[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3211 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3211

   To provide incentive for United States corporations to invest in 
   developing nations to provide debt relief to poor, emerging, and 
developing nations, to provide a method of repayment of moneys owed to 
  the United States, and to provide for the reduction of the deficit.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 3, 1999

 Mr. Hilliard introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
  Committee on Banking and Financial Services, and in addition to the 
Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide incentive for United States corporations to invest in 
   developing nations to provide debt relief to poor, emerging, and 
developing nations, to provide a method of repayment of moneys owed to 
  the United States, and to provide for the reduction of the deficit.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``American Foreign Investment 
Incentive and Deficit Reduction Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. REPAYMENT OF DEBT OWED TO THE UNITED STATES BY POOR, EMERGING, 
              AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.

    (a) In General.--The President shall allow poor, emerging, and 
developing nations to repay their debt to the United States by 
permitting the countries to repay their debts in their currency, 
providing that they repay the debt in full by September 29, 2000. The 
countries defined in this Act shall be allowed to repay their debt to 
the United States in their own currency in accordance with the 
established market exchange rate in effect on the date of the enactment 
of this Act, or at a time the agreement to repay the debt, pursuant to 
this Act, is consummated. The Secretary of the Treasury shall decide 
which date to use in establishing the market exchange rate.
    (b) Additional Requirements.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
then conduct the sale of the currency to United States corporations at 
a reduced rate. The United States investors who purchase the currency 
must agree to invest those funds in new and active businesses and 
industrial developments in the original debtor's country. This 
investment shall be of a long-term basis (as defined by the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986).

SEC. 3. SALE OF FOREIGN CURRENCY TO UNITED STATES CORPORATIONS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury is directed to sell 
the dollars of the previously indebted countries to corporations, whose 
national or international headquarters are located within the United 
States, under the following conditions:
            (1) The moneys cannot be exchanged for other currency, but 
        must be used for long-term active investments (as defined by 
        the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) in businesses within that 
        country.
            (2) The currency must be sold to the public at a discount 
        depending upon the ability of the indebted country to pay. The 
        debt, however, must be sold at a minimum discount of 15 percent 
        to encourage the purchase of the foreign currency.
            (3) Each year that the money is invested in a developing 
        country, the profit realized by a corporation from that 
        investment shall be taxed at the capital gains tax rate (as 
        defined by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986). This subsection 
        shall be in force for 25 years from the date of the enactment 
        of this Act.
            (4) The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to 
        decide when, and if, the foreign currency is sold, and to what 
        part of the deficit the income from the sale thereof should be 
        repaid, and when, and under what conditions.
    (b) Use of Current Procedures.--The Secretary of the Treasury may 
utilize current procedures of the Department of the Treasury for 
selling its monetary instruments to sell this debt.

SEC. 4. UNITED STATES DEFICIT REDUCTION.

    The proceeds from the sale of the currency shall be used as payment 
toward the United States deficit.

SEC. 5. EXCEPTIONS.

    This Act does not apply to any country that is engaged in armed 
conflict with the United States, nor does it apply to any developed 
country. A country shall not be eligible for repayment of its debt 
under this Act if the government of the country--
            (1) has an excessive level of military expenditures;
            (2) has repeatedly provided support for acts of 
        international terrorism, as determined by the Secretary of 
        State under section 6(j)(1) of the Export Administration Act of 
        1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405(j)(1)) or section 620a(a) of the 
        Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371(a)) since 
        January 1, 1999;
            (3) is failing to cooperate on international narcotics 
        control matters; or
            (4) including its military or other security forces, 
        engages in a consistent pattern or gross violations of 
        internationally recognized human rights.

SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Except as the President may otherwise determine for reasons of 
national security, relief provided under this Act shall not be 
considered to be assistance for purposes of any provision of law 
limiting assistance to a country.

SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than December 31, 2000, the President 
shall prepare and transmit to the appropriate congressional committees 
a report, which shall be made available to the public, concerning the 
relief provided under this Act, and the progress made in accomplishing 
the purposes of this Act, for the prior fiscal year.
    (b) Definition.--In this section, the term ``appropriate 
congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on International Relations of the House 
        of Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
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