Summit of the Americas Act

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9082 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9082

    To direct the Secretary of State to host regular Summits of the 
                   Americas, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Summit of the Americas Act''.

SEC. 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.
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