III 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 629 

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of United States diplomatic relations with 

Colombia. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 11 (legislative day, MAY 10), 2022 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. COONS, Mr. RISCH, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, and 

Mr. CRUZ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of United States 

diplomatic relations with Colombia. 

Whereas, on August 7, 1819, Colombia (formerly known as 

‘‘The Great Colombia’’) concluded its campaign for independence from Spain with the Battle of Boyaca ́; 

Whereas, on March 18, 1822, the United States House of 

Representatives approved two resolutions that recognized 

the independence of Colombia and appropriated funds for 

the establishment of a diplomatic mission in Colombia; 

Whereas, on June 19, 1822, the United States and Colombia 

formally established diplomatic relations, and the accreditation of Colombia’s Manuel Torres made Torres the first 

charge ́ d’affaires from a Latin American country to the 

United States; 


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Whereas, on December 16, 1823, the United States appointed its first charge ́ d’affaires to Colombia, Richard 

Clough Anderson, Jr.; 

Whereas, on October 3, 1824, the United States and Colombia signed the first commercial agreement between the 

two countries, the Anderson-Gual Treaty, which entered 

into force in May 1825; 

Whereas, in 1943, during World War II, Colombia declared 

war on the Axis Powers, fighting in cooperation with the 

United States and the Allies; 

Whereas, in 1945, Colombia was one of 51 nations that participated in the San Francisco Conference and ratified 

the Charter of the United Nations; 

Whereas, in 1947, during the Ninth International Conference 

of American States in Bogota ́, Colombia, 21 countries, 

including the United States and Colombia, adopted the 

Charter of the Organization of American States, the 

American Treaty on Pacific Settlement, and the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man; 

Whereas, from 1950 to 1954, Colombia was the only country 

in Latin America that sent armed forces to South Korea 

to join the United Nations’ effort to defend South Korea 

against North Korea; 

Whereas the United States enacted the Andean Trade Preference Act (19 U.S.C. 3201 et seq.) on December 4, 

1991, and the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (title XXXI of division C of Public Law 107– 

210; 116 Stat. 1023) on August 6, 2002, granting dutyfree access to a wide range of exports from Colombia and 

other Andean countries, with the objective of promoting 


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commercial relations and combating illicit narcotics production and trafficking; 

Whereas, in 2000, the United States and Colombia launched 

Plan Colombia, a transformational security and economic 

development initiative to reduce crime, narcotics trafficking, and violence and strengthen State capacity in Colombia; 

Whereas, in April 2012, the United States and Colombia 

launched the United States-Colombia Action Plan on Regional Security Cooperation, using the lessons learned 

from Plan Colombia to counter the proliferation of 

transnational criminal organizations throughout the 

Western Hemisphere; 

Whereas, on May 15, 2012, the United States-Colombia 

Trade Promotion Agreement entered into force, which expanded commercial ties, economic growth, and employment opportunities in both the United States and Colombia; 

Whereas the United States is Colombia’s leading trade partner; 

Whereas, on June 25, 2013, Colombia signed an agreement 

with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on 

security cooperation and information sharing and in May 

2018, became the first and only global partner country 

of NATO in Latin America; 

Whereas, since 2012, the United States and Colombia have 

cooperated to bring peace and end a half century of 

armed conflict in Colombia, the longest armed conflict in 

the Western Hemisphere; 

Whereas, since 2018, Colombia and the United States have 

led the Orion international naval campaign to combat 


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maritime narcotics trafficking, and the jointly led campaign has strengthened the narcotics interdiction capabilities of 38 countries and 88 institutions, including in 

northern Central America; 

Whereas, on April 28, 2020, Colombia became the 37th member and third country in Latin America to join the 

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); 

Whereas Colombia is one of the most consistent and reliable 

allies of the United States because of Colombia’s support 

for shared diplomatic and security objectives; 

Whereas Colombians and Colombian Americans residing in 

the United States have greatly contributed to enriching 

the society, culture, economy of, and science developed 

by, the United States and have helped further strengthen 

the ties between the United States and Colombia; 

Whereas, on February 8, 2021, Colombia granted temporary 

protected status to more than 1,800,000 Venezuelans for 

10 years, a measure that was welcomed by the United 

States and the international community and will ensure 

Venezuelan migrants and refugees in Colombia have access to health care, education, housing, and formal employment opportunities; 

Whereas, following that announcement, Secretary of State 

Antony Blinken commended Colombia’s humanitarian 

leadership and innovative response to the worst refugee 

crisis in Latin America; and 

Whereas, on March 10, 2022, the United States announced 

it would designate Colombia as a major non-NATO ally: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 


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1 (1) celebrates the 200th anniversary of diplo2 matic relations between the United States and Co3 lombia; 

4 (2) recognizes the critical role that Colombia 

5 plays in promoting stability and prosperity in the 

6 Western Hemisphere; 

7 (3) recognizes the vital strategic alliance be8 tween the United States and Colombia, built on a 

9 shared commitment to democracy; 

10 (4) celebrates the contributions made by Colom11 bians and Colombian Americans to the United 

12 States; 

13 (5) reaffirms the steadfast support of the peo14 ple of the United States for the people of Colombia 

15 in their pursuit of peace, stability, and prosperity; 

16 and 

17 (6) encourages strengthening cooperation with 

18 Colombia in areas such as technology, education, en19 ergy transition, and nearshoring, as well as in joint 

20 efforts toward the protection of democracy in the 

21 Western Hemisphere. 

Æ 


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