[House Report 105-431]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



105th Congress                                                   Report
 2d Session             HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                105-431
_______________________________________________________________________


 
  PROVIDING FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1432, THE AFRICA GROWTH AND 
                            OPPORTUNITY ACT

                                _______
                                

   March 10, 1998.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______


    Mr. Linder, from the Committee on Rules, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 383]

    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 383, by a nonrecord vote, report the same to 
the House with the recommendation that the resolution be 
adopted.

               BRIEF SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF RESOLUTION

    The resolution provides for the consideration of H.R. 1432, 
the ``Africa Growth and Opportunity Act'' under a structured 
rule, providing two hours of general debate with one hour 
divided equally between the chairman and ranking minority 
member of the Committee on International Relations and one hour 
divided equally between the chairman and ranking minority 
member of the Committee on Ways and Means.
    The rule provides for consideration of the committee 
amendment in the nature of a substitute now printed in the 
bill, as modified by the amendments printed in part 1 of the 
report of the Committee on Rules, as an original bill for the 
purposes of amendment, which shall be considered as read.
    The rule waives points of order against the committee 
amendment for failure to comply with clause 7 or Rule XVI 
(prohibiting non-germane amendments). The provision of the bill 
which violates this rule is section 17 of this bill, relating 
to the clarifications of deductions for severance pay.
    The rule makes in order only those amendments printed in 
part 2 of the Rules Committee report and provides that 
amendments will be considered only in the order specified in 
the report, may be offered only by the Member designated in the 
report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the 
time specified in the report, equally divided between a 
proponent and an opponent. Amendments are not subject to 
amendment.
    The rule also permits the Chairman of the Committee of the 
Whole to postpone the vote on any amendment and to reduce to 5 
minutes the time for voting after the first of a series of 
votes, provided that the first vote is not less than 15 
minutes.
    Finally, the rule provides for one motion to recommit, with 
or without instructions.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    Pursuant to clause 2(l)(2)(B) of House rule XI the results 
of each rollcall vote on an amendment or motion to report, 
together with the names of those voting for and against, are 
printed below:

Rules Committee rollcall No. 83

    Date: March 10, 1998.
    Measure: Rule for consideration of H.R. 1432, The Africa 
Growth and Opportunity Act.
    Motion by: Mr. Moakley.
    Summary of motion: To make in order the Collins/Coble/
Bishop amendment in the nature of substitute, which: clarifies 
that the President must certify which countries are eligible 
for benefits of the bill; eliminates requirements that African 
countries lower corporate taxes and divest all government 
enterprises; requires African countries to make progress on 
human worker rights, especially child labor, as defined in the 
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP); requires African 
countries to cooperate with U.S. Customs in enforcing laws 
against transshipment and increases existing penalities; 
requires African countries to make progress on access for U.S. 
textile and apparel goods; establishes a special access program 
for apparel from Africa which is assembled using U.S. fabric 
cut in the U.S. and U.S. yarn; and extends GSP to countries of 
Sub-Saharan Africa for 10 years.
    Results: Rejected, 4-5.
    Vote by Members: Dreier--Nay, Goss--Nay, Pryce--Nay, 
Hastings--Nay, Myrick--Yea, Moakley--Yea, Frost--Yea, 
Slaughter--Yea, and Solomon--Nay.

   SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER UNDER THE RULE FOR H.R. 1432, 
                   AFRICA GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY ACT

Part I--Amendments modifying the committee amendment in the nature of a 
        substitute

    Crane: Clarifies that the bill does not create any new 
entitlement authority by inserting language that the newly-
created position of Assistant Trade Representative is to be 
paid from amounts subject to appropriation.
    Appropriations Committee: Strikes subsection (5)(d) which 
violates clause 5(a) of Rule XXI (prohibiting appropriations in 
a legislative bill).

Part II

    Smith, L. (WA)--10 minutes: Adds language that assures sub-
Saharan countries are actively cooperating in the fight to 
eliminate slavery before they are allowed to participate in 
this new trading design.
    Waters--20 minutes: Clarifies that a country seeking 
eligibility in the bill does not need to meet every one of the 
enumerated requirements in Section 4(a) to be found eligible.
    Waters--20 minutes: Sets a floor for funding the 
Development Fund for Africa at not less than the amount made 
available for FY 1998 and ensures a minimum funding level for 
this Fund.
    Waters--20 minutes: Adds specificity to the goals in 
Section 6(c) regarding expanded trade and investment between 
the U.S. and sub-Saharan Africa highlighting the importance of 
encouraging joint ventures between small and large businesses.
    Davis (IL)--10 minutes: Sense of Congress that the U.S. 
Government should make every effort to donate obsolete air 
traffic control equipment, including related reimbursable 
technical assistance to eligible sub-Saharan African countries.
    Bereuter/Solomon--20 minutes: Gives the President 
discretion, subject to Congressional approval, to designate 
certain additional countries as eligible to participate in the 
programs of the bill if the country or region otherwise meets 
the requirements in the bill and if that designation is in the 
national interest of the U.S.

                                 PART I

    Amendments Modifying the Committee Amendment in the Nature of a 
                               Substitute

    In section 13, insert before the period at the end ``, 
subject to the availability of appropriations''.
    Beginning on page 50, strike line 9 and all that follows 
through page 52, line 18.

                                PART II

    1. An Amendment to be Offered by Representative Linda Smith of 
    Washington, or Representative Wolf of Virginia, or a Designee, 
                        Debatable for 10 Minutes

    In subsection (b) of section 4 (Eligibility Requirements), 
redesignate paragraph (6) as paragraph (7) and insert after 
paragraph (5) the following:
          (6) Whether or not such country is cooperating with 
        the United States in efforts to eliminate slavery in 
        Africa.
                              ----------                              


 2. An Amendment to be Offered by Representative Waters of California, 
                or a Designee, Debatable for 20 Minutes

    In subsection (a) of section 4 (Eligibility Requirements), 
insert after paragraph (12) the following:
A country need not meet all the requirements set forth in 
paragraphs (1) through (12) in order to be eligible under this 
subsection.
                              ----------                              


 3. An Amendment to be Offered by Representative Waters of California, 
                or a Designee, Debatable for 20 Minutes

    In section 5 (Additional Authorities and Increased 
Flexibility to Provide Assistance under the Development Fund 
For Africa), add the following at the end:
    (e) Funding Levels.--Section 497 of the Foreign Assistance 
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2294) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: ``Amounts to carry this chapter for each of 
fiscal years 1999 through 2007 shall be made available at not 
less than the amount made available for such purpose for fiscal 
year 1998.''.
                              ----------                              


 4. An Amendment to be Offered by Representative Waters of California, 
                or a Designee, Debatable for 20 Minutes

    In subsection (c) of section 6 (United States-Sub-Saharan 
Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum), insert before the 
period at the end of paragraph (1) the following: ``, including 
encouraging joint ventures between small and large 
businesses''.
                              ----------                              


5. An Amendment to be Offered by Representative Davis of Illinois, or a 
                   Designee, Debatable for 20 Minutes

    At the end add the following:

SEC. 18. DONATION OF OBSOLETE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL EQUIPMENT TO ELIGIBLE 
                    SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN COUNTRIES.

    It is the sense of the Congress that, to the extent 
appropriate, the United States Government should make every 
effort to donate to governments of sub-Saharan African 
countries (determined to be eligible under section 4 of this 
Act) obsolete air traffic control equipment, including 
appropriate related reimbursable technical assistance for such 
equipment.
                              ----------                              


 6. An Amendment to be Offered by Representative Bereuter of Nebraska, 
or Representative Solomon of New York, or a Designee, Debatable for 20 
                                Minutes

    Add at the end of section 4 the following:
    (e) Designation of Additional Countries and a Region in 
Africa.--
          (1) Authority of the president.--The President may 
        designate any of the countries or the region listed in 
        paragraph (2) as eligible to participate in programs, 
        projects, or activities, or receive assistance or other 
        benefits under this Act if the President determines 
        that the country or region otherwise meets the 
        requirements of this section and that the designation 
        is in the national interest of the United States. Any 
        country or region so designated shall be deemed to be 
        an eligible country in sub-Saharan Africa under 
        subsection (a) for purposes of this Act if, within 1 
        year after such designation, a law is enacted approving 
        the designation.
          (2) Countries.--The countries referred to in 
        paragraph (1) are Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, 
        and Tunisia, and the region referred to is the Western 
        Sahara region of northwest Africa.

                                
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