Protecting U.S. Sector Investments in Honduras

Floor Speech

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Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of protections for U.S. private sector investments in Central America, which addresses the root causes of illegal immigration to the United States of America.

In 2023, it was announced that the Government of Honduras would open six new consulates in the United States. They are intended to address the needs of Hondurans who made the dangerous journey to the United States and entered the country illegally. This after-the-fact approach is emblematic of a multilateral failure to deal with the root cause of illegal immigration--a fundamental lack of opportunity in Central America. Once a local economy has failed to provide opportunity, job seekers are forced to look elsewhere to provide for their families. They often come to the U.S., but the battle is lost at this stage. Consulates in foreign land serving those who arrived here due to shortcomings of broken political systems are too little, too late. What do those who emigrate desire most? A secure, well-paying job in their own country.

A thriving domestic private sector provides a job market that allows capable and ready-to-work individuals to support their families. We know this can be done. In fact, in Honduras, it has been proven that U.S. private sector investment, spent wisely and properly deployed, is creating thousands of jobs in the local economy. One prominent example is Honduras Prospera, a U.S.-led developer of special economic zones called ZEDEs. Prospera has invested over $100 million to bring new industries and new opportunities into Honduras. But now the underpinning Honduran constitutional ZEDE-law is under attack by President Xiomara Castro's administration. They are threatening illegal retroactive repeal of the ZEDE law via an illegitimate reshuffling of the country's Supreme Court. We cannot stand by and allow the expropriation of U.S. investment while denying thousands of Hondurans the right to a stable job. And this action violates a 50-year legal stability guarantee under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).

Undermining U.S. private sector investment will have significant and lasting negative effects for the Honduran people. Over the past few years, Honduras has confronted both the destruction wrought by Category 4 Hurricanes Eta and Iota, along with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As Hondurans work to rebuild, ensuring stable U.S. investment will afford Hondurans a fair working environment that provides good economic, educational, health care, labor, and housing opportunities. Better domestic opportunities help to reduce the pressures that lead citizens to irregular migration.

Sustained U.S. investment in Honduras is strongly in our national security interest. After breaking Honduras' alliance with Taiwan and establishing diplomatic ties with China, President Castro recently traveled to China to meet with President Xi Jinping ``to jointly plan for the future development'' and inaugurate Honduras' embassy in Beijing. The promise of Chinese investment is both a powerful motivator for President Castro and a growing concern for global stability in the region. Preserving and furthering U.S. investment and engagement in Honduras is critical for our national security.

I encourage my fellow Members of Congress to ensure that all hard- working Hondurans who wish to live and work in their country can have the opportunity to do so. So, let's request that U.S. agencies that control American visa access deny these benefits to any Honduran politician or policymaker advocating the expropriation of U.S. assets or investments. Strategic U.S. private sector investment is proving to make Honduras a land of opportunity for Hondurans while alleviating an ever-growing migration crisis here in the U.S.

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