II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1750

To amend section 490 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to establish

an additional certification with respect to major drug-producing and

drug-transit countries, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 12, 1998

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself and Mr. DOMENICI) introduced the following

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To amend section 490 of the Foreign Assistance Act of

1961 to establish an additional certification with respect

to major drug-producing and drug-transit countries, 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. ADDITIONAL CERTIFICATION REGARDING

4 DRUG-PRODUCING AND DRUG-TRANSIT

5 COUNTRIES.

6 (a) ADDITIONAL CERTIFICATION.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b)(1) of section

2 490 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22

3 U.S.C. 2291j) is amended—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara5 graph (A);

6 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as

7 subparagraph (C);

8 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (A)

9 the following new subparagraph (B):

10 ‘‘(B) during the previous year, the coun11 try—

12 ‘‘(i) has cooperated with the United

13 States, or has taken steps on its own, to

14 achieve compliance with the goals and ob15 jectives established by the United Nations

16 Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Nar17 cotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances;

18 but;

19 ‘‘(ii) has not made adequate progress

20 toward meeting certain plans, programs, or

21 timetables (including plans, programs, or

22 timetables relating to the Convention)

23 identified in the most recent report of the

24 President under section 489(a)(4); or’’;

25 and
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1 (D) in subparagraph (C), as so redesig2 nated, by inserting ‘‘or (B)’’ after ‘‘subpara3 graph (A)’’.

4 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—That section

5 is further amended—

6 (A) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘para7 graph (1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph

8 (1)(C)’’;

9 (B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘sub10 section (b)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph

11 (A) or (B) of subsection (b)(1)’’; and

12 (C) in subsection (f)—

13 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub14 section (b)(1)(A) or (b)(1)(B)’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and

16 (ii) in paragraph (2)—

17 (I) by striking ‘‘subsection

18 (b)(1)(B)’’ each place it appears and

19 inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(1)(C)’’; and

20 (II) in clause (ii)(I), by striking

21 ‘‘subsection (b)(1)(A)’’ and inserting

22 ‘‘subsection (b)(1)(A) or (b)(1)(B)’’.

23 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO

24 QUALIFIED CERTIFICATION.—That section is further

25 amended by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO

2 QUALIFIED CERTIFICATION.—

3 ‘‘(1) HIGH-LEVEL CONTACT GROUP.—In the

4 event of a certification with respect to a country

5 under subsection (b)(1)(B), a high-level contact

6 group should be convened consisting of, but not lim7 ited to, the following officials (or their designees)

8 from the United States and their counterparts from

9 the country:

10 ‘‘(A) The Attorney General.

11 ‘‘(B) The Director of the Office of Na12 tional Drug Control Policy.

13 ‘‘(C) The Secretary of the Treasury.

14 ‘‘(D) The Secretary of State.

15 ‘‘(E) The Administrator of the Drug En16 forcement Administration.

17 ‘‘(F) The Director of the Federal Bureau

18 of Investigation.

19 ‘‘(G) The Commissioner of Customs.

20 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each high-level con22 tact group with respect to a country should es23 tablish specific, achievable benchmarks for the

24 country for each plan, program, and timetable
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1 referred to in subsection (b)(1)(B)(ii) for which

2 inadequate progress has been made.

3 ‘‘(B) PURPOSE.—The purpose of a bench4 mark under this paragraph is to permit the

5 United States and the country concerned to

6 verify in an objective manner the progress of

7 the country under the plan, program, or time8 table concerned.

9 ‘‘(C) ELEMENTS.—Each benchmark under

10 this paragraph shall—

11 ‘‘(i) establish one or more specific,

12 measurable goals or objectives with respect

13 each plan, program, or timetable con14 cerned, including a goal or objective relat15 ing to arrests, extradition, eradication of

16 drug-related crops, money-laundering, and

17 other appropriate matters; and

18 ‘‘(ii) fix the time in which each such

19 goal or objective is to be met.

20 ‘‘(3) DEADLINE.—A high-level contact group

21 with respect to a country should complete its activi22 ties under paragraph (2) not later than 60 days

23 after the date of the certification with respect to the

24 country under subsection (b)(1)(B).

25 ‘‘(4) BENCHMARK REPORT.—
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1 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than Sep2 tember 1 each year, the President shall, after

3 consultation with the Attorney General, submit

4 to Congress a report setting forth the bench5 marks established under this subsection during

6 that year.

7 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—A report under sub8 paragraph (A) shall—

9 ‘‘(i) identify each country covered by

10 the report;

11 ‘‘(ii) set forth each benchmark estab12 lished with respect to the country; and

13 ‘‘(iii) describe any progress made by

14 the country in meeting each such bench15 mark.

16 ‘‘(5) REPORT ON PROGRESS.—With respect to

17 each country for which benchmarks are established

18 under this subsection in a year, the President shall,

19 after consultation with the Attorney General, include

20 in the report submitted to Congress under section

21 489(a) in the following year a report that describes

22 the progress made by the country in meeting such

23 benchmarks.

24 ‘‘(j) USE OF BENCHMARKS IN FUTURE CERTIFI25 CATIONS.—In the case of a country for which benchmarks
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1 are established under subsection (i) in a year, the Presi2 dent shall place the greatest emphasis on the progress

3 made by the country with respect to each such benchmark

4 (as described in the report under paragraph (5) of that

5 subsection) in making a certification with respect to the

6 country under this section in the following year.’’.

7 (c) APPLICABILITY TO MEXICO.—It is the sense of

8 Congress that—

9 (1) a high-level contact group should be con10 vened with respect to Mexico in 1998, as described

11 in subsection (i) of section 490 of the Foreign As12 sistance of 1961, as added by subsection (b);

13 (2) the provisions of such subsection (i) should

14 apply to the activities of the contact group; and

15 (3) the provisions of subsection (j) of that sec16 tion, as so added, should apply to the certification

17 of Mexico in 1999 under such section.

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