II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1310 

To strengthen the participation of elected national legislators in the activities 

of the Organization of American States and reaffirm United States 

support for Organization of American States human rights and anticorruption initiatives, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2019 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To strengthen the participation of elected national legislators 

in the activities of the Organization of American States 

and reaffirm United States support for Organization of 

American States human rights and anti-corruption initiatives, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Organization of Amer5 ican States Legislative Engagement Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) The Charter of the Organization of Amer2 ican States establishes that ‘‘representative democ3 racy is an indispensable condition for the stability, 

4 peace and development of the region’’. 

5 (2) Article 2 of the Inter-American Democratic 

6 Charter of the Organization of American States af7 firms that ‘‘the effective exercise of representative 

8 democracy is the basis for the rule of law and of the 

9 constitutional regimes of the member states of the 

10 Organization of American States’’. 

11 (3) Article 26 of the Inter-American Demo12 cratic Charter states that ‘‘the OAS will continue to 

13 carry out programs and activities designed to pro14 mote democratic principles and practices and 

15 strengthen a democratic culture in the Hemisphere’’. 

16 (4) In accordance with the OAS Charter and 

17 the Inter-American Democratic Charter, the OAS 

18 General Assembly, OAS Permanent Council, and 

19 OAS Secretariat have established a wide range of co20 operative agreements with domestic and inter21 national organizations, including national legislative 

22 institutions. 

23 (5) In 2004, OAS General Assembly Resolution 

24 2044 (XXXIV–O/04) appealed for the ‘‘strength25 ening of legislatures, as well as inter-parliamentary 


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1 cooperation on key items of the inter-American 

2 agenda, with a view, in particular, to generating ini3 tiatives to fight corruption, poverty, inequality, and 

4 social exclusion’’. 

5 (6) In 2005, OAS General Assembly Resolution 

6 2095 (XXXV–O/05) called on the OAS Secretariat 

7 to ‘‘invite [. . .] the presidents or speakers of the 

8 national legislative institutions of the Americas, i.e., 

9 congresses, parliaments, or national assemblies, 

10 [. . .] to attend a special meeting of the Permanent 

11 Council [. . .] for the initiation of a dialogue on top12 ics on the hemispheric agenda’’. 

13 (7) In 2014 and 2015, the OAS Secretariat ex14 panded its engagement with elected national legisla15 tors from OAS member states by convening two 

16 meetings of presidents of national legislatures, first 

17 in Lima, Peru and subsequently in Santiago, Chile. 

18 (8) However, no formal, permanent procedures 

19 exist to facilitate the participation of elected national 

20 legislators from OAS member states in OAS activi21 ties. 

22 (9) The Organization for Security and Co-oper23 ation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly 

24 has proven successful at strengthening inter-par25 liamentary cooperation among its member states. 


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1 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is that sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) elected national legislators play an essential 

4 role in the exercise of representative democracy in 

5 the Americas, including— 

6 (A) promoting the rule of law and com7 bating corruption; 

8 (B) defending human rights and funda9 mental freedoms; and 

10 (C) advancing the principles and practices 

11 expressed in the Charter of the Organization of 

12 American States, the American Declaration on 

13 the Rights and Duties of Man, and the Inter14 American Democratic Charter; 

15 (2) establishing procedures and formal mecha16 nisms to facilitate and formalize the participation of 

17 elected national legislators from OAS member states 

18 in OAS activities would contribute to the promotion 

19 of democratic principles and practices and strength20 en a democratic culture in the Western Hemisphere; 

21 (3) increasing and strengthening the participa22 tion of elected national legislators from OAS mem23 ber states in OAS activities would advance the prin24 ciples and proposals expressed in section 4 of the 

25 Organization of American States Revitalization and 


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1 Reform Act of 2013 (Public Law 113–41; 127 Stat. 

2 549); 

3 (4) the OAS General Assembly, OAS Perma4 nent Council, and OAS Secretariat should take all 

5 necessary steps to ensure greater participation of 

6 elected national legislators from OAS member states 

7 in OAS activities; 

8 (5) the OAS Permanent Council resolutions ti9 tled ‘‘Guidelines for the Participation of Civil Society 

10 in OAS Activities’’ and ‘‘Strategies for Increasing 

11 and Strengthening Participation by Civil Society Or12 ganizations in OAS Activities’’ should serve as im13 portant references for efforts to bolster the partici14 pation of elected national legislators from OAS 

15 member states in OAS activities; and 

16 (6) the successful experience of the Organiza17 tion for Security and Co-operation in Europe Par18 liamentary Assembly should serve as a model to the 

19 OAS in creating a similar mechanism. 

20 SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING PARTICIPATION OF LEGISLATORS 

21 AT THE OAS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, acting 

23 through the United States Mission to the Organization of 

24 American States, shall take all necessary steps to establish 


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1 formal procedures for the Organization of American 

2 States that— 

3 (1) increase the participation of elected national 

4 legislators from OAS member state countries in 

5 OAS activities, specifically including activities that 

6 advance the principles of the Inter-American Demo7 cratic Charter; 

8 (2) create an annual forum for the presidents 

9 of national legislatures from OAS member states to 

10 discuss issues of hemispheric importance, including 

11 regional efforts to combat corruption and defend 

12 human rights; 

13 (3) permit elected national legislators from 

14 OAS member states to make presentations, con15 tribute information, and provide expert advice, as 

16 appropriate, to the OAS Secretariat, OAS Perma17 nent Council, and OAS General Assembly; 

18 (4) leads to the creation of a formalized body 

19 or mechanism to permanently facilitate the partici20 pation of national legislators in OAS activities; and 

21 (5) strengthen OAS Secretariat programs that 

22 provide technical assistance for the modernization 

23 and institutional consolidation of national legisla24 tures from OAS member states. 


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1 (b) DIPLOMATIC ENGAGEMENT AND COORDINA2 TION.—The Secretary of State, as appropriate, shall carry 

3 out diplomatic engagement to secure political and financial 

4 support for the establishment of the procedures set forth 

5 in subsection (a). 

6 (c) PROGRESS REPORT.—Not later than one year 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

8 of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Rela9 tions of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

10 of the House of Representatives a report on OAS proc11 esses, initiatives, and reforms undertaken to implement 

12 this section. 

13 SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR OAS HUMAN RIGHTS AND ANTI-COR14 RUPTION INITIATIVES. 

15 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con16 gress that— 

17 (1) the Organization of American States’ Inter18 American Commission on Human Rights is the pre19 eminent institution for defending human rights in 

20 the Americas; 

21 (2) the United States should take all necessary 

22 steps to support and strengthen the role of the 

23 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and 

24 its work in the Americas; 


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1 (3) the efforts of the OAS Secretary General 

2 and Secretariat to combat corruption and impunity 

3 in the Americas represent important contributions to 

4 strengthening the rule of law and democratic govern5 ance in the Americas; and 

6 (4) the United States should support efforts to 

7 ensure the effectiveness and independence of OAS 

8 initiatives to combat corruption and impunity in the 

9 Americas. 

10 (b) ANTI-CORRUPTION AND HUMAN RIGHTS PRO11 MOTION STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after the 

12 date of the enactment of the Act, the Secretary of State 

13 shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

14 Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

15 House of Representatives a strategy for supporting OAS 

16 anti-corruption and human rights promotion efforts, in17 cluding— 

18 (1) an assessment of United States programs, 

19 activities, and initiatives with the OAS to support 

20 anti-corruption and human rights promotion in the 

21 Americas; 

22 (2) a summary of steps taken by the United 

23 States Mission to the OAS to strengthen the role of 

24 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 


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1 and to support anti-corruption and anti-impunity ef2 forts in the Americas; 

3 (3) an assessment of necessary reforms and ini4 tiatives to prioritize and reinforce the OAS Secretary 

5 General and Secretariat’s efforts to advance human 

6 rights and combat corruption and impunity in the 

7 Americas; 

8 (4) a detailed strategy to facilitate increased 

9 OAS collaboration, as appropriate, with relevant 

10 stakeholders, including legislators and civil society, 

11 in support of a multi-sectoral approach to anti-cor12 ruption, anti-impunity, and human rights promotion 

13 efforts in the Americas; and 

14 (5) a detailed plan for implementing the strat15 egy set forth in this section of the Act. 

16 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—General.—Not later than one 

17 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annu18 ally thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the 

19 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 

20 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representa21 tives a report on actions taken to implement the strategy 

22 mandated under subsection (b). The report shall include— 

23 (1) an analysis of the progress made by the 

24 OAS to adopt and effectively implement reforms and 


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1 initiatives to advance human rights and combat cor2 ruption and impunity in the Americas; and 

3 (2) a detailed assessment of OAS efforts to in4 crease multi-sectoral stakeholder engagement to ad5 vance human rights and combat corruption and im6 punity in the Americas. 

Æ 


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