II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2215 

To create jobs in the United States by increasing United States exports 

to Africa by at least 200 percent in real dollar value within 10 years, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2012 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. BOOZMAN, and Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To create jobs in the United States by increasing United 

States exports to Africa by at least 200 percent in real 

dollar value within 10 years, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Increasing American 

5 Jobs Through Greater Exports to Africa Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 


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1 (1) Export growth helps United States business 

2 grow and create American jobs. In 2010, 60 percent 

3 of American exports came from small- and medium4 sized businesses. 

5 (2) On January 31, 2011, the President man6 dated an executive review across agencies to deter7 mine where the United States Government could be8 come more competitive and helpful to business, in9 cluding help with promoting exports. 

10 (3) Several United States Government agencies 

11 are involved in export promotion. Coordination of 

12 the efforts of these agencies through the Trade Pro13 motion Coordinating Committee lacks sufficient stra14 tegic implementation and accountability. 

15 (4) Many other countries have trade promotion 

16 programs that aggressively compete against United 

17 States exports in Africa and around the world. For 

18 example, in 2010, medium- and long-term official ex19 port credit general volumes from the Group of 7 

20 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, 

21 the United Kingdom, and the United States) totaled 

22 $65,400,000,000. Germany provided the largest level 

23 of support at $22,500,000,000, followed by France 

24 at $17,400,000,000 and the United States at 

25 $13,000,000,000. Official export credit support by 


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1 emerging market economies such as Brazil, China, 

2 and India are significant as well. 

3 (5) Between 2008 and 2010, China alone pro4 vided more than $110,000,000,000 in loans to the 

5 developing world, and, in 2009, China surpassed the 

6 United States as the leading trade partner of Afri7 can countries. The Export-Import Bank of the 

8 United States substantially increased lending to 

9 United States businesses focused on Africa from 

10 $400,000,000 in 2009 to an anticipated 

11 $1,000,000,000 in 2011, but the Export-Import 

12 Bank of China dwarfed this effort with an estimated 

13 $12,000,000,000 worth of financing. 

14 (6) Other countries such as India, Turkey, Rus15 sia, and Brazil are also aggressively seeking markets 

16 in Africa using their national export banks to pro17 vide concessional assistance. 

18 (7) The Chinese practice of concessional financ19 ing runs contrary to the principles of the Organiza20 tion of Economic Co-operation and Development re21 lated to open market rates, undermines naturally 

22 competitive rates, and can allow governments in Af23 rica to overlook the troubling record on labor prac24 tices, human rights, and environmental impact. 


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1 (8) The African continent is undergoing a pe2 riod of rapid growth and middle class development, 

3 as seen from major indicators such as Internet use 

4 and clean water access. In 2000, only 6.7 percent of 

5 the population of Africa had access to the Internet. 

6 In 2009, 27.1 percent of the population had Internet 

7 access. Seventy-eight percent of Africa’s rural popu8 lation now has access to clean water. 

9 (9) Economists have designated Africa as the 

10 ‘‘next frontier market’’, with profitability and growth 

11 rates among many African firms exceeding global 

12 averages in recent years. Countries in Africa have a 

13 collective spending power of almost $9,000,000,000 

14 and a gross domestic product of 

15 $1,600,000,000,000, which are projected to double 

16 in the next 10 years. 

17 (10) Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to have 

18 the fastest growing economies in the world over the 

19 next 5 years, with 7 of the 10 fastest growing econo20 mies located in sub-Saharan Africa. 

21 (11) When countries such as China assist with 

22 large-scale government projects, they also gain an 

23 upper hand in relations with African leaders and ac24 cess to valuable commodities such as oil and copper, 


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1 typically without regard to environmental, human 

2 rights, labor, or governance standards. 

3 (12) Unless the United States can offer com4 petitive financing for its firms in Africa, it will be 

5 deprived of opportunities to participate in African 

6 efforts to close the continent’s significant infrastruc7 ture gap that amounts to an estimated 

8 $100,000,000,000. 

9 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to create 

10 jobs in the United States by expanding programs that will 

11 result in increasing United States exports to Africa by 200 

12 percent in real dollar value within 10 years. 

13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

15 (1) AFRICA.—The term ‘‘Africa’’ refers to the 

16 entire continent of Africa and its 54 countries, in17 cluding the Republic of South Sudan. 

18 (2) AFRICAN DIASPORA.—The term ‘‘African 

19 diaspora’’ means the people of African origin living 

20 in the United States, irrespective of their citizenship 

21 and nationality, who are willing to contribute to the 

22 development of Africa. 

23 (3) AGOA.—The term ‘‘AGOA’’ means the Af24 rican Growth and Opportunity Act (19 U.S.C. 3701 

25 et seq.). 


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1 (4) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

5 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

6 Affairs, and the Committee on Foreign Rela7 tions of the Senate; and 

8 (B) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

9 Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Com10 mittee on Financial Services, the Committee on 

11 Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Ways 

12 and Means of the House of Representatives. 

13 (5) DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘de14 velopment agencies’’ includes the Department of 

15 State, including the United States Agency for Inter16 national Development (USAID), the Millennium 

17 Challenge Corporation (MCC), the Overseas Private 

18 Investment Corporation (OPIC), and the United 

19 States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). 

20 (6) TRADE POLICY STAFF COMMITTEE.—The 

21 term ‘‘Trade Policy Staff Committee’’ means the 

22 Trade Policy Staff Committee established pursuant 

23 to section 2002.2 of title 15, Code of Federal Regu24 lations, and is composed of representatives of Fed25 eral agencies in charge of developing and coordiVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:49 Mar 22, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2215.IS S2215

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1 nating United States positions on international trade 

2 and trade-related investment issues. 

3 (7) MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS.— 

4 The term ‘‘multilateral development banks’’ has the 

5 meaning given that term in section 1701(c)(4) of the 

6 International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 

7 262r(c)(4)) and includes the African Development 

8 Foundation. 

9 (8) SUB-SAHARAN REGION.—The term ‘‘sub-Sa10 haran region’’ refers to the 49 countries listed in 

11 section 107 of the African Growth and Opportunity 

12 Act (19 U.S.C. 3706) and includes the Republic of 

13 South Sudan. 

14 (9) TRADE PROMOTION COORDINATING COM15 MITTEE.—The term ‘‘Trade Promotion Coordinating 

16 Committee’’ means the Trade Promotion Coordi17 nating Committee established by Executive Order 

18 12870 (58 Fed. Reg. 51753). 

19 (10) UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN COMMER20 CIAL SERVICE.—The term ‘‘United States and For21 eign Commercial Service’’ means the United States 

22 and Foreign Commercial Service established by sec23 tion 2301 of the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 

24 (15 U.S.C. 4721). 


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1 SEC. 4. STRATEGY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall es4 tablish a comprehensive United States strategy for public 

5 and private investment, trade, and development in Africa. 

6 (b) FOCUS OF STRATEGY.—The strategy required by 

7 subsection (a) shall focus on— 

8 (1) increasing exports of United States goods 

9 and services to Africa by 200 percent in real dollar 

10 value within 10 years from the date of the enact11 ment of this Act; 

12 (2) coordinating United States commercial in13 terests with development priorities in Africa; 

14 (3) developing relationships between the govern15 ments of countries in Africa and United States busi16 nesses that have an expertise in such issues as infra17 structure development, technology, telecommuni18 cations, energy, and agriculture; 

19 (4) improving the competitiveness of United 

20 States businesses in Africa, including the role the 

21 African diaspora can play in enhancing such com22 petitiveness; 

23 (5) exploring ways that African diaspora remit24 tances can help governments in Africa tackle eco25 nomic, development, and infrastructure financing 

26 needs; 


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1 (6) promoting economic integration in Africa 

2 through working with the subregional economic com3 munities, supporting efforts for deeper integration 

4 through the development of customs unions within 

5 western and central Africa and within eastern and 

6 southern Africa, eliminating time-consuming border 

7 formalities into and within these areas, and sup8 porting regionally based infrastructure projects; 

9 (7) encouraging a greater understanding among 

10 United States business and financial communities of 

11 the opportunities Africa holds for United States ex12 ports; and 

13 (8) monitoring— 

14 (A) market loan rates and the availability 

15 of capital for United States business investment 

16 in Africa; 

17 (B) loan rates offered by the governments 

18 of other countries for investment in Africa; and 

19 (C) the policies of other countries with re20 spect to export financing for investment in Afri21 ca that are predatory or distort markets. 

22 (c) CONSULTATIONS.—In developing the strategy re23 quired by subsection (a), the President shall consult 

24 with— 

25 (1) Congress; 


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1 (2) each agency that is a member of the Trade 

2 Promotion Coordinating Committee; 

3 (3) the multilateral development banks; 

4 (4) each agency that participates in the Trade 

5 Policy Staff Committee; 

6 (5) the President’s National Export Council; 

7 (6) each of the development agencies; 

8 (7) any other Federal agencies with responsi9 bility for export promotion or financing and develop10 ment; and 

11 (8) the private sector, including businesses, 

12 nongovernmental organizations, and African dias13 pora groups. 

14 (d) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.— 

15 (1) STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

17 shall submit to Congress the strategy required by 

18 subsection (a). 

19 (2) PROGRESS REPORT.—Not later than 3 

20 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

21 President shall submit to Congress a report on the 

22 implementation of the strategy required by sub23 section (a). 

24 (3) CONTENT OF REPORT.—The report re25 quired by paragraph (2) shall include an assessment 


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1 of the extent to which the strategy required by sub2 section (a)— 

3 (A) has been successful in developing crit4 ical analyses of policies to increase exports to 

5 Africa; 

6 (B) has been successful in increasing the 

7 competitiveness of United States businesses in 

8 Africa; 

9 (C) has been successful in creating jobs in 

10 the United States, including the nature and 

11 sustainability of such jobs; 

12 (D) has provided sufficient United States 

13 Government support to meet third country com14 petition in the region; 

15 (E) has been successful in helping the Af16 rican diaspora in the United States participate 

17 in economic growth in Africa; 

18 (F) has been successful in promoting eco19 nomic integration in Africa; and 

20 (G) has made a meaningful contribution to 

21 the transformation of Africa and its full inte22 gration into the 21st century world economy, 

23 not only as a supplier of primary products but 

24 also as full participant in international supply 

25 and distribution chains. 


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1 SEC. 5. SPECIAL AFRICA STRATEGY COORDINATOR. 

2 The President shall designate an individual to serve 

3 as Special Africa Export Strategy Coordinator— 

4 (1) to oversee the development and implementa5 tion of the strategy required by section 4; and 

6 (2) to coordinate with the Trade Promotion Co7 ordinating Committee, (the interagency AGOA com8 mittees), and development agencies with respect to 

9 developing and implementing the strategy. 

10 SEC. 6. TRADE MISSION TO AFRICA. 

11 It is the sense of Congress that, not later than 1 year 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

13 of Commerce and other high-level officials of the United 

14 States Government with responsibility for export pro15 motion, financing, and development should conduct a joint 

16 trade mission to Africa. 

17 SEC. 7. PERSONNEL. 

18 (a) UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN COMMERCIAL

19 SERVICE.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

22 of Commerce shall ensure that not less than 14 total 

23 United States and Foreign Commercial Service offi24 cers are assigned to Africa. 

25 (2) ASSIGNMENT.—The Secretary shall, in con26 sultation with the Trade Promotion Coordinating 


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1 Committee and the Special Africa Export Strategy 

2 Coordinator, assign the United States and Foreign 

3 Commercial Service officers described in paragraph 

4 (1) to United States embassies in Africa. 

5 (3) MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

8 Secretary of Commerce shall assign not less 

9 than 1 full-time United States and Foreign 

10 Commercial Service officer to the office of the 

11 United States Executive Director at each multi12 lateral development bank. 

13 (B) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each United 

14 States and Foreign Commercial Service officer 

15 assigned under subparagraph (A) shall be re16 sponsible for— 

17 (i) increasing the access of United 

18 States businesses to procurement contracts 

19 with the multilateral development bank to 

20 which the officer is assigned; and 

21 (ii) facilitating the access of United 

22 States businesses to risk insurance, equity 

23 investments, consulting services, and lend24 ing provided by that bank. 


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1 (b) EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED

2 STATES.—Of the amounts collected by the Export-Import 

3 Bank that remain after paying the expenses the Bank is 

4 authorized to pay from such amounts for administrative 

5 expenses, the Bank shall use sufficient funds to do the 

6 following: 

7 (1) Assign, in consultation with the Trade Pro8 motion Coordinating Committee and the Special Af9 rica Export Strategy Coordinator, not less than 3 

10 full-time employees of the Bank to geographically 

11 appropriate field offices in Africa. 

12 (2) Increase the number of employees of the 

13 Bank assigned to United States field offices of the 

14 Bank to not less than 30, to be distributed as geo15 graphically appropriate through the United States. 

16 Such offices shall coordinate with the related export 

17 efforts undertaken by the Small Business Adminis18 tration regional field offices. 

19 (3) Upgrade the Bank’s equipment and soft20 ware to more expeditiously, effectively, and effi21 ciently process and track applications for financing 

22 received by the Bank. 

23 (c) OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORA24 TION.— 


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1 (1) STAFFING.—Of the net offsetting collections 

2 collected by the Overseas Private Investment Cor3 poration used for administrative expenses, the Cor4 poration shall use sufficient funds to increase by not 

5 more than 5 the staff needed to promote stable and 

6 sustainable economic growth and development in Af7 rica, to strengthen and expand the private sector in 

8 Africa, and to facilitate the general economic devel9 opment of Africa, with a particular focus on helping 

10 United States businesses expand into African mar11 kets. 

12 (2) REPORT.—The Corporation shall report to 

13 the appropriate congressional committees on whether 

14 recent technology upgrades have resulted in more ef15 fective and efficient processing and tracking of appli16 cations for financing received by the Corporation. 

17 SEC. 8. TRAINING. 

18 The President shall develop a plan— 

19 (1) to standardize the training received by 

20 United States and Foreign Commercial Service offi21 cers, economic officers of the Department of State, 

22 and economic officers of the United States Agency 

23 for International Development with respect to the 

24 programs and procedures of the Export-Import 

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1 vestment Corporation, the Small Business Adminis2 tration, and the United States Trade and Develop3 ment Agency; and 

4 (2) to ensure that, not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act— 

6 (A) all United States and Foreign Com7 mercial Service officers that are stationed over8 seas receive the training described in paragraph 

9 (1); and 

10 (B) in the case of a country to which no 

11 United States and Foreign Commercial Service 

12 officer is assigned, any economic officer of the 

13 Department of State stationed in that country 

14 shall receive that training. 

15 SEC. 9. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK CAPITALIZATION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6(a)(2) of the Export-Im17 port Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635e(a)(2)) is amend18 ed— 

19 (1) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

20 (2) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘2011,’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘2011, $95,000,000,000;’’; and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(F) during fiscal year 2012 and each fis24 cal year thereafter through fiscal year 2016, 

25 $150,000,000,000; and 


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1 ‘‘(G) subject to paragraph (4), during fis2 cal year 2017 and each fiscal year thereafter, 

3 $175,000,000,000.’’. 

4 (b) SPECIAL RULE FOR INCREASE IN APPLICABLE

5 AMOUNT.—Section 6(a) of the Export-Import Bank Act 

6 of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635e(a)) is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following: 

8 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE FOR INCREASE IN APPLICA9 BLE AMOUNT.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning in fiscal 

11 year 2017, and each fiscal year thereafter, the 

12 applicable amount under paragraph (1) shall be 

13 $175,000,000,000, if the Comptroller General 

14 of the United States determines pursuant to 

15 subparagraph (B) that the increase in the ap16 plicable amount under paragraph (1)(F) has 

17 been effective in increasing viable loans to fur18 ther United States exports, including to Africa. 

19 ‘‘(B) REPORT BY GAO.—The Comptroller 

20 General of the United States shall conduct a 

21 study of the operations of the Bank and the ef22 fectiveness of increasing the applicable amount 

23 under this subsection. Not later than 18 

24 months after the date of the enactment of this 

25 Act, the Comptroller General shall submit a reVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:49 Mar 22, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2215.IS S2215

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1 port to Congress regarding the Comptroller 

2 General’s determination on the effective use by 

3 the Bank of the increase in the applicable 

4 amount under this subsection.’’. 

5 (c) PERCENT TO BE USED FOR PROJECTS IN AFRI6 CA.—Section 6(a) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 

7 (12 U.S.C. 635e(a)), as amended by subsection (b), is 

8 amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(5) PERCENT OF INCREASE TO BE USED FOR

10 PROJECTS IN AFRICA.—Not less than 25 percent of 

11 the amount by which the applicable amount under 

12 paragraph (1) is increased under paragraph (2) (F) 

13 or (G) over the applicable amount for fiscal year 

14 2011 shall be used for loans, guarantees, and insur15 ance for projects in Africa.’’. 

16 (d) AVAILABILITY OF PORTION OF CAPITALIZATION

17 TO COMPETE AGAINST FOREIGN CONCESSIONAL

18 LOANS.—Not less than $250,000,000 of the total bank 

19 capitalization of the Export-Import Bank shall be avail20 able annually for loans that counter below-market rate, 

21 preferential, tied aid, or other related non-market loans 

22 offered by other nations for which United States compa23 nies are also competing or interested in competing. 


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1 SEC. 10. TIED AID CREDIT FUND. 

2 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con3 gress that the Export-Import Bank should use its Tied 

4 Aid Credit Fund to aggressively help United States com5 panies compete for projects in which a foreign government 

6 is using any type of below market, preferential, or tied 

7 aid loan. The Bank shall make use of any loan products 

8 available, including pursuant to section 9(d), to counter 

9 these foreign offerings. 

10 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

12 Export-Import Bank shall report to the appropriate con13 gressional committees if the Bank has not used at least 

14 $220,000,000 in tied aid credit during the preceding fiscal 

15 year. The report shall include— 

16 (1) a description of all requests for grants from 

17 the Tied-Aid Credit Fund or other similar funds (es18 tablished under section 10 of the Export-Import 

19 Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635i–3)) received by 

20 the Bank during that fiscal year; 

21 (2) a description of similar concessional (below 

22 market rate) loans made by other countries during 

23 that fiscal year; and 

24 (3) a description of any such grant requests 

25 that were denied and the reason for such denial. 


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1 SEC. 11. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION. 

2 Section 22(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

3 649(b)) is amended— 

4 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

5 inserting ‘‘the Trade Promotion Coordinating Com6 mittee,’’ after ‘‘Director of the United States Trade 

7 and Development Agency,’’; and 

8 (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘regional of9 fices of the Export-Import Bank,’’ after ‘‘Retired 

10 Executives,’’. 

11 SEC. 12. BILATERAL, SUBREGIONAL AND REGIONAL, AND 

12 MULTILATERAL AGREEMENTS. 

13 Where applicable, the United States Trade Rep14 resentative and officials of the Export-Import Bank shall 

15 explore opportunities to negotiate bilateral, subregional, 

16 and regional agreements that encourage trade and elimi17 nate nontariff barriers to trade between countries, such 

18 as negotiating investor friendly double-taxation treaties 

19 and investment promotion agreements. United States ne20 gotiators in multilateral forum should take into account 

21 the objectives of this Act. To the extent any such agree22 ments exist between the United States and an African 

23 country, the Trade Representative shall ensure that the 

24 agreement is being implemented in a manner that maxi25 mizes the positive effects for United States trade, export, 


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1 and labor interests as well as the economic development 

2 of the countries in Africa. 

Æ 


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