1.This Act may be cited as the
Counternarcotics and Citizen Security
for the Americas Act of 2010
.
2.In this Act:
(1)Current counternarcotics
programsThe term
current counternarcotics programs refers to programs in the Region
authorized as of the date of the enactment of this Act pursuant to section
481(a)(4) of the Foreign Assistance Act (22 U.S.C. 2291(a)(4)) regarding
international narcotics control that involves amounts appropriated for
countries in the Region under the International Narcotics Control and Law
Enforcement, Economic Support Fund, Development Assistance, Transitions
Initiatives, Foreign Military Financing Program, or Nonproliferation,
Anti-Terrorism, Demining and Related Programs accounts, as they relate to the
goals of—
(A)reducing the production, flow, and
consumption of illicit narcotics in the Americas;
(B)enhancing the security and economic
opportunity of the people of such countries; and
(C)building the democratic civilian
institutions responsible for meeting these goals.
(2)The term Merida Initiative
refers to the program announced by the United States Government and the
Government of Mexico on October 22, 2007, to fight illicit narcotics
trafficking and criminal organizations.
(3)The term Region refers to all
the countries of Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
3.Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)The drug crisis in the Western Hemisphere
remains a significant threat to the United States national interest and imposes
tremendous costs to the security and well being of all countries in the Western
Hemisphere. The United States is the primary market for illicit narcotics from
the Region.
(2)Numerous studies have shown that although
countries throughout the Region face drug consumption problems, the United
States has long been the country with largest drug consumption, and demand in
the United States is a key driver of the narcotics trade in the Region.
(3)On March 25, 2009, Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton stated, Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels
the drug trade
and I feel very strongly we have a
co-responsibility.
.
(4)The illicit production, transportation,
sale, and consumption of illicit narcotics—
(A)acts as a destabilizing force throughout
the Western Hemisphere;
(B)is a source of funding for terrorist and
criminal activities; and
(C)inhibits the social and economic
development of each affected country in the Western Hemisphere.
(5)Weak institutions in the Region are at the
core of the challenge of dismantling and disabling drug trafficking
organizations and providing legal alternatives to participation in illicit
activities. Long-term solutions to security problems in the Region depend on
strengthening civilian institutions and holding them accountable.
(6)The United States Government reporting
planning, and strategic analysis for counternarcotics and related programs is
carried out only on a year-to-year basis. The fight against drugs requires a
long-term vision and extensive cooperation among producing, transit, and
consuming nations.
(7)Colombia has been a valued partner of the
United States in combating the production and flow of illicit narcotics for
many years. Since 1999, the United States Government has invested over
$7,000,000,000 in programs assisting the people and Government of Colombia in
their efforts.
(8)Mexico is a strategic ally and partner of
the United States. In working to stem the flow of illegal narcotics into the
United States, the United States Government and the Government of Mexico have
begun to cooperate at an unprecedented level to confront the threat of illicit
narcotics trafficking, organized crime, and violence along our shared
border.
(9)The challenges addressed by the Merida
Initiative, which was initially conceived as a 3-year initiative by President
Calderon’s administration, will require a longer commitment of cooperation on
the part of the United States and countries in the Region.
(10)The Government of Mexico sought a greater
role for the Mexican military in stabilizing the security situation in the
short-term and has committed to undertake the civilian institution-building,
training, and reform that is necessary to establish civilian authorities and
civil society mechanisms needed to achieve strategic solutions.
(11)The long-term solution will require—
(A)less military involvement in enforcing the
law;
(B)more effective local, regional, and Federal
law enforcement institutions to deal with the challenge; and
(C)improvements in the judicial institutions,
the rule of law, and viable and licit economic opportunities for
underprivileged populations in Mexico.
(12)The United States Government will partner
with the Government of Mexico in its efforts to further engender—
(A)disrupting organized criminal
groups;
(B)institutionalizing reforms to sustain the
rule of law, engender respect for human rights, and ensure
accountability;
(C)creating a 21st century border; and
(D)building strong and resilient
communities.
(13)Central America is confronting an array of
violent crime, including youth and gang violence, drug trafficking, and
organized crime and is increasingly an area of transshipment of illicit
narcotics. Many of the governments along the isthmus are committed and willing,
yet ill-prepared to unilaterally deal with the threat and need United States
cooperation.
(14)As in Mexico and the Andean region,
long-term solutions in Central America require civilian institution-building
and improvements in judicial institutions, rule of law, human rights, and
economic opportunity for underprivileged populations.
(15)Countries in the Caribbean are also
vulnerable to similar threats from drug traffickers and organized crime that
are facing Mexico, Central America, and the Andean region including, in some
countries, a flow of illicit funds through sophisticated money-laundering
schemes.
4.
(a)One of the highest strategic policy goals
of the United States in the Western Hemisphere is to protect the safety of
citizens through the development and success of partnerships.
(b)It is in the interest of the United
States—
(1)to make a long-term commitment to assist
the countries of the Region—
(A)to improve citizen safety by combating
illicit narcotics production, trafficking, and distribution, and money
laundering;
(B)to invest in prevention programs,
especially programs that—
(i)keep young people in school;
(ii)work with at-risk youth; and
(iii)prevent domestic violence;
(C)to invest in programs that generate licit
economic and social opportunities, particularly for marginalized
populations;
(D)to increase intelligence sharing;
(E)to improve security coordination in the
Region;
(F)to improve border and customs
capabilities;
(G)to professionalize law enforcement,
justice, and other governmental institutions; and
(H)to decrease reliance on the use of
militaries for law enforcement purposes;
(2)to anticipate and plan for the
balloon effect
, in which successful counternarcotics efforts in
one area drive narcotics-related activities to other areas;
(3)to counter, to the greatest extent
possible, the underlying causes of the drug trade in the source, transit, and
demand zones;
(4)to use all relevant branches and
departments of the United States Government and to work in a coordinated manner
with the countries in the Region to jointly devise a strategy for addressing
narcotics trafficking and the threats to citizen safety that employs clear and
consistent performance indicators and systems of measurement, monitoring, and
evaluation that are universally accepted;
(5)to recognize that other threats to the
safety of citizens, such as pandemics, food security, or natural disasters
caused by environmental changes, have transnational effects and call for new
response and mitigation tools, including new partnerships that more effectively
strengthen, mobilize, and link the will and capacity of governments and
societies throughout the Region;
(6)to coordinate, to the extent feasible and
without hindering or otherwise harming ongoing United States law enforcement or
intelligence activities, information and strategies with United States partners
to stem the production and trafficking of illicit narcotics, particularly when
the cartels that produce and transport illegal drugs have a direct or indirect
role in the networks that distribute such drugs inside the United
States;
(7)to work with regional partners to encourage
the institutional strengthening of criminal justice institutions—
(A)to successfully counter gang violence, drug
trafficking, and other major crimes; and
(B)to improve overall public safety in the
affected countries;
(8)to undertake such cooperation in a manner
consistent with a commitment to ensuring the free flow of trade and other legal
commercial and financial interaction between the United States and countries in
the Region; and
(9)to strengthen mechanisms to coordinate
security and counternarcotics assistance with the countries in the Region and
other bilateral and multilateral agencies—
(A)to ensure a common and comprehensive
strategy;
(B)to most effectively use available
resources; and
(C)to avoid duplication of efforts.
(c)The initiatives set forth in subsection (b)
should be—
(1)closely coordinated to maximize their
effectiveness;
(2)adjusted, as necessary, in accordance with
their progress; and
(3)undertaken under a common framework to
advance key strategic priorities.
5.Inter-American counternarcotics strategy
reportSection 489(a) of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2291h(a)) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
(9)Inter-American Counternarcotics Strategy
ReportFor the countries of
Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean (referred to collectively
in this paragraph as the Region
), a report on the United States
Government’s multiyear interagency counternarcotics strategy that describes the
following:
(A)The United States counternarcotics
multi-year strategy for the Region, including—
(i)a description of particular challenges in
the source, transit, and demand zones;
(ii)the key policy objectives of the
counternarcotics strategy of the United States in the Region;
(iii)a detailed description of outcome-based
performance indicators by which to measure progress toward the objectives
referred to in clause (ii); and
(iv)a statement of the relationship of the
strategy referred to in this subparagraph to other regional strategies.
(B)The integration of diplomatic, criminal
justice, civil society and economic development, demand reduction, military,
and other assistance to achieve regional counternarcotics goals.
(C)The actions required of the United States
Government to support and achieve the objectives referred to in subparagraph
(A)(ii), and a description of the requirements for implementing such
actions.
(D)A set of regional and, as necessary,
country-specific metrics that—
(i)is formulated by the United States
Government through an interagency process involving a wide range of
stakeholders, including consultation with government and civil society in the
respective countries regarding the measurement of the efforts and results of
counternarcotics, public security programs, and other activities carried out
under this Act; and
(ii)reflects the particular challenges in
source, transit, and demand zone countries identified pursuant to paragraph
(3).
(E)A description of any instance in which a
producer or trafficker of illicit narcotics has shifted production or transit
routes from 1 place in the Region to another place due to pressure from
counternarcotics efforts.
(F)A description of the progress of phasing
out law enforcement activities of the armed forces of each recipient country,
as applicable.
(G)A description of governmental efforts to
investigate and prosecute allegations of human rights abuses committed by
security
agencies.
.
6.Coordination of counternarcotics
efforts
(a)It is the sense of Congress that it is in
the interest of the United States that current counternarcotics programs, which
are proposed, funded, and managed by various Federal departments and agencies,
be managed in a way that—
(1)maximizes the value added by each
department and agency; and
(2)ensures interagency efficiencies by—
(A)reducing duplication;
(B)ensuring consistent operations; and
(C)refining goals and objectives to meet
evolving circumstances.
(b)
(1)The President, in accordance with section
481(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2291(b)), shall ensure
effective coordination of current counternarcotics programs among relevant
agencies, including—
(A)the Department of State;
(B)the United States Agency for International
Development;
(C)the Department of Justice;
(D)the Department of Defense;
(E)the Department of Homeland Security;
and
(F)the intelligence community.
(2)No United States Government international
counternarcotics or anti-crime foreign assistance-related activity may be
implemented unless it has been approved by the Secretary of State, under the
direction of the President.
(3)The coordination effort described in
paragraph (1) to further the strategy developed under section 5 shall include a
review of—
(A)program and policy coordination among
Federal departments and agencies;
(B)all United States assistance that pertains
to current counternarcotics programs in the Region;
(C)public diplomacy efforts to explain the
purposes and scope of current counternarcotics programs; and
(D)best practices on effective strategies
for—
(i)reducing domestic demand for illicit drug
consumption; and
(ii)fighting narcotics trafficking and
production to achieve the counternarcotics goals described in section 7.
7.
(a)Federal assistance through current
counternarcotics programs shall be provided in the Region to provide—
(1)operational, intelligence, and forensic
support to assist partners in addressing immediate and long-term challenges,
consistent with expanding the rule of law; and
(2)capacity- and institution-building to
assist governments of partner countries in—
(A)addressing longer term challenges;
(B)improving the transparency of, and
increasing popular trust in, the civilian institutions of such governments;
and
(C)providing licit economic
opportunities.
(b)
(1)Institution-building efforts to further
counternarcotics efforts may include—
(A)national and municipal police
professionalization, including—
(i)training in the conduct of investigations,
operational planning, and the enhancement of operational security;
(ii)community policing and supporting the role
of police in crime prevention;
(iii)training regarding the use of force;
(iv)human rights education and training;
(v)training regarding evidence preservation
and chain of custody;
(vi)candidate screening, personnel evaluation,
and police academy curriculum development;
(vii)leadership and management training,
institutional accountability, and oversight mechanisms; and
(viii)training to effectively address street
crime;
(B)systemic improvements in judicial and
criminal justice sector institutions, including—
(i)courts management and prosecutorial and
judicial capacity building;
(ii)prison reform activities, including
activities relating to anti-gang and anti-organized crime efforts;
(iii)anti-money laundering programs;
(iv)victim and witness protection and
restitution;
(v)judicial and prosecutorial
protection;
(vi)promotion of transparent oral trials
through training for the judicial sector;
(vii)support to strengthen internal control
systems, including inspectors general; and
(viii)caseload reduction programs;
(C)support for the Office of the Attorney
General or similar institution in a country, including—
(i)judicial processes improvement and
coordination;
(ii)enhancement of forensics
capabilities;
(iii)data collection and analyses;
(iv)case tracking and management;
(v)financial intelligence functions;
and
(vi)maintenance of data systems;
(D)support for institutions that help provide
licit economic opportunities for at-risk populations and populations currently
dependent on illicit economic activities;
(E)support for institutions that are involved
in prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation efforts for youth and
populations at risk of participating in gangs and other forms of crime or
violence; and
(F)support for institutions that assist in
demand reduction in source and transshipment countries.
(2)Institution-building to further
counternarcotics efforts should be—
(A)carried out in a multi-faceted manner that
takes into account economic and social development and the ability of the
governments in the Region to provide basic services to their people; and
(B)focused on—
(i)increasing the capacity of civilian
government institutions to control illicit narcotics production and
trafficking;
(ii)increasing the ability of justice and law
enforcement systems—
(I)to break up drug trafficking organizations
and organized crime; and
(II)to prosecute offenders;
(iii)strengthening adherence to internationally
recognized human rights practices;
(iv)strengthening efforts to combat corruption
and increase transparency of the institutions involved;
(v)stabilizing the security environment
relating to illicit narcotics production and trafficking and organized crime;
and
(vi)increasing licit economic opportunities for
populations currently dependent on illicit economic for livelihoods.
(c)Consideration of local
concernsTo the greatest
extent practicable, programs described in subsection (b) should be
implemented—
(1)in consultation and coordination with local
communities; and
(2)after considering—
(A)the immediate operational objectives and
the institution-building value of programs;
(B)the impact on local economies; and
(C)the availability of alternative sources of
income in areas targeted for eradication of illicit crops.
(d)Performance indicators and oversight
mechanisms
(1)United States Government agencies involved
in counternarcotics programs shall use outcome-based performance indicators and
oversight mechanisms prescribed by the Secretary of State—
(A)to track the effectiveness of current
counternarcotics programs; and
(B)to help direct the allocation of future
resources for counternarcotics activities.
(2)Performance indicators referred to in
paragraph (1) should be developed after consultation with foreign national and
local authorities, as appropriate, to address Region-wide and country-specific
circumstances.
8.
(a)It is the Sense of Congress that the United
States should not provide assistance for counternarcotics programs in a foreign
country unless—
(1)such assistance will not adversely affect
the human rights situation in the foreign country;
(2)there are appropriate procedures in place
to meet the conditions under section 620J of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
(22 U.S.C. 2378a);
(3)the equipment and material provided is
being used in a manner consistent with the intent of the International
Narcotics Control Strategy Report with personnel committed to efficient and
effective use of such resources; and
(4)the equipment and materials will continue
to be used—
(A)to the extent possible, for the purposes
intended by the United States Government;
(B)by those agencies for which such assistance
is intended;
(C)by officials and employees of the
government of the foreign country who have been approved by such government to
perform counternarcotics activities, including activities on the basis of the
background investigations by such government; and
(D)in accordance with the terms and conditions
described in chapter 8 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2291 et seq.), particularly those related to appropriate end use
monitoring.
(b)Prohibition on operations involving
imminent use of lethal force
(1)Members of the United States Armed Forces,
law enforcement personnel, and civilian contractors employed by the United
States shall comply with section 481(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
(22 U.S.C. 2291) regarding participation in foreign police actions.
(2)Exception for contingency
operationsSection 481 of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended—
(A)in subsection (b)(1)—
(i)by inserting and approving
after coordinating
; and
(ii)by inserting and international
anticrime purposes
before the period at the end; and
(B)in subsection (c), by adding at the end the
following:
(7)Exception for contingency
operationsParagraph (1)
shall not apply with respect to counternarcotics operations conducted in
connection with a declared contingency operation if—
(A)the foreign country in which such operation
takes place agrees to such waiver; and
(B)such waiver has been approved by the
Secretary of
State.
.
(c)
(1)The President shall take all reasonable
steps to ensure that—
(A)the Federal Government complies with
section 484 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961; and
(B)if any helicopter procured with funds
provided by the United States is used to aid or abet the operations of any
terrorist, illegal self-defense group, paramilitary organization, guerrilla
organization, illegal security cooperative, or successor organizations in
Colombia, such helicopter shall be immediately returned to the United
States.
(2)Section 484(b) of the Foreign Assistance
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2291c(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
Aircraft may be made available to foreign countries under this chapter,
on a case by case basis after approval by the Chief of Mission, to participate
in emergencies, rescues, and humanitarian operations.
.
(d)Limitations on herbicides
(1)In monitoring aerial crop eradication
programs receiving Federal financial assistance under any counternarcotics
program in any country in the Region, the Secretary of State shall monitor,
under chapter 8 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2291
et seq.) the use of a herbicide for aerial eradication to determine the impact
of such use on the environment and the health of individuals, pursuant to
section 481(d) of such Act.
(2)Report upon determination of harm to
environment or healthSection
481(d) of such Act is amended—
(A)in paragraph (2), by striking In the
annual report required by section 489(a), the
and inserting
The
; and
(B)in paragraph (3)—
(i)by striking If the President
and inserting the following:
(A)If the
President
;
and
(ii)by adding at the end the following:
(B)The determination reported under
subparagraph (A) shall indicate that—
(i)the herbicide is being used in accordance
with label requirements of the United States Environmental Protection Agency
for comparable use in the United States and in accordance with local
laws;
(ii)in the manner it is being used, the
herbicide—
(I)does not pose unreasonable risks beyond
those permitted by United States law governing its use in agriculture or
silviculture in the United States; and
(II)does not pose adverse effects to humans or
the environment, including endemic species;
(iii)complaints of harm to health or licit crops
caused by such aerial eradication are thoroughly evaluated; and
(iv)fair compensation is being paid in a timely
manner for meritorious
claims.
.
(e)Section 482(g) of the Foreign Assistance
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2291a(g)) is amended by striking nonlethal excess
property from any agency of the United States Government
and inserting
excess property from any agency of the United States Government or from
a State or municipal government
.
(f)The Secretary of State may waive any of the
limitations under this section if the Secretary of State—
(1)determines that it is in the national
interest of the United States that such limitation not apply; and
(2)notifies the appropriate congressional
committees of such determination.
9.Sense of Congress regarding use of
contractorsIt is the sense of
Congress that, to the extent practicable—
(1)activities undertaken under this Act should
be performed by official employees, personnel, or officers of the Federal,
State, or local government of the recipient foreign country; and
(2)the United States should limit the number
of contractors in a recipient country.
10.Consolidation of reporting
requirementsSection 694 of
the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107–228;
22 U.S.C. 2291 note) is repealed.
11.Relationship to other
authorityThe authority to
provide assistance under this Act is in addition to any other authority to
provide assistance to any country in the Region.
12.Nothing in this Act may be construed to
alter, modify, or otherwise affect the provisions of the Arms Export Control
Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.) unless otherwise specified in this Act.