[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3131 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3131

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a Maya Security 
 and Conservation Partnership program, to authorize appropriations for 
                 that program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 19, 2019

   Mr. Inhofe (for himself, Mr. Udall, and Mr. Risch) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a Maya Security 
 and Conservation Partnership program, to authorize appropriations for 
                 that program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Mirador-Calakmul Basin Maya Security 
and Conservation Partnership Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the Mirador-Calakmul Basin (referred to in this Act as 
        the ``Basin'') is recognized scientifically as, and has been 
        termed, ``the Cradle of Maya Civilization'', with over 100 
        ancient Maya cities dating back almost 3,000 years, and 
        includes the world's largest pyramids in volume, the tallest 
        pyramids in the Americas, the first paved ancient highway 
        systems, the earliest and largest ancient Maya cities, and the 
        home of the ancient Ka'an (Kan) Kingdom, which is recognized as 
        one of the first organized political and economic states in the 
        Americas;
            (2) the Basin covers approximately 1,600,000 acres of 
        pristine tropical forest within a geographically contained 
        ecological system;
            (3) the forest referred to in paragraph (2) is a crucial 
        economic resource for the people of Central America and Mexico 
        living in villages surrounding the Basin;
            (4) the Basin is a reservoir of genetic diversity that can 
        spark potential advances in medical, agricultural, and 
        industrial technology; and
            (5) the Basin is centrally located within the larger Selva 
        Maya, a large block of adjacent protected areas within 
        Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize, within which increased 
        crossboundary trafficking of timber, gold, wildlife, and other 
        resources is taking place with little central government 
        control or law enforcement.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It is the policy of the United States--
            (1) that the United States encourages the governments of 
        Mexico and Guatemala--
                    (A) to prioritize the Basin; and
                    (B) to establish a formal joint program for the 
                security and conservation of the biodiversity and 
                archeological ruins of the Basin, comprising ``the 
                Cradle of Maya Civilization'', which would be the first 
                ever binational security and conservation program of 
                its size and scale in Latin America;
            (2) to fund field-based tropical and archeological 
        research, law enforcement, and sustainable tourism activities 
        within the Basin and surrounding communities to support and 
        strengthen protected areas while enlisting local communities in 
        those activities; and
            (3) that the implementation of and funding for the policy 
        described in paragraph (2) should emphasize that--
                    (A) United States investment under this Act shall 
                be in addition to existing United States efforts;
                    (B) the governments of Guatemala and Mexico, 
                multilateral organizations such as the Central American 
                Bank for Economic Integration, local communities, and 
                private sector organizations should have a leading role 
                in fostering the partnership to preserve and protect 
                the Basin; and
                    (C) United States funding should leverage 
                investments by the governments of Guatemala and Mexico 
                and regional research organizations.

SEC. 4. PRIORITY FOR INVESTMENTS IN THE BASIN.

    The Secretary of the Interior shall prioritize continued tropical 
forest and archeological scientific research, law enforcement, and 
sustainable tourism in the scientifically recognized Basin in northern 
Guatemala and southern Mexico by establishing a collaborative heritage 
conservation program and sustainable tourism model in collaboration 
with--
            (1) the governments of Guatemala and Mexico; and
            (2) the ongoing scientific research team of United States 
        and international universities and institutions performing 
        tropical and archaeological work in the Basin.

SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 
Office of International Affairs of the Department of the Interior 
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary''), as a contribution 
to the scientific investigation, heritage conservation, law 
enforcement, and sustainable tourism of the scientifically recognized 
Basin in Guatemala and Mexico, shall--
            (1) establish a Maya Security and Conservation Partnership 
        program; and
            (2) carry out a program to enter into cooperative 
        agreements or provide grants, as appropriate, to support the 
        Maya Security and Conservation Partnership program.
    (b) Cooperative Agreements and Grants.--A cooperative agreement or 
grant under subsection (a)(2) shall, in part, support demonstrably 
effective, ongoing, and collaborative research efforts involving a 
consortium of United States and local universities and research 
institutions working in the Basin.
    (c) Goal.--The goal of the program established under subsection 
(a)(1) shall be to create a sustainable tourism model designed to 
provide low impact, controlled access to the archaeological sites of 
the Basin with an emphasis on providing safe and secure economic 
opportunity for the local communities in and around the Basin.
    (d) Limitation on Use of Funds.--Of the funds made available to 
carry out this section for a fiscal year, 50 percent may not be used 
until, as determined by the Secretary of State, in consultation with 
the Secretary, the governments of Guatemala and Mexico have provided 
significant direct investment to effectively counter illegal activities 
within the region that encompasses the Basin, including illegal logging 
and looting of archeological sites along the Guatemala-Mexico border 
and within the Basin.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $12,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2021 through 2026, to remain available until 
expended.
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