[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 124 (Wednesday, July 19, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3421-S3422]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 981. Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Boozman, Mr.
Coons, and Mr. Cassidy) 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 G of title XII, add the following:
SEC. 1299L. INVESTMENT, TRADE, AND DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA AND
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN.
(a) Strategy Required.--
(1) In general.--The President shall establish a
comprehensive United States strategy for public and private
investment, trade, and development in Africa and Latin
America and the Caribbean.
(2) Focus of strategy.--The strategy required by paragraph
(1) shall focus on increasing exports of United States goods
and services to Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean by
200 percent in real dollar value by the date that is 10 years
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(3) Consultations.--In developing the strategy required by
paragraph (1), the President shall consult with--
(A) Congress;
(B) each agency that is a member of the Trade Promotion
Coordinating Committee;
(C) the relevant multilateral development banks, in
coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury and the
respective United States Executive Directors of such banks;
(D) each agency that participates in the Trade Policy Staff
Committee established;
(E) the President's Export Council;
(F) each of the development agencies;
(G) any other Federal agencies with responsibility for
export promotion or financing and development; and
(H) the private sector, including businesses,
nongovernmental organizations, and African and Latin American
and Caribbean diaspora groups.
(4) Submission to appropriate congressional committees.--
(A) Strategy.--Not later than 200 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to
Congress the strategy required by subsection (a).
(B) Progress report.--Not later than 3 years after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to
Congress a report on the implementation of the strategy
required by paragraph (1).
(b) Special Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean
Export Strategy Coordinators.--The Secretary of Commerce
shall designate an individual within the Department of
Commerce to serve as Special Africa Export Strategy
Coordinator and an individual within the Department of
Commerce to serve as Special Latin America and the Caribbean
Export Strategy Coordinator--
(1) to oversee the development and implementation of the
strategy required by subsection (a);
(2) to coordinate developing and implementing the strategy
with--
(A) the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee;
(B) the Director General for the U.S. and Foreign
Commercial Service and the Assistant Secretary for Global
Markets;
(C) the Assistant United States Trade Representative for
African Affairs or the Assistant United States Trade
Representative for the Western Hemisphere, as appropriate;
(D) the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs or
the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere
Affairs, as appropriate;
(E) the Foreign Agricultural Service of the Department of
Agriculture;
(F) the Export-Import Bank of the United States;
(G) the United States International Development Finance
Corporation; and
(H) the development agencies; and
(3) considering and reflecting the impact of promotion of
United States exports on the economy and employment
opportunities of importing country, with a view to improving
secure supply chains, avoiding economic disruptions, and
stabilizing economic growth in a trade and export strategy.
(c) Trade Missions to Africa and Latin America and the
Caribbean.--It is the sense of Congress that, not later than
one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of Commerce and other high-
[[Page S3422]]
level officials of the United States Government with
responsibility for export promotion, financing, and
development should conduct joint trade missions to Africa and
to Latin America and the Caribbean.
(d) Training.--The President shall develop a plan--
(1) to standardize the training received by United States
and Foreign Commercial Service officers, economic officers of
the Department of State, and economic officers of the United
States Agency for International Development with respect to
the programs and procedures of the Export-Import Bank of the
United States, the United States International Development
Finance Corporation, the Small Business Administration, and
the United States Trade and Development Agency; and
(2) to ensure that, not later than one year after the date
of the enactment of this Act--
(A) all United States and Foreign Commercial Service
officers that are stationed overseas receive the training
described in paragraph (1); and
(B) in the case of a country to which no United States and
Foreign Commercial Service officer is assigned, any economic
officer of the Department of State stationed in that country
receives that training.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on
Finance, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation, and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and
Urban Affairs of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Ways
and Means, and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the
House of Representatives.
(2) Development agencies.--The term ``development
agencies'' means the United States Department of State, the
United States Agency for International Development, the
Millennium Challenge Corporation, the United States
International Development Finance Corporation, the United
States Trade and Development Agency, the United States
Department of Agriculture, and relevant multilateral
development banks.
(3) Multilateral development banks.--The term
``multilateral development banks'' has the meaning given that
term in section 1701(c)(4) of the International Financial
Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(4)) and includes the
African Development Foundation.
(4) Trade policy staff committee.--The term ``Trade Policy
Staff Committee'' means the Trade Policy Staff Committee
established pursuant to section 2002.2 of title 15, Code of
Federal Regulations.
(5) Trade promotion coordinating committee.--The term
``Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee'' means the Trade
Promotion Coordinating Committee established under section
2312 of the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727).
(6) United states and foreign commercial service.--The term
``United States and Foreign Commercial Service'' means the
United States and Foreign Commercial Service established by
section 2301 of the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C.
4721).
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