II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 587 

To promote economic partnership and cooperation between the United States 

and Mexico. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To promote economic partnership and cooperation between 

the United States and Mexico. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Mexico 

5 Economic Partnership Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The United States and Mexico have bene9 fitted from a bilateral, mutually beneficial partnerVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S587.IS S587

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1 ship focused on advancing the economic interests of 

2 both countries. 

3 (2) In 2013, Mexico adopted major energy re4 forms that opened its energy sector to private invest5 ment, increasing energy cooperation between Mexico 

6 and the United States and opening new opportuni7 ties for United States energy engagement. 

8 (3) On January 18, 2018, the Principal Deputy 

9 Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Af10 fairs at the Department of State stated, ‘‘Our ex11 change programs build enduring relationships and 

12 networks to advance U.S. national interests and for13 eign policy goals. . . . The role of our exchanges 

14 . . . in advancing U.S. national security and eco15 nomic interests enjoys broad bipartisan support from 

16 Congress and other stakeholders, and provides a 

17 strong return on investment.’’. 

18 (4) According to the Institute of International 

19 Education, in the 2015–2016 academic year, more 

20 than 56,000 United States students studied in other 

21 countries in the Western Hemisphere region while 

22 more than 84,000 non-United States students from 

23 the region studied in the United States, but only 

24 5,000 of those United States students studied in 


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1 Mexico and only 16,000 of those non-United States 

2 students were from Mexico. 

3 (5) In March 2011, the United States launched 

4 the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Initiative, which 

5 seeks to increase educational exchanges between the 

6 United States and other countries in the Western 

7 Hemisphere region so that 100,000 United States 

8 students are studying in other countries in the West9 ern Hemisphere region and 100,000 non-United 

10 States students from the region are studying in the 

11 United States per year by 2020. 

12 (6) In January 2014, the United States estab13 lished the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innova14 tion Fund, which seeks to realize the goals of the 

15 100,000 Strong in the Americas Initiative by facili16 tating a public-private partnership between the De17 partment of State and nongovernmental organiza18 tions, corporations, and universities in the United 

19 States and other countries of the Western Hemi20 sphere region. 

21 (7) To date, the 100,000 Strong in the Amer22 icas Innovation Fund has awarded more than 100 

23 grants to more than 250 higher education institu24 tions from 25 countries in the Western Hemisphere 

25 region, and has raised $9,000,000 in investments, 


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1 75 percent of which was from corporations, founda2 tions, and regional governments. 

3 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

4 It is the policy of the United States— 

5 (1) to continue deepening economic cooperation 

6 between the United States and Mexico; and 

7 (2) to seek to prioritize and expand educational 

8 and professional exchange programs with Mexico, in9 cluding through the framework of the 100,000 

10 Strong in the Americas Initiative. 

11 SEC. 4. STRATEGY TO PRIORITIZE AND EXPAND EDU12 CATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL EXCHANGE 

13 PROGRAMS WITH MEXICO. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall de15 velop a strategy to carry out the policy described in section 

16 3, which shall include prioritizing and expanding edu17 cational and professional exchange programs with Mexico 

18 through the framework of the 100,000 Strong in the 

19 Americas Initiative. 

20 (b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub21 section (a) shall— 

22 (1) encourage more academic exchanges be23 tween the United States and Mexico at the sec24 ondary, post-secondary, and post-graduate levels, es25 pecially with communities and through academic inVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S587.IS S587

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1 stitutions in the covered United States-Mexico bor2 der region; 

3 (2) encourage United States and Mexican aca4 demic institutions and businesses to collaborate to 

5 assist prospective and developing entrepreneurs in 

6 strengthening their business skills and promoting co7 operation and joint business initiatives across the 

8 United States and Mexico, with a focus on initiatives 

9 in the covered United States-Mexico border region; 

10 (3) promote energy infrastructure coordination 

11 and cooperation through support of vocational-level 

12 education, internships, and exchanges between the 

13 United States and Mexico; and 

14 (4) assess the feasibility of fostering partner15 ships between universities in the United States and 

16 medical school and nursing programs in Mexico to 

17 ensure that medical school and nursing programs in 

18 Mexico have comparable accreditation standards as 

19 medical school and nursing programs in the United 

20 States by the Accreditation and Standards in For21 eign Medical Education, in addition to the Accredi22 tation Commission For Education in Nursing, so 

23 that medical students can pass medical licensing 

24 board exams, and nursing students can pass nursing 

25 licensing exams, in the United States. 


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1 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 

3 submit a report to Congress that describes the strategy 

4 required under subsection (a). 

5 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) 100,000 STRONG IN THE AMERICAS INITIA8 TIVE.—The term ‘‘100,000 Strong in the Americas 

9 Initiative’’ means the initiative established in March 

10 2011 by the United States Government to increase 

11 educational exchanges in the Western Hemisphere. 

12 (2) COVERED UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER

13 REGION.—The term ‘‘covered United States-Mexico 

14 border region’’ means those portions of the United 

15 States and Mexico that are within 100 kilometers of 

16 the international boundary between those countries. 

Æ 


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