[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 806 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 806
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that any attempt
by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to remain in
office beyond May 7, 2024, shall warrant nonrecognition on the part of
the United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 18, 2021
Mr. Cohen (for himself and Mr. Wilson of South Carolina) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that any attempt
by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to remain in
office beyond May 7, 2024, shall warrant nonrecognition on the part of
the United States.
Whereas the Russian Federation, as a member of the United Nations, the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the Council of
Europe, is bound by international commitments with regard to human
rights and the rule of law;
Whereas Article 81(3) of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as enacted
on December 25, 1993, holds that ``one and the same person cannot occupy
the office of President of the Russian Federation for more than two
consecutive terms'';
Whereas Vladimir Putin has been President of the Russian Federation for two
consecutive terms, the first term lasting from May 7, 2000, to May 7,
2008, and the second, current, and final term beginning May 7, 2012, and
expiring on May 7, 2024;
Whereas, on July 3, 2020, following votes in both chambers of the Federal
Assembly and in regional legislatures and a nationwide popular vote,
President Vladimir Putin signed Presidential Decree No. 445 enacting 206
amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, including an
amendment waiving the term limit for him personally, allowing him to
seek 2 more 6-year Presidential terms after May 7, 2024;
Whereas the enactment of constitutional amendments had been conditioned on
approval of such amendments in a nationwide vote, referred to by
President Vladimir Putin as a ``plebiscite'', that was held between June
25 and July 1, 2020, under the unprecedented conditions of the COVID-19
pandemic;
Whereas the 2020 Russian constitutional plebiscite was marked by widespread
reports of organized voter coercion, multiple voting, ballot-stuffing,
and violation of the secrecy of the ballot, and by one-sided media
coverage in favor of the amendments, while opponents of the amendments
were not given airtime in the media and had their campaign rallies
prohibited and their websites blocked;
Whereas voting was held over 7 days and was conducted not only in regular
polling places but also in makeshift locations, including park benches,
car trunks, and shopping carts, with ballots stored overnight by the
electoral commissions with no independent oversight;
Whereas in violation of the laws of the Russian Federation and the commitments
of the Russian Federation under the Organization for Security and Co-
operation in Europe and the Council of Europe, Russian authorities did
not invite international observers to monitor the vote and limited
domestic observers to those appointed by state-controlled Public
Chambers;
Whereas according to opinion polls conducted in the runup to the plebiscite by
the Levada Center, 48 percent of Russian voters supported waiving
Vladimir Putin's term limit while 47 percent were in opposition;
Whereas according to official figures released by the Central Electoral
Commission of the Russian Federation, amendments to the Constitution of
the Russian Federation were supported by 78 percent of those who
participated in the plebiscite;
Whereas the Central Electoral Commission of the Russian Federation began
announcing the results of the plebiscite before voting had concluded;
Whereas according to the Russian nongovernmental organization Golos and
independent electoral analysts, approximately 27,000,000 votes,
accounting for 37 percent of the official total, were fraudulent, making
the plebiscite the most manipulated vote in the modern history of the
Russian Federation;
Whereas in a statement following the plebiscite, the leaders of the United
States delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe, Senator Roger Wicker and the late
Representative Alcee Hastings, said that ``the outcome of this vote was
decided long before the ballots were tallied'' and that ``State-
sponsored fraud, coercion, and obfuscation make it impossible to know
the true will of the Russian people'';
Whereas Senator James Risch, then-Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations
of the Senate, has stated that the ``sham vote, masquerading as a
referendum, has swept away all remnants of Putin's legitimacy'';
Whereas the Department of State has held that ``[a]round the world, as a matter
of principle, the United States opposes constitutional amendments that
favor incumbents or extend their terms in office, particularly in
contexts where necessary conditions for free and fair democratic
processes are lacking'';
Whereas the United States and the Russian Federation are participating states of
the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe; and
Whereas the Document of the Moscow Meeting of the Conference on the Human
Dimension of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe holds
that ``issues relating to human rights, fundamental freedoms, democracy
and the rule of law . . . are matters of direct and legitimate concern
to all participating States and do not belong exclusively to the
internal affairs of the State concerned'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives
that--
(1) the 2020 amendments to the Constitution of the Russian
Federation were enacted in violation of the laws and
international commitments of the Russian Federation;
(2) the waiver of the Presidential term limit resulting
from those amendments is illegitimate; and
(3) any attempt by President of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Putin to remain in office beyond the end of his
current and final term on May 7, 2024, shall warrant
nonrecognition on the part of the United States.
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