[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 25, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H7670-H7671]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     ZIMBABWE DEMOCRACY AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY AMENDMENT ACT OF 2018

  Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take 
from the Speaker's table the bill (S. 2779) to amend the Zimbabwe 
Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, and ask for its immediate 
consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from California?
  There was no objection.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                S. 2779

       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 ``Zimbabwe Democracy and 
     Economic Recovery Amendment Act of 2018''.

     SEC. 2. RECONSTRUCTION AND REBUILDING OF ZIMBABWE.

       Section 2 of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery 
     Act of 2001 (22 U.S.C. 2151 note; Public Law 107-99) is 
     amended by striking ``and restore the rule of law'' and 
     inserting ``restore the rule of law, reconstruct and rebuild 
     Zimbabwe, and come to terms with the past through a process 
     of genuine reconciliation that acknowledges past human rights 
     abuses and orders inquiries into disappearances, including 
     the disappearance of human rights activists, such as Patrick 
     Nabanyama, Itai Dzamara, and Paul Chizuze''.

     SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

       Section 4(a) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic 
     Recovery Act of 2001 is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``costly deployment of 
     troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo'' and 
     inserting ``private appropriation of public assets''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(6) In October 2016, the Government of Zimbabwe cleared a 
     small hurdle in its longstanding public sector arrears with 
     the IMF.''.

[[Page H7671]]

  


     SEC. 4. PROVISIONS RELATED TO MULTILATERAL DEBT RELIEF AND 
                   OTHER FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

       Section 4(b)(2) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic 
     Recovery Act of 2001 is amended--
       (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``to propose that the 
     bank should undertake a review of the feasibility of 
     restructuring, rescheduling, or eliminating the sovereign 
     debt of Zimbabwe held by that bank'' and inserting ``to 
     support efforts to reevaluate plans to restructure, rebuild, 
     reschedule, or eliminate Zimbabwe's sovereign debt held by 
     that bank and provide an analysis based on reasonable 
     financial options to achieve those goals''; and
       (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``dollar'' and 
     inserting ``currency''.

     SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE UNITED STATES-ZIMBABWE 
                   BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP.

       It is the sense of Congress that the United States should 
     seek to forge a stronger bilateral relationship with 
     Zimbabwe, including in the areas of trade and investment, if 
     the following conditions are satisfied:
       (1) The Government of Zimbabwe takes the concrete, tangible 
     steps outlined in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 4(d) 
     of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, 
     as amended by section 6 of this Act.
       (2) The Government of Zimbabwe takes concrete, tangible 
     steps towards--
       (A) good governance, including respect for the opposition, 
     rule of law, and human rights;
       (B) economic reforms that promote growth, address 
     unemployment and underdevelopment, restore livelihoods, 
     ensure respect for contracts and private property rights, and 
     promote significant progress toward monetary policy reforms, 
     particularly with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, and currency 
     exchange reforms; and
       (C) identification and recovery of stolen private and 
     public assets within Zimbabwe and in other countries.
       (3) The Government of Zimbabwe holds an election that is 
     widely accepted as free and fair, based on the following pre- 
     and post-election criteria or conditions:
       (A) Establishment and public release, without cost, of a 
     provisional and a final voter registration roll.
       (B) The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is permitted to 
     entirely carry out the functions assigned to it under section 
     239 of Zimbabwe's 2013 Constitution in an independent manner, 
     and the chairperson meets and consults regularly with 
     representatives of political parties represented in the 
     parliament of Zimbabwe and the parties contesting the 
     elections.
       (C) Consistent with Zimbabwe's 2013 Constitution, the 
     Defence Forces of Zimbabwe--
       (i) are neither permitted to actively participate in 
     campaigning for any candidate nor to intimidate voters;
       (ii) are required to verifiably and credibly uphold their 
     constitutionally-mandated duty to respect the fundamental 
     rights and freedoms of all persons and to be nonpartisan in 
     character; and
       (iii) are not permitted to print, transfer, or control 
     ballots or transmit the results of elections.
       (D) International observers, including observers from the 
     United States, the African Union, the Southern African 
     Development Community, and the European Union--
       (i) are permitted to observe the entire electoral process 
     prior to, on, and following voting day, including by 
     monitoring polling stations and tabulation centers; and
       (ii) are able to independently access and analyze vote 
     tallying tabulation and the transmission and content of 
     voting results.
       (E) Candidates are allowed access to public broadcasting 
     media during the election period, consistent with Zimbabwe's 
     Electoral Act and are able to campaign in an environment that 
     is free from intimidation and violence.
       (F) Civil society organizations are able to freely and 
     independently carry out voter and civic education and monitor 
     the entire electoral process, including by observing, 
     recording, and transmitting publicly-posted or announced 
     voting results at the ward, constituency, and all higher 
     levels of the vote tallying process.
       (4) Laws enacted prior to the passage of Zimbabwe's March 
     2013 Constitution that are inconsistent with the new 
     Constitution are amended, repealed, or subjected to a formal 
     process for review and correction so that such laws are 
     consistent with the new Constitution.
       (5) The Government of Zimbabwe--
       (A) has made significant progress on the implementation of 
     all elements of the new Constitution; and
       (B) has demonstrated its commitment to sustain such efforts 
     in achieving full implementation of the new Constitution.
       (6) Traditional leaders of Zimbabwe observe section 281 of 
     the 2013 Constitution and are not using humanitarian 
     assistance provided by outside donor organizations or 
     countries in a politicized manner to intimidate or pressure 
     voters during the campaign period.

     SEC. 6. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.

       Section 4(d) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic 
     Recovery Act of 2001 is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``consistent with'' and 
     all that follows through ``September 1998'';
       (2) by striking paragraph (4); and
       (3) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (4).

     SEC. 7. REMOVAL OF AUTHORITY TO PAY LAND ACQUISITION COSTS.

       Section 5(a) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic 
     Recovery Act of 2001 is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``, including the payment 
     of costs'' and all that follows through ``thereto; and'' and 
     inserting a semicolon;
       (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and 
     inserting ``; and''; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(4) identify and recover stolen public assets.''.

     SEC. 8. INCLUSION OF AUSTRALIA, THE UNITED KINGDOM, THE 
                   AFRICAN UNION, AND THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN 
                   DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY IN CONSULTATIONS ABOUT 
                   ZIMBABWE.

       Section 6 of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery 
     Act of 2001 is amended by inserting ``Australia, the United 
     Kingdom, the African Union, the Southern African Development 
     Community,'' after ``Canada,''.

     SEC. 9. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ENFORCEMENT OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN 
                   DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY TRIBUNAL RULINGS.

       It is the sense of Congress that the Government of Zimbabwe 
     and the Southern African Development Community (referred to 
     in this section as ``SADC'') should enforce the SADC tribunal 
     rulings issued between 2007 to 2010, including 18 disputes 
     involving employment, commercial, and human rights cases 
     surrounding dispossessed Zimbabwean commercial farmers and 
     agricultural companies.

  The bill was ordered to be read a third time, was read the third 
time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________