USEFUL INFORMATION TO UNDERSTAND RESOLUTIONS (Senate and House) – In relation to the H. Res 413 in the US Congress regarding Sri Lanka
Posted on June 18th, 2021
Sri Lankan American Action Coalition. (SLAAC) a volunteer group functioning in USA
Bills & Resolutions
Forms of Congressional Action
The work of Congress is initiated by the introduction of a proposal in one of four principal forms: the bill, the joint resolution, the concurrent resolution, and the simple resolution. Bills & Resolutions | house.gov
An H. Res (or a simple resolution) only concerns “the rules, the operation, or the opinion” of one chamber of Congress. There is no “passage” only “adoption.” This means that it does not pass forward to the senate for a vote as a bill and is not presented to the President of the United States for signature.
An extract from the United States House of Representatives is:
Simple Resolutions
A matter concerning the operation of either the House of Representatives or Senate alone is initiated by a simple resolution. A resolution affecting the House of Representatives is designated H.Res.” followed by its number. They are not presented to the President for action.
For more information on bills and resolutions see Forms of Congressional Action in How Our Laws Are Made.
If there is a next step in the process for H. Res 413, it would be “adoption” by the House. But even so, that will be that the House is merely expressing their opinion. Stakeholders will use this adoption to push for action, but a simple resolution alone does not have the power for further action.
Our next steps to counter this action should be determined as follows: There are stakeholders approaching Members of Congress seeking their support for H. Res 413. Members need to be further educated on the issue. In addition to speaking with Members who already support the resolution, we should approach other Members of Congress and introduce them to the issue from our perspective because this involves a recognized terrorist entity.
See the link below for more details in the Congressional Glossary of the US Library of Congress.
https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/congress/congress-glossary.html
Simple Resolution – Legislation that relates to the operations of a single chamber or expresses the collective opinion of that chamber on public policy issues. A simple resolution originating in the House of Representatives is designated by the letters H. Res.” followed by a number and simple resolutions introduced in the Senate as S. Res.” followed by a number. For Example: H. Res. 10.
Another point to consider is that in counter arguments, it must be pointed out to all members of the US Congress who can be influenced to support the H. Res 413 that there is an explicit reference to LTTE” in the document without expanding the acronym to read Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam.
In such expansion, it can be proven that the LTTE is on the list of Foreign Terror Organizations (FTO) listed by the US State Department dated October 8, 1997. The proof is available that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a known Foreign Terrorist Organization recognized by the U.S. Department of State at the link provided and the entry for LTTE that appears in the list. It is also proscribed in the US and 31 other countries having provided inspiration to Al Qaeda. This link provides other terrorist organizations considered in the same category where LTTE has been included.
Link to: Foreign Terrorist Organizations – United States Department of State
https://www.congress.gov/help/learn-about-the-legislative-process/how-our-laws-are-made
Simple resolutions are considered only by the body in which they were introduced. Upon adoption, simple resolutions are attested to by the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate and are published in the Congressional Record.
For further clarification, please contact the Sri Lankan American Action Coalition. (SLAAC) a volunteer group functioning in USA.
Email: excomm@srilankanamericans.com. This is basic information for use by those who defend Sri Lanka against the Simple Resolution H. Res 413 resolution presented with misinformation and the need for counter