[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 135 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 135

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 3, 2005

  Mr. Dreier (for himself, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Mr. Hyde, Mr. 
    Lantos, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Bilirakis, and Mr. Gillmor) 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 Democracy Assistance 
Commission Resolution''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The House of Representatives makes the following findings:
            (1) Since its founding, the United States has championed 
        the expansion 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) In his second inaugural address on January 20, 2005, 
        President George W. Bush declared: ``We are led by events and 
        common sense to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our 
        land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other 
        lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of 
        freedom in all the world. . . . So it is the policy of the 
        United States to seek and support the growth of democratic 
        movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with 
        the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.''.
            (4) Strong institutions, particularly national legislatures 
        with proper infrastructure, are essential for democracies to 
        mature and to withstand cyclical turnover in governments.
            (5) Furthermore, the parliaments of emerging democracies 
        are commonly 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 
        often lack training, equipment, or resources to carry out their 
        work effectively.
            (6) 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 newly 
        democratic 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 their members and staff, as well as to 
        increase transparency and accountability.
            (11) A program similar to the Frost-Solomon Task Force 
        would enable Members, officers, and staff of the House of 
        Representatives to share their expertise and experience with 
        their counterparts in other countries, in keeping with the 
        declared policy of the United States to support the growth of 
        democratic institutions, thereby undertaking what President 
        Bush called ``the idealistic work of helping raise up free 
        governments''.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

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

SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Number and Appointment.--The Commission shall be composed of 
Members of the House of Representatives, the number of whom shall be 
determined by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in 
consultation with the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. 
Majority party members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House 
of Representatives and minority party 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.--The Chairperson of the Commission shall be 
designated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives from among 
the members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives 
under subsection (a).

SEC. 5. DUTIES OF COMMISSION.

    (a) Activities.--The Commission shall work with the parliaments of 
selected countries, as determined pursuant to subsection (b)(4), on a 
frequent and regular basis in order to--
            (1) enable Members, officers, and staff of the House of 
        Representatives and congressional support agencies to provide 
        expert advice to members and staff of the parliaments of 
        selected countries;
            (2) enable members and staff of parliaments of selected 
        countries to visit the House of Representatives and its support 
        agencies to learn about their operations first-hand; and
            (3) provide recommendations to the Administrator of the 
        United States Agency for International Development regarding 
        the provision of material assistance, such as modern automation 
        and office systems, information technology, and library 
        supplies, that the Commission determines is needed by the 
        parliament of a selected country in order to improve the 
        efficiency and transparency of its work, and to oversee the 
        provision of such assistance.
    (b) Study.--
            (1) In general.--In order to carry out the activities 
        described in subsection (a), the Commission shall conduct on an 
        annual basis (or more frequently if necessary) a 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. The Commission shall designate those countries 
        described in paragraph (2) with respect to which a study will 
        be conducted under this subsection. The study shall assess--
                    (A) the independent and substantive role that each 
                parliament plays, or could reasonably be expected to 
                play, in the legislative process and government 
                oversight;
                    (B) the potential benefit to each parliament of 
                expert advice from Members and staff of the House of 
                Representatives in areas such as the development of 
                research services and legislative information systems, 
                parliamentary procedure, committee operations, budget 
                process, government oversight, and constituent 
                services; and
                    (C) the need in each parliament for material 
                assistance, such as modern automation and office 
                systems, information technology, and research 
                materials, in order to improve efficiency and 
                transparency.
            (2) Countries described.--The countries referred to in 
        paragraph (1) are countries that have established or are 
        developing democratic parliaments which would benefit from 
        assistance described in this resolution.
            (3) Sense of the house of representatives.--It is the sense 
        of the House of Representatives that the countries described in 
        paragraph (2) with respect to which studies will be conducted 
        under this subsection should reflect a geographic diversity and 
        over time should include countries from each of the following 
        regions: Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, the Middle East 
        and Central Asia, and the Western Hemisphere.
            (4) 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). 
        Assistance may be provided under the provisions of this 
        resolution to a parliament selected under this paragraph only 
        if the parliament first expresses to the Speaker of the House 
        of Representatives an interest to receive such assistance.
    (c) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than September 30, 2005, and 
        each September 30 thereafter until September 30, 2009, the 
        Commission shall prepare and submit to the Speaker of the House 
        of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of 
        Representatives, the Committee on International Relations and 
        other appropriate House committees, the Office of 
        Interparliamentary Affairs of the House of Representatives, and 
        the Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
        Development, an annual report on the following:
                    (A) Results of study.--The results of the study 
                conducted pursuant to subsection (b).
                    (B) Commission activities.--In accordance with the 
                results of such study, a review of the activities of 
                the Commission in the previous year and a proposal for 
                the activities of the Commission in the following year, 
                as described in subsection (a).
            (2) Definition.--In this subsection, the term ``other 
        appropriate House committees'' means the Committee on 
        Appropriations, the Committee on House Administration, and the 
        Committee on Rules of the House of Representatives.

SEC. 6. ROLE OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.

    (a) In General.--The Commission shall carry out the duties 
described in section 5 using the staff and resources of the Committee 
on International Relations, including the use of consultants, such as 
individuals with expertise in development of democratic parliaments, 
legislative systems management, legislative research, parliamentary 
procedure, related legislative matters, and technology systems 
management, as appropriate.
    (b) Participation of Legislative Branch Employees.--At the request 
of the Commission, the head of any House office or congressional 
support agency may assist the work of the Commission by--
            (1) detailing personnel of that office to the staff of the 
        Committee on International Relations; or
            (2) authorizing personnel of that office to participate in 
        activities of the Commission.

SEC. 7. TERMINATION.

    The Commission shall terminate on September 30, 2009.
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