Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the March 2007 report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development makes an important contribution to the understanding of the high levels of crime and violence in the Caribbean, and that the United States should work with Caribbean countries to address crime and violence in the region.
Welcomes the recommendations contained in the March 2007 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) report "Crime, Violence, and Development: Trends, Costs, and Policy Options in the Caribbean" to the extent those recommendations do not conflict with U.S. law.
Urges the governments of United States and other drug-consuming countries to increase counter-narcotics assistance to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states and the Dominican Republic.
Urges the U.S. government to: (1) increase coordination with CARICOM member states and the Dominican Republic to help combat regional crime; and (2) consider the impact on CARICOM member states and the Dominican Republic of the proposed Merida Initiative to combat drugs, violence, and transnational crime in Mexico and Central America.
Urges the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security to work with the CARICOM member states and the Dominican Republic to mitigate the negative effects of U.S. deportation policy.
Urges the CARICOM member states and the Dominican Republic to consider fully the recommendations in the UNODC and World Bank report, especially with respect to improvements in their criminal justice systems.
The title of the measure was amended. Agreed to without objection.