[House Report 118-327]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


118th Congress }                                               {   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session   }                                               {  118-327

======================================================================



 
                       NO RUSSIAN AGRICULTURE ACT

                                _______
                                

 December 19, 2023.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. McHenry, from the Committee on Financial Services, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 4768]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Financial Services, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 4768) to require the Secretary of the Treasury 
to instruct the United States Executive Directors at the 
international financial institutions to advocate for investment 
in projects that decrease reliance on Russia for agricultural 
commodities, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon with an amendment and recommends that the bill as 
amended do pass.
    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``No Russian Agriculture Act''.

SEC. 2. UNITED STATES ADVOCACY FOR INVESTMENT IN PROJECTS THAT DECREASE 
                    RELIANCE ON RUSSIA FOR AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.

  (a) In General.--Title XIV of the International Financial 
Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262n-262n-3) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:

``SEC. 1405. ADVOCACY FOR INVESTMENT IN PROJECTS THAT DECREASE RELIANCE 
                    ON RUSSIA FOR AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.

  ``(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the 
United States Executive Director at each international financial 
institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2)) to use the voice, vote, 
and influence of the United States, to the maximum extent practicable, 
to encourage the respective institution to--
          ``(1) support projects that decrease the reliance of 
        countries on Russia for agricultural commodities, particularly 
        fertilizer and grain;
          ``(2) ensure the resilience of global grain supplies; and
          ``(3) stimulate private investment in the projects.
  ``(b) Waiver Authority.--The Secretary of the Treasury may waive 
subsection (a) with respect to a project upon notifying Congress that 
the waiver is in the national interest of the United States.''.
  (b) Repeal.--Section 1405 of such Act, as added by this section, is 
repealed effective on the earlier of--
          (1) the date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment 
        of this Act; or
          (2) the date that is 30 days after the date the President 
        reports to the Congress that the termination of such section 
        1405 is important to the national interest of the United 
        States, with an explanation of the reasons therefor.

                          Purpose and Summary

    Introduced on July 20, 2023, by Representative Maxine 
Waters, H.R. 4768, the No Russian Agriculture Act, directs the 
U.S. Executive Directors of the International Financial 
Institutions to use the voice, vote, and influence of the U.S. 
to encourage the International Financial Institutions to invest 
in projects that decrease countries' reliance on Russian 
agricultural commodities, particularly fertilizer and grain, 
and to stimulate private investment in such projects.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter, making up 
approximately 10 percent of global production. It is also a 
major producer of barley and sunflower oil, as well as 
fertilizer nutrients such as urea, phosphate, and potash. 
Notwithstanding Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, its 
agricultural exports have remained robust. However, to protect 
its own domestic food supply and revenue, Moscow has imposed 
export taxes and quotas.
    Recently, Russia has threatened global food supplies by 
withdrawing from an agreement concluded last summer that allows 
Ukrainian grain shipments to pass through the Black Sea to 
international markets. The dependence on Russian exports and 
Moscow's willingness to weaponize agricultural trade make the 
diversification of agricultural supplies important, similar to 
efforts to diversify European Union energy supplies away from 
Russia. International financial institutions like the World 
Bank and African Development Bank can provide financial and 
technical assistance to bolster the agriculture sectors of 
poorer countries, including through improvements to irrigation, 
rural roads, and mechanization.

                                Hearing

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(6) of rule XIII, the following 
hearing was used to develop H.R. 4768: The Subcommittee on 
National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial 
Institutions of the Committee on Financial Services held a 
hearing on Thursday, May 25, 2023, titled ``International 
Financial Institutions in an Era of Great Power Competition.''

                        Committee Consideration

    The Committee on Financial Services met in open session on 
July 26, 2023, and ordered H.R. 4768 to be reported favorably 
to the House as amended by a recorded vote of 49 ayes to 0 nays 
(Record vote no. FC-79), a quorum being present. Before the 
question was called to order the bill favorably reported, the 
Committee adopted an amendment in the nature of a substitute 
offered by Ms. Waters by voice vote.

                            Committee Votes

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires the Committee to list the record votes 
on the order to report legislation and amendments thereto. H.R. 
4768 was ordered reported favorably to the House as amended by 
a recorded vote of 49 ayes to 0 nays (Record vote no. FC-79), a 
quorum being present.


                      Committee Oversight Findings

    Pursuant to clause 3(c) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the findings and recommendations of 
the Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 
2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, 
are incorporated in the descriptive portions of this report.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the goal of H.R. 4768 is to ensure 
that the U.S. Executive Directors of the International 
Financial Institutions use voice, vote, and influence of the US 
to encourage the International Financial Institutions to invest 
in projects that decrease reliance that countries have on 
Russia for agricultural commodities, particularly fertilizer 
and grain, and to stimulate private investment in such 
projects.

                 Congressional Budget Office Estimates

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the following is the cost estimate 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974:



   New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its own the 
estimate of new budget authority, entitlement authority, or tax 
expenditures or revenues contained in the cost estimate 
prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office 
pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1973.

                       Federal Mandates Statement

    Pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act, the Committee adopts as its own the estimate of the 
Federal mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional 
Budget Office.

                      Advisory Committee Statement

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this 
legislation.

                  Applicability to Legislative Branch

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

                         Earmark Identification

    Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives, the Committee has carefully reviewed the 
provisions of the bill and states that the provisions of the 
bill do not contain any congressional earmarks, limited tax 
benefits, or limited tariff benefits within the meaning of the 
rule.

                    Duplication of Federal Programs

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee states that no 
provision of the bill establishes or reauthorizes a program of 
the Federal Government known to be duplicative of another 
Federal program, including any program that was included in a 
report to Congress pursuant to section 21 of the Public Law 
111-139 or the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic 
Assistance.

             Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation


Section 1. Short title

    This Act may be cited as the ``No Russian Agriculture 
Act''.

Section 2. United States advocacy for investment in projects that 
        decrease reliance on Russia for agricultural commodities

    Section 2 amends Title XIV of the International Financial 
Institutions Act by adding the following:
           Sec. 1405. Advocacy for investment in 
        projects that decrease reliance on Russia for 
        agricultural commodities.
                  D This section states that U.S. Executive 
                Directors of the International Financial 
                Institutions shall use voice, vote, and 
                influence of the U.S. to encourage the 
                International Financial Institutions to invest 
                in projects that decrease the reliance 
                countries have on Russia for agricultural 
                commodities, particularly fertilizer and grain, 
                and to stimulate private investment in such 
                projects.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italics, and existing law in which no 
change is proposed is shown in roman):

                INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ACT




           *       *       *       *       *       *       *
TITLE XIV--AGRICULTURAL AND COMMODITY PRODUCTION

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *



SEC. 1405. ADVOCACY FOR INVESTMENT IN PROJECTS THAT DECREASE RELIANCE 
                    ON RUSSIA FOR AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.

  (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct 
the United States Executive Director at each international 
financial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2)) to use 
the voice, vote, and influence of the United States, to the 
maximum extent practicable, to encourage the respective 
institution to--
          (1) support projects that decrease the reliance of 
        countries on Russia for agricultural commodities, 
        particularly fertilizer and grain;
          (2) ensure the resilience of global grain supplies; 
        and
          (3) stimulate private investment in the projects.
  (b) Waiver Authority.--The Secretary of the Treasury may 
waive subsection (a) with respect to a project upon notifying 
Congress that the waiver is in the national interest of the 
United States.

[Section 2(b) of H.R. 4768 (as reported) provides for the 
repeal of section 1405, as added by section 2(a), effective on 
the earlier of ``the date that is 5 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act; or the date that is 30 days after the 
date the President reports to the Congress that the termination 
of such section 1405 is important to the national interest of 
the United States, with an explanation of the reasons 
therefor.''.]

[SEC. 1405. ADVOCACY FOR INVESTMENT IN PROJECTS THAT DECREASE RELIANCE 
                    ON RUSSIA FOR AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.

  [(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
instruct the United States Executive Director at each 
international financial institution (as defined in section 
1701(c)(2)) to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United 
States, to the maximum extent practicable, to encourage the 
respective institution to--
          [(1) support projects that decrease the reliance of 
        countries on Russia for agricultural commodities, 
        particularly fertilizer and grain;
          [(2) ensure the resilience of global grain supplies; 
        and
          [(3) stimulate private investment in the projects.
  [(b) Waiver Authority.--The Secretary of the Treasury may 
waive subsection (a) with respect to a project upon notifying 
Congress that the waiver is in the national interest of the 
United States.]

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *