A resolution recognizing the Ninth Summit of the Americas and reaffirming the commitment of the United States to a more prosperous, secure, and democratic Western Hemisphere.

III 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 120 Recognizing the Ninth Summit of the Americas and reaffirming the commit- ment of the United States to a more prosperous, secure, and democratic Western Hemisphere. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 17 (legislative day, MARCH 16), 2021 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 MARCH 24, 2021 Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, without amendment and with an amendment to the preamble MAY 12, 2021 Considered and agreed to with an amended preamble RESOLUTION Recognizing the Ninth Summit of the Americas and reaffirm- ing the commitment of the United States to a more prosperous, secure, and democratic Western Hemisphere. 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; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR120.ATS SR120 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 SRES 120 ATS 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 valu- able forum for democratically elected heads of state and governments of the Western Hemisphere to discuss com- mon policy issues, affirm shared values, and commit to concerted actions at the national and regional level to ad- dress the novel and existing challenges facing the Amer- icas; Whereas the First and Second Summits of the Americas ad- vanced 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, Co- lombia, the Dominican Republic, 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 pros- perity, security, and good governance; Whereas, during the 2018 Summit of the Americas, the United States announced additional humanitarian assist- ance for Venezuelans who have fled their country as a re- sult of the political, economic, and security crises created by the regime of Nicola´s Maduro, including support for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) response to assist Venezuelan refugees in Co- lombia and Brazil; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR120.ATS SR120 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 SRES 120 ATS Whereas Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and their involvement in money laundering and the trafficking of people, narcotics, and weapons in the region pose com- plex 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 se- curity through friendly and sustained relationships that build interoperability, readiness, and capability with re- gional 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 dev- astating 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 busi- nesses 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 il- licit activities of criminal organizations; Whereas the United States Government remains deeply con- cerned about the negative, often predatory effects of Chi- na’s growing political, economic, military, and techno- logical influence throughout the region, including signifi- VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR120.ATS SR120 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 SRES 120 ATS cant 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 em- ployment of a wide array of diplomatic, military, intel- ligence, 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 po- litical, economic, and security presence in the region, in- cluding through its deepening ties with the Maduro re- gime in Venezuela; Whereas the regimes of Nicola´s Maduro in Venezuela, Miguel Dı´az-Canel in Cuba, and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, have systematically eroded democratic institutions, com- mit 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 chal- lenge to United States national security and national in- terests; Whereas entrenched corruption, linkages between transna- tional criminal organizations and political actors, and the harassment and murder of journalists, human rights de- fenders, environmental activists, and civil society leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean weaken citizens’ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR120.ATS SR120 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 SRES 120 ATS 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 (1) commemorates the occasion of the United 2 States hosting the Ninth Summit of the Americas; 3 (2) reaffirms the commitment of the United 4 States to promote economic prosperity, security, and 5 democratic governance throughout the Americas; 6 and 7 (3) calls on the President to lead a strong and 8 coordinated diplomatic effort during the Summit 9 process to ensure the Ninth Summit of the Amer- 10 icas— 11 (A) strengthens democratic governance by 12 building on the 2018 Lima Commitment to— 13 (i) reduce bureaucracy; 14 (ii) strengthen the independence of ju- 15 diciaries; 16 (iii) increase transparency through the 17 use of new technologies; 18 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR120.ATS SR120 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 SRES 120 ATS (iv) encourage private sector partici- 1 pation in the formulation of public anti- 2 corruption policies; 3 (v) protect whistleblowers, journalists, 4 and law enforcement officials; 5 (vi) work towards preventing regional 6 financial systems from being used to trans- 7 fer and conceal illicit funds; and 8 (vii) identify resources to strengthen 9 hemispheric anticorruption mechanisms; 10 (B) strengthens post-COVID–19 pandemic 11 economic recovery efforts by outlining specific 12 commitments to deepen trade and investment 13 integration throughout the Americas and pur- 14 suing effective nearshoring and reshoring initia- 15 tives; 16 (C) builds upon United States efforts to 17 enhance the institutional capacity and technical 18 capabilities of partner countries to strengthen 19 the rule of law, civilian security, respect of 20 human rights, and government transparency; 21 (D) builds upon United States efforts to 22 enhance regional cooperation to disrupt, de- 23 grade, and dismantle malign state and non- 24 state influences, including transnational orga- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR120.ATS SR120 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 SRES 120 ATS nized criminal networks, and terrorist organiza- 1 tions; 2 (E) reinforces the capacity of member 3 states to— 4 (i) implement actions and initiatives 5 in support of peaceful and democratic ef- 6 forts of the people of Cuba, Nicaragua, 7 and Venezuela, who desire to hold free and 8 fair elections and restore democratic order 9 and the rule of law in their respective 10 countries; and 11 (ii) support the people of El Salvador, 12 Guatemala, and Honduras as they strive to 13 address weak democratic governance and 14 the elevated levels of corruption, violence, 15 and criminality that drive irregular migra- 16 tion; and 17 (F) explores a comprehensive approach to 18 forced displacement and migration challenges in 19 the Western Hemisphere, takes stock of human- 20 itarian crises and flashpoints in the region, and 21 mobilizes member state commitments to advo- 22 cate for and support multilateral humanitarian 23 and development responses. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR120.ATS SR120 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS