United States HRES 753: Commemorating the fifth anniversary of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and calling for accountability.

Bill Text

IV 
118THCONGRESS 
1
STSESSION 
H.  RES.  753 
Commemorating the fifth anniversary of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi 
and calling for accountability. 
IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  
SEPTEMBER30, 2023 
Mr.   C
ONNOLLY(for   himself,   Mr.   BEYER,   Mr.   SCOTTof   Virginia,   Ms.   
M
CCLELLAN,   Ms.   WEXTON,   Ms.   SPANBERGER,   Mr.   PHILLIPS,   Mr.   
M
CGOVERN,  Mr.  SCHIFF,  Mr.  CARSON,  Ms.  OMAR,  Ms.  NORTON,  Mr.  
K
EATING,  Mr.  COHEN,  Mr.  DOGGETT,  Mr.  MOULTON,  Ms.  ADAMS,  Ms.  
S
CHAKOWSKY,  Ms.  TITUS,  Ms.  JACOBS,  Mr.  VARGAS,  Mr.  TRONE,  Ms.  
M
CCOLLUM,  Ms.  VELA
 ́
ZQUEZ,  Mr.  LYNCH,  Ms.  LEEof  California,  Mr.  
C
ASTROof  Texas,  Mr.  RASKIN,  Mr.  ALLRED,  Mr.  EVANS,  Ms.  CLARKE 
of  New  York,  and  Mr.  B
LUMENAUER)  submitted  the  following  resolution;  
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Commemorating the fifth anniversary of the murder of Jamal 
Khashoggi and calling for accountability. 
Whereas  Jamal  Khashoggi  was  a  Saudi  journalist,  author,  
and  a  former  general  manager  and  editor-in-chief  of  Al-  
Arab  News  Channel  who  fled  Saudi  Arabia  in  June  2017  
and  went  into  self-imposed  exile  in  Virginia  in  the  United  
States; 
Whereas,  on  September  18,  2017,  Jamal  Khashoggi  pub-
lished  his  first  article  in  the  Washington  Post,  stating,  ‘‘I  
have  left  my  home,  my  family  and  my  job,  and  I  am  rais-
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•HRES  753  IH  
ing  my  voice.  To  do  otherwise  would  betray  those  who  
languish  in  prison.  I  can  speak  when  so  many  cannot.  I  
want  you  to  know  that  Saudi  Arabia  has  not  always  been  
as it is now. We Saudis deserve better.’’; 
Whereas,  on  October  2,  2018,  Jamal  Khashoggi  was  killed  
and  dismembered  by  agents  of  the  Government  of  Saudi  
Arabia  in  the  consulate  of  Saudi  Arabia  in  Istanbul,  Tur-
key; 
Whereas,  in  February  2021,  the  Government  of  the  United  
States  submitted  an  unclassified  report  to  Congress,  pro-
viding  transparency  on  the  killing  and  announced  the  
Khashoggi  Ban,  a  measure  that  allows  the  Department  
of  State  to  impose  visa  restrictions  on  individuals  who  
‘‘directly  engage  in  serious,  extraterritorial  counter-dis-
sident  activities,  including  those  that  suppress,  harass,  
surveil,  threaten,  or  harm  journalists,  activists,  or  other  
persons perceived to be dissidents’’; 
Whereas  the  Office  of  the  Director  of  National  Intelligence  
found  that  the  Crown  Prince  of  Saudi  Arabia,  Muham-
mad  bin  Salman,  approved  an  operation  in  Istanbul,  Tur-
key, to capture or kill Khashoggi; 
Whereas,  since  the  brutal  murder  of  Jamal  Khashoggi,  the  
Government  of  Saudi  Arabia  continues  to  crack  down  on  
free  expression  through  the  use  of  enforced  disappear-
ances,   unjust   detentions,   threats,   intimidation,   and   
transnational repression; 
Whereas  Freedom  House  defines  transnational  repression  as  
‘‘governments  reaching  across  borders  to  silence  dissent  
among  diasporas  and  exiles,  including  through  assassina-
tions,   illegal   deportations,   abductions,   digital   threats,   
Interpol abuse, and family intimidation’’; 
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•HRES  753  IH  
Whereas  the  Department  of  Homeland  Security,  the  Depart-
ment  of  Justice,  including  the  Federal  Bureau  of  Inves-
tigation,  and  the  Department  of  State  are  part  of  a  re-
cently    launched    ‘‘whole-of-government’’    response    to    
transnational  repression,  which  is  being  coordinated  by  
the National Security Council; 
Whereas,  according  to  Freedom  House,  the  Governments  of  
Iran,  the  People’s  Republic  of  China,  Egypt,  the  Russian  
Federation,  Rwanda,  Saudi  Arabia,  and  other  states  are  
increasingly  disregarding  the  laws  of  the  United  States  to  
threaten,  harass,  surveil,  stalk,  and,  in  some  cases,  plot  
physical harm to individuals across the United States; 
Whereas  citizens  of  the  United  States  Areej  al-Sadhan,  sister  
of  detained  humanitarian  aid  worker  Abdulrahman  al-  
Sadhan,  and  Abdullah  Alaoudh  of  Virginia,  son  of  de-
tained  scholar  Salman  Alodah,  have  been  subject  to  in-
timidation and harassment in the United States; 
Whereas,  in  August  2022,  a  former  Twitter  employee  was  
found  guilty  of  acting  as  an  unregistered  agent  of  the  
Government  of  Saudi  Arabia,  spying  on  Saudi  dissidents  
and  sharing  their  private  information  with  Saudi  leader-
ship;