Today the United States Senate passed Senate Resolution 596, introduced by Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s proposed “national security law” for Hong Kong that would ban secession, subversion, and foreign interference. Senator Hawley’s resolution says passage of CCP’s proposed law would put Beijing in direct violation of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Hong Kong Basic Law and calls upon all free nations to stand against the campaign to destroy Hongkongers’ basic liberties and human rights.
Speaking on the Senate Floor, Senator Hawley said, “I just want to say to the people of Hong Kong, who I’ve had the privilege to meet and to be with them on the streets as they protest, as they stand up to this violent and authoritarian regime, I hope that today’s actions will give you an added measure of hope that the free people of this nation and the free people of the world are with you and that we will not sit idly by, that we will stand up, that we will take action, and that your cause for your basic rights, your cause for your basic liberties, is our cause as well. It’s a privilege to stand with you as an American and as a Missourian and it’s a privilege to see this work accomplished today on the floor of the Senate.”
Senator Hawley’s resolution was cosponsored by Senators Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and John Boozman (R-Ark.).