Human Rights

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Rules Committee Chair James P. McGovern (D-MA), House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), House Appropriations subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations Chair Barbara Lee (D-CA), and House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Energy Chair Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) led 114 Members of Congress in a letter to President Biden asking him to prioritize the well-being of the Cuban people as they experience the worst economic and humanitarian crisis in r... Read More »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, United States Congressmen Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) led a bipartisan group of 27 House lawmakers in a letter asking the Biden administration to make Tibet a priority. McGovern and Smith have been leading voices in Congress for human rights in Tibet. They coauthored the Tibetan Policy and Support Act, which became law in 2020, and McGovern authored the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, which became law in 2018. “Advocacy for the rights and dignity of the T... Read More »

Seeking to Hold Chinese Government Accountable for Genocide and Human Rights Violations in Xinjiang, McGovern also Applauds Diplomatic Boycott of 2022 Winter Olympics Read More »

WORCESTER, MASS. —Today, Congressman James P. McGovern, Chairman of the House Rules Committee and Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, released the following statement in response to widespread protests in Cuba: “The Cuban government must respect the right of the Cuban people to peacefully and legitimately protest. Yet even though the U.S. has repeatedly stated that we stand with the Cuban people, we have not taken basic steps that could help empower them and relieve their sufferi... Read More »

WASHINGTON – U.S. Congressman James P. McGovern (D-MA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee and Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, released the following statement in response to the Biden administration’s vote against a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for the U.S. to end its decades-long economic embargo on Cuba: “I am incredibly disappointed by this decision. Continuing Trump’s backwards, irrational, and cruel approach to Cuba hurts the U.S. and Cuban peop... Read More »

WASHINGTON—Congressman James P. McGovern (MA-02), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, along with United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Representatives Richard E. Neal (MA-01), William Keating (MA-09), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Lori Trahan (MA-03) and Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) released this joint statement on the decision of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to terminate its Intergovernmental Service... Read More »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman James P. McGovern (D-MA), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, co-hosted a joint hearing to examine the implications of holding the XXIV Winter Olympiad in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in light of the country’s egregious human rights record. During the hearing, McGovern called for the Olympics to be postponed and moved to another location due to genocide and other grave human rights a... Read More »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives James P. McGovern (MA-02), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Mark Pocan (WI-02), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) and Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-03) led 55 of their colleagues in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressing grave concern over the political and human rights situation in Colombia and urging the U.S. Government to clearly and unambiguously denounce police brutality in Colombia. The lawmakers also call for a suspensio... Read More »

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (MA-02), alongside Representatives Cori Bush (MO-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D. (NY-16), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), and Jamie Raskin (MD-08) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling for an immediate and thorough review into the ongoing legal case involving human rights lawyer Steven Donziger, an environmental justice advocate who has been under house arrest in New York City for over 600 days... Read More »

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Rules Committee Chairman James P. McGovern (D-MA) today opened debate on the rule for the Senate-passed American Rescue Plan Act to get this historic bill to President Biden’s desk for his signature. This legislation will help crush the coronavirus, return children safely to the classroom, get vaccines to the people, put dollars into families’ pockets, and put people back to work. Chairman McGovern’s remarks are below: “M. Speaker, a once-in-a century pandemic brought us... Read More »