WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman James P. McGovern (D-MA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee and Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, issued this statement following threats by the Transitional Military Council against the peaceful movement in support of civilian government in Sudan: “When Sudan’s military ousted Omar al Bashir, it claimed to do so in support of the people and their demand for change, and for peace. But in the past few weeks, civilians have been kill...
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives James McGovern (D-MA), John Lewis (D-GA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) led 79 House Democrats in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to express their grave concern about the implementation of the 2016 Colombia Peace Accords and continuing escalation of murders and attacks against human rights defenders and social leaders. The letter urges Secretary Pompeo to communicate unwavering American support for the three elements of the transitional justic...
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Text of Letter (PDF) WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, a bipartisan, bicameral group of 92 lawmakers led by Representative James McGovern (D-MA) and Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Todd Young (R-IN), along with Representatives Ann Wagner (R-MO), Karen Bass (D-CA), and Chris Smith (R-NJ), sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin expressing deep concern about the current situation in Sudan and urging support for a rapid transfer of power to a civilian-l...
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman James P. McGovern (D-MA), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and Chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, issued the following statement in recognition of the 30th birthday of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibetan Buddhism: “Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama at the age of six on May 15, 1995. Two days later, the Chinese government forcibly disappear...
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman James P. McGovern (D-MA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee and Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, released this statement following the Trump Administration’s announcement that they would fully enforce Title III of the Helms-Burton Act: “Today’s announcement by the Trump Administration is just plain stupid. It undercuts the emerging private sector in Cuba, which the Trump Administration still pretends to support. It alienates...
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman James P. McGovern (D-MA), Chairman of the House Rules Committee, joined nearly 240 other Members of Congress in introducing the Equality Act of 2019 – a historic bill to state unequivocally that LGBTQ Americans deserve the full protections guaranteed by the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Equality Act extends anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ Americans with regard to employment, education, access to credit, jury service, federal funding, housi...
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BOSTON — President Donald Trump “thinks he is a dictator,” U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern said Friday as he predicted that both Congress and the courts will react to Trump’s announcement that he is declaring a national emergency at the southern border. McGovern, speaking to WGBH’s “Morning Edition” on Friday, said he hopes the U.S. House and Senate will pass resolutions disapproving of the president’s action with enough support from Republicans to override a potential presidential veto. “I think the pre...
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Today, Congressman James P. McGovern, Chairman of the House Rules Committee and Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, together with a bipartisan group of 20 lawmakers, introduced new legislation to immediately stop all military sales and aid to the government of Saudi Arabia. The full text of the bill, H.R. 643. can be found here. McGovern introduced similar legislation in October, 2018 following the death of Saudi journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate...
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WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman James P. McGovern, co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the U.S. House of Representatives, Chairman of the House Rules Committee, and a leading advocate of human rights around the world, strongly condemned the Guatemalan government’s attempt to unilaterally end the 2006 accord with the United Nations that established the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, known as CICIG. “Withdrawing from CICIG would be a grievous error on the...
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Today, U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) celebrated the President's signature of a bill he authored and introduced in the House of Representatives: H.R. 1872, the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act. The bill denies Chinese government officials access to the United States if they are responsible for creating or implementing restrictions on American government officials, journalists, independent observers and tourists seeking access to Tibet. “I’m glad that the President signed our bill, the Recipr...
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