Human Rights

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... Read More »

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... Read More »

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... Read More »

Today, U.S. Congressmen James McGovern (D-MA) and Randy Hultgren (R-IL) along with U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) applauded final passage in the Senate of their bipartisan bill – 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. “... Read More »

Today, Representatives Jim McGovern (MA-02), Ro Khanna (CA-17), and Mark Pocan (WI-02), and leaders of H. Con Res. 138, issued the below statement in light of recent GOP efforts to block the resolution’s vote in the House and the impending Senate vote this week: “The stakes in Yemen have never been higher and the time for action is long overdue. The United States is unconstitutionally participating in a Saudi-led war that could starve 14 million Yemenis to death. This week, the Senate will vote ... Read More »

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman James P. McGovern, Ranking Member 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 can be found here. This new bill is stronger than the one Congressman McGovern introduced last week, which would have tied arms sales to a U.S. determination of the... Read More »

WASHINGTON – Congressman James P. McGovern, Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee and Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, has introduced bipartisan legislation to prohibit all military sales and aid to the government of Saudi Arabia unless the Secretary of State determines that the Saudi regime did not order or direct the disappearance, imprisonment, or death of Saudi journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi. “The evidence continues to mount that the Saudi government wa... Read More »

Congressman James P. McGovern (D-MA) Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in Congress and Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, released the following statement after announcing his plan to introduce legislation prohibiting U.S. military aid and sales to the Government of Saudi Arabia until the United States Secretary of State determines that journalist Jamal Khashoggi is alive and free: “If reports of Mr. Khashoggi's disappearance at the hands of the Saudi regime... Read More »

“With this bill, we are taking an important step forward on behalf of the human rights of Tibetans” Read More »

Via The Boston Globe Representative Jim McGovern and Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone of Somerville are on a mission to expose violence and poverty in El Salvador and Honduras, they said Sunday, in the hope that a greater public understanding of living conditions there will help block President Trump from ending Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from the Central American nations. McGovern, a Worcester Democrat, said unless Congress intervenes, Americans will see families across the country torn... Read More »