[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 261 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 261
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
March 28, 2023
Ms. Kamlager-Dove (for herself, Mr. Allred, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Dean of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Sewell, Ms. Moore of
Wisconsin, Mr. Evans, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Carson, Ms. Lee of
California, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Horsford, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr.
Castro of Texas, Mr. Payne, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi,
Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Keating, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Omar,
Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Jacobs, Mr. Sherman, and Mr.
Jackson of Illinois) 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 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 was held in December 2022
and affirmed renewed United States engagement with the African
Continent, including in areas related to peace and security, public
health and infectious disease outbreaks, food security, human rights,
and economic development;
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 well-
being 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 Blinken to
carry out the commitments from the United States-Africa Leaders
Summit, including initiatives to bolster trade, investment, and
inclusive economic growth, elevate diplomatic engagement,
combat food insecurity and climate change, invest in
technological innovation and health care, protect democracy,
and promote peace and security.
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