1.Short title; table of
contents
(a)This Act may be cited
as the Social Investment and Economic
Development for the Americas Act of 2010
.
(b)The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 3. Findings.
Sec. 4. Statement of policy.
Sec. 5. Establishing a social investment and economic
development fund for the Americas.
2.In this Act:
(1)Appropriate
congressional committeesThe term appropriate congressional
committees means the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.
(2)The term Americas means all the countries
of North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
(3)The term Region means all the countries of
Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and Mexico.
3.Congress finds that—
(1)it is in the
national interest and national security interest of the United States to help
foster greater economic security and stability in the Americas;
(2)the Americas are a
distinct geographical region with political and cultural identities that are
linked in important ways;
(3)many of the
social, economic, and security issues in the Americas transcend national
borders, and addressing these issues requires a coordinated, long-term
approach;
(4)over the last few
decades, there has been notable progress on democracy and economic stability in
the Region, and it is now largely made up of democracies with shared democratic
values;
(5)for progress in
the Region to be sustained, governments will need to continue to develop
effective and transparent civilian institutions, and maintain a system of
checks and balances among those institutions;
(6)the United States
is committed to promoting democracy, human rights, and social and economic
development throughout the Americas, while respecting the heritage, culture,
and sovereignty of all nations;
(7)poverty and
inequality remain persistent problems in the Americas, spawning street crime,
criminal cartels, and undermining the authority of government
institutions;
(8)the poverty rate
in the Region is nearly 40 percent, with little significant improvement since
the 1980s, and the countries in the Region, on average, have the most unequal
distribution of wealth in the world;
(9)greater citizen
engagement and closer connections between the institutions of civil society and
local and national governments are critical to political stability and economic
growth in the Americas;
(10)development
assistance to promote micro, small, and medium enterprise growth, improve the
investment climate, and create a competitive workforce in the countries of the
Region can help foster economic security and stability;
(11)an expanding
middle class in the Region will result in increased demand for exports from the
United States;
(12)in partnering
with the countries of the Region, the United States can play a positive role in
addressing the challenges of poverty and inequality, and achieving greater
energy security;
(13)an increased
United States commitment to economic and social development in the Region can
benefit workers and businesses in the United States; and
(14)as President
Obama said to the leaders of the Region at the Fifth Summit of the Americas,
the United States is committed to combating inequality and creating
prosperity from the bottom up … This is by no means charity. Together, we can
create a broader foundation for prosperity that builds new markets and powers
new growth for all peoples in the hemisphere
.
4.It is the policy of the
United States—
(1)to minimize the
negative economic impact on the countries in the Region of the global
recession, and to seek a broad-based regional recovery;
(2)to promote
democracy and the rule of law in the Region;
(3)to promote and
strengthen human rights in the Region by—
(A)participating in
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and in the Inter-American Court
of Human Rights;
(B)concluding
negotiations on the draft Inter-American Convention against Racism and All
Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance; and
(C)supporting the
full rights of indigenous peoples and Afro-descendents in the Americas,
including the right to participate in the political and economic life of a
nation;
(4)to improve living
conditions for all citizens in the Americas by—
(A)protecting all
people in the Americas, especially women, children, and adolescents, from all
forms of trafficking in persons and sexual and economic exploitation;
(B)coordinating
national strategies within the Americas to eradicate forced labor before 2010,
and the worst forms of child labor by 2020; and
(C)supporting
programs that create opportunities for work in the formal sector, and programs
providing workers with the technical skills needed to meet the demands of labor
markets;
(5)to improve public
health in the countries of the Americas by—
(A)implementing the
World Health Organization's International Health Regulations to prevent
pandemics and reduce the likelihood of public health emergencies; and
(B)implementing the
Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS;
(6)to improve public
education in the Americas by—
(A)supporting
programs which seek to increase enrollments in secondary and
vocational-technical education;
(B)reaffirming the
commitment of the United States to the 2008 Declaration of Medellín: Youth and
Democratic Values; and
(C)supporting the
Inter-American Social Protection Network;
(7)to improve the
capacity of government institutions by—
(A)supporting the
Inter-American Network on Decentralization, Local Government and Citizen
Participation (RIAD);
(B)supporting the
Inter-American Convention against Corruption, adopted at Caracas, Venezuela,
March 29, 1996, in the fight against all forms of corruption, fraudulent
practices and unethical behaviors.
5.Establishing a
social investment and economic development fund for the Americas
(a)Authorization of
assistancePart I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22
U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
13Social investment
and economic development for the Americas
499G.In this chapter:
(1)Appropriate
congressional committeesThe term appropriate congressional
committees means the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.
(2)The term Americas means all the countries
of North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
(3)The term Region means all the countries of
Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and Mexico.
499H.Authorization
of assistance
(a)The
President, acting through the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development, and working with governments and civil society in
the Americas, shall provide increased and sustained assistance to build
civilian institutions that will help reduce poverty, expand the middle class,
and foster increased economic opportunity by—
(1)promoting
education;
(2)improving health
and disease prevention;
(3)increasing access
to income generating activities;
(4)reducing crime,
particularly violent crime, including—
(A)murder;
(B)kidnapping;
(C)gang violence,
including youth gangs; and
(D)violence against
women;
(5)generating rural
development;
(6)reducing poverty
and inequality in both urban and rural areas;
(7)strengthening the
rule of law, governance, and democracy through the establishment of—
(A)independent
judiciaries;
(B)efficient
processes to adjudicate claims; and
(C)effective law
enforcement institutions; and
(8)eliminating the
exclusion of marginalized populations, including—
(A)indigenous
groups;
(B)people of African
descent;
(C)women;
(D)the impoverished;
and
(E)people with
disabilities.
(b)
(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2), in order to receive
assistance from the United States under this chapter, a recipient country shall
contribute at least 10 percent of the total value of the funds the United
States provides for projects in the recipient country.
(2)
(A)The
Secretary of State may waive paragraph (1) if it is determined that it is
important to the national security interests of the United States to do
so.
(B)Whenever
the waiver authority under subparagraph (A) is exercised, the Secretary of
State shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees
detailing the justification for the waiver and the purposes for which the funds
will be spent.
(3)The Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development may require additional contributions from the
recipient country.
(c)Ineligibility To
receive assistanceThe President may not provide assistance under
this section to the government of a country that is ineligible to receive
assistance under section 620, this part, or chapter 4 of part II.
(d)Additional terms
and conditionsThe President may impose additional terms and
conditions on countries receiving assistance under this section.
(e)Coordination
with other Federal agenciesThe Administrator of the United
States Agency for International Development shall coordinate with the heads of
other Federal departments and agencies as necessary to carry out this
section.
499I.
(a)The Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development shall ensure that projects carried out under this
chapter are subject to rigorous, independent impact evaluations at the initial
design stage and the conclusion of the projects to determine if the projects
are helping—
(1)to reduce poverty
in the Americas; and
(2)to foster social
and economic development in the countries of the Americas.
(b)If possible, the evaluations shall be conducted in
coordination with evaluations of similar projects that other donors fund in
order to expand the evidence base used for making decisions.
(c)The Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development shall use information from the evaluations conducted
under subsection (a) to inform future project decisions.
499J.Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of the Social Investment and Economic Development for the Americas
Act of 2010, and annually thereafter, the President shall submit to Congress a
report on the specific programs, projects, and activities carried out under
this chapter during the preceding year, including an evaluation of the results
of the programs, projects, and activities.
499K.The report required under section 499J may
be submitted with the budget justification materials submitted to Congress and
the budget submitted by the President under section 1105(a) of title 31, United
States Code.
499L.Authorization
of appropriations
(a)In addition to amounts otherwise authorized to be
appropriated for assistance to the Region, there are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this chapter—
(1)$175,000,000 for
fiscal year 2010;
(2)$225,000,000 for
fiscal year 2011;
(3)$275,000,000 for
fiscal year 2012;
(4)$300,000,000 for
fiscal year 2013; and
(5)$325,000,000 for
fiscal year 2014.
(b)Amounts
appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) shall remain available until
expended.
(c)Not more than 7 percent of the amounts appropriated
pursuant to subsection (a) for a fiscal year may be used for administrative
expenses to carry out programs authorized in subsection (a).
(d)Microfinance
Growth Fund for the Americas
(1)The
purpose of the Microfinance Growth Fund for the Americas is to provide the
countries in the Region with—
(A)stable,
medium-term and long-term sources of finance to microfinance institutions;
and
(B)investment
vehicles.
(2)It is the sense of Congress that United States
contributions to the Microfinance Growth Fund for the Americas should be
matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis with contributions from the public,
private, or non-profit sectors.
(3)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000
in each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014 for debt and equity financing for
the Microfinance Growth Fund for the Americas.
(e)Capacity
building related to trade promotion agreementsThere is
authorized to be appropriated to the United States Agency for International
Development $15,000,000 in each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014 for labor
and environmental capacity building activities relating to the implementation
of trade promotion agreements.
(f)The agreements under subsection (e) may include
agreements between the United States and other countries that are—
(1)ratified
agreements;
(2)pending
agreements; or
(3)potential
agreements.
(g)Proposed
public-Private fund for social and economic development in the
Americas
(1)The Secretary of State, in consultation with the
Secretary of the Treasury and the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development, shall immediately establish and convene an advisory
group, consisting of persons with a relevant professional background in the
Americas from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, to consider the
feasibility of establishing a new public-private Fund for Social and Economic
Development in the Americas (referred to in this section as “the Fund”).
(2)It is the sense of Congress that—
(A)the Fund should be
governed by a board composed of members drawn from the public, private, and
nonprofit sectors in the United States and the Region;
(B)building on
initiatives already underway in the Region, the Fund should make grants for the
purpose of advancing long-term social and economic development in the
Americas;
(C)governments,
development organizations, and private foundations throughout the world should
contribute to the Fund, and the contribution of the United States Government to
the Fund should be no greater than 1/3 of the total annual
budget of the Fund; and
(D)each country
choosing to participate in the Fund should be required to contribute at least
10 percent of the annual total of grants received by such country, to ensure
the active involvement of the country in the operation of the Fund and the
grant-making process.
(3)
(A)Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the advisory group established under paragraph (1) shall submit to
the Secretary of State and the appropriate congressional committees a report
containing conclusions about the feasibility of a Fund and its recommendations
for organizing, financing, and operating the Fund.
(B)The report submitted under subparagraph (A) shall include
a determination of the advantages and disadvantages of establishing and
operating the Fund within an existing institution, such as—
(i)the Inter-American
Foundation;
(ii)the World Bank;
or
(iii)the
Inter-American Development Bank.
(4)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010 for the purpose of carrying out this
subsection.
.