IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 998 
Celebrating 200 years of United States diplomatic relations with Colombia. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 18, 2022 
Mr. SIRES (for himself, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. 
GALLEGO, Mr. VELA, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. MCCAUL, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. 
WALTZ, Mr. CRENSHAW, Ms. TITUS, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. 
PALMER, Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. 
GIMENEZ, Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. CARL, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. VALADAO, 
Mr. GREEN of Tennessee, Mr. MOORE of Alabama, Mrs. MCCLAIN, Mrs. 
TORRES of California, Mr. CRIST, and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Celebrating 200 years of United States diplomatic relations 
with Colombia. 
Whereas, on August 7, 1819, Colombia (formerly known as 
The Great Colombia) concluded their independence cam-
paign from Spain with the Battle of Boyaca´; 
Whereas, on March 18, 1822, the House of Representatives 
approved two resolutions recognizing the independence of 
Colombia, and allocated funds for the establishment of a 
diplomatic mission; 
Whereas, on June 19, 1822, the United States and Colombia 
formally established diplomatic relations, and the accredi-
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•HRES 998 IH 
tation of Colombia’s Manuel Torres marked the first 
Charge´ d’Affaires from a Latin American country to the 
United States; 
Whereas, on December 16, 1823, the United States ap-
pointed its first Charge´ d’Affaires to The Great Colom-
bia, Richard Clough Anderson, Jr.; 
Whereas, on October 3, 1824, the United States and Colom-
bia signed their first commercial agreement, the Ander-
son 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 Colombia was one of the 51 nations to participate 
in the San Francisco Conference in 1945, agreeing upon 
the Charter of the United Nations; 
Whereas, in 1947, during the Ninth International Conference 
of American States meeting in Bogota´, 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 
from Latin America that sent Armed Forces to South 
Korea to join the United Nations effort against North 
Korea; 
Whereas, on December 4, 1991, the United States enacted 
the Andean Trade Preference Act and on October 31, 
2002, the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradi-
cation Act, granting duty-free access to a wide range of 
exports from Colombia and other Andean countries, with 
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the objective of promoting commercial relations and com-
bating illicit narcotics production and trafficking; 
Whereas, in 2000, the United States and Colombia launched 
Plan Colombia, a transformational security and economic 
development initiative that reduced crime, narcotics traf-
ficking, and violence and strengthened state capacity in 
Colombia; 
Whereas, in April 2012, the United States and Colombia 
launched the United States-Colombia Action Plan on Re-
gional 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 ex-
panded commercial ties, economic growth, and employ-
ment opportunities in both the United States and Colom-
bia; 
Whereas the United States is Colombia’s leading trade part-
ner; 
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 its first and only global partner country in 
Latin America; 
Whereas, since 2018, Colombia and the United States have 
led the Orion International Naval Campaign to combat 
maritime narcotics trafficking and the jointly led cam-
paign has strengthened the narcotics interdiction capa-
bilities of 38 countries and 88 institutions, including in 
northern Central America; 
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Whereas, on April 28, 2020, Colombia became the 37th mem-
ber and 3d country in Latin America to join the 
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Develop-
ment; 
Whereas Colombia is one of the United States most con-
sistent and reliable allies through its support for shared 
diplomatic and security objectives; 
Whereas Colombians and Colombian Americans residing in 
the United States have greatly contributed to enriching 
the social, cultural, economic, and scientific landscape of 
the United States and helped further strengthen the ties 
between the United States and Colombia; 
Whereas during an official visit by President Ivan Duque to 
the White House on March 10, 2022, President Biden re-
ferred to Colombia as the ‘‘linchpin’’ of the Western 
Hemisphere, asserting, ‘‘Colombia is the keystone to our 
shared efforts to build a hemisphere that is prosperous, 
secure, and democratic’’; and 
Whereas during that trip, the United States announced it 
would designate Colombia as a major non-NATO ally: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) celebrates the 200th anniversary of diplo-
matic relations between the United States and Co-
lombia; 
(2) recognizes the critical role that Colombia 
plays in promoting stability and prosperity in the 
Western Hemisphere; 
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(3) recognizes the vital strategic alliance be-
tween the United States and Colombia, built on a 
shared commitment to democracy; 
(4) celebrates the contributions made by Colom-
bians and Colombian Americans to the United 
States; 
(5) reaffirms the steadfast support of the Gov-
ernment and people of the United States for the 
people of Colombia in their pursuit of peace, sta-
bility, and prosperity; and 
(6) encourages strengthening cooperation with 
Colombia in areas such as technology, education, en-
ergy transition, and nearshoring, as well as in joint 
efforts toward the protection of democracy in the 
Western Hemisphere. 
Æ 
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