In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

September 17, 2013. 

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 793) entitled 

‘‘An Act to support revitalization and reform of the Organization of American States, and for other purposes.’’, do pass 

with the following 

AMENDMENT: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Organization of Amer3 ican States Revitalization and Reform Act of 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) The Charter of the Organization of American 

7 States recognizes that— 

8 (A) representative democracy is indispen9 sable for the stability, peace, and development of 

10 the Western Hemisphere; and 

11 (B) a purpose of the Organization of Amer12 ican States is to promote and consolidate rep13 resentative democracy, with due respect for the 

14 principle of nonintervention. 
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1 (2) The United States supports the purposes and 

2 principles enshrined in— 

3 (A) the Charter of the Organization of 

4 American States; 

5 (B) the Inter-American Democratic Charter; 

6 and 

7 (C) the American Declaration on the Rights 

8 and Duties of Man. 

9 (3) The United States supports the Organization 

10 of American States in its efforts with all member 

11 states to meet our commitments under the instru12 ments set forth in paragraph (2). 

13 (4) Congress supports the Organization of Amer14 ican States as it operates in a manner consistent 

15 with the Inter-American Democratic Charter. 

16 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

17 It is the policy of the United States— 

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

19 throughout the Western Hemisphere; 

20 (2) to promote and protect human rights and 

21 fundamental freedoms in the Western Hemisphere; 

22 and 

23 (3) to support the practices, purposes, and prin24 ciples expressed in the Charter of the Organization of 

25 American States, the American Declaration on the 
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1 Rights and Duties of Man, the Inter-American Demo2 cratic Charter, and other fundamental instruments of 

3 democracy. 

4 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

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

7 should be the primary multi-lateral diplomatic entity 

8 for regional dispute resolution and promotion of 

9 democratic governance and institutions; 

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

11 to launch initiatives aimed to benefit the countries of 

12 the Western Hemisphere; 

13 (3) the Summit of the Americas institution and 

14 process embodies a valuable complement to regional 

15 dialogue and cooperation; 

16 (4) the Summit of the Americas process should 

17 be formally and more effectively integrated into the 

18 work of the OAS, the Inter-American Development 

19 Bank, and other Members of the Joint Summit Work20 ing Group, and the OAS should play a central role 

21 in overseeing and managing the Summit process; 

22 (5) the OAS General Assembly and the Summit 

23 of the Americas events should be combined geographi24 cally and chronologically in the years in which they 

25 coincide; 
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1 (6) the OAS has historically accepted too many 

2 mandates from its member states, resulting in both 

3 lack of clarity on priorities and loss of institutional 

4 focus, which in turn has reduced the effectiveness of 

5 the organization; 

6 (7) to ensure an appropriate balance of prior7 ities, the OAS should review its core functions no less 

8 than annually and seek opportunities to reduce the 

9 number of mandates not directly related to its core 

10 functions; 

11 (8) key OAS strengths lie in strengthening peace 

12 and security, promoting and consolidating represent13 ative democracy, regional dispute resolution, election 

14 assistance and monitoring, fostering economic growth 

15 and development cooperation, facilitating trade, com16 bating illicit drug trafficking and transnational 

17 crime, and support for the Inter-American Human 

18 Rights System; 

19 (9) the core competencies referred to in para20 graph (8) should remain central to the strategic plan21 ning process of the OAS and the consideration of fu22 ture mandates; 

23 (10) any new OAS mandates should be accepted 

24 by the member states only after an analysis is con25 ducted and formally presented consisting of a calcula-
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1 tion of the financial costs associated with the man2 date, an assessment of the comparative advantage of 

3 the OAS in the implementation of the mandate, and 

4 a description of the ways in which the mandate ad5 vances the organization’s core mission; 

6 (11) any new mandates should include, in addi7 tion to the analysis described in paragraph (10), an 

8 identification of the source of funding to be used to 

9 implement the mandate; 

10 (12) the OAS would benefit from enhanced co11 ordination between the OAS and the Inter-American 

12 Development Bank on issues that relate to economic 

13 development; 

14 (13) the OAS would benefit from standard re15 porting requirements for each project and grant 

16 agreement; 

17 (14) the OAS would benefit from effective imple18 mentation of— 

19 (A) transparent and merit-based human re20 source standards and processes; and 

21 (B) transparent hiring, firing, and pro22 motion standards and processes, including with 

23 respect to factors such as gender and national or24 igin; and 
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1 (15) it is in the interest of the United States, 

2 OAS member states, and a modernized OAS to move 

3 toward an assessed fee structure that assures the fi4 nancial sustainability of the organization and estab5 lishes, not later than five years after the date of the 

6 enactment of this Act, that no member state pays 

7 more than 50 percent of the organization’s assessed 

8 fees. 

9 SEC. 5. ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES REVITALIZA10 TION AND REFORM STRATEGY. 

11 (a) STRATEGY.— 

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

13 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

14 State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Rela15 tions of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Af16 fairs of the House of Representatives a multiyear 

17 strategy that— 

18 (A) identifies a path toward the adoption of 

19 necessary reforms that prioritize and reinforce 

20 the OAS’s core competencies described in section 

21 4(8); 

22 (B) outlines an approach to secure from the 

23 OAS effective adoption of— 

24 (i) a results-based budgeting process in 

25 order to strategically prioritize, and where 
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1 appropriate, reduce current and future 

2 mandates; and 

3 (ii) transparent hiring, firing, and 

4 promotion practices; 

5 (C) reflects the inputs and coordination 

6 from other Executive Branch agencies, as appro7 priate; and 

8 (D) identifies a path toward the adoption of 

9 necessary reforms that would— 

10 (i) lead to an assessed fee structure in 

11 which no member state would pay more 

12 than 50 percent of the OAS’s assessed yearly 

13 fees; and 

14 (ii) seek to minimize the negative fi15 nancial impact on the OAS and its oper16 ations. 

17 (2) POLICY PRIORITIES AND COORDINATION.— 

18 The Secretary of State shall— 

19 (A) carry out diplomatic engagement to 

20 build support for reforms and budgetary burden 

21 sharing among OAS member states and observ22 ers; and 

23 (B) promote donor coordination among 

24 OAS member states. 
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1 (b) BRIEFINGS.—The Secretary of State shall offer to 

2 the committees referred to in subsection (a)(1) a quarterly 

3 briefing that— 

4 (1) reviews assessed and voluntary contributions; 

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

6 adopt and effectively implement a results-based budg7 eting process in order to strategically prioritize, and 

8 where appropriate, reduce current and future man9 dates; 

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

11 adopt and effectively implement transparent and 

12 merit-based human resource standards and practices 

13 and transparent hiring, firing, and promotion stand14 ards and processes, including with respect to factors 

15 such as gender and national origin; 

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

17 adopt and effectively implement a practice of solic18 iting member quotas to be paid on a schedule that 

19 will improve the consistency of its operating budget; 

20 and 

21 (5) analyzes the progress made by the OAS to re22 view, streamline, and prioritize mandates to focus on 
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1 core missions and make efficient and effective use of 

2 available funding. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 793 

AMENDMENT