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[Senate Report 110-342]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                       Calendar No. 754
110th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     110-342

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

 
                         EURASIA FOUNDATION ACT

                                _______
                                

                  June 2, 2008.--Ordered to be printed

          Mr. Biden, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,
                        submitted the following

                                 REPORT

                         [To accompany S. 3024]

    The Committee on Foreign Relations, having had under 
consideration the bill (S. 3024), to authorize grants to the 
Eurasia Foundation, and for other purposes, reports favorably 
thereon and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page

  I. Purpose..........................................................1
 II. Committee Action.................................................1
III. Discussion.......................................................1
 IV. Cost Estimate....................................................2
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................4
 VI. Changes in Existing Law..........................................4

                               I. PURPOSE

    The purpose of the Eurasia Foundation Act is to authorize 
an annual grant to the Eurasia Foundation, thereby maintaining 
an investment the United States Government has made in the 
Eurasia Foundation and ensure that the Foundation will continue 
its work to promote accountable governance, civil society and 
private enterprise in the 12 countries of the former Soviet 
Union.

                          II. COMMITTEE ACTION

    On May 15, 2008, Senators Biden and Lugar introduced S. 
3024, the Eurasia Foundation Act. At a business meeting on May 
20, 2008, the committee ordered the bill reported favorably by 
voice vote, without amendment.

                            III. DISCUSSION

    The region in which the Foundation operates--the nations of 
the former Soviet Union--has major strategic significance for 
the United States and its allies. In recognition of that fact, 
the U.S. Government has already invested roughly $300 million 
in the work of the Foundation since its inception in 1992. 
Foreign governments and private donors have augmented these 
funds with an additional $80 million. The Foundation has used 
these resources well, developed a strong network of programs 
and partners, and amassed an admirable record of 
accomplishment. The Foundation's activities have become 
particularly important in the face of new efforts by 
authoritarian regimes to subvert the region's young, and still 
fragile, democracies.
    Much of the U.S. Government support to the Foundation has 
come through the Freedom Support Act. The Freedom Support Act 
budget, however, has decreased dramatically in recent years, 
from $958 million in fiscal year 2002 to $396 million in fiscal 
year 2008. The Eurasia Foundation Act establishes a regular 
budget item in the budget of the Department of State, akin to 
that now provided to the Asia Foundation under the Asia 
Foundation Act (P.L. 98-164). This will help ensure 
continuation of the Foundation's important work to promote 
transparency, accountability, and civil society in the region 
independent of funding levels for the Freedom Support Act. The 
legislation also authorizes $15 million for the Eurasia 
Foundation in fiscal year 2009.
    The committee is aware of concerns that the work of the 
Foundation not overlap with the work of the Asia Foundation. 
Likewise, concerns have been expressed that the Eurasia 
Foundation not duplicate the efforts of the U.S. Russia 
Foundation for Economic Advancement and Rule of Law, the 
successor entity to the U.S. Russia Investment Fund. The bill 
addresses both of these issues. First, the bill defines the 
term ``countries of Eurasia'' in section 6(b). Second, section 
2, which sets forth the purposes of the bill, delineates the 
geographic scope for the Foundation's activities. In this 
regard, the committee notes that section 2(b)(1) authorizes the 
Foundation to work with citizens of the countries of Eurasia 
``in their own efforts to develop more open, just, and 
democratic societies.'' A current project of the Foundation 
provides support for the European Humanities University, which 
recently relocated from Belarus to Lithuania and provides 
instruction to Belarusian students there. This type of 
project--assistance to people from the countries of Eurasia 
(but located outside of such countries)--is contemplated by the 
framework of section 2. With regard to the U.S. Russia 
Foundation, section 5(a) of the bill mandates that the Eurasia 
Foundation and the U.S. Russia Foundation enter into a 
memorandum of understanding (MOU), the purpose of which is to 
ensure coordination, and prevent duplication, in the work of 
the two Foundations. The bill imposes a deadline for conclusion 
of the MOU in section 5(b).

                           IV. COST ESTIMATE

    In accordance with Rule XXVI, paragraph 11(a) of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the committee provides this 
estimate of the costs of this legislation prepared by the 
Congressional Budget Office.

                            United States Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                      Washington, DC, May 29, 2008.

Hon. Joseph R. Biden, Jr.,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.

    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 3024, the Eurasia 
Foundation Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Sunita 
D'Monte.
          Sincerely,
                                           Peter R. Orszag.

                                ------                                

               Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

                                                      May 29, 2008.

                                S. 3024

                         Eurasia Foundation Act

AS ORDERED REPORTED BY THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS ON MAY 
                                20, 2008

    S. 3024 would authorize appropriations in 2009 and 2010 for 
grants to the Eurasia Foundation. The foundation is a nonprofit 
corporation based in Washington, D.C., that promotes 
accountable public administration, civil society, and private 
enterprise in Russia and countries in Central Asia, Eastern 
Europe, and the South Caucasus region.
    The bill would authorize the appropriation of $15 million 
in 2009 and such sums as may be necessary in 2010 to carry out 
the purposes of the foundation. CBO estimates that under the 
bill the foundation would require about $15 million in 2010 and 
that implementing the legislation would cost $30 million over 
the 2009-2013 period, subject to the appropriation of the 
authorized and estimated amounts.
    S. 3024 would encourage the foundation to augment its 
funding from private sources. According to the foundation, it 
receives private funding worth about $4 million a year (about 
20 percent of its annual expenditures). Because it is a 
nongovernmental entity, the foundation's authority to accept 
and spend gifts does not affect the federal budget. Enacting 
the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues.
    S. 3024 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Sunita D'Monte.
    This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                   V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    Pursuant to Rule XXVI, paragraph 11(b) of the Standing 
Rules of the Senate, the committee has determined that there is 
no regulatory impact as a result of this legislation.

                      VI. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of Rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the committee notes that no 
changes to existing law are made by this bill.

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