[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 629 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 629
Celebrating the 200th anniversary of United States diplomatic relations
with Colombia.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 11 (legislative day, May 10), 2022
Mr. Rubio (for himself, Mr. Coons, Mr. Risch, Mr. Scott of Florida, and
Mr. Cruz) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Celebrating the 200th anniversary of United States diplomatic relations
with Colombia.
Whereas, on August 7, 1819, Colombia (formerly known as ``The Great Colombia'')
concluded its campaign for independence from Spain with the Battle of
Boyaca;
Whereas, on March 18, 1822, the United States House of Representatives approved
two resolutions that recognized the independence of Colombia and
appropriated funds for the establishment of a diplomatic mission in
Colombia;
Whereas, on June 19, 1822, the United States and Colombia formally established
diplomatic relations, and the accreditation of Colombia's Manuel Torres
made Torres the first charge d'affaires from a Latin American country to
the United States;
Whereas, on December 16, 1823, the United States appointed its first charge
d'affaires to Colombia, Richard Clough Anderson, Jr.;
Whereas, on October 3, 1824, the United States and Colombia signed the first
commercial agreement between the two countries, the Anderson-Gual
Treaty, which entered into force in May 1825;
Whereas, in 1943, during World War II, Colombia declared war on the Axis
Powers, fighting in cooperation with the United States and the Allies;
Whereas, in 1945, Colombia was one of 51 nations that participated in the San
Francisco Conference and ratified the Charter of the United Nations;
Whereas, in 1947, during the Ninth International Conference of American States
in Bogota, Colombia, 21 countries, including the United States and
Colombia, adopted the Charter of the Organization of American States,
the American Treaty on Pacific Settlement, and the American Declaration
on the Rights and Duties of Man;
Whereas, from 1950 to 1954, Colombia was the only country in Latin America that
sent armed forces to South Korea to join the United Nations' effort to
defend South Korea against North Korea;
Whereas the United States enacted the Andean Trade Preference Act (19 U.S.C.
3201 et seq.) on December 4, 1991, and the Andean Trade Promotion and
Drug Eradication Act (title XXXI of division C of Public Law 107-210;
116 Stat. 1023) on August 6, 2002, granting duty-free access to a wide
range of exports from Colombia and other Andean countries, with the
objective of promoting commercial relations and combating illicit
narcotics production and trafficking;
Whereas, in 2000, the United States and Colombia launched Plan Colombia, a
transformational security and economic development initiative to reduce
crime, narcotics trafficking, and violence and strengthen State capacity
in Colombia;
Whereas, in April 2012, the United States and Colombia launched the United
States-Colombia Action Plan on Regional Security Cooperation, using the
lessons learned from Plan Colombia to counter the proliferation of
transnational criminal organizations throughout the Western Hemisphere;
Whereas, on May 15, 2012, the United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement
entered into force, which expanded commercial ties, economic growth, and
employment opportunities in both the United States and Colombia;
Whereas the United States is Colombia's leading trade partner;
Whereas, on June 25, 2013, Colombia signed an agreement with the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) on security cooperation and information
sharing and in May 2018, became the first and only global partner
country of NATO in Latin America;
Whereas, since 2012, the United States and Colombia have cooperated to bring
peace and end a half century of armed conflict in Colombia, the longest
armed conflict in the Western Hemisphere;
Whereas, since 2018, Colombia and the United States have led the Orion
international naval campaign to combat maritime narcotics trafficking,
and the jointly led campaign has strengthened the narcotics interdiction
capabilities of 38 countries and 88 institutions, including in northern
Central America;
Whereas, on April 28, 2020, Colombia became the 37th member and third country
in Latin America to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD);
Whereas Colombia is one of the most consistent and reliable allies of the
United States because of Colombia's support for shared diplomatic and
security objectives;
Whereas Colombians and Colombian Americans residing in the United States have
greatly contributed to enriching the society, culture, economy of, and
science developed by, the United States and have helped further
strengthen the ties between the United States and Colombia;
Whereas, on February 8, 2021, Colombia granted temporary protected status to
more than 1,800,000 Venezuelans for 10 years, a measure that was
welcomed by the United States and the international community and will
ensure Venezuelan migrants and refugees in Colombia have access to
health care, education, housing, and formal employment opportunities;
Whereas, following that announcement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken
commended Colombia's humanitarian leadership and innovative response to
the worst refugee crisis in Latin America; and
Whereas, on March 10, 2022, the United States announced it would designate
Colombia as a major non-NATO ally: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) celebrates the 200th anniversary of diplomatic
relations between the United States and Colombia;
(2) recognizes the critical role that Colombia plays in
promoting stability and prosperity in the Western Hemisphere;
(3) recognizes the vital strategic alliance between the
United States and Colombia, built on a shared commitment to
democracy;
(4) celebrates the contributions made by Colombians and
Colombian Americans to the United States;
(5) reaffirms the steadfast support of the people of the
United States for the people of Colombia in their pursuit of
peace, stability, and prosperity; and
(6) encourages strengthening cooperation with Colombia in
areas such as technology, education, energy transition, and
nearshoring, as well as in joint efforts toward the protection
of democracy in the Western Hemisphere.
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