[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4961 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4961
To provide for the establishment of the Haitian-American Enterprise
Fund.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 25, 2010
Ms. Clarke (for herself, Mr. Meeks of New York, Ms. Fudge, and Mr. Meek
of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the establishment of the Haitian-American Enterprise
Fund.
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 ``Haitian Private Sector Encouragement
Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are to promote--
(1) development of the Haitian private sector, including
small business, the agriculture sector, and joint ventures with
the United States and host country participants, and
(2) policies and practices conducive to private sector
development in Haiti,
through loans, grants, equity investments, feasibility studies,
technical assistance, training, insurance, guarantees, and other
measures.
SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF HAITIAN-AMERICAN ENTERPRISE FUND.
(a) Designation.--The President is authorized to designate one
private, nonprofit organization established under State law as eligible
to receive funds and support under this Act upon a determination by the
President that the organization has been established for the purposes
described in section 2. For purposes of this Act, the organization so
designated shall be referred to as the ``Haitian-American Enterprise
Fund''.
(b) Consultation With Congress.--Before designating an organization
under subsection (a), the President shall consult with--
(1) the majority leader and minority leader of the Senate;
and
(2) the Speaker and minority leader of the House of
Representatives.
(c) Additional Requirements.--Except to the extent inconsistent
with the provisions of this Act, paragraphs (3) through (5) of section
201(d) of the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989
(22 U.S.C. 5421(d)) shall apply to the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund
to the same extent and in the same manner as such paragraphs apply to
the Polish-American Enterprise Fund, the Hungarian-American Enterprise
Fund, the Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund, and other
similarly situated enterprise funds established by the United States
Government.
SEC. 4. GRANT TO HAITIAN-AMERICAN ENTERPRISE FUND.
(a) In General.--The President, acting through the Administrator of
the United States Agency for International Development, shall, from
amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations
under section 7, provide a grant to the Haitian-American Enterprise
Fund, which shall be used to--
(1) carry out the purposes described in section 2,
including to promote the policies and practices described in
subsection (b); and
(2) pay the administrative expenses of the Enterprise Fund.
(b) Policies and Practices.--The policies and practices referred to
in subsection (a)(1) are policies and practices conducive to the
development of private property rights for the citizens of Haiti,
particularly Haitian citizens of limited economic means, through
integration of extralegal property arrangements employed by some
Haitian citizens into comprehensive modern property recordation systems
that fix the economic potential of assets, integrate disperse ownership
information into one system, hold citizens accountable, make assets
fungible, connect citizens to one another, and protect the integrity of
commercial transactions.
(c) Oversight.--The Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development shall monitor the activities of the Haitian-
American Enterprise Fund.
SEC. 5. TREATMENT EQUIVALENT TO OTHER ENTERPRISE FUNDS; CONSULTATION
WITH OTHER ENTERPRISE FUNDS.
(a) In General.--Except to the extent inconsistent with the
provisions of this Act, subsections (f) through (p) of section 201 of
the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 (22 U.S.C.
5421) shall apply to the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund to the same
extent and in the same manner as such subsections apply to the Polish-
American Enterprise Fund, the Hungarian-American Enterprise Fund, the
Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund, and other similarly
situated enterprise funds established by the United States Government.
(b) Consultation With Other Enterprise Funds.--The Haitian-American
Enterprise Fund may consult extensively with other similarly situated
enterprise funds established by the United States Government in order
to seek out best practices relating to the start-up phase and other
ongoing business matters of the Enterprise Fund.
SEC. 6. HAITIAN-AMERICAN ECONOMIC OVERSIGHT PANEL.
(a) Establishment.--The President is authorized to establish the
Haitian-American Economic Oversight Panel (in this section referred to
as the ``Oversight Panel'').
(b) Duties.--The Oversight Panel shall monitor the activities of
the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund and all other economic development
initiatives of the United States for Haiti.
(c) Membership.--The Oversight Panel shall consist of individuals
appointed by the President after consultation with Congress, from among
United States citizens who are not officers or employees of any
government and who have demonstrated concern and commitment to the
economic development of Haiti.
(d) Report.--The Oversight Panel shall submit to Congress and the
President an annual report on implementation of the Oversight Panel's
duties for the preceding year, including a detailed description of
incidents of waste, fraud, and abuse relating to economic development
initiatives of the United States for Haiti.
(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to affect the authorities of the Haitian-American Enterprise
Fund.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the
President to carry out this Act $240,000,000 for fiscal year 2011.
(b) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the
authorization of appropriations under subsection (a) are authorized to
remain available until expended.
(c) Nonapplicability of Other Laws.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, amounts appropriated pursuant to the authorization of
appropriations under subsection (a) may be expended by the Haitian-
American Enterprise Fund for the purposes of this Act.
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