II 

Calendar No. 706 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2845 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

DECEMBER 7, 2016 

Reported by Mr. CORKER, with an amendment 

[Insert the part printed in italic] 

AN ACT 

To promote access to benefits under the African Growth 

and Opportunity Act, 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 ‘‘AGOA Enhancement 

5 Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

7 It is the policy of the United States to support efforts 

8 to— 


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1 (1) improve the rule of law, promote free and 

2 fair elections, strengthen and expand the private sec3 tor, and fight corruption in sub-Saharan Africa; and 

4 (2) promote the role of women in social, polit5 ical, and economic development in sub-Saharan Afri6 ca. 

7 SEC. 3. ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF TRANSPARENCY. 

8 (a) AGOA WEBSITE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish 

10 a website for the collection and dissemination of in11 formation regarding the African Growth and Oppor12 tunity Act (in this section referred to as the ‘‘AGOA 

13 website’’). 

14 (2) CONTENTS.—The President shall publish on 

15 the AGOA website the information described in 

16 paragraph (1), including— 

17 (A) information and technical assistance 

18 provided at United States Agency for Inter19 national Development regional trade hubs; and 

20 (B) a link to websites of United States em21 bassies located in eligible sub-Saharan African 

22 countries. 

23 (3) ACTIONS BY UNITED STATES EMBASSIES.— 

24 The Secretary of State should direct United States 


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1 embassies located in eligible sub-Saharan African 

2 countries to— 

3 (A) promote the use by such countries of 

4 the benefits available under the African Growth 

5 and Opportunity Act; and 

6 (B) include on a publicly available Internet 

7 website of such diplomatic missions a link to 

8 the AGOA website. 

9 (b) AGOA FORUM.—The President should, after 

10 each meeting of the United States-Sub-Saharan Africa 

11 Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum, publish on the 

12 AGOA website established under subsection (a) the fol13 lowing: 

14 (1) All outcomes of the meeting of the Forum, 

15 including any commitments made by member coun16 tries and the private sector. 

17 (2) An assessment of progress made with re18 spect to any commitments made by member coun19 tries and the private sector from the previous meet20 ing of the Forum. 

21 (c) OTHER INFORMATION.—The President should 

22 disseminate information required by this section in a dig23 ital format to the public and publish such information on 

24 the AGOA website established under subsection (a). 


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1 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘eligible 

2 sub-Saharan African country’’ means a country that the 

3 President has determined meets the eligibility require4 ments set forth in section 104 of the African Growth and 

5 Opportunity Act. 

6 SEC. 4. ACTIVITIES IN SUPPORT OF TRADE CAPACITY 

7 BUILDING. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President should take the fol9 lowing actions: 

10 (1) Develop and implement policies to— 

11 (A) encourage and facilitate trans-bound12 ary cooperation among eligible sub-Saharan Af13 rican countries in order to facilitate trade; and 

14 (B) encourage the provision of technical 

15 assistance to eligible sub-Saharan African coun16 tries to establish and sustain adequate trade ca17 pacity development. 

18 (2) Provide specific training for business in eli19 gible sub-Saharan African countries and government 

20 trade officials of eligible sub-Saharan African coun21 tries on utilizing access to the benefits of the African 

22 Growth and Opportunity Act and other trade pref23 erence programs. 

24 (3) Provide capacity building for African entre25 preneurs and trade associations on production stratVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:52 Dec 08, 2016 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2845.RS H2845

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1 egies, quality standards, formation of cooperatives, 

2 and market research and market development. 

3 (4) Provide capacity building training to pro4 mote diversification of African products and value5 added processing. 

6 (5) Provide capacity building and technical as7 sistance funding for African businesses and institu8 tions to help such businesses and institutions comply 

9 with United States counter-terrorism initiatives and 

10 policies. 

11 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘eligible 

12 sub-Saharan African country’’ means a country that the 

13 President has determined meets the eligibility require14 ments set forth in section 104 of the African Growth and 

15 Opportunity Act. 

16 SEC. 5. CONCURRENT COMPACTS UNDER THE MILLENNIUM 

17 CHALLENGE ACT OF 2003. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 609 of the Millennium 

19 Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7708) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking the first sentence of subsection 

21 (k); 

22 (2) by redesignating subsection (k) (as so 

23 amended) as subsection (l); and 

24 (3) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(k) CONCURRENT COMPACTS.—An eligible country 

2 that has entered into and has in effect a Compact under 

3 this section may enter into and have in effect at the same 

4 time not more than one additional Compact in accordance 

5 with the requirements of this title if— 

6 ‘‘(1) one or both of the Compacts are or will be 

7 for purposes of regional economic integration, in8 creased regional trade, or cross-border collabora9 tions; and 

10 ‘‘(2) the Board determines that the country is 

11 making considerable and demonstrable progress in 

12 implementing the terms of the existing Compact and 

13 supplementary agreements thereto.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

15 613(b)(2)(A) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 7712(b)(2)(A)) is 

16 amended by striking ‘‘the’’ before ‘‘Compact’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘any’’. 

18 (c) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

19 section apply with respect to Compacts entered into be20 tween the United States and an eligible country under the 

21 Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 before, on, or after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 6. MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Millennium Compacts for Regional Economic Integration 

4 Act’’ or the ‘‘M-CORE Act’’. 

5 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to further 

6 enhance the transparency and accelerate the impact of the 

7 Millennium Challenge Corporation. 

8 (c) CANDIDACY STATUS.— 

9 (1) LOW INCOME COUNTRIES.—Section 606(a) of 

10 the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 

11 7705(a)) is amended— 

12 (A) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘(3)’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘(4)’’; 

14 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

15 (i) by amending the paragraph head16 ing to read as follows: ‘‘FISCAL YEARS 2005

17 THROUGH 2012’’; and 

18 (ii) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2005 or a 

19 subsequent fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘each 

20 of fiscal years 2005 through 2012’’; 

21 (C) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

22 paragraph (4); and 

23 (D) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol24 lowing: 

25 ‘‘(3) FISCAL YEAR 2013 AND SUBSEQUENT FISCAL

26 YEARS.—A country shall be a candidate country for 


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1 purposes of eligibility for assistance for fiscal year 

2 2013 or a subsequent fiscal year if the country— 

3 ‘‘(A) has a per capita income equal to or 

4 less than the lower middle income country 

5 threshold established by the International Bank 

6 for Reconstruction and Development for such fis7 cal year; 

8 ‘‘(B) is among the 75 countries identified 

9 by the International Bank for Reconstruction 

10 and Development as having the lowest per capita 

11 income; and 

12 ‘‘(C) meets the requirements under para13 graph (1)(B).’’. 

14 (2) LOWER MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES.—Sec15 tion 606(b) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 

16 (22 U.S.C. 7705(b)) is amended— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

18 (i) by amending the paragraph head19 ing to read as follows: ‘‘FISCAL YEARS 2006

20 THROUGH 2012’’; and 

21 (ii) in the matter preceding subpara22 graph (A), by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2006 or 

23 a subsequent fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘fis24 cal years 2006 through 2012’’; 


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1 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

2 paragraph (3); and 

3 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(2) FISCAL YEAR 2013 AND SUBSEQUENT FISCAL

6 YEARS.—In addition to the countries described in 

7 subsection (a), a country shall be a candidate country 

8 for purposes of eligibility for assistance for fiscal year 

9 2013 or a subsequent fiscal year if the country— 

10 ‘‘(A) has a per capita income equal to or 

11 less than the lower middle income country 

12 threshold established by the International Bank 

13 for Reconstruction and Development for the fis14 cal year; 

15 ‘‘(B) is not among the 75 countries identi16 fied by the International Bank for Reconstruc17 tion and Development as having the lowest per 

18 capita income; and 

19 ‘‘(C) meets the requirements under sub20 section (a)(1)(B).’’. 

21 (3) RECLASSIFICATION.—Section 606 of the Mil22 lennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7705) is 

23 amended— 

24 (A) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub25 section (d); and 


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1 (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF COUNTRIES WITH PER CAPITA

4 INCOME CHANGES.—A country qualifying for candidate 

5 status under this section with a per capita income that 

6 changes during the fiscal year such that the country would 

7 be reclassified from a low income country to a lower middle 

8 income country or from a lower middle income country to 

9 a low income country shall retain its candidacy status in 

10 its former income classification for such fiscal year and the 

11 two subsequent fiscal years.’’. 

12 (d) CARRYOVER AUTHORITY FOR PRIVATE SECTOR

13 MEMBERS OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS.—Section 

14 604(c)(4)(B) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 

15 U.S.C. 7703(c)(4)(B)) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(B) OTHER MEMBERS.—Each member of 

17 the Board described in paragraph (3)(B)— 

18 ‘‘(i) shall be appointed for a term of 3 

19 years; 

20 ‘‘(ii) may be reappointed for a term of 

21 an additional 2 years; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) may continue to serve in each 

23 such appointment until the earlier of— 

24 ‘‘(I) the date on which his or her 

25 successor is appointed; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) the date that is one year 

2 after the expiration of his or her ap3 pointment or reappointment, as the 

4 case may be.’’. 

5 (e) PUBLIC NOTIFICATION OF ENTERING INTO A COM6 PACT.—Section 610 of the Millennium Challenge Act of 

7 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7709(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 610. CONGRESSIONAL AND PUBLIC NOTIFICATION. 

9 ‘‘(a) CONGRESSIONAL CONSULTATIONS AND NOTIFICA10 TIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board, acting through 

12 the Chief Executive Officer, shall consult with and no13 tify the appropriate congressional committees not 

14 later than 15 days before taking any of the actions 

15 described in paragraph (2). 

16 ‘‘(2) ACTIONS DESCRIBED.—The actions de17 scribed in this paragraph are— 

18 ‘‘(A) providing assistance for an eligible 

19 country under section 609(g); 

20 ‘‘(B) commencing negotiations with an eli21 gible country to provide assistance for— 

22 ‘‘(i) a Compact under section 605; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) an agreement under section 616; 

24 ‘‘(C) signing such a Compact or agreement; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(D) terminating assistance under such a 

2 Compact or agreement. 

3 ‘‘(3) ECONOMIC JUSTIFICATION.—Any notifica4 tion relating to the intent to negotiate or sign a Com5 pact shall include a report describing the projected 

6 economic justification for the Compact, including, as 

7 applicable— 

8 ‘‘(A) the expected economic rate of return of 

9 the Compact; 

10 ‘‘(B) a cost-benefit analysis of the Compact; 

11 ‘‘(C) a description of the impact on bene12 ficiary populations; 

13 ‘‘(D) the likelihood that the investment will 

14 catalyze private sector investments; and 

15 ‘‘(E) any other applicable economic factors 

16 that justify each project to be funded under such 

17 a Compact to the extent practicable and appro18 priate. 

19 ‘‘(4) RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Not later than 

20 60 days before signing each concurrent Compact, as 

21 authorized under section 609, the Board, acting 

22 through the Chief Executive Officer, shall consult with 

23 and provide to the appropriate congressional commit24 tees— 


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1 ‘‘(A) an assessment and, as appropriate, the 

2 identification of potential measures to mitigate 

3 risks, of— 

4 ‘‘(i) the countries’ commitment to re5 gional integration and cross-border coopera6 tion and capacity to carry out commit7 ments; 

8 ‘‘(ii) political and policy risks, includ9 ing risks that could affect country eligi10 bility; 

11 ‘‘(iii) risks associated with realizing 

12 economic returns; 

13 ‘‘(iv) time and completion risks; and 

14 ‘‘(v) cost and financial risks; and 

15 ‘‘(B) an assessment of measures to be taken 

16 to mitigate any identified risks, including— 

17 ‘‘(i) securing other potential donors to 

18 finance projects or parts of projects as need19 ed; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) partnering with regional organi21 zations to support and oversee effective 

22 cross-border cooperation. 

23 ‘‘(b) CONGRESSIONAL AND PUBLIC NOTIFICATION

24 AFTER ENTERING INTO A COMPACT.—Not later than 10 

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1 try, the Board, acting through the Chief Executive Officer, 

2 shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) publish the text of the Compact on the 

4 Internet website of the Corporation; 

5 ‘‘(2) provide the appropriate congressional com6 mittees with a detailed summary of the Compact and, 

7 upon request, the text of the Compact; and 

8 ‘‘(3) publish in the Federal Register a detailed 

9 summary of the Compact and a notice of availability 

10 of the text of the Compact on the Internet website of 

11 the Corporation.’’. 

12 (f) DISCLOSURE.— 

13 (1) REQUIREMENT FOR TIMELY DISCLOSURE.— 

14 Section 612(a) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 

15 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7711(a)) is amended— 

16 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 

17 ‘‘TIMELY’’ before ‘‘DISCLOSURE’’; and 

18 (B) in the matter preceding paragraph 

19 (1)— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘The Corporation’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘Not later than 90 days after the 

22 last day of each fiscal quarter, the Corpora23 tion’’; and 

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘on at least a quarterly 

25 basis,’’. 


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1 (2) DISSEMINATION.—Section 612(b) of the Mil2 lennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7711(b)) is 

3 amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(b) DISSEMINATION.—The Board, acting through the 

5 Chief Executive Officer, shall make the information re6 quired to be disclosed under subsection (a) available to the 

7 public— 

8 ‘‘(1) by publishing it on the Internet website of 

9 the Corporation; 

10 ‘‘(2) by providing notice of the availability of 

11 such information in the Federal Register; and 

12 ‘‘(3) by any other methods that the Board deter13 mines to be appropriate.’’. 

14 (g) RESTRICTION ON THE USE OF ASSISTANCE UNDER

15 SECTION 616.—Section 616(d) of the Millennium Challenge 

16 Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7715(d)) is amended to read as fol17 lows: 

18 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.— 

19 ‘‘(1) FISCAL YEAR 2004.—Not more than 10 per20 cent of the amount appropriated pursuant to the au21 thorization of appropriations under section 619(a) for 

22 fiscal year 2004 is authorized to be made available to 

23 carry out this section. 

24 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTION RELATING TO ASSISTANCE.— 

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1 poses of this Act shall be available for assistance 

2 under this section to a country that does not qualify 

3 as a candidate country under section 606 for the fis4 cal year during which such assistance is provided.’’. 

5 (h) ADDITIONAL REPORTING TO THE BOARD ON THE

6 TREATMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN AN ELIGIBLE COUN7 TRY.—Section 607 of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 

8 (22 U.S.C. 7706) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (b)(1)— 

10 (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

11 at the end; 

12 (B) in subparagraph (E), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

13 at the end; and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(F) the quality of the civil society enabling 

16 environment;’’; 

17 (2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

18 subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 

19 (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(d) REPORTING ON TREATMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY.— 

22 Before the Board selects an eligible country for a Compact 

23 under subsection (c), the Corporation shall provide informa24 tion to the Board regarding the country’s treatment of civil 

25 society, including classified information, as appropriate. 


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1 The information shall include an assessment and analysis 

2 of factors including— 

3 ‘‘(1) any relevant laws governing the formation 

4 or establishment of a civil society organization, par5 ticularly laws intended to curb the activities of for6 eign civil society organizations; 

7 ‘‘(2) any relevant laws governing the operations 

8 of a civil society organization, particularly those laws 

9 seeking to define or otherwise regulate the actions of 

10 foreign civil society organizations; 

11 ‘‘(3) laws relating to the legal status of civil soci12 ety organizations, including laws which effectively 

13 discriminate against foreign civil society organiza14 tions as compared to similarly situated domestic or15 ganizations; 

16 ‘‘(4) laws regulating the freedom of expression 

17 and peaceful assembly; and 

18 ‘‘(5) laws regulating the usage of the Internet, 

19 particularly by foreign civil society organizations.’’. 

20 (i) STUDY ON SUBNATIONAL COMPACTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 

22 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Millennium 

23 Challenge Corporation shall submit a study to the ap24 propriate congressional committees that assesses the 

25 feasibility and desirability of developing partnerships 


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1 at the subnational level within candidate countries 

2 that would be complementary to, and, as applicable, 

3 concurrent with, any Millennium Challenge Corpora4 tion national-level or regional investments. 

5 (2) CONTENT.—The study required under para6 graph (1) shall examine— 

7 (A) the extent to which targeting invest8 ments at the subnational level might provide new 

9 opportunities for reducing poverty through eco10 nomic growth; 

11 (B) the extent to which traditional ap12 proaches to defining poverty may not adequately 

13 capture the nature of poverty within a country; 

14 (C) the types of subnational entities that 

15 might be appropriate partners for subnational 

16 Millennium Challenge Corporation compacts; 

17 (D) how candidates for subnational part18 ners might best be identified; and 

19 (E) what role each national government 

20 should play in creating or implementing a sub21 national partnership. 

22 (3) DEFINED TERM.—In this subsection, the 

23 term ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ 

24 means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

2 the Senate; 

3 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

4 Senate; 

5 (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

6 House of Representatives; and 

7 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

8 House of Representatives. 


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Calendar No. 706 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2845 

AN ACT 

To promote access to benefits under the African 

poses. Growth and Opportunity Act, and for other purDECEMBER 7, 2016 

Reported with an amendment 


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