I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4368 

To authorize the establishment of a Social Investment and Economic Development for the Americas Fund to reduce poverty, expand the middle 

class, and foster increased economic opportunity in that region, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 16, 2009 

Mr. ENGEL (for himself, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Mr. HONDA, Mr. SIRES, 

Mr. MCGOVERN, and Ms. LEE of California) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize the establishment of a Social Investment and 

Economic Development for the Americas Fund to reduce 

poverty, expand the middle class, and foster increased 

economic opportunity in that region, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Social Investment and Economic Development for the 

6 Americas Act of 2010’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Findings. 

Sec. 4. Statement of policy. 

Sec. 5. Establishing a social investment and economic development fund for the 

Americas. 

3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Relations 

8 of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

9 of the House of Representatives. 

10 (2) THE AMERICAS.—The term ‘‘Americas’’ 

11 means all the countries of North America, Central 

12 America, South America, and the Caribbean. 

13 (3) THE REGION.—The term ‘‘Region’’ means 

14 all the countries of Central America, South America, 

15 the Caribbean, and Mexico. 

16 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

17 Congress finds that— 

18 (1) it is in the national interest and national se19 curity interest of the United States to help foster 

20 greater economic security and stability in the Amer21 icas; 


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1 (2) the Americas are a distinct geographical re2 gion with political and cultural identities that are 

3 linked in important ways; 

4 (3) many of the social, economic, and security 

5 issues in the Americas transcend national borders, 

6 and addressing these issues requires a coordinated, 

7 long-term approach; 

8 (4) over the last few decades, there has been 

9 notable progress on democracy and economic sta10 bility in the Region, and it is now largely made up 

11 of democracies with shared democratic values; 

12 (5) for progress in the Region to be sustained, 

13 governments will need to continue to develop effec14 tive and transparent civilian institutions, and main15 tain a system of checks and balances among those 

16 institutions; 

17 (6) the United States is committed to pro18 moting democracy, human rights, and social and 

19 economic development throughout the Americas, 

20 while respecting the heritage, culture, and sov21 ereignty of all nations; 

22 (7) poverty and inequality remain persistent 

23 problems in the Americas, spawning street crime, 

24 criminal cartels, and undermining the authority of 

25 government institutions; 


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1 (8) the poverty rate in the Region is nearly 40 

2 percent, with little significant improvement since the 

3 1980s, and the countries in the Region, on average, 

4 have the most unequal distribution of wealth in the 

5 world; 

6 (9) greater citizen engagement and closer con7 nections between the institutions of civil society and 

8 local and national governments are critical to polit9 ical stability and economic growth in the Americas; 

10 (10) development assistance to promote micro, 

11 small, and medium enterprise growth, improve the 

12 investment climate, and create a competitive work13 force in the countries of the Region can help foster 

14 economic security and stability; 

15 (11) an expanding middle class in the Region 

16 will result in increased demand for exports from the 

17 United States; 

18 (12) in partnering with the countries of the Re19 gion, the United States can play a positive role in 

20 addressing the challenges of poverty and inequality, 

21 and achieving greater energy security; 

22 (13) an increased United States commitment to 

23 economic and social development in the Region can 

24 benefit workers and businesses in the United States; 

25 and 


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1 (14) as President Obama said to the leaders of 

2 the Region at the Fifth Summit of the Americas, the 

3 United States is ‘‘committed to combating inequality 

4 and creating prosperity from the bottom up . . . 

5 This is by no means charity. Together, we can cre6 ate a broader foundation for prosperity that builds 

7 new markets and powers new growth for all peoples 

8 in the hemisphere’’. 

9 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

10 It is the policy of the United States— 

11 (1) to minimize the negative economic impact 

12 on the countries in the Region of the global reces13 sion, and to seek a broad-based regional recovery; 

14 (2) to promote democracy and the rule of law 

15 in the Region; 

16 (3) to promote and strengthen human rights in 

17 the Region by— 

18 (A) participating in the Inter-American 

19 Commission on Human Rights and in the Inter20 American Court of Human Rights; 

21 (B) concluding negotiations on the draft 

22 Inter-American Convention against Racism and 

23 All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance; 

24 and 


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1 (C) supporting the full rights of indigenous 

2 peoples and Afro-descendents in the Americas, 

3 including the right to participate in the political 

4 and economic life of a nation; 

5 (4) to improve living conditions for all citizens 

6 in the Americas by— 

7 (A) protecting all people in the Americas, 

8 especially women, children, and adolescents, 

9 from all forms of trafficking in persons and sex10 ual and economic exploitation; 

11 (B) coordinating national strategies within 

12 the Americas to eradicate forced labor before 

13 2010, and the worst forms of child labor by 

14 2020; and 

15 (C) supporting programs that create op16 portunities for work in the formal sector, and 

17 programs providing workers with the technical 

18 skills needed to meet the demands of labor mar19 kets; 

20 (5) to improve public health in the countries of 

21 the Americas by— 

22 (A) implementing the World Health Orga23 nization’s International Health Regulations to 

24 prevent pandemics and reduce the likelihood of 

25 public health emergencies; and 


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1 (B) implementing the Joint United Na2 tions Program on HIV/AIDS; 

3 (6) to improve public education in the Americas 

4 by— 

5 (A) supporting programs which seek to in6 crease enrollments in secondary and vocational7 technical education; 

8 (B) reaffirming the commitment of the 

9 United States to the 2008 Declaration of 

10 Medellı ́n: Youth and Democratic Values; and 

11 (C) supporting the Inter-American Social 

12 Protection Network; 

13 (7) to improve the capacity of government insti14 tutions by— 

15 (A) supporting the Inter-American Net16 work on Decentralization, Local Government 

17 and Citizen Participation (RIAD); 

18 (B) supporting the Inter-American Con19 vention against Corruption, adopted at Caracas, 

20 Venezuela, March 29, 1996, in the fight against 

21 all forms of corruption, fraudulent practices 

22 and unethical behaviors. 


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1 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHING A SOCIAL INVESTMENT AND ECO2 NOMIC DEVELOPMENT FUND FOR THE AMER3 ICAS. 

4 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE.—Part I of the 

5 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) 

6 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘CHAPTER 13—SOCIAL INVESTMENT AND 

8 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR THE 

9 AMERICAS 

10 ‘‘SEC. 499G. DEFINITIONS. 

11 ‘‘In this chapter: 

12 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT13 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com14 mittees’ means the Committee on Foreign Relations 

15 of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

16 of the House of Representatives. 

17 ‘‘(2) THE AMERICAS.—The term ‘Americas’ 

18 means all the countries of North America, Central 

19 America, South America, and the Caribbean. 

20 ‘‘(3) THE REGION.—The term ‘Region’ means 

21 all the countries of Central America, South America, 

22 the Caribbean, and Mexico. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 499H. AUTHORIZATION OF ASSISTANCE. 

24 ‘‘(a) ASSISTANCE.—The President, acting through 

25 the Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter26 national Development, and working with governments and 


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1 civil society in the Americas, shall provide increased and 

2 sustained assistance to build civilian institutions that will 

3 help reduce poverty, expand the middle class, and foster 

4 increased economic opportunity by— 

5 ‘‘(1) promoting education; 

6 ‘‘(2) improving health and disease prevention; 

7 ‘‘(3) increasing access to income generating ac8 tivities; 

9 ‘‘(4) reducing crime, particularly violent crime, 

10 including— 

11 ‘‘(A) murder; 

12 ‘‘(B) kidnapping; 

13 ‘‘(C) gang violence, including youth gangs; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(D) violence against women; 

16 ‘‘(5) generating rural development; 

17 ‘‘(6) reducing poverty and inequality in both 

18 urban and rural areas; 

19 ‘‘(7) strengthening the rule of law, governance, 

20 and democracy through the establishment of— 

21 ‘‘(A) independent judiciaries; 

22 ‘‘(B) efficient processes to adjudicate 

23 claims; and 

24 ‘‘(C) effective law enforcement institutions; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(8) eliminating the exclusion of marginalized 

2 populations, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) indigenous groups; 

4 ‘‘(B) people of African descent; 

5 ‘‘(C) women; 

6 ‘‘(D) the impoverished; and 

7 ‘‘(E) people with disabilities. 

8 ‘‘(b) CONTRIBUTION REQUIREMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para10 graph (2), in order to receive assistance from the 

11 United States under this chapter, a recipient coun12 try shall contribute at least 10 percent of the total 

13 value of the funds the United States provides for 

14 projects in the recipient country. 

15 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.— 

16 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of State 

17 may waive paragraph (1) if it is determined 

18 that it is important to the national security in19 terests of the United States to do so. 

20 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Whenever the waiver au21 thority under subparagraph (A) is exercised, 

22 the Secretary of State shall submit a report to 

23 the appropriate congressional committees detail24 ing the justification for the waiver and the pur25 poses for which the funds will be spent. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Ad2 ministrator of the United States Agency for Inter3 national Development may require additional con4 tributions from the recipient country. 

5 ‘‘(c) INELIGIBILITY TO RECEIVE ASSISTANCE.—The 

6 President may not provide assistance under this section 

7 to the government of a country that is ineligible to receive 

8 assistance under section 620, this part, or chapter 4 of 

9 part II. 

10 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The 

11 President may impose additional terms and conditions on 

12 countries receiving assistance under this section. 

13 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL AGEN14 CIES.—The Administrator of the United States Agency for 

15 International Development shall coordinate with the heads 

16 of other Federal departments and agencies as necessary 

17 to carry out this section. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 499I. EVALUATION. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the United 

20 States Agency for International Development shall ensure 

21 that projects carried out under this chapter are subject 

22 to rigorous, independent impact evaluations at the initial 

23 design stage and the conclusion of the projects to deter24 mine if the projects are helping— 

25 ‘‘(1) to reduce poverty in the Americas; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) to foster social and economic development 

2 in the countries of the Americas. 

3 ‘‘(b) COORDINATED EVALUATIONS.—If possible, the 

4 evaluations shall be conducted in coordination with evalua5 tions of similar projects that other donors fund in order 

6 to expand the evidence base used for making decisions. 

7 ‘‘(c) USE OF EVALUATIONS.—The Administrator of 

8 the United States Agency for International Development 

9 shall use information from the evaluations conducted 

10 under subsection (a) to inform future project decisions. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 499J. REPORT. 

12 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact13 ment of the Social Investment and Economic Development 

14 for the Americas Act of 2010, and annually thereafter, 

15 the President shall submit to Congress a report on the 

16 specific programs, projects, and activities carried out 

17 under this chapter during the preceding year, including 

18 an evaluation of the results of the programs, projects, and 

19 activities. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 499K. BUDGET. 

21 ‘‘The report required under section 499J may be sub22 mitted with the budget justification materials submitted 

23 to Congress and the budget submitted by the President 

24 under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 499L. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to amounts other3 wise authorized to be appropriated for assistance to the 

4 Region, there are authorized to be appropriated to carry 

5 out this chapter— 

6 ‘‘(1) $175,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

7 ‘‘(2) $225,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

8 ‘‘(3) $275,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

9 ‘‘(4) $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; and 

10 ‘‘(5) $325,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. 

11 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES.—Amounts appro12 priated pursuant to subsection (a) shall remain available 

13 until expended. 

14 ‘‘(c) FUNDING LIMITATION.—Not more than 7 per15 cent of the amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection 

16 (a) for a fiscal year may be used for administrative ex17 penses to carry out programs authorized in subsection (a). 

18 ‘‘(d) MICROFINANCE GROWTH FUND FOR THE

19 AMERICAS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Micro21 finance Growth Fund for the Americas is to provide 

22 the countries in the Region with— 

23 ‘‘(A) stable, medium-term and long-term 

24 sources of finance to microfinance institutions; 

25 and 

26 ‘‘(B) investment vehicles. 


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1 ‘‘(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

2 Congress that United States contributions to the 

3 Microfinance Growth Fund for the Americas should 

4 be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis with con5 tributions from the public, private, or non-profit sec6 tors. 

7 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 There is authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 

9 in each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2014 for 

10 debt and equity financing for the Microfinance 

11 Growth Fund for the Americas. 

12 ‘‘(e) CAPACITY BUILDING RELATED TO TRADE PRO13 MOTION AGREEMENTS.—There is authorized to be appro14 priated to the United States Agency for International De15 velopment $15,000,000 in each of the fiscal years 2010 

16 through 2014 for labor and environmental capacity build17 ing activities relating to the implementation of trade pro18 motion agreements. 

19 ‘‘(f) ELIGIBLE AGREEMENTS.—The agreements 

20 under subsection (e) may include agreements between the 

21 United States and other countries that are— 

22 ‘‘(1) ratified agreements; 

23 ‘‘(2) pending agreements; or 

24 ‘‘(3) potential agreements. 


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1 ‘‘(g) PROPOSED PUBLIC-PRIVATE FUND FOR SOCIAL

2 AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE AMERICAS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in 

4 consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and 

5 the Administrator of the United States Agency for 

6 International Development, shall immediately estab7 lish and convene an advisory group, consisting of 

8 persons with a relevant professional background in 

9 the Americas from the public, private, and nonprofit 

10 sectors, to consider the feasibility of establishing a 

11 new public-private Fund for Social and Economic 

12 Development in the Americas (referred to in this 

13 section as ‘‘the Fund’’). 

14 ‘‘(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

15 Congress that— 

16 ‘‘(A) the Fund should be governed by a 

17 board composed of members drawn from the 

18 public, private, and nonprofit sectors in the 

19 United States and the Region; 

20 ‘‘(B) building on initiatives already under21 way in the Region, the Fund should make 

22 grants for the purpose of advancing long-term 

23 social and economic development in the Amer24 icas; 


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1 ‘‘(C) governments, development organiza2 tions, and private foundations throughout the 

3 world should contribute to the Fund, and the 

4 contribution of the United States Government 

to the Fund should be no greater than 1 5 ⁄3 of the 

6 total annual budget of the Fund; and 

7 ‘‘(D) each country choosing to participate 

8 in the Fund should be required to contribute at 

9 least 10 percent of the annual total of grants 

10 received by such country, to ensure the active 

11 involvement of the country in the operation of 

12 the Fund and the grant-making process. 

13 ‘‘(3) REPORT.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

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

16 advisory group established under paragraph (1) 

17 shall submit to the Secretary of State and the 

18 appropriate congressional committees a report 

19 containing conclusions about the feasibility of a 

20 Fund and its recommendations for organizing, 

21 financing, and operating the Fund. 

22 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF THE REPORT.—The 

23 report submitted under subparagraph (A) shall 

24 include a determination of the advantages and 


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1 disadvantages of establishing and operating the 

2 Fund within an existing institution, such as— 

3 ‘‘(i) the Inter-American Foundation; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the World Bank; or 

5 ‘‘(iii) the Inter-American Development 

6 Bank. 

7 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

9 as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010 for the 

10 purpose of carrying out this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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