Parliamentary Conference of the Americas
Encyclopedia
The Parliamentary Conference of the Americas, or COPA, was created in 1997 under the auspices of the United States' Council of State Governments
and National Conference of State Legislatures
, the Quebec National Assembly and a Brazilian legislative organization. The first Conference was held in Quebec City
, Province of Quebec, in Canada
, at which Jean Pierre Charboneau, the President of the Quebec National Assembly, was elected COPA's first President. The second Conference was held in Río Grande, Puerto Rico
in the United States
under the presidency of Puerto Rico Senator
Kenneth McClintock
, COPA's second President.
The necessity to create a hemispheric parliamentary organization became apparent at the first Summit of the Americas
, held in Miami, Florida, USA, in December 1994. The Summit brought together the Chief Executives of every country in the Americas except for Cuba, with no input from the parliamentary/legislative branches of those countries. Since its creation, COPA has been an observer and participant at every subsequent Summit of the Americas: Santiago, Chile; Quebec City, Canada; and Mar del Plata, Argentina.
COPA's membership includes all national and sub-national (provincial, state and territorial) parliamentarians or legislators from every country in the Western Hemisphere except Cuba. Among the organization's affiliates is the Women's Parliamentarian Network. COPA operates in four languages, Spanish, English, French and Portuguese.
For the first time since the II Conference in 2000, COPA's Executive Committee is scheduled to meet in the United States in late June (Los Angeles, California).
Council of State Governments
The Council of State Governments is a nonpartisan non-profit organization in the United States serving the state governments. It serves state legislatures, state courts, and executive branch officials and agencies, and is the only multi-branch organization of state governments in the United...
and National Conference of State Legislatures
National Conference of State Legislatures
The National Conference of State Legislatures is a bipartisan non-governmental organization established in 1975 to serve the members and staff of state legislatures of the United States...
, the Quebec National Assembly and a Brazilian legislative organization. The first Conference was held in Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, Province of Quebec, in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, at which Jean Pierre Charboneau, the President of the Quebec National Assembly, was elected COPA's first President. The second Conference was held in Río Grande, Puerto Rico
Río Grande, Puerto Rico
Río Grande is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Northern Coastal Valley, North of Las Piedras, Naguabo and Ceiba; east of Loíza and Canóvanas and west of Luquillo. Río Grande is spread over eight wards and Río Grande Pueblo...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
under the presidency of Puerto Rico Senator
Senate of Puerto Rico
The Senate of Puerto Rico is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate is composed of 27 senators, representing eight constituent senatorial districts across the commonwealth, with two senators elected per district; an...
Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth McClintock
Kenneth D. McClintock-Hernández is the current Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. Mr. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton presidential campaign's National Hispanic Leadership Council in 2008, co-chaired Clinton's successful Puerto Rico primary campaign that year and served as the...
, COPA's second President.
The necessity to create a hemispheric parliamentary organization became apparent at the first Summit of the Americas
Summit of the Americas
The Summits of the Americas is a series of international summit meetings bringing together the leaders of countries in North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Neither the elderly leader nor a representative from Cuba participated in this summit...
, held in Miami, Florida, USA, in December 1994. The Summit brought together the Chief Executives of every country in the Americas except for Cuba, with no input from the parliamentary/legislative branches of those countries. Since its creation, COPA has been an observer and participant at every subsequent Summit of the Americas: Santiago, Chile; Quebec City, Canada; and Mar del Plata, Argentina.
COPA's membership includes all national and sub-national (provincial, state and territorial) parliamentarians or legislators from every country in the Western Hemisphere except Cuba. Among the organization's affiliates is the Women's Parliamentarian Network. COPA operates in four languages, Spanish, English, French and Portuguese.
For the first time since the II Conference in 2000, COPA's Executive Committee is scheduled to meet in the United States in late June (Los Angeles, California).
Sources
- http://www.parl.gc.ca/Infoparl/english/issue.htm?param=63&art=56
- http://www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/cgi-bin/fullrecord.pl?handle=sosig969551395-19384
- http://www.copa.qc.ca
- http://csg.org
- http://ncsl.org