I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5196
To promote, protect, and enhance democracy and human rights in United
States foreign policy.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 18, 2000
Mr. GILMAN (for himself and Mr. GEJDENSON) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
A BILL
To promote, protect, and enhance democracy and human
rights in United States foreign policy.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Human Rights Invest-
ment Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Supporting human rights is in the national
interests of the United States and is consistent with
American values and beliefs.
(2) Defenders of human rights are changing
our world in many ways, including protecting free-
dom and dignity, religious liberty, the rights of
women and children, freedom of the press, the rights
of workers, the environment, and the human rights
of all persons.
(3) The United States must match its rhetoric
on human rights with action and with sufficient re-
sources to provide meaningful support for human
rights and for the defenders of human rights.
(4) Congress passed and the President signed
into law the International Arms Sales Code of Con-
duct Act of 1999 (Public Law 106–113; 113 Stat.
1501A–508), which directed the President to seek
negotiations on a binding international agreement to
limit, restrict, or prohibit arms transfers to countries
that do not observe certain fundamental values of
human liberty, peace, and international stability,
and provided that such an international agreement
should include a prohibition on arms sales to coun-
tries that engage in gross violations of internation-
ally recognized human rights.
(5) The arms export end-use monitoring sys-
tems currently in place should be improved and pro-
vided with sufficient funds to accomplish their mis-
sion.
SEC. 3. SALARIES AND EXPENSES OF THE BUREAU OF DE-
MOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR.
For fiscal year 2001 and each fiscal year thereafter,
not less than 1 percent of the amounts made available to
the Department of State under the heading ‘‘Diplomatic
and Consular Programs’’ shall be made available only for
salaries and expenses of the Bureau of Democracy,
Human Rights, and Labor, including funding of positions
at United States missions abroad that are primarily dedi-
cated to following human rights developments in foreign
countries.
SEC. 4. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY FUND.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT
OF FUND.—There is estab-
lished a Human Rights and Democracy Fund (hereinafter
in this section referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’) to be adminis-
tered by the Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human
Rights and Labor.
(b) PURPOSES OF FUND.—The purposes of the Fund
are—
(1) to support defenders of human rights;
(2) to assist the victims of human rights viola-
tions;
(3) to respond to human rights emergencies;
(4) to promote and encourage the growth of de-
mocracy, including the support for nongovernmental
organizations in other countries; and
(5) to carry out such other related activities as
are consistent with paragraphs (1) through (4).
(c) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available to
carry out chapter 1 and chapter 10 of part I of the For-
eign Assistance Act of 1961, title V of the International
Security and Development Cooperation Act of 1980, and
section 401 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1969 for each
of the fiscal years 2001 and 2002, $32,000,000 for each
such fiscal year shall be made available to the Fund for
carrying out the purposes described in subsection (b).
SEC. 5. MONITORING OF UNITED STATES MILITARY ASSIST-
ANCE AND ARMS TRANSFERS.
(a) WEAPONS MONITORING PROGRAM.—
(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Sec-
retary of State shall establish and implement a pro-
gram to monitor United States military assistance
and arms transfers.
(2) RESPONSIBILITY OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY
OF STATE FOR DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND
LABOR.—The Assistant Secretary of State for De-
mocracy, Human Rights and Labor shall have pri-
mary responsibility for advising the Secretary of
State on the establishment and implementation of
program described in paragraph (1).
(b) PURPOSES OF PROGRAM.—
(1) PRIMARY
PURPOSES.—The primary pur-
poses of the program described in subsection (a) are
to ensure to the maximum extent feasible that
United States military assistance and weapons man-
ufactured in or sold from the United States are not
used—
(A) to commit gross violations of human
rights; or
(B) in violation of other United States
laws applicable to United States military assist-
ance and arms transfers that are also related to
human rights and preventing human rights vio-
lations.
(2) OTHER PURPOSES.—The program described
in subsection (a) may be used for the following addi-
tional purposes:
(A) To prevent violations of other United
States laws applicable to United States military
assistance and arms transfers.
(B) To prevent fraud and waste by ensur-
ing that tax dollars are not diverted by foreign
governments or others from activities in the
United States national interest into areas for
which the assistance was not and would not
have been provided.
(c) ELEMENTS OF THE WEAPONS MONITORING PRO-
GRAM.—The program described in subsection (a) shall en-
sure to the maximum feasible extent that the United
States has the ability—
(1) to determine whether United States military
assistance and arms transfers are used to commit
gross violations of human rights;
(2) to detect other violations of United States
law concerning United States military assistance and
arms transfers, including the diversion of such as-
sistance or the use of such assistance by security
force or police units credibly implicated in gross
human rights violations; and
(3) to determine whether individuals or units
that have received United States military, security,
or police training or have participated or are sched-
uled to participate in joint exercises with United
States forces have been credibly implicated in gross
human rights violations.
(d) WEAPONS MONITORING FUND.—
(1) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Subject to para-
graph (2), for each fiscal year after fiscal year 2000,
one percent of the amounts appropriated for each
fiscal year for United States military assistance is
authorized to be used only to carry out the purposes
of this section.
(2) EXCEPTION.—For any fiscal year, if the
Secretary of State certifies in writing to the appro-
priate congressional committees that the United
States can carry out the purposes of this section
without the full reservation of funds, the Secretary
of State shall designate an amount, which is not less
than one half of one percent of the amounts appro-
priated for such fiscal year for United States mili-
tary assistance, and such designated amount is au-
thorized to be used to carry out the purposes of this
section.
(3) ADDITIONAL
FUNDS
FOR
PROGRAM.—
Funds collected from charges under section 21(e) of
the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2761(e))
may be transferred to the Department of State and
made available to carry out the purposes of this sec-
tion.
(e) REPORTS.—The Secretary of State shall submit
to the appropriate congressional committees the following
reports. To the maximum extent possible, such reports
shall be in unclassified form:
(1) Not later than 6 months after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and after due consulta-
tion with the appropriate congressional committees
and others, a plan to implement the provisions of
this section.
(2) Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter,
a report setting forth the steps taken to implement
this section and relevant information obtained con-
cerning the use of United States military assistance
and arms transfers.
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means—
(A) the Committee on International Rela-
tions and the Committee on Appropriations of
the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations
and the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate.
(2) UNITED STATES MILITARY ASSISTANCE.—
The term ‘‘United States military assistance’’
means—