II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 793 

To support revitalization and reform of the Organization of American States, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 24, 2013 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. CORKER, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, and 

Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To support revitalization and reform of the Organization 

of American States, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Organization of Amer5 ican States Revitalization and Reform Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The Charter of the Organization of Amer9 ican States recognizes that— 


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1 (A) representative democracy is indispen2 sable for the stability, peace, and development 

3 of the Western Hemisphere; and 

4 (B) a purpose of the Organization of 

5 American States is to promote and consolidate 

6 representative democracy, with due respect for 

7 the principle of nonintervention. 

8 (2) The United States supports the purposes 

9 and principles enshrined in— 

10 (A) the Charter of the Organization of 

11 American States; 

12 (B) the Inter-American Democratic Char13 ter; and 

14 (C) the American Declaration on the 

15 Rights and Duties of Man. 

16 (3) The United States supports the Organiza17 tion of American States in its efforts with all mem18 ber states to meet our commitments under the in19 struments set forth in paragraph (2). 

20 (4) Congress supports the Organization of 

21 American States as it operates in a manner con22 sistent with the Inter-American Democratic Charter. 

23 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

24 It is the policy of the United States— 


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1 (1) to promote democracy and the rule of law 

2 throughout the Western Hemisphere; 

3 (2) to promote and protect human rights and 

4 fundamental freedoms in the Western Hemisphere; 

5 and 

6 (3) to support the practices, purposes, and prin7 ciples expressed in the Charter of the Organization 

8 of American States, the American Declaration on 

9 the Rights and Duties of Man, the Inter-American 

10 Democratic Charter, and other fundamental instru11 ments of democracy. 

12 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

13 It is the sense of Congress that— 

14 (1) the Organization of American States (OAS) 

15 should be the primary multi-lateral diplomatic entity 

16 for regional dispute resolution and promotion of 

17 democratic governance and institutions; 

18 (2) the OAS is a valuable platform from which 

19 to launch initiatives aimed to benefit the countries 

20 of the Western Hemisphere; 

21 (3) the Summit of the Americas institution and 

22 process embodies a valuable complement to regional 

23 dialogue and cooperation; 

24 (4) the Summit of the Americas process should 

25 be formally and more effectively integrated into the 


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1 work of the OAS, the Inter-American Development 

2 Bank, and other Members of the Joint Summit 

3 Working Group, and the OAS should play a central 

4 role in overseeing and managing the Summit proc5 ess; 

6 (5) the OAS General Assembly and the Summit 

7 of the Americas events should be combined geo8 graphically and chronologically in the years in which 

9 they coincide; 

10 (6) to ensure an appropriate balance of prior11 ities, the OAS should review its core functions no 

12 less than annually and seek opportunities to reduce 

13 the number of mandates not directly related to its 

14 core functions; 

15 (7) key OAS strengths lie in strengthening 

16 peace and security, promoting and consolidating rep17 resentative democracy, regional dispute resolution, 

18 election assistance and monitoring, fostering eco19 nomic growth and development cooperation, facili20 tating trade, addressing migration, combating illicit 

21 drug trafficking and transnational crime, and sup22 port for the Inter-American Human Rights System; 

23 (8) the core competencies referred to in para24 graph (7) should remain central to the strategic 


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1 planning process of the OAS and the consideration 

2 of future mandates; 

3 (9) any changes to OAS mandates should be ac4 cepted by the member states only after an analysis 

5 is conducted and formally presented consisting of a 

6 calculation of the financial costs associated with the 

7 mandate, an assessment of the comparative advan8 tage of the OAS in the implementation of the man9 date, and a description of the ways in which the 

10 mandate advances the organization’s core mission; 

11 (10) any new mandates should include, in addi12 tion to the analysis described in paragraph (9), an 

13 identification of the source of funding to be used to 

14 implement the mandate; 

15 (11) the OAS would benefit from enhanced co16 ordination between the OAS and the Inter-American 

17 Development Bank on issues that relate to economic 

18 development; 

19 (12) the OAS would benefit from standard re20 porting requirements for each project and grant 

21 agreement; and 

22 (13) the OAS would benefit from effective im23 plementation of— 

24 (A) transparent and merit-based human 

25 resource standards and processes; and 


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1 (B) transparent hiring, firing, and pro2 motion standards and processes, including with 

3 respect to factors such as gender and national 

4 origin. 

5 SEC. 5. ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES REVITALIZA6 TION AND REFORM STRATEGY. 

7 (a) STRATEGY.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec10 retary of State shall submit to the Committee on 

11 Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee 

12 on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

13 a multiyear strategy that— 

14 (A) identifies a path toward the adoption 

15 of necessary reforms that prioritize and rein16 force the OAS’s core competencies described in 

17 section 4(7); 

18 (B) outlines an approach to secure from 

19 the OAS effective adoption of— 

20 (i) a results-based budgeting process 

21 in order to strategically prioritize, and 

22 where appropriate, reduce current and fu23 ture mandates; and 

24 (ii) transparent hiring, firing, and 

25 promotion practices; and 


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1 (C) reflects the inputs and coordination 

2 from other Executive Branch agencies, as ap3 propriate. 

4 (2) POLICY PRIORITIES AND COORDINATION.— 

5 The Secretary of State shall— 

6 (A) carry out diplomatic engagement to 

7 build support for reforms and budgetary burden 

8 sharing among OAS member states and observ9 ers; 

10 (B) promote donor coordination among 

11 OAS member states; and 

12 (C) help set priorities for the OAS. 

13 (b) BRIEFINGS.—The Secretary of State shall offer 

14 to the committees referred to in subsection (a)(1) a quar15 terly briefing that— 

16 (1) reviews assessed and voluntary contribu17 tions; 

18 (2) analyzes the progress made by the OAS to 

19 adopt and effectively implement a results-based 

20 budgeting process in order to strategically prioritize, 

21 and where appropriate, reduce current and future 

22 mandates; 

23 (3) analyzes the progress made by the OAS to 

24 adopt and effectively implement transparent and 

25 merit-based human resource standards and practices 


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1 and transparent hiring, firing, and promotion stand2 ards and processes, including with respect to factors 

3 such as gender and national origin; 

4 (4) analyzes the progress made by the OAS to 

5 adopt and effectively implement a practice of solic6 iting member quotas to be paid on a schedule that 

7 will improve the consistency of its operating budget; 

8 and 

9 (5) analyzes the progress made by the OAS to 

10 review, streamline, and prioritize mandates to focus 

11 on core missions and make efficient and effective use 

12 of available funding. 

Æ 


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