,,iii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session 
,s4 ,,res4 #dgb  ,,in ,,the ,,senate    
,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states  ,october  
#bi1 #bjbe ,mr4 ,wicker 7for himself1   
,mr4 ,whitehouse1 and ,mrs4 ,shaheen7   
submitted the following resolution2     
which was referred to the ,committee on 
,foreign ,relations  ,,resolution       
,supporting the designation of ,october 
#cj as the ,international ,day of       
,political ,prisoners4  ,whereas there  
are an estimated #a1jjj1jjj political   
prisoners throughout the world1         
including journalists1 academics1       
political opposition activists1         
dissidents1 anti-war campaigners1 and   
human rights defenders1 who have been   
detained1 arrested1 imprisoned1         
convicted1 and otherwise punished for   
political motives without connection to 
any credible offense2  ,whereas         
authoritarian and repressive regimes    
around the world1 including the         
,republic of ,belarus1 the ,people's    
,republic of ,china1 the ,republic of   

,cuba1 the ,arab ,republic of ,egypt1   
the ,islamic ,republic of ,iran1 the    
,republic of the ,union of ,myanmar1 the
 ,russian ,federation1 the ,republic of 
,turkey1 and the ,bolivarian ,republic  
of ,venezuela1 have engaged in          
systematic imprisonment of independent  
voices2  ,whereas1 in #bjbd and #bjbe1  
the ,united ,states ,government1 through
 bilateral and multilateral             
negotiations1 secured the release of    
several dozen political prisoners from  
the ,republic of ,belarus1 the ,russian 
,federation1 and the ,bolivarian        
,republic of ,venezuela2  ,whereas1 on  
,october #cj1 #aigd1 ,ukrainian and     
,russian prisoners of conscience in the 
,soviet ,gulag initiated the tradition  
of marking an annual ,day of ,political 
,prisoners in the ,union of ,soviet     
,socialist ,republics 7referred to in   
this ,preamble as ,,ussr7 to draw public
 attention to the plight of those       
imprisoned for their political or       
religious beliefs and to express        

solidarity with them2 and  ,whereas1 in 
subsequent years1 the ,day of ,political
 ,prisoners1 was marked on ,october #cj 
by hunger strikes by prisoners inside   
the ,soviet ,gulag and by public        
demonstrations of solidarity in cities  
across the ,,ussr3 ,now1 therefore1 be  
it  ,that the ,senate-- 7#a7 deplores   
all forms of political repression and   
imprisonment2  7#b7 conveys its         
unwavering solidarity with all those who
 are imprisoned around the world for    
peacefully expressing their political or
 religious beliefs2  7#c7 supports      
efforts by the ,united ,states          
,government-- 7,a7 to condemn political 
imprisonment2  7,b7 to hold accountable 
any regime that is responsible for      
persecuting and imprisoning dissenters2 
7,c7 to raise international awareness of
 political prisoners2 and  7,d7 to      
secure the release of such political    
prisoners through bilateral and         
multilateral negotiations with other    
countries2  7#d7 urges the ,united      

,states ,government to continue such    
efforts in the future2 and  7#e7        
supports the annual designation of      
,october #cj in the ,united ,states as  
the ,international ,day of ,political   
,prisoners4