Washington, DC – Today, Congressman James P. McGovern, Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the U.S. House of Representatives and a leading advocate of human rights around the world, applauded the House Judiciary Committee’s unanimous approval of a bipartisan bill he authored, The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act (H.R. 1872). The Committee’s action is a key first step towards passage of the bill by Congress. The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act promotes access for United States dipl...
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Representatives Jim McGovern (MA-02), Eliot Engel (NY-16), John Lewis (GA-05), Norma Torres (CA-35), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) and Hank Johnson (GA-04) led a letter signed by 73 Members of Congress to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging him and the Trump Administration to protect Colombian human rights defenders and social leaders amid a dangerous escalation of targeted murders. This is a critical time as Colombia continues its effort to im...
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WORCESTER, MA - U.S. Congressman James P. McGovern, Co-Chair of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the U.S. House of Representatives and a leading advocate for human rights, issued the following statement this week in response to the April 4th decision by the Bahraini government to deny entry to the country to Lars Aslan Rasmussen, a Danish Member of Parliament, and Brian Dooley, a member of the Board of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), claiming the two posed a "securit...
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Congressmen Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Randy Hultgren (R-IL), co-chairs of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, and Representatives Michael Capuano (D-MA), Tom Rooney (R-FL), and Barbara Lee (D-CA) led a bipartisan letter calling on President Trump and the State Department to develop and implement a U.S. policy that holds Sudan accountable for their corruption and human rights abuses. Click here to view the letter online. Last October, President Donald Tr...
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA), a senior House Democrat and co-chair of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in Congress, called for a change to United States policy on Syria, arguing that the current policy is not working to end the crisis there. Click here to view video. “I rise to condemn in the strongest possible terms the ongoing, unrelenting attacks against civilians in Syria committed by the barbaric, lawless regime of Bashir al-Assad, with the...
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Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) – a strong voice in support of human rights, ending corruption, and advancing the rule of law in Honduras – issued the following statement in response to the announcement by the U.S. Department of State congratulating Juan Orlando Hernandez on his successful reelection as President of Honduras: “I am angry and deeply disturbed by the State Department’s announcement today congratulating Juan Orlando Hernandez on his successful re-election as President of Honduras. ...
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WASHINGTON, DC - Today the U.S. Department of Treasury announced that five people have been added to the list of those sanctioned under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act. Three of the individuals in question are linked to the Magnitsky case, while the other two are Chechen officials sanctioned for gross human rights violations. Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA), senior House Democrat and Co-Chair of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, praised the decision by the St...
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Jim McGovern released the following statement after Republicans passed their tax bill through the House of Representatives: “President Trump, his family, and their wealthy friends got an early Christmas gift this year. This Republican tax bill will line their pockets and the pockets of their donors – giving the vast majority of tax breaks to those at the top and corporations shipping American jobs overseas, all the while exploding the deficit and raising taxes on h...
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA), Co-Chair of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and a leading voice for human rights in the U.S. Congress, commemorated the five-year anniversary of the signing into law of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 (Public Law 112-208). Congressman McGovern is the House author of the law, which established visa restrictions and froze property transactions for individuals complicit in the November 2009 ...
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA), a senior House Democrat and co-chair of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, released the following statement in response to Bahrain’s decision to uphold the two-year prison sentence of Nabeel Rajab for his actions to call attention to the human rights abuses committed by the Bahraini government. “Today Bahrain doubled down on its unjust treatment of Nabeel Rajab, a brave human rights defender and my friend. A Bahraini court ...
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