I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2571 

To amend the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 to authorize concurrent 

compacts for purposes of regional economic integration and cross-border 

collaborations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2015 

Ms. BASS (for herself, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. CRENSHAW, and Mr. 

SMITH of Washington) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 to authorize 

concurrent compacts for purposes of regional economic 

integration and cross-border collaborations, 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 ‘‘Millennium Compacts 

5 for Regional Economic Integration Act’’ or ‘‘M–CORE 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 This purpose of this Act is to expand the Millennium 

3 Challenge Corporation’s ability to develop compacts with 

4 countries, particularly in Africa, that promote regional 

5 economic integration and cross-border collaborations. 

6 SEC. 3. CANDIDATE COUNTRIES. 

7 (a) LOW INCOME COUNTRIES.—Section 606(a) of the 

8 Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7705(a)) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘(3)’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘(4)’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

13 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘FISCAL

14 YEAR 2005 AND SUBSEQUENT FISCAL YEARS’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘FISCAL YEARS 2005 THROUGH

16 2012’’; and 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2005 or a sub18 sequent fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 

19 2005 through 2012’’; 

20 (3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para21 graph (4); and 

22 (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(3) FISCAL YEAR 2013 AND SUBSEQUENT FIS25 CAL YEARS.—A country shall be a candidate country 

26 for purposes of eligibility for assistance for fiscal 


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1 year 2013 or a subsequent fiscal year if the coun2 try— 

3 ‘‘(A) has a per capita income equal to or 

4 less than the lower middle income country 

5 threshold established by the International Bank 

6 for Reconstruction and Development for the fis7 cal year; 

8 ‘‘(B) is among the 75 countries identified 

9 by the International Bank for Reconstruction 

10 and Development as having the lowest per cap11 ita income; and 

12 ‘‘(C) meets the requirements of paragraph 

13 (1)(B).’’. 

14 (b) LOWER MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES.—Section 

15 606(b) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 

16 U.S.C. 7705(b)) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

18 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘IN GEN19 ERAL’’ and inserting ‘‘FISCAL YEARS 2006

20 THROUGH 2012’’; and 

21 (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

22 (A), by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2006 or a subse23 quent fiscal year’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 

24 2006 through 2012’’; 


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1 (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para2 graph (3); and 

3 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(2) FISCAL YEAR 2013 AND SUBSEQUENT FIS6 CAL YEARS.—In addition to the countries described 

7 in subsection (a), a country shall be a candidate 

8 country for purposes of eligibility for assistance for 

9 fiscal year 2013 or a subsequent fiscal year if the 

10 country— 

11 ‘‘(A) has a per capita income equal to or 

12 less than the lower middle income country 

13 threshold established by the International Bank 

14 for Reconstruction and Development for the fis15 cal year; 

16 ‘‘(B) is not among the 75 countries identi17 fied by the International Bank for Reconstruc18 tion and Development as having the lowest per 

19 capita income; and 

20 ‘‘(C) meets the requirements of subsection 

21 (a)(1)(B).’’. 

22 (c) RECLASSIFICATION.—Section 606 of the Millen23 nium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7705) is amend24 ed— 


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1 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub2 section (d); and 

3 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS ON RECLASSIFICATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) FOR LOW INCOME COUNTRIES.—If the per 

7 capita income of a low income country that is a can8 didate country under subsection (a) changes during 

9 the fiscal year for which the country is eligible to re10 ceive assistance under this title such that the coun11 try would be reclassified as a lower middle income 

12 country under subsection (b), the country shall be 

13 deemed to continue to meet the per capita income 

14 requirements under subsection (a) for such fiscal 

15 year and the two subsequent fiscal years. 

16 ‘‘(2) FOR LOWER MIDDLE INCOME COUN17 TRIES.—If the per capita income of a lower middle 

18 income country that is a candidate country under 

19 subsection (b) changes during the fiscal year for 

20 which the country is eligible to receive assistance 

21 under this title such that the country would be re22 classified as a low income country under subsection 

23 (a), the country shall be deemed to continue to meet 

24 the per capita income requirements under subsection 


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1 (b) for such fiscal year and the two subsequent fiscal 

2 years.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE COMPACT. 

4 (a) CONCURRENT COMPACTS.—Section 609 of the 

5 Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7708) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by striking the first sentence of subsection 

8 (k); 

9 (2) by redesignating subsection (k) (as so 

10 amended) as subsection (l); and 

11 (3) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol12 lowing new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(k) CONCURRENT COMPACTS.—An eligible country 

14 that has entered into and has in effect a Compact under 

15 this section may enter into and have in effect at the same 

16 time not more than one additional Compact in accordance 

17 with the requirements of this title if— 

18 ‘‘(1) one or both of the Compacts are or will be 

19 for purposes of regional economic integration, in20 creased regional trade, or cross-border collabora21 tions; and 

22 ‘‘(2) the Board determines that the country is 

23 making considerable and demonstrable progress in 

24 implementing the terms of the existing Compact and 

25 supplementary agreements thereto.’’. 


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1 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub2 section (a) apply with respect to Compacts entered into 

3 between the United States and an eligible country under 

4 the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 before, on, or after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

7 613(b)(2)(A) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 7712(b)(2)(A)) is 

8 amended by striking ‘‘the’’ before ‘‘Compact’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘any’’. 

10 SEC. 5. CONGRESSIONAL AND PUBLIC NOTIFICATION. 

11 Section 610 of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 

12 (22 U.S.C. 7709) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 610. CONGRESSIONAL AND PUBLIC NOTIFICATION. 

14 ‘‘(a) CONGRESSIONAL CONSULTATIONS AND NOTIFI15 CATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board, acting through 

17 the Chief Executive Officer, shall consult with and 

18 notify the appropriate congressional committees not 

19 later than 15 days prior to taking any of the actions 

20 described in paragraph (2). 

21 ‘‘(2) ACTIONS DESCRIBED.—The actions de22 scribed in this paragraph are the following: 

23 ‘‘(A) Providing assistance for an eligible 

24 country under section 609(g). 


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1 ‘‘(B) Commencing negotiations with an eli2 gible country to provide assistance for— 

3 ‘‘(i) a Compact under section 605; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) an agreement under section 616. 

5 ‘‘(C) Signing such a Compact or agree6 ment. 

7 ‘‘(D) Terminating assistance under such a 

8 Compact or agreement. 

9 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—Any notifi10 cation relating to the intent to negotiate and intent 

11 to sign a Compact or agreement shall include the 

12 projected economic rate of return for each project to 

13 be funded under such a Compact or agreement to 

14 the extent practicable and appropriate. 

15 ‘‘(b) CONGRESSIONAL AND PUBLIC NOTIFICATION

16 AFTER ENTERING INTO A COMPACT.—Not later than 10 

17 days after entering into a Compact with an eligible coun18 try, the Board, acting through the Chief Executive Officer, 

19 shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) publish a copy of the text of the Compact 

21 on the Internet website of the Corporation; 

22 ‘‘(2) provide a detailed summary and, upon re23 quest, copy of the text of the Compact to the appro24 priate congressional committees; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) publish in the Federal Register a detailed 

2 summary and notice of availability of the text of the 

3 Compact on the Internet website of the Corpora4 tion.’’. 

5 SEC. 6. DISCLOSURE. 

6 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR TIMELY DISCLOSURE.—Sec7 tion 612(a) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 

8 U.S.C. 7711(a)) is amended— 

9 (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting 

10 ‘‘TIMELY’’ before ‘‘DISCLOSURE’’; and 

11 (2) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘The Corporation’’ and in13 serting ‘‘Not later than 90 days after the last 

14 day of each fiscal quarter, the Corporation’’; 

15 and 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘on at least a quarterly 

17 basis,’’. 

18 (b) DISSEMINATION.—Section 612 of the Millennium 

19 Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7711) is amended by 

20 striking (b) and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(b) DISSEMINATION.—The Board, acting through 

22 the Chief Executive Officer, shall make the information 

23 required to be disclosed under subsection (a) available to 

24 the public by publishing it on the Internet website of the 

25 Corporation, providing notice of the availability of such 


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1 information in the Federal Register, and by any other 

2 methods that the Board determines to be appropriate.’’. 

Æ 


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