This Act may be cited as the “Western Hemisphere Security Strategy Act of 2023”.

It is the sense of Congress that—

(a) In general.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense shall jointly submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a multi-year strategy, to be known as the “Western Hemisphere Security Strategy”—

(1) to enhance diplomatic engagement and security assistance and cooperation;

(2) to promote regional security and stability; and

(3) to advance United States strategic interests in the Western Hemisphere.

(b) Elements.—The strategy required by subsection (a) shall include the following:

(1) A proposal for increasing and improving United States bilateral and multilateral security assistance and cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean.

(2) Activities to build the defense and security capacity of partner countries in Latin America and the Caribbean so as to enable such countries to defend themselves against conventional and unconventional threats, including cyberattacks.

(3) Activities to counter—

(A) malign influence by state actors;

(B) transnational criminal organizations with connections to—

(i) illicit trafficking of gold, narcotics, and weapons;

(ii) human trafficking and smuggling; and

(iii) terrorism; and

(C) corruption and kleptocracy in governments of countries in the Western Hemisphere.

(4) Efforts to disrupt, degrade, and counter transnational illicit trafficking, with an emphasis on illicit narcotics and precursor chemicals that produce illicit narcotics.

(5) Activities to increase transparency in, and support for, strong and accountable defense, security, and law enforcement institutions through institutional capacity-building efforts, including efforts to ensure respect for human rights and direction and oversight by civilian authorities.

(6) Programs and initiatives to enhance public diplomacy and engagement with the people of the Western Hemisphere for the purpose of demonstrating that the security of their countries is enhanced to a greater extent if their countries are aligned with the United States and democratic values rather than with authoritarian countries such as the People’s Republic of China, the Russian Federation, and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

(7) Efforts to expand bilateral and multinational military training exercises with partner countries in the Western Hemisphere.

(8) Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief initiatives to support partner countries by promoting the development and growth of responsive institutions through activities such as—

(A) the provision of appropriate equipment, training, and logistical support;

(B) transportation of humanitarian supplies or personnel of foreign security forces;

(C) making available, preparing, and transferring on-hand nonlethal supplies, and providing training on the use of such supplies, for humanitarian or health purposes to respond to unforeseen emergencies;

(D) the provision of Department of State humanitarian demining assistance; and

(E) conducting medical support operations and medical humanitarian missions, such as hospital ship deployments and base-operating services, to the extent required by the operation.

(9) Continued support for the women, peace, and security initiatives of the Department of State to support the capacity of partner countries in the Western Hemisphere—

(A) to ensure—

(i) the safety and security of women and girls; and

(ii) that the rights of women and girls are protected; and

(B) to promote the meaningful participation of women in—

(i) the defense and security sectors; and

(ii) mediation and negotiation processes seeking to prevent, mitigate, or resolve violent conflict, in accordance with the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–68; 131 Stat. 1202).

(10) Professional military education initiatives, such as the Department of State’s International Military and Education Training program.

(11) A detailed assessment of the resources required to carry out such strategy and a plan to be executed not later than fiscal year 2024.

(c) Implementation.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the date on which the Western Hemisphere Security Strategy is submitted under subsection (a), the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense shall commence implementation of the strategy.

(2) BRIEFING.—Not later than 1 year after the date on which the implementation of the Western Hemisphere Security Strategy commences, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense shall jointly provide a briefing to the appropriate committees of Congress on the implementation of the strategy.

(3) TERMINATION.—The authority under this section shall terminate on the date that is three years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(d) Appropriate committees of Congress defined.—In this section, the term “appropriate committees of Congress” means—

(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; and

(2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives.

(a) In general.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on efforts by the Maduro regime of Venezuela to detain United States citizens and lawful permanent residents.

(b) Elements.—The report required by subsection (a) shall include, regarding the arrest, capture, detainment, and imprisonment of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents—

(1) the names, positions, and institutional affiliation of Venezuelan individuals, or those acting on their behalf, who have engaged in such activities;

(2) a description of any role played by transnational criminal organizations, and an identification of such organizations; and

(3) where relevant, an assessment of whether and how United States citizens and lawful permanent residents have been lured to Venezuela.

(c) Form.—The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but shall include a classified annex, which shall include a list of the total number of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents detained or imprisoned in Venezuela as of the date on which the report is submitted.

The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, the United States Trade Representative, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Development Finance Corporation, shall provide technical assistance to partner countries in the Western Hemisphere to establish frameworks or mechanisms, similar to the frameworks set forth in section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 4565), for the purpose of enabling such partner countries to screen, review, and address the long-term financial sustainability and national security implications of investments in strategic sectors or services, including energy, telecommunications, and infrastructure, by entities controlled or directed by the governments of adversarial countries, including—