I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 841

To suspend for two years the certification procedures under section 490(b)

of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 in order to foster greater multilateral cooperation in international counternarcotics programs, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 1, 2001

Mr. REYES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on International Relations

A BILL

To suspend for two years the certification procedures under

section 490(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

in order to foster greater multilateral cooperation in

international counternarcotics programs, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. TWO-YEAR SUSPENSION OF DRUG CERTIFI4 CATION PROCEDURES.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find6 ings:
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1 (1) Drug trafficking is a transnational phe2 nomenon and thus requires international cooperation

3 to fight and defeat this problem.

4 (2) The international drug trade poses a direct

5 threat to the United States and to international ef6 forts to promote democracy, economic stability,

7 human rights, and the rule of law.

8 (3) Illegal drug use occurs among members of

9 every ethnic and socioeconomic group in the United

10 States.

11 (4) Worldwide drug trafficking generates reve12 nues estimated at $400,000,000,000 annually.

13 (5) The annual drug certification procedures

14 under section 490 of the Foreign Assistance Act of

15 1961 is a unilateral process that hampers inter16 national cooperation and its main result has been

17 confrontation between governments rather than co18 operation.

19 (6) Such unilateral review is counter to the

20 principle of equality among nations and contradicts

21 the spirit of cooperation between nations.

22 (7) Countries must address drug trafficking by

23 coordinating their efforts, particularly through peri24 odic meetings of senior government officials and de-
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1 veloping appropriate anti-drug strategies while re2 specting the sovereignty of nations.

3 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con4 gress that—

5 (1) many governments are extremely concerned

6 with the national security threat posed by illicit drug

7 production, distribution, and consumption, and

8 crimes related thereto, particularly those in the

9 Western Hemisphere;

10 (2) an enhanced multilateral strategy should be

11 developed among drug producing, transit, and con12 suming nations designed to improve cooperation with

13 respect to the investigation and prosecution of drug

14 related crimes, and to make available information on

15 effective drug education and drug treatment;

16 (3) the President should at the earliest feasible

17 date in 2001 convene a conference of heads of state

18 of major illicit drug producing countries, major drug

19 transit countries, and major money laundering coun20 tries to present and review country by country drug

21 reduction and prevention strategies relevant to the

22 specific circumstances of each country, and agree to

23 a program and timetable for implementation of such

24 strategies; and
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1 (4) not later than one year after the date of the

2 enactment of this Act, the President should transmit

3 to Congress legislation to implement a proposed

4 multilateral strategy to achieve the goals referred to

5 in paragraph (2), including any amendments to ex6 isting law that may be required to implement that

7 strategy.

8 (c) TWO-YEAR SUSPENSION OF DRUG CERTIFI9 CATION PROCESS.—(1) Subsections (a) through (g) of sec10 tion 490 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.

11 2291j), relating to annual certification procedures for as12 sistance for certain drug producing countries and drug

13 transit countries, shall not apply in the first two calendar

14 years beginning after the date of enactment of this Act.

15 (2) Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph (1),

16 section 489 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22

17 U.S.C. 2291h), relating to the international narcotics con18 trol strategy report, and section 490(h) of that Act (22

19 U.S.C. 2291j(h)), relating to determinations of major

20 drug transit countries and major illicit drug producing

21 countries, shall continue to apply in the two calendar years

22 referred to in that paragraph.

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