[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1802 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1802

 To authorize the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, to enhance the 
  United States-Caribbean security partnership, to prioritize natural 
              disaster resilience, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 27, 2023

 Mr. Espaillat (for himself, Ms. Salazar, and Mr. Green of Tennessee) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, to enhance the 
  United States-Caribbean security partnership, to prioritize natural 
              disaster resilience, 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 ``Caribbean Basin Security Initiative 
Authorization Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) 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.
            (2) Beneficiary countries.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``beneficiary countries'' 
                means--
                            (i) Antigua and Barbuda;
                            (ii) the Bahamas;
                            (iii) Barbados;
                            (iv) Dominica;
                            (v) the Dominican Republic;
                            (vi) Grenada;
                            (vii) Guyana;
                            (viii) Jamaica;
                            (ix) Saint Lucia;
                            (x) Saint Kitts and Nevis;
                            (xi) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;
                            (xii) Suriname; and
                            (xiii) Trinidad and Tobago.
                    (B) Updates.--The President or the Secretary of 
                State may add or remove one or more countries from the 
                list under subparagraph (A) upon written notification 
                to the appropriate congressional committees.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR THE CARIBBEAN BASIN SECURITY INITIATIVE.

    (a) Authorization for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.--The 
Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency 
for International Development may carry out an initiative, to be known 
as the ``Caribbean Basin Security Initiative'', in beneficiary 
countries to achieve the purposes described in subsection (b).
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes described in this subsection are the 
following:
            (1) To promote citizen safety, security, and the rule of 
        law in the Caribbean through increased strategic engagement 
        with--
                    (A) the governments of beneficiary countries; and
                    (B) elements of local civil society, including the 
                private sector, in such countries.
            (2) To counter transnational criminal organizations and 
        local gangs in beneficiary countries, including through--
                    (A) maritime and aerial security cooperation, 
                including--
                            (i) assistance to strengthen capabilities 
                        of maritime and aerial interdiction operations 
                        in the Caribbean; and
                            (ii) the provision of support systems and 
                        equipment, training, and maintenance;
                    (B) cooperation on border and port security, 
                including support to strengthen capacity for screening 
                and intercepting narcotics, weapons, bulk cash, and 
                other contraband at airports and seaports; and
                    (C) capacity building and the provision of 
                equipment and support for operations targeting--
                            (i) the finances and illegal activities of 
                        such organizations and gangs; and
                            (ii) the recruitment by such organizations 
                        and gangs of at-risk youth.
            (3) To advance law enforcement and justice sector capacity 
        building and rule of law initiatives in beneficiary countries, 
        including by--
                    (A) strengthening special prosecutorial offices and 
                providing technical assistance--
                            (i) to combat corruption, money laundering, 
                        human, firearms, and wildlife trafficking, 
                        financial crimes, extortion, and human rights 
                        crimes; and
                            (ii) to conduct asset forfeitures and 
                        criminal analysis;
                    (B) supporting training for civilian police and 
                appropriate security services in criminal 
                investigations, best practices for citizen security, 
                and the protection of human rights;
                    (C) supporting capacity building for law 
                enforcement and military units, including 
                professionalization, anti-corruption and human rights 
                training, vetting, and community-based policing;
                    (D) supporting justice sector reform and 
                strengthening of the rule of law, including--
                            (i) capacity building for prosecutors, 
                        judges, and other justice officials; and
                            (ii) support to increase the efficacy of 
                        criminal courts; and
                    (E) strengthening cybersecurity and cybercrime 
                cooperation, including capacity building and support 
                for cybersecurity systems.
            (4) To promote crime prevention efforts in beneficiary 
        countries, particularly among at-risk-youth and other 
        vulnerable populations, including through--
                    (A) improving community and law enforcement 
                cooperation to improve the effectiveness and 
                professionalism of police and increase mutual trust;
                    (B) increasing economic opportunities for at-risk 
                youth and vulnerable populations, including through 
                workforce development training and remedial education 
                programs for at-risk youth;
                    (C) improving juvenile justice sectors through 
                regulatory reforms, separating youth from traditional 
                prison systems, and improving support and services in 
                juvenile detention centers; and
                    (D) the provision of assistance to populations 
                vulnerable to being victims of extortion and crime by 
                criminal networks.
            (5) To strengthen the ability of the security sector in 
        beneficiary countries to respond to and become more resilient 
        in the face of natural disasters, including by--
                    (A) carrying out training exercises to ensure 
                critical infrastructure and ports are able to come back 
                online rapidly following natural disasters; and
                    (B) providing preparedness training to police and 
                first responders.
            (6) To prioritize efforts to combat corruption and include 
        anti-corruption components in programs in beneficiary 
        countries, including by--
                    (A) building the capacity of national justice 
                systems and attorneys general to prosecute and try acts 
                of corruption;
                    (B) provide technical and financial assistance to 
                independent media and investigative reporting;
                    (C) increasing the capacity of national law 
                enforcement services to carry out anti-corruption 
                investigations; and
                    (D) encouraging cooperative agreements among the 
                Department of State, other relevant Federal departments 
                and agencies, and the attorneys general of relevant 
                countries.
            (7) To promote the rule of law in beneficiary countries and 
        counter malign influence from authoritarian regimes, including 
        China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, by--
                    (A) monitoring security assistance from such 
                authoritarian regimes and taking steps necessary to 
                ensure that such assistance does not undermine or 
                jeopardize United States security assistance;
                    (B) evaluating and, as appropriate, restricting the 
                involvement of the United States in investment and 
                infrastructure projects financed by authoritarian 
                regimes that might obstruct or otherwise impact United 
                States security assistance to beneficiary countries;
                    (C) monitoring and restricting equipment and 
                support from high-risk vendors of telecommunications 
                infrastructure in beneficiary countries;
                    (D) countering disinformation by promoting 
                transparency and accountability from beneficiary 
                countries; and
                    (E) eliminating corruption linked to investment and 
                infrastructure facilitated by authoritarian regimes 
                through support for investment screening, competitive 
                tendering and bidding processes, the implementation of 
                investment law, and contractual transparency.
            (8) To support the effective branding and messaging of 
        United States security assistance and cooperation in 
        beneficiary countries, including by developing and implementing 
        a public diplomacy strategy for informing citizens of 
        beneficiary countries about the benefits to their respective 
        countries of United States security assistance and cooperation 
        programs.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Department of State and the United States Agency 
for International Development $82,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 
through 2028 to carry out the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative to 
achieve the purposes described in subsection (b).

SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 
an implementation plan that includes a timeline and stated objectives 
for actions to be taken in beneficiary countries with respect to the 
Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.
    (b) Elements.--The implementation plan required by subsection (a) 
shall include the following elements:
            (1) A multi-year strategy with a timeline, overview of 
        objectives, and anticipated outcomes for the region and for 
        each beneficiary country, with respect to each purpose 
        described in section 3.
            (2) Specific, measurable benchmarks to track the progress 
        of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative toward accomplishing 
        the outcomes included under paragraph (1).
            (3) A plan for the delineation of the roles to be carried 
        out by the Department of State, the United States Agency for 
        International Development, the Department of Justice, the 
        Department of Defense, and any other Federal department or 
        agency in carrying out the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, 
        to prevent overlap and unintended competition between 
        activities and resources.
            (4) A plan to coordinate and track all activities carried 
        out under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative among all 
        relevant Federal departments and agencies, in accordance with 
        the publication requirements described in section 4 of the 
        Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016 (22 
        U.S.C. 2394c).
            (5) A description of the process for co-locating projects 
        of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative funded by the United 
        States Agency for International Development and the Bureau of 
        International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the 
        Department of State to ensure that crime prevention funding and 
        enforcement funding are used in the same localities as 
        necessary.
            (6) An assessment of steps taken, as of the date on which 
        the plan is submitted, to increase regional coordination and 
        collaboration between the law enforcement agencies of 
        beneficiary countries and the Haitian National Police, and a 
        framework with benchmarks for increasing such coordination and 
        collaboration, in order to address the urgent security crisis 
        in Haiti.
    (c) Annual Progress Update.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
on which the implementation plan required by subsection (a) is 
submitted, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State, in 
coordination with the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
International Development, shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a written description of results achieved 
through the Caribbean Basin Security Imitative, including with respect 
to--
            (1) the implementation of the strategy and plans described 
        in paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) of subsection (b);
            (2) compliance with, and progress related to, meeting the 
        benchmarks described in paragraph (2) of subsection (b); and
            (3) funding statistics for the Caribbean Basin Security 
        Initiative for the preceding year, disaggregated by country.

SEC. 5. PROGRAMS AND STRATEGY TO INCREASE NATURAL DISASTER RESPONSE AND 
              RESILIENCE.

    (a) Programs.--During the 5-year period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with 
the Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Inter-
American Foundation, and the Chief Executive Officer of the United 
States International Development Finance Corporation, shall promote 
natural disaster response and resilience in beneficiary countries by 
carrying out programs for the following purposes:
            (1) Encouraging coordination between beneficiary countries 
        and relevant Federal departments and agencies to provide 
        expertise and information sharing.
            (2) Supporting the sharing of best practices on natural 
        disaster resilience, including on constructing resilient 
        infrastructure and rebuilding after natural disasters.
            (3) Improving rapid-response mechanisms and cross-
        government organizational preparedness for natural disasters.
    (b) Strategy.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development 
and in consultation with the President and Chief Economic Officer of 
the Inter-American Foundation, the Chief Executive Officer of the 
United States International Development Finance Corporation, and 
nongovernmental organizations in beneficiary countries and in the 
United States, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 
a strategy that incorporates specific, measurable benchmarks--
            (1) to achieve the purposes described in subsection (a); 
        and
            (2) to inform citizens of beneficiary countries about the 
        extent and benefits of United States assistance to such 
        countries.
    (c) Annual Progress Update.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
on which the strategy required by subsection (b) is submitted, and 
annually thereafter, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
written description of the progress made as of the date of such 
submission in meeting the benchmarks included in the strategy.
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