Title: Urging the Government of El Salvador to respect the country's democratic institutions.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution reaffirms the importance to U.S. national interests of combating corruption, strengthening democratic institutions, and supporting judicial independence in El Salvador. Further, it urges El Salvador to respect its democratic institutions, including by strengthening government transparency, and to uphold human rights.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 408 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 408

     Urging the Government of El Salvador to respect the country's 
                        democratic institutions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 17, 2021

Mr. Sires (for himself, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Green of Tennessee, 
   Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. 
Vargas, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Kelly of 
   Illinois, Mr. Trone, Mr. Soto, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Vicente 
   Gonzalez of Texas, Mr. Pfluger, and Mr. Espaillat) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
     Urging the Government of El Salvador to respect the country's 
                        democratic institutions.

Whereas El Salvador held legislative, municipal, and Central American Parliament 
        elections on February 28, 2021;
Whereas the preelectoral period was marked by increased tensions and the 
        reemergence of political violence, resulting in two known deaths;
Whereas the Organization of American States Election Observation Mission issued 
        a statement on March 1, 2021, in which it ``[congratulated] the 
        Salvadoran people who, with patience and democratic conviction, went to 
        the polls on February 28 to express their will clearly and peacefully'';
Whereas the political party of President Nayib Bukele, Nuevas Ideas, won a 
        sweeping majority of legislative seats in the February 2021 elections;
Whereas electoral officials were threatened during the vote count;
Whereas, in September 2019, President Nayib Bukele signed an agreement with the 
        Secretary General of the Organization of American States to establish 
        the International Commission Against Impunity in El Salvador (CICIES) in 
        order to ``support, strengthen, and actively collaborate with the 
        institutions'' of the Salvadoran state . . . ``responsible for 
        preventing, investigating, and punishing acts of corruption and related 
        crimes'' and by April 2021, the CICIES confirmed that it had sent twelve 
        cases of possible corruption-related crimes to the office of the 
        Attorney General;
Whereas the Government of El Salvador has increasingly been denounced for its 
        attacks on press freedoms by organizations such as the Inter-American 
        Commission on Human Rights and the Committee to Protect Journalists;
Whereas, during its inaugural session on May 1, 2021, the Legislative Assembly 
        of El Salvador overwhelmingly approved motions to remove and replace all 
        five members of El Salvador's Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme 
        Court and the Attorney General without just cause;
Whereas, also on May 1, 2021, the Legislative Assembly's measure was determined 
        unconstitutional by the deposed Constitutional Chamber, the Justices 
        were prevented from carrying out their duties by the national police, 
        and the ruling was subsequently removed from the official website;
Whereas, on May 5, 2021, the Government of El Salvador implemented a law 
        granting legal immunity to government officials for conduct related to 
        public procurements during the COVID-19 pandemic;
Whereas, in recent weeks, top government officials have proposed a constituent 
        assembly with reforms, including permitting Presidential reelections; 
        and
Whereas the Government of El Salvador has discussed limiting democratic space 
        for independent civil society: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) congratulates the people of El Salvador for exercising 
        their fundamental right to vote for legislative, municipal, and 
        Central American Parliament positions;
            (2) reaffirms that combating corruption, strengthening 
        democratic institutions, and supporting judicial independence 
        in El Salvador are in the United States national interests, as 
        they directly support regional security objectives of the 
        United States, including reducing irregular migration, 
        combating drug trafficking and violence, protecting human 
        rights, and promoting prosperity and economic development;
            (3) recognizes El Salvador's progress in reducing homicides 
        by nearly 50 percent from 2019 to 2020, the lowest level in two 
        decades;
            (4) encourages the Government of El Salvador to expand 
        bilateral efforts with the United States to address the root 
        causes of migration;
            (5) condemns the process by which five constitutional court 
        judges were removed without clearly established legal cause and 
        replaced in a way that circumvented the legally prescribed 
        vetting process for selecting new justices;
            (6) urges the Government of El Salvador to respect the 
        independence of the judicial branch and the separation of 
        powers as provided in the Salvadoran Constitution;
            (7) urges the Government of El Salvador to guarantee the 
        independence of the Human Rights Ombudsperson (Procurador de 
        DDHH), the Magistrates of the Tribunal for Expenditures 
        (Tribunal de Cuentas), and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, 
        including refraining from dismissing the Ombudsperson and 
        Magistrates;
            (8) calls on the Government of El Salvador to guarantee the 
        freedom of the press and refrain from intimidating or harassing 
        journalists or media outlets;
            (9) urges the Government of El Salvador to uphold the 
        rights of freedom of expression, association, and assembly, 
        including for human rights organizations and anticorruption 
        activists, in accordance with El Salvador's commitments under 
        the American Convention on Human Rights;
            (10) recognizes the Government of El Salvador's willingness 
        to work with the Organization of American States to fight 
        corruption and encourages the Government of El Salvador to 
        fully cooperate with the International Commission Against 
        Impunity in El Salvado (CICIES);
            (11) expresses deep concern about the passage of a law that 
        could provide immunity for current public officials engaged in 
        acts of criminality or corruption during the COVID-19 pandemic;
            (12) conveys the strong United States interest in ensuring 
        that all twelve corruption cases investigated by the CICIES and 
        referred to the Attorney General are completed, given the 
        support of the United States in El Salvador's fight against 
        corruption;
            (13) expresses concern about whether the newly appointed 
        Attorney General will objectively apply the law, particularly 
        given his recent comments suggesting he might close 
        investigations into alleged corruption by the Bukele 
        administration;
            (14) recognizes the significance of the 1992 Peace Accords 
        that ended a decade-long civil conflict and established the 
        foundation of El Salvador's democratic governance, and urges 
        the Government of El Salvador to continue cooperation on 
        investigations of human rights cases;
            (15) urges the Government of El Salvador to refrain from 
        politicizing the military, police, and criminal justice 
        institutions and to ensure that they can effectively fulfill 
        their public functions while protecting human rights;
            (16) encourages the Government of El Salvador to strengthen 
        government transparency and guarantee access to public 
        information, in accordance with Salvadoran law;
            (17) encourages all political parties and political figures 
        to embrace peaceful and constructive engagement through 
        democratic, institutional channels as the proper means to 
        achieve their goals;
            (18) encourages the United States Government to appoint a 
        Senate-confirmed Ambassador to El Salvador as urgently as 
        possible;
            (19) encourages the United States Government to prioritize 
        mitigating the root causes of migration, anticorruption, 
        promoting the rule of law, and economic development in its 
        bilateral relationship with El Salvador; and
            (20) urges the United States Government to work with the 
        Government of El Salvador to implement economic policies 
        recommended by the private sector and civil society 
        organizations that aim to reduce poverty, create employment, 
        and promote sustainable economic growth.
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