[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3131 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3131
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a Maya Security
and Conservation Partnership program, to authorize appropriations for
that program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 19, 2019
Mr. Inhofe (for himself, Mr. Udall, and Mr. Risch) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a Maya Security
and Conservation Partnership program, to authorize appropriations for
that program, 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 ``Mirador-Calakmul Basin Maya Security
and Conservation Partnership Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the Mirador-Calakmul Basin (referred to in this Act as
the ``Basin'') is recognized scientifically as, and has been
termed, ``the Cradle of Maya Civilization'', with over 100
ancient Maya cities dating back almost 3,000 years, and
includes the world's largest pyramids in volume, the tallest
pyramids in the Americas, the first paved ancient highway
systems, the earliest and largest ancient Maya cities, and the
home of the ancient Ka'an (Kan) Kingdom, which is recognized as
one of the first organized political and economic states in the
Americas;
(2) the Basin covers approximately 1,600,000 acres of
pristine tropical forest within a geographically contained
ecological system;
(3) the forest referred to in paragraph (2) is a crucial
economic resource for the people of Central America and Mexico
living in villages surrounding the Basin;
(4) the Basin is a reservoir of genetic diversity that can
spark potential advances in medical, agricultural, and
industrial technology; and
(5) the Basin is centrally located within the larger Selva
Maya, a large block of adjacent protected areas within
Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize, within which increased
crossboundary trafficking of timber, gold, wildlife, and other
resources is taking place with little central government
control or law enforcement.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States--
(1) that the United States encourages the governments of
Mexico and Guatemala--
(A) to prioritize the Basin; and
(B) to establish a formal joint program for the
security and conservation of the biodiversity and
archeological ruins of the Basin, comprising ``the
Cradle of Maya Civilization'', which would be the first
ever binational security and conservation program of
its size and scale in Latin America;
(2) to fund field-based tropical and archeological
research, law enforcement, and sustainable tourism activities
within the Basin and surrounding communities to support and
strengthen protected areas while enlisting local communities in
those activities; and
(3) that the implementation of and funding for the policy
described in paragraph (2) should emphasize that--
(A) United States investment under this Act shall
be in addition to existing United States efforts;
(B) the governments of Guatemala and Mexico,
multilateral organizations such as the Central American
Bank for Economic Integration, local communities, and
private sector organizations should have a leading role
in fostering the partnership to preserve and protect
the Basin; and
(C) United States funding should leverage
investments by the governments of Guatemala and Mexico
and regional research organizations.
SEC. 4. PRIORITY FOR INVESTMENTS IN THE BASIN.
The Secretary of the Interior shall prioritize continued tropical
forest and archeological scientific research, law enforcement, and
sustainable tourism in the scientifically recognized Basin in northern
Guatemala and southern Mexico by establishing a collaborative heritage
conservation program and sustainable tourism model in collaboration
with--
(1) the governments of Guatemala and Mexico; and
(2) the ongoing scientific research team of United States
and international universities and institutions performing
tropical and archaeological work in the Basin.
SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the
Office of International Affairs of the Department of the Interior
(referred to in this section as the ``Secretary''), as a contribution
to the scientific investigation, heritage conservation, law
enforcement, and sustainable tourism of the scientifically recognized
Basin in Guatemala and Mexico, shall--
(1) establish a Maya Security and Conservation Partnership
program; and
(2) carry out a program to enter into cooperative
agreements or provide grants, as appropriate, to support the
Maya Security and Conservation Partnership program.
(b) Cooperative Agreements and Grants.--A cooperative agreement or
grant under subsection (a)(2) shall, in part, support demonstrably
effective, ongoing, and collaborative research efforts involving a
consortium of United States and local universities and research
institutions working in the Basin.
(c) Goal.--The goal of the program established under subsection
(a)(1) shall be to create a sustainable tourism model designed to
provide low impact, controlled access to the archaeological sites of
the Basin with an emphasis on providing safe and secure economic
opportunity for the local communities in and around the Basin.
(d) Limitation on Use of Funds.--Of the funds made available to
carry out this section for a fiscal year, 50 percent may not be used
until, as determined by the Secretary of State, in consultation with
the Secretary, the governments of Guatemala and Mexico have provided
significant direct investment to effectively counter illegal activities
within the region that encompasses the Basin, including illegal logging
and looting of archeological sites along the Guatemala-Mexico border
and within the Basin.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $12,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2021 through 2026, to remain available until
expended.
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