The publication is reproduced in full below:
REINFORCING NICARAGUA'S ADHERENCE TO CONDITIONS FOR ELECTORAL REFORM
ACT OF 2021
______
speech of
HON. ALBIO SIRES
of new jersey
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, I would like to address S. 1046, the Reinforcing Nicaragua's Adherence to Conditions for Electoral Reform Act of 2021, or the RENACER Act. I introduced the House version of the RENACER Act in April with Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, Ranking Member of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Mark Green, and Reps. Deutch, Wasserman Schultz, Murphy, and other bipartisan colleagues. This bill builds on the Nicaragua Investment Conditionality Act of 2018, or the NICA Act, and expands the United States' toolbox to address the challenges to democracy faced in Nicaragua. Congress passed the NICA Act in 2018 in the aftermath of Ortega's brutal crackdown of protesters that year. Since 2018, the Ortega regime's criminalization of dissent has only continued; and since I introduced RENACER in April, the regime arrested almost 40 opposition figures, including eight possible presidential candidates.
Daniel Ortega has made it clear that he will go to any lengths to maintain power. The United States Government must use every diplomatic tool available to ensure free, fair, and competitive elections in Nicaragua. We should implement a results-oriented diplomatic strategy, in coordination with our allies, that aligns sanctions with specific outcomes. This will be the most effective way to counter the Ortega regime's efforts to use repression, persecution, and fear to prevent the Nicaraguan people from expressing their will at the ballot box.
This legislation would also expand oversight of international financial institutions' lending to Nicaragua, to ensure that any funds are helping the Nicaraguan people and not filling the coffers of corrupt actors in government. The RENACER Act also strengthens protections for humanitarian and human rights needs of the Nicaraguan people, so that our policies do not inadvertently harm the very people we seek to help. Finally, the legislation requires a number of reports, including on acts of corruption committed by the Ortega government and his family members and on human rights violations against communities marginalized by the regime.
By passing the RENACER Act, we will send a strong message that we stand with the political prisoners, their families, and with all Nicaraguans in defending their right to choose their own leaders. We will show unequivocally our firm support for the democratic aspirations of the Nicaraguan people. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and stand up for the Nicaraguan people.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 195
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
House Representatives' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
Alerts Sign-up