H. Res. 135

In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

March 14, 2005.

Resolved,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘House Democracy

Assistance Commission Resolution’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The House of Representatives makes the following findings:

(1) Since its founding, the United States has championed the expansion of democracy around the world.

(2) Indeed, beginning with the Continental Congress and continuing through the modern Congress, representative institutions have served as a critical component through which the American people have expressed

their views on policy issues and through which the power

of other government branches has been balanced.

(3) In his second inaugural address on January 20,

2005, President George W. Bush declared: ‘‘We are led

by events and common sense to one conclusion: The sur-
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vival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the

success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace

in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.

. . . So it is the policy of the United States to seek and

support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate

goal of ending tyranny in our world.’’.

(4) Strong institutions, particularly national legislatures with proper infrastructure, are essential for democracies to mature and to withstand cyclical turnover in

governments.

(5) Furthermore, the parliaments of emerging democracies are commonly comprised of new legislators,

citizens from many walks of life, who face the challenges

of creating new democratic systems without the benefit

of previous legislative experience. The legislatures of

these fledgling democracies often lack training, equipment, or resources to carry out their work effectively.

(6) Many parliaments do not possess the necessary

technology, such as modern computer equipment, software, or access to databases and electronic resources, to

facilitate the timely flow of legislative information to

lawmakers and legislative staff.

(7) Parliaments in fledgling democracies also frequently lack trained staff to provide nonpartisan policy
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information, to draft legislation, and to advise legislators

on policy matters.

(8) Newly democratic parliaments may lack the resources to establish internal libraries, reference materials, and archiving capabilities for use by legislators and

staff.

(9) From 1990 through 1996, the United States

House of Representatives, in conjunction with the House

Information Systems Office (later known as House Information Resources) and the Congressional Research

Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress, provided

equipment and technical assistance to newly democratic

parliaments in Central and Eastern European countries,

including Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine, in an effort to develop and

strengthen those institutions.

(10) This program, commonly known as the ‘‘FrostSolomon Task Force’’, not only served the United States

foreign policy goal of helping to establish democratic institutions in other countries, but also developed significant goodwill in the countries in which it was implemented. The program was designed to improve the efficiency of parliaments and the professionalism of their
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members and staff, as well as to increase transparency

and accountability.

(11) A program similar to the Frost-Solomon Task

Force would enable Members, officers, and staff of the

House of Representatives to share their expertise and

experience with their counterparts in other countries, in

keeping with the declared policy of the United States to

support the growth of democratic institutions, thereby

undertaking what President Bush called ‘‘the idealistic

work of helping raise up free governments’’.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

There is established in the House of Representatives a

commission to be known as the House Democracy Assistance

Commission (hereafter in this resolution referred to as the

‘‘Commission’’).

SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP OF COMMISSION.

(a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission

shall be composed of Members of the House of Representatives, the number of whom shall be determined by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in consultation with the

Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. Majority

party members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the

House of Representatives and minority party members shall

be appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.
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(b) TERMS OF MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—Each member of the Commission shall be

appointed for a term that is concurrent with the Congress in

which the appointment is made. Such a member may be reappointed for one or more subsequent terms in accordance

with the preceding sentence.

(c) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the Commission

shall be designated by the Speaker of the House of Representatives from among the members appointed by the

Speaker of the House of Representatives under subsection

(a).

SEC. 5. DUTIES OF COMMISSION.

(a) ACTIVITIES.—The Commission shall work with the

parliaments of selected countries, as determined pursuant to

subsection (b)(4), on a frequent and regular basis in order

to—

(1) enable Members, officers, and staff of the

House of Representatives and congressional support

agencies to provide expert advice to members and staff

of the parliaments of selected countries;

(2) enable members and staff of parliaments of selected countries to visit the House of Representatives

and its support agencies to learn about their operations

first-hand; and
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(3) provide recommendations to the Administrator

of the United States Agency for International Development regarding the provision of material assistance, such

as modern automation and office systems, information

technology, and library supplies, that the Commission

determines is needed by the parliament of a selected

country in order to improve the efficiency and transparency of its work, and to oversee the provision of such

assistance.

(b) STUDY.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to carry out the activities described in subsection (a), the Commission shall

conduct on an annual basis (or more frequently if necessary) a study on the feasibility of programs of assistance for parliaments of countries described in paragraph

(2) for the purpose of strengthening the parliamentary

infrastructure of such countries. The Commission shall

designate those countries described in paragraph (2)

with respect to which a study will be conducted under

this subsection. The study shall assess—

(A) the independent and substantive role that

each parliament plays, or could reasonably be expected to play, in the legislative process and government oversight;
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(B) the potential benefit to each parliament of

expert advice from Members and staff of the House

of Representatives in areas such as the development

of research services and legislative information systems, parliamentary procedure, committee operations, budget process, government oversight, and

constituent services; and

(C) the need in each parliament for material

assistance, such as modern automation and office

systems, information technology, and research materials, in order to improve efficiency and transparency.

(2) COUNTRIES DESCRIBED.—The countries referred to in paragraph (1) are countries that have established or are developing democratic parliaments which

would benefit from assistance described in this resolution.

(3) SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—It is the sense of the House of Representatives

that the countries described in paragraph (2) with respect to which studies will be conducted under this subsection should reflect a geographic diversity and over

time should include countries from each of the following

regions: Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, the Middle

East and Central Asia, and the Western Hemisphere.
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(4) SELECTED COUNTRIES.—From the countries

studied, the Commission shall select one or more parliaments that it recommends should receive assistance

under the provisions of this resolution, based on the criteria in paragraph (1). Assistance may be provided

under the provisions of this resolution to a parliament

selected under this paragraph only if the parliament first

expresses to the Speaker of the House of Representatives an interest to receive such assistance.

(c) REPORT.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than September 30,

2005, and each September 30 thereafter until September

30, 2009, the Commission shall prepare and submit to

the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Committee on International Relations and other appropriate

House committees, the Office of Interparliamentary Affairs of the House of Representatives, and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, an annual report on the following:

(A) RESULTS OF STUDY.—The results of the

study conducted pursuant to subsection (b).

(B) COMMISSION ACTIVITIES.—In accordance

with the results of such study, a review of the activities of the Commission in the previous year and
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a proposal for the activities of the Commission in

the following year, as described in subsection (a).

(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term

‘‘other appropriate House committees’’ means the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on House Administration, and the Committee on Rules of the House

of Representatives.

SEC. 6. ROLE OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall carry out the

duties described in section 5 using the staff and resources of

the Committee on International Relations, including the use

of consultants, such as individuals with expertise in development of democratic parliaments, legislative systems management, legislative research, parliamentary procedure, related

legislative matters, and technology systems management, as

appropriate.

(b) PARTICIPATION OF LEGISLATIVE BRANCH EMPLOYEES.—At the request of the Commission, the head of any

House office or congressional support agency may assist the

work of the Commission by—

(1) detailing personnel of that office to the staff of

the Committee on International Relations; or

(2) authorizing personnel of that office to participate in activities of the Commission.
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SEC. 7. TERMINATION.

The Commission shall terminate on September 30, 2009.

Attest:

Clerk.