[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3566 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3566
To provide for the establishment of a trust fund at the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development to address long-term food
production and rural development needs in Afghanistan and the Central
Asian Republics.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 20, 2001
Mr. Bereuter (for himself, Mrs. Clayton, Mr. Nethercutt, Mr. Sawyer,
Mr. Osborne, Mr. Hall of Ohio, Mrs. Johnson of Connecticut, Mr.
Doggett, Mr. Ehlers, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Shays, Ms.
Millender-McDonald, Mr. Snyder, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Payne, and Ms. Baldwin)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the establishment of a trust fund at the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development to address long-term food
production and rural development needs in Afghanistan and the Central
Asian Republics.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Afghanistan and Central Asian
Republics Sustainable Food Production Trust Fund Act of 2001''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) abject poverty and the inability to produce food, even
at the subsistence level, in the rural, mountainous areas of
Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics have plagued the
region for over 20 years;
(2) extended food shortages in this region have resulted in
the consumption of seed supplies and breeding livestock
necessary to continue farming and food production;
(3) ongoing and violent conflict in the region has badly
damaged or destroyed the basic irrigation systems necessary for
food production;
(4) despite the delivery of over $185,000,000 in aid from
the United States in fiscal year 2001 toward humanitarian
assistance needs in Afghanistan, millions of people remain at
risk of severe malnutrition and starvation in the short- and
long-terms;
(5) on October 4, 2001, President George W. Bush announced
that the people of Afghanistan, and the governments of
Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan will
receive an additional $320,000,000 humanitarian assistance
package for emergency food and refugee assistance to address
the region's immediate needs during the war on terrorism; and
(6) in addition to addressing short-term emergency
assistance needs in Afghanistan and the mountainous regions of
the Central Asian Republics, addressing the long-term food
production and rural development issues in region will be
critical to attaining some stability in the region.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT.
(a) Negotiations for Establishment of Trust Fund.--The Secretary of
the Treasury shall seek to enter into negotiations with the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, in consultation
with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development and other United States Government agencies, and with the
member nations of the Bank and with other interested parties, for the
establishment within the Bank of--
(1) the Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics Sustainable
Food Production Trust Fund (in this Act referred to as the
``Trust Fund'') in accordance with the provisions of this Act;
and
(2) the Advisory Board to the Trust Fund in accordance with
section 6.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of the Trust Fund should be to use
contributed funds to develop sustainable food production for
Afghanistan and the mountainous regions of other countries of Central
Asia through restocking seed, replacing breeding livestock, restoring
basic irrigation systems, and providing access to credit for food
production, processing, or marketing enterprises through rural
microenterprise loan programs.
(c) Composition.--
(1) In general.--It is the sense of the Congress that the
Trust Fund should be governed by a Board of Trustees, which
should be composed of representatives of the participating
donor countries to the Trust Fund. Individuals appointed to the
Board should have demonstrated knowledge and experience in the
fields of agriculture production and rural microenterprise loan
programs.
(2) United states representation.--
(A) In general.--If there is a Board of Trustees of
the Trust Fund, the United States representative shall
be the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development or the Administrator's
designee.
(B) Effective and termination dates.--
(i) Effective date.--This paragraph shall
take effect upon the date the Secretary of the
Treasury certifies to Congress that an
agreement establishing the Trust Fund and
providing for a United States member of the
Board of Trustees is in effect.
(ii) Termination date.--The position
established by subparagraph (A) is abolished
upon the date of termination of the Trust Fund.
SEC. 4. GRANT AUTHORITIES.
(a) Program Objectives.--It is the sense of the Congress that:
(1) In general.--In carrying out the purpose of section
3(b), the Trust Fund, acting through the Board of Trustees,
should provide only grants to nongovernmental organizations for
the purpose of carrying out the activities described in
paragraph (2) in Afghanistan and the other countries of Central
Asia in accordance with this section.
(2) Activities supported.--
(A) In general.--Among the activities for which the
Trust Fund should provide grants should be--
(i) procurement of seed for local food
production;
(ii) replacement of breeding livestock;
(iii) restoration of basic irrigation
systems;
(iv) establishment of access to credit for
food production, processing, or marketing
enterprises through rural microenterprise loan
programs; and
(v) providing technical assistance.
(B) Limitation.--Amounts received under a grant
should not be used to carry out activities related to
emergencies or disasters.
(3) Applications.--A nongovernmental organization that
desires to receive a grant under this section should submit an
application for the grant to the Board of Trustees. The
application should be developed by the nongovernmental
organization in close consultation with local indigenous
entities, or associated persons of a village or villages,
located in the country within which the activities supported by
the grant will be carried out.
(4) Implementation of program objectives.--In carrying out
the objectives of paragraph (1), the Trust Fund should--
(A) coordinate its activities with governments of
countries authorized to receive grants under this
section, local and regional governments of such
countries, nongovernmental organizations operating in
such countries, and private donors;
(B) provide minimal supplementary grants for
associated administrative costs to the national and
regional governments of the country for which grants to
nongovernmental organizations are approved under this
section;
(C) provide oversight of grants disbursed under
this section, including procedures under which a
nongovernmental organization that misuses grant funds
or otherwise fails to adequately carry out the
activities described in paragraph (2) should be
disqualified from receiving additional grants under
this section for not less than 1 year; and
(D) coordinate efforts with national, regional, and
local government officials to conduct an annual review
of disbursement of grant funds and the effectiveness of
activities carried out with grant funds.
(b) Restriction Relating To the Use of United States Funds in
Afghanistan.--Funds made available under this Act may not be used
during a fiscal year for any activity in Afghanistan which is described
in subsection (a)(2) unless the Secretary of State certifies for the
fiscal year that there has been substantial progress made toward the
establishment of a government in Afghanistan that meets the following
requirements:
(1) The government includes broad representation from the
diverse ethnic and religious groups of Afghanistan, including
both men and women from such groups.
(2) The government does not sponsor terrorism or harbor
terrorists.
(3) The government demonstrates a strong and determined
commitment to eliminating the production of opium-producing
poppies.
(4) The government meets the conditions outlined in the
United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION.
(a) Sense of the Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that:
(1) Appointment of an administrator.--The Board of
Trustees, in consultation with the appropriate officials of the
Bank, should appoint an Administrator who should be responsible
for managing the day-to-day operations of the Trust Fund.
(2) Authority to solicit and accept contributions.--The
Trust Fund should be authorized to solicit and accept
contributions from governments, the private sector, and
nongovernmental entities of all kinds.
(3) Selection of projects and recipients.--The Board of
Trustees should establish--
(A) criteria for the selection of projects to
receive support from the Trust Fund;
(B) standards and criteria regarding qualifications
of recipients of such support;
(C) such rules and procedures as may be necessary
for cost-effective management of the Trust Fund and the
projects that it funds;
(D) such rules and procedures as may be necessary
to ensure transparency and accountability in the grant-
making process; and
(E) criteria for an annual review process for all
projects receiving grants.
(4) Transparency of operations.--The Board of Trustees
should ensure full and prompt public disclosure of the proposed
objectives, financial organization, and operations of the Trust
Fund.
(b) Accountability of Funds and Criteria for Programs.--As part of
the negotiations described in section 3(a), the Secretary of the
Treasury shall, consistent with subsection (a)(3) of this section--
(1) take such actions as are necessary to ensure that the
Bank will have in effect adequate procedures and standards to
account for and monitor the use of funds contributed to the
Trust Fund, including the cost of administering the Trust Fund;
and
(2) seek agreement on the criteria that should be used to
determine the programs and activities that should be assisted
by the Trust Fund.
SEC. 6. ADVISORY BOARD.
(a) Sense of the Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that:
(1) In general.--There should be an Advisory Board to the
Trust Fund.
(2) Appointments.--The members of the Advisory Board should
be drawn from--
(A) a broad range of individuals with experience
and leadership in the fields of development, with
particular priority for individuals with experience in
agricultural production and rural microenterprise loan
programs; and
(B) representatives of relevant United Nations
agencies and nongovernmental organizations with on-the-
ground experience in countries authorized to receive
grants.
(3) Responsibilities.--The Advisory Board should provide
advice and guidance to the Board of Trustees on the development
and implementation of programs and projects to be assisted by
the Trust Fund and on leveraging donations to the Trust Fund.
(4) Prohibition on payment of compensation.--Except for
travel expenses (including per diem in lieu of subsistence), no
member of the Advisory Board should receive compensation for
services performed as a member of the Board.
(b) United States Representative.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law (including an international agreement), a
representative of the United States on the Advisory Board may not
accept compensation for services performed as a member of the Board,
except that such representative may accept travel expenses, including
per diem in lieu of subsistence, while away from the representative's
home or regular place of business in the performance of services for
the Board.
SEC. 7. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.
(a) Annual Reports by Secretary of the Treasury.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the
duration of the Trust Fund, the Secretary of the Treasury shall
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on
the Trust Fund.
(2) Report elements.--The report shall include a
description of--
(A) the goals of the Trust Fund;
(B) the programs, projects, and activities
supported by the Trust Fund;
(C) private and governmental contributions to the
Trust Fund;
(D) the criteria that have been established,
acceptable to the Secretary of the Treasury and the
Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development, that would be used to
determine the programs and activities that should be
assisted by the Trust Fund;
(E) an assessment regarding the extent to which the
Government of Afghanistan does or does not meet the
requirements of section 4(b) for that fiscal year; and
(F) with respect to a fiscal year for which
Afghanistan is eligible to receive a grant under
section 4, the impact of programming on food production
and rural development in Afghanistan.
(b) GAO Report on Trust Fund Effectiveness.--Not later than 2 years
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of
the United States shall submit to the appropriate committees of the
Congress a report evaluating the effectiveness of the Trust Fund,
including--
(1) the effectiveness of the programs, projects, and
activities described in subsection (a)(2)(B) in building
sustainable food production and rural microenterprise loans in
the countries authorized to receive grants under this section;
and
(2) an assessment of the merits of continued United States
financial contributions to the Trust Fund.
(c) Appropriate Committees Defined.--In subsection (a), the term
``appropriate committees'' means the Committee on Foreign Relations and
the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on
International Relations, the Committee on Financial Services, and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
In addition to any other funds authorized to be appropriated for
multilateral or bilateral programs related to sustainable food
production and microenterprise systems, there is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary of the Treasury $25,000,000 for fiscal
year 2002 and $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2003 through
2006 for payment to the Trust Fund. Of the amount appropriated pursuant
to the authorization of appropriations under the preceding sentence for
a fiscal year 60 percent should be designated for grants for
Afghanistan.
SEC. 9. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.
(a) In General.--Prior to the initial obligation or expenditure of
funds appropriated pursuant to section 8, the Secretary of the Treasury
shall certify that adequate procedures and standards have been
established to ensure accountability for and monitoring of the use of
funds contributed to the Trust Fund, including the cost of
administering the Trust Fund.
(b) Transmittal of Certification.--The certification required by
subsection (a), and the bases for that certification, shall be
submitted by the Secretary of the Treasury to Congress.
SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Bank.--The term ``Bank'' means the International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development.
(2) Other countries of central asia.--The term ``other
countries of Central Asia'' means Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H10948-10949)
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Referred to the Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade.
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