[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1342 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1342
Reaffirming the importance of diplomacy and development in United
States-African Union relations, promoting strategic partnerships and
shared objectives between the United States and the African Union, and
expressing strong support for the successful implementation of the
African Continental Free Trade Area.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 13, 2022
Ms. Bass (for herself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Meeks, Mrs.
Lawrence, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Johnson of Georgia,
Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Dean, Mr. Sires, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Moore of
Wisconsin, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Evans, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr.
Cohen, Ms. Titus, Mr. Carson, Mr. Rush, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr.
Vargas, Mr. Keating, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mrs. Watson
Coleman, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Lieu, Mr. Thompson of
Mississippi, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Bera, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Payne, Mr.
Phillips, Mr. Horsford, Mr. Garamendi, Ms. Bush, Ms. Jacobs of
California, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mr. Deutch, and Ms.
Omar) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
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RESOLUTION
Reaffirming the importance of diplomacy and development in United
States-African Union relations, promoting strategic partnerships and
shared objectives between the United States and the African Union, and
expressing strong support for the successful implementation of the
African Continental Free Trade Area.
Whereas since the formation of the African Union in July 2002, succeeding the
Organization of African Unity founded in 1963, the African Union has set
out notable goals to foster peace and security, socioeconomic
development and growth, democratic and accountable governance, and
economic engagement and investment across the continent and its member
states;
Whereas the United States Government recognized the African Union as an
international organization in 2005, and initiated the United States
Mission to the African Union in 2006, making the United States the first
non-African country to establish a diplomatic mission to the African
Union;
Whereas the United States has collaborated with the African Union since 2002,
and in 2010, the United States and the African Union held their first
bilateral meeting of senior officials, which sought to strengthen mutual
United States-African Union interests, promote shared values in a new
strategic partnership, and foster cooperation on a range of issues,
notably those relating to peace and security, democratic governance,
economic growth, public health, and food security in Africa;
Whereas the United States Department of State continues to maintain robust
relations with the African Union through the annual United States-
African Union Commission High-Level Dialogue between the Secretary of
State and Chairperson of the African Union Commission in addition to
sub-cabinet officials across the United States Government and their
African Union counterparts, and the eighth annual dialogue in March 2022
reaffirmed both parties' commitment to collaboration on issues of global
concern;
Whereas the second United States-Africa Leaders Summit is to be held in December
2022 to discuss new opportunities for regional engagement as well as
issues related to peace and security, public health and infectious
disease outbreaks, food security, human rights, and economic engagement;
Whereas the African Union has mobilized peacekeeping missions to regions on the
continent experiencing conflict and in 2018 revitalized the Peace Fund
through which its member states will finance African peace and security
operations;
Whereas the United States has provided security support to the African Union
Commission Peace Support Operations Division and 23 African nations;
Whereas the United States supports the African Union's Agenda 2063 goal of
fostering improved education on the continent and the development of the
next generation of African leaders through support for basic and
secondary education, the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), and
people-to-people ties through cultural and educational exchange programs
benefitting Africa's youth and young Americans seeking to enhance their
understanding of the continent;
Whereas the United States continues to support the member states of the African
Union through various longstanding global health initiatives, including
the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the President's
Malaria Initiative, and efforts to combat infectious disease outbreaks
and build the capacity of health systems to benefit the health and
wellbeing of hundreds of millions of Africans;
Whereas the United States partnered with the African Union to establish the
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and
remains strongly committed to assisting the Africa CDC in its fight
against COVID-19 and other infectious disease outbreaks;
Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting border closures, travel and
commercial activity restrictions, and supply chain challenges shrunk
African economic output by $95 billion in 2020 alone according to the
International Monetary Fund, highlighting the need for the African Union
and its member states to expand their capacities to mitigate future
economic shocks through self-reliance and regional economic integration;
Whereas the United States African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) initiated
and expanded trade with four-fifths of sub-Saharan African countries
since its enactment in 2001 and established an important instrument for
engaging African nations on issues of trade, capacity building, good
governance, human rights protections, and economic growth and job
creation in the United States and Africa;
Whereas the African Union's formation in 2018 of the African Continental Free
Trade Area (AfCFTA) has created the world's largest trade bloc by number
of countries with the potential to substantially boost economic growth,
create economic opportunities for women and youth, promote significant
commercial investment, and fundamentally transform and expand economic
engagement on the continent;
Whereas the World Bank estimates that full implementation of the AfCFTA could:
surge Africa's cumulative GDP by approximately $450 billion--with most
of those gains coming from streamlining the cost and efficiency of
customs procedures, raise the total value of Africa's exports in goods
and services by $560 billion (40 percent of which will be from intra-
African trade), lift 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty, boost
the wages of African women and unskilled workers in particular, and
enhance manufacturing production while increasing the rest of the
world's GDP by $76 billion;
Whereas the Department of State, United States Agency for International
Development, and other United States development agencies have
facilitated private sector investment and United States commercial
engagement in Africa through interagency initiatives such as Power
Africa and Prosper Africa, and continue to promote regional integration
in sectors such as technology, infrastructure, transportation,
telecommunications, and energy; and
Whereas the United States recognizes the importance of the strategic partnership
between the United States and the African Union and is committed to
advancing their continued mutually advantageous cooperation, including
by promoting and expanding economic engagement with and within Africa:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) notes the African Union's efforts toward strengthening
political and governance institutions across the continent and
encourages the African Union and its member countries to
prioritize and advance political and economic reforms which
uphold human rights, combat corruption, create an enabling
business climate for private sector investment, and promote
transparent and accountable governance;
(2) affirms the sustained use of diplomacy and multilateral
engagement with the African Union and its member countries on
areas of mutual benefit to African countries and the United
States and calls for urgent efforts to explore expanded
partnerships with the African Union and its member countries to
promote security and stability, strengthen economic engagement,
and address infectious disease outbreaks, humanitarian crises,
and food insecurity;
(3) supports the strengthening of technical and operational
capacities of the African Union and sub-regional organizations
to effectively address peace and security challenges and
mobilize African resources to bolster continent-led
stabilization missions;
(4) underscores the significance of the African Union's
promotion of inclusive regional economic development,
initiation of the AfCFTA, and advancement of continental
economic integration;
(5) supports efforts to partner with the AfCFTA Secretariat
and African Union to facilitate the implementation of the
AfCFTA, including by building regional capacity and encouraging
commercial investment, deeper economic ties, and public-private
partnerships; and
(6) encourages President Biden and Secretary of State
Blinken to prioritize and leverage the second United States-
Africa Leaders Summit in order to underscore the longstanding
partnership between the United States and African countries,
strengthen ties on key strategic priorities, and use the summit
as an opportunity to highlight countries that have demonstrated
a commitment to democracy and good governance and sought to
pursue enhanced economic engagement, stability, regional
security, public health, and socioeconomic development.
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