WASHINGTON—On September 22, 2020, Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20), other Helsinki Commissioners, and select members of Congress will join members of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee and Subcommittee on Human Rights to discuss combating racism and systemic discrimination on both sides of the Atlantic. RACIAL EQUITY, EQUALITY, AND JUSTICE Reinforcing U.S.-EU […]

WASHINGTON—Ahead of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, Helsinki Commission leaders issued the following statements: “In 1989, history hit the fast-forward button; what had seemed impossible for four decades suddenly seemed inevitable,” said Chairman Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20).  “Hungary ripped down the Iron Curtain on its border […]

WASHINGTON—Following renewed efforts by authorities in Hungary to shutter the Aurora Community Center in Budapest, House Majority Leader Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05), Helsinki Commission Ranking Member Sen. Ben Cardin (MD), and Helsinki Commissioner Rep. Gwen Moore (WI-04) issued the following statements: “During my visit to Budapest earlier this summer, I saw firsthand the important […]

Pictured: Mate Szabo, Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (left) meets with Representative Tom Cole (right). From July 1 to July 3, three members of the U.S. Helsinki Commission visited Hungary as part of a bipartisan delegation led by House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer. The delegation included Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Ranking Senate Commissioner and OSCE […]

WASHINGTON—From July 4 to July 8, Helsinki Commission Co-Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (MS) led the largest bipartisan, bicameral U.S. delegation in history to the 2019 OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) Annual Session in Luxembourg. The participation of 19 members of Congress showed the deep U.S. commitment to European security and to countering Kremlin aggression and […]

Today at the 28th Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Luxembourg, Helsinki Commission Ranking Member Sen. Ben Cardin hosted a U.S. side event in his capacity as OSCE PA Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism and Intolerance. The event, “Countering Hate: Lessons from the Past, Leadership for the Future,” called for parliamentarians from across […]

By Nathaniel Hurd, Senior Policy Advisor “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us,” Gandalf says to Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. Helsinki Commission colleague Karen Lord relished the writings of Tolkien and beautifully lived the time given to her before dying […]

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, on June 3, 1976, U.S. President Gerald Ford signed into law a bill establishing the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, more commonly known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission. I bring this 40th anniversary next week to my colleagues’ attention today because the commission has played a particularly significant role […]

This briefing was attended by  the Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin, Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission); the Hon. Alcee Hastings, Ranking Member of the Helsinki Commission; the Hon. John Boozman, Commissioner of the Helsinki Commission; and the Hon. Steny Hoyer, Member of Congress from the State of Maryland. Witnesses […]

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) will speak Wednesday at 10 a.m. at a conference at the Library of Congress marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet murder of over 20,000 Polish soldiers and intellectual elites in the Katyn forest. “The 70th […]

A Democratic congressman this week used a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall to criticize President Obama for failing to nominate a U.S. ambassador to a key European human rights panel. Rep. Alcee L. Hastings of Florida urged Mr. Obama to find time to fill the ambassadorship to the […]

WASHINGTON – Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, leaders of the U.S. Helsinki Commission said Wednesday the U.S. must lead the fight against modern tools of repression and consistently raise human rights concerns. (Video and photos available). Standing in front of the largest piece of the Berlin Wall outside Germany, U.S. Senator Benjamin […]