```

[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2171 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2171

    To enhance the promotion of exports of United States goods and 
                   services, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 7, 2012

 Mr. Pryor (for himself and Mr. Blunt) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
    To enhance the promotion of exports of United States goods and 
                   services, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Export Promotion Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVED COORDINATION OF EXPORT PROMOTION ACTIVITIES OF FEDERAL 
              AGENCIES BY THE TRADE PROMOTION COORDINATING COMMITTEE.

    (a) Duties of TPCC.--Section 2312(b) of the Export Enhancement Act 
of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (5)--
                    (A) by inserting ``, including a recommendation for 
                the unified Federal trade promotion budget required by 
                subsection (c)(4)'' after ``assessment''; and
                    (B) by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
                semicolon;
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
            ``(6) in conducting assessments under paragraph (5), review 
        the proposed budget for a fiscal year of each agency with 
        responsibility for export promotion or export financing 
        activities before the agency submits that budget to the Office 
        of Management and Budget and the President for inclusion in the 
        budget of the President for that fiscal year submitted to 
        Congress under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code; 
        and''.
    (b) Strategic Plan.--Section 2312(c) of the Export Enhancement Act 
of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727(c)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), (5), and (6) as 
        paragraphs (4), (6), (7), and (8), respectively;
            (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting after ``coordination of 
        such activities'' the following: ``, based on consultations 
        with, and recommendations from, a representative number of 
        United States exporters and other types of export-related 
        businesses'';
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
            ``(3) identify countries with which the United States could 
        negotiate trade agreements to increase United States 
        exports;'';
            (4) by inserting after paragraph (4), as redesignated, the 
        following:
            ``(5) identify areas in which the TPCC can maximize 
        existing partnerships with agencies by granting the TPCC the 
        ability to partner with a partner of an agency that is a member 
        of the TPCC without requiring an additional memorandum of 
        understanding between the TPCC and that partner;'';
            (5) in paragraph (7), as redesignated, by striking ``; 
        and'' and inserting a semicolon; and
            (6) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(9) review and propose means to improve educational 
        outreach to small- and medium-sized businesses with respect to 
        the resources available through the TPCC and agencies that are 
        members of the TPCC, including by consulting with, and 
        considering recommendations from, United States exporters and 
        the Small Business Administration with respect to improving 
        outreach by the TPCC; and
            ``(10) clearly describe the role of each agency that is a 
        member of the TPCC and the responsibility of each such agency 
        for export promotion and export financing.''.
    (c) Reports.--Section 2312(f) of the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 
(15 U.S.C. 4727(f)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(f) Reporting Requirements.--
            ``(1) TPCC report.--Not later than 18 months after the date 
        of the enactment of the Export Promotion Act of 2012, and March 
        30 of each year thereafter, the chairperson of the TPCC shall 
        submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 
        that--
                    ``(A) describes the strategic plan developed by the 
                TPCC pursuant to subsection (c), the implementation of 
                the plan, and any revisions to the plan;
                    ``(B) assesses the performance of each agency that 
                is a member of the TPCC with respect to Federal export 
                promotion and export financing activities, including 
                efforts to increase efficiency, decrease duplication, 
                increase interagency coordination, and meet the goals 
                of each such agency;
                    ``(C) reviews the proposed annual budgets for each 
                such agency and provides recommendations with respect 
                to those budgets based on the strategic plan developed 
                pursuant to subsection (c) and any anticipated 
                revisions to the plan; and
                    ``(D) describes the implementation of sections 303 
                and 304 of the FREEDOM Support Act (22 U.S.C. 5823 and 
                5824) concerning funding for export promotion 
                activities and the interagency working groups on energy 
                of the TPCC.
            ``(2) Government accountability office report.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 18 months after 
                the date of the enactment of the Export Promotion Act 
                of 2012, and every 2 years thereafter, the Comptroller 
                General of the United States shall submit to the 
                appropriate congressional committees a report that 
                assesses the effectiveness of the TPCC.
                    ``(B) Elements.--The report required by 
                subparagraph (A) shall include an assessment of the 
                following:
                            ``(i) The operational efficiency and 
                        effectiveness of the TPCC.
                            ``(ii) The efforts of the TPCC to 
                        coordinate Federal export promotion and export 
                        financing activities, including efforts to 
                        coordinate the budgets of the agencies that are 
                        members of the TPCC.
                            ``(iii) Duplication of administrative 
                        functions, client management functions, and 
                        resources among those agencies and measures to 
                        decrease such duplication, including by 
                        reducing the office space or other resources 
                        available to those agencies.
                            ``(iv) Improvements in efficiency and 
                        decreases in duplication of efforts among those 
                        agencies realized by the TPCC.
                            ``(v) Other relevant information on the 
                        overall effectiveness of the TPCC.
                    ``(C) Consideration of changing strategy.--In 
                preparing the report required by subparagraph (A), the 
                Comptroller General shall take into account that the 
                strategic plan of the TPCC is subject to change.
            ``(3) Appropriate congressional committees defined.--In 
        this subsection, the term `appropriate congressional 
        committees' means--
                    ``(A) the Committee on Appropriations, the 
                Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the 
                Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the 
                Committee on Finance, the Committee on Foreign 
                Relations, and the Committee on Small Business and 
                Entrepreneurship of the Senate; and
                    ``(B) the Committee on Appropriations, the 
                Committee on Energy and Commerce, the Committee on 
                Financial Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 
                the Committee on Small Business, and the Committee on 
                Ways and Means of the House of Representatives.''.
    (d) Export.gov; Regulations.--Section 2312 of the Export 
Enhancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
    ``(g) Information Available on Export.gov.--The TPCC shall 
coordinate with the agencies that are members of the TPCC to publish 
information relevant to export promotion and export financing on 
Export.gov (or a successor website), including--
            ``(1) the information described in subsection (c)(10); and
            ``(2) detailed information on ongoing and anticipated trade 
        missions, trade fairs, and related Federal and State export 
        promotion and export financing activities.
    ``(h) Executive Order and Regulations.--Not later than 18 months 
after the date of the enactment of the Export Promotion Act of 2012, 
the President shall issue an executive order and such regulations as 
are necessary to provide the chairperson of the TPCC with the authority 
to ensure that the TPCC carries out each of its duties under subsection 
(b) and develops and implements the strategic plan under subsection 
(c).''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DEPLOYMENT OF RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES AND 
              FOREIGN COMMERCIAL SERVICE.

    Section 2301(c)(4) of the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 
4721(c)(4)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) through (F) as 
        subparagraphs (C) through (G), respectively;
            (2) by striking ``(4) Foreign offices.--(A) The Secretary 
        may'' and inserting the following:
            ``(4) Foreign offices.--(A)(i) The Secretary shall conduct 
        a global assessment of overseas markets to identify the markets 
        with the greatest potential for increasing United States 
        exports and redeploy Commercial Service personnel and other 
        resources on the basis of the global assessment.
            ``(ii) The assessment conducted under clause (i) shall take 
        into consideration recommendations from a representative number 
        of United States exporters.
            ``(iii) Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
        enactment of the Export Promotion Act of 2012, the Secretary 
        shall submit to Congress a report on the results of the first 
        global assessment conducted under clause (i) and a plan for the 
        redeployment of Commercial Service personnel and other 
        resources on the basis of the global assessment.
            ``(iv) The Secretary shall conduct a global assessment and 
        redeployment described in clause (i) not less frequently than 
        once in every 5-year period.
    ``(B) The Secretary may''; and
            (3) in subparagraph (F), as redesignated, by striking ``is 
        authorized, upon the request of the Secretary, to provide'' and 
        inserting ``shall, upon the request of the Secretary, 
        provide''.

SEC. 4. STRENGTHENED COMMERCIAL DIPLOMACY TO INCREASE UNITED STATES 
              EXPORTS.

    (a) Development of Plan.--Section 207(c) of the Foreign Service Act 
of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3927(c)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(c)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2)(A) Each chief of mission to a foreign country shall develop a 
plan for effective diplomacy to remove or reduce obstacles to exports 
of United States goods and services, in consultation with--
            ``(i) the ambassador of the United States to the country;
            ``(ii) the Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director 
        General of the Commercial Service (established by section 
        2301(a)(2) of the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 
        4721(a)(2)));
            ``(iii) the heads of other Federal agencies with export 
        promotion programs, acting through the Trade Promotion 
        Coordinating Committee (established by section 2312 of the 
        Export Enhancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727)); and
            ``(iv) the trade advisory committees authorized by 
        paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 135(c) of the Trade Act of 
        1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155(c)), if those committees request 
        consultation.
    ``(B) The chief of mission shall submit the plan required by 
subparagraph (A) to the Secretary for review by the Secretary before 
implementing the plan.''.
    (b) Assessments and Promotions.--Section 603(a) of the Foreign 
Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4003(a)) is amended, in the second 
sentence, by inserting after ``disciplinary actions,'' the following: 
``assessments (with respect to members of the Service with 
responsibilities relating to economic affairs) of the effectiveness of 
efforts to promote the exportation of United States goods and services 
in accordance with the plan developed pursuant to section 207(c)(2),''.
    (c) Inspector General.--Section 209(b) of the Foreign Service Act 
of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3929(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
        semicolon;
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (6); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following new 
        paragraph:
    ``(5) the effectiveness of diplomacy relating to the promotion of 
exports of United States goods and services; and''.
                                 <all>
```