[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 252 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 252

  Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of the United 
   States should actively support the aspirations of the democratic 
  political and social forces in the Republic of Nicaragua toward an 
    immediate and full restoration of functioning democracy in that 
                                country.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 27, 2005

   Mr. Burton of Indiana (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Harris, Mr. 
Weller, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Mack, and Mr. Rohrabacher) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of the United 
   States should actively support the aspirations of the democratic 
  political and social forces in the Republic of Nicaragua toward an 
    immediate and full restoration of functioning democracy in that 
                                country.

Whereas the United States is strongly committed to promoting freedom, democracy, 
        and the rule of law;
Whereas the Charter of the Organization of American States, of which the United 
        States and Nicaragua are Member States, stipulates that ``[t]he peoples 
        of the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments have an 
        obligation to promote and defend it'';
Whereas after experiencing a quarter century ago a revolution, loss of personal 
        liberties, destruction of property, and economic instability, the people 
        of Nicaragua are building a democratic form of government;
Whereas jailed ex-President Arnoldo Aleman and Sandinista Liberation Front 
        (FSLN) leader Daniel Ortega have entered into an agreement widely known 
        throughout Nicaragua as the ``Pact'', to control the National Assembly 
        in order to exploit its legislative powers to undermine the Nicaraguan 
        Constitution, the Presidency of Enrique Bolanos, and all institutions of 
        representative democratic governance;
Whereas Pactist politicians currently control and dominate the Supreme Court, 
        the Electoral Council, the Comptroller's office, and the Human Rights 
        ombudsman's office; and
Whereas polls indicate that an overwhelming percentage of Nicaraguans oppose the 
        Aleman-Ortega Pact, and tens of thousands of Nicaraguans took to the 
        streets in the past year to call for an end to the Pact: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That--
            (1) Congress--
                    (A) strongly condemns the Aleman-Ortega Pact as 
                detrimental to democracy in the Republic of Nicaragua, 
                the future of democracy in Nicaragua, and the stability 
                of the entire region;
                    (B) strongly condemns constitutional reforms passed 
                by the Pact-controlled National Assembly that stripped 
                important executive branch authorities from the 
                Nicaraguan presidency;
                    (C) strongly condemns the Pact-controlled National 
                Assembly's actions to stack the Nicaraguan Supreme 
                Court with Pact loyalists, some of whom have had their 
                United States visas revoked on the ground of 
                corruption;
                    (D) strongly condemns the Pact-controlled National 
                Assembly's efforts to remove democratically-elected 
                President Enrique Bolanos on dubious legal grounds;
                    (E) strongly condemns the Pact-controlled National 
                Assembly's attempts to remove from office senior 
                officials of the executive branch on dubious legal 
                grounds; and
                    (F) supports the efforts of Nicaraguan democratic 
                civil society to create the necessary conditions for 
                free and fair elections; and
            (2) it is the sense of Congress that--
                    (A) it should be the policy of the United States to 
                actively support the aspirations of the democratic 
                political forces in Nicaragua for a full restoration of 
                democracy and the rule of law in Nicaragua, headed by 
                leaders who are committed to democracy and who deserve 
                the trust of the Nicaraguan people;
                    (B) it should be the policy of the United States to 
                work with the international community, including the 
                Organization of American States, to assist democratic 
                forces in Nicaragua to restore full democracy to their 
                country;
                    (C) it should be the policy of the United States to 
                oppose all political elements that continue to subvert 
                Nicaraguan democracy;
                    (D) it is critical that the 2006 elections in 
                Nicaragua are free and fair and provide the winner of 
                the election a clear mandate to govern the country; and
                    (E) the President of the United States, acting 
                through the Administrator of the United States Agency 
                for International Development, should provide 
                assistance grants to nongovernmental organizations in 
                support of President Bolanos' call for the 
                international community to assist in and monitor the 
                2006 election process in order to ensure the integrity 
                of the process.
                                 <all>