I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6727 

To establish the United States Foundation for International Conservation 

to promote long-term management of protected and conserved areas, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 12, 2023 

Mr. MCCAUL (for himself, Mr. COLE, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Ms. 

MCCOLLUM, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. 

RESCHENTHALER, Ms. WILD, Mr. KEAN of New Jersey, and Ms. 

KAMLAGER-DOVE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish the United States Foundation for International 

Conservation to promote long-term management of protected and conserved areas, 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 ‘‘United States Founda5 tion for International Conservation Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

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

4 (A) the Committee on Appropriations of 

5 the Senate; 

6 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

7 the Senate; 

8 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of 

9 the House of Representatives; and 

10 (D) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

11 the House of Representatives. 

12 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 

13 Board of Directors established pursuant to section 

14 4(a). 

15 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means— 

16 (A) an initial member of the Board ap17 pointed pursuant to section 4(a)(2)(C); or 

18 (B) a member of the Board selected to fill 

19 a vacancy pursuant to section 4(a)(3)(B). 

20 (4) ELIGIBLE COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘eligible 

21 country’’ means any of the countries described in 

22 section 7(b). 

23 (5) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

24 project’’ means any of the projects described in sec25 tion 7(a)(2). 

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1 (6) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Execu2 tive Director’’ means the Executive Director of the 

3 Foundation hired pursuant to section 4(b). 

4 (7) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 

5 means the United States Foundation for Inter6 national Conservation established pursuant to sec7 tion 3(a). 

8 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of State. 

10 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES FOUNDATION FOR INTERNATIONAL 

11 CONSERVATION. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established the 

14 United States Foundation for International Con15 servation (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Founda16 tion’’). The Foundation is a charitable and nonprofit 

17 corporation. 

18 (2) TERMINATION OF OPERATIONS.—The 

19 Foundation shall terminate operations on the date 

20 that is 10 years after the date on which it is estab21 lished pursuant to paragraph (1), in accordance 

22 with— 

23 (A) a plan for winding down the activities 

24 of the Foundation that the Board shall submit 

25 to the appropriate congressional committees not 

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1 later than 180 days before such termination 

2 date; and 

3 (B) the bylaws established pursuant to sec4 tion 4(a)(9). 

5 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Foundation 

6 are— 

7 (1) to provide grants for the management of 

8 priority protected and conserved areas that have a 

9 high degree of biodiversity or species and ecosystems 

10 of significant importance; 

11 (2) to promote effective, long-term management 

12 of protected and conserved areas and their contig13 uous buffer zones in eligible countries; 

14 (3) to advocate for, incentivize, accept, and ad15 minister governmental and nongovernmental funds, 

16 including donations from the private sector, to in17 crease the availability and predictability of financing 

18 for long-term management of protected and con19 served areas; 

20 (4) to close critical gaps in public international 

21 conservation efforts by— 

22 (A) increasing private sector investment, 

23 including investments from philanthropic enti24 ties; and 

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1 (B) collaborating with partners providing 

2 bilateral and multilateral financing to support 

3 enhanced coordination; 

4 (5) to identify and financially support imple5 mentation-ready projects— 

6 (A) that promote long-term management 

7 of protected and conserved areas and their con8 tiguous buffer zones in eligible countries, in9 cluding supporting the management of terres10 trial, coastal, freshwater, and marine protected 

11 areas, parks, community conservancies, Indige12 nous reserves, conservation easements, and bio13 logical reserves; and 

14 (B) that provide effective area-based con15 servation measures, consistent with internation16 ally recognized best practices and standards for 

17 environmental and social safeguards; and 

18 (6) to coordinate with, and otherwise support 

19 and assist, foreign governments, private sector enti20 ties, local communities, Indigenous Peoples, and 

21 other stakeholders in undertaking biodiversity con22 servation activities— 

23 (A) to achieve sustainable biodiversity con24 servation outcomes; and 

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1 (B) to improve local security, governance, 

2 food security, and economic opportunities. 

3 SEC. 4. GOVERNANCE OF THE FOUNDATION. 

4 (a) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 

5 (1) GOVERNANCE.—The Foundation shall be 

6 governed by a Board of Directors. 

7 (2) COMPOSITION.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall be 

9 composed of— 

10 (i) the Directors described in subpara11 graph (B); and 

12 (ii) appointed Directors described in 

13 subparagraph (C). 

14 (B) DIRECTORS.—The following individ15 uals, or designees of such individuals, shall 

16 serve as Directors: 

17 (i) The Secretary of State. 

18 (ii) The Administrator of the United 

19 States Agency for International Develop20 ment. 

21 (iii) The Secretary of the Interior. 

22 (iv) The Chief of the United States 

23 Forest Service. 

24 (v) The Administrator of the National 

25 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

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1 (C) APPOINTED DIRECTORS.—The Sec2 retary, in consultation with the other Directors 

3 described in subparagraph (B), the Speaker and 

4 minority leader of the House of Representa5 tives, and the majority and minority leader of 

6 the Senate, shall appoint, as Directors of the 

7 Board— 

8 (i) 4 private-sector committed donors; 

9 and 

10 (ii) 5 independent experts who rep11 resent diverse points of view, to the max12 imum extent practicable. 

13 (D) APPOINTMENT STRUCTURE.—There 

14 shall be an appointment structure that applies 

15 to directors in subsection (C) such that— 

16 (i) the Speaker of the House of Rep17 resentatives after consultation with the 

18 chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

19 of the House and the minority leader of 

20 the House of Representatives after con21 sultation with the ranking member of the 

22 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

23 House shall each submit a list of five indi24 viduals to be considered by the Secretary 

25 for appointment to the Board of Directors, 

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1 of which the Secretary shall appoint one 

2 individual from each list submitted; and 

3 (ii) the majority leader of the Senate 

4 after consultation with the chair of the 

5 Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

6 Senate and the minority leader of the Sen7 ate after consultation with the ranking mi8 nority member of the Committee on For9 eign Relations of the Senate shall each 

10 submit a list of individuals to be consid11 ered by the Secretary for appointment to 

12 the Board of Directors, of which the Sec13 retary shall appoint one individual from 

14 each list submitted. 

15 (E) QUALIFICATIONS.—Each independent 

16 expert appointed pursuant to subparagraph (C) 

17 shall be knowledgeable and experienced in mat18 ters relating to— 

19 (i) international development; 

20 (ii) protected area management and 

21 the conservation of global biodiversity, fish 

22 and wildlife, ecosystem restoration, adapta23 tion, and resilience; and 

24 (iii) grantmaking in support of inter25 national conservation. 

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1 (F) CHAIRPERSON.—The Board shall 

2 elect, from among its Directors, a Chairperson, 

3 who shall serve for a 2-year term. 

4 (3) TERMS; VACANCIES.— 

5 (A) TERMS.— 

6 (i) IN GENERAL.—The term of service 

7 of each Director appointed pursuant to 

8 paragraph (2)(C) shall be not more than 5 

9 years. 

10 (ii) INITIAL APPOINTED DIRECTORS.— 

11 Of the initial Directors appointed pursuant 

12 to paragraph (2)(C)— 

13 (I) 5 Directors, including at least 

14 private-sector committed donors, shall 

15 serve for 4 years; and 

16 (II) 4 Directors shall serve for 5 

17 years, as determined by the Chair18 person of the Board. 

19 (B) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the 

20 membership of the appointed Directors of the 

21 Board— 

22 (i) shall be filled in accordance with 

23 the bylaws of the Foundation by a private 

24 sector committed donor or an independent 

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1 scribed in paragraph (2)(E), as cor2 responding to the vacating Director; 

3 (ii) shall not affect the power of the 

4 remaining appointed Directors to execute 

5 the duties of the Board; and 

6 (iii) shall be filled by an individual se7 lected by the Board. 

8 (4) QUORUM.—A majority of the current mem9 bership of the Board shall constitute a quorum for 

10 the transaction of Foundation business. 

11 (5) MEETINGS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall meet 

13 at the call of the Chairperson not less fre14 quently than annually. 

15 (B) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 60 

16 days after the Board is established pursuant to 

17 section 3(a), the Secretary shall convene a 

18 meeting of the ex-officio Directors and the ap19 pointed Directors of the Board to incorporate 

20 the Foundation. 

21 (C) REMOVAL.—Any Director who misses 

22 3 consecutive regularly scheduled meetings may 

23 be removed from the Board. 

24 (6) REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES.—Directors 

25 of the Board shall serve without pay, but may be reVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:31 Dec 29, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6727.IH H6727
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1 imbursed for the actual and necessary traveling and 

2 subsistence expenses incurred in the performance of 

3 the duties of the Foundation. Such reimbursement 

4 may only be made available for expenses incurred 

5 outside the United States if at least two Directors 

6 concurrently incurred such expenses. 

7 (7) NOT FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Appointment 

8 as a Director of the Board shall not constitute em9 ployment by, or the holding of an office of, the 

10 United States for purposes of any Federal law. 

11 (8) DUTIES.—The Board shall— 

12 (A) establish bylaws for the Foundation in 

13 accordance with paragraph (9); 

14 (B) provide overall direction for the activi15 ties of the Foundation and establish priority ac16 tivities; 

17 (C) carry out any other necessary activities 

18 of the Foundation; 

19 (D) evaluate the performance of the Exec20 utive Director; 

21 (E) take steps to limit the Foundations ad22 ministrative expenses to the extent practicable; 

23 and 

24 (F) not less frequently than annually, con25 sult and coordinate with stakeholders qualified 

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1 to provide advice, assistance, and information 

2 regarding effective protected and conserved 

3 area management. 

4 (9) BYLAWS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The bylaws established 

6 pursuant to paragraph (8)(A) shall include— 

7 (i) policies for the selection of Direc8 tors of the Board and officers, employees, 

9 agents, and contractors of the Foundation; 

10 (ii) policies, including ethical stand11 ards, for— 

12 (I) the acceptance, solicitation, 

13 and disposition of donations and 

14 grants to the Foundation; and 

15 (II) the disposition of assets of 

16 the Foundation; 

17 (iii) policies that subject all employ18 ees, fellows, trainees, and other agents of 

19 the Foundation (including ex-officio Direc20 tors and appointed Directors of the Board) 

21 to conflict of interest standards; 

22 (iv) the specific duties of the Execu23 tive Director; 

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1 (v) policies for winding down the ac2 tivities of the Foundation upon its termi3 nation, including a plan— 

4 (I) to return unspent appropria5 tions to the Department of the Treas6 ury; and 

7 (II) to donate unspent private 

8 and philanthropic contributions to 

9 projects that align with the goals and 

10 requirements described in section 7; 

11 and 

12 (vi) policies for vetting grantees to en13 sure the Foundation does not provide 

14 grants to for-profit entities whose primary 

15 objective is activity other than conserva16 tion. 

17 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—The Board shall en18 sure that the bylaws of the Foundation and the 

19 activities carried out under such bylaws do 

20 not— 

21 (i) reflect unfavorably on the ability of 

22 the Foundation to carry out activities in a 

23 fair and objective manner; or 

24 (ii) compromise, or appear to com25 promise, the integrity of any governmental 

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1 agency or program, or any officer or em2 ployee employed by, or involved in, a gov3 ernmental agency or program. 

4 (b) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Board shall hire an 

5 Executive Director of the Foundation, who shall serve, at 

6 the pleasure of the Board, as the Chief Executive Officer 

7 of the Foundation. 

8 (c) FOUNDATION STAFF.—Officers and employees of 

9 the Foundation— 

10 (1) may not be employees of, or hold any office 

11 in, the United States Government; 

12 (2) shall be appointed without regard to the 

13 provisions of— 

14 (A) title 5, United States Code, governing 

15 appointments in the competitive service; and 

16 (B) chapter 51 and subchapter III of chap17 ter 53 of such title, relating to classification 

18 and General Schedule pay rates; and 

19 (3) may not receive a salary at a rate in excess 

20 of 150 percent of the maximum rate of basic pay au21 thorized for positions at level I of the Executive 

22 Schedule under section 5312 of title 5, United 

23 States Code, for that fiscal year. 

24 (d) LIMITATION AND CONFLICTS OF INTERESTS.— 

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1 (1) POLITICAL PARTICIPATION.—The Founda2 tion may not participate or intervene in any political 

3 campaign on behalf of any candidate for public of4 fice in any country. 

5 (2) FINANCIAL INTERESTS.—Any Director of 

6 the Board or officer or employee of the Foundation 

7 is prohibited from participating, directly or indi8 rectly, in the consideration or determination of any 

9 question before the Foundation affecting— 

10 (A) the financial interests of such Director, 

11 officer, or employee; and 

12 (B) the interests of any corporation, part13 nership, entity, or organization in which such 

14 Director, officer, or employee has any fiduciary 

15 obligation or direct or indirect financial inter16 est. 

17 SEC. 5. CORPORATE POWERS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE 

18 FOUNDATION. 

19 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation— 

21 (A) may conduct business throughout the 

22 States, territories, and possessions of the 

23 United States and in foreign countries; 

24 (B) shall have its principal offices in the 

25 Washington, DC, metropolitan area; and 

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1 (C) shall continuously maintain a des2 ignated agent in Washington, DC, who is au3 thorized to accept notice or service of process 

4 on behalf of the Foundation. 

5 (2) NOTICE AND SERVICE OF PROCESS.—The 

6 serving of notice to, or service of process upon, the 

7 agent referred to in paragraph (1)(C), or mailed to 

8 the business address of such agent, shall be deemed 

9 as service upon, or notice to, the Foundation. 

10 (3) SEAL.—The Foundation shall have an offi11 cial seal, which shall be selected by the Board and 

12 judicially noticed. 

13 (b) AUTHORITIES.—In addition to powers explicitly 

14 authorized under this Act, the Foundation, in order to 

15 carry out the purposes described in section 3(b), shall have 

16 the usual powers of a corporation headquartered in Wash17 ington, DC, including the authority— 

18 (1) to accept, receive, solicit, hold, administer, 

19 and use any gift, devise, or bequest, either absolutely 

20 or in trust, or real or personal property or any in21 come derived from such gift or property, or other in22 terest in such gift or property located in the United 

23 States; 

24 (2) to acquire by donation, gift, devise, pur25 chase, or exchange any real or personal property or 

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1 interest in such property located in the United 

2 States; 

3 (3) unless otherwise required by the instrument 

4 of transfer, to sell, donate, lease, invest, reinvest, re5 tain, or otherwise dispose of any property or income 

6 derived from such property located in the United 

7 States; 

8 (4) to borrow money and issue bonds, deben9 tures, or other debt instruments; 

10 (5) to complain and defend itself in any court 

11 of competent jurisdiction (except that the Directors 

12 of the Board shall not be personally liable, except for 

13 gross negligence); 

14 (6) to enter into contracts or other arrange15 ments with public agencies, private organizations, 

16 and persons and to make such payments as may be 

17 necessary to carry out the purposes of such con18 tracts or arrangements; and 

19 (7) to award grants for eligible projects, in ac20 cordance with section 7. 

21 (c) LIMITATION OF PUBLIC LIABILITY.—The United 

22 States shall not be liable for any debts, defaults, acts, or 

23 omissions of the Foundation. 

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1 SEC. 6. SAFEGUARDS AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 

2 (a) SAFEGUARDS.—The Foundation shall develop, 

3 and incorporate into any agreement for support provided 

4 by the Foundation, appropriate safeguards, policies, and 

5 guidelines, consistent with internationally recognized best 

6 practices and standards for environmental and social safe7 guards. 

8 (b) INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall estab10 lish a transparent and independent accountability 

11 mechanism, which shall provide— 

12 (A) a compliance review function that as13 sesses whether Foundation-supported projects 

14 adhere to the requirements developed pursuant 

15 to subsection (a); 

16 (B) a dispute resolution function for re17 solving concerns between complainants and 

18 project implementers regarding the impacts of 

19 specific Foundation-supported projects with re20 spect to such standards; and 

21 (C) an advisory function that reports to 

22 the Foundation on projects, policies, and prac23 tices. 

24 (2) DUTIES.—The accountability mechanism 

25 shall— 

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1 (A) report annually to the Board and to 

2 the appropriate congressional committees re3 garding the Foundation’s compliance with inter4 nationally recognized best practices and stand5 ards in accordance with paragraph (1)(A); 

6 (B)(i) have permanent staff to conduct 

7 compliance reviews and dispute resolutions; or 

8 (ii) maintain a roster of experts to 

9 serve such roles, to the extent needed; and 

10 (C) hold a public comment period lasting 

11 not fewer than 60 days regarding the initial de12 sign of the accountability mechanism. 

13 (c) INTERNAL ACCOUNTABILITY.—The Foundation 

14 shall establish an ombudsman position at a senior level 

15 of executive staff as a confidential, neutral source of infor16 mation and assistance to anyone affected by the activities 

17 of the Foundation. 

18 SEC. 7. PROJECTS AND GRANTS. 

19 (a) PROJECT FUNDING REQUIREMENTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall— 

21 (A) provide grants to fund eligible projects 

22 described in paragraph (2) that support its mis23 sion to provide long-term funding for the effec24 tive management of protected and conserved 

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1 areas and their contiguous buffer zones in eligi2 ble countries; and 

3 (B) recognize the importance of a land4 scape or seascape approach to conservation that 

5 includes buffer zones, wildlife dispersal and cor6 ridor areas, and other effective area-based con7 servation measures. 

8 (2) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—Eligible projects 

9 shall include projects that— 

10 (A) focus on supporting— 

11 (i) long-term management of pro12 tected or conserved areas and their contig13 uous buffer zones in countries described in 

14 subsection (b), including terrestrial, coast15 al, and marine protected or conserved 

16 areas, parks, community conservancies, In17 digenous reserves, conservation easements, 

18 and biological reserves; and 

19 (ii) other effective area-based con20 servation measures; 

21 (B) are cost-matched at a ratio of 2 from 

22 other sources to 1 from the United States Gov23 ernment; 

24 (C) have host country and local population 

25 support, as evidenced by a long-term binding 

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1 memorandum of understanding signed by the 

2 host government that respects free, prior, and 

3 informed consent of affected communities; 

4 (D) incorporate a set of key performance 

5 indicators; 

6 (E) demonstrate robust local community 

7 engagement, with the completion of appropriate 

8 environmental and social due diligence, includ9 ing— 

10 (i) free, prior, and informed consent 

11 of Indigenous Peoples and prior consulta12 tion with relevant local communities; 

13 (ii) equitable governance structures; 

14 and 

15 (iii) effective grievance mechanisms; 

16 (F) create economic opportunities for local 

17 communities, through activities such as— 

18 (i) equity and profit-sharing; 

19 (ii) employment activities; and 

20 (iii) other economic growth activities; 

21 (G) provide stable baseline funding for the 

22 effective management of the protected or con23 served area project; 

24 (H) are implementation-ready; and 

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1 (I) where possible, demonstrate a plan to 

2 strengthen the capacity of, and transfer skills 

3 to, local institutions to manage the protected or 

4 conserved area before or after grant funding is 

5 exhausted. 

6 (b) ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before awarding any grants 

8 or entering into any project agreements for a given 

9 fiscal year, the Board shall conduct a review to de10 termine candidate countries in which the Foundation 

11 shall be eligible to fund projects to determine which 

12 countries— 

13 (A) are low-income, lower middle-income, 

14 or upper-middle-income economies (as defined 

15 by the International Bank for Reconstruction 

16 and Development and the International Devel17 opment Association); 

18 (B) have— 

19 (i) a high degree of threatened or at 

20 risk biological diversity; or 

21 (ii) species or ecosystems of signifi22 cant importance, including threated or en23 dangered species or ecosystems at risk of 

24 degradation or destruction; and 

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1 (C) have demonstrated a commitment to 

2 conservation through actions, such as protecting 

3 lands and waters through the gazettement of 

4 national parks, community conservancies, ma5 rine reserves and protected areas, forest re6 serves, or other legally recognized forms of 

7 place-based conservation. 

8 (2) IDENTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE COUN9 TRIES.—Not later than 5 days after the date on 

10 which the Board determines which countries are eli11 gible countries for a given fiscal year, the Executive 

12 Director shall— 

13 (A) submit a report to the appropriate con14 gressional committees that includes— 

15 (i) a list of all such eligible countries 

16 as determined through the review process 

17 described in paragraph (1); and 

18 (ii) a justification for such eligibility ; 

19 and 

20 (B) publish the information contained in 

21 the report described in paragraph (A) in the 

22 Federal Register. 

23 (c) GRANTMAKING.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to maximize its 

25 program effects, the Foundation shall— 

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1 (A) coordinate with other international 

2 public and private donors to the extent possible; 

3 (B) seek additional financial and non4 financial contributions and commitments for its 

5 projects from host governments; 

6 (C) strive to generate a partnership men7 tality among all participants, including public 

8 and private funders, host governments, local 

9 protected areas authorities, and private and 

10 nongovernmental organization partners; and 

11 (D) prioritize investments in communities 

12 with low levels of economic development to the 

13 extent practicable. 

14 (2) GRANT CRITERIA.—Foundation grants— 

15 (A) shall fund the management of well-de16 fined protected or conserved areas and the sys17 tems of such conservation areas in eligible 

18 countries; 

19 (B) should provide adequate baseline fund20 ing for at least 10 years, indexed for inflation, 

21 without replacing or duplicating existing base22 line funding, for each protected and conserved 

23 area and the system that supports that area in 

24 an amount sufficient to maintain the effective 

25 management of the area over the long term; 

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1 (C) should, during the grant period, dem2 onstrate progress in achieving clearly identified 

3 key performance indicators (as defined in the 

4 grant agreement), which may include— 

5 (i) the protection of biological diver6 sity; 

7 (ii) the protection of native flora and 

8 habitats, such as trees, forests, wetlands, 

9 grasslands, mangroves, coral reefs, and sea 

10 grass; 

11 (iii) community-based economic 

12 growth indicators, such as improved land 

13 tenure, increases in beneficiaries partici14 pating in economic growth activities, and 

15 sufficient income from conservation activi16 ties being directed to communities in 

17 project areas; 

18 (iv) improved management of the pro19 tected or conserved area covered by the 

20 project, as documented through the sub21 mission of strategic plans or annual re22 ports to the Foundation; and 

23 (v) the identification of additional rev24 enue sources or sustainable financing 

25 mechanisms to meet the recurring costs of 

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1 management of the protected or conserved 

2 areas; and 

3 (D) may be terminated if the Board deter4 mines that the project is not meeting applicable 

5 requirements under this Act or making progress 

6 in achieving the key performance indicators de7 fined in the grant agreement. 

8 SEC. 8. PROHIBITION OF SUPPORT IN COUNTRIES THAT 

9 SUPPORT TERRORISM OR VIOLATE HUMAN 

10 RIGHTS AND OF SUPPORT FOR SANCTIONED 

11 PERSONS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation may not provide 

13 support for any government, or any entity owned or con14 trolled by a government, if the Secretary has determined 

15 that such government— 

16 (1) has repeatedly provided support for acts of 

17 international terrorism, as determined under— 

18 (A) section 1754(c)(1)(A)(i) of the Export 

19 Control Reform Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 

20 4813(c)(1)(A)(i)); 

21 (B) section 620A(a) of the Foreign Assist22 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371(a)); 

23 (C) section 40(d) of the Arms Export Con24 trol Act (22 U.S.C. 2780(d)); or 

25 (D) any other relevant provision of law; or 

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1 (2) has engaged in a consistent pattern of gross 

2 violations of internationally recognized human 

3 rights, as determined under section 116(a) or 

4 502B(a)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

5 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(a) and 2304(a)(2)) or any other 

6 relevant provision of law. 

7 (b) PROHIBITION OF SUPPORT FOR SANCTIONED

8 PERSONS.—The Foundation may not engage in any deal9 ing prohibited under United States sanctions laws or regu10 lations, including dealings with persons on the list of spe11 cially designated persons and blocked persons maintained 

12 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department 

13 of the Treasury, except to the extent otherwise authorized 

14 by the Secretary or by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

15 (c) PROHIBITION OF SUPPORT FOR ACTIVITIES SUB16 JECT TO SANCTIONS.—The Foundation shall require any 

17 person receiving support to certify that such person, and 

18 any entity owned or controlled by such person, is in com19 pliance with all United States sanctions laws and regula20 tions. 

21 SEC. 9. ANNUAL REPORT. 

22 Not later than 360 days after the date of the enact23 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter while the Foun24 dation continues to operate, the Executive Director of the 

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1 Foundation shall submit a report to the appropriate con2 gressional committees that describes— 

3 (1) the goals of the Foundation; 

4 (2) the programs, projects, and activities sup5 ported by the Foundation; 

6 (3) private and governmental contributions to 

7 the Foundation; and 

8 (4) the standardized criteria utilized to deter9 mine the programs and activities supported by the 

10 Foundation, including baselines, targets, desired out11 comes, measurable goals, and extent to which those 

12 goals are being achieved for each project. 

13 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro15 priated to the Foundation $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 

16 and $100,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2025 

17 through 2035 to carry out the purposes of this Act. 

18 (b) COST MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Amounts ap19 propriated pursuant to subsection (a) may only be made 

20 available to grantees to the extent the Foundation or such 

21 grantees secure funding for an eligible project from 

22 sources other than the United States Government in an 

23 amount that is not less than twice the amount received 

24 in grants for such project pursuant to section 7. 

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1 (c) PROHIBITION ON USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS FOR

2 LOBBYING EXPENSES.—Amounts provided as a grant by 

3 the Foundation shall not be used for any activity the pur4 pose of which is to influence legislation pending before the 

5 United States Congress. 

Æ