[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 119 (Wednesday, July 12, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2370-S2371]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 155. Mr. BARRASSO submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
by him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2024 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle D of title XII, add the following:
SEC. 1269. OPPOSITION TO PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE TO PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF CHINA BY MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT
BANKS.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The People's Republic of China is the world's second
largest economy and a major global lender.
(2) In the third quarter of 2022, the foreign exchange
reserves of the People's Republic of China totaled more than
$3,000,000,000,000.
(3) The World Bank classifies the People's Republic of
China as a country with an upper-middle-income economy.
(4) On February 25, 2021, President Xi Jinping announced
``complete victory'' over extreme poverty in the People's
Republic of China.
(5) The Government of the People's Republic of China
utilizes state resources to create and promote the Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank, the New Development Bank, and
the Belt and Road Initiative.
(6) The People's Republic of China is the world's largest
official creditor.
(7) Through a multilateral development bank, countries are
eligible to borrow until they can manage long-term
development and access to capital markets without financial
resources from the bank.
(8) The World Bank reviews the graduation of a country from
eligibility to borrow from the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development once the country reaches the
graduation discussion income, which is equivalent to the
gross national income. For fiscal year 2023, the graduation
discussion income is a gross national income per capita
exceeding $7,455.
(9) Many of the other multilateral development banks, such
as the Asian Development Bank, use the gross national income
per capita benchmark used by the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development to trigger the graduation
process.
(10) The People's Republic of China exceeded the graduation
discussion income threshold in 2016.
(11) Since 2016, the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development has approved projects totaling $9,610,000,000
to the People's Republic of China.
(12) Since 2016, the Asian Development Bank has continued
to approve loans and technical assistance to the People's
Republic of China totaling more than $10,600,000,000. The
Bank has also approved non-sovereign commitments in the
People's Republic of China totaling more than $2,400,000,000
since 2016.
(13) The World Bank calculates the People's Republic of
China's 2019 gross national income per capita as $10,390.
(b) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United
States to oppose any additional lending from the multilateral
development banks, including the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Development
Bank, to the People's Republic of China as a result of the
People's Republic of China's successful graduation from the
eligibility requirements for assistance from those banks.
(c) Opposition to Lending to People's Republic of China.--
The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United
States
[[Page S2371]]
Executive Director at each multilateral development bank to
use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States--
(1) to oppose any loan or extension of financial or
technical assistance by the bank to the People's Republic of
China; and
(2) to end lending and assistance to countries that exceed
the graduation discussion income of the bank.
(d) Report Required.--Not later than one year after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter,
the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report that includes--
(1) an assessment of the status of borrowing by the
People's Republic of China from each multilateral development
bank;
(2) a description of voting power, shares, and
representation by the People's Republic of China at each such
bank;
(3) a list of countries that have exceeded the graduation
discussion income at each such bank;
(4) a list of countries that have graduated from
eligibility for assistance from each such bank; and
(5) a full description of the efforts taken by the United
States to graduate countries from such eligibility once they
exceed the graduation discussion income at each such bank.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee
on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.
(2) Multilateral development banks.--The term
``multilateral development banks'' has the meaning given that
term in section 1701(c) of the International Financial
Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)).
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