Tammy Baldwin on Foreign Policy Democratic Representative (WI-2)

Allow Americans to travel to Cuba.

OnTheIssues.org explanation: The US government has forbidden US citizens from traveling to Cuba since the 1960s. Try booking a trip from Mexico City to Havana on travelocity.com (or any travel website) and it says, `Due to a U.S. government travel restriction we are unable to book this reservation.` You can, however, purchase that same ticket while in Mexico City, or anywhere else in the world. Sanford`s bill attempts to undo this long-standing situation.

OFFICIAL CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY:

• Prohibits the President from regulating or prohibiting, directly or indirectly, travel to or from Cuba by US citizens, or any of specified transactions incident to such travel.
• Declares that this prohibition does not authorize the importation into the US of any goods for personal consumption acquired in Cuba; &
• The restrictions on the President`s authority do not apply in a case in which the US is at war with Cuba.

EXCERPTS FROM BILL:

• FREEDOM OF TRAVEL FOR U.S. CITIZENS AND LEGAL RESIDENTS: The President shall not regulate or prohibit travel to or from Cuba by US citizens or legal residents.
• TRANSACTIONS INCIDENT TO TRAVEL: The President shall not regulate any transactions ordinarily incident to travel to or from Cuba, including the importation into Cuba or the US of accompanied baggage; the payment of living expenses; or facilitation of travel to, from, or within Cuba.
• EXCEPTION: The restrictions on authority contained in section 1 do not apply in a case in which the US is at war with Cuba, armed hostilities between the two countries are in progress, or there is imminent danger to the public health or the physical safety of United States travelers.

LEGISLATIVE OUTCOME: Referred to the House Committee on the Western Hemisphere; never called for a House vote.

Member of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.

The Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC) is a bipartisan group of Members of Congress in the United States House of Representatives that works to raise awareness about and combat human rights abuses throughout the world.

The caucus keeps members and their staff informed of opportunities to help through briefings on human rights topics and letter initiatives.

Multi-year commitment to Africa for food & medicine.

In an effort to reduce hunger in sub-Saharan Africa, urges the President to:
1. set forth five-year and ten-year strategies to achieve a reversal of current levels of hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, including a commitment to contribute an appropriate U.S. share of increased bilateral and multilateral poverty-focused resources for sub-Saharan Africa, with an emphasis on health (including HIV-AIDS prevention and treatment), education, agriculture, private sector and free market development, democratic institutions and the rule of law, micro-finance development, and debt relief; and

2. work with the heads of other donor countries and sub-Saharan African countries and with private and voluntary organizations and other civic organizations to implement such strategies; and calls for

3. Congress to undertake a multi-year commitment to provide the resources to implement those strategies; and

4. the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development to report on such implementation.

Rated +4 by AAI, indicating pro-Arab pro-Palestine voting record.

The Arab American Institute has compiled a Scorecard to catalogue the voting record of the 112th Congress on issues of importance to the Arab American community. For the House, we included 15 items: two bills on the Arab Spring, five bills and one letter on Palestine, two bills on Lebanon, three bills and a letter regarding civil liberties, and two bills on immigration.

1. H.Res. 88 (+): supporting democratic aspirations in Egypt
2. H.R. 2643 (+): penalizing the Bahraini government for attacking medical personnel
3. H.R. 1006 (-): the Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act
4. H.R. 1501 (-): withholding US contributions until the UN retracts accusations of Israeli war crimes.
5. H.Res. 268 (-): opposing any unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state
6. H.R. 2457 (-): prohibiting any US government document from referring to `Palestine`
7. H.R. 2829 (-): defunding the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. The bill`s 141 co-sponsors receive a (-).
8. 8. (+). Rep. David Price (D-NC) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) issued a letter titled `Support Palestinian Aid and Israel`s Security,` in which they call upon Congress to continue aid to the Palestinian Authority.
9. H.R. 2215 (*) `to ensure that United States taxpayer dollars are not used to fund terrorist entities in Lebanon
10. H.R. 996 (+): to raise awareness of the use of cluster munitions where civilians are present
11. H.R. 140 (-): the `Birthright Citizenship Act, to eliminate `anchor babies` by changing the 14th Amendment.
12. H. Res. 283 (+): to counter violence and discrimination against Muslim, Arab, Sikh, and South Asian communities
13. H.R. 1805 (-): authorizing an extension of the USA PATRIOT Act until 2013, and amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)
14. H.R. 1842 (+): the DREAM Act to protect undocumented minors pursuing higher education.
15. H.R. 1932 (-): the Keep our Communities Safe Act for greater power to detain undocumented immigrants.

Acknowledge the Armenian Genocide of the early 1900s.

• WHEREAS the Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation of nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and children were killed, and which succeeded in the elimination of more than 2,500-year presence of Armenians in their historic homeland;
• WHEREAS, on May 24, 1915, the Allied Powers issued the joint statement of England, France, and Russia that explicitly charged, for the first time ever, another government of committing `a crime against humanity`;
• WHEREAS, despite the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the failure of the domestic and international authorities to punish those responsible for the Armenian Genocide is a reason why similar genocides have recurred and may recur in the future, and that a just resolution will help prevent future genocides:
• NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Senate calls on the President, in the President`s annual message commemorating the Armenian Genocide, to accurately characterize the systematic annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide and to recall the proud history of US intervention in opposition to the Armenian Genocide.

Allow travel between the United States and Cuba.

Prohibits the President from regulating or prohibiting travel to or from Cuba by U.S. citizens or legal residents or any of the transactions ordinarily incident to such travel, except in time of war or armed hostilities between the United States and Cuba, or of imminent danger to the public health or the physical safety of U.S. travelers.

Afghan laws violate women's human rights on sex & divorce.

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION: Expressing the sense of Congress that the Shi`ite Personal Status Law in Afghanistan violates the fundamental human rights of women and should be repealed.
• Whereas in March 2009, the Shi`ite Personal Status Law was approved by the parliament of Afghanistan and signed by President Hamid Karzai;
• Whereas according to the United Nations, the law legalizes marital rape by mandating that a wife cannot refuse sex to her husband unless she is ill;
• Whereas the law also weakens mothers` rights in the event of a divorce and prohibits a woman from leaving her home unless her husband determines it is for a `legitimate purpose`;
• Whereas President Barack Obama has called the law `abhorrent` and stated that `there are certain basic principles that all nations should uphold, and respect for women and respect for their freedom and integrity is an important principle`;
• Whereas Afghanistan acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, entered into force September 3, 1981 (CEDAW), which condemns discrimination against women in all its forms and reaffirms the equal rights and responsibilities of men and women during marriage and at its dissolution;
• Whereas the provisions in the Shi`ite Personal Status Law that restrict women`s rights are diametrically opposed to those goals:
• Now, therefore, be it Resolved that Congress--
• urges the Government of Afghanistan and President Hamid Karzai to declare the provisions of the Shi`ite Personal Status Law on marital rape and restrictions on women`s freedom of movement unconstitutional;
• encourages the Government of Afghanistan to solicit information and advice from governmental and women-led nongovernmental organizations to ensure that legislation uphold the equal rights of women.

Ease the Israeli blockade on Gaza.

Dear President Obama,

Thank you for your ongoing work to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for your commitment of $300 million in US aid to rebuild the Gaza Strip. We write to you with great concern about the ongoing crisis in Gaza.

The people of Gaza have suffered enormously since the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt following Hamas’ coup, and particularly following Operation Cast Lead. We also sympathize deeply with the people of southern Israel who have suffered from abhorrent rocket and mortar attacks. We recognize that the Israeli government has imposed restrictions on Gaza out of a legitimate and keenly felt fear of continued terrorist action by Hamas and other militant groups. This concern must be addressed without resulting in the de facto collective punishment of the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip. Truly, fulfilling the needs of civilians in Israel and Gaza are mutually reinforcing goals.

We ask that you advocate for immediate improvements for Gaza in the following areas:
• Movement of people, especially students, the ill, aid workers, journalists, and those with family concerns, into and out of Gaza
• Access to clean water, including water infrastructure materials
• Access to plentiful and varied food and agricultural materials
• Access to medicine and health care products and suppliers
• Access to sanitation supplies, including sanitation infrastructure materials
• Access to construction materials for repairs and rebuilding
• Access to fuel
• Access to spare parts
• Prompt passage into and out of Gaza for commercial and agricultural goods; and
• Publication and review of the list of items prohibited to the people of Gaza.

Ban imports from Xinjiang made by Uyghur forced labor.

Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (H.R.6256 and S.65): To ensure that goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People`s Republic of China do not enter the United States market. This bill imposes importation limits on goods produced using forced labor in China, and imposes sanctions related to such forced labor. The bill also expands existing asset- and visa-blocking sanctions related to Xinjiang to cover foreign individuals and entities responsible for serious human rights abuses in connection with forced labor.

Al Jazeera news, `Biden signs law banning goods made in China`s Xinjiang region,` 12/23/21: President Joe Biden signed a new law banning products made in China`s Xinjiang region because of China`s oppression of its largely Muslim Uighur minority population. The law imposes a near-blanket ban on the import to the US of goods from Xinjiang by requiring suppliers to first prove their products were not made with forced labour. Xinjiang is a large supplier of cotton and solar panels.

UN experts have estimated that more than one million people, mainly Uighurs, have been imprisoned in recent years in a vast system of camps in Xinjiang. The US and many rights groups have called it `genocide`.

China has rejected allegations of abuse in Xinjiang, accusing countries and rights organisations of launching `slanderous attacks` about conditions for Muslim Uighurs in the far western region. An independent UK-based tribunal ruled last week the Chinese government had committed genocide, crimes against humanity and torture of Uighurs and other minorities. The US cited the situation in Xinjiang in a decision earlier this month to launch a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Legislative Outcome: Introduced in House and passed by voice vote on 12/14/2021; passed Senate by Unanimous Consent on 12/16/2021; signed by President on 12/23/2021.