[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2779 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.2779

                     One Hundred Fifteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
           the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen


                                 An Act


 
   To amend the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001.

    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 ``Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic 
Recovery Amendment Act of 2018''.
SEC. 2. RECONSTRUCTION AND REBUILDING OF ZIMBABWE.
    Section 2 of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 
2001 (22 U.S.C. 2151 note; Public Law 107-99) is amended by striking 
``and restore the rule of law'' and inserting ``restore the rule of 
law, reconstruct and rebuild Zimbabwe, and come to terms with the past 
through a process of genuine reconciliation that acknowledges past 
human rights abuses and orders inquiries into disappearances, including 
the disappearance of human rights activists, such as Patrick Nabanyama, 
Itai Dzamara, and Paul Chizuze''.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
    Section 4(a) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 
2001 is amended--
        (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``costly deployment of troops 
    to the Democratic Republic of the Congo'' and inserting ``private 
    appropriation of public assets''; and
        (2) by adding at the end the following:
        ``(6) In October 2016, the Government of Zimbabwe cleared a 
    small hurdle in its longstanding public sector arrears with the 
    IMF.''.
SEC. 4. PROVISIONS RELATED TO MULTILATERAL DEBT RELIEF AND OTHER 
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.
    Section 4(b)(2) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act 
of 2001 is amended--
        (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``to propose that the bank 
    should undertake a review of the feasibility of restructuring, 
    rescheduling, or eliminating the sovereign debt of Zimbabwe held by 
    that bank'' and inserting ``to support efforts to reevaluate plans 
    to restructure, rebuild, reschedule, or eliminate Zimbabwe's 
    sovereign debt held by that bank and provide an analysis based on 
    reasonable financial options to achieve those goals''; and
        (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``dollar'' and inserting 
    ``currency''.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE UNITED STATES-ZIMBABWE BILATERAL 
RELATIONSHIP.
    It is the sense of Congress that the United States should seek to 
forge a stronger bilateral relationship with Zimbabwe, including in the 
areas of trade and investment, if the following conditions are 
satisfied:
        (1) The Government of Zimbabwe takes the concrete, tangible 
    steps outlined in paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 4(d) of the 
    Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, as amended by 
    section 6 of this Act.
        (2) The Government of Zimbabwe takes concrete, tangible steps 
    towards--
            (A) good governance, including respect for the opposition, 
        rule of law, and human rights;
            (B) economic reforms that promote growth, address 
        unemployment and underdevelopment, restore livelihoods, ensure 
        respect for contracts and private property rights, and promote 
        significant progress toward monetary policy reforms, 
        particularly with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, and currency 
        exchange reforms; and
            (C) identification and recovery of stolen private and 
        public assets within Zimbabwe and in other countries.
        (3) The Government of Zimbabwe holds an election that is widely 
    accepted as free and fair, based on the following pre- and post-
    election criteria or conditions:
            (A) Establishment and public release, without cost, of a 
        provisional and a final voter registration roll.
            (B) The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is permitted to 
        entirely carry out the functions assigned to it under section 
        239 of Zimbabwe's 2013 Constitution in an independent manner, 
        and the chairperson meets and consults regularly with 
        representatives of political parties represented in the 
        parliament of Zimbabwe and the parties contesting the 
        elections.
            (C) Consistent with Zimbabwe's 2013 Constitution, the 
        Defence Forces of Zimbabwe--
                (i) are neither permitted to actively participate in 
            campaigning for any candidate nor to intimidate voters;
                (ii) are required to verifiably and credibly uphold 
            their constitutionally-mandated duty to respect the 
            fundamental rights and freedoms of all persons and to be 
            nonpartisan in character; and
                (iii) are not permitted to print, transfer, or control 
            ballots or transmit the results of elections.
            (D) International observers, including observers from the 
        United States, the African Union, the Southern African 
        Development Community, and the European Union--
                (i) are permitted to observe the entire electoral 
            process prior to, on, and following voting day, including 
            by monitoring polling stations and tabulation centers; and
                (ii) are able to independently access and analyze vote 
            tallying tabulation and the transmission and content of 
            voting results.
            (E) Candidates are allowed access to public broadcasting 
        media during the election period, consistent with Zimbabwe's 
        Electoral Act and are able to campaign in an environment that 
        is free from intimidation and violence.
            (F) Civil society organizations are able to freely and 
        independently carry out voter and civic education and monitor 
        the entire electoral process, including by observing, 
        recording, and transmitting publicly-posted or announced voting 
        results at the ward, constituency, and all higher levels of the 
        vote tallying process.
        (4) Laws enacted prior to the passage of Zimbabwe's March 2013 
    Constitution that are inconsistent with the new Constitution are 
    amended, repealed, or subjected to a formal process for review and 
    correction so that such laws are consistent with the new 
    Constitution.
        (5) The Government of Zimbabwe--
            (A) has made significant progress on the implementation of 
        all elements of the new Constitution; and
            (B) has demonstrated its commitment to sustain such efforts 
        in achieving full implementation of the new Constitution.
        (6) Traditional leaders of Zimbabwe observe section 281 of the 
    2013 Constitution and are not using humanitarian assistance 
    provided by outside donor organizations or countries in a 
    politicized manner to intimidate or pressure voters during the 
    campaign period.
SEC. 6. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.
    Section 4(d) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 
2001 is amended--
        (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``consistent with'' and all 
    that follows through ``September 1998'';
        (2) by striking paragraph (4); and
        (3) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (4).
SEC. 7. REMOVAL OF AUTHORITY TO PAY LAND ACQUISITION COSTS.
    Section 5(a) of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 
2001 is amended--
        (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``, including the payment of 
    costs'' and all that follows through ``thereto; and'' and inserting 
    a semicolon;
        (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and 
    inserting ``; and''; and
        (3) by adding at the end the following:
        ``(4) identify and recover stolen public assets.''.
SEC. 8. INCLUSION OF AUSTRALIA, THE UNITED KINGDOM, THE AFRICAN UNION, 
AND THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY IN CONSULTATIONS ABOUT 
ZIMBABWE.
    Section 6 of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 
2001 is amended by inserting ``Australia, the United Kingdom, the 
African Union, the Southern African Development Community,'' after 
``Canada,''.
SEC. 9. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ENFORCEMENT OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN 
DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY TRIBUNAL RULINGS.
    It is the sense of Congress that the Government of Zimbabwe and the 
Southern African Development Community (referred to in this section as 
``SADC'') should enforce the SADC tribunal rulings issued between 2007 
to 2010, including 18 disputes involving employment, commercial, and 
human rights cases surrounding dispossessed Zimbabwean commercial 
farmers and agricultural companies.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.