[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 954 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 954

      To promote the strengthening of the Haitian private sector.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 11, 2011

   Mr. Lugar introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To promote the strengthening of the Haitian private sector.

    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-American Enterprise Fund 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to promote the Haitian private sector, including small 
        businesses, the agricultural sector, and joint ventures with 
        United States and Haitian participants; and
            (2) to promote policies and practices conducive to the 
        private sector in Haiti through loans, grants, equity 
        investments, feasibility studies, technical assistance, 
        training, insurance, guarantees, and other measures.

SEC. 3. HAITIAN-AMERICAN ENTERPRISE FUND.

    (a) Designation.--After consultation with the leadership of each 
House of Congress, the President may designate a private, nonprofit 
organization, which has been established for the purposes specified in 
section 2 and which shall be known as the ``Haitian-American Enterprise 
Fund'', to receive financial assistance and support made available 
under this Act.
    (b) Board of Directors.--
            (1) Appointment.--The Haitian-American Enterprise Fund 
        shall be governed by a Board of Directors, which shall be 
        comprised of 6 private citizens of the United States or Haiti, 
        appointed by the President, of which not more than 2 may be 
        citizens of Haiti.
            (2) Qualifications.--Member of the Board of Directors shall 
        be selected from among people who have had successful business 
        careers in private equity, banking, or finance that is similar 
        to the experience of individuals who previously served on the 
        Board of Directors of a successful Enterprise Fund established 
        by the United States Government on or after January 1, 1990.
            (3) Additional board members.--Upon the recommendation of 
        the Board of Directors, the President may appoint up to 2 
        additional members to the Board (in addition to the Directors 
        appointed pursuant to paragraph (1)), of which not more than 1 
        may be a citizen of Haiti.
    (c) Grants.--
            (1) In general.--Amounts appropriated to the President 
        pursuant to section 7 shall be granted to the Haitian-American 
        Enterprise Fund by the United States Agency for International 
        Development to enable the Fund to carry out the purposes 
        specified in section 2 and for the administrative expenses of 
        the Fund.
            (2) Eligible programs and projects.--Grants awarded under 
        this section may only be used for programs and projects that 
        support the purposes set forth in section 2.
            (3) Compliance requirement.--
                    (A) In general.--Grants may not be awarded to the 
                Haitian-American Enterprise Fund under this section 
                unless the Fund agrees to comply with the requirements 
                under this section.
                    (B) Grant agreement.--The grant agreement between 
                the United States Agency for International Development 
                (referred to in this section as ``USAID'') and the 
                Haitian-American Enterprise Fund shall state that the 
                Fund shall end its reinvestment cycle not later than 
                December 31, 2021, unless the USAID Administrator 
                determines, after consultation with the appropriate 
                congressional committees, that the Fund should be 
                extended.
                    (C) Prevention of money laundering and terrorist 
                financing.--The grant agreement between USAID and the 
                Haitian-American Enterprise Fund shall state that the 
                Fund shall comply with procedures specified by the 
                Secretary of State to ensure that grant funds are not 
                provided by the Fund to or through--
                            (i) any individual, private or government 
                        entity, or educational institution that 
                        advocates, plans, sponsors, engages in, or has 
                        engaged in, money laundering or terrorist 
                        activity; or
                            (ii) any private entity or educational 
                        institution if a principal officer of its 
                        governing board is--
                                    (I) involved in or advocating money 
                                laundering or terrorist activity; or
                                    (II) a member of a designated 
                                foreign terrorist organization.
                    (D) Disposition of assets.--All assets of the 
                Haitian-American Enterprise Fund on the date on which 
                the Fund is dissolved shall be returned to the Treasury 
                of the United States for the purpose of deficit 
                reduction.
    (d) Notification.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 15 days before designating 
        an organization to operate as the Haitian-American Enterprise 
        Fund pursuant to subsection (a), the President shall provide 
        the information described in paragraph (2) to the Chairman and 
        Ranking Member of the appropriate congressional committees.
            (2) Information.--The information described in this 
        paragraph is--
                    (A) the identity of the organization to be 
                designated to operate as the Haitian-American 
                Enterprise Fund pursuant to subsection (a);
                    (B) the names and qualifications of the individuals 
                who will comprise the Initial Board;
                    (C) the procedures referred to in subsection 
                (c)(3)(C) that will apply to the Haitian-American 
                Enterprise Fund for purposes of curtailing money 
                laundering and terrorist financing activities; and
                    (D) the size of the financial grant that shall be 
                made available to the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund.
    (e) Reports.--
            (1) Administrative expenses.--Not later than 1 year after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter 
        until the Fund is dissolved, the Fund shall submit a report to 
        the appropriate congressional committees that details the 
        administrative expenses of the Fund.
            (2) GAO report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter until 
        the Fund is dissolved, the Comptroller General of the United 
        States shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional 
        committees that assesses the activities of the Fund in--
                    (A) achieving the stated goals of promoting private 
                sector investment and employment in Haiti; and
                    (B) identifying those institutional or regulatory 
                constraints that inhibit a more effective application 
                of Fund resources.
    (f) Defined Term.--In this section, the term ``appropriate 
congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
            (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
            (3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives.

SEC. 4. OPERATION PROVISIONS.

    (a) Applicable Provisions.--Subsections (d)(5), (g), (h), (i), (k), 
(l), (m), (n), (o), and (p) of section 201 of the Support for East 
European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 (Public Law 101-179; 22 U.S.C. 
5421) shall apply with respect to the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund 
in the same manner as such provisions apply to Enterprise Funds 
designated pursuant to subsection (d) of such section.
    (b) Reinvestment.--Returns on investments of the Haitian-American 
Enterprise Fund and other payments to the Fund may be reinvested in 
projects carried out by the Fund without further appropriation by 
Congress.

SEC. 5. BEST PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES.

    To the maximum extent practicable, the Board of Directors of the 
Haitian-American Enterprise Fund should adopt the best practices and 
procedures used by Enterprise Funds, including those for which funding 
has been made available pursuant to section 201 of the Support for East 
European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 (Public Law 101-179; 22 U.S.C. 
5421).

SEC. 6. EXPERIENCE OF OTHER ENTERPRISE FUNDS.

    In implementing this Act, the President shall ensure that the 
Articles of Incorporation of the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund 
(including provisions specifying the responsibilities of the Board of 
Directors of the Fund), the terms of United States Government grant 
agreements with the Fund, and United States Government oversight of the 
Fund are, to the maximum extent practicable, consistent with the 
Articles of Incorporation of, the terms of grant agreements with, and 
the oversight of the Enterprise Funds established pursuant to section 
201 of the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 (22 
U.S.C. 5421) and comparable provisions of law.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
President such sums as may be necessary to provide funding for grants 
to the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund, which shall be used for the 
purposes specified in section 2.
    (b) Availability of Funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to 
subsection (a) shall remain available until expended.
    (c) Nonapplicability of Other Laws.--Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) may 
be used to carry out this Act.
                                 <all>