Saudi Arabia Human Rights and Accountability Act of 2019

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2037) to encourage accountability for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2037.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to report the Saudi Arabia Human Rights and Accountability Act of 2019.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Malinowski) for his leadership, his thoughtfulness, and his vision in authoring this legislation. Mr. Malinowski came to this body with a long track record of fighting for human rights, and he arrived ready to tackle one of the thorniest issues: How do we ensure justice for those responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi? How do we demand accountability when the President refuses?

Jamal Khashoggi was a Washington Post contributing columnist and legal permanent U.S. resident. He was killed by Saudi Government personnel on October 2, 2018, during his visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Circumstances surrounding his disappearance and death have been extensively reported on by media outlets, briefed to some Members in classified settings, and investigated by the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings.

We still haven't seen any real accountability for this heinous crime. The Saudis originally denied any involvement and then made the outlandish claim that this killing was an accident--yes, accidental killing by bone saw. Give me a break.

The Trump administration said it would hold those responsible to account, but they have been dragging their feet. We still haven't seen any real action, so Congress must step in.

This important legislation mandates a report from the Director of National Intelligence about those who were responsible for, complicit in, or played a supporting role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The legislation then imposes a visa ban on those individuals.

This bill, though, has a thoughtful off-ramp. In an effort to reshape our relationship with Saudi Arabia, which is a very important U.S. partner, the legislation says that if Saudi Arabia releases the journalists and activists currently imprisoned in the kingdom, fully cooperates in the investigation of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, and reforms its systems to value human rights, those visa bans will not be imposed.

If Saudi Arabia is looking for a way to reset the U.S.-Saudi relationship, I invite them to look at this legislation. I hope they do.

The Saudis are an important security partner, but we cannot just look the other way when they ignore international norms and basic human rights and when they murder a journalist in broad daylight in a diplomatic facility.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Foreign Affairs,

Washington, DC, July 9, 2019.

Hon. Jerrold Nadler,

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,

House of Representatives, Washington, DC.

Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing to you concerning H.R.

2037, the Saudi Arabia Human Rights and Accountability act of

2019.

I appreciate your willingness to work cooperatively on this

legislation. I recognize that the bill contains provisions

that fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee on the

Judiciary. I acknowledge that the Committee will not formally

consider H.R. 2037 and agree that the inaction of your

Committee with respect to the bill does not waive any future

jurisdictional claim over the matters contained in H.R. 2037

which fall within your Committee's Rule X jurisdiction.

I will ensure that our exchange of letters is included in

the Congressional Record during floor consideration of the

bill. I appreciate your cooperation regarding this

legislation and look forward to continuing to work with you

as this measure moves through the legislative process.

Sincerely,

Eliot L. Engel,

Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Malinowski), who is the author of this bill and a valued member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), the chairman of the Rules Committee and co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.

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

Mr. Speaker, the horrific murder of Jamal Khashoggi demands accountability and justice. After the astounding evidence we have seen, it just cannot be business as usual; and since the administration is dragging its feet, Congress must step forward.

So I urge my colleagues to join me today and support the Saudi Arabia Human Rights and Accountability Act, and I thank the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Malinowski) for his leadership on this issue.

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

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Engel for his leadership on this issue. I also want to recognize Ranking Member McCaul and all my colleagues on the Foreign Affairs Committee for working with me to ensure that we could move forward with this bill in a bipartisan way.

All of us agree that our relationship with Saudi Arabia is important, but we equally agree that how the Saudi Government treats its people and the people of other countries is important.

We have known this for a long time, I think, but last year's murder of Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudi Government makes it especially important that we take meaningful action in defense of our interest and our values.

When I was campaigning for Congress last year in New Jersey, foreign policy issues did not come up very often, and yet the murder of Jamal Khashoggi somehow broke through the noise. I was asked about it a lot.

I think this is because people understand that, while human rights violations in countries like Saudi Arabia are all too common, what happened to Khashoggi was not common. He was not killed, after all, inside Saudi Arabia. He was a resident of the United States. And yet the Saudi Government lured him into one of their embassies on the soil of a NATO country, where they brutally slaughtered him.

Many governments around the world abuse their people. Very few governments reach out beyond their borders to kidnap or kill people living in other countries. Russia has done it; Iran has reportedly done it.

But this kind of crime is very rare. It is profoundly in our interest to keep it rare, and that is why it is essential that we name and hold accountable those who are responsible for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

We need to do this not because what the Saudi Government did was wrong, but because it crossed a line that no partner of the United States should ever be allowed to cross--not just because it showed a lack of respect for human rights, but because it demonstrated a lack of respect for the United States.

Let's remember that there are thousands of Jamal Khashoggis living in America today. Men and women who have taken refuge in our country from dictatorships around the world and who sometimes speak up about injustices in their countries of origin.

If the Saudi Government gets away with what it did to a resident of the United States, what is to stop China or Russia or Cuba or Iran or North Korea or Venezuela or any other dictatorship from doing the same.

We know it is not their scruples that hold them back. The only thing that stops them is their fear of the consequences if they do this to somebody living in our country or to an American abroad. That is why there have to be consequences.

Our bill ensures that there will be. It requires the Director of National Intelligence to give us a list of everyone--without exception--whom the intelligence community believes to be responsible for planning, executing, or covering up this terrible crime. All on this list will be subject to a visa ban. The sanctions can only be lifted if the Saudi Government takes meaningful steps to reform human rights conditions in the kingdom.

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that, while the Saudi Government has faced a lot of rhetorical condemnation for what they did to Jamal Khashoggi, it has not yet gotten the message. We know that the FBI has visited at least four Saudi dissidents living in the United States since Khashoggi's murder to warn them about the threats to their life from Saudi Arabia, including as recently as 6 weeks ago.

The Saudis also continue to imprison American citizens without trial or charge, despite repeated requests from the Trump administration for their release. While I appreciate that the State Department has sanctioned several Saudis for their involvement in Khashoggi's murder, this action also risks sending the wrong message.

By only sanctioning the rogues, whom the Saudis themselves are willing to throw under the bus for this crime, we risk reinforcing the Saudi Crown Prince's lie that the murder of Khashoggi was a rogue operation.

The relationship with Saudi Arabia is important, but it is not so important that we have to lie for the Saudis or allow them, literally, to get away with murder. No relationship and no individual is so important that we need to debase ourselves in that way.

Now is the time to send the message, especially now, before Mohammad bin Salman ascends to the Saudi throne, that this is wrong.

Now is the time to make clear that reckless behavior, whether the murder of an American resident or the kidnapping of the Lebanese Prime Minister or the blockade of Qatar, carries a price, that the men who rule Saudi Arabia, who, after all, depend far more on us than we depend on them, need to take our interests and values into account rather than always counting on us to cover up for them.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2037. I am very proud to be a cosponsor of this bill, and I want to commend the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Malinowski), my good friend and colleague, for his long commitment to human rights and his leadership on this issue. I also want to thank Chairman Engel for working to ensure that this bill came before the House for consideration.

Mr. Speaker, it has been nearly 10 months since Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident, journalist for The Washington Post, and former general manager and editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, and was never, ever again seen. He was assassinated by agents of the Saudi Arabian Government. Despite having arrested some of its own security personnel for this crime, the Saudi Government continues to refuse to disclose the location of Khashoggi's remains.

In June, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions concluded that Khashoggi was ``the victim of a deliberate, premeditated execution, an extrajudicial killing for which the State of Saudi Arabia is responsible.''

She called the trial in Saudi Arabia of the 11 suspects to be suspended, saying it would ``not deliver credible accountability.''

``The trial is held behind closed doors. The identity of those charged has not been released nor is the identity of those facing the death penalty. At the time of writing, at least one of those identified as responsible for the planning and organizing of the execution of Mr. Khashoggi has not been charged,'' she noted.

She also found there was ``credible evidence that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and other high-level officials were individually liable.''

Not surprisingly, the Saudi Government, which denies the Prince was involved, has rejected the report. Meanwhile, despite all the international handwringing and denunciations, there has been little effective international response.

This bill requires an intelligent assessment on responsibility for Jamal Khashoggi's murder, and it would sanction those named by imposing Magnitsky-style sanctions against them.

It also requires the Secretary of State to provide Congress with a report on Saudi Arabia's human rights record, which, personally, I find to be among the most egregious in the world.

Mr. Speaker, the U.S., Canada, France, and the U.K. all levied some level of sanctions against 18 Saudis allegedly linked to the killing. The Saudi Crown Prince is not among them. Germany, Finland, and Denmark have canceled arms deals with Saudi Arabia. The U.K. was also forced to cancel its armed sales to the Saudi Government, under court order.

The Senate and the House have voted to condemn Jamal Khashoggi's murder and to end U.S. armed sales to Saudi Arabia because of Saudi Arabia's role in the Yemen civil war.

President Trump has chosen to ignore the will of Congress, going so far as to invoke an imaginary emergency in order to continue selling arms to the Saudis. The Senate has voted to overturn those arms sales by passing resolutions of disapproval, which the House will consider later this week or next. I have introduced a bill in the House, H.R. 643, that would end U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Now is the time for the House to act strongly and definitely. There must be consequences for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Such a heinous crime must not be met with impunity. H.R. 2037 is an appropriate step in ensuring that those responsible are named and held accountable.

Again, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for his leadership and urge all my colleagues to support this legislation.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2037, the Saudi Arabia Human Rights and Accountability Act.

The killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist and former diplomatic adviser, was a hideous and gruesome crime. The United States must ensure that everyone involved in this appalling human rights violation must be identified and held accountable.

Intimidation and violence by any government against peaceful dissent must be met with strong disapproval by responsible nations. If we do not respond forcefully to this brutal attack,

we invite future violations of international norms. Peaceful dissidents all over the world are watching us, waiting to see if we will stand up for their cause.

That is why I am grateful to support H.R. 2037, which requires a report to identify those responsible for this heinous assault and blocks visas for those directly involved with this murder. We cannot have business as usual with those who carried out an extrajudicial murder in cold blood. They should not get to come to the United States and pretend like nothing happened.

I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their commitment to ensuring that Jamal is not forgotten. He deserves justice, and his family deserves justice.

I thank the chairman and Mr. Malinowski for working to ensure that even as we press for accountability, we can continue diplomatic engagements with our partner of Saudi Arabia. These diplomatic engagements are crucial in pushing for human rights improvements mutually beneficial to our Saudi allies, such as the release of wrongfully detained Americans and other matters.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I would like to, once again, thank Chairman Engel and the Committee on Foreign Affairs' membership for their bipartisan work to respond to the terrible injustice of Jamal Khashoggi's murder.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank Representative Malinowski for bringing this forward.

Again, I have long expressed concern about the cozy relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia across a number of Presidencies, both Democrat and Republican. For years, we have turned a blind eye toward their human rights abuses at home, their repression of women, and their export of radical Wahhabism, destabilizing the Middle East, Pakistan, and, now, up into the Balkans.

It is long past time for the United States to take action, but Trump has taken the U.S. blind eye toward Saudi abuses to a new extreme. He and Pompeo have cozied up to Mohammad bin Salman, who was, according to U.S. intelligence agencies, European intelligence agencies, and, now, a report from the United States, involved in the brutal murder of a U.S. resident, a noted journalist because he had the temerity to write articles critical of His Highness MBS.

And what does Trump do? He goes to Saudi Arabia. He does the sword dance. He calls them up on the phone and cozies up to them day after day after day.

This legislation here in the House will help to begin to right the wrongs of the past, right the wrongs of this administration, and to send a strong message to the Saudis that what they are doing in Yemen is not acceptable, what they are doing throughout the Middle East and other parts of the world, exporting radical Wahhabism and destabilizing, murder is not acceptable. None of these things are acceptable.

The President wants to arm them. We need to disarm this relationship and hold them accountable.