•HRES 1504 IH 
Whereas Carribean nations and the United States signed a 
joint declaration in January 2004, stating that the TBI 
is ‘‘a valuable framework for structuring our engagement 
across the broad spectrum of matter that affect the pros-
perity and the well being of the region and its peoples’’; 
Whereas the joint declaration further stated that the objec-
tive of the TBI is to focus United States and Caribbean 
engagement through targeted programs to enhance co-
operation in the diplomatic, security, economic, environ-
mental, health, and education areas; 
Whereas the TBI is a necessary component in defining an op-
timal relationship between the United States and its Car-
ibbean neighbors, and is critical to the establishment of 
effective counterterrorism measures to ensure security on 
the southeastern border of the United States; 
Whereas the TBI can strengthen United States partnerships 
with Caribbean nations in countering natural and man-
made threats to security; 
Whereas TBI programs can have a direct, positive effect on 
the safety and security of United States travelers to the 
region, as well as to the protection of United States 
homeland security; 
Whereas the TBI can strengthen regional and local border 
management, protecting against criminal and terrorist 
elements who seek to travel freely to and through the re-
gion, and enhancing the safety of some 5,000,000 United 
States travelers in the Caribbean; 
Whereas Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of 
American States Albert Ramdin stated in October 2007 
that the TBI was an ‘‘explicit recognition that the secu-
rity and development issues of neighboring states have 
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•HRES 1504 IH 
the potential to have a direct impact on security in the 
United States and vice versa; 
Whereas according to the Joint United Nations Programme 
on HIV/AIDS, AIDS remains one of the leading causes 
of death among adults in the Caribbean aged 25 to 44 
years old; 
Whereas because of their geographic location, many Carib-
bean nations are transit countries for cocaine and heroin 
from South America destined for the United States and 
Europe; 
Whereas many of the smaller countries of the Eastern Carib-
bean remain vulnerable to drug trafficking from South 
America and associated crimes; 
Whereas according to the White House Office of National 
Drug Control Policy, drug flights from Venezuela to His-
paniola in the central Caribbean grew from 27 to 81 in 
the first three-quarters of 2007; 
Whereas a March 2007 report by the United Nations Office 
on Drugs and Crime and the World Bank stated that 
narcotics trafficking in the Caribbean has contributed to 
high rates of crime and violence in the region, which in 
turn have had direct negative effects on human welfare, 
economic growth, and social development; 
Whereas a report published by the Council of Hemispheric 
Affairs in December 2007, stated that the Third Border 
Initiative is a vital program that have been put on the 
back burner; and 
Whereas annual funding for TBI activities has declined con-
siderably since fiscal year 2005: Now, therefore, be it 
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•HRES 1504 IH 
Resolved, That the United States House of Rep-
resentatives— 
(1) recognizes the special significance of the 
Caribbean as an important partner of the United 
States and seeks to build on the long history of con-
structive engagement between the United States and 
the Caribbean; 
(2) supports the Third Border Initiative (TBI) 
which is designed to enhance diplomatic, economic, 
health, education, disaster preparedness, and law en-
forcement cooperation and collaboration; 
(3) especially supports TBI activities that pro-
vide support to help Caribbean nations plan and pre-
pare for natural disasters; 
(4) urges the United States and Caribbean gov-
ernments to continue cooperative efforts to prevent, 
combat, and eliminate terrorist threats to hemi-
spheric security; 
(5) urges the United States and Caribbean gov-
ernments to expand strategies to contend with new 
and nontraditional threats, including political, eco-
nomic, social, health, and environmental challenges; 
(6) urges the President to increase efforts 
under the TBI to deepen cooperation and collabora-
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•HRES 1504 IH 
tion with Caribbean nations, including counter-
narcotics cooperation; 
(7) urges the President to stem the decline in 
the TBI funding levels that has occurred since fiscal 
year 2005; and 
(8) urges the Secretary of State to provide clear 
information to Congress in the Department of 
State’s annual Congressional Budget Justification 
for Foreign Operations on the amounts being re-
quested for the TBI and a description of the 
projects to be funded under the TBI. 
Æ 
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