IC 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 793 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 9, 2013 

Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

AN ACT 

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, 


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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 Amer7 ican States recognizes that— 

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

10 of the Western Hemisphere; and 

11 (B) a purpose of the Organization of 

12 American States is to promote and consolidate 

13 representative democracy, with due respect for 

14 the principle of nonintervention. 

15 (2) The United States supports the purposes 

16 and principles enshrined in— 

17 (A) the Charter of the Organization of 

18 American States; 

19 (B) the Inter-American Democratic Char20 ter; and 

21 (C) the American Declaration on the 

22 Rights and Duties of Man. 

23 (3) The United States supports the Organiza24 tion of American States in its efforts with all mem25 ber states to meet our commitments under the in26 struments set forth in paragraph (2). 


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1 (4) Congress supports the Organization of 

2 American States as it operates in a manner con3 sistent with the Inter-American Democratic Charter. 

4 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

5 It is the policy of the United States— 

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

7 throughout the Western Hemisphere; 

8 (2) to promote and protect human rights and 

9 fundamental freedoms in the Western Hemisphere; 

10 and 

11 (3) to support the practices, purposes, and prin12 ciples expressed in the Charter of the Organization 

13 of American States, the American Declaration on 

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

15 Democratic Charter, and other fundamental instru16 ments of democracy. 

17 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

18 It is the sense of Congress that— 

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

20 should be the primary multi-lateral diplomatic entity 

21 for regional dispute resolution and promotion of 

22 democratic governance and institutions; 

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

24 to launch initiatives aimed to benefit the countries 

25 of the Western Hemisphere; 


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1 (3) the Summit of the Americas institution and 

2 process embodies a valuable complement to regional 

3 dialogue and cooperation; 

4 (4) the Summit of the Americas process should 

5 be formally and more effectively integrated into the 

6 work of the OAS, the Inter-American Development 

7 Bank, and other Members of the Joint Summit 

8 Working Group, and the OAS should play a central 

9 role in overseeing and managing the Summit proc10 ess; 

11 (5) the OAS General Assembly and the Summit 

12 of the Americas events should be combined geo13 graphically and chronologically in the years in which 

14 they coincide; 

15 (6) to ensure an appropriate balance of prior16 ities, the OAS should review its core functions no 

17 less than annually and seek opportunities to reduce 

18 the number of mandates not directly related to its 

19 core functions; 

20 (7) key OAS strengths lie in strengthening 

21 peace and security, promoting and consolidating rep22 resentative democracy, regional dispute resolution, 

23 election assistance and monitoring, fostering eco24 nomic growth and development cooperation, facili25 tating trade, addressing migration, combating illicit 


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1 drug trafficking and transnational crime, and sup2 port for the Inter-American Human Rights System; 

3 (8) the core competencies referred to in para4 graph (7) should remain central to the strategic 

5 planning process of the OAS and the consideration 

6 of future mandates; 

7 (9) any changes to OAS mandates should be ac8 cepted by the member states only after an analysis 

9 is conducted and formally presented consisting of a 

10 calculation of the financial costs associated with the 

11 mandate, an assessment of the comparative advan12 tage of the OAS in the implementation of the man13 date, and a description of the ways in which the 

14 mandate advances the organization’s core mission; 

15 (10) any new mandates should include, in addi16 tion to the analysis described in paragraph (9), an 

17 identification of the source of funding to be used to 

18 implement the mandate; 

19 (11) the OAS would benefit from enhanced co20 ordination between the OAS and the Inter-American 

21 Development Bank on issues that relate to economic 

22 development; 

23 (12) the OAS would benefit from standard re24 porting requirements for each project and grant 

25 agreement; and 


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1 (13) the OAS would benefit from effective im2 plementation of— 

3 (A) transparent and merit-based human 

4 resource standards and processes; and 

5 (B) transparent hiring, firing, and pro6 motion standards and processes, including with 

7 respect to factors such as gender and national 

8 origin. 

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

11 (a) STRATEGY.— 

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

13 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec14 retary of State shall submit to the Committee on 

15 Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee 

16 on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

17 a multiyear strategy that— 

18 (A) identifies a path toward the adoption 

19 of necessary reforms that prioritize and rein20 force the OAS’s core competencies described in 

21 section 4(7); 

22 (B) outlines an approach to secure from 

23 the OAS effective adoption of— 

24 (i) a results-based budgeting process 

25 in order to strategically prioritize, and 


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1 where appropriate, reduce current and fu2 ture mandates; and 

3 (ii) transparent hiring, firing, and 

4 promotion practices; and 

5 (C) reflects the inputs and coordination 

6 from other Executive Branch agencies, as ap7 propriate. 

8 (2) POLICY PRIORITIES AND COORDINATION.— 

9 The Secretary of State shall— 

10 (A) carry out diplomatic engagement to 

11 build support for reforms and budgetary burden 

12 sharing among OAS member states and observ13 ers; 

14 (B) promote donor coordination among 

15 OAS member states; and 

16 (C) help set priorities for the OAS. 

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

18 to the committees referred to in subsection (a)(1) a quar19 terly briefing that— 

20 (1) reviews assessed and voluntary contribu21 tions; 

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

23 adopt and effectively implement a results-based 

24 budgeting process in order to strategically prioritize, 


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1 and where appropriate, reduce current and future 

2 mandates; 

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

4 adopt and effectively implement transparent and 

5 merit-based human resource standards and practices 

6 and transparent hiring, firing, and promotion stand7 ards and processes, including with respect to factors 

8 such as gender and national origin; 

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

10 adopt and effectively implement a practice of solic11 iting member quotas to be paid on a schedule that 

12 will improve the consistency of its operating budget; 

13 and 

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

15 review, streamline, and prioritize mandates to focus 

16 on core missions and make efficient and effective use 

17 of available funding. 

Passed the Senate July 8, 2013. 

Attest: NANCY ERICKSON, 

Secretary. 


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