II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 596

To provide that the annual drug certification procedures under the Foreign

Assistance Act of 1961 not apply to certain countries with which the

United States has bilateral agreements and other plans relating to

counterdrug activities, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 11, 1999

Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Mr. DODD, and Mr. GRAMM) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign

Relations

A BILL

To provide that the annual drug certification procedures

under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 not apply

to certain countries with which the United States has

bilateral agreements and other plans relating to

counterdrug activities, 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. FINDINGS.

4 Congress makes the following findings:

5 (1) The international traffic in illicit drugs,

6 particularly along the Southwest Border, poses a se7 rious threat to the national security of the United
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1 States and to every nation where the production,

2 transit, or consumption of such drugs occurs.

3 (2) The United States considers combating

4 international drug cartels to be one of its highest na5 tional security and foreign policy priorities.

6 (3) In order to reduce and eliminate the illicit

7 drug trade, the United States and countries where

8 substantial production or transit of such drugs oc9 curs must cooperate to eradicate and interdict sup10 plies of such drugs and to penetrate the operations

11 of major drug traffickers.

12 (4) It is in the national interest that the Presi13 dent explore all possible mechanisms, including bilat14 eral agreements and other plans on counternarcotics

15 matters, in order to facilitate cooperation in joint

16 counternarcotics programs and to better assist other

17 governments in developing effective counternarcotics

18 programs within their territories.

19 (5) The bilateral agreements and other plans on

20 counternarcotics matters to which the United States

21 is a party should establish concrete and measurable

22 goals with transparent benchmarks for measuring

23 progress in the achievement of such goals.
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1 SEC. 2. INAPPLICABILITY OF ANNUAL DRUG CERTIFI2 CATION PROCEDURES TO CERTAIN COUN3 TRIES COVERED BY BILATERAL

4 COUNTERDRUG AGREEMENTS AND PLANS

5 WITH THE UNITED STATES.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 490 of the Foreign Assist7 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2291j) is amended by adding

8 at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(i) INAPPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN COUNTRIES HAV10 ING BILATERAL COUNTERDRUG AGREEMENTS AND

11 PLANS WITH THE UNITED STATES.—

12 ‘‘(1) INAPPLICABILITY.—Subsections (a)

13 through (g) shall not apply in a fiscal year to a

14 country to which such subsections would otherwise

15 apply in that fiscal year if the President determines,

16 not later than December 31 of that fiscal year and

17 after consultation with the Secretary of State, the

18 Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, the

19 Director of the Office of National Drug Control Pol20 icy, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investiga21 tion, the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement

22 Administration, the Commissioner of Immigration

23 and Naturalization, and the Commissioner of Cus24 toms, that—
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1 ‘‘(A) the country is a party to a bilateral

2 agreement and other plans with the United

3 States, which agreement and plans together—

4 ‘‘(i) are consistent with the goals and

5 objectives established by international

6 agreements on the illicit trafficking and

7 abuse of narcotics and psychotropic drugs

8 to which the United States and the coun9 try are parties;

10 ‘‘(ii) address issues relating to the

11 control of illicit drugs, including produc12 tion, distribution, and interdiction, demand

13 reduction, the activities of criminal organi14 zations, cooperation among law enforce15 ment agencies (including the exchange of

16 information and evidence), extradition of

17 individuals involved in drug-related crimi18 nal activity, border security, money laun19 dering, firearms trafficking, corruption,

20 control of chemicals, asset forfeiture, and

21 training and technical assistance; and

22 ‘‘(iii) include timetables and objective

23 and measurable standards to assess the

24 progress made by both countries with re25 spect to such issues; and
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1 ‘‘(B) progress is being made in accordance

2 with the agreement and plans with respect to

3 the control of illicit drugs.

4 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—Not later than December 31

5 and June 30 of a fiscal year, the President shall

6 submit to Congress a report on the progress made

7 with respect to the control of illicit drugs by each

8 country determined to be covered by paragraph (1)

9 for that fiscal year.’’.

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

11 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact12 ment of this Act, and shall apply with respect to the with13 holding of bilateral assistance and opposition to multilat14 eral assistance under section 490 of the Foreign Assist15 ance Act of 1961 for fiscal years after fiscal year 1999.

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