Upholding the Inter-American Democratic Charter Act of 2022
Bill: S.4285 | Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert (D-NJ)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Upholding the Inter-American Democratic Charter Act of 2022
This bill requires the Department of State to develop and implement a strategy to uphold and strengthen the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which states that the peoples of the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments have an obligation to promote and defend it.
The charter was adopted in 2001 by the member states of the Organization of American States (OAS), which includes all 35 independent countries of the Western Hemisphere.
The strategy must include plans to (1) strengthen the integrity of electoral processes in the Americas; (2) counter the spread and amplification of disinformation and misinformation in the Americas; and (3) address threats to democratic governance posed by corruption, criminality, and the malign activities of nondemocratic and non-OAS countries such as China and Russia.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Inter-American Democratic 
 Charter, to encourage governments in the Americas to reinforce their 
     commitments to the principles enshrined in the Inter-American 
Democratic Charter, to reaffirm the role of free and fair elections as 
    a cornerstone of democracy, to address the challenges posed by 
   disinformation and misinformation in the Americas, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Upholding the Inter-American 
Democratic Charter Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Inter-American Democratic Charter (referred to in 
        this section as the ``Charter''), done at Lima September 11, 
        2001, established a set of shared democratic principles and 
        norms among member states of the Organization of American 
        States (referred to in this section as the ``OAS''), including 
        commitments to the separation of powers and independence of the 
        branches of government, pluralistic systems of political 
        parties and organizations, and free, transparent, and fair 
        elections.
            (2) Articles 1 and 2 of the Charter recognize, 
        respectively, that ``[t]he peoples of the Americas have a right 
        to democracy and their governments have an obligation to 
        promote and defend it'' and that ``[t]he effective exercise of 
        representative democracy is the basis for the rule of law and 
        [constitutional order in OAS member states]''.
            (3) Article 3 of the Charter asserts that ``access to and 
        the exercise of power in accordance with the rule of law'' and 
        ``the holding of periodic, free, and fair elections based on 
        secret balloting and universal suffrage as an expression of the 
        sovereignty of the people'' are essential elements of 
        representative democracy.
            (4) Article 4 of the Charter states that ``[t]ransparency 
        in government activities, probity, responsible public 
        administration on the part of governments'' and ``freedom of 
        expression and of the press'' are also essential for the 
        democratic functioning of member states of the OAS.
            (5) Despite widespread advances in the consolidation of 
        democratic governance in the Americas, there remain deep and 
        concerning challenges facing democracies throughout Latin 
        America and the Caribbean, including--
                    (A) recurring incidents of significant electoral 
                irregularities and manipulation;
                    (B) the extension and elimination of presidential 
                term limits;
                    (C) the politicization of judicial systems and the 
                expansion of executive powers and executive influence 
                over the judiciary;
                    (D) corruption and a lack of transparency, which 
                hinders integral development in addition to weakening 
                democratic institutions; and
                    (E) misinformation and disinformation disseminated 
                by foreign governments via traditional and digital 
                media platforms that undermine faith in democratic 
                institutions and elections.
            (6) Since 2016, there have been concerning levels of 
        irregularities in several electoral processes throughout the 
        Americas, including--
                    (A) the 2016 and 2021 general elections in 
                Nicaragua;
                    (B) the 2017 general elections in Honduras;
                    (C) the sham 2017 constituent assembly, 2018 
                presidential, and 2020 national legislative elections 
                in Venezuela;
                    (D) the 2019 presidential elections in Bolivia; and
                    (E) the 2020 general and regional elections in 
                Guyana.
            (7) The November 6, 2016, general elections in Nicaragua 
        were characterized by severe democratic deficiencies, including 
        widespread limitations on the participation of opposition 
        candidates, and the November 7, 2021, general elections in 
        Nicaragua were characterized by similar deficiencies, including 
        the criminalization of the legitimate work of social 
        organizations and political parties and the political 
        imprisonment of potential opposition candidates, which 
        consequently led the General Assembly of the OAS to pass a 
        resolution approved by 25 countries declaring that the 2021 
        elections ``were not free, fair or transparent and have no 
        democratic legitimacy''.
            (8) Following the general elections in Honduras on November 
        26, 2017, the OAS Electoral Observation Mission reported that 
        ``[t]he tight margin of the results, and the irregularities, 
        errors and systemic problems that . . . surrounded [the] 
        election [did] not allow the Mission to hold certainty about 
        the results'', leading Secretary General of the OAS Luis 
        Almagro to subsequently issue a statement noting that ``the 
        only possible way for the victor to be the people of Honduras 
        is a new call for general elections''.
            (9) The July 30, 2017, elections in Venezuela to establish 
        a Constituent Assembly were widely derided as fraudulent by the 
        international community, with Smartmatic, the company that 
        supplied Venezuela's voting machines, stating that the regime 
        manipulated the results by more than 1,000,000 votes, and the 
        May 20, 2018, presidential elections in Venezuela were 
        similarly deemed to be fraudulent and illegitimate, leading the 
        OAS to invoke the Charter and declare that the elections did 
        not comply with international standards, permit the 
        participation of all political actors, or satisfy conditions 
        necessary to be considered a free, fair, transparent, and 
        democratic process.
            (10) The Final Report of the OAS Electoral Observation 
        Mission on the October 20, 2019, general election in Bolivia, 
        ``Analysis of Electoral Integrity General Elections in the 
        Plurinational State of Bolivia'', found widespread and 
        conclusive evidence of manipulation through secret computer 
        servers with the capacity to modify the results and tally 
        sheets, which made it impossible for the Mission to have 
        confidence in the election results.
            (11) In the aftermath of the 2020 general elections in 
        Guyana, international observers from the OAS and the Caribbean 
        Community (CARICOM) ``unanimously agreed that there was no 
        credible result'' from Guyana's general and regional elections 
        held on March 2, 2020, which were marked by ``flagrant 
        tabulation irregularities''.
            (12) Notwithstanding challenges in the region, several 
        countries have held free and fair elections for heads of state 
        since 2020, including the countries of Belize, Chile, Costa 
        Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Peru, Saint 
        Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Saint 
        Vincent and the Grenadines, which serve as examples for other 
        countries in the region on conducting democratic electoral 
        processes.
            (13) Transparency International's seminal 2021 report 
        indicates that corruption, bolstered by widespread impunity and 
        attacks against the independence of the press and the 
        judiciary, remains a significant challenge to human rights and 
        democratic governance in the Americas, with the region making 
        insufficient progress in combating corruption between 2011 and 
        2021.
            (14) Additional steps are needed to strengthen confidence 
        in a free press in Latin America, given that a study from 
        Vanderbilt University in 2018 shows that less than \1/2\ of 
        Latin Americans trust the press, down from \2/3\ in 2004.
            (15) The growing challenges of disinformation, 
        misinformation, and digital election interference across the 
        Americas, and their potential to sow social discord and lower 
        public trust in democratic institutions, pose significant risks 
        to democratic governance and the integrity of future elections.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the 20th anniversary of the Inter-American Democratic 
        Charter is an important hallmark in inter-American relations, 
        and democracies in the Western Hemisphere should continue to 
        uphold the democratic electoral norms and standards, 
        principles, and commitments enshrined in the Charter;
            (2) member states of the Organization of American States 
        should continuously work to strengthen democratic institutions 
        and practices, as well as economic and political institutions 
        that enable integral development, including by promoting 
        transparency and combating corruption;
            (3) free, fair, and transparent elections are the 
        foundation of representative democracy in the Americas;
            (4) the separation of powers and the defense of human 
        rights, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press remain 
        fundamental democratic principles in the Americas that must be 
        respected;
            (5) member states of the Organization of American States 
        should--
                    (A) strengthen processes for holding free, fair, 
                and transparent elections;
                    (B) defend the right of all of their citizens to 
                peacefully assemble, campaign, participate, and vote in 
                democratic elections; and
                    (C) actively promote the dissemination of fact-
                based public information while cooperating with private 
                media to identify and discourage the propagation of 
                misinformation and disinformation surrounding civic 
                life; and
            (6) the Secretary of State should work with the 
        Organization of American States and member states of the 
        Organization of American States--
                    (A) to strengthen the integrity of electoral 
                processes in the Americas, including by modernizing 
                electoral observation methodologies to better address 
                the challenges posed by digital election interference;
                    (B) to promote quality independent journalism and 
                media while strengthening institutional capacity in the 
                Americas to monitor and address disinformation and 
                misinformation and the threats they pose to democratic 
                governance, especially by the Russian Federation, the 
                People's Republic of China, and Iran, as well as Cuba 
                and the regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela;
                    (C) to address the challenges posed to democratic 
                governance and multilateral institutions in the 
                Americas by the activities of non-democratic, nonmember 
                states of the Organization of American States, 
                including the Russian Federation, the People's Republic 
                of China, Iran, and Cuba;
                    (D) to augment efforts to combat corruption and 
                organized criminal activity, including by using digital 
                tools to increase transparency in public 
                administration, tax collection, and customs management;
                    (E) to support the modernization of judicial 
                systems critical to combating corruption in the 
                Americas and efforts to strengthen the transparency, 
                integrity, and independence of those systems;
                    (F) to advance initiatives to strengthen the 
                harmonization of regulatory mechanisms to facilitate 
                increased investment and digital governance throughout 
                the Americas; and
                    (G) to uphold the positive advances that member 
                states of the Organization of American States have made 
                to strengthen the integrity of electoral processes, 
                promote free and independent journalism, combat 
                corruption, and modernize judicial systems, and to 
                encourage those member states to share their experience 
                with other member states of the Organization of 
                American States through formal and informal mechanisms, 
                including through the forum for democratically elected 
                national legislatures of members states called for in 
                section 4(a)(2) of the Organization of American States 
                Legislative Engagement Act of 2020 (22 U.S.C. 290q 
                note; Public Law 116-343).

SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    It shall be the policy of the United States--
            (1) to promote continued adherence to the democratic 
        principles and norms of the Inter-American Democratic Charter; 
        and
            (2) to advance diplomatic initiatives in coordination with 
        the Organization of American States and its member states to 
        address threats to the integrity of the Inter-American 
        Democratic Charter and to democratic institutions in the 
        Americas.

SEC. 5. STRATEGY FOR STRENGTHENING THE INTER-AMERICAN DEMOCRATIC 
              CHARTER.

    (a) Strategy.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of State shall develop and 
        implement a multi-year strategy to uphold and strengthen the 
        Inter-American Democratic Charter.
            (2) Elements.--The strategy required by paragraph (1) shall 
        include--
                    (A) developing diplomatic initiatives to highlight 
                past successes of the Inter-American Democratic Charter 
                and its ongoing relevance;
                    (B) documenting threats to democratic governance in 
                the Western Hemisphere, including efforts to undermine 
                civil society, the rule of law, free and fair 
                elections, presidential term limits, or the separation 
                of powers, and convening diplomatic forums to review 
                and address those threats;
                    (C) developing and implementing the plans required 
                by sections 6, 7, and 8; and
                    (D) fully implementing provisions of the 
                Organization of American States Legislative Engagement 
                Act of 2020 (22 U.S.C. 290q note; Public Law 116-343) 
                to advance efforts to enhance the participation of 
                democratically elected national legislatures in the 
                Organization of American States, including--
                            (i) promoting involvement by those 
                        legislatures in activities that advance the 
                        principles of the Inter-American Democratic 
                        Charter and the core values of the Organization 
                        of American States, as described in section 
                        4(a)(1) of that Act;
                            (ii) creating and supporting an annual 
                        forum to discuss issues of hemispheric 
                        importance, including corruption, as described 
                        in section 4(a)(2) of that Act; and
                            (iii) strengthening the ability of those 
                        legislatures to make presentations, contribute 
                        information, and provide expert advice to 
                        entities of the Organization of American 
                        States, as described in section 4(a)(3) of that 
                        Act.
    (b) Annual Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State 
shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a 
report describing in detail--
            (1) the strategy required by subsection (a)(1) and efforts 
        to implement the strategy, including the plans required by 
        sections 6, 7, and 8 and efforts to implement the plans;
            (2) progress made by the United States Government toward 
        achieving the goals of the strategy of upholding and 
        strengthening the Inter-American Democratic Charter;
            (3) challenges to efforts by the United States Government 
        and the Organization of American States to uphold and 
        strengthen the Inter-American Democratic Charter; and
            (4) progress made in implementing the Organization of 
        American States Revitalization and Reform Act of 2013 (Public 
        Law 113-41; 127 Stat. 548) and the Organization of American 
        States Legislative Engagement Act of 2020 (22 U.S.C. 290q note; 
        Public Law 116-343).

SEC. 6. STRENGTHENING THE INTEGRITY OF ELECTORAL PROCESSES IN THE 
              AMERICAS.

    (a) In General.--As part of the strategy required by section 
5(a)(1), the Secretary of State shall develop and implement a plan for 
strengthening the integrity of electoral processes in the Americas.
    (b) Elements.--The plan required by subsection (a) shall include--
            (1) an assessment of emerging challenges and risks to 
        democratic elections in the Americas, including the unique 
        threats posed by digital election interference; and
            (2) initiatives, in coordination with the Organization of 
        American States and member states of the Organization of 
        American States--
                    (A) to ensure the integrity of elections, preserve 
                the credibility and objectivity of electoral 
                observation missions of the Organization of American 
                States, and strengthen the technical capacity of those 
                missions to investigate electoral irregularities in 
                electoral processes; and
                    (B) to improve election observation methodologies 
                of the Organization of American States and strengthen 
                the training provided to electoral observation missions 
                of the Organization of American States to effectively 
                monitor, report, and address the emerging threat of 
                digital election interference.

SEC. 7. COUNTERING DISINFORMATION AND MISINFORMATION IN THE AMERICAS.

    (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that Congress 
supports--
            (1) efforts by the Secretary General of the Organization of 
        American States to strengthen public interest media on 
        traditional and digital media platforms, promote investigative 
        journalism, fortify the integrity of media environments, and 
        counter disinformation and misinformation across the Americas; 
        and
            (2) plans by the Secretary General of the Organization of 
        American States to announce the creation of the Center for 
        Media Integrity of the Americas at the Ninth Summit of the 
        Americas.
    (b) In General.--As part of the strategy required by section 
5(a)(1), the Secretary of State shall develop and implement a plan for 
countering the spread and amplification of disinformation and 
misinformation in the Americas and strengthening vulnerable information 
environments.
    (c) Elements.--The plan required by subsection (b) shall include--
            (1) an assessment of--
                    (A) the nature and prevalence of disinformation and 
                misinformation activities in traditional, digital, and 
                social media in the Americas, including--
                            (i) the major intra-regional and extra-
                        regional actors involved in spreading or 
                        amplifying disinformation and misinformation;
                            (ii) the tactics those actors use;
                            (iii) the major narratives those actors 
                        disseminate; and
                            (iv) the extent to which the activities 
                        involve or are being coordinated by state 
                        entities or government officials;
                    (B) the vulnerability of information environments 
                within the Americas;
                    (C) which countries are most targeted by campaigns 
                to spread and amplify disinformation and misinformation 
                and the effectiveness of those campaigns; and
                    (D) the nature and magnitude of the threats posed 
                by disinformation and misinformation activities to 
                democratic governance, human rights, and other United 
                States interests; and
            (2) efforts, including the multilateral diplomacy described 
        in subsection (d), in coordination with the Organization of 
        American States and member states of the Organization of 
        American States--
                    (A) to monitor and share information about 
                disinformation and misinformation activities and the 
                effects of those activities;
                    (B) to convene regional summits, forums, and multi-
                stakeholder initiatives with engagement from 
                governments, technology companies, media organizations, 
                academia, and civil society groups to address the 
                challenges posed by disinformation and misinformation 
                and other related issues, including data privacy, 
                shared cybersecurity standards, and platform 
                interoperability;
                    (C) to develop a regional code of best practices 
                and other joint solutions to address disinformation and 
                misinformation, including rapid alert systems and 
                agreements on other related issues;
                    (D) to strengthen the capacity of the Organization 
                of American States, member states of the Organization 
                of American States, and independent media and civil 
                society groups to counter disinformation and 
                misinformation and address vulnerable information 
                environments, including by providing support for media 
                and digital literacy, independent journalism, and fact-
                checking initiatives; and
                    (E) to support and promote the creation of public 
                interest media and investigative journalism to provide 
                accurate, objective, and reliable local news.
    (d) Multilateral Diplomacy.--The Secretary of State, acting through 
the United States Permanent Representative to the Organization of 
American States, shall use the voice, vote, and influence of the United 
States--
            (1) to establish a working group at the Organization of 
        American States to monitor the deleterious effects that 
        disinformation and misinformation pose to democratic governance 
        and human rights and develop regional approaches to address 
        those effects; and
            (2) to advance a resolution of the Organization of American 
        States on condemning and countering disinformation and 
        misinformation in the Americas.
    (e) Resources.--The Secretary of State, acting through the United 
States Mission to the Organization of American States, should use the 
voice, vote, and influence of the United States to support increased 
attention and resources for the General Secretariat of the Organization 
of American States to develop efforts to address the threat posed by 
disinformation and misinformation to democratic governance and human 
rights, including--
            (1) by increasing the proportion of United States voluntary 
        contributions designated for addressing that threat; and
            (2) by encouraging similar efforts by other member states 
        of the Organization of American States.

SEC. 8. ADDRESSING ADDITIONAL CHALLENGES TO DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN 
              THE AMERICAS.

    (a) In General.--As part of the strategy required by section 
5(a)(1), the Secretary of State shall develop and implement a plan for 
addressing threats to democratic governance posed by--
            (1) corruption and criminality; and
            (2) the malign activities of nondemocratic, nonmember 
        states of the Organization of American States, including the 
        People's Republic of China, the Russian Federation, Iran, and 
        Cuba.
    (b) Elements.--The plan required by subsection (a) shall include--
            (1) an assessment of--
                    (A) the major threats from, and vulnerabilities to, 
                corruption and criminality in the Americas; and
                    (B) how the People's Republic of China and the 
                Russian Federation have sought to exploit regional 
                multilateral institutions to advance their goals and 
                undermine democratic governance; and
            (2) efforts by the Secretary of State--
                    (A) to propose and develop, in coordination with 
                regional multilateral institutions, digital governance 
                programs--
                            (i) to strengthen transparency in public 
                        administration, tax collection, and customs 
                        management; and
                            (ii) to reduce corruption; and
                    (B) to use the voice, vote, and influence of the 
                United States--
                            (i) to diminish the influence of the 
                        People's Republic of China and the Russian 
                        Federation in regional multilateral 
                        institutions and call attention to how those 
                        states undermine the principles of the Inter-
                        American Democratic Charter; and
                            (ii) to support the creation of a special 
                        rapporteur on anti-corruption at the Inter-
                        American Commission on Human Rights with the 
                        mandate to monitor threats from, and 
                        vulnerabilities to, corruption among member 
                        states of the Organization of American States 
                        and promote the adoption of measures to address 
                        such threats, including minimum standards for 
                        transparency and access to public records.

SEC. 9. SUNSET.

    This Act shall terminate on the date that is 10 years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
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