I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1567 

To promote economic partnership and cooperation between the United States 

and Mexico. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2017 

Mr. CUELLAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To promote economic partnership and cooperation between 

the United States and Mexico. 

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 ‘‘United States-Mexico 

5 Economic Partnership Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to promote economic part8 nership and cooperation between the United States and 

9 Mexico, particularly in the areas of academic exchange, 

10 entrepreneurship, and infrastructure integration. 


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1 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF UNITED STATES-MEXICO ACADEMIC 

2 EXCHANGE PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be the policy of the United 

4 States to increase United States-Mexico academic ex5 changes at the secondary, post-secondary, and post-grad6 uate levels. 

7 (b) PRIORITY.—The exchanges described in sub8 section (a) should be across the United States and Mexico, 

9 however, priority should be given to strengthening ties be10 tween communities and academic institutions in the cov11 ered United States-Mexico border region. 

12 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con13 gress that— 

14 (1) the exchanges described in subsection (a) 

15 should reflect the goals of the 100,000 Strong in the 

16 Americas Initiative; and 

17 (2) the United States and Mexico should seek 

18 to contribute to doubling the number of students 

19 studying in each other’s country by not later than 5 

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

21 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF UNITED STATES-MEXICO EN22 TREPRENEURSHIP COOPERATION, TRAINING, 

23 AND MENTORING PROGRAMS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall develop a 

25 plan to implement policies and programs that support co26 operation, training, and mentoring of entrepreneurs. 


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1 (b) ELEMENTS.—The policies and programs de2 scribed in subsection (a) shall seek to create innovation 

3 through United States and Mexican academic institutions 

4 and businesses assisting prospective and developing entre5 preneurs in strengthen their business skills and promoting 

6 cooperation and joint business initiatives across the 

7 United States and Mexico, with a focus on the covered 

8 United States-Mexico border region. 

9 (c) MATCHING FUNDS.—The policies and programs 

10 described in subsection (a) should seek to ensure United 

11 States Government funds are, at a minimum, matched by 

12 private sector funds for purposes of carrying out such poli13 cies and programs. 

14 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con15 gress that the policies and programs described in sub16 section (a) should reflect the goals of the 100,000 Strong 

17 in the Americas Initiative and should seek to provide not 

18 less than 100 grants of not more than $25,000 each for 

19 participants in such programs to better leverage participa20 tion by the private sector. 

21 (e) REPORT.—The President shall submit to Con22 gress a report on the plan described in subsection (a) not 

23 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 

24 Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. UNITED STATES-MEXICO ENERGY INFRASTRUC2 TURE COORDINATION AND COOPERATION 

3 PROGRAMS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall develop a 

5 plan to implement policies and programs that promote 

6 United States-Mexico energy infrastructure coordination 

7 and cooperation through support of vocational-level edu8 cation, internships, and exchanges between the two coun9 tries, particularly in the region in which the Eagle Ford 

10 Shale is located and in proximity to such region. 

11 (b) ELEMENTS.—The policies and programs de12 scribed in subsection (a) shall seek to develop skills related 

13 to safe and responsible energy extraction and other inno14 vative energy technologies that can be provided by edu15 cational institutions located in the region described in sub16 section (a) or in proximity to such region, including by 

17 seeking to provide such skills to individuals in Mexico who 

18 are seeking vocational level jobs in Mexico’s energy sector. 

19 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con20 gress that the policies and programs described in sub21 section (a) should seek to provide education, internships, 

22 and exchanges for at least 1,000 participants. 

23 (d) REPORT.—The President shall submit to Con24 gress a report on the plan described in subsection (a) not 

25 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 

26 Act. 


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1 SEC. 6. MEDICAL SCHOOL PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall develop a 

3 plan, in coordination with the private sector and non-profit 

4 organizations, to implement a pilot program to develop a 

5 pipeline between undergraduate colleges and universities 

6 in the United States and medical school programs in Mex7 ico. The pilot program should be utilized to prepare med8 ical students to become doctors who can pass medical li9 censing board exams in the United States. 

10 (b) ELEMENTS.—The pilot program described in sub11 section (a) shall seek to ensure that medical school pro12 grams in Mexico shall have comparable accreditation 

13 standards as medical school program in the United States 

14 by the Accreditation and Standards in Foreign Medical 

15 Education as well as registered in the International Med16 ical Education Directory. 

17 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con18 gress that the pilot program described in subsection (a) 

19 should seek to increase the number of bilingual medical 

20 professionals in a cost-effective manner who can practice 

21 in United States under-served communities. 

22 (d) REPORT.—The President shall submit to Con23 gress a report on the plan described in subsection (a) not 

24 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 

25 Act. 


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1 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) 100,000 STRONG IN THE AMERICAS INITIA4 TIVE.—The term ‘‘100,000 Strong in the Americas 

5 Initiative’’ means the initiative established in March 

6 2011 by the United States Government to increase 

7 educational exchanges in the Western Hemisphere. 

8 (2) COVERED UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER

9 REGION.—The term ‘‘covered United States-Mexico 

10 border region’’ means those portions of the United 

11 States and Mexico that are within 100 kilometers of 

12 the international boundary between those countries. 

Æ 


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