I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6231 

To amend the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 to further enhance the 

promotion of exports of United States goods and services, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2010 

Ms. GIFFORDS (for herself and Mr. MANZULLO) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 to further 

enhance the promotion of exports of United States goods 

and services, 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 ‘‘American Jobs 

5 Through Exports Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) increased exports are essential to renewed 

2 and sustained economic growth in the United States 

3 and increased employment of American workers; 

4 (2) all major trading nations conduct export 

5 promotion activities on behalf of their nations’ ex6 porters, with some activities that are more effective 

7 than United States programs, according to the Gov8 ernment Accountability Office (GAO); 

9 (3) increased United States exports and jobs 

10 can be achieved through more effective use of exist11 ing resources, rather than additional funds or per12 sonnel for existing programs; 

13 (4) the Congress appropriates in excess of 

14 $1,300,000,000 each year for export promotion pro15 grams to 18 Federal agencies; 

16 (5) repeated GAO reports indicate that export 

17 promotion programs would be more effective with 

18 improved coordination, elimination of duplicative ac19 tivities, and better allocation of resources; 

20 (6) Congress established the Trade Promotion 

21 Coordinating Committee (TPCC) in 1992 to coordi22 nate export promotion programs, but repeated GAO 

23 assessments are that the TPCC would be more effec24 tive with greater authority over budgetary alloca25 tions and program functions; and 


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1 (7) increased United States exports require a 

2 coordinated effort by United States diplomats and 

3 export promotion officials to identify and overcome 

4 obstacles caused by foreign government policies, 

5 laws, and practices. 

6 SEC. 3. IMPROVED COORDINATION EXPORT PROMOTION 

7 ACTIVITIES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

8 Section 2312 of the Export Enhancement Act of 

9 1988 (relating to the Trade Promotion Coordinating Com10 mittee; 15 U.S.C. 4727) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (b)— 

12 (A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

13 after the semicolon; 

14 (B) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 

15 paragraph (7); and 

16 (C) by inserting after paragraph (5) the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(6) in making the assessments under para19 graph (5), review the proposed annual budget of 

20 each agency described in paragraph (5) before the 

21 agency submits that budget to the Office of Manage22 ment and Budget and the President for inclusion in 

23 the budget of the United States submitted to Con24 gress under section 1105(a) of title 31, United 

25 States Code; and’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (c)— 

2 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

3 through (6) as paragraphs (4) through (7), re4 spectively; and 

5 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(3) in conducting the review and developing 

8 the plan under paragraph (2), take into account rec9 ommendations from a representative number of 

10 United States exporters, in particular small busi11 nesses and medium-sized businesses, and representa12 tives of United States workers;’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(g) EXECUTIVE ORDER AND REGULATIONS.—The 

15 President shall issue an executive order and such regula16 tions as are necessary to provide the chairperson of the 

17 TPCC with the authority to ensure that the TPCC carries 

18 out each of its duties under subsection (b) and develops 

19 and implements the strategic plan under subsection (c). 

20 ‘‘(h) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘small 

21 business’ means a small business concern as defined under 

22 section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DEPLOYMENT OF U.S. COMMERCIAL 

2 SERVICE RESOURCES. 

3 Section 2301(c)(4) of the Export Enhancement Act 

4 of 1988 (relating to the United States and Foreign Com5 mercial Service; 15 U.S.C. 4721(c)(4)) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 

7 through (F) as subparagraphs (C) through (G), re8 spectively; 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘(4) FOREIGN OFFICES.—(A) 

10 The Secretary may’’ and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(4) FOREIGN OFFICES.—(A)(i) The Secretary 

12 shall conduct a global assessment of overseas mar13 kets to determine those with the greatest potential 

14 for increasing United States exports, and to redeploy 

15 the Commercial Service personnel and other re16 sources on the basis of the global assessment. 

17 ‘‘(ii) The assessment conducted under clause (i) 

18 shall take into account recommendations from a rep19 resented number of United States exporters, in par20 ticular small- and medium-sized businesses, and rep21 resentatives of United States workers. 

22 ‘‘(iii) Not later than 6 months after the date of 

23 enactment of the American Jobs Through Exports 

24 Act of 2010, the Secretary shall submit to Congress 

25 results of the global assessment conducted under 

26 clause (i) and a plan for redeployment of CommerVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:33 Oct 05, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6231.IH H6231

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1 cial Service personnel and other resources on the 

2 basis of the global assessment. 

3 ‘‘(iv) The Secretary shall conduct an assess4 ment and redeployment described in clause (i) not 

5 less than once in every 5-year period. 

6 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may’’; and 

7 (3) in subparagraph (F), as redesignated, by 

8 striking ‘‘is authorized, upon the request of the Sec9 retary, to provide’’ and inserting ‘‘shall, upon the re10 quest of the Secretary, provide’’. 

11 SEC. 5. STRENGTHENED U.S. COMMERCIAL DIPLOMACY IN 

12 SUPPORT OF U.S. EXPORTS. 

13 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.—Section 207(c) of the 

14 Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3927(c)) is 

15 amended— 

16 (1) by inserting before the period at the end the 

17 following: ‘‘, including through the development of a 

18 plan, drafted in consultation with the ambassador to 

19 such country, the Director General of the United 

20 States and Foreign Commercial Service, and the 

21 heads of other Federal departments and agencies 

22 with export promotion programs acting through the 

23 Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee, for effec24 tive diplomacy to remove or reduce obstacles to ex25 ports of United States goods and services’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new sen2 tence: ‘‘The chief of mission shall, prior to imple3 mentation of the plan required under this sub4 section, submit to the Secretary such plan for review 

5 by the Secretary.’’. 

6 (b) ASSESSMENTS AND PROMOTIONS.—Section 

7 603(a) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 

8 4003(a)) is amended, in the second sentence, by inserting 

9 before ‘‘and (with respect to’’ the following: ‘‘assessments 

10 (with respect to members of the Service with responsibil11 ities relating to economic affairs) of the effectiveness of 

12 efforts to promote the export of United States goods and 

13 services in accordance with a commercial diplomacy plan 

14 developed pursuant to section 207(c),’’. 

15 (c) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—Section 209(b) of the 

16 Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3929(b)) is 

17 amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

19 end; 

20 (2) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para21 graph (6); and 

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


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1 ‘‘(5) the effectiveness of commercial diplomacy 

2 relating to the promotion of exports of United States 

3 goods and services; and’’. 

Æ 


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