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Floor Speech

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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I am here on the floor today with the incoming chair and current ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee to talk about the deteriorating political situation in the country of Georgia and to strongly urge the United States Government to take immediate action in response.

Senator Risch and I have had a long history of working together on Georgia. We were there in 2012 when Georgian Dream took over in Georgia. We were part of the election observation team. We agreed those were free and fair elections.

Senator Risch was very eloquent in talking to President Saakashvili at the time--or Prime Minister--about the need to hand over power because it was a free and fair election, and we needed to do that.

Well, in October, Georgia held parliamentary elections, and the vote took place against a backdrop of threats--in some cases, even violence. And there is evidence that the ruling party, Georgian Dream, specifically targeted activists, opposition figures, and ordinary voters. Consequently, those elections, unlike the elections in 2012 that we observed, have not been deemed free and fair. And the majority of the Georgian people, understandably so, do not support the election results.

In the aftermath, the Georgian Dream government decided to yank Georgia off of its Euro-Atlantic path. It announced the country would cease negotiating with the European Union over its succession to the bloc. Of course, it is a move that pleased Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin and reinforced to many his influence over the politics and policy of Georgia.

This step directly contravened Georgia's own constitution, where the Georgian people enshrined their commitment to joining both the EU and NATO. It has rightfully caused outrage across the country.

For 2 weeks, we have seen widespread protests that brought thousands of people into the streets. The protests are being led by young people--young people who have grown up in an independent Georgia, in a country that was looking toward a better, more democratic future.

In an attempt to control those peaceful protesters, the government has responded with brutal force. And over the last 2 weeks, we have seen Georgian Dream target opposition politicians, media and protest organizers, not only using force in an attempt to disperse crowds, but rounding up individuals at their homes, beating them, and detaining them.

That is not what a democracy does.

The President of Georgia President Zourabichvili has stood in solidarity with the protesters. She urged the government to stop its campaign of violence against its own people. But now in a very concerning turn, Georgian Dream intends to appoint a new President this weekend by holding a vote in Parliament where only its members are participating.

A new President and Commander in Chief--one who stands with Georgian Dream and supports the Kremlin--could dramatically escalate an already volatile situation. As we think about why this is important to the United States, since 1992, the U.S.-Georgia partnership has been based on shared democratic values. We partnered with the Georgian people, successive Georgian Governments to build democratic institutions, a professional civilian-controlled military, and a vibrant civil society capable of cementing the country's trans-Atlantic future.

Georgia is an EU candidate country. It has been, until recently, a close, reliable partner for NATO and the United States. Georgia joined the United States-led coalition in the Iraq war in 2003 and Georgian soldiers deployed to Afghanistan in 2004.

This is a country and a people who have stood by the United States, and it is time now for us to stand by them.

That is why it is so distressing to see what is happening in the country and why we need to see action from our government to condemn what is going on there. The leadership of Georgian Dream is a political party that was founded in 2012 by a billionaire who made his money in Russia and who has drawn increasingly from the Kremlin's playbook in the recent months. They have adopted laws and policies aimed at constraining civil society's ability to operate, including a foreign agents law that is meant to vilify civic activists as dangerous outside agents.

So what are we doing as the United States? How are we supporting the Georgian people? Well, I am very frustrated because, in my view, we are not doing enough. We are failing to meet this moment and answer this call. We have failed to respond in a meaningful way that would help change the calculus of Georgian Dream's leadership. They are paying no price for their actions, as they defy the will of the people and take pages from Putin's authoritarian playbook.

There are well-documented human rights violations, but the Treasury Department has failed to sanction a single official for their actions. It is perplexing. I don't understand it, and I urge the administration to act immediately. Georgia's future is in jeopardy, and the Georgian people, who have repeatedly supported us, deserve our support. Treasury has all the authorities it needs under the Global Magnitsky Act and other sanction legislations to hold officials to account for the brutal human rights violations they are currently committing against Georgian citizens.

This is not a hard call. The next 2 weeks are critical for Georgia. The administration has bipartisan, bicameral support to act. I urge the U.S. administration to stand with the Georgian people and their fight for a democratic future.

I yield to my colleague from Idaho.

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