A resolution urging the Government of Brazil to ensure that the October 2022 elections are conducted in a free, fair, credible, transparent, and peaceful manner.

Mr. President, I rise today to say a few words about the state of democracy, both in terms of the upcoming election in Brazil as well as here in the United States.

It is no great secret that, today, democracies around the world are under great threat from rightwing extremism. That obviously includes our own, as we all saw tragically on January 6, 2021, when there was an attack on this very building by those seeking to overturn our Presidential election.

One of the countries where democracy is now under threat is Brazil, the largest nation in Latin America and one of the largest democratic countries in the world. On October 2, less than 2 weeks from now, Brazil will hold its Presidential election. According to many polls, it appears that the two major candidates in that election are President Jair Bolsonaro and former President Lula da Silva. If no candidate in that election receives over 50 percent of the vote, there will be a runoff election between the top two candidates on October 30.

Mr. President, over the past many months, Brazilians from all sectors of society have publicly expressed serious concerns about ongoing efforts in that country to undermine democracy, including close to 1 million Brazilians who signed an open letter released on July 26, 2022, defending the democratic institutions of Brazil and the rule of law.

And there is, in fact, a very good reason as to why the people in Brazil are concerned about their democracy, and that is that the current President and candidate for reelection, Jair Bolsonaro, has made some very provocative statements which suggest that he might not accept the election results if he loses. In other words, Bolsonaro might attempt to destroy Brazilian democracy and remain in power no matter what the people of Brazil determine in a free and democratic election.

Here are just a few examples of what Mr. Bolsonaro has said over the years.

Back in September 2018, before he won his election, Bolsonaro stated:

I will not accept an election result that is not my own

victory.

On September 7, 2021, as reported by the Financial Times, Bolsonaro stated:

There are those who think they can take me from the

presidency with the mark of a pen. Well, I say to everyone I

have only three possible fates: Arrest, death or victory. And

tell the bastards I'll never be arrested. Only God can take

me from the presidency.

According to Human Rights Watch, previously, President Bolsonaro had claimed, without providing any evidence, that the last two Presidential elections were fraudulent, including his own election, in which he claimed he got more votes than the final tally showed.

But it is not just Bolsonaro's words that should be of concern to those of us who still believe in democracy. According to a recent survey by the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is experiencing a 335-percent increase in violence directed against political leaders in 2022 relative to 2019.

Mr. President, it is obviously not the business of the United States to determine who the next President of Brazil is or to get involved in Brazil's Presidential elections in any way. That is a decision to be made solely by the people of Brazil through a fair and free election. But it is the business of the United States to make clear to the people of Brazil that our government will not recognize or support a government that comes to power through a military coup or the undermining of a democratic election. That is our business.

In that regard, Mr. President, I ask my colleagues to support a resolution

that I have introduced with Senator Kaine, S. Res. 753. And Senator Kaine, of course, is the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, and that is also cosponsored by Senators Leahy, Merkley, Blumenthal, and Warren.

This resolution is very simple and straightforward. It does not take sides in Brazil's election, obviously, and that would be unacceptable. But what it does do is express the sense of the U.S. Senate that the U.S. Government will make it unequivocally clear that the continuing relationship of the United States and Brazil depends upon the commitment of the government of Brazil to democracy and human rights.

This resolution urges the Biden administration to make clear that the United States will not support any government that comes to power in Brazil through undemocratic means and to ensure U.S. security assistance to Brazil remains compliant with our laws related to the peaceful and democratic transition of power--in other words, no military aid to a military coup in Brazil.

This does not seem to be a complicated or, in my view, controversial piece of legislation. Yet--and I say this with a great deal of sadness, and maybe it tells us the state of democracy in the United States--we have not been able to get one single Republican to cosponsor this very simple, straightforward resolution.

Why is that? And the answer is, I would love for my Republican colleagues to explain to me why they cannot support and add their names to a resolution that simply supports Brazil's democracy and the peaceful transfer of power. Obviously, it would be most effective if this resolution had bipartisan support, and I hope that it will.

Mr. President, in my view, it is imperative that the U.S. Senate make it clear through this resolution that we support democracy in Brazil. It would be unacceptable to the United States to recognize a government that came to power undemocratically; and, if we did that, it would send a horrific message to the entire world. So it is important for the people of Brazil to know that we are on their side.

We are on the side of democracy, and that is what this resolution is about. I ask my colleagues, in a bipartisan way, to support it.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be discharged from further consideration and the Senate now proceed to S. Res. 753.

I know of no further debate on the resolution.

I ask unanimous consent that the preamble be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Madam President, I have risen today to ask unanimous consent for S. Res. 753, expressing the sense of the Senate on the upcoming election in Brazil.

This Sunday, October 2, Brazil will hold its Presidential election. According to many polls, it appears that the two major candidates are President Jair Bolsonaro and former President Lula da Silva. If no candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote, there will be a runoff election between the top two candidates on October 30.

Madam President, over the past several months, Brazilians from all sectors of society have publicly expressed serious concern about ongoing efforts to undermine democracy in their country, including close to 1 million Brazilians who signed an open letter released on July 26, defending the democratic institutions of Brazil and the rule of law.

And there is a very good reason why these people in Brazil signed that letter. And that is that the current President, and candidate for reelection, Mr. Bolsonaro, has made some very provocative statements which suggest that he might not accept the election results if he loses. In other words, he might attempt to destroy Brazilian democracy and remain in power no matter what the people of Brazil determine in a free, fair, and democratic election.

And let me just quote some of what Mr. Bolsonaro has been saying over the last several years. Back in September 2018, before he won his election, Bolsonaro stated:

I will not accept an election result that is not my own

victory.

On September 7, 2021, as reported by the Financial Times, Mr. Bolsonaro stated:

There are those who think they can take me from the

presidency with the mark of a pen. Well, I say to everyone I

have only three possible fates: arrest, death or victory. And

tell the bastards I'll never be arrested. Only God can take

me from the presidency.

According to Human Rights Watch, previously, President Bolsonaro had claimed, without providing any evidence, that the last two Presidential elections were fraudulent, including his own election, in which he claimed he got more votes than the final tally showed.

But it is not just Bolsonaro's words that should be of concern to those of us who believe in democracy. According to a recent survey by the Federal University of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is facing a 335-percent increase in violence directed against political leaders in 2022 relative to 2019.

Last month, a Workers' Party official was shot dead by a Bolsonaro supporter. Yesterday, Reuters reported that the Federal Police guarding former President Lula da Silva, who is the current frontrunner to unseat Bolsonaro, sent a classified memo to senior colleagues across Brazil calling for backup in order to protect Lula from possible assassination attempts.

It is clearly not the business of the United States to determine who the next President of Brazil is or to get involved in Brazil's Presidential elections in any way. That is a decision to be made solely by the people of Brazil through a free and fair election. But it is the business of the United States to make clear to the people of Brazil that our government will not recognize or support a government that comes to power through a military coup or the undermining of a democratic election.

In that regard, I have asked to receive unanimous consent today for a resolution that I introduced with Senator Tim Kaine, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. That resolution is also cosponsored by Senators Durbin, Leahy, Merkley, Blumenthal, and Warren.

I would also like to thank Senator Menendez, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for allowing this resolution to come to the floor.

This resolution is very simple and straightforward. It does not take sides in Brazil's elections. All it does is express the sense of the U.S. Senate that the U.S. Government should make unequivocally clear that the continuing relationship of the United States and Brazil depends upon the commitment of the Government of Brazil to democracy and human rights.

It urges the Biden administration to make clear that the United States will not support any government that comes to power in Brazil through undemocratic means and to ensure that U.S. security assistance to Brazil remains compliant with our laws related to the peaceful and democratic transition of power. This includes longstanding legal restrictions on the provision of security assistance in the event of a military coup.

In my view, it is imperative that the U.S. Senate make it clear through this resolution that we support democracy in Brazil. It would be unacceptable for the United States to recognize a government that came to power undemocratically, and it would send a horrific message to the entire world if we did that.

It is important for the people of Brazil to know we are on their side, on the side of democracy. This resolution sent that message. And I thank my colleagues for supporting it.

With that, I yield the floor.