I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4238

To authorize supplemental appropriations for fiscal years 1994 and 1995

for relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction in Liberia.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 18, 1994

Mr. FLAKE (for himself, Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida, Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey, Mr. BLACKWELL, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. RUSH, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. CLAY, Mrs. MEEK, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr.

SCOTT, Mr. OWENS, Mr. WATT, Miss COLLINS of Michigan, Mr. TUCKER, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. WHEAT, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. STOKES, Mr. HALL of Ohio, and Mr. MFUME) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

A BILL

To authorize supplemental appropriations for fiscal years

1994 and 1995 for relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction in Liberia.

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 ‘‘Liberian Relief,

5 Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) due to the long historical ties between the

2 United States and Liberia, and the support that the

3 United States provided to the Doe regime during the

4 1980s, the United States has a unique responsibility

5 to the people of Liberia;

6 (2) the United States should continue to pro7 vide support to the United Nations peacekeeping

8 forces in Liberia in order to end the civil war that

9 began in December 1989, has claimed 150,000 lives,

10 and has left 1,700,000 persons displaced;

11 (3) supporting and facilitating the cease-fire in

12 Liberia that became effective August 1, 1993, pro13 vides the United States with an opportunity to fulfill

14 its responsibility to the people of Liberia by helping

15 to restore political order in that country; and

16 (4) the United States should continue to help

17 the people of Liberia by providing a substantial com18 mitment of assistance for the reconstruction of that

19 country.

20 SEC. 3. INTERNATIONAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE.

21 Chapter 9 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act

22 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2292–2292p) is amended by adding

23 at the end thereof the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 495L. LIBERIAN CIVIL STRIFE ASSISTANCE.

2 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE.—The Presi3 dent is authorized to provide assistance for civil strife re4 lief, rehabilitation, and general recovery in Liberia. Assist5 ance under this section shall be for humanitarian purposes

6 and shall be provided on a grant basis.

7 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—In providing the assistance

8 authorized in subsection (a), priority shall be given to

9 funding activities which—

10 ‘‘(1) maximize the use of private voluntary

11 agencies for relief, rehabilitation, and recovery

12 projects;

13 ‘‘(2) emphasize emergency health projects, in14 cluding efforts to rehabilitate the primary health

15 care system of Liberia;

16 ‘‘(3) contribute to the restoration of schools and

17 the general education system, including efforts to

18 support the teaching of displaced children; and

19 ‘‘(4) contribute to efforts by the international

20 community to respond to Liberian relief and devel21 opment needs.

22 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; TRANS23 FERS.—

24 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In

25 addition to the amounts otherwise available for such

26 purpose, there are authorized to be appropriated to
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1 the President $45,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and

2 $45,000,000 for fiscal year 1995 for use in provid3 ing assistance under this section.

4 ‘‘(2) MANAGEMENT SUPPORT ACTIVITIES.—The

5 President is authorized to transfer up to $750,000

6 of the amount appropriated pursuant to this section

7 in each of fiscal years 1994 and 1995 to the ‘Oper8 ating Expenses of the Agency for International De9 velopment’ account. These funds shall be used for

10 management support activities associated with the

11 planning, monitoring, and supervision of emergency

12 humanitarian assistance for Liberia.

13 ‘‘(3) DEVELOPMENT FUND FOR AFRICA.—The

14 President is authorized to transfer to the Develop15 ment Fund for Africa funds appropriated pursuant

16 to this section for use in supporting longer-term re17 habilitation activities in Liberia.

18 ‘‘(4) POLICIES AND AUTHORITIES TO BE AP19 PLIED.—Assistance under this section shall be fur20 nished in accordance with the policies and general

21 authorities contained in section 491.’’.

22 SEC. 4. MIGRATION AND REFUGEE ASSISTANCE.

23 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi24 tion to amounts otherwise available for such purpose,

25 there are authorized to be appropriated to the Department
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1 of State for ‘‘Migration and Refugee Assistance’’

2 $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and $20,000,000 for fis3 cal year 1995 for emergency relief, repatriation, and reha4 bilitation efforts for Liberian refugees who have fled civil

5 strife and, where appropriate, for support of relief pro6 grams assisting local populations in the bordering coun7 tries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Cote d’Ivoire, and other

8 countries in the region, which have been affected by the

9 influx of Liberian refugees.

10 (b) PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE.—To the extent fea11 sible, assistance authorized under this section shall be pro12 vided through the United Nations High Commissioner for

13 Refugees and other international relief organizations.

14 SEC. 5. EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE FOR LIBERIA.

15 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE.—In addition to

16 the assistance provided under section 495L of the Foreign

17 Assistance Act of 1961 (as added by section 3 of this Act)

18 and section 4 of this Act, the President is authorized to

19 provide supplemental emergency food assistance for civil20 ian victims of civil strife in Liberia, including additional

21 emergency food assistance (primarily rice, processed foods,

22 and oils) for the needs of the affected and displaced civil23 ian population of Liberia under title II of the Agricultural

24 Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 and to
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1 provide ocean and inland transport of such food assist2 ance.

3 (b) USE OF GRANTS.—In providing assistance au4 thorized by this section, the President is authorized to

5 make grants to United States, international, and indige6 nous private and voluntary organizations as may be nec7 essary to carry out this section.

8 (c) TRANSFERS AND GENERAL AUTHORITIES.—

9 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In

10 addition to the amounts otherwise available for such

11 purpose, there are authorized to be appropriated to

12 the President $27,000,000 for fiscal year 1994 and

13 $27,000,000 for fiscal year 1995 for use in provid14 ing assistance under this section.

15 (2) MANAGEMENT SUPPORT ACTIVITIES.—The

16 President is authorized to transfer up to $500,000

17 of the amount appropriated pursuant to this section

18 in each of fiscal years 1994 and 1995 to the ‘‘Oper19 ating Expenses of the Agency for International De20 velopment’’ account. These funds shall be used for

21 management support activities associated with the

22 planning, monitoring, and supervision of emergency

23 food assistance for Liberia that is provided under

24 this section.
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1 (d) ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR HUMANITARIAN AS2 SISTANCE FOR LIBERIA.—

3 (1) USE OF LOCAL CURRENCIES.—In order to

4 provide additional resources for relief, rehabilitation,

5 and reconstruction programs for victims of civil

6 strife in Liberia, the Administrator of the Agency

7 for International Development shall ensure that not

8 less than $12,000,000 of the local currencies gen9 erated under title II of the Agricultural Trade De10 velopment and Assistance Act of 1954 during fiscal

11 year 1994, and not less than $12,000,000 of the

12 local currencies generated under such title during

13 fiscal year 1995, are used for disaster assistance

14 purposes as are authorized by section 495L(b) of the

15 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by this

16 Act.

17 (2) ASSISTANCE SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY OF

18 FUNDS.—Paragraph (1) shall apply only to the ex19 tent that local currencies described in such para20 graph are available.

21 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds made available

22 pursuant to this subsection may be used for general

23 relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction purposes

24 and may include the provision or transport of emer25 gency food assistance. Such assistance shall be ad-
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1 ministered by the Agency for International Develop2 ment.

3 SEC. 6. GENERAL PROVISIONS.

4 (a) NONAPPLICABILITY OF PROVISION.—The assist5 ance authorized for Liberia by this Act may be provided

6 without regard to section 518 of the Foreign Operations,

7 Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations

8 Act, 1993 (Public Law 102–391), section 620(q) of the

9 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2370(q)) (the

10 so-called Brooke-Alexander amendment), or any similar

11 provision of the law relating to foreign assistance repay12 ments.

13 (b) REGULAR ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS TO BE MAIN14 TAINED.—Relief and rehabilitation assistance provided for

15 Liberia under this Act, or any amendment made by this

16 Act, is in addition to the regularly programmed assistance

17 for that country for fiscal year 1994 or fiscal year 1995

18 under chapter 1 (relating to development assistance) or

19 chapter 10 (relating to the Development Fund for Africa)

20 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and titles

21 I, II, and III of the Agricultural Trade Development As22 sistance Act of 1954 (relating to food assistance).

23 SEC. 7. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

24 (a) RECONSTRUCTION ASSISTANCE ASSESSMENT.—
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1 (1) ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator of the

2 Agency for International Development shall compile

3 a comprehensive assessment of the long-term recon4 struction, rehabilitation, and development needs of

5 Liberia. Such assessment shall include an evaluation

6 of the infrastructure of the country, particularly

7 power generation, water and sewage systems, trans8 portation, health facilities, and educational facilities.

9 The assessment shall indicate projected resources re10 quired for development and the levels of United

11 States foreign assistance required for reconstruction

12 in Liberia.

13 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than

14 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,

15 the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate

16 committees of the Congress a detailed report of the

17 assessment made under paragraph (1).

18 (b) FOREIGN ASSISTANCE FOR LIBERIA.—Not later

19 than January 31, 1995, and not later than January 31,

20 1996, the President shall submit to the Congress a report

21 which analyzes the impact and effectiveness of United

22 States assistance (including assistance provided under this

23 Act) for Liberia during the two preceding fiscal years.

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