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 Inter-
national 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. JACKSON- 
LEE of Texas, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. WATERS, Mr. FORTUN˜O, Mr. MEEKS 
of New York, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. HARE, Ms. MCCOL-
LUM 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. CROW-
LEY, 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 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
00:13 Dec 13, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:\BILLS\HR865.IH
HR865
bajohnson on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
•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 Min-
ister 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 Develop-
ment: Trends, Costs, and Policy Options in the Carib-
bean’’; 
Whereas the UNODC and World Bank report presents de-
tailed analyses of crime and violence in the Caribbean re-
gion and offers possible policy responses; 
Whereas the UNODC and World Bank report draws on input 
from governments, civil society organizations, and Carib-
bean 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; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
00:13 Dec 13, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR865.IH
HR865
bajohnson on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
•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 com-
plemented by other strategies outside the region: prin-
cipally demand reduction in consumer countries and 
eradication and/or alternative development in producer 
countries; 
(2) expansion of gun ownership and illegal gun traf-
ficking is a dangerous outgrowth of the drug trade. Al-
though reducing gun ownership is difficult, better gun 
registries, marking, and tracking can help, as can im-
proved gun interdiction in ports. Policies should also 
focus on limiting the availability of firearms and on pro-
viding meaningful alternatives to youth; 
(3) deaths and injuries from youth violence con-
stitute a major threat to public health and social and eco-
nomic progress across the Caribbean. Youth are dis-
proportionately 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 activ-
ity, a minority of deportees may be causing serious prob-
lems, both by direct involvement in crime and by pro-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
00:13 Dec 13, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR865.IH
HR865
bajohnson on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
•HRES 865 IH 
viding a perverse role model for youth. The report rec-
ommends that more services be offered to reintegrate de-
portees, with deporting countries contributing to the cost 
of these programs; 
(5) in general, there is an over-reliance on the crimi-
nal 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 preven-
tion initiatives; their control requires an efficient criminal 
justice system. Urgent priorities for improving the crimi-
nal 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 in-
vesting in crime prevention—using approaches such as 
integrated citizen security programs, crime prevention 
through environmental design, and a public health ap-
proach 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 coun-
tries of the region are significantly above the world aver-
age. To address issues of youth violence, Caribbean pol-
icymakers 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 tran-
scend national boundaries and require a coordinated re-
gional and international response. Demand for drugs 
emanates from Europe and the United States; deportees 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
03:54 Dec 13, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR865.IH
HR865
bajohnson on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
•HRES 865 IH 
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 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) welcomes the recommendations contained in 
the March 2007 UNODC and World Bank report, 
‘‘Crime, Violence, and Development: Trends, Costs, 
and Policy Options in the Caribbean’’; 
(2) urges the United States Government to con-
sider fully and carefully the recommendations in the 
UNODC and World Bank Report and to take the 
recommendations into account when developing 
United States policy toward the region; 
(3) urges the governments of United States and 
other drug-consuming countries to increase counter- 
narcotics assistance to the Caribbean region; 
(4) urges the United States Government to in-
crease coordination on policy development and imple-
mentation with Caribbean governments to help com-
bat crime and violence in the region; 
(5) urges the Department of State and the De-
partment of Homeland Security to work with Carib-
bean governments to mitigate the negative effects of 
United States deportation policy; and 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
00:13 Dec 13, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR865.IH
HR865
bajohnson on PROD1PC69 with BILLS
•HRES 865 IH 
(6) urges governments of Caribbean countries 
to consider fully and carefully the recommendations 
in the UNODC and World Bank Report, and to take 
the recommendations into account, especially regard-
ing improvements in their criminal justice systems. 
Æ 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
00:13 Dec 13, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HR865.IH
HR865
bajohnson on PROD1PC69 with BILLS