Representative Price Leads House Democracy Partnership CODEL to South America

A congressional delegation from the House Democracy Partnership (HDP) traveled to South America from August 15 to 23, 2009, to inaugurate a partnership with the Congress of Peru and discuss the next steps in its three-year-old partnership with the Congress of Colombia. The eight-member delegation was led by HDP Chairman David Price (D-NC) and included HDP Ranking Member David Dreier (R-CA); HDP members Lois Capps (D-CA), Sam Farr (D-CA), and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA); and Reps. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Ed Whitfield (R-KY), and Brian Bilbray (R-CA). This was HDP's third congressional delegation of the 111th Congress and 16th overall since 2005.

The delegation's trip to Peru (Aug. 15-19) marked the formal inauguration of HDP's partnership with the Peruvian Congress, which was selected as the commission's 14th partner legislature in June. To highlight the importance of constituent relations, the delegation began its visit in the southern city of Arequipa, where it toured the constituency office of a local member of Congress and observed the anniversary of the city's founding with various officials, including Vice President Lourdes Mendoza.

The centerpiece of the delegation's visit was its two-day program with the Peruvian Congress in Lima, which included a nationally televised signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding with HDP, peer-to-peer working groups on constituent services and committee oversight, a meeting with the congressional Modernization Commission (a focal point of HDP assistance), and lunches hosted by the President of Congress and the Congressional Women's Caucus. The delegation also met with President Alan García, Prime Minister Javier Velásquez, and Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Martín Pérez to discuss issues of mutual concern, including progress toward implementing the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. Concurrently, staff from HDP, the Library of Congress, and the Congressional Research Service conducted a weeklong training program for their Peruvian counterparts focused on legislative research services and information technology.

Between stops in HDP partner countries, the delegation visited Paraguay (Aug. 19-20), which recently experienced its first peaceful transition of power in six decades. In meetings with President Fernando Lugo, cabinet members, and congressional leaders in Asunción, Members discussed various bilateral and regional issues, including the new U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact with Paraguay, and emphasized the need for the legislative and executive branches to work together in support of Paraguayan democracy. The delegation also attended plenary sessions of the Paraguayan House and Senate, with Rep. Roybal-Allard offering remarks in Spanish.

On its final stop, the delegation traveled to Colombia (Aug. 20-23), which has been an HDP partner country since 2006. In meetings with House and Senate leaders in Bogotá, Members discussed the next steps in the three-year-old partnership, with all sides agreeing that HDP's conventional legislative strengthening program will transition into a broader peer-to-peer dialogue on issues of mutual concern. In an extended meeting with President Álvaro Uribe, Members discussed the pending U.S.-Colombian Free Trade Agreement, bilateral defense and counternarcotics efforts, and the Colombian health care system, among other issues. The delegation also met with Acting Attorney General Guillermo Mendoza for a briefing on the Colombian government's progress in reducing violence against labor leaders.

The delegation concluded its visit in the coastal city of Cartagena, a center of Colombia's Afro-Colombian population and a focal point of the government's efforts to demobilize and reintegrate paramilitary and guerrilla fighters. Members discussed local challenges with the mayor of Cartagena, toured a Colombian naval facility used for maritime counternarcotics operations, and visited two USAID-supported development projects, including a trade school for demobilized or at-risk child soldiers.

Overall, the delegation successfully advanced HDP's mission of supporting the development of democratic institutions and strengthening cooperation between the U.S. Congress and its peer legislatures around the world. The Peruvian Congress appears likely to become one of HDP's most active and constructive partners, and the shift in emphasis in HDP's partnership with Colombia will allow the commission to focus its legislative strengthening.