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93–776PDF 2004

PROVIDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A

COMMISSION IN THE HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES TO ASSIST PARLIAMENTS

IN EMERGING DEMOCRACIES

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON EUROPE

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON 

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

ON

H. Res. 642

MAY 19, 2004

Serial No. 108–92

Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international—relations 

(II)

COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 

HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois, Chairman 

JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa 

DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, 

Vice Chairman 

DAN BURTON, Indiana 

ELTON GALLEGLY, California 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California 

PETER T. KING, New York 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

AMO HOUGHTON, New York 

JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York 

ROY BLUNT, Missouri 

THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado 

RON PAUL, Texas 

NICK SMITH, Michigan 

JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania 

JEFF FLAKE, Arizona 

JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia 

MARK GREEN, Wisconsin 

JERRY WELLER, Illinois 

MIKE PENCE, Indiana 

THADDEUS G. MCCOTTER, Michigan 

KATHERINE HARRIS, Florida 

TOM LANTOS, California 

HOWARD L. BERMAN, California 

GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey 

ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

ROBERT WEXLER, Florida 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

BARBARA LEE, California 

JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York 

JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, Pennsylvania 

EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon 

SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada 

GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California 

ADAM B. SCHIFF, California 

DIANE E. WATSON, California 

ADAM SMITH, Washington 

BETTY MCCOLLUM, Minnesota 

BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky 

THOMAS E. MOONEY, SR., Staff Director/General Counsel 

ROBERT R. KING, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON EUROPE

DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska, Chairman 

DAN BURTON, Indiana 

ELTON GALLEGLY, California 

PETER T. KING, New York 

JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia 

THADDEUS G. McCOTTER, Michigan 

ROY BLUNT, Missouri 

ROBERT WEXLER, Florida 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts 

BARBARA LEE, California 

JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, Pennsylvania 

EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon 

VINCE MORELLI, Subcommittee Staff Director 

JONATHAN KATZ, Democratic Professional Staff Member 

PATRICK PRISCO, Professional Staff Member 

BEVERLY HALLOCK, Staff Associate 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

MARKUP OF: 

H. Res. 642, Providing for the establishment of a commission in the House 

of Representatives to assist parliaments in emerging democracies ................. 2

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD 

The Honorable Doug Bereuter, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of Nebraska, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Europe: Prepared statement 15

The Honorable David Price, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of North Carolina ................................................................................................. 17

(1)

PROVIDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A 

COMMISSION IN THE HOUSE OF 

REPRESENTATIVES TO ASSIST PARLIAMENTS 

IN EMERGING DEMOCRACIES 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 2004

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON EUROPE, 

COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, 

Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 3:07 p.m. in Room 2172, 

Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Doug Bereuter (Chairman of 

the Subcommittee) presiding. 

Mr. BEREUTER. The Europe Subcommittee will come to order. 

Pursuant to notice, I call up the resolution H.Res. 642 for purposes of markup. Without objection, the resolution will be considered as read and open for amendment at any point.

2

1

IV

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 642

Providing for the establishment of a commission in the House of

Representatives to assist parliaments in emerging democracies.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 13, 2004

Mr. PRICE of North Carolina (for himself, Mr. BEREUTER, and Mr. FROST)

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee

on International Relations

RESOLUTION

Providing for the establishment of a commission in the House

of Representatives to assist parliaments in emerging democracies.

1 Resolved,

2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

3 This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘House Commis4 sion For Assisting Democratic Parliaments Resolution’’.

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

6 The House of Representatives makes the following

7 findings:


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2

•HRES 642 IH

1 (1) Since its founding, the United States has

2 championed the development of democracy around

3 the world.

4 (2) Indeed, beginning with the Continental Con5 gress and continuing through the modern Congress,

6 representative institutions have served as a critical

7 component through which the American people have

8 expressed their views on policy issues and through

9 which the power of other government branches has

10 been balanced.

11 (3) Establishing democratic institutions in

12 other countries is in the national interest of the

13 United States and constitutes a goal of United

14 States foreign policy.

15 (4) For democracies to mature and to with16 stand cyclical turnover in government, strong gov17 ernment institutions, particularly national legisla18 tures with appropriate infrastructure, are critical.

19 (5) Furthermore, the legislative branches of

20 governments of emerging democracies are largely

21 comprised of new legislators, citizens from many

22 walks of life, who face the challenges of creating new

23 democratic systems without the benefit of previous

24 legislative experience. The legislatures of these fledgVerDate Mar 21 2002 14:03 Jun 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\EUROPE\M051904\93776 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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•HRES 642 IH

1 ling democracies lack training, equipment, or re2 sources to carry out their work effectively.

3 (6) Currently, many parliaments do not possess

4 the necessary technology, such as modern computer

5 equipment, software, or access to databases and

6 electronic resources, to facilitate the timely flow of

7 legislative information to lawmakers and legislative

8 staff.

9 (7) Parliaments in fledgling democracies also

10 frequently lack trained staff to provide nonpartisan

11 policy information, to draft legislation, and to advise

12 legislators on policy matters.

13 (8) Newly democratic parliaments may lack the

14 resources to establish internal libraries, reference

15 materials, and archiving capabilities for use by legis16 lators and staff.

17 (9) From 1990 through 1996, the United

18 States House of Representatives, in conjunction with

19 the House Information Systems Office (later known

20 as House Information Resources) and the Congres21 sional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of

22 Congress, provided equipment and technical assist23 ance to new parliaments in Central and Eastern Eu24 ropean countries, including Albania, Bulgaria, the

25 Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, LithVerDate Mar 21 2002 14:03 Jun 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\EUROPE\M051904\93776 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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•HRES 642 IH

1 uania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and

2 Ukraine in an effort to develop and strengthen those

3 institutions.

4 (10) This program, commonly known as the

5 ‘‘Frost-Solomon Task Force’’, not only served the

6 United States foreign policy goal of helping to estab7 lish democratic institutions in other countries, but

8 also developed significant goodwill in the countries in

9 which it was implemented. The program was de10 signed to improve the efficiency of parliaments and

11 the professionalism of its members and staff, as well

12 as to increase transparency and accountability.

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

14 Task Force, which strengthens professionalism and

15 efficiency within parliaments in democratic coun16 tries, continues to be in the national interests of the

17 United States.

18 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

19 There is established in the House of Representatives

20 a commission to be known as the House Commission For

21 Assisting Democratic Parliaments (hereafter in this reso22 lution referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).


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•HRES 642 IH

1 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP OF COMMISSION.

2 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission

3 shall be composed of 9 Members of the House of

4 Representatives—

5 (1) of which 5 members shall be appointed by

6 the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and

7 (2) of which 4 members shall be appointed by

8 the Minority Leader of the House of Representa9 tives.

10 (b) TERMS OF MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REP11 RESENTATIVES.—Each member of the Commission shall

12 be appointed for a term that is concurrent with the Con13 gress in which the appointment is made. Such a member

14 may be reappointed for one or more subsequent terms in

15 accordance with the preceding sentence.

16 (c) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the Commis17 sion shall be designated by the Speaker of the House of

18 Representatives from among the members appointed

19 under subsection (a)(1).

20 SEC. 5. STAFF OF COMMISSION.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall appoint

22 and fix the pay of such personnel as the Commission con23 siders appropriate.

24 (b) DETAIL OF LEGISLATIVE BRANCH EMPLOY25 EES.—At the request of the Commission, the head of any

26 office in the legislative branch may detail any of the perVerDate Mar 21 2002 14:03 Jun 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\EUROPE\M051904\93776 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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•HRES 642 IH

1 sonnel of that office to the Commission to assist it in car2 rying out its duties under this resolution. Any individual

3 detailed by an office to the Commission pursuant to this

4 subsection shall retain the individual’s status as an em5 ployee of the office for purposes of pay and benefits.

6 (c) EMPLOYMENT OF CONSULTANTS.—The Commis7 sion may employ consultants to assist in carrying out its

8 duties as described in section 6, including individuals with

9 expertise in development of democratic parliaments, legis10 lative systems management, legislative research, par11 liamentary procedure, related legislative matters, and

12 technology systems management.

13 SEC. 6. DUTIES OF COMMISSION.

14 (a) STUDY.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall con16 duct an annual study on the feasibility of programs

17 of assistance for parliaments of countries described

18 in paragraph (2) for the purpose of strengthening

19 the parliamentary infrastructure of such countries.

20 This study may be conducted more frequently, if the

21 Commission so decides. The study shall assess—

22 (A) how the parliament in each country

23 studied plays, or could reasonably be expected

24 to play, an independent and substantive role in


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•HRES 642 IH

1 the legislative process and government over2 sight;

3 (B) how improving access to information

4 and developing independent and objective re5 search and analytical capabilities would enable

6 the parliament in each country studied to im7 prove the effectiveness of members and profes8 sional staff and would increase legislative trans9 parency and accountability; and

10 (C) how modern automation and office sys11 tems would improve efficiency and transparency

12 in the work of the parliament in each country

13 studied.

14 (2) COUNTRIES DESCRIBED.—The countries re15 ferred to in paragraph (1) are countries that—

16 (A) have established or are developing

17 democratic parliaments which would benefit

18 from assistance described in this resolution; and

19 (B) express to the United States Govern20 ment an interest to receive such assistance.

21 (3) SELECTED COUNTRIES.—From the coun22 tries studied, the Commission shall select one or

23 more parliaments that it recommends should receive

24 assistance under the provisions of this resolution,

25 based on the criteria in paragraph (1).


93776a.AAH
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8

•HRES 642 IH

1 (b) REPORT.—The Commission shall prepare and

2 submit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives,

3 the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the

4 appropriate House committees, and the Administrator of

5 the United States Agency for International Development,

6 an annual report on the following:

7 (1) RESULTS OF STUDY.—The results of the

8 study conducted pursuant to subsection (a).

9 (2) COMMISSION ACTIVITIES.—In accordance

10 with the results of such study, a proposal for the ac11 tivities of the Commission in the following year, as

12 described in subsection (c).

13 (3) RECOMMENDATIONS TO USAID.—(A) In ac14 cordance with the results of such study, rec15 ommendations to the Administrator of the United

16 States Agency for International Development to de17 sign and implement programs of assistance for par18 liaments of selected countries, including rec19 ommendations to achieve the purposes of subpara20 graphs (B) through (D).

21 (B) Such programs of assistance may include—

22 (i) efforts to establish or improve existing

23 libraries of parliaments of selected countries, in24 cluding, but not limited to, providing equip25 ment, Internet access, books, reference mateVerDate Mar 21 2002 14:03 Jun 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\EUROPE\M051904\93776 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL

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•HRES 642 IH

1 rials, government documents, periodical sub2 scriptions and databases; and

3 (ii) efforts to improve the efficiency and

4 transparency of legislation and proceedings in

5 parliaments of selected countries, including, but

6 not limited to, providing equipment, Internet

7 access, and desktop publishing capabilities.

8 (C)(i) In coordination with parliaments in se9 lected countries, USAID should develop detailed,

10 multiyear plans for providing equipment, strength11 ening library collections, and enhancing research and

12 analysis capabilities in those parliaments.

13 (ii) Plans described in clause (i) should include

14 specific goals to be achieved through the provision of

15 assistance, estimated costs of meeting the goals, the

16 conditions under which assistance should be pro17 vided, the type of equipment and resources to be

18 provided, and annual plans for assessing the extent

19 to which the goals have been achieved.

20 (D) All equipment and books that are provided

21 to selected countries should be inscribed to designate

22 the items as gifts from the United States of Amer23 ica.


93776a.AAJ
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•HRES 642 IH

1 (c) ACTIVITIES.—The Commission shall work with

2 the parliaments of selected countries on a frequent and

3 regular basis in order to—

4 (1) allow Commission members and staff to

5 provide expert advice to members and staff of the

6 parliaments of selected countries;

7 (2) enable members and staff of parliaments in

8 selected countries to visit the House of Representa9 tives and its support agencies to learn about their

10 operations first-hand; and

11 (3) observe and provide recommendations re12 garding the implementation of the assistance pro13 grams described in subsection (b)(3).

14 (d) TIMING.—The Commission is not required to

15 carry out any of its duties under this section prior to Octo16 ber 1, 2005.

17 SEC. 7. TRAVEL.

18 Members and staff of the Commission are authorized

19 to travel to foreign countries to carry out this resolution.

20 SEC. 8. ROLE OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RE21 LATIONS.

22 It is the sense of the House of Representatives that,

23 prior to October 1, 2005, the Committee on International

24 Relations of the House of Representatives—


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•HRES 642 IH

1 (1) should undertake all necessary actions to fa2 cilitate the work of the Commission upon the com3 mencement of its funding, including by utilizing as4 sistance from the congressional support agencies,

5 such as the Congressional Research Service of the

6 Library of Congress, House Information Resources,

7 and other resources of the Chief Administrative Offi8 cer of the House of Representatives; and

9 (2) should consult with the Committee on Ap10 propriations to determine an appropriate level of

11 funding that will be necessary for the operations of

12 the Commission and its activities for fiscal year

13 2006.

14 SEC. 9. TERMINATION.

15 The Commission shall terminate on September 30,

16 2009.

17 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.

18 In this resolution:

19 (1) APPROPRIATE HOUSE COMMITTEES.—The

20 term ‘‘appropriate House committees’’ means the

21 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on

22 House Administration, the Committee on Inter23 national Relations, and the Committee on Rules of

24 the House of Representatives.


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•HRES 642 IH

1 (2) EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘‘equipment’’ in2 cludes basic office and automation equipment (copi3 ers, fax, telephone answering machines, an initial

4 complement of personal computers and printers,

5 software, CD–ROMs, and auxiliary storage media),

6 and library collections and library support automa7 tion, as well as the associated training and technical

8 assistance to effectively use such equipment.

9 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 There are authorized to be appropriated from the ap11 plicable accounts of the House of Representatives to the

12 Commission to carry out this resolution such sums as may

13 be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2006 through

14 2009. No funds may be appropriated or otherwise made

15 available to carry out this resolution (other than section

16 8) prior to October 1, 2005.

Æ


93776a.AAM
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Mr. BEREUTER. I do have an opening statement, and then I will 

turn to the Ranking Member, the gentleman from Florida. 

This is actually the second time the Subcommittee has marked 

up legislation that is quite similar. I would just say in a very frank 

fashion that I have reintroduced this legislation with the lead cointroducer, Mr. Price, who is in attendance today. We are joined 

with original co-sponsorship in this case with Mr. Frost. 

There are other Members how have added their names as cosponsors. I understand that Mr. Lantos is one of them. I do not 

know the full dimension of the co-sponsorship. Mr. Morrelli, can 

you tell me? 

Mr. MORRELLI. It is being run out of Mr. Price’s office. 

Mr. BEREUTER. Okay. In any case, this is reintroduced because 

of reactions I got from leadership, leadership staff, actually the 

Speaker’s staff, and I wanted to see if we could find a way of meeting some or all of those objections. 

I believe that I have been successful with Mr. Price in answering 

all those specific concerns. There may be others, and I have no assurance that the leadership will in fact be supportive in all respects 

of this legislation, but I have no information to the contrary. I just 

think it is important that we move this legislation. 

I actually had copies of my statement made available so that all 

Members could look at it if they cared to, but I wanted to say that 

I think I had the good fortune to be involved in what was then 

called the Frost-Solomon Task Force, although I entered that process midway. My understanding is that Mr. Price also had some involvement probably before I did and that certain staff, right here 

behind me, were in fact a participant in that effort. 

In short, I think that we provided very substantial and quite significant assistance to the parliaments that were emerging from the 

Warsaw Pact countries and certain other parliamentary bodies like 

those in Albania. That was done primarily with the staff of the 

U.S. House of Representatives, largely from CRS, with the expenditure side being handled by USAID. 

We have attempted to accommodate some of the concerns about 

cost so that there is, for example, no need for a direct appropriation 

for this proposed commission during fiscal year 2005. There is a 

change in the membership from five to four. At this point the minority has not objected to that, which I appreciate. 

The International Relations Committee would take some work to 

facilitate the work of the commission before October 1, 2005, at 

which time we would hope there would actually be a direct appropriation. Working for some period of time to eliminate any constitutional difficulties, we continue to rely for major expenditures 

through the appropriations to the U.S. Agency for International 

Development. 

In the meantime, if this legislation is enacted, the HIRC staff 

can craft a plan of activity for the commission and to make an assessment over those countries that would be potential beneficiaries. 

I think the logical place to start would be the countries of the West 

Balkans—Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and, if 

possible, Serbia and Montenegro. 

As I mentioned, I visited Albania as a part of the original FrostSolomon Task Force, and Ukraine was also a part of that. They 

15

could well be considered under a new program. I think that Georgia, with a new pro western government and parliament, is certainly another country to receive very strong consideration, and 

eventually we may find that it will be quite appropriate to do work 

in North Africa and parts of the Caucuses and maybe even Central 

Asia. 

I will I think simply ask unanimous consent that my entire 

statement be made a part of the record. Hearing no objection, that 

will be the order. 

I turn now to the distinguished Ranking Member, Mr. Wexler, 

the gentleman from Florida. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Bereuter follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE DOUG BEREUTER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEBRASKA, AND CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON EUROPE

As the primary original co-sponsor of the resolution before us, I first want to 

thank my friend, the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Price, for 

working with me and introducing this new resolution to establish the House Commission for Assisting Democratic Parliaments. 

Having been involved in the Frost-Solomon Task Force, which undertook a similar 

effort a decade ago, I am enthused to offer this new initiative. Mr. Frost joins us 

as an original co-sponsor of this resolution, and Mr. Dreier was an original co-sponsor of an earlier version of this legislation, which was introduced on February 26, 

2004. 

The Frost-Solomon Task Force allowed the House of Representatives to help develop needed research and infrastructure capabilities in the parliaments of the 

newly emerging democracies of Central and Eastern Europe. 

That effort drew on the expertise of Members and staff, especially from the Congressional Research Service. 

The task force provided modest donations of information technology-related office 

equipment and reference materials for parliamentary libraries, thereby facilitating 

the establishment of independent research services. 

The task force also helped those parliaments develop parliamentary procedures 

and legislative information systems to inform Members and the general public about 

parliamentary activities in a timely and open fashion. At a modest cost, we were 

able to help these parliaments become effective legislatures and play their crucial 

part in a democratic system. 

Largely because of its success, the Frost-Solomon Task Force was terminated in 

1996. However, while most of those countries that received aid have indeed become 

full-fledged democracies, others still need a helping hand. The Price-Bereuter Resolution aims to provide that assistance. 

The resolution to create a House Commission for Assisting Democratic Parliaments that is before us today—H. Res. 642—differs slightly from a similar measure—H. Res. 543—that was marked up in this subcommittee two months ago. 

This new resolution sets the membership of the Commission at nine House Members—five majority and four minority. 

The Commission itself will come into being immediately upon adoption of this resolution by the full House. However, given the current budget environment, we recognized that it would be difficult to fund its activities in the upcoming fiscal year. 

Therefore, this new resolution authorizes appropriations to fund the Commission’s 

activities beginning in fiscal year 2006. 

In the interim, we express the sense of the House that the Committee on International Relations should undertake work to facilitate the work of the Commission 

before October 1, 2005. 

My expectation is that the HIRC staff would work with the Members of the Commission to craft a plan of activity for the Commission in fiscal year 2006. My sense 

is that this preliminary task should be limited to those countries that come under 

the jurisdiction of this Subcommittee, plus, possibly, the special cases of Afghanistan and a sovereign, democratic Iraq. 

I think the logical place to start would be the countries of the Western Balkans: 

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, and, if possible Serbia and 

Montenegro. Albania was part of the original Frost Task Force, as was Ukraine, 

which could also be considered under this new program. Georgia, with a new, proVerDate Mar 21 2002 14:03 Jun 09, 2004 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\EUROPE\M051904\93776 HINTREL1 PsN: SHIRL
16

Western government and parliament, is certainly another country to receive very 

strong consideration. 

In addition to identifying countries that would benefit from this program at the 

beginning of fiscal year 2006, the HIRC should estimate the cost of providing the 

necessary assistance. 

That estimate should include both technical assistance, which would be provided 

by the staff of the Commission and its Members, and equipment assistance, which 

would be provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Those estimates, plus an estimate of the necessary staff for the Commission, will be used to 

formulate an appropriate request for funding for fiscal year 2006 to the Committee 

on Appropriations. 

In conducting these assessments, the Committee should draw on the expertise in 

congressional support agencies like the Congressional Research Service, the Library 

of Congress, House Information Resources, and the Chief Administrative Officer of 

the House. I expect that this task will require visits to the countries involved by 

staff of the Committee and of the support agencies. 

As I mentioned, once the Commission commences its activities, it will have its 

own small staff. Because much of the expertise that these parliaments require can 

be found in the House and its support agencies, the resolution would allow congressional offices to detail employees to the Commission. 

Recognizing that many of those who worked so effectively and energetically on the 

initial Frost-Solomon Task Force have retired or are about to retire from congressional employment, the resolution also would allow the Commission to use those retirees as consultants, so that the Commission and the recipient parliaments can 

benefit from their years of expertise. 

In addition to providing expert advice from Commission members and staff, the 

resolution envisions a modest assistance program to provide parliaments with information technology-related equipment and with reference materials so that they can 

establish a research service and a legislative information system. Furthermore, 

when the Commission identified needs in selected parliaments, it could recommend 

that USAID provide certain equipment, materials or technical assistance to enable 

those parliaments to become more efficient and transparent. 

While the Commission initially should focus on the countries under the jurisdiction of this subcommittee, the resolution does not limit its scope. 

Once established, this program could expand to assist parliaments in other qualified countries in the North African and Central Asian areas, and perhaps in other 

parts of the world. 

I was pleased to play a small part in the Frost-Solomon Task Force in the 1990s 

by participating in our trips to Albania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and the Czech 

Republic that reviewed the results of the assistance provided. 

Today, we have an opportunity to further assist in the emergence of democratic 

parliaments by enabling this House to share its expertise and to work with USAID 

to provide the necessary assistance. 

So, this afternoon I urge my colleagues to favorably report to the full Committee 

House Resolution 642, the Price-Bereuter-Frost Resolution to create the House Commission for Assisting Democratic Parliaments.

Mr. WEXLER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think it is a wonderful 

idea, and I would just defer to Mr. Price at the appropriate time 

if that is okay. 

Mr. BEREUTER. I would ask unanimous consent that Mr. Price be 

allowed to take the witness table and make any comments that he 

would like to offer. He is a driving force with myself, and in fact 

he is the person who made the actual suggestion that we sit down 

and work together and try to see if we could extend the good work 

that was done some time ago. 

Mr. Price, my distinguished colleague, you are recognized. 

Mr. PRICE. I thank the Chairman. I do want to very sincerely 

thank the Chairman for working so closely and cooperatively on 

this resolution, anticipating what changes might need to be made 

to gain the widest possible approval and coming up with a new 

draft and a process here to approve that draft in very short order 

I am grateful for that, and I am very hopeful now that we will 

be on the path to indeed putting this commission together before 

17

the year is out and getting the work underway with a head start 

in the next Congress. 

As Mr. Bereuter has said, we were both involved in the FrostSolomon Task Force about a decade again, and as far as I know 

there is no foreign assistance project in modern times that delivered more goodwill and more of a sense of cooperation in partnership with our country and with our Congress for so little in the 

way of a monetary investment than that Frost-Solomon Task 

Force. 

It took us into these eastern European countries, took staff members who could work on library assistance, on computer assistance, 

on the kind of infrastructure that these parliaments needed. It 

gave that kind of hands-on support and assistance at a time when 

those parliaments were emerging from decades of communist rule 

and had a lot to do with those parliaments becoming independent, 

well-functioning institutions. 

This was very rewarding work, and I do believe that another 

round of this activity is in order. I totally agree with Mr. Bereuter’s 

comments as to the likely countries that would be the candidates 

initially, and then who knows where we might turn. The main criterion, of course, is going to be the existence of a freely functioning 

democratic parliament that is in a position to benefit from this 

kind of assistance and support. 

With this resolution and the formation of a commission from interested members of this body from both sides of the aisle, I believe 

we will have a powerful instrument for championing democracy 

and for reaching out to the countries that want and need our partnership and support. 

I thank the Chairman and thank Mr. Wexler for his words of 

support and look forward to working with this Committee and 

other interested colleagues in making this happen. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Price follows:]

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE DAVID PRICE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN

CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

I would first like to thank Mr. Bereuter, the distinguished Chairman of this committee, for working so closely with me on this resolution, and for signing on as the 

primary, original co-sponsor. 

(Doug) and I were both involved in the parliamentary assistance efforts undertaken by the Frost-Solomon Task Force and I am both pleased and honored to be 

working with him again in a similar capacity. 

(Doug) has already explained how this resolution—642—differs from a measure 

we introduced earlier this year so I will not reiterate the points he has already 

made. 

I do, however, want to emphasize that the substantive intent of this resolution 

(and its earlier version) is to serve our foreign policy goal of helping to establish 

democratic institutions in other countries. 

As one who participated in the Frost-Solomon Task Force, I found our work immensely rewarding and was struck by the ways the parliamentary leaders we 

worked with looked to the U.S. Congress for inspiration. 

We developed significant goodwill in the countries we helped—goodwill that still 

exists today. 

That work has arguably never been more important than it is today. We have a 

tremendous opportunity before us to continue to serve not just as a model, but as 

a partner in the effort to strengthen democracy. 

Members of these newly formed parliaments and the people they represent have 

chosen democracy. I believe it is our duty, as champions of democracy everywhere, 

to help them build strong and enduring institutions. 

18

I hope you will join me and Chairman Bereuter in supporting this resolution.

Mr. BEREUTER. Thank you, Mr. Price. 

Mr. Wexler, do you have any questions for Mr. Price or otherwise? 

[No response.] 

Mr. BEREUTER. I would just say one thing that I forgot to mention before. There are provisions in here which will provide that 

some of the very valuable people that work for CRS on this effort 

that have recently retired or are about to retire could be retained 

on a contractual basis. 

I think it would be a shame not to be able to use their expertise 

because they were a key part of making it successful and in causing our oversight visit to these parliaments some time later be so 

successful in making assessment as to how we could improve the 

program over a period of time. 

Mr. PRICE. Mr. Chairman, if I may also add just one thought? 

Mr. BEREUTER. Yes. You are recognized. 

Mr. PRICE. We will have an appropriations task to do in the next 

appropriations cycle. We will not need a separate appropriation in 

this cycle, and you have drafted the bill to take that into account. 

However, we have worked very hard to craft this bill so as to meet 

the constitutional requirements in terms of the separation of powers. 

As a member of the Legislation Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, I am certainly prepared to gain the support, to work for 

the support of the commission itself and then, as you said, we will 

be going to USAID when the time comes for material assistance to 

these countries. 

It is a little intricate. It will probably involve two appropriations 

bills, but I am confident that with this authorizing resolution we 

will be prepared to move ahead effectively. 

Mr. BEREUTER. Thank you, Mr. Price. You are in a critical position, and I will be cheering you from the sidelines, but silently 

until September 1, 2005. 

Are there amendments to be offered? 

[No response.] 

Mr. BEREUTER. If there are no amendments, the Chair will now 

entertain a motion that the resolution be reported favorably to the 

Full Committee. 

Mr. WEXLER. So moved. 

Mr. BEREUTER. I thank the gentleman. 

The question that occurs on the motion to report the resolution, 

H.Res. 642, favorably. All in favor will say I. 

[Chorus of ayes.] 

Mr. BEREUTER. All opposed will say no. 

[No response.] 

Mr. BEREUTER. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes do have it, 

and the bill is reported favorably. 

The staff is directed to make any technical and conforming 

amendments, and I thank my colleague for coming. 

Is there anything that you want to bring up for the good of the 

order? 

[No response.] 

19

Mr. BEREUTER. It is a great opportunity, but thank you. Thank 

you. I appreciate your help. 

Mr. Price, thank you for appearing. 

The Subcommittee stands adjourned. Thank you, staff. 

[Whereupon, at 3:21 p.m. the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

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