Celebrating the 200th anniversary of United States diplomatic relations with Colombia.

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of United States diplomatic relations with Colombia. Whereas, on August 7, 1819, Colombia (formerly known as The Great Colombia 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 Colombias Manuel Torres made Torres the first charg d'affaires from a Latin American country to the United States; Whereas, on December 16, 1823, the United States appointed its first charg 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 Bogot, 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. Public Law 107210 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 Colombias 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 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 Colombias 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 That the Senate (1) celebrates the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Colombia; (2) recognizes the critical role that Colombia plays in promoting stability and prosperity in the Western Hemisphere; (3) recognizes the vital strategic alliance between the United States and Colombia, built on a shared commitment to democracy; (4) celebrates the contributions made by Colombians and Colombian Americans to the United States; (5) reaffirms the steadfast support of the people of the United States for the people of Colombia in their pursuit of peace, stability, and prosperity; and (6) encourages strengthening cooperation with Colombia in areas such as technology, education, energy transition, and nearshoring, as well as in joint efforts toward the protection of democracy in the Western Hemisphere.

Summary: This resolution celebrates the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Colombia. The resolution recognizes the vital strategic alliance between the United States and Colombia, built on a shared commitment to democracy. The resolution also celebrates the contributions made by Colombians and Colombian Americans to the United States.