II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. J. RES. 34

Suspending the certification procedures under section 490(b) of the Foreign

Assistance Act of 1991 in order to foster greater multilateral cooperation

in international counternarcotics programs.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 27, 1997

Mr. DODD (for himself and Mr. MCCAIN) introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign

Relations

JOINT RESOLUTION

Suspending the certification procedures under section 490(b)

of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1991 in order to foster

greater multilateral cooperation in international

counternarcotics programs.

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SUSPENSION OF DRUG CERTIFICATION PROCE4 DURES.

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find6 ings:

7 (1) The international drug trade poses a direct

8 threat to the United States and to international ef-
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1 forts to promote democracy, economic stability,

2 human rights, and the rule of law.

3 (2) The United States has a vital national in4 terest in combating the financial and other resources

5 of the multinational drug cartels, which resources

6 threaten the integrity of political and financial insti7 tutions both in the United States and abroad.

8 (3) Approximately 12,800,000 Americans use il9 legal drugs, including 1,500,000 cocaine users,

10 600,000 heroin addicts, and 9,800,000 marijuana

11 users.

12 (4) Illegal drug use occurs among members of

13 every ethnic and socioeconomic group in the United

14 States.

15 (5) Drug-related illness, death, and crime cost

16 the United States approximately $67,000,000,000 in

17 1996, including costs for lost productivity, pre18 mature death, and incarceration.

19 (6) Worldwide drug trafficking generates reve20 nues estimated at $400,000,000,000 annually.

21 (7) The United States has spent more than

22 $25,000,000,000 for drug interdiction and source

23 country counternarcotics programs since 1981, and

24 despite impressive seizures at the border, on the

25 high seas, and in other countries, illegal drugs from
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1 foreign sources are cheaper and more readily avail2 able in the United States today than 20 years ago.

3 (8) The 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic

4 Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Sub5 stances, and the 1988 Convention Against Illicit

6 Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Sub7 stances form the legal framework for international

8 drug control cooperation.

9 (9) The United Nations International Drug

10 Control Program, the International Narcotics Con11 trol Board, and the Organization of American States

12 can play important roles in facilitating the develop13 ment and implementation of more effective multilat14 eral programs to combat both domestic and inter15 national drug trafficking and consumption.

16 (10) The annual certification process required

17 by section 490 of the Foreign Assistance Act of

18 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2291j), which has been in effect

19 since 1986, has failed to foster bilateral or multilat20 eral cooperation with United States counternarcotics

21 programs because its provisions are vague and in22 consistently applied and fail to acknowledge that

23 United States narcotics programs have not been

24 fully effective in combating consumption or traffick-
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1 ing in illegal drugs, and related crimes, in the Unit2 ed States.

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

5 (1) existing United States domestic and inter6 national counternarcotics program have not reduced

7 the supply of illegal drugs or significantly reduced

8 domestic consumption of such drugs;

9 (2) the President should appoint a high level

10 task force of foreign policy experts, law enforcement

11 officials, and drug specialists to develop a com12 prehensive program for addressing domestic and

13 international drug trafficking and drug consumption

14 and related crimes, with particular attention to fash15 ioning a multilateral framework for improving inter16 national cooperation in combating illegal drug traf17 ficking, and should designate the Director of the Of18 fice of National Drug Policy to chair the task force;

19 (3) the President should call upon the heads of

20 state of major illicit drug producing countries, major

21 drug transit countries, and major money laundering

22 countries to establish similar high level task forces

23 to work in coordination with the United States; and

24 (4) not later than one year after the date of en25 actment of this Act, the President should call for the
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1 convening of an international summit of all inter2 ested governments to be hosted by the Organization

3 of American States or another international organi4 zation mutually agreed to by the parties, for the

5 purpose of reviewing the findings and recommenda6 tions of the task forces referred to in paragraphs (1)

7 and (2) and adopting a counternarcotics plan of ac8 tion for each country.

9 (c) SUSPENSION OF DRUG CERTIFICATION PROC10 ESS.—(1) Section 490 of the Foreign Assistance Act of

11 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2291j), relating to annual certification

12 procedures for assistance for certain drug-producing and

13 drug-transit countries, shall not apply in 1998 and 1999.

14 (2) The President may waive the applicability of that

15 section in 2000 if the President determines that the waiver

16 would facilitate the enhancement of United States inter17 national narcotics control programs.

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