II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 537 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the United States 

Executive Directors of the World Bank and the Asian Development 

Bank to use the voice and vote of the United States to oppose the 

provision of any loan or financial or technical assistance for a project 

for the construction of hydroelectric dams or electricity transmission 

systems in the Mekong River Basin unless the Secretary makes certain 

assurances with respect to the project, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 9, 2011 

Mr. WEBB introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the 

United States Executive Directors of the World Bank 

and the Asian Development Bank to use the voice and 

vote of the United States to oppose the provision of 

any loan or financial or technical assistance for a project 

for the construction of hydroelectric dams or electricity 

transmission systems in the Mekong River Basin unless 

the Secretary makes certain assurances with respect to 

the project, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mekong River Protec3 tion Act of 2011’’. 

4 SEC. 2. OPPOSITION OF THE UNITED STATES TO LOANS 

5 AND ASSISTANCE FROM THE WORLD BANK 

6 AND THE ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK WITH 

7 RESPECT TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF HYDRO8 ELECTRIC DAMS AND ELECTRICITY TRANS9 MISSION SYSTEMS IN THE MEKONG RIVER 

10 BASIN. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

12 shall instruct the United States Executive Directors of the 

13 World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to use the 

14 voice and vote of the United States to oppose the provision 

15 of any loan or financial or technical assistance for a 

16 project for the construction of hydroelectric dams or elec17 tricity transmission systems in the Mekong River Basin 

18 unless, not later than 21 days before a vote to provide 

19 such a loan or such assistance, the Secretary of the Treas20 ury submits the report described in subsection (b) to the 

21 committees specified in subsection (c). 

22 (b) REPORT DESCRIBED.—The report described in 

23 this subsection is a report that, based on information pro24 vided by the Bank considering providing a loan or other 

25 assistance with respect to a project described in subsection 


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1 (a), provides the following assurances with respect to the 

2 project: 

3 (1) The project will be carried out in a manner 

4 that adheres to the safeguard policies of the Bank 

5 with respect to protecting the environment, ensuring 

6 the safety of dams, the involuntary resettlement of 

7 people displaced by dams, indigenous peoples, and 

8 the reduction of poverty. 

9 (2) The project will not result in significant ad10 verse effects on— 

11 (A) water flows along the Mekong River 

12 mainstream and its tributaries or the seasonal 

13 changes in the flow of the river; or 

14 (B) local or regional public health, food se15 curity, or the environment. 

16 (3) The project includes a plan to incorporate 

17 the benefits gained by the generation of electricity 

18 and irrigation projects into the local and national 

19 economies in the area surrounding the site of the 

20 project. 

21 (4) The project includes a contingency plan to 

22 address the effects on income and food insecurity 

23 that might arise from disruptions along the Mekong 

24 River during the construction phase of the project. 


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1 (5) The project was developed taking into con2 sideration assessments of the environmental and so3 cioeconomic impact of the project on the Mekong 

4 River Basin region and the results of those assess5 ments have been made available to all countries 

6 along the Mekong River. 

7 (6) The development of the project included 

8 consultations with the governments of the countries 

9 along the Mekong River and appropriate regional 

10 multilateral institutions and community organiza11 tions. 

12 (c) COMMITTEES SPECIFIED.—The committees speci13 fied in this subsection are— 

14 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

15 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 

16 (2) the Committee on Financial Services and 

17 the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 

18 Representatives. 

19 (d) WORLD BANK DEFINED.—In this section, the 

20 term ‘‘World Bank’’ means the International Bank for Re21 construction and Development and the International De22 velopment Association. 

Æ 


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