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Washington, D.C. -- Yesterday, Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) was named to the newly formed House Democracy Assistance Commission by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). This prestigious appointment to the bipartisan commission comes at a time when America’s commitment to peaceful, persistent facilitation of democracy is in great need.
“Forming a democracy is not easy, and it needs friends to help it along,” said Holt. “ America has proven that self-rule can work on a very large scale. It is incumbent upon those of us who enjoy freedom to help those seeking it, attain it.”
The Commission is modeled after the Frost-Solomon Task Force (chaired by then-Representative’s Martin Frost and the late Gerry Solomon), which, in the 1990s, worked with ten parliaments from former Soviet and Warsaw Pact states, providing them with the kind of basic resources and technological infrastructure required for any legislature to play a meaningful role in an emerging democracy – such as computers and other office equipment, and reference materials for parliamentary libraries – and helping them establish the systems and procedures necessary to create an efficient and well functioning legislature. The mission of the new commission will be to help strengthen the parliaments of new democracies by enabling Members and staff of the House of Representatives to share their expertise with their counterparts in order to enhance accountability, transparency, legislative independence, and government oversight.
“I’m honored to be selected to serve on this critical democracy-building commission,” said Holt. “I hope we’ll be able to share the benefit of our experience in how to structure and run a legislative institution in an emerging democracy.”
Other members of the Commission include Representatives David Dreier (R-CA) (Chair), Jim Kolbe (R-AZ), Paul Gillmor (R-OH), Mark Steven Kirk (IL-10), John Boozman (R-AR), Joe Wilson (SC-02), Tom Cole (OK-4), Candice Miller (R-MI), Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), David Price (D-NC) (Ranking member), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Lois Capps (D-CA), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Artur Davis (D-AL), and Silvestre Reyes (D-TX). The legislation establishing the new commission, H.Res. 135, passed the House on March 14.
The Commission may begin working with countries such as Indonesia, East Timor, Georgia, Macedonia, and Kenya. It will add other countries as it gets underway.
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