I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2652

To close the United States Army School of the Americas and establish

a United States Academy for Democracy and Civil-Military Relations.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 16, 1995

Mr. KENNEDY of Massachusetts (for himself, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. FRANK of

Massachusetts, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. STARK, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr.

BROWN of California, Mr. GONZALEZ, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. GENE GREEN

of Texas, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Ms. RIVERS, Mr. FROST, Mr. VENTO, Mr.

DEFAZIO, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. BARRETT, of Wisconsin, Mr.

ACKERMAN, Mr. MORAN, Ms. ESHOO, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr. FARR

of California, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MILLER of California, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. KLUG, Mr.

SERRANO, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. JACOBS, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ,

Mr. TORKILDSEN, Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida, Mr. OLVER, and Ms.

MCKINNEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations, and in addition to the Committee on

National Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To close the United States Army School of the Americas

and establish a United States Academy for Democracy

and Civil-Military Relations.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. TERMINATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

2 SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS

3 Section 4415 of chapter 407 of title 10, United

4 States Code is repealed.

5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF ACADEMY FOR DEMOCRACY

6 AND CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 407 of title 10, United

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow9 ing new section:

10 ‘‘§ 4416. United States Academy for Democracy and

11 Civil-Military Relations

12 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ACADEMY.—The Secretary

13 of the Army, in cooperation with the Secretary of State,

14 may operate an educational facility known as the United

15 States Academy for Democracy and Civil-Military Rela16 tions (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Academy’’).

17 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES OF ACADEMY.—The Academy shall

18 be operated for the purposes of—

19 ‘‘(1) identifying the proper role for the military

20 in a democratic society; and

21 ‘‘(2) improving civil-military relations and civil22 ian control over military matters in Latin American

23 countries and Caribbean countries.

24 ‘‘(c) INSTRUCTION AT ACADEMY.—

25 ‘‘(1) AREAS OF INSTRUCTION.—Instruction at

26 the Academy shall be provided to civilian and mili-
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1 tary personnel of Latin American countries and Car2 ibbean countries, through seminars, roundtable dis3 cussions, conferences, and a guest instructor pro4 gram, in the following areas:

5 ‘‘(A) The principles of respect for democ6 racy, human rights, and civilian control of the

7 military in a democratic society.

8 ‘‘(B) Mechanisms and skills necessary for

9 the exercise of civilian control and oversight

10 over the mission, structure, and operations of

11 security forces.

12 ‘‘(C) Mechanisms and procedures for en13 suring accountability within the armed forces

14 and for institutionalizing within the armed

15 forces rules of engagement and an approach to

16 the conduct of military operations in accordance

17 with recognized principles of international law

18 and human rights.

19 ‘‘(D) Mechanisms and skills necessary for

20 the exercise of civilian control and oversight

21 over budgets of security forces.

22 ‘‘(E) Mechanisms and skills necessary for

23 the exercise of civilian control over, and merit

24 based procedures in, promotions in security

25 forces.
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1 ‘‘(F) Mechanisms and skills necessary for

2 the exercise of civilian control over, and clear

3 human rights guidelines for, intelligence oper4 ations of security forces.

5 ‘‘(G) Mechanisms and skills necessary to

6 establish and operate military justice and dis7 ciplinary systems in accordance with inter8 national human rights procedures.

9 ‘‘(H) Mechanisms and skills necessary to

10 ensure professional resource and personnel

11 management in security forces.

12 ‘‘(I) Mechanisms and skills necessary to

13 ensure civilian control and oversight over secu14 rity force involvement in the civilian economy.

15 ‘‘(J) Principles of multilateral cooperation

16 in internationally sanctioned peacekeeping oper17 ations.

18 ‘‘(K) Strategies for cooperative threat re19 duction, including diplomatic approaches to ad20 dressing border disputes, defensive configura21 tion of armed forces, and full compliance with

22 the United Nations Register of Conventional

23 Arms.

24 ‘‘(L) Additional strategies designed to

25 achieve responsible reductions in military
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1 spending so that resources may be used to pro2 mote development in Latin American countries

3 and Caribbean countries.

4 ‘‘(2) COMBAT AND LETHAL SKILLS TRAIN5 ING.—Combat and lethal skills training shall not be

6 offered as part of the curriculum of the Academy.

7 ‘‘(3) COURSE CATALOGUE AND CURRICULUM.—

8 The course catalogue and curriculum of the Acad9 emy shall be available for public inspection.

10 ‘‘(d) SCREENING OF INSTRUCTORS AND STU11 DENTS.—The Secretary of the Army, in cooperation with

12 the Secretary of State, shall conduct a thorough screening

13 of potential instructors and students at the Academy and

14 ensure that they exhibit the highest level of commitment

15 to and respect for democracy and human rights. The in16 structors of the Academy shall consist of civilians and

17 military personnel. Every course and program at the

18 Academy shall involve civilians, including civilian person19 nel in defense establishments, elected officials and civil

20 servants, and representatives of human rights and other

21 civic organizations. The number of civilians attending the

22 Academy should be at least 20 percent of the total number

23 of students, with the goal of reaching 50 percent within

24 five years after the establishment of the Academy.
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1 ‘‘(e) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The Secretary of the

2 Army, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall

3 establish an advisory committee to provide advice on es4 tablishing and operating the Academy and the content of

5 the curriculum. The advisory committee shall be com6 prised of five members from civilian life and shall include

7 representatives of human rights organizations based in the

8 United States and in Latin American and Caribbean coun9 tries with widely recognized expertise in investigating vio10 lations of human rights violations in those countries. The

11 Advisory Committee shall approve all instructors of the

12 Academy.

13 ‘‘(f) HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS.—If it becomes

14 known to the Secretary of State that persons who have

15 attended the Academy have violated human rights, then

16 the Secretary shall determine whether elements of the cur17 riculum of the Academy are inconsistent with the purposes

18 of the Academy.

19 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.—The cost of operating and maintain20 ing the Academy may be paid from funds available under

21 chapter 5 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

22 (22 U.S.C. 2347) (related to international military edu23 cation and training assistance).’’.

24 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections

25 at the beginning of chapter 407 of such title is amended—
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1 (1) by striking the item relating to section

2 4415; and

3 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec4 tion 4414 the following new item:

‘‘4416. United States Academy for Democracy and Civil-Military Relations’’.

5 SEC. 3. COUNTERMINE PROGRAMS.

6 Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this

7 Act shall be interpreted to affect the authority to conduct

8 countermine programs at other facilities at Fort Benning,

9 Georgia, being carried out on the date of enactment of

10 this Act at the School of the Americas in response to a

11 request from the Organization of American States.

12 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

13 After the United States Academy for Democracy and

14 Civil-Military Relations, established pursuant to section

15 4416 of title 10, United States Code, has been in oper16 ation for a period of two years, the Secretary of the Army

17 shall submit to Congress a report on the achievements of

18 the Academy, and on the desirability and feasibility of

19 opening its courses and programs to attendees from out20 side of Latin America countries and Caribbean countries.

21 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

22 It is the sense of Congress that resources made avail23 able to operate the United States Academy for Democracy

24 and Civil-Military Relations, established pursuant to sec25 tion 4416 of title 10, United States Code, should be com-
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1 mensurate with the total resources that were dedicated to

2 the United States School of the Americas in fiscal year

3 1996.

4 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

5 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

6 take effect on October 1, 1996.

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