[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 17, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1617-S1618]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 120--RECOGNIZING THE NINTH SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS AND 
 REAFFIRMING THE COMMITMENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO A MORE PROSPEROUS, 
               SECURE, AND DEMOCRATIC WESTERN HEMISPHERE

  Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Kaine, and Mr. 
Cassidy) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 120

       Whereas the United States has pursued multiple 
     collaborative initiatives to advance the region's enduring 
     and shared interest in a more secure, prosperous, and 
     democratic Western Hemisphere;

[[Page S1618]]

       Whereas the United States will host the Ninth Summit of the 
     Americas for the first time since it hosted the inaugural 
     Summit in Miami, Florida in 1994;
       Whereas, since 1994, the Summit of the Americas is a 
     valuable forum for democratically elected heads of state and 
     governments of the Western Hemisphere to discuss common 
     policy issues, affirm shared values, and commit to concerted 
     actions at the national and regional level to address the 
     novel and existing challenges facing the Americas;
       Whereas the First and Second Summits of the Americas 
     advanced commitments to lower trade barriers, improve 
     transparency and market access, and facilitate economic 
     integration, and, following those Summits, the United States 
     has signed free trade agreements with 12 of the 35 countries 
     in the region;
       Whereas, since 2018, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, 
     Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, 
     Jamaica, Panama, Suriname, and Uruguay have signed 
     Memorandums of Understanding with the United States under the 
     America Crece Program to leverage private investment in 
     energy and infrastructure projects and advance economic 
     prosperity, security, and good governance;
       Whereas, during the 2018 Summit of the Americas, the United 
     States announced additional humanitarian assistance for 
     Venezuelans who have fled their country as a result of the 
     political, economic, and security crises created by the 
     regime of Nicolas Maduro, including support for the United 
     Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) response to 
     assist Venezuelan refugees in Colombia and Brazil;
       Whereas Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and 
     their involvement in money laundering and the trafficking of 
     people, narcotics, and weapons in the region pose complex 
     transnational threats to United States public health and 
     national security, as well as the stability of the Americas, 
     by undermining citizen security, basic human rights, the rule 
     of law, good governance, and economic development;
       Whereas the United States has sought to improve regional 
     security through friendly and sustained relationships that 
     build interoperability, readiness, and capability with 
     regional security partners, including through programs such 
     as Plan Colombia, the Merida Initiative, the Central America 
     Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), and the Caribbean Basin 
     Initiative (CBI);
       Whereas the pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 
     (commonly referred to as ``COVID-19'') has had devastating 
     health and socioeconomic consequences for the states and 
     peoples of the Americas that have--
       (1) overwhelmed health systems;
       (2) led to the worsening of economic conditions and 
     contraction of gross domestic product per capita;
       (3) led to an increase in unemployment, especially for 
     individuals working in small- and medium-size businesses and 
     large informal sectors across the region, and a rise in the 
     number of people living in poverty; and
       (4) created conditions that have strengthened the illicit 
     activities of criminal organizations;
       Whereas the United States Government remains deeply 
     concerned about the negative, often predatory effects of 
     China's growing political, economic, military, and 
     technological influence throughout the region, including 
     significant illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing 
     activities in the Southern Atlantic Ocean and Eastern Pacific 
     Ocean and opaque infrastructure investments that impose 
     unsustainable financial burdens on recipient countries, 
     enable corruption, and undermine good governance;
       Whereas the United States Government is deeply concerned 
     about the Government of the Russian Federation's employment 
     of a wide array of diplomatic, military, intelligence, cyber, 
     misinformation, and commercial tools to undermine democratic 
     systems in the region, including through its deepening 
     political, economic, and security support for the Maduro 
     regime in Venezuela;
       Whereas the United States Government is deeply concerned 
     about efforts by the Government of Iran to expand its 
     political, economic, and security presence in the region, 
     including through its deepening ties with the Maduro regime 
     in Venezuela;
       Whereas the regimes of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, Miguel 
     Diaz-Canel in Cuba, and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, have 
     systematically eroded democratic institutions, commit 
     widespread human rights violations, draw lessons from one 
     another to sharpen state-sponsored repression and internal 
     control mechanisms, and receive the support of malign state 
     and non-state actors, which pose a challenge to United States 
     national security and national interests;
       Whereas entrenched corruption, linkages between 
     transnational criminal organizations and political actors, 
     and the harassment and murder of journalists, human rights 
     defenders, environmental activists, and civil society leaders 
     in Latin America and the Caribbean weaken citizens' 
     confidence in democracy and negatively affect United States 
     national interests; and
       Whereas weak rule of law, elevated levels of criminal 
     violence, and systemic corruption in El Salvador, Guatemala, 
     and Honduras fuel irregular migration that affects regional 
     stability: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commemorates the occasion of the United States hosting 
     the Ninth Summit of the Americas;
       (2) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to 
     promote economic prosperity, security, and democratic 
     governance throughout the Americas; and
       (3) calls on the President to lead a strong and coordinated 
     diplomatic effort during the Summit process to ensure the 
     Ninth Summit of the Americas--
       (A) strengthens democratic governance by building on the 
     2018 Lima Commitment to--
       (i) reduce bureaucracy;
       (ii) strengthen the independence of judiciaries;
       (iii) increase transparency through the use of new 
     technologies;
       (iv) encourage private sector participation in the 
     formulation of public anti-corruption policies;
       (v) protect whistleblowers, journalists, and law 
     enforcement officials;
       (vi) work towards preventing regional financial systems 
     from being used to transfer and conceal illicit funds; and
       (vii) identify resources to strengthen hemispheric 
     anticorruption mechanisms;
       (B) strengthens post-COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery 
     efforts by outlining specific commitments to deepen trade and 
     investment integration throughout the Americas and pursuing 
     effective nearshoring and reshoring initiatives;
       (C) builds upon United States efforts to enhance the 
     institutional capacity and technical capabilities of partner 
     countries to strengthen the rule of law, civilian security, 
     respect of human rights, and government transparency;
       (D) builds upon United States efforts to enhance regional 
     cooperation to disrupt, degrade, and dismantle malign state 
     and non-state influences, including transnational organized 
     criminal networks, and terrorist organizations;
       (E) reinforces the capacity of member states to--
       (i) implement actions and initiatives in support of 
     peaceful and democratic efforts of the people of Cuba, 
     Nicaragua, and Venezuela, who desire to hold free and fair 
     elections and restore democratic order and the rule of law in 
     their respective countries; and
       (ii) support the people of El Salvador, Guatemala, and 
     Honduras as they strive to address weak democratic governance 
     and the elevated levels of corruption, violence, and 
     criminality that drive irregular migration; and
       (F) explores a comprehensive approach to forced 
     displacement and migration challenges in the Western 
     Hemisphere, takes stock of humanitarian crises and 
     flashpoints in the region, and mobilizes member state 
     commitments to advocate for and support multilateral 
     humanitarian and development responses.

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