[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1274 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1274

   To direct the President to establish an interagency mechanism to 
   coordinate United States development programs and private sector 
             investment activities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 25, 2017

  Mr. Isakson (for himself, Mr. Coons, and Mr. Perdue) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To direct the President to establish an interagency mechanism to 
   coordinate United States development programs and private sector 
             investment activities, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Economic Growth and Development 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The promotion of sustainable economic growth is the 
        only long-term solution to lifting people out of poverty and 
        addressing development challenges such as infectious disease, 
        food security, access to education, and access to clean water, 
        as reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals adopted at 
        the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on September 
        25, 2015.
            (2) Several of the greatest development success stories of 
        the past 50 years demonstrate that private sector investment 
        and economic growth are fundamental to lifting populations out 
        of poverty.
            (3) A dramatic shift in the composition of capital flows to 
        the developing world necessitates a new approach to official 
        development assistance; whereas 40 years ago more than 70 
        percent of capital flowing to developing countries was public 
        sector foreign assistance, today over 80 percent of capital 
        flowing to the developing world comes from the private sector.
            (4) In order to better leverage United States foreign 
        assistance dollars and to promote sustainable economic 
        development in partner countries, the United States Government 
        must seek to promote economic growth through private sector 
        investment by consulting United States business during 
        development planning and programming processes.
            (5) Eleven of the 15 largest importers of United States 
        goods and services are countries that graduated from United 
        States foreign assistance, and 12 of the 15 fastest growing 
        markets for United States exports are former United States 
        foreign assistance recipients.
            (6) With 12 departments, 26 agencies, and more than 60 
        Federal Government offices involved in the delivery of United 
        States foreign assistance and the promotion of United States 
        investment overseas, it is unnecessarily difficult for United 
        States businesses to navigate this bureaucracy in search of 
        opportunities to partner with such United States agencies.
            (7) Although many United States development agencies have 
        taken steps to improve the private sector coordination 
        capabilities of such agencies in recent years, these agency-
        specific strategies are not integrated into a coherent 
        interagency coordination structure to effectively engage the 
        private sector.
            (8) The United States Government has no streamlined, 
        interagency mechanism for coordination with the private sector 
        for the purposes of development or promotion of opportunities 
        for investment, nor are the activities of the United States 
        Government in this area guided by a coherent set of strategic 
        objectives, targets, or operating principles.
            (9) Whether in the context of a country, sector, or global 
        development strategy, decisions regarding program 
        prioritization and resource allocation would benefit greatly 
        from private sector perspectives and market data and 
        coordination with the private sector from the outset.
            (10) Development programs can be designed to better attract 
        private sector investment and to promote public-private 
        partnerships in key development sectors.
            (11) The Millennium Challenge Corporation and the 
        Partnership for Growth both analyze constraints on growth as 
        part of the planning processes of these organizations, but 
        these analyses need to be included in agency country, sector, 
        and global development strategies to more effectively inform 
        and guide the full spectrum of United States development 
        programs.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
        Development.
            (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives.
            (3) Private sector.--The term ``private sector'' means for-
        profit United States businesses.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of State.
            (5) United states development agencies.--The term ``United 
        States development agencies'' means--
                    (A) the Department of State;
                    (B) the United States Agency for International 
                Development;
                    (C) the Millennium Challenge Corporation;
                    (D) the Overseas Private Investment Corporation;
                    (E) the Trade and Development Agency;
                    (F) the Inter-American Foundation; and
                    (G) the African Development Foundation.

SEC. 4. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to maximize the impact of United States 
development programs by--
            (1) enhancing coordination between United States 
        development agencies and the programs of such agencies and the 
        private sector and the investment activities of the private 
        sector;
            (2) integrating private sector input into the planning and 
        programming processes of United States development agencies;
            (3) institutionalizing analyses of constraints on growth 
        and investment throughout the planning and programming 
        processes of United States development agencies;
            (4) ensuring United States development agencies are 
        accountable for improving coordination between United States 
        development programs and private sector investment activities; 
        and
            (5) promoting and facilitating private sector investment.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON UNITED STATES DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) United States development assistance should be pursued 
        in a way that aims--
                    (A) to build and strengthen civic institutions;
                    (B) to provide for public accountability; and
                    (C) to serve as the basis for a democratic social 
                contract between the people and their government, and 
                as a basis for graduation from assistance;
            (2) United States Government policies and decisions should 
        be guided by clear benchmarks for the evaluation of partner 
        country commitment to funding development priorities, including 
        the ``investing in people'' metric of the Millennium Challenge 
        Corporation;
            (3) United States Government programs should be guided by a 
        unified strategy, ambitious targets, and a robust monitoring, 
        evaluation, and public accountability plan;
            (4) United States development assistance should aim to help 
        build the capacity of partner countries to raise and commit 
        partner country resources toward development goals, including--
                    (A) the capacity to increase revenues;
                    (B) transparent budgeting and expenditures;
                    (C) policies and laws that increase domestic 
                investment; and
                    (D) the ability to address the illicit flows of 
                capital from domestic and international sources;
            (5) the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, reached at the Third 
        International Conference on Financing for Development, and the 
        emphasis of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on economic growth 
        and the commitment of greater domestic resources towards 
        development goals, serves as a basis for concrete actions by 
        donors and partner countries to achieve greater accountability 
        and to foster broad-based economic growth and the establishment 
        of prosperous, middle class-based societies;
            (6) domestic resource commitments and domestic resource 
        mobilization for development purposes provide a greater chance 
        for sustainability and an alignment of incentives among 
        stakeholders, including donors, partner countries, citizens, 
        and the private sector that drives economic growth;
            (7) the domestic resource commitments described in 
        paragraph (6) are opportunities to provide for greater 
        accountability and the building of strong, just social 
        contracts between people and their governments, allowing 
        governments to raise revenue, address citizen priorities, and 
        be held accountable for results;
            (8) fostering domestic capacity and domestic responsibility 
        for outcomes is the basis of true country ownership and a 
        transition from assistance to sustainability by achieving 
        development goals;
            (9) public sector development finance programs, which 
        mobilize private capital to achieve development objectives, are 
        projected to soon overtake traditional grant-based assistance 
        as measured by total capital investments, reflecting an 
        increasing recognition by both donor and recipient countries of 
        the potential that development finance holds for driving 
        inclusive, sustainable economic growth;
            (10) United States development finance programs should be 
        used for development purposes, complement but not displace 
        private capital, and operate free of political agendas;
            (11) while the United States has the ability to carry out 
        development finance programs through the Overseas Private 
        Investment Corporation, the Development Credit Authority of the 
        United States Agency for International Development, and the 
        United States Trade and Development Agency, that ability is 
        under-appreciated as a matter of policy and underutilized as a 
        matter of development strategy;
            (12) the Overseas Private Investment Corporation lacks 
        certain development finance tools, including the ability to 
        make limited equity investments in projects rather than issuing 
        debt and the authority and resources to provide first-loss 
        guarantees or technical assistance;
            (13) the Overseas Private Investment Corporation is also 
        limited by uncertainty around the renewal of its legal 
        authorities and would be more effective with the stability and 
        predictability provided by a multi-year authorization and a 
        reformulation of how the agency may use its proceeds for 
        essential staff and overhead expenses while still returning 
        money to the Treasury; and
            (14) United States development assistance should prioritize 
        and better coordinate resources that support enhanced trade 
        capacity and facilitate fairer and more sustainable trade with 
        partner countries.

SEC. 6. INTERAGENCY STRATEGY AND MECHANISM TO COORDINATE UNITED STATES 
              DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENT 
              ACTIVITIES.

    (a) In General.--The President shall establish a primary, 
interagency mechanism to assist the private sector in coordinating 
United States development programs with private sector investment 
activities.
    (b) Duties.--The mechanism established under subsection (a) shall--
            (1) streamline and integrate the various private sector 
        liaison, coordination, and investment promotion functions of 
        United States development agencies;
            (2) facilitate the use of various development and finance 
        tools across United States development agencies to attract 
        greater private sector participation in development activities; 
        and
            (3) establish a single point of contact for the private 
        sector for partnership opportunities with United States 
        development agencies.
    (c) Annual Strategy.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President 
        shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
        strategy for the facilitation and coordination of private 
        sector investments and activities for the purposes of 
        development.
            (2) Elements of the annual strategy.--The annual strategy 
        required under paragraph (1) shall include--
                    (A) country, sectoral, and global targets for 
                private sector investment facilitation and 
                coordination;
                    (B) a description of the specific roles and 
                responsibilities of United States Government 
                departments and agencies involved in meeting the 
                targets described in subparagraph (A), including within 
                United States missions in-country; and
                    (C) a plan relating to monitoring, evaluation, and 
                public accountability.

SEC. 7. INTEGRATING PRIVATE SECTOR COORDINATION IN COUNTRY, SECTOR, AND 
              GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES.

    The Secretary and the Administrator shall direct their respective 
policy teams, including the Assistant to the Administrator for the 
Bureau of Policy, Planning and Learning, and country teams, to include 
private sector facilitation and coordination in all country, sector, 
and global development strategies, including integrated country 
strategies, regional and functional strategies, country development 
cooperation strategies, mission strategic resource plans, and global 
development strategies.

SEC. 8. ANALYSIS OF CONSTRAINTS ON GROWTH AND INVESTMENT IN FOREIGN 
              COUNTRIES AND SECTORS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary, the Administrator, and the heads of 
other relevant Federal agencies shall ensure that analyses of rigorous, 
current constraints on growth and investment guide all country, region, 
and sector economic development strategies.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The analysis required under subsection 
(a) shall include the identification and analysis of--
            (1) constraints posed by the inadequacies of critical 
        infrastructure, rule of law, tax and investment codes, and 
        customs and regulatory regimes of recipient countries, as 
        appropriate; and
            (2) particular economic sectors that are central to 
        achieving economic growth, such as agriculture, transportation, 
        energy, and financial services.
    (c) Results.--The results of the analyses described under 
subsection (a) shall--
            (1) be incorporated into the development strategies of 
        United States development agencies;
            (2) be used to inform and guide resource allocations; and
            (3) be made available to the public, and for comment by all 
        stakeholders, prior to finalization of development strategies.

SEC. 9. REPORT.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the President shall transmit to the Committee on Foreign Relations of 
the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives a report that describes the specific measures that have 
been taken to implement this Act and the outcomes that such measures 
are intended to produce.
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