[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 15, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S250-S251]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             UNITED STATES-MEXICO ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP ACT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 336, H.R. 133.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 133) to promote economic partnership and 
     cooperation between the United States and Mexico.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, 
which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign Relations, with 
an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu 
thereof the following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``United States-Mexico 
     Economic Partnership Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) The United States and Mexico have benefitted from a 
     bilateral, mutually beneficial partnership focused on 
     advancing the economic interests of both countries.
       (2) In 2013, Mexico adopted major energy reforms that 
     opened its energy sector to private investment, increasing 
     energy cooperation between Mexico and the United States and 
     opening new opportunities for United States energy 
     engagement.
       (3) On January 18, 2018, the Principal Deputy Assistant 
     Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs at the 
     Department of State stated, ``Our exchange programs build 
     enduring relationships and networks to advance U.S. national 
     interests and foreign policy goals . . . The role of our 
     exchanges . . . in advancing U.S. national security and 
     economic interests enjoys broad bipartisan support from 
     Congress and other stakeholders, and provides a strong return 
     on investment.''.
       (4) According to the Institute of International Education, 
     in the 2015-2016 academic year, more than 56,000 United 
     States students studied in other countries in the Western 
     Hemisphere region while more than 84,000 non-United States 
     students from the region studied in the United States, but 
     only 5,000 of those United States students studied in Mexico 
     and only 16,000 of those non-United States students were from 
     Mexico.

     SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

       It is the policy of the United States--
       (1) to continue deepening economic cooperation between the 
     United States and Mexico;
       (2) to seek to prioritize and expand educational and 
     professional exchange programs with Mexico, including through 
     frameworks such as the 100,000 Strong in the Americas 
     Initiative, the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative, 
     Jovenes en Accion (Youth in Action), the Fulbright Foreign 
     Student Program, and the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program; 
     and
       (3) to promote positive cross-border relations as a 
     priority for advancing United States foreign policy and 
     programs.

     SEC. 4. STRATEGY TO PRIORITIZE AND EXPAND EDUCATIONAL AND 
                   PROFESSIONAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMS WITH MEXICO.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall develop a 
     strategy to carry out the policy described in section 3, to 
     include prioritizing and expanding educational and 
     professional exchange programs with Mexico through frameworks 
     such as those referred to in section 3(2).
       (b) Elements.--The strategy required under subsection (a) 
     shall--
       (1) encourage more academic exchanges between the United 
     States and Mexico at the secondary, post-secondary, and post-
     graduate levels;
       (2) encourage United States and Mexican academic 
     institutions and businesses to collaborate to assist 
     prospective and developing entrepreneurs in strengthening 
     their business skills and promoting cooperation and joint 
     business initiatives across the United States and Mexico;
       (3) promote energy infrastructure coordination and 
     cooperation through support of vocational-level education, 
     internships, and exchanges between the United States and 
     Mexico; and
       (4) assess the feasibility of fostering partnerships 
     between universities in the United States and medical school 
     and nursing programs in Mexico to ensure that medical school 
     and nursing programs in Mexico have comparable accreditation 
     standards as medical school and

[[Page S251]]

     nursing programs in the United States by the Accreditation 
     and Standards in Foreign Medical Education, in addition to 
     the Accreditation Commission For Education in Nursing, so 
     that medical students can pass medical licensing board exams, 
     and nursing students can pass nursing licensing exams, in the 
     United States.
       (c) Briefing.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall brief 
     the appropriate congressional committees regarding the 
     strategy required under subsection (a).

     SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional 
     committees'' means--
       (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
       (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
     Representatives.

     SEC. 6. SUNSET PROVISION.

       This Act shall remain in effect until December 31, 2023.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported 
substitute amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be 
considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendment, in the nature of a substitute, was 
agreed to.
  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a 
third time.
  The bill was read the third time.
  The bill (H.R. 133), as amended, was passed.

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