Summit of the Americas Act

Bill: 118-hr-9082
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Kamlager-Dove, Sydney [D-CA-37]
Introduced: 2024-07-22
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Congressional oversight

Department of State

Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad

Western Hemisphere
Latest action: action_date: 2024-09-24
text: Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 9082 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 22, 2024 Ms. Kamlager-Dove (for herself, Ms. Salazar , and Mr. Castro of Texas ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To direct the Secretary of State to host regular Summits of the Americas, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Summit of the Americas Act . 2. Summit of the Americas and related matters (a) Statement of policy It shall be the policy of the United States to work with the Summit of the Americas Secretariat to support the organization of a Summit of the Americas every four years, or more frequently as appropriate, subject to the availability of funds, to strengthen ties and promote cooperation between the United States and countries in the Western Hemisphere, as well as civil society, business, diaspora, women, and youth leaders. (b) Authorization The Secretary of State is authorized to carry out the policy described in subsection (a). (c) Cities Summit of the Americas (1) Findings Congress finds the following: (A) Subnational diplomacy strengthens democratic governance by enhancing local leaders’ ability to tackle shared challenges, and deepens United States ties with regional partners by localizing bilateral and multilateral partnerships and connections. (B) The first-ever Cities Summit of the Americas in 2023 promoted a valuable exchange of best practices and lessons learned between city, State, municipal, and regional leaders and should be held as part of the Summit of the Americas process. (2) In general The Secretary of State is authorized to work with the Summit of the Americas Secretariat to support the organization of one Cities Summit of the Americas, across cities in the Western Hemisphere, including the United States, to take place as a part of each Summit of the Americas described in subsection (a), to promote subnational cooperation and serve as a catalyst in fostering engagement with representatives of government, civil society, business, academia, youth, culture and the arts, Latin American and Caribbean diaspora communities, and underrepresented groups. (d) Summit of the Americas implementation unit (1) In general The Secretary of State is authorized to establish within the Department of State a Summit of the Americas implementation unit responsible for overseeing the implementation of commitments made at summits described in this section. (2) Duties The duties of the implementation unit authorized by this subsection include— (A) tracking and ensuring implementation of commitments made during Summits of the Americas; (B) liaising with interagency partners and the National Security Council regarding implementation of summit commitments; and (C) reporting quarterly on a public website of the Department of State regarding progress to accomplish summit commitments and status of commitments across Federal departments and agencies. (e) Report The Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate annually for 5 years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act a report on the implementation of this section, including the status of commitments of the United States and participating partners for the prior year and upcoming year.