Urging the United States Secretary of State to take action regarding unpaid Peruvian agrarian reform bonds.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 289 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 289

 Urging the United States Secretary of State to take action regarding 
                 unpaid Peruvian agrarian reform bonds.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 1, 2021

 Mr. Norcross (for himself, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Zeldin, Mr. 
 Thompson of California, Mr. McGovern, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Ruppersberger, 
    Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Katko, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Turner, Mrs. Torres of 
   California, Mr. Levin of California, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Sires, Mr. 
 Gottheimer, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Suozzi, Mrs. Murphy of Florida, and Mr. 
Keating) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Urging the United States Secretary of State to take action regarding 
                 unpaid Peruvian agrarian reform bonds.

Whereas, beginning in 1969, Peruvian General Juan Velasco Alvarado and his 
        military government expropriated millions of acres of agricultural land 
        as part of a broad agrarian reform, and compensated thousands of 
        landholders with agrarian reform bonds;
Whereas, in the 1980s and 1990s, Peru experienced severe hyperinflation and 
        twice changed its currency, leaving the agrarian reform bonds worthless;
Whereas, during the 1980s, Peru defaulted on the agrarian reform bonds, and by 
        1992, Peru's Government had ceased making payments on the agrarian 
        reform bonds;
Whereas Peru's Constitutional Tribunal has repeatedly ruled that the agrarian 
        reform bonds should be fully reimbursed by the Peruvian Government;
Whereas despite this court ruling, Peru has begun a process of payment to 
        bondholders based on a valuation that is not consistent with the current 
        value set by Peru's Constitutional Tribunal in 2001;
Whereas Peru values the agrarian reform bonds at only tens of millions of 
        dollars, even though most outside estimates of the current value of the 
        bonds range from between $1 billion and $10 billion;
Whereas, since the 1990s, Peru has become one of Latin America's fastest growing 
        economies, with free-trade agreements with China and countries in 
        Europe;
Whereas Peruvian agrarian reform bonds are beneficially owned by institutional 
        investors that include not fewer than 200 American State, municipal, 
        union, and other pension funds located in at least 25 States; and
Whereas the failure of the Peruvian Government to repay the agrarian reform 
        bonds at their current value affects the retirement of over 5,000,000 
        United States pensioners: Now, therefore be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives urges the Secretary of 
State to take action concerning unpaid Peruvian agrarian reform bonds 
to ensure the retirement security of over 5,000,000 United States 
pensioners across the Nation, by encouraging the Peruvian Government to 
negotiate in good faith with United States bondholders, including 
pension funds, regarding payment of the agrarian reform bonds.
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