1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Mirador-Calakmul Basin Maya Security and Conservation Partnership Act of 2019 . 2. Findings Congress finds that— (1) the Mirador-Calakmul Basin (referred to in this Act as the Basin ) is recognized scientifically as, and has been termed, the Cradle of Maya Civilization , with over 100 ancient Maya cities dating back almost 3,000 years, and includes the world’s largest pyramids in volume, the tallest pyramids in the Americas, the first paved ancient highway systems, the earliest and largest ancient Maya cities, and the home of the ancient Ka’an (Kan) Kingdom, which is recognized as one of the first organized political and economic states in the Americas; (2) the Basin covers approximately 1,600,000 acres of pristine tropical forest within a geographically contained ecological system; (3) the forest referred to in paragraph (2) is a crucial economic resource for the people of Central America and Mexico living in villages surrounding the Basin; (4) the Basin is a reservoir of genetic diversity that can spark potential advances in medical, agricultural, and industrial technology; and (5) the Basin is centrally located within the larger Selva Maya, a large block of adjacent protected areas within Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize, within which increased crossboundary trafficking of timber, gold, wildlife, and other resources is taking place with little central government control or law enforcement. 3. Statement of policy It is the policy of the United States— (1) that the United States encourages the governments of Mexico and Guatemala— (A) to prioritize the Basin; and (B) to establish a formal joint program for the security and conservation of the biodiversity and archeological ruins of the Basin, comprising the Cradle of Maya Civilization , which would be the first ever binational security and conservation program of its size and scale in Latin America