[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 400 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 400
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 27 (legislative day, July 26), 2006
Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of Venezuela
should actively support strategies for ensuring secure airport
facilities that meet international certifications to prevent
trafficking of controlled substances, narcotics, and laundered money.
Whereas the United States is strongly committed to working with countries in
Latin America and the Caribbean that have a shared interest in promoting
regional stability;
Whereas the United States is strongly committed to working with countries in
Latin America and the Caribbean that are combating the scourge of drugs
and the violence and social degradation caused by narcotics trafficking;
Whereas the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is a party to the United Nations
Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances (1988 UN Drug Convention);
Whereas Venezuela is a key transit point for drugs leaving Colombia--the world's
primary source of cocaine and South America's top producer of heroin;
Whereas drug trafficking through Venezuela significantly increased in 2005;
Whereas weak law enforcement, corruption, and a weak judicial system in
Venezuela allow criminal organizations to act with impunity;
Whereas the Department of State's International Narcotics Control Strategy
Report of 2006 reports that Colombian cartels, guerrilla groups, and
paramilitary organizations and Venezuelan criminal organizations (among
other smugglers) routinely exploit a variety of routes and methods to
move hundreds of tons of illegal drugs into Venezuela every year, and
organized crime in Venezuela has begun to set up operations in foreign
countries to receive and distribute drugs in addition to providing
transportation services;
Whereas in September 2005, the Government of the United States determined that
Venezuela had failed demonstrably to meet its counternarcotics
obligations and that Venezuela could no longer be certified as an ally
in the war on drugs;
Whereas the promulgation by Venezuela of two new laws in October 2005, the ``Law
against Organized Crime'' and the ``Law against the Trafficking and
Consumption of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances'', brought
Venezuelan law into compliance with the 1988 UN Drug Convention;
however, it is not certain, according to the Department of State,
whether Venezuela's political and judicial institutions are up to the
task of vigorous and impartial implementation of such new laws;
Whereas on April 11, 2006, a commercial plane originating in Venezuela was
seized in Mexico at the airport of Ciudad del Carmen, carrying 5.6 tons
of cocaine with an estimated street value of $100 million;
Whereas seizure statistics at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas
are not available because the Government of Venezuela does not publicize
such statistics;
Whereas estimates indicate that as much as 90 percent of the cocaine and heroin
trafficked through the Simon Bolivar International Airport over the last
12 months was not intercepted;
Whereas the Government of Venezuela continues to fail to effectively utilize
several airport security systems provided by the United States
specifically aimed at increasing the Simon Bolivar International Airport
counternarcotics capabilities;
Whereas the Government of Venezuela has not taken any steps unilaterally to
prosecute any corrupt airport officials relating to cases of money
laundering or drug trafficking at the airport despite credible
intelligence estimates that there is potentially millions of dollars in
narcotics proceeds passing through Simon Bolivar International Airport
and Venezuela; and
Whereas the Government of Venezuela and the Venezuela National Anti-Drug Office
(ONA) have officially reported only two seizures of currency in 2006,
one for $13,865 in United States currency and the other for 7,000 euros:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That--
(1) Congress--
(A) strongly condemns the actions and inactions of
the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
which have created fertile ground for criminal drug
trafficking organizations;
(B) strongly condemns the failures on the part of
the Government of Venezuela to stem the flow of illicit
narcotics through its territory; and
(C) strongly condemns the complicity of senior
Venezuelan Government law enforcement officials and
transportation officials who are effectively enabling
large scale shipments of both cocaine and heroin at the
Simon Bolivar International Airport and other transit
points; and
(2) it is the sense of Congress that--
(A) it should continue to be the policy of the
United States to support cooperation between Venezuela
and partners in the Andean region to combat trafficking
in narcotics and other controlled substances;
(B) steps should continue to be taken to restore
bilateral law enforcement cooperation between Venezuela
and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration;
(C) it should continue to be the policy of the
United States to work with the international community,
including the Organization of American States (OAS), to
assist with a thorough review of the measures in place
at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas;
(D) it should continue to be the policy of the
United States to work with other member states of OAS
to bring Venezuela into compliance and fully adhere to
OAS conventions and comprehensive treaties to prevent,
punish, and eliminate narco-terrorism, which
constitutes ``a serious threat to democratic values and
to international peace and security'';
(E) the Secretary of Transportation should provide
to Congress not later than 180 days after the date of
the adoption of this resolution, on behalf of the
Department of State, Department of Homeland Security,
Department of Justice, and the Department of
Transportation, a report with an assessment of the
process undertaken by the Government of Venezuela
toward restoring airport security measures and controls
that meet international standards of safety; and
(F) the Secretary of State should provide to
Congress not later than 180 days after the date of the
adoption of this resolution a report on Venezuela's
compliance with its responsibilities under
international counternarcotics treaties.
Passed the House of Representatives July 26, 2006.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.