{"id":22795,"date":"2025-07-31T10:26:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T14:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=22795"},"modified":"2025-07-31T10:26:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T14:26:03","slug":"merkley-sullivan-smith-mcgovern-fight-back-against-foreign-governments-trampling-human-rights-within-the-u-s-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/merkley-sullivan-smith-mcgovern-fight-back-against-foreign-governments-trampling-human-rights-within-the-u-s-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Merkley, Sullivan, Smith, McGovern Fight Back Against Foreign Governments Trampling Human Rights Within the U.S. and Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR)\u2014a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and past Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC)\u2014teamed up with current CECC Chair Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK), CECC Co-Chair Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ), and CECC Commissioner Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) to introduce the Ley de Pol\u00edtica de Represi\u00f3n Transnacional.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This landmark, bipartisan legislation takes aim at the growing threat of transnational repression to hold foreign authoritarian governments and individuals accountable when they stalk, intimidate, or assault dissidents and diaspora communities across their borders, including in the United States. The bill would also elevate countering transnational repression as a key U.S. foreign policy priority and promote diplomacy that addresses it as part of a broader strategy to advance democratic principles and human rights at home and abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe United States must oppose all acts of transnational repression\u2014no matter the perpetrator,\u201d dijo Merkley.<\/strong> \u201cThis bipartisan bill lays out a clear, whole-of-government strategy to elevate this issue in our diplomacy, mobilize federal agencies to protect at-risk communities, and push back against this growing threat to human rights and free expression.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cAuthoritarian regimes like the Chinese Communist Party are exporting repression and fear to our shores\u2014intimidating American citizens right here at home. It is outrageous and unacceptable,\u201d said Sullivan.<\/strong> \u201cThis bill makes clear: the United States will not tolerate foreign governments harassing, threatening, or silencing people on our soil.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201c<\/strong>The Chinese Communist Party is waging campaigns of fear beyond its borders\u2014they are reaching into our cities, universities, and homes to intimidate those who dare speak out against tyranny,\u201d said Smith. \u201c<\/strong>This bill ensures that the United States will no longer tolerate foreign repression on our soil.If you target dissidents, activists, or diaspora communities in America on behalf of a brutal regime, you will be exposed and prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cTransnational repression is a human rights violation that crosses borders\u2014and it\u2019s happening more and more often,\u201d said McGovern. <\/strong>\u201cWe need to stay focused on supporting the victims of these egregious abuses by strengthening the tools our government uses to protect them and prevent future acts of repression. I\u2019m proud to join Senators Merkley and Sullivan and Representative Smith in reintroducing the Ley de Pol\u00edtica de Represi\u00f3n Transnacional<\/em> to define this abusive practice in law and improve coordination across all of government to stop human rights violators from targeting dissidents beyond their borders.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Transnational repression occurs when a government reaches across national borders to intimidate, harass, or harm members of diaspora and exile communities to prevent their exercise of internationally recognized human rights. It can take both direct and indirect forms, including physical assaults, unlawful renditions and detention, targeted online surveillance, and threats against family members back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To keep authoritarian governments in check and prevent their \u201clong arm\u201d from impeding on human rights abroad, the Ley de Pol\u00edtica de Represi\u00f3n Transnacional <\/em>har\u00eda:<\/p>\n\n\n\n