[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 121 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 121

 Expressing the sense of the Congress in support of the creation of a 
                    North American Development Bank.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 14, 1993

    Mr. Torres (for himself, Mr. Becerra, Mr. Berman, Mr. Brown of 
   California, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Filner, Mr. Pete Geren of Texas, Mr. 
    Gibbons, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Ms. 
McKinney, Mr. Martinez, Mr. Matsui, Mrs. Meek, Mr. Pastor, Ms. Pelosi, 
Mr. Rangel, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Sawyer, Ms. Schenk, Mr. Serrano, Mr. 
Stokes, Mr. Towns, and Ms. Woolsey) submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Banking, Finance and 
                             Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Congress in support of the creation of a 
                    North American Development Bank.

Whereas the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has the potential to 
        expand trade between the United States, Canada, and Mexico, creating 
        economic growth and high-wage jobs for American workers;
Whereas NAFTA has the potential to foster strengthened economic ties between the 
        United States, Canada, and Mexico, and to improve cooperation on issues 
        of mutual concern, such as environmental protection and worker rights, 
        where cooperation is essential for future progress;
Whereas it is in the interest of the United States to seek expanded cooperation 
        with Mexico, a country with which we share a border of nearly 2,000 
        miles and longstanding ties of history, family, and culture;
Whereas NAFTA has the potential to lead to a net increase in jobs in the United 
        States, but will also require difficult adjustments by certain import-
        sensitive United States industries and workers;
Whereas the United States-Mexico border region suffers from serious 
        infrastructure deficiencies, particularly in Hispanic border communities 
        known as ``colonias'' that often lack safe drinking water, access to 
        medical care, adequate schools, and other infrastructure that should be 
        available to every American;
Whereas the United States-Mexico border region also suffers from serious 
        environmental degradation, stemming from rapid and unregulated economic 
        growth;
Whereas the expansion of trade between the United States, Canada, and Mexico 
        would require additional infrastructure, including new highways, 
        transportation networks, and communications links to support expanded 
        flows of goods and services under NAFTA;
Whereas the upward convergence of environmental standards and practices within 
        North America will require major investments in new technologies and 
        environmental infrastructure;
Whereas the border regions pose particularly difficult problems for cross-border 
        coordination, financing, and implementation of projects to improve 
        environmental infrastructure and reduce air and ground water pollution;
Whereas many necessary environmental and infrastructure projects cannot be 
        financed by private financial institutions, local governments, or 
        communities;
Whereas American businesses, particularly small and minority-owned businesses, 
        would require access to capital to take advantage of the economic 
        opportunities potentially created by NAFTA and to create more jobs in 
        the United States;
Whereas it is essential that displaced United States workers be given adequate 
        training and support to enable them to find new employment and take 
        advantage of the new economic opportunities created by NAFTA;
Whereas a North American Development Bank would be a means of providing capital 
        to facilitate adjustments during the transition in order to ensure that 
        no region or sector of the United States suffers a disproportionate 
        share of the burdens created by NAFTA;
Whereas additional public investment by Mexico will help generate economic 
        growth and jobs, and help reduce pressures for illegal immigration to 
        the United States;
Whereas the Congress recognizes the need to create an institution able to 
        provide capital for projects which will enhance regional economic 
        development and jobs, and accelerate upward convergence of environmental 
        and living standards on both sides of the border;
Whereas it is in the interest of the United States to create a North American 
        Development Bank to promote the use of private capital and firms in 
        activities which affect, in a positive way, the environmental 
        infrastructure of the region and to provide employment opportunities and 
        training in new skills necessary to take advantage of NAFTA; and
Whereas a North American Development Bank is needed in order to supplement the 
        efforts of other international financial institutions to direct 
        financial and technical assistance to those regions of North America 
        which present opportunities for economic developmental cooperation: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the United States, Mexico, and Canada should jointly 
        establish a North American Development Bank to--
                    (A) promote the investment of public and private 
                capital for development purposes, including viable 
                projects which provide worker retraining and employment 
                for those workers displaced by the effects of the North 
                American Free Trade Agreement;
                    (B) use capital of the bank, funds raised by the 
                bank in financial markets, and other available 
                resources to finance environmental improvement, 
                infrastructure, and community and social development 
                projects, giving priority to projects that will 
                contribute most effectively to environmental 
                improvement, regional economic growth, and jobs;
                    (C) encourage private investment in economically 
                viable projects, enterprises, and activities that 
                contribute to environmental improvement and economic 
                development, and supplement private investment when 
                private capital is not available on reasonable terms 
                and conditions;
                    (D) provide technical assistance in the 
                preparation, financing, and implementation of 
                development plans and projects, including the study of 
                priorities and the formulation of specific project 
                proposals; and
                    (E) promote and stimulate conditions conducive to 
                the flow of private capital, foreign and domestic, into 
                productive investment in projects which improve 
                environmental infrastructure, reduce air and ground 
                water pollution, and result in sustainable use of 
                natural resources; and
            (2) any agreement providing for the establishment of such a 
        bank should ensure that--
                    (A) the purposes of the bank are as set forth in 
                paragraph (1);
                    (B) the bank is initially capitalized by funds from 
                the United States, Mexico, and Canada;
                    (C) the authorized capital of the bank is 
                $5,000,000,000, of which $1,000,000,000 is paid-in 
                capital;
                    (D) the United States provides \2/3\ of the capital 
                of the bank;
                    (E) all powers of the bank are vested in a Board of 
                Directors whose members are apportioned based on the 
                quantity of shares held by the member countries;
                    (F) an oversight board reflecting regional 
                constituencies is established in the bank to advise the 
                executive directors regarding the merits of proposed 
                projects and to offer technical expertise to support 
                the bank;
                    (G) an Office of Ombudsman is established in the 
                bank to serve as liaison between the bank and the 
                public;
                    (H) the bank is authorized to extend loans, 
                financial assistance, loan guarantees, and technical 
                assistance to governmental agencies, local governments, 
                nonprofit organizations, and private institutions;
                    (I) the bank provides support only to projects that 
                can be made economically feasible with Bank financing 
                and that are projected to provide an adequate return to 
                the bank;
                    (J) an objective scoring system is developed to 
                assess the effectiveness with which projects supported 
                by the bank use resources provided by the bank;
                    (K) communities adversely affected by NAFTA are 
                able to recommend projects designed to relieve or 
                ameliorate such effects;
                    (L) a wide spectrum of organizations, including 
                local, State, and Federal governments, local and 
                national agencies, community-based and other nonprivate 
                organizations, and businesses are able to submit 
                project proposals;
                    (M) lending by the bank in nonborder areas is 
                apportioned among projects in the United States, 
                Canada, and Mexico based on each country's respective 
                share of the paid-in capital of the Bank; and
                    (N) as a condition of receiving support from the 
                bank, a project will be required to comply with 
                domestic environmental and labor standards.

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