[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 140 (Thursday, October 9, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S10810]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       SENATE RESOLUTION 134--RELATIVE TO THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

  Mr. GRAHAM (for himself and Mr. Lugar) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 134

       Whereas the worldwide democratic revolution has spread 
     throughout the Western Hemisphere to include democratically 
     elected governments in all countries but Cuba;
       Whereas market economic principles have been adopted by 
     most countries in the Western Hemisphere, resulting in 
     remarkable economic growth and substantial increases in 
     international trade and investment;
       Whereas the end of the Cold War has opened up opportunities 
     to address country-specific, regional, and Hemisphere-wide 
     concerns relating to economic development, political reform, 
     security problems, and other social and environmental 
     issues in the Americas;
       Whereas there are numerous foreign policy and security 
     concerns in the Americas, including the defense of democracy 
     and free markets, illicit narcotics trafficking, terrorism, 
     organized criminal activities, immigration flows, arms 
     control and nonproliferation, environment degradation, and 
     other regional and Hemisphere-wide issues that can best be 
     addressed by collaborative, multilateral means;
       Whereas the President of the United States announced on 
     August 1, 1997, a revision of the unilateral policy 
     prohibiting the sale or transfer of advanced weapons systems 
     to countries of South America, Central America, and the 
     Caribbean, and the restoration of United States military 
     sales policy based on a case-by-case basis comparable to 
     other regions of the world;
       Whereas the defense ministers of the Hemisphere meet on a 
     regular basis, as evidenced by the Defense Ministerial of the 
     Americas held in 1995 and 1996, to address problems of mutual 
     security and to deepen the security dialogue in the Western 
     Hemisphere; and
       Whereas it is in the national security interest of the 
     United States to promote security and stability with our 
     Hemispheric neighbors by engaging with them as equal partners 
     to address security-related matters of mutual concern: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) the United States should give high priority to working 
     with United States partners in the Americas to address shared 
     foreign policy and security problems in the Western 
     Hemisphere;
       (2) the United States should encourage efforts to increase 
     the transparency of defense planning, military acquisitions, 
     military exercises, and military deployments as well as other 
     mutual-confidence and security-building measures in the 
     Hemisphere in order to strengthen the environment of trust, 
     confidence, and mutual restraint;
       (3) the United States should immediately begin discussions 
     with United States partners in the Hemisphere on steps that 
     could lead to a voluntary multilateral restraint regime on 
     the acquisition of advanced weapons systems in the 
     Hemisphere;
       (4) the United States, in consultation with other countries 
     in the Americas, should explore areas for enhancing 
     cooperation and collaboration, including the strengthening of 
     existing inter-American organizations and arrangements, in 
     order to address shared problems relating to subregional and 
     Hemisphere-wide foreign policy and security-related issues;
       (5) the United States should--
       (A) encourage countries in the Hemisphere to implement the 
     Santiago Declaration on Confidence and Security-Building 
     Measures (CSBM) resolution adopted by the Organization of 
     American States (OAS) on November 10, 1995; and
       (B) take steps to bring about the implementation of the 
     resolution on Conventional Arms Transparency and Confidence 
     Building in the Americas relating to conventional arms 
     acquisitions adopted by the OAS on June 5, 1997;
       (6) the United States should increase the number of 
     civilian and military personnel in foreign policy and 
     defense-related training, education, and exchange programs 
     from and to eligible countries in the Western Hemisphere and 
     encourage similar programs between countries in the region;
       (7) the United States should conduct an in-depth study of 
     the roles, requirements, missions, and priorities of the 
     United States Armed Forces in the Western Hemisphere in the 
     post-Cold War environment, including recommendations for 
     additional steps that should be taken to improve Hemispheric 
     security and areas of possible cooperation with the armed 
     forces of other countries in the region;
       (8) the study should be completed within 12 months of the 
     date of adoption of this resolution, and the appropriate 
     committees of Congress should be notified of the findings of 
     the study upon its completion; and
       (9) the President should submit a report to Congress every 
     90 days on progress towards achieving the policy goals stated 
     in this resolution.

  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, today I am submitting a resolution, 
together with my friend and colleague Senator Lugar, which expresses 
the sense of the Senate that the United States should give high 
priority to working with our partners in the Americas to address shared 
foreign policy and security problems in the Western Hemisphere.
  Over the past several years we have witnessed unprecedented progress 
in our hemisphere. This sweeping wave of democratization and free 
market economics now provides us with a unique opportunity to 
consolidate these gains and to create a new security regime in the 
Americas. This new regime must be based upon the premise that we will 
work with our neighbors as equal partners to address security-related 
matters of mutual concern.
  On August 1, 1997, the President revised the unilateral policy 
prohibiting the sale or transfer of advanced weapons systems to 
countries of South America, Central America, and the Caribbean, and 
restored the policy based on a case-by-case analysis comparable to that 
used in other regions of the world. This alone is not a security 
policy. It is an action that must be wrapped in a broader security 
policy for the region. This resolution urges the President to work 
towards such a broader policy and provides some direction for that 
policy.
  We must recognize the great progress that the democratically elected 
civilian governments of the region have made. For this they deserve to 
be treated as we treat our other democratic friends and allies. At the 
same time, we must work with them to find ways to enhance security 
through defense cooperation, transparency, and confidence and security 
building measures. We urge the President to emphasize these themes in 
his meetings with our hemisphere partners.
   Mr. President, I urge all of our colleagues to join Senator Lugar 
and myself in supporting this resolution. It will provide the President 
with the support of the Congress as he pursues these objectives, and 
demonstrate to our partners that we remain committed to building a 
secure environment so that all nations of the hemisphere can prosper in 
peace.

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