[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 68 (Wednesday, May 7, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H3923-H3929]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
{time} 1915
ELECTRIFY AFRICA ACT OF 2014
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 2548) to establish a comprehensive United States Government
policy to assist countries in sub-Saharan Africa to develop an
appropriate mix of power solutions for more broadly distributed
electricity access in order to
[[Page H3924]]
support poverty alleviation and drive economic growth, and for other
purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2548
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 ``Electrify Africa Act of
2014''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to encourage the efforts of
countries in sub-Saharan Africa to improve access to
affordable and reliable electricity in Africa in order to
unlock the potential for economic growth, job creation, food
security, improved health, education and environmental
outcomes, and poverty reduction.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) 589,000,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa, or 68 percent
of the population, did not have access to electricity, as of
2010;
(2) in sub-Saharan Africa, electricity services are highly
unreliable and they are at least twice as expensive for those
with electricity access compared to other emerging markets;
(3) lack of access to electricity services
disproportionally affects women and girls, who often shoulder
the burden of seeking sources of heat and light such as dung,
wood or charcoal and are often more exposed to the associated
negative health impacts. Women and girls also face an
increased risk of assault from walking long distances to
gather fuel sources;
(4) access to electricity creates opportunities, including
entrepreneurship, for people to work their way out of
poverty;
(5) a lack of electricity contributes to the high use of
inefficient and often highly polluting fuel sources for
indoor cooking, heating, and lighting that produce toxic
fumes resulting in more than 3,000,000 annual premature
deaths from respiratory disease, more annual deaths than from
HIV/AIDS and malaria in sub-Saharan Africa;
(6) electricity access is crucial for the cold storage of
vaccines and anti-retroviral and other lifesaving medical
drugs, as well as the operation of modern lifesaving medical
equipment;
(7) electricity access can be used to improve food security
by enabling post-harvest processing, pumping, irrigation, dry
grain storage, milling, refrigeration, and other uses;
(8) reliable electricity access can provide improved
lighting options and information and communication
technologies, including Internet access and mobile phone
charging, that can greatly improve health, social, and
education outcomes, as well as economic and commercial
possibilities;
(9) sub-Saharan Africa's consumer base of nearly one
billion people is rapidly growing and will create increasing
demand for United States goods, services, and technologies,
but the current electricity deficit in sub-Saharan Africa
limits this demand by restricting economic growth on the
continent;
(10) approximately 30 African countries face endemic power
shortages, and nearly 70 percent of surveyed African
businesses cite unreliable power as a major constraint to
growth;
(11) the Millennium Challenge Corporation's work in the
energy sector shows high projected economic rates of return
that translate to sustainable economic growth and that the
highest returns are projected when infrastructure
improvements are coupled with significant legislative,
regulatory, institutional, and policy reforms;
(12) in many countries, weak governance capacity,
regulatory bottlenecks, legal constraints, and lack of
transparency and accountability can stifle the ability of
private investment to assist in the generation and
distribution of electricity; and
(13) without new policies and more effective investments in
electricity sector capacity to increase and expand
electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa, over 70 percent of
the rural population, and 48 percent of the total population,
will potentially remain without access to electricity by
2030.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
Congress declares that it is the policy of the United
States--
(1) in consultation with sub-Saharan African governments,
to encourage the private sector, international community,
African Regional Economic Communities, philanthropies, civil
society, and other governments to promote--
(A) the installation of at least an additional 20,000
megawatts of electrical power in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020
to support poverty reduction, promote development outcomes,
and drive economic growth;
(B) first-time direct access to electricity for at least
50,000,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020 in both urban
and rural areas;
(C) efficient institutional platforms with accountable
governance to provide electrical service to rural and
underserved areas; and
(D) the necessary in-country legislative, regulatory and
policy reforms to make such expansion of electricity access
possible; and
(2) to encourage private sector and international support
for construction of hydroelectric dams in sub-Saharan Africa
that--
(A) offer low-cost clean energy consistent with--
(i) the national security interests of the United States;
and
(ii) best international practices regarding social and
environmental safeguards, including--
(I) engagement of local communities regarding the design,
implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of such projects;
(II) the consideration of energy alternatives, including
distributed renewable energy; and
(III) the development of appropriate mitigation measures;
and
(B) support partner country efforts.
SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE, MULTIYEAR STRATEGY.
(a) Strategy.--The President shall establish a
comprehensive, integrated, multiyear policy, partnership, and
funding strategy to encourage countries in sub-Saharan Africa
to develop an appropriate mix of power solutions, including
renewable energy, to provide sufficient electricity access to
people living in rural and urban areas in order to alleviate
poverty and drive economic growth. Such strategy shall
maintain sufficient flexibility and remain responsive to
technological innovation in the power sector.
(b) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the President shall transmit to
the appropriate congressional committees a report setting
forth the strategy described in subsection (a).
(2) Report contents.--The report required by paragraph (1)
shall include a discussion of the elements described in
paragraph (3), and should include a discussion of any
additional elements relevant to the strategy described in
subsection (a).
(3) Report elements.--The elements referred to in paragraph
(2) are the following:
(A) The general and specific objectives of the strategy
described in subsection (a), the criteria for determining
success of the strategy, a description of the manner in which
the strategy will support partner country efforts to increase
production and improve access to electricity, and criteria
and indicators used to select partner countries for focused
engagement on the power sector.
(B) Development, by partner country governments, of plans
and regulations at the national, regional, and local level to
increase power production, strengthen existing electrical
transmission and distribution infrastructure, bolster
accountable governance and oversight, and improve access to
electricity.
(C) Administration plans to support partner country efforts
to increase new access to electricity, including a
description of how the strategy will address commercial and
residential needs, as well as urban and rural access.
(D) Administration strategy to support partner country
efforts to reduce government waste, fraud, and corruption,
and improve existing power generation through improvement of
existing transmission and distribution systems, as well as
the use of a broad power mix, including renewable energy, and
the use of a distributed generation model.
(E) Administration policy to support partner country
efforts to attract private sector investment and public
sector resources.
(F) A description of the Administration's strategy for the
transfer of relevant technology, skills, and information to
increase local participation in the long-term maintenance and
management of the power sector to ensure investments are
sustainable and transparent, including details of the
programs to be undertaken to maximize United States
contributions in the areas of technical assistance and
training.
(G) An identification of the relevant executive branch
agencies that will be involved in carrying out the strategy,
the level and distribution of resources that will be
dedicated on an annual basis among such agencies, timely and
comprehensive publication of aid information and available
transmission of resource data consistent with Administration
commitments to implement the transparency measures specified
in the International Aid Transparency Initiative by December
2015, the assignment of priorities to such agencies, a
description of the role of each such agency, and the types of
programs that each such agency will undertake.
(H) A description of the mechanisms that will be utilized
by the Administration, including the International Aid
Transparency Initiative, to coordinate the efforts of the
relevant executive branch agencies in carrying out the
strategy to avoid duplication of efforts, enhance
coordination, and ensure that each agency undertakes programs
primarily in those areas where each such agency has the
greatest expertise, technical capabilities, and potential for
success.
(I) A description of the mechanisms that will be
established by the Administration for monitoring and
evaluating the strategy and its implementation, including
procedures for learning and sharing best practices among
relevant executive branch agencies, as well as among
participating countries, and for terminating unsuccessful
programs.
(J) A description of the Administration's engagement plan,
consistent with international best practices, to ensure local
and affected communities are informed, consulted, and benefit
from projects encouraged by the United States, as well as the
environmental and social impacts of the projects.
(K) A description of the mechanisms that will be utilized
to ensure greater coordination between the United States and
foreign governments, international organizations,
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African regional economic communities, international fora,
the private sector, and civil society organizations.
(L) A description of how United States leadership will be
used to enhance the overall international response to
prioritizing electricity access for sub-Saharan Africa and to
strengthen coordination among relevant international forums
such as the Post-2015 Development Agenda and the G8 and G20,
as well as the status of efforts to support reforms that are
being undertaken by partner country governments.
(M) An outline of how the Administration intends to partner
with foreign governments, the international community, and
other public sector entities, civil society groups, and the
private sector to assist sub-Saharan African countries to
conduct comprehensive project feasibility studies and
facilitate project development.
(N) A description of how the Administration intends to help
facilitate transnational and regional power and
electrification projects where appropriate.
SEC. 6. USAID.
(a) Loan Guarantees.--It is the sense of Congress that in
pursuing the policy goals described in section 4, the
Administrator of USAID should identify and prioritize--
(1) loan guarantees to local sub-Saharan African financial
institutions that would facilitate the involvement of such
financial institutions in power projects in sub-Saharan
Africa; and
(2) partnerships and grants for research, development, and
deployment of technology that would increase access to
electricity in sub-Saharan Africa.
(b) Grants.--It is the sense of Congress that the
Administrator of USAID should consider providing grants to--
(1) support the development and implementation of national,
regional, and local energy and electricity policy plans;
(2) expand distribution of electricity access to the
poorest; and
(3) build a country's capacity to plan, monitor and
regulate the energy and electricity sector.
(c) USAID Defined.--In this section, the term ``USAID''
means the United States Agency for International Development.
SEC. 7. LEVERAGING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT.
In pursuing the policy goals described in section 4, the
President should direct the United States' representatives to
appropriate international bodies to use the influence of the
United States, consistent with the broad development goals of
the United States, to advocate that each such body--
(1) commit to significantly increase efforts to promote
investment in well-designed power sector and electrification
projects in sub-Saharan Africa that increase energy access,
in partnership with the private sector and consistent with
the host countries' absorptive capacity;
(2) address energy needs of individuals and communities
where access to an electricity grid is impractical or cost-
prohibitive;
(3) enhance coordination with the private sector in sub-
Saharan Africa to increase access to electricity;
(4) provide technical assistance to the regulatory
authorities of sub-Saharan African governments to remove
unnecessary barriers to investment in otherwise commercially
viable projects; and
(5) utilize clear, accountable, and metric-based targets to
measure the effectiveness of such projects.
SEC. 8. OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION.
(a) In General.--The Overseas Private Investment
Corporation should--
(1) in carrying out its programs and pursuing the policy
goals described in section 4, place a priority on supporting
investment in the electricity sector of sub-Saharan Africa,
including renewable energy, and implement procedures for
expedited review of and, where appropriate, approval of,
applications by eligible investors for loans, loan
guarantees, and insurance for such investments;
(2) support investments in projects and partner country
strategies to the extent permitted by its authorities,
policies, and programs, that will--
(A) maximize the number of people with new access to
electricity to support economic development;
(B) improve the generation, transmission, and distribution
of electricity;
(C) provide reliable and low-cost electricity, including
renewable energy and on-grid, off-grid, and multi-grid
solutions, to people living in rural and urban communities;
(D) consider energy needs of individuals where access to an
electricity grid is impractical or cost-prohibitive;
(E) reduce transmission and distribution losses and improve
end-use efficiency; and
(F) reduce energy-related impediments to business and
investment opportunity and success;
(3) encourage locally-owned, micro, small- and medium-sized
enterprises and cooperative service providers to participate
in investment activities in sub-Saharan Africa; and
(4) publish in an accessible digital format measurable
development impacts of its investments, including appropriate
quantifiable metrics to measure energy access at the
individual household, enterprise, and community level; and
(5) publish in an accessible digital format the amount,
type, location, duration, and measurable results, with links
to relevant reports and displays on an interactive map, where
appropriate, of all OPIC investments and financings.
(b) Amendments.--Title IV of chapter 2 of part I of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 is amended--
(1) in section 233 (22 U.S.C. 2193)--
(A) in subsection (b), by inserting after the sixth
sentence the following new sentence: ``Of the eight such
Directors, not more than five should be of the same political
party.''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(e) Investment Advisory Council.--The Board shall take
prompt measures to increase the loan, guarantee, and
insurance programs, and financial commitments, of the
Corporation in sub-Saharan Africa, including through the use
of an investment advisory council to assist the Board in
developing and implementing policies, programs, and financial
instruments with respect to sub-Saharan Africa. In addition,
the investment advisory council shall make recommendations to
the Board on how the Corporation can facilitate greater
support by the United States for trade and investment with
and in sub-Saharan Africa. The investment advisory council
shall terminate on December 31, 2017.'';
(2) in section 234(c) (22 U.S.C. 2194(c)), by inserting
``eligible investors or'' after ``involve'';
(3) in section 235(a)(2) (22 U.S.C. 2195), by striking
``2007'' and inserting ``2017'';
(4) in section 237(d) (22 U.S.C. 2197(d))--
(A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``, systems
infrastructure costs,'' after ``outside the Corporation'';
and
(B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``, systems
infrastructure costs,'' after ``project-specific transaction
costs''; and
(5) by amending section 239(e) (22 U.S.C. 2199(e)) to read
as follows:
``(e) Inspector General.--The Board shall appoint and
maintain an Inspector General in the Corporation, in
accordance with the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C.
App.).''.
(c) Annual Consumer Satisfaction Survey and Report.--
(1) Survey.--
(A) In general.--For each of calendar years 2014 through
2016, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation shall
conduct a survey of private entities that sponsor or are
involved in projects that are insured, reinsured, guaranteed,
or financed by the Corporation regarding the level of
satisfaction of such entities with the operations and
procedures of the Corporation with respect to such projects.
(B) Priority.--The survey shall be primarily focused on
United States small businesses and businesses that sponsor or
are involved in projects with a cost of less than $20,000,000
(as adjusted for inflation).
(2) Report.--
(A) In general.--Not later than each of July 1, 2015, July
1, 2016, and July 1, 2017, the Corporation should submit to
the congressional committees specified in subparagraph (C) a
report on the results of the survey required under paragraph
(1).
(B) Matters to be included.--The report should include the
Corporation's plans to revise its operations and procedures
based on concerns raised in the results of the survey, if
appropriate.
(C) Form.--The report shall be submitted in unclassified
form and shall not disclose any confidential business
information.
(D) Congressional committees specified.--The congressional
committees specified in this subparagraph are--
(i) the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and
(ii) the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on
Foreign Relations of the Senate.
SEC. 9. TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY.
(a) In General.--The Director of the Trade and Development
Agency should--
(1) promote United States private sector participation in
energy sector development projects in sub-Saharan Africa
through project preparation activities, including feasibility
studies at the project, sector, and national level, technical
assistance, pilot projects, reverse trade missions,
conferences and workshops; and
(2) seek opportunities to fund project preparation
activities that involve increased access to electricity,
including power generation and trade capacity building.
(b) Focus.--In pursuing the policy goals described in
section 4, project preparation activities described in
subsection (a) should focus on power generation, including
renewable energy, improving the efficiency of transmission
and distribution grids, including on-grid, off-grid and mini-
grid solutions, and promoting energy efficiency and demand-
side management.
SEC. 10. PROGRESS REPORT.
Not later than three years after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the President shall transmit to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, and post
through appropriate digital means, a report on progress made
toward achieving the policy goals described in section 4,
including the following:
(1) The number, type, and status of policy, regulatory, and
legislative changes implemented in partner countries to
support increased electricity generation and access, and
strengthen effective, accountable governance of the
electricity sector since United States engagement.
[[Page H3926]]
(2) A list of power sector and electrification projects
United States Government instruments are supporting to
achieve the policy goals described in section 4, and for each
such project--
(A) a description of how each such project fits into the
national power plans of the partner country;
(B) the total cost of each such project and predicted
United States Government contributions, and actual grants and
other financing provided to such projects, broken down by
United States Government funding source, including from the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the United States
Agency for International Development, the Department of the
Treasury, and other appropriate United States Government
departments and agencies;
(C) the predicted electrical power capacity of each project
upon completion, with metrics appropriate to the scale of
electricity access being supplied, as well as total megawatts
installed;
(D) compliance with international best practices and
expected environmental and social impacts from each project;
(E) the estimated number of women, men, poor communities,
businesses, schools, and health facilities that have gained
electricity connections as a result of each project at the
time of such report; and
(F) the current operating electrical power capacity in
wattage of each project.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Collins of Georgia). Pursuant to the
rule, the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from
New York (Mr. Engel) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have
5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include
any extraneous materials they may want to in the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the Electrify Africa Act is a direct response to the
problem that nearly 600 million people living in sub-Saharan Africa do
not have access to reliable electricity.
The Electrify Africa Act offers a market-based response to that
problem, and it does this through U.S. private sector investment to
develop affordable, reliable energy in Africa. Most importantly, I
think it does so at no additional cost to the taxpayer.
Why do we want to help increase energy access to the African
continent? To create jobs, to improve lives. It will improve lives in
Africa. It will create jobs there and here in the United States. It is
no secret that Africa has great potential as a trading partner and
could help create jobs here in the U.S.
As the Foreign Affairs Committee investigated how to make better use
of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, landmark legislation that we
passed over a decade ago to expand trade with Africa, we learned that
the lack of affordable, reliable energy made the production of goods
for trade and export nearly impossible.
How impossible? I will just give you an example. We were in Liberia
looking at the interrupted power that is always a problem there. Even
at our own Embassy, the cost of ruining that diesel generator is
$10,000 a day sometimes when they have to get that thing up and running
in order to keep power generated. You can imagine the problem when you
are talking about a country with as much power generation and as much
electricity as the size of the electricity that lights up the Dallas
Cowboys stadium. That is the problem that one country has. You can
imagine what it would mean if we could bring online electricity in
order to electrify the subcontinent.
I would also remind the Members that the United States is not alone
in its interests in enhancing trade with Africa through investment and
energy. The example I would give you is China, because China has
stepped in to direct $2 billion towards energy projects on the
continent. As I speak, the Chinese Premier is in Africa signing deals
that favor Chinese companies over American businesses. If the United
States wishes to tap into the potential consumer base there in sub-
Saharan Africa, we must act now.
This bill will also have a tangible impact on people's lives, as I
said. As former chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, I have seen
firsthand how our considerable investments in improving access to
health care, improving access to education in Africa are undermined by
the lack of reliable energy. In many places, schoolchildren are forced
to study by inefficient, dangerous kerosene lamps. Cold storage of
lifesaving vaccines is almost impossible without the existence of
reliable electricity. Too many families resort to using charcoal and
other inefficient and highly toxic sources of fuel whose fumes in
Africa today cause more deaths than HIV/AIDS and malaria, combined.
Many of us on the committee have worked to transform our foreign
assistance programs that offer extensive Band-Aids to policies that
support economic growth. The Electrify Africa Act is part, frankly, of
a very important transition here. This bill mandates a clear and
comprehensive U.S. policy, providing the private sector with the
certainty that it needs to invest in African electricity at no cost to
the U.S. taxpayer. In fact, the bill is predicted to generate savings
by requiring the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to focus on
these energy priorities and undertake much-needed permanent reforms.
I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2548, the
Electrify Africa Act, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I would first like to begin by thanking our chairman of
the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mr. Royce, for working with us in a
bipartisan manner on this important legislation and for his
longstanding commitment to improving U.S.-Africa relations and lifting
Africans out of poverty.
Mr. Royce has long, for many years on the Committee on Foreign
Affairs, worked with and been very concerned about Africa. This bill
is, in part, a culmination of his hard work and his longstanding
dedication.
In the United States, we take reliable electricity for granted. When
we flip the switch, we expect the lights to come on. This winter many
of us were frustrated when storms knocked out our power. Life was
harder as we impatiently waited for the electricity to be restored.
Imagine if the power never came back and that was your life every day,
year in and year out. That is the stark reality facing many families in
Africa.
Indeed sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most energy-deficient regions
of the world, with nearly 70 percent of the population, more than half
a billion people, lacking access to electricity. In some countries the
figure is even higher: in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 85
percent of the population has no power; in Kenya, 82 percent of the
population has no power; and in Uganda, 92 percent. These are truly
staggering statistics.
The lack of reliable electricity has a major impact on day-to-day
life and many negative consequences. In desperation, people burn
anything they can find for heat and cooking: wood, plastic, trash, and
other toxic materials. These dirtier fuels cause greater harm to
people's health and also to the environment.
Many businesses have had a hard time succeeding because they are
forced to pour expensive diesel fuel into generators day and night or
deal with constant power outages from unreliable electrical grids.
Hospitals cannot provide adequate services because they are unable to
provide consistent cold storage, light, or power for lifesaving
devices. The list goes on and on.
This legislation directs the executive branch to develop a strategy
to increase electrification in Africa and to employ U.S. assistance
programs to help accomplish that goal. This long-term strategy will
focus not only on providing incentives for the private sector to build
more power plants, but also on increasing African government
accountability and transparency, improving regulatory environments, and
increasing access to electricity in rural and poor communities through
small, renewable energy projects.
Only by addressing all of these challenges in a comprehensive way
will millions of people in Africa finally have access to electricity
that will allow them to grow their economies and ultimately reduce
their reliance on foreign aid.
[[Page H3927]]
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this amendment. It is a
very important piece of legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. McClintock).
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding to a
dissenting opinion.
Mr. Speaker, one of the biggest complaints I hear is the practice of
forcing taxpayers to underwrite the losses and risks of politically
well-connected companies. Companies reap the profits; taxpayers pay for
the losses.
Today the House considers a bill that perpetuates this policy with
the objective of creating jobs not in America, but overseas. Quietly
tucked into this bill is a provision to reauthorize the Overseas
Private Investment Corporation, or OPIC, for another 3 years.
OPIC provides political risk insurance, loan guarantees, and direct
loans to U.S. companies for their overseas investments, making U.S.
taxpayers responsible for their losses. Recent beneficiaries include
the Ritz-Carlton in Istanbul; Citibank branches in Pakistan, Jordan,
and Egypt; and a SunEdison solar farm in South Africa.
According to the Congressional Research Service, this does nothing to
help our economy. We are told it doesn't cost taxpayers because recent
losses have been minimal and covered by fees. I remember similar
assurances about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Such assurances are good
only until they are not good, and taxpayer exposure is monumental and
growing.
This measure directs OPIC ``to prioritize investment in the sub-
Saharan electricity sector.'' Yet one company doing so, Symbion,
recently warned the Senate that it was owed $70 million at the end of
February by utilities in just one African country.
{time} 1930
Reviewing OPIC's $10 billion portfolio in Africa, the Center for
Global Development reported that if the money had been used for natural
gas plants rather than renewables, an additional 60 million people
would have had electricity. But that is not politically correct.
OPIC pays for the bad business decisions of large corporations and
underwrites job creation abroad, all ultimately underwritten by
hardworking American taxpayers. What is not to like about that?
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I share the gentleman's concern about corporate welfare. I have spent
years pressing OPIC for greater transparency. Finally, in this measure
we have a whole host of reforms.
But I will remind this body that years back we exposed and helped
kill OPIC's investment funds that were helping political cronies.
I would also remind this body that we are only willing to give OPIC a
short-term extension by redirecting it to focus on an area that lacks
investment and will have a major impact on the long-term growth of a
country, and that is electricity.
I can assure the gentleman from California that this committee will
continue its OPIC oversight, but I should note that OPIC is not a free
service. OPIC charges fees that generate a financial return for the
U.S. Treasury. To ensure that OPIC is not crowding out the private
sector, they must demonstrate that no commercial bank is willing to
provide the financing package requested directly from OPIC, and this is
the case in doing business in Africa.
The temporary authorization for OPIC, by the way, was included in the
introduced version of the Electrify Africa Act and has remained in
every following version.
I would also point out that this bill includes the significant
reforms, additional reforms, that I and others have been trying to get
into OPIC. For example, OPIC's operations will finally be transparent
to the public, as the agency will be required to post specific
information about all of its projects online, including each project's
financing, the location, the partners. The bill also creates an OPIC
inspector general. It forces OPIC's board to become for the first time
in history bipartisan. This ensures that organizations interested in
working with OPIC will be able to get a balanced perspective when
reaching out to the agency.
I will also close in response by noting that OPIC's last multiyear
authorization expired in 2007. The agency has been extended 28 times on
appropriations bills and continuing resolutions with zero reforms. We
come to the floor here in an open process to try to reform OPIC and to
give it this mission. I think this legislation accomplishes a great
deal on both fronts.
I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, when this bill was submitted it had, and
continues to have, strong bipartisan support.
I yield as much time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Bass), one of the original cosponsors on the bill, our
ranking member on the Africa Subcommittee.
Ms. BASS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2548, the
Electrify Africa Act of 2014, a bill that directs the President to
expand electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa.
I would like to thank my good friends and colleagues, Chairman Ed
Royce and Ranking Member Eliot Engel, and the committee staff, for all
of the work that they have done on this important bill.
H.R. 2548 directs the President to establish a multiyear strategy to
assist countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to develop an appropriate mix of
power solutions to provide sufficient electricity access to people
living in rural and urban areas in order to alleviate poverty and drive
economic growth.
With greater access to electricity, Africa has the capacity to grow
its economies, facilitating greater volumes of interregional,
transcontinental, and international trade. Greater access to
electricity also enables countries to expand human capacity and address
the critical challenges of underemployment. Access to additional power
will also help both individual countries and geographic regions address
infrastructure challenges related to things such as roads, rail, and
ports, all of which contributes to increasing the capacity of African
nations and the continent as a whole.
Greater access to electricity improves the quality of life for not
only urban, but rural communities. Even though we are well into the
21st century, it is difficult to imagine two-thirds of the population
of Sub-Saharan Africa lives without electricity, including more than 85
percent of Africans living in rural areas. Not having electricity means
children study by candlelight and doctors and midwives delivering
babies who must rely on flashlights. A life without electricity means
education, health care, and the basic needs of millions of Africans
suffer.
In summary, I believe we are taking a giant step in the right
direction by helping to address the issues of access to electrical
power in Africa. This bill provides an opportunity to work with the
governments and private sectors of African countries anxious to
increase their individual and combined regional access to electricity.
We all know that seven of the 10 fastest-growing economies are on the
African continent. This is a great step forward toward addressing
poverty and changing the paradigm in U.S.-Africa relations.
I agree with the chair of the committee who talked about the reforms
to OPIC. I would differ with my colleague from California though,
because I do believe that as the economies of Africa strengthen, that
increases the ability for those countries and businesses on the
continent to do business with U.S. companies, which, in my opinion,
also increases jobs in the United States.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 2548, the
Electrify Africa Act of 2014.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
In closing, I would like to once again point out that this is a
bipartisan bill. The four original cosponsors are Chairman Royce and
Chairman Smith on the Republican side, myself as the ranking member,
and Ms. Bass as the ranking member on the Africa Subcommittee on the
Democratic side. So this is truly a bipartisan collaboration that is
very important, well thought out, and I agree with everything the
chairman said. This bill will reform OPIC and will reform how this kind
of aid is done.
I would like to again thank Chairman Royce for being an outstanding
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partner in drafting this legislation and for his leadership in passing
the bill out of our committee unanimously. That is another thing that I
think is so important to what we do on the committee. We try to pass
things in consensus and try to let everybody put his or her thoughts
into the bill. This passed unanimously out of the committee, and that
doesn't happen lightly or easily. It is done because lots of concerns
were taken into consideration, things were ameliorated, things were
changed, and what we have is a very, very good product.
As has been said, this legislation has the potential to impact
millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa. A doctor in Kenya will be
able to treat a patient without worrying about her equipment shutting
off, a child in Congo can continue studying long after the sun sets.
The bottom line is that reliable access to electricity will help build
African economies and reduce their reliance on foreign aid, saving the
United States money.
I hope the Senate will also take action on this bill, again, which
has broad bipartisan support in the Senate. I urge my colleagues to
support this positive piece of legislation for Africa.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I do want to thank Ranking Member Eliot Engel of New York, as well as
Chairman Chris Smith and Ranking Member Karen Bass of the Africa
Subcommittee, for working closely with me to craft the Electrify Africa
Act.
I will remind the Members that where the United States has left a
void for economic investment in the world--and Africa is one of them--
China has stepped in. In this case, we are speaking at a time when the
Premier of China is on the ground right now in Sub-Saharan Africa.
China has stepped in to direct $2 billion to African energy projects.
This bill will counter China's growing commercial and strategic
influence.
But what else will the bill do? Unlocking the constraint on African
economic growth means a continent less reliant on aid. The bill
promotes an all-of-the-above approach to electricity that includes
natural gas and clean coal and hydro.
The CBO estimates that this bill will save the U.S. Treasury $86
million. Electrify Africa imposes permanent reform, as I mentioned, on
the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. The bill focuses OPIC on
promoting electricity in Africa. It forces oversight. It demands
transparency on the institution, lays that out, and makes the OPIC
board bipartisan.
There is every reason to support efforts that encourage economic
independence, that strengthen trading partners and that compete with
Chinese influence in a vital region, as someone once said.
I also want to recognize the wide range of enthusiasm for this bill.
We have received letters of support from 35 African ambassadors, the
Chamber of Commerce, the Corporate Council on Africa, the National
Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the American Academy of
Pediatrics--and we know from Karen Bass' testimony why they are in
support--and from the One Campaign. Many of these supporters have
joined us today in the House gallery to watch this landmark vote.
The United States has economic and national security interests in the
continued development of the African continent. This bill sets out a
comprehensive, sustainable, market-based plan to bring close to 600
million Africans out of the dark and into the global economy,
benefiting American businesses and workers at the same time.
Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support H.R. 2548, the Electrify
Africa Act.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, today the U.S. House of Representatives
considered legislation important to improving the quality-of-life and
opportunities for the millions of people living in sub-Saharan Africa.
H.R. 2548, the Electrify Africa Act, would require the United States to
develop a comprehensive strategy to improve access to electricity for
the nearly 600 million people currently living without it in those
countries.
Almost 70 percent of the population in sub-Saharan Africa lives in
energy poverty, without access to even basic electricity services. The
connection between energy poverty and economic poverty cannot be
ignored. For those of us in the United States with access to reliable
electricity, it is difficult to truly comprehend what life would be
like without the services electricity provides: the ability to simply
flip a light switch to have light at any hour of the day, or charge
your cell phone; refrigeration of foods, medicines, and life-saving
vaccines; indoor cooking; use of the Internet; advanced health care
technology; clean water and sanitation services. The list goes on and
on.
But consider how different our lives would be if we did not have
access to affordable and reliable electricity--what it would be like if
we had to travel miles each day to gather fuel sources to cook our
food; had to rely only on daylight to accomplish tasks; had no access
to clean water and other sanitation services; and no access to life-
saving medical technology readily available in other parts of the world
but that require electricity to work. That is the reality for the
hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. They struggle
each day to provide for their basic needs. Affordable and reliable
access to electricity would transform these regions, providing
opportunities for economic growth and a better quality-of-life.
What I consider especially important about H.R. 2548 is that this
bill recognizes that a ``one-size-fits-all'' energy strategy will not
benefit these countries and their populations. This legislation calls
for an appropriate mix of energy options, non-renewable and renewable,
to address the energy poverty endemic to these regions. In its report,
the House Foreign Affairs Committee notes that coal, natural gas, and
oil are all available potential energy sources to generate electricity
in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as solar, hydropower, and geothermal.
An all-inclusive energy mix is vital to addressing energy
accessibility and reliability in impoverished parts of the world.
Regions and countries should responsibly generate power using the
energy resources that are most readily available to them and that
provide the most affordable and reliable option. If the energy source
to generate the electricity is available but so expensive that people
cannot afford to use it, then what good does it do? Similarly, an
electricity supply too dependent on intermittent sources does not
benefit a health care provider trying to perform a procedure using
medical equipment reliant on a consistent source of electricity or
administer vaccines that must be kept refrigerated.
The current Administration has unfortunately sought to dictate what
sources of energy can be used in developing nations, promoting some and
discriminating against others, namely cheap and abundant coal-fired
power. This only does a disservice to the people who need the services
and opportunities that electricity provides. H.R. 2548 reminds us of
the consequences of not having access to affordable and reliable
electricity, something I think many of us take for granted. It further
reminds us about the importance of an all-of-the-above energy mix to
our country's access to cheap and reliable electricity, economic
stability, and quality-of-life. I am pleased that the Electrify Africa
Act recognizes these realities, establishing a framework for countries
in Sub-Saharan Africa to pursue the energy development that makes the
most sense for them.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, Chairman Royce and Ranking
Member Engle, thank you for introducing this important legislation H.R.
2548, the Electrify Africa Act, which my subcommittee Ranking Member
Karen Bass and I have joined you in sponsoring. We acknowledge the
importance of this legislation, and we hope our colleagues share our
enthusiasm for what this bill can accomplish.
Congress' interest in Africa is not only longstanding, but also
varied. Some of focus on development, and some are more interested in
trade. Others are keen to meet the humanitarian needs of the continent,
while still others believe education is the key to Africa's future
success. All of those elements are important, but none of them can be
accomplished fully without electricity, which is in far too short a
supply throughout Africa.
In Africa's largest cities, there are plenty of lights, and in Lagos,
Accra, Nairobi, Dakar, Johannesburg, Addis Ababa or Lusaka the modern
way of life is thriving--day or night. Unfortunately, in many other
cities, electricity is fleeting, and in too many rural areas it is
simply scarce. Generators provide the power by which many companies are
forced to do business, and in many homes, generators are needed to
ensure that modern activities can continue when the government-provided
power flickers out. This is so expensive that many Africans are forced
to rely on more basic means of providing light once night approaches,
but in the 21st century, the people of Africa must not be dependent on
the sun or candles and lanterns to deliver their light. Certainly,
these means cannot power their cell phones, televisions or other
technology on which today's societies thrive.
We all want Africa to join in the development the rest of the world
enjoys, yet that is not possible without a steady source of energy.
Manufacturing is only a notion without the power to move assembly lines
and
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produce goods. Vaccines and other medicines will last only so long
without refrigeration, and that requires steady electrical power. A
student studying by candlelight or by the light of a lantern is a
quaint notion that can no longer be the reality of young Africans
striving to build a better life.
H.R. 2548 will improve access to affordable, reliable electricity in
sub-Saharan Africa, where more than two-thirds of Africans lack access
to electricity. This bill does not provide electricity as a gift; it
facilitates cooperation between our government and African governments
in finding the most efficient and effective means of establishing
electric power for their citizens. By requiring our Administration to
create a comprehensive multiyear strategy, H.R. 2548 ensures that there
is a mutually agreeable plan that can be implemented by future
Administrations and Congresses in collaboration with willing African
partners. This bill also calls on U.S. representatives to international
institutions to leverage other international support for providing
electricity to Africa.
I call on my colleagues to join with us in voting for H.R. 2548. In
doing so, we will not only provide power for Africa, but we also will
energize our dreams for Africa's current and future development.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 2548, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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