>> thank you mr. president. i am on the senate floor and with my colleagues came here to condemn the chinese communist party's actions the efforts to swallow hong kong into the mainland and silence the dissent but i'm also here to do something about that. for decades hong kong has been one of the most successful on the planet, and indispensable partner. hong kong has enjoyed a vibrant free press, free speech, freedom to worship within independent judiciary and partially democratic electrical representative.

one of the freest places in asia and because of the freedoms of the entrepreneurial spirit it is one of the most successful and vibrant city is that there has ever been. and yet for gears maybe because of this the aggressive action towards the neighboring countries in the south china sea

the freedom and transparency of these ideas are entirely empathetic cults at the core of the chinese communist party's mission and i think several years from now we will look back on july 1 of 2020 is a milestone in the aggression and hostility the communist party is end of a national security law went into effect the news reports described it as a massive pro-democracy movement to heal. this picture was taken within the last 48 hours. thousands and thousands of people that they've taken to the streets to simply demand of their freedoms peacefully to protest, to insist that they continue to have the freedoms to help make their society such a

great society t but 330 of these people were arrested last night simply because they were protesting the chinese communist party. some of the arrests or because they possessed items to call for their independence.

the people of hong kong fervently believe in the importance of the open and free society and they want the ability to practice in their values. for their own society to the party demand my aunt chinese citizens will demand the freedoms hong kong enjoy and that quest for freedom on the mainland would oppose an acceptable risk to the authoritarian control of the

regimen. it was also purposefuly written in a very ambiguous manner designed to criminalize any behavior or speech on the part of the resident but the chinese communist party doesn't approve of. it may be ambiguous but the message behind it is not.t the ac 19-year-old can be imprisoned for having a sticker on his phone or a 15-year-old girl imprisoned for having a flat, then no one is safe and that is the message beijing wants to send to the people of hongmp kong.

what you say, where you go, who to me, what you read and write and maybe think twice about what you think. they look at the freedom that underpin the social and economic effects. hundreds have occurred just yesterday as tens of thousands here we see some of them into the streets but we have also seen those who have been they have to lessen their activism and rethink their strategy and how can youyo blame them with

rsyears in prison if they choose to target them. to create penalties on those responsible for thisam campaign while they end the bill would

impose mandatory sanctions on anyone involved in taking action to attack the basic freedoms that were promised to the people of hong kong. the legislation also takes another stab at penalizing to finalize the erosion of the outside i basic human rights we are on the verge of sending this to the desk because america needs to take steps like this to push back on the economy. in the power worldwide in the process is meant to simultaneously undermine the society. we should point out the spread of the party influence around

the world to the american and economic interest and that is part of why it is so important. it's not only the effort to shield those from the excavation of aggression by the chinese communists, that the bill is a a larger signal to china and a message that the united states and the free world are no longer willing to look past. it is too militarizing and infringing on other nationsio sovereign waters and trampling on the basic freedoms. i could go on but suffice it to say this is occurring in that

battle about the world is going to pursue while they continue to foster the model spread around the world and that greater economic freedom and respect for property and basic human rights like freedom of speech and freedom to worship all in the elevation of human dignity that comes from the freedom and the democrats from the model, that is the model for this up against the dark shadows of the authoritarian government that are constantly pushing to corrode the values and freedoms that we cherish. through this bill the senate makes clear which side we are on and i would like to see old to

the senator from maryland. >> mr. president, the center is recognized. thank you, mr. president. i want to salute my colleague from pennsylvania for his remarks and his leadership on this issue of standing up for their rights and freedom of people in hong kong sending a signal to others around the world who would seek to say about human rights and political freedom. when senator to me andse i saw they were taking the more recent steps to crack down on freedom in hong kong, we introduce the hong kong accountability act.

that act just passed the senate unanimously last week and was sent to the house of representatives. this is a very fast turnaround from either of the chambers here in the united states congress and i want to thank speaker pelosi andne her partner and all the democrats and republicans in the house of representatives for coming together so quickly on this legislation. the legislation made a technical to the bill. a technical fix to comply to requirement as to where they felt it mighten build general revenue but with that technical thick, speaker pelosi and the republican leadership send it

right back and why did they send it back so quickly? because this is an important moment. in fact, our timing couldn't be more critical. they imposed after the law was passed that beijing unveiled its provisions. even the hong kong chief executive said she hadn' that st been allowed before the law's passage. and as the senator indicated, it is written in broad enough that it will criminalize speech and peaceful assembly. anybody that publicizes anti-beijing viewpoint could be

punished to life imprisonment. anything to be undermining the ruling of the communist party's authority would be a violation. this is consistent with mainland china's approach which is virtually eliminated and independent journalism and restricted in the ngos. here are some highlights of the law that was just passed i should say, in posed. without mandates that the hong kong government undertake, quote, national security education in school, social organizations and media outlets. if mandates that anyone entering public office in hong kong square or allegiance to beijing

for the sanctions against china they could fall afoul or incites hatred thousands of protesters took to the streets yesterday was the largest rally in hong kong this year. hundreds of police officers moved swiftly to squash the fence and implement the law.

they were chanting hong kong independence, the only way out, "-end-double-quote. the statement said such slogans mae suspected to be inciting or editing others and may violate the new law. mr. president, the united states must stand with the people of hong kong and that is what this bill says. if this bill says the stand with the people of hong kong. as the senator indicated, it would impose mandatory sanctions on individuals and firms who violate the obligations to the people of hong kong to the joint declaration of the law and the

detention and imprisonment it goes beyond that to impose the sanctions to those that do business with individuals thato are complicit in undermining these freedoms and rights of the people of hong kong so, mr. president, i'm glad we had a quick way as you can see the government in china is moving by the day to squash the rights and freedoms. we need to move with urgency to send the statement that we stand with the people of hong kong. i'm going to be joining my colleague, senator toomey. before i turn back to him, let me just say assuming we get that and i hope we will come up i

hope president trump will find this immediately, immediately as the country. republicans and democrats together need to send a strong signal that we will not stand for the actions of beijing's undermining their own agreements on the international law but they are bound to, and we will not stand still and silent and do nothing while they crack down on freedom in hong kong. and now mr. president, i will yield to the senator from pennsylvania. >> the senator from pennsylvania. >> just to stretch how grateful i am for the persuasive and effective advocacy throughout this entire effort i'm grateful to him as i am to other colleague that helped make this

happen. in the legislative session i ask the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of hr 40 that was received fromg the house. >> the clerk will report. >> hr 470 to impose sanctions with respect to certain obligations of china with respect to hong kong and for other purposes. >> is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection, the senate will proceed. >> mr. president. iil ask unanimous consent that will be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be made and laid upon the table. >> is there objection? without objection, so ordered. >> thank you mr. chair, and i note the absence of the koran.

about the impact of the corona virus pandemic on the 2020 violate season.