HRES135hMAR18

TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending March 18, 2005

House Resolution 135 providing for the establishment of a commission on the House of Representatives to assist parliaments in emerging democracies.

BRIEF

It would be called the House Democracy Assistance Commission. The Speaker of the House would determine how many members and the Speaker and the Minority Leader would appoint the members.

The Commission would involve themselves with parliamentarians from other selected countries and show them the ropes. The commission would also recommend to US Agency for International Development what material assistance, such as modern automation and office systems, information technology, and library supplies it might provide to the selected countries.

The participating countries would also benefit from “expert advice from Members and staff of the House of Representatives in areas such as the development of research services and legislative information systems, parliamentary procedure, committee operations, budget process, government oversight, and constituent services”.

The commission would terminate September 30, 2009.

Sponsor: Representative David Dreier (R-CA-26^th)

Vote: Passed House 386 to 2 (Mar. 16, 2005) (RC 66)

Cost to the taxpayers: The proposal would be studied to determine the scope of the effort.

MORE INFORMATION

The House of Representatives makes the following findings:

(1) Since its founding, the United States has championed the expansion of democracy around the world.

(2) Indeed, beginning with the Continental Congress and continuing through the modern Congress, representative institutions have served as a critical component through which the American people have expressed their views on policy issues and through which the power of other government branches has been balanced.

(3) In his second inaugural address on January 20, 2005, President George W. Bush declared: `We are led by events and common sense to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world. . . . So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.'.

(4) Strong institutions, particularly national legislatures with proper infrastructure, are essential for democracies to mature and to withstand cyclical turnover in governments.

(5) Furthermore, the parliaments of emerging democracies are commonly comprised of new legislators, citizens from many walks of life, who face the challenges of creating new democratic systems without the benefit of previous legislative experience. The legislatures of these fledgling democracies often lack training, equipment, or resources to carry out their work effectively.

(6) Many parliaments do not possess the necessary technology, such as modern computer equipment, software, or access to databases and electronic resources, to facilitate the timely flow of legislative information to lawmakers and legislative staff.

(7) Parliaments in fledgling democracies also frequently lack trained staff to provide nonpartisan policy information, to draft legislation, and to advise legislators on policy matters.

(8) Newly democratic parliaments may lack the resources to establish internal libraries, reference materials, and archiving capabilities for use by legislators and staff.

(9) From 1990 through 1996, the United States House of Representatives, in conjunction with the House Information Systems Office (later known as House Information Resources) and the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress, provided equipment and technical assistance to newly democratic parliaments in Central and Eastern European countries, including Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine, in an effort to develop and strengthen those institutions.

(10) This program, commonly known as the `Frost-Solomon Task Force', not only served the United States foreign policy goal of helping to establish democratic institutions in other countries, but also developed significant goodwill in the countries in which it was implemented. The program was designed to improve the efficiency of parliaments and the professionalism of their members and staff, as well as to increase transparency and accountability.

(11) A program similar to the Frost-Solomon Task Force would enable Members, officers, and staff of the House of Representatives to share their expertise and experience with their counterparts in other countries, in keeping with the declared policy of the United States to support the growth of democratic institutions, thereby undertaking what President Bush called `the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments'.

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