1. THREAD: The Senate Minority Leader just publicly urged his Republican counterpart to give the landmark Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which passed the House unanimously yesterday, a vote. Minority Whip @SenatorDurbin also did the same earlier today.
@SenatorDurbin 2. As of now, the bill, introduced by @marcorubio, has 25 co-sponsors: 12 Republicans, 12 Democrats, and an Independent. The support for Hong Kong in the Senate is decidedly bipartisan, just as it has been in the House. congress.gov/bill/116th-con…
@SenatorDurbin @marcorubio 3. Over the two-week recess, three Senators even traveled all the way to Hong Kong to observe the protests firsthand. We thank @SenRickScott, @tedcruz, and @HawleyMO for this commitment. Since then, they’ve spoken out even more strongly for our rights and freedoms.
@SenatorDurbin @marcorubio @SenRickScott @tedcruz @HawleyMO 4. @SenTomCotton stood up once again for Hong Kongers a few hours ago, when he called out @KingJames’s shameful, unabashed pro-Beijing stance. He’s absolutely right that the @NBA mustn’t prioritize Chinese money over American values.
@SenatorDurbin @marcorubio @SenRickScott @tedcruz @HawleyMO @SenTomCotton @KingJames @NBA 5. Referring to the bill, Chairman @SenatorRisch of the Foreign Relations Committee vowed: “Hong Kong is a high priority for me. We’re going to move on it as rapidly as we can.” But Chairman @RoyBlunt of the Rules Committee said there was no timetable yet. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
@SenatorDurbin @marcorubio @SenRickScott @tedcruz @HawleyMO @SenTomCotton @KingJames @NBA @SenatorRisch @RoyBlunt 6. It seems like the G.O.P. leadership hasn’t yet given much attention to this piece of legislation. For one, we haven’t heard from Majority Whip @SenJohnThune on Hong Kong all summer and fall.
@SenatorDurbin @marcorubio @SenRickScott @tedcruz @HawleyMO @SenTomCotton @KingJames @NBA @SenatorRisch @RoyBlunt @SenJohnThune 7. We thank @senatemajldr for his strong @WSJ op-ed. “The turmoil,” he wrote of the protests in August, “is the result of Beijing’s systematic ratcheting up of its domestic oppression and its pursuit of hegemony abroad.”
@SenatorDurbin @marcorubio @SenRickScott @tedcruz @HawleyMO @SenTomCotton @KingJames @NBA @SenatorRisch @RoyBlunt @SenJohnThune @senatemajldr @WSJ 8. Arguably, McConnell has done more than anyone to define America’s relationship with us in the 21st century. Twenty-eight years ago, he authored the U.S.-Hong Kong Policy Act, which President George H. W. Bush signed into law on Oct. 5, 1992.
@SenatorDurbin @marcorubio @SenRickScott @tedcruz @HawleyMO @SenTomCotton @KingJames @NBA @SenatorRisch @RoyBlunt @SenJohnThune @senatemajldr @WSJ 9. It’s this law that has mandated Washington to treat Hong Kong as a separate polity from China since the 1997 handover, thus facilitating strong economic and cultural ties that have enormously benefited both places.
@SenatorDurbin @marcorubio @SenRickScott @tedcruz @HawleyMO @SenTomCotton @KingJames @NBA @SenatorRisch @RoyBlunt @SenJohnThune @senatemajldr @WSJ 10. These arrangements only make sense if Beijing honors its promise of keeping Hong Kongers’ way of life unchanged, for at least a half-century until 2047. Alas, the opposite has happened, which is precisely why we’ve been protesting for months.
@SenatorDurbin @marcorubio @SenRickScott @tedcruz @HawleyMO @SenTomCotton @KingJames @NBA @SenatorRisch @RoyBlunt @SenJohnThune @senatemajldr @WSJ 11. Chinese leaders want it both ways: to destroy the core of what makes Hong Kong unique from the inside, while keeping its shell in order to reap the benefits of our status as a separate customs territory, especially amid the grueling trade war.
@SenatorDurbin @marcorubio @SenRickScott @tedcruz @HawleyMO @SenTomCotton @KingJames @NBA @SenatorRisch @RoyBlunt @SenJohnThune @senatemajldr @WSJ 12. Therefore, Washington needs a new approach to Hong Kong. The tools are here. Senators across the political divide have spoken. Most importantly, we’ve repeatedly made our voices heard. How this proceeds is now really up to McConnell alone. THREAD ENDS. instagram.com/p/B3mUl0qJVL_/
