[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 11, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2451-S2452]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 629--CELEBRATING THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF UNITED 
               STATES DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH COLOMBIA

  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:

                              S. Res. 629

       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

[[Page S2452]]

     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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