[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 3 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 3

   Condemning the irregular interruption of the democratic political 
                    institutional process in Haiti.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 22, 1999

  Mr. DeWine (for himself, Mr. Graham, Mr. Helms, and Mr. Coverdell) 
 submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Condemning the irregular interruption of the democratic political 
                    institutional process in Haiti.

Whereas, in 1991 at Santiago, Chile, the Organization of American States (OAS) 
        approved Resolution 1080 to deter irregular interruptions of the 
        democratic political institutional process within countries having 
        democratically elected governments;
Whereas the OAS invoked Resolution 1080 (1991) and called for a meeting of the 
        foreign ministers in 1991 to determine appropriate actions in response 
        to the coup d'etat against Haiti's elected President Jean-Bertrand 
        Aristide;
Whereas the legacy of fiat and abuse of the Duvalier dictatorship led the 
        framers of the 1987 Haitian constitution to provide for clear separation 
        of powers;
Whereas the 1987 Haitian constitution permanently vests all legislative 
        authority in the National Assembly and does not provide for rule by 
        decree by the president;
Whereas on January 11, 1999, President Preval seized dictatorial powers by 
        effectively dissolving Haiti's parliament and announcing he will rule by 
        decree; and
Whereas this irregular interruption of the democratic political institutional 
        process requires immediate international attention and action to bring 
        about a return to democracy in that country: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That the Senate--
            (1) condemns the irregular interruption of the democratic 
        political institutional process and considers that interruption 
        to be a serious blow to democracy in Haiti and a serious threat 
        to democracy in the Caribbean region and the Hemisphere;
            (2) calls on the Government of Haiti forthwith to fully 
        restore the legitimate exercise of power by a democratically 
        elected National Assembly and to ensure full respect for 
        internationally recognized human rights;
            (3) urges the Organization of American States (OAS) to send 
        a fact-finding mission headed by the Secretary General to Haiti 
        and, under Resolution 1080, to call a meeting of the foreign 
        ministers of the OAS member countries in order to consider 
        joint actions to bring about a return to democracy in that 
        country.
    Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit a copy of this 
concurrent resolution to the President of the United States with the 
request that he further transmit such copy to the Secretary General of 
the Organization of American States.
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