[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 337 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 337
Recognizing the anniversary of the explosion at the Port of Beirut on
August 4, 2020, and expressing solidarity with the Lebanese people.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 4, 2021
Mrs. Shaheen (for herself and Mr. Rubio) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the anniversary of the explosion at the Port of Beirut on
August 4, 2020, and expressing solidarity with the Lebanese people.
Whereas, on August 4, 2020, an estimated 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate
detonated at the Port of Beirut, killing more than 200 people, injuring
more than 7,500, displacing an estimated 300,000, and causing an
estimated $4,600,000,000 in property damage;
Whereas reports suggest that the ammonium nitrate that detonated in the blast
had been confiscated from the MV Rhosus, an abandoned cargo ship, in
2014 and had been unsafely stored at the Port of Beirut despite warnings
of the risks posed by the stockpile from multiple customs and security
officials in successive governments;
Whereas, in addition to the 300,000 estimated to be displaced by the blast,
Lebanon also hosts 1,500,000 refugees from conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and
the Palestinian Territories;
Whereas, the United Nations estimates that 3,200,000 Lebanese nationals and
refugees are in need in Lebanon, including 3,000,000 people in need of
health assistance and 2,300,000 people in need of food and agricultural
assistance;
Whereas the people of Lebanon face what the World Bank has described as a
``deliberate depression'' and an economic crisis compounded by the
explosion at the Port of Beirut and impasse of governance;
Whereas the World Bank projects that more than half of the population of Lebanon
lives in poverty in 2021 and 25 percent lives in extreme poverty;
Whereas the World Bank estimates that inflation increased from 10 percent in
January 2020 to 120 percent in August 2020 while, according to the
Central Administration of Statistics for Lebanon, food prices rose 402
percent between December 2019 and December 2020;
Whereas, 3 days after the explosion on August 4, 2020, the United States Agency
for International Development activated a Disaster Assistance Response
Team (``DART'') and stood up a Response Management Team (``RMT'') to
coordinate the response of the United States Government, which
included--
(1) $15,100,000 to support emergency food and health response
activities;
(2) $10,500,000 to the World Food Program (``WFP'') in order to reach
300,000 people affected by the explosions;
(3) coordination at an international donors conference, raising an
additional $298,000,000 in assistance;
(4) an airlift of emergency health kits containing critical medical
commodities sufficient to support up to 60,000 people for 3 months; and
(5) supporting the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(``UNHCR'') to provide primary and secondary health care services to
vulnerable individuals, including in response to the COVID-19 pandemic;
Whereas, 1 year after the explosion, domestic Lebanese investigations into the
blast have been stalled and no answers have been provided to the
Lebanese public;
Whereas, on August 10, 2020, the Lebanese government referred the Beirut
explosion to the Judicial Council for investigation and, on August 13,
2020, Judge Fadi Sawan was appointed to head the investigation and
possible prosecution;
Whereas Judge Sawan charged several government officials with criminal
negligence for ignoring warnings regarding unsafe conditions created by
the storage of chemicals at the Port of Beirut;
Whereas those officials accused of negligence in the Port blast have claimed
immunity from prosecution and filed legal efforts to remove Judge Sawan
from the probe;
Whereas, on February 18, 2021, Judge Sawan was removed from the investigation,
further delaying justice for the victims of the blast and the people of
Lebanon;
Whereas Hezbollah, designated by the Department of State as a foreign terrorist
organization, benefits from governmental corruption at the Port of
Beirut that allows for the illicit import and export of goods;
Whereas, on July 30, 2021, the European Union, with the support of the
Department of State and the Department of the Treasury, adopted a
sanctions regime targeting corrupt actors within the government of
Lebanon; and
Whereas the people of Lebanon across the political and sectoral spectrum have
demanded accountability for the tragic events of August 4, 2020, and
have requested that their governing and economic institutions implement
meaningful reform, accountability, and transparency; Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) stands with the people of Lebanon 1 year on from the
horrific tragedy of the Port of Beirut explosion and
acknowledges the burdens that the Lebanese people have
shouldered;
(2) supports the demands of the people of Lebanon for
transparency, accountability, and an end to systemic and
endemic corruption in the Government of Lebanon;
(3) further supports continued efforts by the United States
Government to provide humanitarian relief in concert with other
governments and international partners in a manner that
directly benefits the Lebanese people and is through properly-
vetted channels, organizations, and individuals;
(4) commends the European Union for developing, with the
support of the United States, the framework of sanctions regime
to prompt accountability and good governance in Lebanon;
(5) calls on all Lebanese officials to respect and abide by
an independent and transparent judiciary investigation into the
cause of, and responsibility for, the port explosion; and
(6) further calls on Lebanese political leaders to form and
approve a stable, democratic, and legitimate government and to
immediately implement the reforms necessary to ensure good
governance and economic stability.
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