Senate Introduces Resolution Praising Tunisian Elections

Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), John McCain (R-AZ), and John Kerry (D-MA) introduced S. Res. 316 “expressing the sense of the Senate regarding Tunisia’s peaceful Jasmine Revolution.” The resolution “congratulates the people of Tunisia for holding, on October 23, 2011, the first competitive, multi-party democratic elections since the outbreak of popular revolutions throughout the Middle East and North Africa in 2011.” The Constituent Assembly elections were praised as being “free, fair, and consistent with international standards.” The bill also “affirms the national interest of the United States in Tunisia’s economic prosperity and development,” while urging U.S. engagement with Tunisia’s civil society, democratic institutions, schools and universities, independent media, and private sector. The resolution has been referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.