106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1993

AN ACT

To reauthorize the Overseas Private Investment

Corporation and the Trade and DevelopmentAgency, and for other purposes.
106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1993

AN ACT

To reauthorize the Overseas Private Investment Corporation

and the Trade and Development Agency, 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 ‘‘Export Enhancement

3 Act of 1999’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress makes the following findings:

6 (1) Since it began operations in 1971, the Over7 seas Private Investment Corporation (in this Act re8 ferred to as ‘‘OPIC’’) has sold investment services

9 and mobilized private sector resources to assist de10 veloping countries and emerging democracies in the

11 transition from nonmarket to market economies.

12 (2) In an era of declining Federal budgetary re13 sources, OPIC has consistently demonstrated an

14 ability to operate on a self-sustaining basis to sup15 port United States companies and promote economic

16 reform in emerging economies in Africa, the newly

17 independent states of the former Soviet Union,

18 Latin America, and the Caribbean.

19 (3) OPIC has played an important role in rein20 forcing United States foreign policy goals and in

21 strengthening the United States economy by cre22 ating jobs and promoting exports.

23 (4) Over the past 28 years, projects supported

24 by OPIC have generated over $58,000,000,000 in

25 United States exports, mobilized $121,000,000,000
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1 of United States private sector investment, and cre2 ated more than 237,000 United States jobs.

3 (5) OPIC has been run on a sound financial

4 basis with reserves totaling approximately

5 $3,300,000,000 and with an estimated net budget

6 contribution to the international affairs account of

7 some $204,000,000 in fiscal year 2000.

8 (6) OPIC has maintained a claims recovery rate

9 of 95 percent, settling 254 insurance claims for

10 $541,000,000 and recovering all but $29,000,000

11 since 1971.

12 (7) OPIC programs have served to rectify mar13 ket failures, including limited market information in

14 developing countries and underdeveloped capital

15 markets, by insuring United States firms against

16 economic and market uncertainties.

17 (8) The Trade and Development Agency (in

18 this Act referred to as ‘‘TDA’’) promotes United

19 States business involvement in infrastructure

20 projects in developing and middle income countries.

21 (9) TDA has generated $12,300,000,000 in ex22 ports since its inception, with every $1 in spending

23 for TDA projects leading to the sale of $32 in

24 United States goods and services overseas.
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1 (10) The United States and Foreign Commer2 cial Service (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commer3 cial Service’’) plays an important role in helping

4 United States businesses identify export opportuni5 ties and develop reliable sources of information on

6 commercial prospects in foreign countries.

7 (11) The Congress has, on several occasions,

8 encouraged the Commercial Service to focus its re9 sources and efforts in countries or regions in Europe

10 and Asia to promote greater United States export

11 activity in those markets.

12 (12) The Congress supports the expansion of

13 the Rural Export Initiative by the International

14 Trade Administration (in this Act referred to as the

15 ‘‘ITA’’) of the Department of Commerce, particu16 larly those elements related to the use of information

17 technology and electronic commerce techniques.

18 (13) The Congress is encouraged by the success

19 of the Market Access and Compliance Unit of the

20 ITA and supports the Unit’s efforts to develop mo21 bile teams to resolve market access problems and en22 sure compliance by United States trading partners

23 with trade agreements and commitments.

24 (14) The Congress acknowledges the demands

25 upon the Market Access and Compliance Unit of the
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1 ITA and recommends that priority be given to fund2 ing for this unit to ensure that adequate resources

3 are available for it to fully implement its mission.

4 SEC. 3. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS.

5 The Congress makes the following declarations:

6 (1) OPIC should set its fees at levels sufficient

7 to cover all operating costs, repay any subsidy ap8 propriations, and set aside adequate reserves against

9 future losses.

10 (2) OPIC should maintain a conservative ratio

11 of reserves to contingent liabilities and limit its obli12 gations in any one country in its worldwide finance

13 or insurance portfolio.

14 (3) Projects supported by OPIC should not dis15 place commercial finance or insurance offerings and

16 should encourage private sector financing and insur17 ance participation.

18 (4) Independent auditors should report annually

19 to the Congress on the level of OPIC’s reserves in

20 relation to its liabilities and provide an analysis of

21 the trends in the levels of reserves and liabilities and

22 the composition of its insurance and finance port23 folios, including OPIC’s investment funds.

24 (5) OPIC should double the dollar value of its

25 support for small businesses over the next 4 years.
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1 (6) In administering the programs and activi2 ties of the ITA, the Secretary of Commerce should

3 give particular emphasis to obtaining market access

4 for United States firms and to securing full compli5 ance with bilateral and multilateral trade agree6 ments.

7 (7) The ITA should facilitate the entrance of

8 United States businesses into the countries of sub9 Saharan Africa and Latin America.

10 (8) The Commercial Service, within the ITA,

11 should consider expanding its presence in urban

12 areas and in urban enterprise areas.

13 (9) OPIC must address concerns that it does

14 not promptly dispose of legitimate claims brought

15 with respect to projects insured or guaranteed by

16 OPIC. The Congress understands the desire of

17 OPIC to explore all possible arrangements with for18 eign parties. However, OPIC must be aware that

19 private parties with legitimate claims face financial

20 obligations that cannot be deferred indefinitely.

21 SEC. 4. OPIC ISSUING AUTHORITY.

22 Section 235(a)(2) of the Foreign Assistance Act of

23 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2195(a)(3)) is amended by striking

24 ‘‘1999’’ and inserting ‘‘2003’’.
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1 SEC. 5. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF OPIC PROGRAMS.

2 (a) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—Section 231A of

3 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2191a)

4 is amended—

5 (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub6 section (c);

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol8 lowing new subsection:

9 ‘‘(b) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.—

10 ‘‘(1) ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OR

11 AUDIT.—The Board of Directors of the Corporation

12 shall not vote in favor of any action proposed to be

13 taken by the Corporation that is likely to have sig14 nificant adverse environmental impacts that are sen15 sitive, diverse, or unprecedented, unless for at least

16 60 days before the date of the vote—

17 ‘‘(A) an environmental impact assessment

18 or initial environmental audit, analyzing the en19 vironmental impacts of the proposed action and

20 of alternatives to the proposed action has been

21 completed by the project applicant and made

22 available to the Board of Directors; and

23 ‘‘(B) such assessment or audit has been

24 made available to the public of the United

25 States, locally affected groups in the host coun-
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1 try, and host country nongovernmental organi2 zations.

3 ‘‘(2) DISCUSSIONS WITH BOARD MEMBERS.—

4 Prior to any decision by the Corporation regarding

5 insurance, reinsurance, guarantees, or financing for

6 any project, the President of the Corporation or the

7 President’s designee shall meet with at least one

8 member of the public who is representative of indi9 viduals who have concerns regarding any significant

10 adverse environmental impact of that project.

11 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION AT BOARD MEETINGS.—

12 In making its decisions regarding insurance, reinsur13 ance, guarantees, or financing for any project, the

14 Board of Directors shall fully take into account any

15 recommendations made by other interested Federal

16 agencies, interested members of the public, locally

17 affected groups in the host country, and host coun18 try nongovernmental organizations with respect to

19 the assessment or audit described in paragraph (1)

20 or any other matter related to the environmental ef21 fects of the proposed support to be provided by the

22 Corporation for the project.’’; and

23 (3) in subsection (c), as so redesignated, by

24 striking ‘‘each year’’ and inserting ‘‘every 6

25 months’’.
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1 (b) STUDY ON PROCESS FOR OPIC ASSISTANCE.—

2 The Inspector General of the Agency for International De3 velopment shall review OPIC’s procedures for undertaking

4 to conduct financing, insurance, and reinsurance oper5 ations in order to determine whether OPIC receives suffi6 cient information from project applicants, agencies of the

7 United States Government, and members of the public of

8 the United States and other countries on the environ9 mental impact of investments insured, reinsured, or fi10 nanced by OPIC. Not later than 120 days after the date

11 of the enactment of this Act, the Inspector General shall

12 report to the Committee on International Relations of the

13 House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign

14 Relations of the Senate on the results of its review. The

15 report shall include—

16 (1) recommendations for ways in which the

17 views of the public could be better reflected in

18 OPIC’s procedures;

19 (2) recommendations for what additional infor20 mation should be required of project applicants; and

21 (3) recommendations for environmental stand22 ards that should be used by OPIC in conducting its

23 financing, insurance, and reinsurance operations.
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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

2 subsection (a) shall take effect 90 days after the date of

3 the enactment of this Act.

4 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON OPIC FUNDING FOR FOREIGN

5 MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES.

6 Section 231 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

7 (21 U.S.C. 2191) is amended by adding at the end the

8 following flush sentence:

9 ‘‘In addition, the Corporation shall decline to issue any

10 contract of insurance or reinsurance, or any guaranty, or

11 to enter into any agreement to provide financing for an

12 eligible investor’s investment if the investment is to be

13 made in a manufacturing enterprise in a foreign country,

14 if such investment would cause a reduction in manufac15 turing in the United States.’’.

16 SEC. 7. REVIEW OF CLAIMS PROCESSING FOR OPIC.

17 The General Accounting Office is requested to pro18 vide a report not later than 6 months after the date of

19 the enactment of this Act to the Committee on Inter20 national Relations of the House of Representatives and

21 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, which

22 reviews the claims activity of the Overseas Private Invest23 ment Corporation. The report shall include—

24 (1) an analysis of claims paid, settled and de25 nied by OPIC;
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1 (2) the number of claims determinations made

2 by OPIC which are challenged in arbitration;

3 (3) the number of OPIC’s claims denials which

4 are reversed in arbitration;

5 (4) the number of claims which are withdrawn;

6 and

7 (5) recommendations for ways in which the in8 terests of OPIC insureds and the public could be

9 better served by OPIC’s claims procedures.

10 SEC. 8. RESTRICTION ON CONTACTS RELATING TO OPIC

11 CLAIMS SETTLEMENTS.

12 (a) PUBLICATION OF FEDERAL AGENCY INTERVEN13 TIONS.—Section 237(i) of the Foreign Assistance Act of

14 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2197(i)) is amended—

15 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(i)’’; and

16 (2) by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(2) No other department or agency of the United

18 States, or officer or employee thereof, may intervene with

19 the intent to impede or delay in any pending settlement

20 determination on any claim arising as a result of insur21 ance, reinsurance, or guaranty operations under this title

22 or under predecessor guaranty authority unless such inter23 vention is published in the Federal Register.

24 ‘‘(3) The Corporation shall report to the Congress on

25 any intervention, with the intent to impede to delay a set-
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1 tlement determination by any other department or agency

2 of the United States, or officer or employee thereof, re3 garding the timing or settlement of any claim arising as

4 a result of insurance, reinsurance, or guaranty operations

5 under this title or under predecessor guaranty authority.

6 The report shall be submitted within 30 days after the

7 intervention is made.’’.

8 SEC. 9. TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY.

9 (a) PURPOSE.—Section 661(a) of the Foreign Assist10 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2421(a)) is amended by in11 serting before the period at the end of the second sentence

12 the following: ‘‘, with special emphasis on economic sectors

13 with significant United States export potential, such as

14 energy, transportation, telecommunications, and environ15 ment’’.

16 (b) CONTRIBUTIONS OF COSTS.—Section 661(b) of

17 the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2421(b))

18 is amended by adding at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(5) CONTRIBUTIONS TO COSTS.—The Trade

20 and Development Agency shall, to the maximum ex21 tent practicable, require corporations and other enti22 ties to—

23 ‘‘(A) share the costs of feasibility studies

24 and other project planning services funded

25 under this section; and
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1 ‘‘(B) reimburse the Trade and Develop2 ment Agency those funds provided under this

3 section, if the corporation or entity concerned

4 succeeds in project implementation.’’.

5 (c) FUNDING.—Section 661(f) of the Foreign Assist6 ance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2421(f)) is amended—

7 (1) in paragraph (1)(A) by striking

8 ‘‘$77,000,000’’ and all that follows through ‘‘1996’’

9 and inserting ‘‘$48,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

10 such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal year

11 thereafter’’; and

12 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘in fiscal

13 years’’ and all that follows through ‘‘provides’’ and

14 inserting ‘‘in carrying out its program, provide, as

15 appropriate, funds’’.

16 SEC. 10. PROGRAMS OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE AD17 MINISTRATION.

18 (a) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be appro19 priated to the ITA—

20 (1) for fiscal year 2000, $24,000,000 for its

21 Market Access and Compliance program,

22 $68,000,000 for its Trade Development program,

23 and $202,000,000 for the Commercial Service pro24 gram; and
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1 (2) for each fiscal year thereafter, such sums as

2 may be necessary for the programs referred to in

3 paragraph (1).

4 (b) APPOINTMENTS.—Subject to the availability of

5 appropriations, the Secretary of Commerce, acting

6 through the Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Direc7 tor General of the United States and Foreign Commercial

8 Service, shall take steps to ensure that Commercial Serv9 ice employees are stationed in no fewer than 10 sub-Saha10 ran African countries and one full-time Commercial Serv11 ice employee is stationed in the Baltic states, and that

12 the Commercial Service has full-time employees in each

13 country in South and Central America and an adequate

14 number of employees in the Caribbean to ensure that

15 United States businesses are made aware of existing mar16 ket opportunities for goods and services.

17 (c) INITIATIVE FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AND

18 LATIN AMERICA.—The Secretary of Commerce, acting

19 through the Undersecretary of Commerce for the Inter20 national Trade Administration, shall make a special effort

21 to—

22 (1) identify those goods and services of United

23 States companies which are not being exported to

24 Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa but which
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1 are being exported to countries in those regions by

2 competitor nations;

3 (2) identify trade barriers and noncompetitive

4 actions, including violations of intellectual property

5 rights, that are preventing or hindering the oper6 ation of United States companies in sub-Saharan

7 Africa and Latin America;

8 (3) publish on an annual basis the information

9 obtained under paragraphs (1) and (2);

10 (4) bring such information to the attention of

11 authorities in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin Amer12 ica with the goal of securing greater market access

13 for United States exporters of goods and services;

14 and

15 (5) report to the Speaker of the House of Rep16 resentatives and the President of the Senate the re17 sults of the efforts to increase the sales of United

18 States goods and services in sub-Saharan Africa and

19 Latin America.

20 (d) REPORTS ON MARKET ACCESS.—

21 (1) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than March

22 30 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and

23 annually thereafter, the TPCC should submit to the

24 Congress, and make available to the public, a report

25 with respect to those countries selected by the TPCC
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1 in which goods or services produced or originating in

2 the United States, that would otherwise be competi3 tive in those countries, do not have market access.

4 Each report should contain the following with re5 spect to each such country:

6 (A) ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL MARKET

7 ACCESS.—An assessment of the opportunities

8 that would, but for the lack of market access,

9 be available in the market in that country, for

10 goods and services produced or originating in

11 the United States in those sectors selected by

12 the TPCC. In making such assessment, the

13 TPCC should consider the competitive position

14 of such goods and services in similarly devel15 oped markets in other countries. Such assess16 ment should specify the time periods within

17 which such market access opportunities should

18 reasonably be expected to be obtained.

19 (B) CRITERIA FOR MEASURING MARKET

20 ACCESS.—Objective criteria for measuring the

21 extent to which those market access opportuni22 ties described in subparagraph (A) have been

23 obtained. The development of such objective cri24 teria may include the use of interim objective
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1 criteria to measure results on a periodic basis,

2 as appropriate.

3 (C) COMPLIANCE WITH TRADE AGREE4 MENTS.—An assessment of whether, and to

5 what extent, the country concerned has materi6 ally complied with existing trade agreements be7 tween the United States and that country. Such

8 assessment should include specific information

9 on the extent to which United States suppliers

10 have achieved additional access to the market in

11 the country concerned and the extent to which

12 that country has complied with other commit13 ments under such agreements and under14 standings.

15 (D) ACTIONS TAKEN BY ITA.—An identi16 fication of steps taken by the USTR and ITA

17 on behalf of United States companies affected

18 by the lack of market access in that country.

19 (2) SELECTION OF COUNTRIES AND SECTORS.—

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—In selecting countries

21 and sectors that are to be the subject of a re22 port under paragraph (1), the USTR and ITA

23 should give priority to—

24 (i) any country with which the United

25 States has a trade deficit if access to the
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1 markets in that country is likely to have

2 significant potential to increase exports of

3 United States goods and services; and

4 (ii) any country, and sectors therein,

5 in which access to the markets will result

6 in significant employment benefits for pro7 ducers of United States goods and services.

8 The USTR and ITA should also give priority to

9 sectors which represent critical technologies, in10 cluding those identified by the National Critical

11 Technologies Panel under section 603 of the

12 National Science and Technology Policy, Orga13 nization, and Priorities Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C.

14 6683).

15 (B) FIRST REPORT.—The first report sub16 mitted under paragraph (1) should include

17 those countries with which the United States

18 has a substantial portion of its trade deficit.

19 (C) TRADE SURPLUS COUNTRIES.—The

20 TPCC may include in reports after the first re21 port such countries as the USTR and ITA con22 siders appropriate with which the United States

23 has a trade surplus but which are otherwise de24 scribed in paragraph (1) and subparagraph (A)

25 of this paragraph.
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1 (e) GLOBAL DIVERSITY AND URBAN EXPORT INITIA2 TIVE FOR THE ITA.—The ITA shall undertake an initia3 tive entitled the ‘‘Global Diversity and Urban Export Ini4 tiative’’ to increase exports from businesses that, because

5 of their minority ownership, may have been excluded from

6 export trade, and from businesses in under-served areas,

7 including inner-city urban areas and urban enterprise

8 zones. The initiative should use electronic commerce tech9 nology and products as another means of helping such

10 businesses export overseas.

11 (f) STANDARDS ATTACHES.—Subject to the avail12 ability of appropriations, the International Trade Admin13 istration shall take the necessary steps to increase the

14 number of standards attaches in the European Union and

15 in developing countries.

16 (g) EXPANSION OF PROGRAMS TO ASSIST SMALL

17 BUSINESSES.—The International Trade Administration

18 shall expand its efforts to assist small businesses in ex19 porting their products and services abroad by using elec20 tronic commerce technology and other electronic means—

21 (1) to communicate with significantly larger

22 numbers of small businesses about the assistance of23 fered by the ITA to small businesses in exporting

24 their products and services abroad; and

25 (2) to provide such assistance.
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1 (h) AUTHORIZATION FOR ADVERTISING.—The ITA is

2 authorized to advertise in newspapers, business journals,

3 and other relevant publications and related media to in4 form businesses about the services offered by the ITA.

5 SEC. 11. BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

6 Section 233(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

7 (22 U.S.C. 2193(b)) is amended—

8 (1) by striking the second and third sentences;

9 (2) in the fourth sentence by striking ‘‘(other

10 than the President of the Corporation, appointed

11 pursuant to subsection (c) who shall serve as a Di12 rector, ex officio)’’;

13 (3) in the second undesignated paragraph—

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘the President of the Cor15 poration, the Administrator of the Agency for

16 International Development, the United States

17 Trade Representative, and’’ after ‘‘including’’;

18 and

19 (B) by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘The United States Trade Representative may

21 designate a Deputy United States Trade Rep22 resentative to serve on the Board in place of the

23 United States Trade Representative.’’; and

24 (4) by inserting after the second undesignated

25 paragraph the following:
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1 ‘‘There shall be a Chairman and a Vice Chairman

2 of the Board, both of whom shall be designated by the

3 President of the United States from among the Directors

4 of the Board other than those appointed under the second

5 sentence of the first paragraph of this subsection.’’.

6 SEC. 12. STRATEGIC EXPORT PLAN.

7 Section 2312(c) of the Export Enhancement Act of

8 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727(c)) is amended—

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

10 (5);

11 (2) by striking the period at the end of para12 graph (6) and inserting a semicolon; and

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

14 ‘‘(7) ensure that all export promotion activities

15 of the Agency for International Development are

16 fully coordinated and consistent with those of other

17 agencies;

18 ‘‘(8) identify means for providing more coordi19 nated and comprehensive export promotion services

20 to, and on behalf of, small and medium-sized busi21 nesses; and

22 ‘‘(9) establish a set of priorities to promote

23 United States exports to, and free market reforms

24 in, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and

25 other emerging markets, that are designed to stimu-
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1 late job growth both in the United States and those

2 regions and emerging markets.’’.

3 SEC. 13. IMPLEMENTATION OF PRIMARY OBJECTIVES.

4 The Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee

5 shall—

6 (1) report on the actions taken or efforts cur7 rently underway to eliminate the areas of overlap

8 and duplication identified among Federal export pro9 motion activities;

10 (2) coordinate efforts to sponsor or promote

11 any trade show or trade fair;

12 (3) work with all relevant State and national

13 organizations, including the National Governors’ As14 sociation, that have established trade promotion of15 fices;

16 (4) report on actions taken or efforts currently

17 underway to promote better coordination between

18 State, Federal, and private sector export promotion

19 activities, including co-location, cost sharing between

20 Federal, State, and private sector export promotion

21 programs, and sharing of market research data; and

22 (5) by not later than March 30, 2000, and an23 nually thereafter, include the matters addressed in

24 paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4) in the annual re25 port required to be submitted under section 2312(f)
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1 of the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C.

2 4727(f)).

3 SEC. 14. TIMING OF TPCC REPORTS.

4 Section 2312(f) of the Export Enhancement Act of

5 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4727(f)) is amended by striking ‘‘Sep6 tember 30, 1995, and annually thereafter,’’ and inserting

7 ‘‘March 30 of each year,’’.

Passed the House of Representatives October 13,

1999.

Attest:

Clerk.