[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 19, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2790-S2791]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 1526. Mr. BARRASSO submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
to amendment SA 1502 proposed by Mr. Schumer to the bill S. 1260, to 
establish a new Directorate for Technology and Innovation in the 
National Science Foundation, to establish a regional technology hub 
program, to require a strategy and report on economic security, 
science, research, innovation, manufacturing, and job creation, to 
establish a critical supply chain resiliency program, and for other 
purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       Strike section 3250 and insert the following:

     SEC. 3250. ADDRESSING CHINA'S SOVEREIGN LENDING PRACTICES IN 
                   LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) Since 2005, the Government of China has expanded 
     sovereign lending to governments in Latin America and the 
     Caribbean with loans that are repaid or collateralized with 
     natural resources or commodities.
       (2) Several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean 
     have received a significant amount of sovereign lending from 
     the Government of China and are now facing challenges in 
     repaying those loans.
       (3) In 2009, the People's Republic of China became a member 
     of the Inter-American Development Bank.
       (4) Since it was established in 1959, the Inter-American 
     Development Bank has completed a total of nine capital 
     increases.
       (5) The ninth capital increase occurred in March 2010, 
     resulting in an increase of $70,000,000,000 of total capital, 
     the largest capital increase in the Bank's history.
       (6) The United States Congress has never authorized and 
     appropriated a capital increase for the Inter-American 
     Development Bank before the formal completion of the review 
     of the capital needs of the Bank and negotiations on the 
     capital increase.
       (7) In March 2021, the Board of Governors of the Inter-
     American Development Bank approved a resolution authorizing 
     the analytical work required to consider a potential capital 
     increase.
       (8) At the meeting, President Claver-Carone outlined how 
     the Inter-American Development Bank Group in 2020 reached 
     historic financing levels of nearly $24,000,000,000 for 
     governments and firms in the region in response to the COVID-
     19 pandemic.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the Government of China's predatory economic practices 
     and sovereign lending practices in Latin America and the 
     Caribbean negatively influence United States national 
     interests in the Western Hemisphere;
       (2) the Inter-American Development Bank, the premier 
     multilateral development bank dedicated to the Western 
     Hemisphere, should play a significant role supporting the 
     countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in achieving 
     sustainable and serviceable debt structures; and
       (3) the United States should work with the Inter-American 
     Development Bank to strengthen the Bank's ability to help the 
     countries of Latin America and the Caribbean achieve lasting 
     economic development and debt restructuring.
       (c) Addressing China's Sovereign Lending in the Americas.--
     The Secretary of the Treasury and the United States Executive 
     Director to the Inter-American Development Bank shall use the 
     voice, vote, and influence of the United States--
       (1) to advance efforts by the Bank to help countries 
     restructure debt resulting from sovereign lending by the 
     Government of China in order to achieve sustainable and 
     serviceable debt structures; and
       (2) to establish appropriate safeguards and transparency 
     and conditionality measures to protect debt-vulnerable member 
     countries of the Inter-American Development Bank that borrow 
     from the Bank for the purposes of restructuring Chinese 
     bilateral debt held by such countries and preventing such 
     countries from incurring subsequent Chinese bilateral debt.
       (d) Briefings.--
       (1) Implementation.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
     of the enactment of this Act, and every 90 days thereafter, 
     the President shall provide to the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Financial 
     Services of the House of Representatives a briefing detailing 
     efforts to carry out subsection (c).
       (2) Progress in achieving sustainable and serviceable debt 
     structures.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter for a 
     period of 3 years, the President shall provide to the 
     Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 
     Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
     Representatives a briefing on efforts by the

[[Page S2791]]

     Bank to support countries in Latin American and the Caribbean 
     in their efforts to achieve sustainable and serviceable debt 
     structures.
       (e) Report Required.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury 
     shall submit to Congress a report about the reform priorities 
     of the United States at the Inter-American Development Bank, 
     the economic development needs of Latin America and the 
     Caribbean, and the capital needs of the Bank as part of the 
     strategy of the United States to advance economic development 
     efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean during the 10 
     years after such date of enactment.
       (2) Elements.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall--
       (A) list the critical development needs of Latin America 
     and the Caribbean;
       (B) assess the adequacy of the current capital of the 
     Inter-American Development Bank;
       (C) outline the reform priorities of the United States for 
     the Bank;
       (D) describe the role the Bank plays in the broader United 
     States strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean;
       (E) describe the extent to which the Bank has visibility 
     and transparency on the bilateral loans the Government of 
     China has made in Latin America and the Caribbean;
       (F) identify the extent to which China's bilateral programs 
     are coordinated with Bank projects; and
       (G) assess the challenges posed by China's dual role as a 
     bilateral lender in Latin America and the Caribbean and a 
     member of the Bank.
                                 ______