New U.S. bill eyes country-by-country action plans for democracy
Friday, March 4, 2005 at 12:39 JST
WASHINGTON — Bipartisan lawmakers submitted Thursday a global democracy promotion bill in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, mandating the creation of country-by-country action plans tailored to each "non-democratic" state.
The legislation comes after President George W Bush vowed in his second-term inaugural speech in January to spread freedom and democracy around the world with the "ultimate goal" of ending tyranny.
The ADVANCE Democracy Act would establish freedom and democracy as fundamental components of U.S. foreign policy. ADVANCE is an acronym for the bill's full title.
The bill focuses on creating positions and offices in the State Department for democracy advancement, notably a senior Under Secretary for Global Affairs, who would be mandated to advocate democracy and fundamental freedoms around the world.
It would establish the Office of Democracy Movements and Transitions and separate Regional Democracy Hubs as contact points for democracy activists around the world.
The State Department is obliged to prepare an annual report on democracy along with an action democracy-promotion plan under the bill. U.S. embassies are to be fashioned as "islands of freedom."
"The promotion of democracy and freedom is simply inseparable from the long term security of the U.S.," said Senr John McCain, pointing to the recent fall of non-democratic governments in the Ukraine and Lebanon.
"It basically says that America has a national purpose, defined in our Declaration of Independence, that we're all endowed equally by our Creator with those rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That's America's work at home, but it's also America's work abroad," said Sen Joseph Lieberman, another bill sponsor.
"In the debate between realists and idealists," said Lieberman, the bill puts U.S. foreign policy "squarely on the side of idealism." (Wire reports)
Friday, March 4, 2005 at 12:39 JST
WASHINGTON — Bipartisan lawmakers submitted Thursday a global democracy promotion bill in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, mandating the creation of country-by-country action plans tailored to each "non-democratic" state.
The legislation comes after President George W Bush vowed in his second-term inaugural speech in January to spread freedom and democracy around the world with the "ultimate goal" of ending tyranny.
The ADVANCE Democracy Act would establish freedom and democracy as fundamental components of U.S. foreign policy. ADVANCE is an acronym for the bill's full title.
The bill focuses on creating positions and offices in the State Department for democracy advancement, notably a senior Under Secretary for Global Affairs, who would be mandated to advocate democracy and fundamental freedoms around the world.
It would establish the Office of Democracy Movements and Transitions and separate Regional Democracy Hubs as contact points for democracy activists around the world.
The State Department is obliged to prepare an annual report on democracy along with an action democracy-promotion plan under the bill. U.S. embassies are to be fashioned as "islands of freedom."
"The promotion of democracy and freedom is simply inseparable from the long term security of the U.S.," said Senr John McCain, pointing to the recent fall of non-democratic governments in the Ukraine and Lebanon.
"It basically says that America has a national purpose, defined in our Declaration of Independence, that we're all endowed equally by our Creator with those rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That's America's work at home, but it's also America's work abroad," said Sen Joseph Lieberman, another bill sponsor.
"In the debate between realists and idealists," said Lieberman, the bill puts U.S. foreign policy "squarely on the side of idealism." (Wire reports)