On the recordFebruary 9, 2022
Madam Speaker, I just want to respond quickly to two things before I close. The first is, again, the Global Respect Act, like Magnitsky, does not punish and cannot be invoked for speech. It is very clear. It has never been used in that way, and it specifically targets conduct. But out of an abundance of caution, to reassure our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, Mr. Harder offers an amendment that makes that explicit, that says that no one will be sanctioned due to their religious beliefs. Instead, only those who commit egregious acts of violence, including: torture, enforced disappearance, or extrajudicial killings will be denied entry into the United States. This notion of like, well, we were concerned about this religion issue, but when it is explicitly addressed because it is offered by a Democrat through the amendment process and not a Republican, it doesn't satisfy my friends on the other side of the aisle. It is very disappointing; very disappointing. This Global Respect Act legislation is designed to address a real problem, and I will just say one last time, in section 3 of the bill, the language in the bill includes gross violations of internationally recognized human rights as codified in 22 U.S.C. 2304. What is that? Not your view on marriage, not whether you like someone. It is defined as: ``. . .…





