Republican and Democratic lawmakers are renewing efforts to pass legislation supporting Georgia, touting the state as one of the first and best examples of bipartisan unity in the new Congress. There is.
Helsinki Committee Chairman Rep. Joe Wilson (R.C.) and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) on Friday passed sanctions against Georgia government officials for human rights abuses and undermining democracy. The cultured MEGOBARI method was reintroduced.
The bill was enacted amid mass protests against the Georgian Dream (GD) party's power grab and Russian interference.
Mr. Cohen is also expected to introduce legislation that would prohibit the United States from recognizing Georgian Dream as Georgia's legitimate government.
Wilson told a small group of reporters in his Capitol Hill office Friday that it was a rare example of bipartisanship and important in the context of the new Congress.
“The oath is taken in about 15 minutes, so even before the oath is taken, the Congress of the United States stands with the people of Georgia,” he said.
The bill was repeatedly killed in the final weeks of the last Congress due to other priorities as protests raged in Georgia.
The failure to pass the bill was an opportunity for Georgia supporters in Congress to show solidarity with protesters who have spent more than a month on the streets in subzero temperatures, facing water cannons and beatings by security forces. It was the lowest point.
Asked why the bill didn't move forward, Wilson said he had worked with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) “on and on and on” and “on so many other issues. was emerging, so it shouldn't have been ignored, but it's clearly going to be the main focus going forward.”
The Senate version of the bill is sponsored by Sens. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Jeanne Shaheen (D.H.), chair and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), who was re-elected speaker on Friday, supports the bill and will include it as one of the major government funding bills in March, according to congressional officials. Efforts are said to be underway.
The Biden administration has issued sanctions and travel bans against Georgian Dream officials for a variety of anti-democratic acts, but this bill goes a step further and targets all members of the Georgian Dream party and their Requires government authorities to investigate next of kin. Corruption or attempts to undermine Georgia's sovereignty.
The bill would cut off $95 million in government aid to Georgia Dream over the passage of the so-called Foreign Agents Act, which is a copy of Russian law and could have a chilling effect or be banned. Most of the measures taken by the Biden administration remain in place. The activities and operations of non-governmental organizations, media organizations, and civil society organizations that receive funding from abroad.
Late last month, the Biden administration sanctioned party honorary president Bidzina Ivanshvili, a billionaire businessman who made his fortune in Russia and is seen as a key force controlling the government. Ivanishvilisanctioned for underminingDemocratic processes on behalf of or in the interests of the Russian government.
Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, supports separatist movements in the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions, and has troops stationed in these regions. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Georgian Dream government that took power in 2012 has become increasingly oriented towards Moscow and deepened its relationship with China.
Georgian Dream claimed victory in October's parliamentary elections, which were widely criticized as free and unfair. Georgia's outgoing president Salome Zurabichvili has been at the forefront of rallying international support to pressure her party to hold new elections.
Late last month, Georgia Dream elected a new president despite opposition boycotts, bringing to power Mikhail Kavelashvili, the former soccer player who drafted the so-called foreign agent law.
“Despite an opposition boycott, the Georgian parliament has moved on to installing an openly anti-Western politician as president. While the government’s attempts to reject Georgia’s friends have been noted, we We will not give up on the people of Georgia,” Risch said. I wrote Late last month on social media site X.
“And while the long-awaited sanctions have finally been issued against Bidzina Ivanishvili for her role in the current political turmoil in Georgia, there is still much work to be done. But the United States will not abandon the Georgian people and their desire for a free and fair democracy.”
