August 13, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 145 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Page S5412]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 43--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
 THE PRESIDENT SHOULD DO EVERYTHING IN HIS POWER TO ACHIEVE RESOLUTION 
AND REPAYMENT OF THE DEFAULTED SOVEREIGN DEBT OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC 
 OF CHINA HELD BY 20,000 FAMILIES IN THE UNITED STATES REPRESENTED BY 
                THE AMERICAN BONDHOLDERS FOUNDATION, LLC

  Ms. McSALLY (for herself and Mrs. Blackburn) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 43

       Whereas sovereign debt obligations (in this preamble 
     referred to as ``bonds'') of the Government of the People's 
     Republic of China were offered and sold in United States 
     capital markets;
       Whereas the bonds constitute full faith and credit 
     sovereign obligations of the internationally recognized 
     Government of the People's Republic of China;
       Whereas the People's Republic of China subsequently 
     defaulted on those bonds;
       Whereas the bonds constitute an unpaid general obligation 
     of the Government of the People's Republic of China;
       Whereas, under the successor government doctrine of settled 
     international law (relating to establishing the continuity of 
     obligations among successor governments), the repayment 
     obligation for the bonds is the obligation of the Government 
     of the People's Republic of China;
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     continues to refuse to repay the bonds held by United States 
     citizens and has officially repudiated the debts, which is a 
     clear violation of United States law, international law, and 
     the rules and regulations of the World Bank and the 
     International Monetary Fund;
       Whereas the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     honored repayment of the exact same bonds held by citizens of 
     the United Kingdom while rejecting the claims of citizens of 
     the United States;
       Whereas, since the normalization of bilateral relations 
     between the United States and the People's Republic of China 
     in the 1970s, the United States has shown good will to the 
     People's Republic of China by focusing on an expansion of 
     bilateral trade while deferring discussion of repayment of 
     the People's Republic of China's defaulted national debt;
       Whereas, under standard legal principles, the People's 
     Republic of China's defaulted sovereign gold debt has been 
     accumulating compound interest for more 82 years and is 
     estimated to exceed the total amount of the United States 
     national debt to the People's Republic of China;
       Whereas, as representative of United States bondholders who 
     own the People's Republic of China's defaulted sovereign gold 
     bonds, American Bondholders Foundation, LLC, has proposed 
     using the People's Republic of China's obligations as payment 
     for the United States national debt to the People's Republic 
     of China;
       Whereas, the Government of the People's Republic of China 
     covered up the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 
     (commonly referred to as ``COVID-19'') during its early 
     stages, resulting in a global pandemic and more than 
     $2,000,000,000,000 in financial damage to the United States; 
     and
       Whereas the United States Government pays its debts, and so 
     should the Government of the People's Republic of China: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that the 
     President should do everything in his power to achieve 
     resolution and repayment of the defaulted sovereign debt of 
     the People's Republic of China held by 20,000 families in the 
     United States who are represented by the American Bondholders 
     Foundation, LLC, for the benefit of the bondholders and the 
     people of the United States.

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