[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 158 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5593-S5595]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 6057. Mr. RISCH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe)
and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize
appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for military activities of the
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense
activities of the Department of Energy,
[[Page S5594]]
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
Subtitle G--Western Hemisphere Partnership
SEC. 1281. SHORT TITLE.
This subtitle may be cited as the ``Western Hemisphere
Partnership Act of 2022''.
SEC. 1282. UNITED STATES POLICY IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE.
It is the policy of the United States to promote security,
stability, economic prosperity, and democratic governance in
the Western Hemisphere by--
(1) enhancing the capacity and technical capabilities of
partner nation government institutions, including civilian
law enforcement, the judiciary, and security forces;
(2) encouraging private sector-led economic growth, respect
for property rights, the rule of law, and enforceable
investment rules; and
(3) advancing the principles and practices expressed in the
Charter of the Organization of American States, the American
Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, and the Inter-
American Democratic Charter.
SEC. 1283. PROMOTING SECURITY AND STABILITY IN THE WESTERN
HEMISPHERE.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the United States should strengthen security cooperation with
democratic nations in the Western Hemisphere to promote a
secure hemisphere and to address the negative impacts of
transnational criminal organizations and malign external
state actors.
(b) Collaborative Efforts.--The Secretary of State, in
coordination with the Secretary of Defense and the heads of
other relevant Federal agencies, may support the improvement
of security conditions in the Western Hemisphere through
collaborative efforts that--
(1) enhance the institutional capacity and technical
capabilities of defense and security institutions in
democratic partner nations to conduct national or regional
security missions, including through regular bilateral and
multilateral engagements, foreign military sales and
financing, international military education, and training
programs, and other means;
(2) provide technical assistance and material support
(including, as appropriate, radars, vessels, and
communications equipment) to relevant security forces to
disrupt, degrade, and dismantle organizations involved in
illicit narcotics trafficking, transnational criminal
activities, illicit mining, and illegal, unreported, and
unregulated fishing, and other illicit activities;
(3) enhance the institutional capacity and technical
capabilities of relevant civilian law enforcement and
judicial institutions to strengthen the rule of law, respect
of internationally-recognized human rights, and transparent
governance and to improve regional cooperation to disrupt,
degrade, and dismantle transnational organized criminal
networks, terrorist organizations, including training and
anticorruption programs and technical solutions and
resources;
(4) enhance port management and maritime security
partnerships and airport management and aviation security
partnerships to disrupt, degrade, and dismantle transnational
criminal networks and facilitate the legitimate flow of
people, goods, and services;
(5) strengthen cooperation to deter illegal migration
across the Western Hemisphere, dismantle human smuggling and
trafficking networks, and increase cooperation to
demonstrably strengthen migration management systems;
(6) counter the malign influence of state and non-state
actors and misinformation and disinformation campaigns;
(7) foster mechanisms for cooperation on emergency
preparedness and rapid recovery from natural disasters,
including by--
(A) establishing regional preparedness, recovery, and
emergency management centers to facilitate rapid response to
survey and help maintain planning on regional disaster
anticipated needs and possible resources; and
(B) training disaster recovery officials on latest
techniques and lessons learned from United States
experiences; and
(8) foster regional mechanisms for early warning and
response to pandemics in the Western Hemisphere, including
through--
(A) improved cooperation with and research by the United
States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through
regional pandemic response centers;
(B) personnel exchanges for technology transfer and skills
development; and
(C) surveying and mapping of health networks to build local
health capacity.
(c) Limitations on Use of Technologies.--Operational
technologies transferred pursuant to subsection (b) to
partner governments for intelligence, defense, or law
enforcement purposes should be used solely for the purposes
for which the technology was intended. The United States
shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the use of such
operational technologies is consistent with United States
law, including protections of freedom of expression, freedom
of movement, and freedom of association.
SEC. 1284. PROMOTING DIGITALIZATION AND CYBERSECURITY IN THE
WESTERN HEMISPHERE.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the United States should support digitalization and expand
cybersecurity cooperation in the Western Hemisphere to
promote economic prosperity and security of the region.
(b) Promotion of Digitalization and Cybersecurity.--The
Secretary of State, in coordination with the heads of other
relevant Federal agencies, may promote digitalization and
cybersecurity in the Western Hemisphere through collaborative
efforts that--
(1) promote connectivity and facilitation for e-commerce by
trusted companies through bilateral or multilateral
agreements or other relevant memoranda of understanding--
(A) to open market access on a national treatment,
nondiscriminatory basis;
(B) to establish understandings and agreements on
cybersecurity and appropriate ``rules of the road'' on other
cyber issues through cyber diplomacy; and
(C) to help partner countries make their cyber
infrastructure more resilient to attacks and easier to
restore after an attack;
(2) advance the provision of digitized government services
with the greatest likelihood of promoting transparency,
lowering business costs, and expanding citizens' access to
public services and public information; and
(3) develop robust cybersecurity partnerships--
(A) to share best practices to mitigate the risks to
digital infrastructure from--
(i) the inclusion of components and architectures from
untrusted providers in digital networks and communications
supply chains; and
(ii) the management of architectures by untrusted
providers, particularly providers with close ties to, or that
are susceptible to pressure from, governments or security
services without reliable legal checks on governmental
powers;
(B) to effectively respond to cybersecurity threats,
including state-sponsored threats; and
(C) to strengthen resilience against cyberattacks and
cybercrime.
(c) Notification Requirement.--Any agreement, instrument,
or memoranda of understanding, including any accompanying
annexes, apendices, and implementation plans, related to
efforts undertaken pursuant to subsection (b) should be
submitted to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate
and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives not later than 30 days after completion of
the agreement, instrument, or memoranda.
SEC. 1285. PROMOTING ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIPS IN
THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the United States should enhance economic and commercial ties
with partners in the region to promote a prosperous Western
Hemisphere by modernizing and deepening trade and investment
frameworks, encouraging market-based economic reforms, and
encouraging transparency and adherence to the rule of law in
investment dealings.
(b) In General.--The Secretary of State, in coordination
with the United States Trade Representative, the Chief
Executive Officer of the Development Finance Corporation, and
other relevant Federal agencies, may support the improvement
of economic conditions in the Western Hemisphere through
collaborative efforts that--
(1) facilitate a more open, transparent, and competitive
environment for United States businesses and promote robust
and comprehensive trade capacity-building and trade
facilitation by--
(A) reducing trade and nontariff barriers between the
countries in the region, establishing a mechanism for
pursuing Mutual Recognition Agreements and Formalized
Regulatory Cooperation Agreements in priority sectors of the
economy;
(B) establishing a forum for discussing and evaluating
technical and other assistance needs to help establish
streamlined ``single window'' processes to facilitate
movement of goods and common customs arrangements and
procedures to lower costs of goods in transit and speed to
destination;
(C) building relationships and exchanges between relevant
regulatory bodies in the United States and democratic
countries in the Western Hemisphere to promote best practices
and transparency in rulemaking, implementation, and
enforcement, and provide training and assistance to help
improve supply chain management in the Western Hemisphere;
(D) establishing regional fora for identifying, raising,
and addressing supply chain management issues, including
infrastructure needs and strengthening of investment rules
and regulatory frameworks; and
(E) establishing a dedicated program of trade missions and
reverse trade missions to increase commercial contacts and
ties between the United States and Western Hemisphere partner
countries;
(2) establish frameworks or mechanisms to review the long-
term financial sustainability and security implications of
foreign investments in strategic sectors or services;
(3) establish competitive and transparent infrastructure
project selection and procurement processes that promote
transparency, open competition, financial sustainability, and
robust adherence to global standards and norms; and
(4) advance robust and comprehensive energy production and
integration, including
[[Page S5595]]
through a more open, transparent, and competitive environment
for United States companies competing in the Western
Hemisphere, including by--
(A) facilitating further development of integrated regional
energy markets;
(B) improving management of grids, including technical
capability to ensure the trustworthiness of electricity
providers, carriers, and management and distribution systems;
(C) facilitating private sector-led development of reliable
power generation capacity;
(D) establishing a process for surveying grid capacity and
management focused on identifying electricity service
efficiencies and establishing cooperative mechanisms for
providing technical assistance for--
(i) grid management, power pricing, and tariff issues;
(ii) establishing and maintaining appropriate regulatory
best practices; and
(iii) proposals to establish regional power grids for the
purpose of promoting the sale of excess supply to consumers
across borders; and
(E) exploring opportunities to partner with the private
sector and multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank
and the Inter-American Development Bank, to promote universal
access to reliable and affordable electricity in the Western
Hemisphere.
SEC. 1286. PROMOTING TRANSPARENCY AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE
IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE.
(a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the United States should support efforts to strengthen the
capacity of democratic governance institutions and processes
in the Western Hemisphere to promote a more transparent,
democratic, and prosperous region.
(b) In General.--The Secretary of State, in coordination
with the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development and heads of other relevant Federal
agencies, should support strengthening of democratic
institutions and promoting transparence in the Western
Hemisphere through collaborative efforts that--
(1) strengthen the capacity of national electoral
institutions to ensure free, fair, and transparent electoral
processes, including through pre-election assessment
missions, technical assistance, and independent local and
international election monitoring and observation missions;
(2) enhance the capabilities of democratically elected
national legislatures, parliamentary bodies, and autonomous
regulatory institutions to conduct oversight;
(3) strengthen the capacity of subnational government
institutions to govern in a democratic and transparent
manner, including through training and technical assistance;
(4) facilitate substantive collaborative dialogue between
government, civil society, and the private sector to generate
issue-based policies; and
(5) combat corruption at local and national levels,
including through trainings, cooperation agreements, and
bilateral or multilateral anticorruption mechanisms that
strengthen attorneys general and prosecutors offices.
SEC. 1287. WESTERN HEMISPHERE DEFINED.
In this subtitle, the term ``Western Hemisphere'' does not
include Cuba, Nicaragua, or Venezuela, except for purposes of
section 1286.
______