[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 543 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 543

    Providing for the establishment of a commission in the House of 
     Representatives to assist parliaments in emerging democracies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 26, 2004

Mr. Price of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. Bereuter, Mr. Dreier, and 
 Mr. Frost) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
    Providing for the establishment of a commission in the House of 
     Representatives to assist parliaments in emerging democracies.

    Resolved, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

     This resolution may be cited as the ``House Commission For 
Assisting Democratic Parliaments Resolution''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

     The House of Representatives makes the following findings:
            (1) Since its founding, the United States has championed 
        the development of democracy around the world.
            (2) Indeed, beginning with the Continental Congress and 
        continuing through the modern Congress, representative 
        institutions have served as a critical component through which 
        the American people have expressed their views on policy issues 
        and through which the power of other government branches has 
        been balanced.
            (3) Establishing democratic institutions in other countries 
        is in the national interest of the United States and 
        constitutes a goal of United States foreign policy.
            (4) For democracies to mature and to withstand cyclical 
        turnover in government, strong government institutions, 
        particularly national legislatures with appropriate 
        infrastructure, are critical.
            (5) Furthermore, the legislative branches of governments of 
        emerging democracies are largely comprised of new legislators, 
        citizens from many walks of life, who face the challenges of 
        creating new democratic systems without the benefit of previous 
        legislative experience. The legislatures of these fledgling 
        democracies lack training, equipment, or resources to carry out 
        their work effectively.
            (6) Currently, many parliaments do not possess the 
        necessary technology, such as modern computer equipment, 
        software, or access to databases and electronic resources, to 
        facilitate the timely flow of legislative information to 
        lawmakers and legislative staff.
            (7) Parliaments in fledgling democracies also frequently 
        lack trained staff to provide nonpartisan policy information, 
        to draft legislation, and to advise legislators on policy 
        matters.
            (8) Newly democratic parliaments may lack the resources to 
        establish internal libraries, reference materials, and 
        archiving capabilities for use by legislators and staff.
            (9) From 1990 through 1996, the United States House of 
        Representatives, in conjunction with the House Information 
        Systems Office (later known as House Information Resources) and 
        the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of 
        Congress, provided equipment and technical assistance to new 
        parliaments in Central and Eastern European countries, 
        including Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, 
        Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, 
        and Ukraine in an effort to develop and strengthen those 
        institutions.
            (10) This program, commonly known as the ``Frost-Solomon 
        Task Force'', not only served the United States foreign policy 
        goal of helping to establish democratic institutions in other 
        countries, but also developed significant goodwill in the 
        countries in which it was implemented. The program was designed 
        to improve the efficiency of parliaments and the 
        professionalism of its members and staff, as well as to 
        increase transparency and accountability.
            (11) A program similar to the Frost-Solomon Task Force, 
        which strengthens professionalism and efficiency within 
        parliaments in democratic countries, continues to be in the 
        national interests of the United States.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

     There is established in the House of Representatives a commission 
to be known as the House Commission For Assisting Democratic 
Parliaments (hereafter in this resolution referred to as the 
``Commission'').

SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Number and Appointment.--The Commission shall be composed of 8 
Members of the House of Representatives--
            (1) of which 4 members shall be appointed by the Speaker of 
        the House of Representatives; and
            (2) of which 4 members shall be appointed by the Minority 
        Leader of the House of Representatives.
    (b) Terms of Members of the House of Representatives.--Each member 
of the Commission shall be appointed for a term that is concurrent with 
the Congress in which the appointment is made. Such a member may be 
reappointed for one or more subsequent terms in accordance with the 
preceding sentence.
    (c) Chairperson; Vice Chairperson.--The Chairperson of the 
Commission shall be designated by the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives from among the members appointed under subsection 
(a)(1). The Vice Chairperson shall be designated by the Minority Leader 
of the House of Representatives from among the members appointed under 
subsection (a)(2).

SEC. 5. STAFF OF COMMISSION.

    (a) In General.--The Commission shall appoint and fix the pay of 
such personnel as the Commission considers appropriate.
    (b) Detail of Legislative Branch Employees.--At the request of the 
Commission, the head of any office in the legislative branch may detail 
any of the personnel of that office to the Commission to assist it in 
carrying out its duties under this resolution. Any individual detailed 
by an office to the Commission pursuant to this subsection shall retain 
the individual's status as an employee of the office for purposes of 
pay and benefits.
    (c) Employment of Consultants.--The Commission may employ 
consultants to assist in carrying out its duties as described in 
section 6, including individuals with expertise in development of 
democratic parliaments, legislative systems management, legislative 
research, parliamentary procedure, related legislative matters, and 
technology systems management.

SEC. 6. DUTIES OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall conduct an annual 
        study on the feasibility of programs of assistance for 
        parliaments of countries described in paragraph (2) for the 
        purpose of strengthening the parliamentary infrastructure of 
        such countries. This study may be conducted more frequently, if 
        the Commission so decides. The study shall assess--
                    (A) how the parliament in each country studied 
                plays, or could reasonably be expected to play, an 
                independent and substantive role in the legislative 
                process and government oversight;
                    (B) how improving access to information and 
                developing independent and objective research and 
                analytical capabilities would enable the parliament in 
                each country studied to improve the effectiveness of 
                members and professional staff and would increase 
                legislative transparency and accountability; and
                    (C) how modern automation and office systems would 
                improve efficiency and transparency in the work of the 
                parliament in each country studied.
            (2) Countries described.--The countries referred to in 
        paragraph (1) are countries that--
                    (A) have established or are developing democratic 
                parliaments which would benefit from assistance 
                described in this resolution; and
                    (B) express to the United States Government an 
                interest to receive such assistance.
            (3) Selected countries.--From the countries studied, the 
        Commission shall select one or more parliaments that it 
        recommends should receive assistance under the provisions of 
        this resolution, based on the criteria in paragraph (1).
    (b) Report.--The Commission shall prepare and submit to the Speaker 
of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of 
Representatives, the appropriate House committees, and the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, an annual report on the following:
            (1) Results of study.--The results of the study conducted 
        pursuant to subsection (a).
            (2) Commission activities.--In accordance with the results 
        of such study, a proposal for the activities of the Commission 
        in the following year, as described in subsection (c).
            (3) Recommendations to usaid.--(A) In accordance with the 
        results of such study, recommendations to the Administrator of 
        the United States Agency for International Development to 
        design and implement programs of assistance for parliaments of 
        selected countries, including recommendations to achieve the 
        purposes of subparagraphs (B) through (D).
            (B) Such programs of assistance may include--
                    (i) efforts to establish or improve existing 
                libraries of parliaments of selected countries, 
                including, but not limited to, providing equipment, 
                Internet access, books, reference materials, government 
                documents, periodical subscriptions and databases; and
                    (ii) efforts to improve the efficiency and 
                transparency of legislation and proceedings in 
                parliaments of selected countries, including, but not 
                limited to, providing equipment, Internet access, and 
                desktop publishing capabilities.
            (C)(i) In coordination with parliaments in selected 
        countries, USAID should develop detailed, multiyear plans for 
        providing equipment, strengthening library collections, and 
        enhancing research and analysis capabilities in those 
        parliaments.
            (ii) Plans described in clause (i) should include specific 
        goals to be achieved through the provision of assistance, 
        estimated costs of meeting the goals, the conditions under 
        which assistance should be provided, the type of equipment and 
        resources to be provided, and annual plans for assessing the 
        extent to which the goals have been achieved.
            (D) All equipment and books that are provided to selected 
        countries should be inscribed to designate the items as gifts 
        from the United States of America.
    (c) Activities.--The Commission shall work with the parliaments of 
selected countries on a frequent and regular basis in order to--
            (1) allow Commission members and staff to provide expert 
        advice to members and staff of the parliaments of selected 
        countries;
            (2) enable members and staff of parliaments in selected 
        countries to visit the House of Representatives and its support 
        agencies to learn about their operations first-hand; and
            (3) observe and provide recommendations regarding the 
        implementation of the assistance programs described in 
        subsection (b)(3).

SEC. 7. TRAVEL.

    Members and staff of the Commission are authorized to travel to 
foreign countries to carry out this resolution.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

     In this resolution:
            (1) Appropriate house committees.--The term ``appropriate 
        House committees'' means the Committee on Appropriations, the 
        Committee on House Administration, the Committee on 
        International Relations, and the Committee on Rules of the 
        House of Representatives.
            (2) Equipment.--The term ``equipment'' includes basic 
        office and automation equipment (copiers, fax, telephone 
        answering machines, an initial complement of personal computers 
        and printers, software, CD-ROMs, and auxiliary storage media), 
        and library collections and library support automation, as well 
        as the associated training and technical assistance to 
        effectively use such equipment.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

     There are authorized to be appropriated from the applicable 
accounts of the House of Representatives to the Commission to carry out 
this resolution such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal 
years 2005 through 2008.
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