IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 865 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the March 2007 

report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development makes an important 

contribution to the understanding of the high levels of crime and violence 

in the Caribbean, and that the United States should work with Caribbean 

countries to address crime and violence in the region. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 11, 2007 

Ms. CLARKE (for herself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Ms. JACKSONLEE of Texas, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. WATERS, Mr. FORTUN ̃O, Mr. MEEKS

of New York, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. HARE, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. 

MCNULTY, Mr. SIRES, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, 

Mr. RUSH, Mr. FATTAH, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. ARCURI, Ms. EDDIE

BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. LEE, Mr. TOWNS, Mrs. MALONEY of 

New York, Mr. ACKERMAN, Ms. WATSON, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of 

California, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. CROWLEY, and Mr. KLEIN of Florida) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the March 2007 report of the United Nations Office 

on Drugs and Crime and the International Bank for 

Reconstruction and Development makes an important 

contribution to the understanding of the high levels of 

crime and violence in the Caribbean, and that the United 


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•HRES 865 IH 

States should work with Caribbean countries to address 

crime and violence in the region. 

Whereas, in his 2006 New Year’s address, then Prime Minister of Jamaica, P.J. Patterson, said, ‘‘Without a doubt, 

the high level of violent crime remains our most troubling 

and pressing problem.’’; 

Whereas, in opening the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago 

in September 2005, President George Maxwell Richards 

said his country was in crisis due to the escalating crime 

rate; 

Whereas, in March 2007, the United Nations Office on 

Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Bank 

for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) 

issued a report entitled, ‘‘Crime, Violence, and Development: Trends, Costs, and Policy Options in the Caribbean’’; 

Whereas the UNODC and World Bank report presents detailed analyses of crime and violence in the Caribbean region and offers possible policy responses; 

Whereas the UNODC and World Bank report draws on input 

from governments, civil society organizations, and Caribbean experts; 

Whereas the UNODC and World Bank offer the following 

facts about crime in the Caribbean: 

(1) the Caribbean region has the highest murder 

and assault rates in the world, with murder rates at 4 

times the level of the United States; and 

(2) Trinidad and Tobago doubled its kidnapping 

rate between 1999 and 2005; 


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•HRES 865 IH 

Whereas the UNODC and World Bank report that high 

crime levels have long term developmental effects on the 

Caribbean: 

(1) crime cost the Jamaican economy 

$12,400,000,000 in Jamaican dollars, 3.7 percent of its 

gross domestic product, in 2001; and 

(2) reducing the region-wide homicide rate by 1⁄3

could over double the rate of economic growth per capita; 

and 

Whereas the UNODC and World Bank report reached the 

following conclusions: 

(1) Caribbean countries are transit points and not 

producers of cocaine. Interdiction needs to be complemented by other strategies outside the region: principally demand reduction in consumer countries and 

eradication and/or alternative development in producer 

countries; 

(2) expansion of gun ownership and illegal gun trafficking is a dangerous outgrowth of the drug trade. Although reducing gun ownership is difficult, better gun 

registries, marking, and tracking can help, as can improved gun interdiction in ports. Policies should also 

focus on limiting the availability of firearms and on providing meaningful alternatives to youth; 

(3) deaths and injuries from youth violence constitute a major threat to public health and social and economic progress across the Caribbean. Youth are disproportionately represented in the ranks of both victims 

and perpetrators of crime and violence; 

(4) although the average deportee from the United 

States to the Caribbean is not involved in criminal activity, a minority of deportees may be causing serious problems, both by direct involvement in crime and by proVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:13 Dec 13, 2007 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR865.IH HR865

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viding a perverse role model for youth. The report recommends that more services be offered to reintegrate deportees, with deporting countries contributing to the cost 

of these programs; 

(5) in general, there is an over-reliance on the criminal justice system to reduce crime in the region, but some 

types of crime, such as organized crime, and drug and 

firearms trafficking, are generally impervious to prevention initiatives; their control requires an efficient criminal 

justice system. Urgent priorities for improving the criminal justice system in the region include: the development 

of management information systems, tracking of justice 

system performance, monitoring of reform programs, and 

increased accountability to citizens; 

(6) several Caribbean countries are increasingly investing in crime prevention—using approaches such as 

integrated citizen security programs, crime prevention 

through environmental design, and a public health approach that focuses on risk factors for violent behaviors; 

(7) youth violence is a particularly serious problem 

in the region, and youth homicide rates in several countries of the region are significantly above the world average. To address issues of youth violence, Caribbean policymakers should invest in programs that have been 

shown to be successful in careful evaluations such as: (i) 

early childhood development and mentoring programs; (ii) 

interventions to keep high risk youth in secondary 

schools; and (iii) opening schools after hours and on 

weekends to offer additional activities and training; and 

(8) many of the issues facing the Caribbean transcend national boundaries and require a coordinated regional and international response. Demand for drugs 

emanates from Europe and the United States; deportees 


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are sent back to the region from the United States, the 

United Kingdom, and Canada; and many weapons that 

are trafficked are brought from the United States: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) welcomes the recommendations contained in 

3 the March 2007 UNODC and World Bank report, 

4 ‘‘Crime, Violence, and Development: Trends, Costs, 

5 and Policy Options in the Caribbean’’; 

6 (2) urges the United States Government to con7 sider fully and carefully the recommendations in the 

8 UNODC and World Bank Report and to take the 

9 recommendations into account when developing 

10 United States policy toward the region; 

11 (3) urges the governments of United States and 

12 other drug-consuming countries to increase counter13 narcotics assistance to the Caribbean region; 

14 (4) urges the United States Government to in15 crease coordination on policy development and imple16 mentation with Caribbean governments to help com17 bat crime and violence in the region; 

18 (5) urges the Department of State and the De19 partment of Homeland Security to work with Carib20 bean governments to mitigate the negative effects of 

21 United States deportation policy; and 


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1 (6) urges governments of Caribbean countries 

2 to consider fully and carefully the recommendations 

3 in the UNODC and World Bank Report, and to take 

4 the recommendations into account, especially regard5 ing improvements in their criminal justice systems. 

Æ 


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