106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1152

AN ACT

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to

Caucasus and Central Asia.litical independence of the countries of the Southtarget assistance to support the economic and po-
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1152

AN ACT

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to target

assistance to support the economic and political independence of the countries of the South Caucasus and

Central Asia.

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 ‘‘Silk Road Strategy

3 Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress makes the following findings:

6 (1) The ancient Silk Road, once the economic

7 lifeline of Central Asia and the South Caucasus, tra8 versed much of the territory now within the coun9 tries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakstan,

10 Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and

11 Uzbekistan.

12 (2) Economic interdependence spurred mutual

13 cooperation among the peoples along the Silk Road

14 and restoration of the historic relationships and eco15 nomic ties between those peoples is an important ele16 ment of ensuring their sovereignty as well as the

17 success of democratic and market reforms.

18 (3) The development of strong political, eco19 nomic, and security ties among countries of the

20 South Caucasus and Central Asia and the West will

21 foster stability in this region, which is vulnerable to

22 political and economic pressures from the south,

23 north, and east.

24 (4) The development of open market economies

25 and open democratic systems in the countries of the

26 South Caucasus and Central Asia will provide posi-
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1 tive incentives for international private investment,

2 increased trade, and other forms of commercial

3 interactions with the rest of the world.

4 (5) Many of the countries of the South

5 Caucasus have secular Muslim governments that are

6 seeking closer alliance with the United States and

7 that have active and cordial diplomatic relations with

8 Israel.

9 (6) The region of the South Caucasus and Cen10 tral Asia could produce oil and gas in sufficient

11 quantities to reduce the dependence of the United

12 States on energy from the volatile Persian Gulf re13 gion.

14 (7) United States foreign policy and inter15 national assistance should be narrowly targeted to

16 support the economic and political independence as

17 well as democracy building, free market policies,

18 human rights, and regional economic integration of

19 the countries of the South Caucasus and Central

20 Asia.

21 SEC. 3. POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.

22 It shall be the policy of the United States in the coun23 tries of the South Caucasus and Central Asia—
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1 (1) to promote and strengthen independence,

2 sovereignty, democratic government, and respect for

3 human rights;

4 (2) to promote tolerance, pluralism, and under5 standing and counter racism and anti-Semitism;

6 (3) to assist actively in the resolution of re7 gional conflicts and to facilitate the removal of im8 pediments to cross-border commerce;

9 (4) to promote friendly relations and economic

10 cooperation;

11 (5) to help promote market-oriented principles

12 and practices;

13 (6) to assist in the development of the infra14 structure necessary for communications, transpor15 tation, education, health, and energy and trade on

16 an East-West axis in order to build strong inter17 national relations and commerce between those

18 countries and the stable, democratic, and market19 oriented countries of the Euro-Atlantic Community;

20 and

21 (7) to support United States business interests

22 and investments in the region.
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1 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES EFFORTS TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS

2 IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS AND CENTRAL

3 ASIA.

4 It is the sense of the Congress that the President

5 should use all diplomatic means practicable, including the

6 engagement of senior United States Government officials,

7 to press for an equitable, fair, and permanent resolution

8 to the conflicts in the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

9 SEC. 5. AMENDMENT TO THE FOREIGN ASSISTANCE ACT OF

10 1961.

11 Part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22

12 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

13 the following new chapter:

14 ‘‘CHAPTER 12—SUPPORT FOR THE ECO15 NOMIC AND POLITICAL INDEPEND16 ENCE OF THE COUNTRIES OF THE

17 SOUTH CAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

18 ‘‘SEC. 499. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE REC19 ONCILIATION AND RECOVERY FROM RE20 GIONAL CONFLICTS.

21 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE OF ASSISTANCE.—The purposes of as22 sistance under this section include—

23 ‘‘(1) the creation of the basis for reconciliation

24 between belligerents in the countries of the South

25 Caucasus and Central Asia;
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1 ‘‘(2) the promotion of economic development in

2 areas of the countries of the South Caucasus and

3 Central Asia impacted by civil conflict and war; and

4 ‘‘(3) the encouragement of broad regional co5 operation among countries of the South Caucasus

6 and Central Asia that have been destabilized by in7 ternal conflicts.

8 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION FOR ASSISTANCE.—

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the purposes

10 of subsection (a), the President is authorized to pro11 vide humanitarian assistance and economic recon12 struction assistance for the countries of the South

13 Caucasus and Central Asia to support the activities

14 described in subsection (c).

15 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION OF HUMANITARIAN ASSIST16 ANCE.—In this subsection, the term ‘humanitarian

17 assistance’ means assistance to meet humanitarian

18 needs, including needs for food, medicine, medical

19 supplies and equipment, education, and clothing.

20 ‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Activities that may

21 be supported by assistance under subsection (b) include—

22 ‘‘(1) providing for the humanitarian needs of

23 victims of the conflicts;

24 ‘‘(2) facilitating the return of refugees and in25 ternally displaced persons to their homes; and
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1 ‘‘(3) assisting in the reconstruction of residen2 tial and economic infrastructure destroyed by war.

3 ‘‘(d) POLICY.—It is the sense of the Congress that

4 the United States should, where appropriate, support the

5 establishment of neutral, multinational peacekeeping

6 forces to implement peace agreements reached between

7 belligerents in the countries of the South Caucasus and

8 Central Asia.

9 ‘‘SEC. 499A. ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE.

10 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE OF ASSISTANCE.—The purpose of as11 sistance under this section is to foster economic growth

12 and development, including the conditions necessary for

13 regional economic cooperation, among the countries of the

14 South Caucasus and Central Asia.

15 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION FOR ASSISTANCE.—To carry

16 out the purpose of subsection (a), the President is author17 ized to provide assistance for the countries of the South

18 Caucasus and Central Asia to support the activities de19 scribed in subsection (c).

20 ‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—In addition to the ac21 tivities described in section 498, activities supported by

22 assistance under subsection (b) should support the devel23 opment of the structures and means necessary for the

24 growth of private sector economies based upon market

25 principles.
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1 ‘‘(d) POLICY.—It is the sense of the Congress that

2 the United States should—

3 ‘‘(1) assist the countries of the South Caucasus

4 and Central Asia to develop policies, laws, and regu5 lations that would facilitate the ability of those coun6 tries to develop free market economies and to join

7 the World Trade Organization to enjoy all the bene8 fits of membership; and

9 ‘‘(2) consider the establishment of zero-to-zero

10 tariffs between the United States and the countries

11 of the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

12 ‘‘SEC. 499B. DEVELOPMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE.

13 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE OF PROGRAMS.—The purposes of pro14 grams under this section include—

15 ‘‘(1) to develop the physical infrastructure nec16 essary for regional cooperation among the countries

17 of the South Caucasus and Central Asia; and

18 ‘‘(2) to encourage closer economic relations and

19 to facilitate the removal of impediments to cross-bor20 der commerce among those countries and the United

21 States and other developed nations.

22 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION FOR PROGRAMS.—To carry out

23 the purposes of subsection (a), the following types of pro24 grams for the countries of the South Caucasus and Cen-
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1 tral Asia may be used to support the activities described

2 in subsection (c):

3 ‘‘(1) Activities by the Export-Import Bank of

4 the United States to complete the review process for

5 eligibility for financing under the Export-Import

6 Bank Act of 1945.

7 ‘‘(2) The provision of insurance, reinsurance, fi8 nancing, or other assistance by the Overseas Private

9 Investment Corporation.

10 ‘‘(3) Assistance under section 661 of this Act

11 (relating to the Trade and Development Agency).

12 ‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Activities that may

13 be supported by programs under subsection (b) include

14 promoting actively the participation of United States com15 panies and investors in the planning, financing, and con16 struction of infrastructure for communications, transpor17 tation, including air transportation, and energy and trade,

18 including highways, railroads, port facilities, shipping,

19 banking, insurance, telecommunications networks, and gas

20 and oil pipelines.

21 ‘‘(d) POLICY.—It is the sense of the Congress that

22 the United States representatives at the International

23 Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter24 national Finance Corporation, and the European Bank for

25 Reconstruction and Development should encourage lend-
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1 ing to the countries of the South Caucasus and Central

2 Asia to assist the development of the physical infrastruc3 ture necessary for regional economic cooperation.

4 ‘‘SEC. 499C. BORDER CONTROL ASSISTANCE.

5 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE OF ASSISTANCE.—The purpose of as6 sistance under this section includes aiding the countries

7 of the South Caucasus and Central Asia to secure their

8 borders and implement effective controls necessary to pre9 vent the trafficking of illegal narcotics and the prolifera10 tion of technology and materials related to weapons of

11 mass destruction (as defined in section 2332a(c)(2) of title

12 18, United States Code), and to contain and inhibit

13 transnational organized criminal activities.

14 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION FOR ASSISTANCE.—To carry

15 out the purpose of subsection (a), the President is author16 ized to provide assistance to the countries of the South

17 Caucasus and Central Asia to support the activities de18 scribed in subsection (c).

19 ‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Activities that may

20 be supported by assistance under subsection (b) include

21 assisting those countries of the South Caucasus and Cen22 tral Asia in developing capabilities to maintain national

23 border guards, coast guard, and customs controls.

24 ‘‘(d) POLICY.—It is the sense of the Congress that

25 the United States should encourage and assist the develop-
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1 ment of regional military cooperation among the countries

2 of the South Caucasus and Central Asia through pro3 grams such as the Central Asian Battalion and the Part4 nership for Peace of the North Atlantic Treaty Organiza5 tion.

6 ‘‘SEC. 499D. STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY, TOLERANCE,

7 AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY.

8 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE OF ASSISTANCE.—The purpose of as9 sistance under this section is to promote institutions of

10 democratic government and to create the conditions for

11 the growth of pluralistic societies, including religious toler12 ance and respect for internationally recognized human

13 rights, in the countries of the South Caucasus and Central

14 Asia.

15 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION FOR ASSISTANCE.—To carry

16 out the purpose of subsection (a), the President is author17 ized to provide the following types of assistance to the

18 countries of the South Caucasus and Central Asia:

19 ‘‘(1) Assistance for democracy building, includ20 ing programs to strengthen parliamentary institu21 tions and practices.

22 ‘‘(2) Assistance for the development of non23 governmental organizations.

24 ‘‘(3) Assistance for development of independent

25 media.
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1 ‘‘(4) Assistance for the development of the rule

2 of law, a strong independent judiciary, and trans3 parency in political practice and commercial trans4 actions.

5 ‘‘(5) International exchanges and advanced pro6 fessional training programs in skill areas central to

7 the development of civil society.

8 ‘‘(6) Assistance to promote increased adherence

9 to civil and political rights under section 116(e) of

10 this Act.

11 ‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Activities that may

12 be supported by assistance under subsection (b) include

13 activities that are designed to advance progress toward the

14 development of democracy.

15 ‘‘(d) POLICY.—It is the sense of the Congress that

16 the Voice of America and RFE/RL, Incorporated, should

17 maintain high quality broadcasting for the maximum du18 ration possible in the native languages of the countries of

19 the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

20 ‘‘SEC. 499E. INELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE.

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

22 ‘‘(1) BASES FOR EXCLUSION.—Subject to para23 graph (2), and except as provided in subsection (b),

24 assistance may not be provided under this chapter

25 for the government of a country of the South
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1 Caucasus or Central Asia if the President deter2 mines and certifies to the appropriate congressional

3 committees that the government of such country—

4 ‘‘(A) is engaged in a consistent pattern of

5 gross violations of internationally recognized

6 human rights;

7 ‘‘(B) has, on or after the date of enact8 ment of this chapter, knowingly transferred to,

9 or knowingly allowed to be transferred through

10 the territory of such country to, another

11 country—

12 ‘‘(i) missiles or missile technology in13 consistent with the guidelines and param14 eters of the Missile Technology Control Re15 gime (as defined in section 11B(c) of the

16 Export Administration Act of 1979 (50

17 U.S.C. App. 2410b(c)); or

18 ‘‘(ii) any material, equipment, or tech19 nology that would contribute significantly

20 to the ability of such country to manufac21 ture any weapon of mass destruction (in22 cluding any nuclear, chemical, or biological

23 weapon) if the President determines that

24 the material, equipment, or technology was
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1 to be used by such country in the manufac2 ture of such weapons;

3 ‘‘(C) has repeatedly provided support for

4 acts of international terrorism;

5 ‘‘(D) is prohibited from receiving such as6 sistance by chapter 10 of the Arms Export Con7 trol Act or section 306(a)(1) and 307 of the

8 Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and

9 Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (22 U.S.C.

10 5604(a)(1), 5605); or

11 ‘‘(E) has not made significant progress to12 ward resolving trade disputes registered with

13 and raised by the United States embassy in

14 such country.

15 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATIONS PRIOR TO ELIGIBILITY.—

16 Assistance may not be provided under this chapter

17 to a country unless the President certifies to the ap18 propriate congressional committees that elections

19 held in that country are free and fair and are free

20 of substantial criticism by the Organization for Se21 curity and Cooperation in Europe and other appro22 priate international organizations.’’.

23 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS TO INELIGIBILITY.—

24 ‘‘(1) EXCEPTIONS.—Assistance prohibited by

25 subsection (a) or any similar provision of law, other
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1 than assistance prohibited by the provisions referred

2 to in subparagraphs (B) and (D) of subsection

3 (a)(1), may be furnished under any of the following

4 circumstances:

5 ‘‘(A) The President determines that fur6 nishing such assistance is important to the na7 tional interest of the United States.

8 ‘‘(B) The President determines that fur9 nishing such assistance will foster respect for

10 internationally recognized human rights and the

11 rule of law or the development of institutions of

12 democratic governance.

13 ‘‘(C) The assistance is furnished for the al14 leviation of suffering resulting from a natural

15 or man-made disaster.

16 ‘‘(D) The assistance is provided under the

17 secondary school exchange program adminis18 tered by the United States Information Agency.

19 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The President

20 shall immediately report to Congress any determina21 tion under paragraph (1) (A) or (B) or any decision

22 to provide assistance under paragraph (1)(C).

23 ‘‘SEC. 499F. ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITIES.

24 ‘‘(a) ASSISTANCE THROUGH GOVERNMENTS AND

25 NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS.—Assistance under
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1 this chapter may be provided to governments or through

2 nongovernmental organizations.

3 ‘‘(b) USE OF ECONOMIC SUPPORT FUNDS.—Except

4 as otherwise provided, any funds that have been allocated

5 under chapter 4 of part II for assistance for the inde6 pendent states of the former Soviet Union may be used

7 in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

8 ‘‘(c) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Assistance under

9 this chapter shall be provided on such terms and condi10 tions as the President may determine.

11 ‘‘(d) AVAILABLE AUTHORITIES.—The authority in

12 this chapter to provide assistance for the countries of the

13 South Caucasus and Central Asia is in addition to the au14 thority to provide such assistance under the FREEDOM

15 Support Act (22 U.S.C. 5801 et seq.) or any other Act,

16 and the authorities applicable to the provision of assist17 ance under chapter 11 may be used to provide assistance

18 under this chapter.

19 ‘‘SEC. 499G. DEFINITIONS.

20 ‘‘In this chapter:

21 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT22 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com23 mittees’ means the Committee on Foreign Relations

24 of the Senate and the Committee on International

25 Relations of the House of Representatives.
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1 ‘‘(2) COUNTRIES OF THE SOUTH CAUCASUS

2 AND CENTRAL ASIA.—The term ‘countries of the

3 South Caucasus and Central Asia’ means Armenia,

4 Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan,

5 Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.’’.

6 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT.

7 Section 104 of the FREEDOM Support Act (22

8 U.S.C. 5814) is amended—

9 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

10 (3);

11 (2) by striking the period at the end of para12 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

13 (3) by adding the following new paragraph:

14 ‘‘(5) with respect to the countries of the South

15 Caucasus and Central Asia—

16 ‘‘(A) identifying the progress of United

17 States foreign policy to accomplish the policy

18 identified in section 3 of the Silk Road Strategy

19 Act of 1999;

20 ‘‘(B) evaluating the degree to which the as21 sistance authorized by chapter 12 of part I of

22 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 has been

23 able to accomplish the purposes identified in

24 that chapter; and
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1 ‘‘(C) recommending any additional initia2 tives that should be undertaken by the United

3 States to implement the policy and purposes

4 contained in the Silk Road Strategy Act of

5 1999.’’.

6 SEC. 7. UNITED STATES-ISRAEL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

7 COOPERATION IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS

8 AND CENTRAL ASIA.

9 It is the sense of the Congress that the United States

10 should continue to provide assistance to the Centre for

11 International Cooperation (MASHAV) of the Ministry of

12 Foreign Affairs of Israel under the Cooperative Develop13 ment Program/Central Asian Republics (CDP/CAR) pro14 gram of the United States Agency for International Devel15 opment, for economic development activities in agri16 culture, health, and other relevant sectors, that are con17 sistent with the priorities of the Agency for International

18 Development in the countries of the South Caucasus and

19 Central Asia.

20 SEC. 8. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

21 Section 102(a) of the FREEDOM Support Act (Pub22 lic Law 102–511) is amended in paragraphs (2) and (4)

23 by striking each place it appears ‘‘this Act)’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘this Act and the Silk Road Strategy Act of 1999)’’.
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1 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT4 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com5 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Relations

6 of the Senate and the Committee on International

7 Relations of the House of Representatives.

8 (2) COUNTRIES OF THE SOUTH CAUCASUS AND

9 CENTRAL ASIA.—The term ‘‘countries of the South

10 Caucasus and Central Asia’’ means Armenia, Azer11 baijan, Georgia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,

12 Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Passed the House of Representatives August 2,

1999.

Attest:

Clerk.