[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 25, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5375-S5376]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 3541. Ms. MURKOWSKI (for Mr. Flake) proposed an amendment to the
bill S. 2779, to amend the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act
of 2001; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
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
[[Page S5376]]
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.''.
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.
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