III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 120 

Recognizing the Ninth Summit of the Americas and reaffirming the commitment of the United States to a more prosperous, secure, and democratic 

Western Hemisphere. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 17 (legislative day, MARCH 16), 2021 

Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. KAINE, and Mr. 

CASSIDY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

MARCH 24, 2021 

Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, without amendment and with an amendment to 

the preamble 

MAY 12, 2021 

Considered and agreed to with an amended preamble 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the Ninth Summit of the Americas and reaffirming the commitment of the United States to a more 

prosperous, secure, and democratic Western Hemisphere. 

Whereas the United States has pursued multiple collaborative 

initiatives to advance the region’s enduring and shared 

interest in a more secure, prosperous, and democratic 

Western Hemisphere; 


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Whereas the United States will host the Ninth Summit of the 

Americas for the first time since it hosted the inaugural 

Summit in Miami, Florida in 1994; 

Whereas, since 1994, the Summit of the Americas is a valuable forum for democratically elected heads of state and 

governments of the Western Hemisphere to discuss common policy issues, affirm shared values, and commit to 

concerted actions at the national and regional level to address the novel and existing challenges facing the Americas; 

Whereas the First and Second Summits of the Americas advanced commitments to lower trade barriers, improve 

transparency and market access, and facilitate economic 

integration, and, following those Summits, the United 

States has signed free trade agreements with 12 of the 

35 countries in the region; 

Whereas, since 2018, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, 

Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, 

Suriname, and Uruguay have signed Memorandums of 

Understanding with the United States under the America 

Crece Program to leverage private investment in energy 

and infrastructure projects and advance economic prosperity, security, and good governance; 

Whereas, during the 2018 Summit of the Americas, the 

United States announced additional humanitarian assistance for Venezuelans who have fled their country as a result of the political, economic, and security crises created 

by the regime of Nicola ́s Maduro, including support for 

the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 

(UNHCR) response to assist Venezuelan refugees in Colombia and Brazil; 


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Whereas Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and 

their involvement in money laundering and the trafficking 

of people, narcotics, and weapons in the region pose complex transnational threats to United States public health 

and national security, as well as the stability of the 

Americas, by undermining citizen security, basic human 

rights, the rule of law, good governance, and economic 

development; 

Whereas the United States has sought to improve regional security through friendly and sustained relationships that 

build interoperability, readiness, and capability with regional security partners, including through programs 

such as Plan Colombia, the Merida Initiative, the Central 

America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), and the 

Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI); 

Whereas the pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 

(commonly referred to as ‘‘COVID–19’’) has had devastating health and socioeconomic consequences for the 

states and peoples of the Americas that have— 

(1) overwhelmed health systems; 

(2) led to the worsening of economic conditions and 

contraction of gross domestic product per capita; 

(3) led to an increase in unemployment, especially 

for individuals working in small- and medium-size businesses and large informal sectors across the region, and 

a rise in the number of people living in poverty; and 

(4) created conditions that have strengthened the illicit activities of criminal organizations; 

Whereas the United States Government remains deeply concerned about the negative, often predatory effects of China’s growing political, economic, military, and technological influence throughout the region, including signifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR120.ATS SR120

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cant illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing activities 

in the Southern Atlantic Ocean and Eastern Pacific 

Ocean and opaque infrastructure investments that impose 

unsustainable financial burdens on recipient countries, 

enable corruption, and undermine good governance; 

Whereas the United States Government is deeply concerned 

about the Government of the Russian Federation’s employment of a wide array of diplomatic, military, intelligence, cyber, misinformation, and commercial tools to 

undermine democratic systems in the region, including 

through its deepening political, economic, and security 

support for the Maduro regime in Venezuela; 

Whereas the United States Government is deeply concerned 

about efforts by the Government of Iran to expand its political, economic, and security presence in the region, including through its deepening ties with the Maduro regime in Venezuela; 

Whereas the regimes of Nicola ́s Maduro in Venezuela, Miguel 

Dı ́az-Canel in Cuba, and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, 

have systematically eroded democratic institutions, commit widespread human rights violations, draw lessons 

from one another to sharpen state-sponsored repression 

and internal control mechanisms, and receive the support 

of malign state and non-state actors, which pose a challenge to United States national security and national interests; 

Whereas entrenched corruption, linkages between transnational criminal organizations and political actors, and the 

harassment and murder of journalists, human rights defenders, environmental activists, and civil society leaders 

in Latin America and the Caribbean weaken citizens’ 


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confidence in democracy and negatively affect United 

States national interests; and 

Whereas weak rule of law, elevated levels of criminal violence, 

and systemic corruption in El Salvador, Guatemala, and 

Honduras fuel irregular migration that affects regional 

stability: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) commemorates the occasion of the United 

3 States hosting the Ninth Summit of the Americas; 

4 (2) reaffirms the commitment of the United 

5 States to promote economic prosperity, security, and 

6 democratic governance throughout the Americas; 

7 and 

8 (3) calls on the President to lead a strong and 

9 coordinated diplomatic effort during the Summit 

10 process to ensure the Ninth Summit of the Amer11 icas— 

12 (A) strengthens democratic governance by 

13 building on the 2018 Lima Commitment to— 

14 (i) reduce bureaucracy; 

15 (ii) strengthen the independence of ju16 diciaries; 

17 (iii) increase transparency through the 

18 use of new technologies; 


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1 (iv) encourage private sector partici2 pation in the formulation of public anti3 corruption policies; 

4 (v) protect whistleblowers, journalists, 

5 and law enforcement officials; 

6 (vi) work towards preventing regional 

7 financial systems from being used to trans8 fer and conceal illicit funds; and 

9 (vii) identify resources to strengthen 

10 hemispheric anticorruption mechanisms; 

11 (B) strengthens post-COVID–19 pandemic 

12 economic recovery efforts by outlining specific 

13 commitments to deepen trade and investment 

14 integration throughout the Americas and pur15 suing effective nearshoring and reshoring initia16 tives; 

17 (C) builds upon United States efforts to 

18 enhance the institutional capacity and technical 

19 capabilities of partner countries to strengthen 

20 the rule of law, civilian security, respect of 

21 human rights, and government transparency; 

22 (D) builds upon United States efforts to 

23 enhance regional cooperation to disrupt, de24 grade, and dismantle malign state and non25 state influences, including transnational orgaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:05 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR120.ATS SR120

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1 nized criminal networks, and terrorist organiza2 tions; 

3 (E) reinforces the capacity of member 

4 states to— 

5 (i) implement actions and initiatives 

6 in support of peaceful and democratic ef7 forts of the people of Cuba, Nicaragua, 

8 and Venezuela, who desire to hold free and 

9 fair elections and restore democratic order 

10 and the rule of law in their respective 

11 countries; and 

12 (ii) support the people of El Salvador, 

13 Guatemala, and Honduras as they strive to 

14 address weak democratic governance and 

15 the elevated levels of corruption, violence, 

16 and criminality that drive irregular migra17 tion; and 

18 (F) explores a comprehensive approach to 

19 forced displacement and migration challenges in 

20 the Western Hemisphere, takes stock of human21 itarian crises and flashpoints in the region, and 

22 mobilizes member state commitments to advo23 cate for and support multilateral humanitarian 

24 and development responses. 

Æ 


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