In the Senate of the United States, 

December 10 (legislative day, December 9), 2016. 

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 4939) entitled ‘‘An Act to increase engagement 

with the governments of the Caribbean region, the Caribbean 

diaspora community in the United States, and the private 

sector and civil society in both the United States and the 

Caribbean, and for other purposes.’’, do pass with the following 

AMENDMENT: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States–Carib3 bean Strategic Engagement Act of 2016’’. 

4 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

5 Congress declares that it is the policy of the United 

6 States to increase engagement with the governments of the 

7 Caribbean region and with civil society, including the pri8 vate sector, in both the United States and the Caribbean, 

9 in a concerted effort to— 
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1 (1) enhance diplomatic relations between the 

2 United States and the Caribbean region; 

3 (2) increase economic cooperation between the 

4 United States and the Caribbean region; 

5 (3) support regional economic, political, and se6 curity integration efforts in the Caribbean region; 

7 (4) encourage enduring economic development 

8 and increased regional economic diversification and 

9 global competitiveness; 

10 (5) reduce levels of crime and violence, curb the 

11 trafficking of illicit drugs, strengthen the rule of law, 

12 and improve citizen security; 

13 (6) improve energy security by increasing access 

14 to diverse, reliable, and affordable power; 

15 (7) advance cooperation on democracy and 

16 human rights at multilateral fora; 

17 (8) continue support for public health advances 

18 and cooperation on health concerns and threats to the 

19 Caribbean region; and 

20 (9) expand Internet access throughout the region, 

21 especially to countries lacking the appropriate infra22 structure. 

23 SEC. 3. STRATEGY. 

24 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

25 of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
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1 Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter2 national Development (USAID), shall submit to the appro3 priate congressional committees a multi-year strategy for 

4 United States engagement to support the efforts of interested 

5 nations in the Caribbean region that— 

6 (1) identifies Department of State and USAID 

7 priorities, in coordination with other executive branch 

8 agencies, for United States policy towards the Carib9 bean region; 

10 (2) outlines an approach to partner with govern11 ments of the Caribbean region to improve citizen se12 curity, reduce the trafficking of illicit drugs, strength13 en the rule of law, and improve the effectiveness and 

14 longevity of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative; 

15 (3) establishes a comprehensive, integrated, 

16 multi-year strategy to encourage efforts of the Carib17 bean region to implement regional and national 

18 strategies that improve energy security, by increasing 

19 access to all available sources of energy, including by 

20 taking advantage of the indigenous energy sources of 

21 the Caribbean and the ongoing energy revolution in 

22 the United States; 

23 (4) outlines an approach to improve diplomatic 

24 engagement with the governments of the Caribbean re-
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1 gion, including with respect to human rights and de2 mocracy; 

3 (5) Describes how the United States can develop 

4 an approach to supporting Caribbean countries in ef5 forts they are willing to undertake with their own re6 sources to diversify their economies; 

7 (6) describes ways to ensure the active participa8 tion of citizens of the Caribbean in existing program 

9 and initiatives administered by the Department of 

10 State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; 

11 and 

12 (7) reflects the input of other executive branch 

13 agencies, as appropriate. 

14 SEC. 4. BRIEFINGS. 

15 The Secretary of State shall offer to the appropriate 

16 congressional committees annual briefings that review De17 partment of State efforts to implement the strategy for 

18 United States engagement with the Caribbean region in ac19 cordance with section 3. 

20 SEC. 5. PROGRESS REPORT. 

21 Not later than 2 years after the submission of the strat22 egy required under section 3, the President shall submit to 

23 the appropriate congressional committees a report on 

24 progress made toward implementing the strategy. 
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1 SEC. 6. REPORTING COST OFFSET. 

2 Section 601(c)(4) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 

3 (22 U.S.C. 4001(c)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘the fol4 lowing:’’ and all that follows through ‘‘(B) A workforce 

5 plan’’ and inserting ‘‘a workforce plan’’. 

6 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT9 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit10 tees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

11 House of Representatives and the Committee on For12 eign Relations of the Senate. 

13 (2) CARIBBEAN REGION.—The term ‘‘Caribbean 

14 region’’ means the Caribbean Basin Security Initia15 tive beneficiary countries. 

16 (3) SECURITY ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘security 

17 assistance’’ has the meaning given such term in sec18 tion 502B(d)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

19 (22 U.S.C. 2304(d)(2)). 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H.R. 4939 

AMENDMENT