,i  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #edia  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,september #af1 #bjad
 ,mr4 ,engel introduced the following   
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,foreign ,affairs  ,a     
,,bill  ,to establish ,united ,states   
embassies with consular services in the 
five countries in the ,caribbean with   
which the ,united ,states has diplomatic
 relations but no permanent diplomatic  
presence3 ,antigua and ,barbuda1        
,dominica1 ,st4 ,kitts and ,nevis1 ,st4 
,lucia1 and ,st4 ,vincent and the       
,grenadines4  #a4 ,short title ,this    
,act may be cited as the ,united        
,states-,caribbean ,partnership ,act of 
#bjad4  #b4 ,definition ,in this ,act1  
the term appropriate congressional      
committees means the ,committee on      
,foreign ,affairs of the ,house of      
,representatives and the ,committee on  
,foreign ,relations of the ,senate4  #c4
 ,findings ,congress finds the          
following3  7#a7 ,while often           

overlooked1 the countries of the        
,caribbean are important ,united ,states
 partners4  7#b7 ,united                
,states-,caribbean cooperation on       
commerce1 security1 and energy must be  
deepened4  7#c7 ,the countries of the   
,caribbean are key voting members of the
 ,organization of ,american ,states4    
7#d7 ,there are five countries in the   
,caribbean with which the ,united       
,states has diplomatic relations1 but   
within which the ,united ,states does   
not have a permanent diplomatic         
presence4 ,those countries are ,antigua 
and ,barbuda1 ,dominica1 ,st4 ,kitts and
 ,nevis1 ,st4 ,lucia1 and ,st4 ,vincent 
and the ,grenadines4  7#e7 ,diplomatic  
relations with these five countries are 
conducted through the ,united ,states   
,embassy in ,bridgetown1 ,barbados4     
7#f7 ,due to the lack of presence of    
,united ,states diplomats in these five 
countries1 citizens of these five       
countries are required to travel to     
,barbados for all consular services4    

7#g7 ,due to the lack of presence of    
,united ,states diplomats in these five 
countries1 in order to meet with local  
officials1 civil society                
representatives1 private sector leaders1
 ,united ,states citizens or others1    
embassy officials must fly from         
,barbados to these countries on what are
 often expensive1 sometimes infrequent  
flights and remain overnight in what are
 often expensive hotel rooms4  7#h7 ,due
 to the lack of presence of ,united     
,states diplomats in these five         
countries1 ,united ,states citizens     
living in and visiting these five       
countries do not have full consular     
services1 and in the event of a consular
 emergency1 air traffic could be shut   
off to any of these islands1 in effect  
stranding ,united ,states citizens      
without full in-country consular        
services4  7#i7 ,due to the lack of     
presence of ,united ,states diplomats in
 these five countries1 key events1      
meetings1 ceremonies1 and other         

opportunities are often not attended by 
,united ,states officials as they are in
 other countries where there is a       
permanent diplomatic presence4  7#aj7   
,due to the lack of presence of ,united 
,states diplomats in these five         
countries1 it is more difficult for     
,united ,states diplomats to establish  
close working relationships with local  
officials1 civil society                
representatives1 and others4  7#aa7 ,due
 to the lack of presence of ,united     
,states diplomats in these five         
countries1 ,united ,states official     
diplomatic interaction with these       
countries1 including delivery of        
demarches and other diplomatic messages1
 which the ,secretary of ,state         
sometimes requires embassy officials to 
personally deliver1 particularly if of a
 confidential nature1 is often relegated
 to telephone1 facsimile1 or email1     
dramatically reducing the ability of the
 ,united ,states to engage host         
governments in substantive dialogue4    

7#ab7 ,due to the lack of presence of   
,united ,states diplomats in these five 
countries1 it is more difficult for the 
,united ,states to conduct public       
diplomacy in these five countries4  #d4 
,establishment of ,united ,states       
embassies with consular services in     
,antigua and ,barbuda1 ,dominica1 ,st4  
,kitts and ,nevis1 ,st4 ,lucia1 and ,st4
 ,vincent and the ,grenadines ,not later
 than five years after the date of the  
enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary  
of ,state shall establish ,united       
,states embassies with consular services
 in ,antigua and ,barbuda1 ,dominica1   
,st4 ,kitts and ,nevis1 ,st4 ,lucia1 and
 ,st4 ,vincent and the ,grenadines to-- 
7#a7 provide consular services to       
citizens of these countries and ,united 
,states citizens living in or traveling 
to these countries2 and  7#b7 engage in 
direct diplomacy with appropriate       
government counterparts in these        
countries4  #e4 ,report ,not later than 
one year after the date of the enactment

 of this ,act and annually thereafter   
until the requirements under section #d 
have been satisfied1 the ,secretary of  
,state shall submit to the appropriate  
congressional committees a report on the
 progress made toward carrying out such 
section4  #f4 ,exception for delay ,the 
,secretary of ,state may delay for up to
 one year the carrying out of section #d
 if the ,secretary determines that more 
time is needed to carry out such section
 and submits to the appropriate         
congressional committees a report       
explaining the reason for such delay4   
#g4 ,limitation on additional funding   
,to carry out this ,act1 the ,secretary 
of ,state may use only amounts that are 
available from the ,embassy ,security1  
,construction1 and ,maintenance account 
and the ,diplomatic and ,consular       
,programs account of the ,department of 
,state for such purpose4