel. I want to take this opportunity to thank Ed Royce for his last 3 years of bipartisan work. I want to tell the gentleman that I really appreciate being on his committee and serving with him on this committee. I thank the gentleman for his service.

I also want to thank both my good friend Eliot Engel as well, who is my counterpart on the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, and Chairman Paul Cook for their strong bipartisan leadership.

I also want to thank my good friend from Florida, Ileana Ros- Lehtinen, whom I have worked with and admired for many, many years, for her decades of unwavering dedication to promoting democracy and human rights around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I support this bill, and I urge all Members to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 981) condemning the violence, persecution, intimidation, and murders committed by the Government of Nicaragua against its citizens, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I would really like to begin by thanking our Foreign Affairs chairman emeritus, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and I do also want to thank my other colleagues on the committee. I also thank Albio Sires for his work on this measure, along with Colonel Cook. I think it is very timely. It is very important.

I think, for those whose families have experienced what it is like under a totalitarian system, there is a special identification with what the victims are going through right now as a result of the authoritarian bent, right now, of President Daniel Ortega, the same Daniel Ortega we remember from 1979. But he lost an election, I think it was, in 1990. He has had five terms.

But in consolidating his power, he has moved to an authoritarian approach in tightening that grip where he has now resorted to using brutal force against the students on their campuses if they protest; brutal force against the people who seek refuge in the churches, shooting up the churches, something that Congressman Juan Vargas was talking to me about the other day; brutal force in the villages against those who protest, creating a situation with hundreds and hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries.

I can just tell you personally, I have a constituent and friend in the district, and she is from one of those villages. She saw me and gave me a little letter the other day about the fate of some of her neighbors who died at the hands of one of these attacks in the villages. They were murdered there on the streets of her small village.

I think the reason that this resolution represents such a broad, bipartisan consensus in this condemnation of Ortega's regime is because of the nature of that violence. What this resolution does is support the people of Nicaragua in their pursuit of freedom.

Nicaraguans, understandably, want self-determination. They want an end to corruption. They are asking for free and fair elections. The international community--in particular, the Organization of American States regional leaders--must continue to stand with these brave students and church leaders and villagers who are being targeted and being assassinated by thugs working on behalf of and at the behest of Daniel Ortega.

When we think about this circumstance and other authoritarian leaders, one of the allies of Daniel Ortega is Nicolas Maduro. He uses these same tactics against the Venezuelan people, and the people deserve better than this.

This resolution shows this body's commitment to standing shoulder to shoulder with those without a voice, seeking freedom from those authoritarians who are becoming dictators.

The administration was correct earlier this month in sanctioning three senior Nicaraguan officials for human rights abuses and corruption under the U.S. Global Magnitsky Act, a measure that we passed out of our committee, and that is something that this resolution affirms. But more can still be done.

This resolution encourages the administration to continue to pressure Ortega to stop the violence and to move forward with free and fair elections.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), the chairman emeritus of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the author of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentlewoman from Florida an additional 1 minute.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I shared with this body the letter from my constituent and neighbor outlining what had happened to her village where she had grown up and how she had lost friends at the hands of a gang allied with Daniel Ortega quite recently who attacked the village. So I want to thank Albio Sires, Chairman Emeritus Ros-Lehtinen, and others who worked on this resolution for bringing this bipartisan measure forward.

I want to thank them for their continued leadership. Because of the continued attacks on demonstrators in Nicaragua, the shooting up of churches, and the threatening of priests there, hundreds of protesters have been murdered, and thousands more have been injured. This is unacceptable.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, it is imperative that this body, and our friends and allies across the region, continue to call on Daniel Ortega to end the violence and to allow free and fair elections in Nicaragua.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Royce for his amazing leadership and also Ranking Member Engel. They brought this important and timely resolution to the floor, and I am so grateful to have worked not only with Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel, but also with Chairman Cook and Ranking Member Sires of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee.

All of us introduced H. Res. 981, and this resolution, as Mr. Sires and Mr. Royce have pointed out, condemns the persecution; it condemns the intimidation, the violence, and the murders that are being committed by the Government of Nicaragua against its citizens under the orders of Daniel Ortega.

Mr. Speaker, 450, that is how many Nicaraguans have been killed by Ortega's regime and its thugs just since April of this year. Heaven knows how many today or how many just these past days. The death toll is rising every day. And as the regime has now authorized a shoot-to- kill policy in cities like Masaya and Jinotega, shoot to kill against dissidents, against protesters, and add that to the thousands who have been injured, arrested, and forced disappearances, we are talking about a massive and severe repression by a regime that will do anything to stay in power. That is what this is all about. Ortega and his wife want to stay in power at all costs.

On Monday, Daniel Ortega had the nerve, the audacity, to go on our news channel, FOX News, American TV, to say that everything was under control in Nicaragua and that it was, in fact, the Nicaraguan people who were committing the acts of violence, that the Nicaraguan people are the ones responsible for the bloodshed. It is a desperate attempt by a desperate but dangerous fool.

Mr. Speaker, it is a dire situation, and it is getting worse by the day. That is why we need to hold Ortega accountable for his evil and violent acts and put additional pressure on his regime.

The administration has shown great leadership in condemning Ortega and in sanctioning some of his regime's top officials under the Global Magnitsky Act.

My resolution urges the administration to do more, to target more of Ortega's goons for sanctions, and to urge this very body to do more, because time is of the essence.

The measure before us is simple and straightforward. It rightfully identifies Ortega, not the Nicaraguan people, as the orchestrator of the violence. It urges the administration to take more action against the regime. It also demonstrates our unwavering support for the people of Nicaragua in their support for democracy and their pursuit of justice. It includes the call for early, free, fair, and transparent elections overseen by domestic and international observers.

This resolution also calls upon responsible nations to stand in solidarity with the people of Nicaragua, because their silence has been deafening.

Today, this body is standing up for some of the most cherished values and ideals that we hold true to our hearts, and we are unequivocally rejecting the Ortega regime's abuses and its corruption. Today, we can send a strong, unified, and clear message that we are watching; we are acting; and we are supporting the aspirations of all freedom-loving Nicaraguans.

Mr. Speaker, in my congressional district, I am so blessed to have so many Nicaraguan Americans. In fact, one of them is right here behind me, Gaby Boffelli, who is very proud of her Nicaraguan heritage, and she keeps me abreast of what is happening in Nicaragua every day.

My constituents tell me they are heartbroken about the situation. They are heartbroken because people don't seem to be paying attention. But they know that the United States Congress is standing with them. Today, with this vote, we will stand ever so strongly with them.

Ortega is receiving help, as the chairman pointed out, from Venezuela's Maduro, from Castro in Cuba, and from Diaz-Canel in Cuba. These thugs know how to repress and kill dissidents.

Let's do the right thing. Let's not stand with the oppressors. Let's stand with the people of Nicaragua.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 981, and to condemn the Ortega regime's escalating, brutal campaign against its own people.

Ortega has now been in charge of Nicaragua for 22 of the last 39 years. After years of consolidating power by installing his wife as vice president, and gradually chipping away at the power of the judiciary and congress, Ortega has now dropped all pretense of being anything other than an authoritarian leader.

More than 300 people have now died in Nicaragua for having the courage to speak out against his and his wife's dictatorial rule. Ortega has now shown himself willing to target members of the clergy for fulfilling their sacred duty to recognize the value of human life, and for putting themselves in harm's way to try to protect their people.

This should be unacceptable to the U.S. and to the international community. I commend my colleague Rep. Ros-Lehtinen for taking a stand, and I encourage the executive branch to use all non-military means available to hold Ortega accountable for these deaths and to stop the carnage in Nicaragua.