[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3568 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3568
To provide assistance to address long-term food production and rural
development needs in Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 20, 2001
Mr. Bereuter introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on International Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide assistance to address long-term food production and rural
development needs in Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics.
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 ``Afghanistan and Central Asian
Republics Sustainable Food Production Act of 2001''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) abject poverty and the inability to produce food, even
at the subsistence level, in the rural, mountainous areas of
Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics have plagued the
region for over 20 years;
(2) extended food shortages in this region have resulted in
the consumption of seed supplies and breeding livestock
necessary to continue farming and food production;
(3) ongoing and violent conflict in the region has badly
damaged or destroyed the basic irrigation systems necessary for
food production;
(4) despite the delivery of over $185,000,000 in aid from
the United States in fiscal year 2001 toward humanitarian
assistance needs in Afghanistan, millions of people remain at
risk of severe malnutrition and starvation in the short- and
long-terms;
(5) on October 4, 2001, President George W. Bush announced
that the people of Afghanistan, and the governments of
Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan will
receive an additional $320,000,000 humanitarian assistance
package for emergency food and refugee assistance to address
the region's immediate needs during the war on terrorism; and
(6) in addition to addressing short-term emergency
assistance needs in Afghanistan and the mountainous regions of
the Central Asian Republics, addressing the long-term food
production and rural development issues in region will be
critical to attaining some stability in the region.
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE.
(a) Assistance.--The Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development shall provide assistance in accordance with
the provisions of this Act to develop sustainable food production for
Afghanistan and the mountainous regions of other countries of Central
Asia through restocking seed, replacing breeding livestock, restoring
basic irrigation systems, and providing access to credit for food
production, processing, or marketing enterprises through rural
microenterprise loan programs.
(b) Program Objectives.--
(1) In general.--In providing assistance under subsection
(a), the Administrator shall provide only grants to
nongovernmental organizations for the purpose of carrying out
the activities described in paragraph (2) in Afghanistan and
the other countries of Central Asia in accordance with this
section.
(2) Activities supported.--
(A) In general.--Among the activities for which the
Administrator may provide grants shall be--
(i) procurement of seed for local food
production;
(ii) replacement of breeding livestock;
(iii) restoration of basic irrigation
systems;
(iv) establishment of access to credit for
food production, processing, or marketing
enterprises through rural microenterprise loan
programs; and
(v) providing technical assistance.
(B) Limitation.--Amounts received under a grant
shall not be used to carry out activities related to
emergencies or disasters.
(3) Applications.--A nongovernmental organization that
desires to receive a grant under this section shall submit an
application for the grant to the Administrator. The application
should be developed by the nongovernmental organization in
close consultation with local indigenous entities, or
associated persons of a village or villages, located in the
country within which the activities supported by the grant will
be carried out.
(4) Implementation of program objectives.--In carrying out
the objectives of paragraph (1), the Administrator shall--
(A) coordinate the activities with governments of
other countries authorized to receive grants under this
section, local and regional governments of such
countries, nongovernmental organizations operating in
such countries, and private donors;
(B) provide minimal supplementary grants for
associated administrative costs to the national and
regional governments of the country for which grants to
nongovernmental organizations are approved under this
section;
(C) provide oversight of grants disbursed under
this section, including procedures under which a
nongovernmental organization that misuses grant funds
or otherwise fails to adequately carry out the
activities described in paragraph (2) should be
disqualified from receiving additional grants under
this section for not less than 1 year; and
(D) coordinate efforts with national, regional, and
local government officials to conduct an annual review
of disbursement of grant funds and the effectiveness of
activities carried out with grant funds.
(c) Restriction Relating to the Use of United States Funds in
Afghanistan.--Funds made available under this Act shall not be used
during a fiscal year for any activity in Afghanistan which is described
in subsection (b)(2) unless the Secretary of State certifies for the
fiscal year that there has been substantial progress made toward the
establishment of a government in Afghanistan that meets the following
requirements:
(1) The government includes broad representation from the
diverse ethnic and religious groups of Afghanistan, including
both men and women from such groups.
(2) The government does not sponsor terrorism or harbor
terrorists.
(3) The government demonstrates a strong and determined
commitment to eliminating the production of opium-producing
poppies.
(4) The government meets the conditions outlined in the
United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATION.
It is the sense of the Congress that the Administrator should
establish--
(1) criteria for the selection of projects to receive
support under this Act;
(2) standards and criteria regarding qualifications of
recipients of such support;
(3) such rules and procedures as may be necessary for
projects that receive support under this Act;
(4) such rules and procedures as may be necessary to ensure
transparency and accountability in the grant-making process;
and
(5) criteria for an annual review process for all projects
receiving grants.
SEC. 5. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.
(a) Annual Reports by Administrator.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the
subsequent 4 fiscal years, the Administrator shall submit to
the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the
implementation of this Act.
(2) Report elements.--The report shall include a
description of--
(A) the programs, projects, and activities
supported by grants made under this Act;
(B) the criteria that have been established that
are used to determine the programs and activities that
should be assisted by grants made under this Act;
(C) an assessment regarding the extent to which the
Government of Afghanistan does or does not meet the
requirements of section 3(c) for that fiscal year; and
(D) with respect to a fiscal year for which
Afghanistan is eligible to receive a grant under
section 3, the impact of programming on food production
and rural development in Afghanistan.
(b) GAO Report on Effectiveness.--Not later than 2 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the
United States shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a
report evaluating the effectiveness of grants made under this Act,
including the effectiveness of the programs, projects, and activities
described in subsection (a)(2)(A) in building sustainable food
production and rural microenterprise loans in the countries authorized
to receive grants under this section.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
In addition to any other funds authorized to be appropriated for
bilateral programs related to sustainable food production and
microenterprise systems, there is authorized to be appropriated to the
Administrator $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and $50,000,000 for each
of the fiscal years 2003 through 2006 to carry out this Act. Of the
amount appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations
under the preceding sentence for a fiscal year 60 percent should be
designated for grants for Afghanistan.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development.
(2) Appropriate committees.--The term ``appropriate
committees'' means the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on
International Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of
the House of Representatives.
(3) Other countries of central asia.--The term ``other
countries of Central Asia'' means Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
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