March 12, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 44 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session
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CALLING FOR ACCOUNTABILITY AND JUSTICE FOR THE ASSASSINATION OF BORIS NEMTSOV; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 44
(House of Representatives - March 12, 2019)
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[Pages H2657-H2660] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] {time} 1230 CALLING FOR ACCOUNTABILITY AND JUSTICE FOR THE ASSASSINATION OF BORIS NEMTSOV Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 156) calling for accountability and justice for the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, as amended. The Clerk read the title of the resolution. The text of the resolution is as follows: H. Res. 156 Whereas Boris Nemtsov was a Russian statesman who, over 25 years of public service, served as a Member of Parliament, Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, and First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia; Whereas throughout his life, Boris Nemtsov showed an unwavering commitment to the ideals of democracy, freedom, and the rule of law, and to upholding the rights and dignity of Russian citizens; Whereas Boris Nemtsov was a powerful voice in opposition to the authoritarianism and corruption of Vladimir Putin's government, publicizing its abuses, leading street protests against election fraud and the war on Ukraine, and successfully advocating for international sanctions on human rights violators; Whereas Boris Nemtsov was co-chairman of a leading opposition party, won election to the Yaroslavl Regional Duma in 2013, and was planning to run for the Russian Parliament in 2016 and challenge Vladimir Putin for the Presidency in 2018; Whereas, on the evening of February 27, 2015, Boris Nemtsov was shot in the back and killed as he walked across Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge near the Kremlin in Moscow; Whereas, on March 7 and 8, 2015, Russian authorities arrested five individuals, all of them natives of the Chechen Republic, on suspicion of carrying out the assassination, while a sixth suspect allegedly blew himself up during the attempted arrest; Whereas the defendants were tried at the Moscow District Military Court, which on June 29, 2017, found them guilty of carrying out the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, and on July 13, 2017, sentenced them to different prison terms; Whereas at the time of the assassination, the now-convicted gunman, Zaur Dadayev, was serving as a Lieutenant in the Internal Troops of the Interior Ministry of the Russian Federation and as Deputy Battalion Commander in the ``Sever'' (``North'') Regiment stationed in the Chechen Republic, under the command of the Internal Troops Commander, General Viktor Zolotov, and the Kremlin-backed head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov; Whereas Ramzan Kadyrov has called Lieutenant Zaur Dadayev a ``true patriot'' and has publicly referred to Boris Nemtsov as an ``enemy of Russia''; [[Page H2658]] Whereas by Decree No. 115 issued on March 8, 2015, President Vladimir Putin awarded Ramzan Kadyrov the Order of Honor; Whereas according to reports published in the RosBusinessConsulting (RBC) newspaper on January 20, 2016, General Alexander Bastrykin, chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, has on two occasions prevented investigators from indicting Major Ruslan Geremeyev, Battalion Commander in the ``Sever'' (``North'') Regiment of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation stationed in the Chechen Republic and a close associate of Ramzan Kadyrov and Russian State Duma Member Adam Delimkhanov, as an organizer in the assassination; Whereas according to reports published in Novaya Gazeta newspaper on December 9, 2016, operatives of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation in the Chechen Republic have failed to serve Major Ruslan Geremeyev with a summons for questioning as a witness, reporting to their superiors that on the sole occasion they attempted to do so, ``nobody opened the door''; Whereas despite requests from the legal team representing Boris Nemtsov's family, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the Moscow District Military Court have refused to question high-ranking persons of interest, including Ramzan Kadyrov, General Victor Zolotov, and Adam Delimkhanov; Whereas the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has, to this day, not issued any indictments against the organizers or masterminds of the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, with the exception of Major Ruslan Geremeyev's driver, Ruslan Mukhudinov, who is named alongside ``other unidentified persons''; Whereas the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the Moscow District Military Court have refused to classify the assassination of Boris Nemtsov under Article 277 of the Criminal Code as ``encroachment on the life of a statesman or a public figure,'' choosing instead Article 105 that deals with common domestic murders; Whereas throughout the proceedings at the Moscow District Military Court, the judge repeatedly disallowed questions relating to political motives behind the assassination; Whereas the Federal Protective Service of the Russian Federation has refused to release video footage from the security cameras on Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge from the night of the assassination, claiming in a letter to State Duma Member Dmitry Gudkov on November 6, 2015, that the bridge next to the Kremlin is ``not a protected object''; Whereas, on May 18, 2017, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe appointed Lithuanian Member of Parliament Emanuelis Zingeris as its special rapporteur on the need to shed light on the background of the murder of Boris Nemtsov, with a mandate to review and report on the case and on the progress of the official Russian investigation; Whereas, on May 24, 2018, the Russian Foreign Ministry informed Emanuelis Zingeris that he is forbidden from entering the Russian Federation; Whereas, at its 27th annual session held on July 7 through 11, 2018, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) adopted a resolution urging Russian authorities to ``undertake a new, full and thorough investigation into the February 2015 assassination of Boris Nemtsov''; Whereas, on July 8, 2018, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe held a public event to discuss the need for OSCE oversight of the official Russian investigation into the assassination of Boris Nemtsov; Whereas the United States and the Russian Federation are full members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe; Whereas the OSCE Moscow Document has established 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''; Whereas, on February 27, 2018, Washington, DC, designated the street in front of the Embassy of the Russian Federation as ``Boris Nemtsov Plaza'' to honor Mr. Nemtsov; and Whereas, on February 22, 2019, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, George Tsereteli, appointed Swedish Member of Parliament and Vice President of the Assembly Margareta Cederfelt as the rapporteur on the investigation of the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, with a mandate to review and report on the case and on the progress of the official Russian investigation: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives-- (1) condemns Vladimir Putin and his regime for targeting political opponents and covering up the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition leader who worked to advance democracy and human rights in Russia; (2) urges the United States Government, in all its interactions with the Government of the Russian Federation, to raise the case of the assassination of Boris Nemtsov and underscore the necessity of bringing the organizers and masterminds to justice; (3) supports the efforts by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and its Parliamentary Assembly to initiate oversight of the official Russian investigation into the assassination of Boris Nemtsov; (4) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to allow an impartial international investigation of the assassination of Boris Nemtsov and to cooperate with the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in their ongoing inquiries over this case; (5) calls on the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury to use their authority under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 (title IV of Public Law 112-208) and the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-328) to designate individuals whom they determine to have been involved in the assassination of Boris Nemtsov as perpetrators, organizers, or masterminds, on the list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury, freezing their assets and making them ineligible to receive United States visas; (6) calls on the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, to prepare and submit to Congress a report detailing the circumstances of the February 27, 2015, assassination of Boris Nemtsov, including the list of individuals whom they determine to have been involved in the assassination as perpetrators, organizers, or masterminds, and identifying what measures, if any, have been taken by the Government of the Russian Federation to investigate this crime and bring its perpetrators, organizers, and masterminds to justice, and evaluating the effectiveness of such measures; and (7) urges the Secretary of State to take all possible steps to-- (A) investigate the business activities of Ramzan Kadyrov and any entities controlled by Ramzan Kadyrov outside the Russian Federation; and (B) determine whether any such activities, or any entities facilitating such activities, are in violation of the sanctions imposed on Ramzan Kadyrov pursuant to the authorities provided by the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 (title IV of Public Law 112-208; 22 U.S.C. 5811 note). The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Kinzinger) each will control 20 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York. General Leave Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 156, as amended, a resolution calling for accountability and justice for the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, currently under consideration. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from New York? There was no objection. Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution. I am proud to have authored this measure with the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul), my colleague and the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. The measure before us today condemns the assassination of Boris Nemtsov. Nemtsov was a brave advocate for democracy in Russia, calling for free elections and an end to the massive corruption at the Kremlin. I remember when he visited here and I had him in my office. We took pictures. Just the other day, we were looking at them. He certainly was a champion of freedom in Russia and, for it, met his demise. The fact that he was calling for free elections and an end to the massive corruption in the Kremlin put him right in Vladimir Putin's crosshairs. Now, he joins a long list of brave journalists, human rights activists, and political opponents murdered by Putin's henchmen in their quest to silence all criticism of the Kremlin and stamp out any perceived threat to Putin's authoritarian regime. When I met Boris Nemtsov here in Washington in my office, he talked about his vision for Russia, free from Putin's grip on power, with open, fair elections, independent media, and a strong civil society. In the words of John McCain, Boris Nemtsov ``would not be oppressed by unjust laws or violence or by violence and fear . . . he lived for love and justice and truth.'' He was incredibly brave to take on these issues in a country where opposition to Putin often amounts to a death sentence. Just a few months after our [[Page H2659]] conversation, as I mentioned before, he was murdered in cold blood in Moscow. Now, it has been 4 years since his death, but there has been no proper investigation of his assassination and the coverup and zero accountability for those responsible. That is certainly an outrage. This resolution condemns the Kremlin's systematic targeting of its political opponents and calls on the administration to impose sanctions on those responsible for Nemtsov's murder and coverup. It also requires the administration to deliver to Congress a thorough report on Nemtsov's assassination. That is a critical part of this legislation because, sadly, the administration, in my opinion, hasn't done nearly enough to stand up to Russia and call out Putin's thuggery. So it is up to Congress to assert American leadership on this issue. I strongly support this bipartisan, bicameral measure, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Washington, DC, March 11, 2019. Hon. Eliot L. Engel, Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Engel: I am writing with respect to H. Res. 156, ``Calling for Accountability and Justice for the Assassination of Boris Nemtsov.'' As a result of your having consulted with us on provisions on which the Committee on Ways and Means has a jurisdictional interest, I will not request a sequential referral on this measure. The Committee on Ways and Means takes this action with the mutual understanding that we do not waive any jurisdiction over the subject matter contained in this or similar legislation, and the Committee will be appropriately consulted and involved as the bill or similar legislation moves forward so that we may address any remaining issues within our jurisdiction. The Committee also reserves the right to seek appointment of an appropriate number of conferees to any House-Senate conference involving this or similar legislation, and request your support for such a request. Finally, I would appreciate your response to this letter confirming this understanding, and would ask that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be included in the Congressional Record during floor consideration of H. Res. 156. Sincerely, Richard E. Neal, Chairman. ____ House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Washington, DC, March 12, 2019. Hon. Richard E. Neal, Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Mr. Chairman: Thank you for consulting with the Foreign Affairs Committee on H. Res. 156, ``Calling for Accountability and Justice for the Assassination of Boris Nemtsov'' for agreeing to forgo a sequential referral request so that the resolution may proceed expeditiously to the House floor. I agree that your declining to pursue a referral in this case does not diminish or alter the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means nor prejudice its jurisdictional prerogatives on this resolution or similar legislation in the future. I would support your effort to seek appointment of an appropriate number of conferees from your Committee over any parts of this resolution or similar legislation under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means to any House- Senate conference. I will ensure that our exchange of letters is included in the Congressional Record during floor consideration of the resolution. I appreciate your cooperation regarding this resolution and look forward to continuing to work with you as this measure moves through the legislative process. Sincerely, Eliot L. Engel, Chairman. Mr. KINZINGER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 156, which I was proud to cosponsor, calling for justice in the 2015 murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. On the evening of Friday, February 27, 2015, Boris Nemtsov was shot in the back and killed by cowards just outside of the Kremlin in Moscow. Mr. Nemtsov was an important figure in Russia because he stood up to Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation as he called for democracy in a country dominated by oppression. Before his assassination, Mr. Nemtsov was planning to run for President in 2018 against Vladimir Putin. One can only think of what Russia's future could have been today with Mr. Nemtsov as its leader. Since that day in February 2015, suspects have been charged and sentenced for murder, but we still don't have all the answers or truly know why Mr. Nemtsov was killed. However, we do know that there has never been any questioning of additional suspects or any investigation into evidence that the convicted gunman was a member of a Russian unit that was stationed and backed by Chechen dictator and thug Ramzan Kadyrov. Furthermore, Russia continues to put up roadblocks to outside investigators from the European Union and the OSCE to prevent more investigations into the sequence of events that fateful night. Four years after his murder, Boris Nemtsov and his family are still without answers or the justice that they deserve. The House resolution uses the voice of Congress to hold his killers and their accomplices accountable. Specifically, this resolution condemns the Putin regime for targeting political opponents and using the Russian Government to cover up the murder of Mr. Nemtsov. It also calls on the U.S. Government to use its capabilities to identify those who support the murderers and to impose strict sanctions for their actions. Last February, on the anniversary of his death, we saw a fitting tribute to Mr. Nemtsov's calls for freedom and democracy when the street in front of the Russian Embassy here in Washington was renamed the Boris Nemtsov Plaza. We can take another important step towards justice by passing this important resolution. I thank my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for bringing this up in such a bipartisan way. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Malinowski), who is a very new and valued member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Mr. MALINOWSKI. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel), chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and I thank my friends on the other side for leading on this important resolution. When Boris Nemtsov was gunned down 4 years ago on a bridge just a few hundred feet from the Kremlin, we saw once again what a dangerous place Putin's Russia is for anybody with the courage to speak truth to power. We saw again that while Russia has fierce and formidable security agencies that will track down anyone who dares criticize the Kremlin anywhere in the world, when one of those critics is killed, somehow they can never find the killer. We know that whoever gave the order to kill Boris Nemtsov, one man, Vladimir Putin, is responsible for building a state where those who champion freedom are always punished and those who kill them never are. This resolution says that we will always remember Boris Nemtsov and the truth about what happened to him and who is responsible. It urges the Russian Government to hold accountable the authors of the crime and says that, until that happens, we will sanction them under the Magnitsky Act. It singles out Ramzan Kadyrov, the brutal ruler of Chechnya, and urges the administration to ensure that he can no longer do business anywhere outside Russia. By passing this resolution, we will make clear that you can kill a man but not the ideas that he fought for; that a good person who lived and died for a good cause will be honored for all time, while the people who killed him will go down in history, if they are remembered at all, as utterly worthless. And we will be saying something else very important: that the United States is not in conflict with Russia or with the Russian people. On the contrary, we are in solidarity with the vast majority of Russians, who, like Boris Nemtsov, want a country that is free of corruption, a country where nobody is above the law. Our argument is only with the leaders who deny them that, but those leaders won't be around forever. Boris Nemtsov's legacy will outlast them, and so will our desire to partner with the Russia that shares his values and vision. Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. Mr. KINZINGER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. [[Page H2660]] Madam Speaker, in closing, I want to thank Chairman Engel and the ranking member, Mr. McCaul, for offering up this important resolution which seeks justice for Boris Nemtsov's brutal murder. At a time when we are seeing the Russian people protesting tighter restrictions on their access to the internet, we should not forget the brave leadership of Mr. Nemtsov, a man who stood up to the oppressors in Russia and advocated bravely for freedom. We should honor his memory by continuing to seek justice for his assassination. It is also important to note, Madam Speaker, the strong bipartisan showing in this Chamber of, really, any Russian resolution that comes up because we are united, as the prior speaker said, with the Russian people in fighting oppression, as we have for so long and we will continue to do. I urge all Members to support this legislation. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, in closing, let me say, it is critical that we speak out against strong men and dictators throughout the world. We need to demand justice for those unable to do so themselves. As we have mentioned, Boris Nemtsov was brutally murdered for bravely standing up to Putin and his corrupt regime. The Kremlin is being complicit in covering up the assassination and failing to conduct a proper investigation. By passing this measure, we show Putin, his cronies, and dictators throughout the world that the U.S. Congress is watching, and we will not stay silent. Madam Speaker, I strongly support this resolution. I urge my colleagues to join me, and I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) that the House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 156, as amended. The question was taken. The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it. Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays. The yeas and nays were ordered. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed. ____________________
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