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1 1 (November 16, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govehcp0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressbot informing th Vei: Research re debae sin Caribbean Basin Security Initiati The United States developed the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), a regional U.S. foreign assistance program, in 2009 through a process of dialogue with Caribbean countries. The initiative seeks to reduce illicit trafficking in the region, advance public safety and security, and promote social justice. Because of their geographic location, many Caribbean nations are vulnerable to being used as transit countries for illicit drugs from South America destined for the U.S. and European markets. Strengthened U.S. counternarcotics cooperation with Mexico and Central America-through the Mdrida Initiative and the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI)-led U.S. policymakers to anticipate a potential increase in narcotics trafficking through the Caribbean. Many Caribbean countries have also suffered high rates of violent crime, including murder, often associated with drug trafficking activities. President Obama announced the initiative at the fifth Summit of the Americas in 2009. U.S. and Caribbean representatives held follow-up meetings and, in 2010, an inaugural Caribbean-U.S. Security Cooperation Dialogue, which approved a declaration of principles, a framework for engagement, and a broad action plan. In October 2020, Caribbean and U.S. officials held the ninth dialogue virtually, with theme of strengthening regional coordination to address shared security challenges. In June 2017, the State Department released a U.S. strategy for engagement in the Caribbean (required by P.L. 114-291, the United States-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act of 2016). Among the priorities for engagement is security, with the objectives of strengthening mutual national security and advancing citizens' safety through programs to dismantle criminal and terrorist organizations, curb the trafficking of illicit goods and people, strengthen the rule of law, and counter vulnerability to terrorist threats-all efforts central to the CBSI. Congress has supported funding for the CBSI. From FY2010 through FY2021, Congress appropriated $751 million for the CBSI, benefiting 13 Caribbean countries- Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago (see Table 1 and Figure 1). From FY2018-FY2021, Congress did not approve Trump Administration budget requests that would have cut CBSI funding significantly. For FY2021, the Administration requested $32 million for the CBSI, a cut of almost 47% from that appropriated in FY2020; Congress appropriated not less than $74.8 million for the CBSI in the Consolidated Updated November 16, 2021 [ve Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260, Explanatory Statement, Division K). For FY2022, the Biden Administration requested $66 million for the CBSI, 10% more than that appropriated in FY2020 and about 12% less than that appropriated for FY2021. In July 2021, the House approved its version of the FY2022 foreign aid appropriations bill, H.R. 4373 (H.Rept. 117-84), which would appropriate not less than $80 million for the CBSI. In October 2021, the Senate Appropriations Committee introduced its version of the bill, S. 3075; the explanatory statement to the bill would recommend $74.5 million for the CBSI. The Caribbean Basin Security Initiative Authorization Act (H.R. 4133), ordered reported by the House Foreign Affairs Committee in September 2021, would authorize $74.8 million for the CBSI for each fiscal year from FY2022 through FY2026 and would establish monitoring and reporting requirements for the program. The House approved a similar bill in the 116th Congress (H.R. 7703), but the Senate did not consider the measure. Coordinated by the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere affairs and implemented largely by the State Department, USAID, and the Department of Defense, the CBSI has targeted U.S. assistance in five areas: Maritime and Aerial Security Cooperation, including assistance to strengthen Caribbean maritime and aerial operations capability, improve radar coverage, and sustain those capabilities; Law Enforcement Capacity Building, including assistance to improve law enforcement though police professionalization, anti-corruption training, and community-based policing; Border/Port Security and Firearms Interdiction, including support to improve capacity to intercept smuggled narcotics, weapons, bulk cash, and other contraband at airports and seaports; Justice Sector Reform, including support to increase the efficacy of prosecutors and criminal courts and reform and strengthen juvenile justice systems; and Crime Prevention and At-Risk Youth, including assistance to populations vulnerable to being victims of crime or at risk of recruitment into criminal organizations. Although the State Department has not published CBSI funding statistics by country, a February 2019 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report shows that from FY2010 through FY2018, the Dominican Republic received almost 23% of CBSI funding, Jamaica

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