I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4961 

To provide for the establishment of the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 25, 2010 

Ms. CLARKE (for herself, Mr. MEEKS of New York, Ms. FUDGE, and Mr. 

MEEK of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of the Haitian-American 

Enterprise Fund. 

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 ‘‘Haitian Private Sector 

5 Encouragement Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are to promote— 

8 (1) development of the Haitian private sector, 

9 including small business, the agriculture sector, and 


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1 joint ventures with the United States and host coun2 try participants, and 

3 (2) policies and practices conducive to private 

4 sector development in Haiti, 

5 through loans, grants, equity investments, feasibility stud6 ies, technical assistance, training, insurance, guarantees, 

7 and other measures. 

8 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF HAITIAN-AMERICAN ENTERPRISE 

9 FUND. 

10 (a) DESIGNATION.—The President is authorized to 

11 designate one private, nonprofit organization established 

12 under State law as eligible to receive funds and support 

13 under this Act upon a determination by the President that 

14 the organization has been established for the purposes de15 scribed in section 2. For purposes of this Act, the organi16 zation so designated shall be referred to as the ‘‘Haitian17 American Enterprise Fund’’. 

18 (b) CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESS.—Before desig19 nating an organization under subsection (a), the President 

20 shall consult with— 

21 (1) the majority leader and minority leader of 

22 the Senate; and 

23 (2) the Speaker and minority leader of the 

24 House of Representatives. 


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1 (c) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—Except to the ex2 tent inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, para3 graphs (3) through (5) of section 201(d) of the Support 

4 for East European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 (22 

5 U.S.C. 5421(d)) shall apply to the Haitian-American En6 terprise Fund to the same extent and in the same manner 

7 as such paragraphs apply to the Polish-American Enter8 prise Fund, the Hungarian-American Enterprise Fund, 

9 the Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund, and 

10 other similarly situated enterprise funds established by the 

11 United States Government. 

12 SEC. 4. GRANT TO HAITIAN-AMERICAN ENTERPRISE FUND. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting through the 

14 Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter15 national Development, shall, from amounts appropriated 

16 pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under sec17 tion 7, provide a grant to the Haitian-American Enter18 prise Fund, which shall be used to— 

19 (1) carry out the purposes described in section 

20 2, including to promote the policies and practices de21 scribed in subsection (b); and 

22 (2) pay the administrative expenses of the En23 terprise Fund. 

24 (b) POLICIES AND PRACTICES.—The policies and 

25 practices referred to in subsection (a)(1) are policies and 


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1 practices conducive to the development of private property 

2 rights for the citizens of Haiti, particularly Haitian citi3 zens of limited economic means, through integration of ex4 tralegal property arrangements employed by some Haitian 

5 citizens into comprehensive modern property recordation 

6 systems that fix the economic potential of assets, integrate 

7 disperse ownership information into one system, hold citi8 zens accountable, make assets fungible, connect citizens 

9 to one another, and protect the integrity of commercial 

10 transactions. 

11 (c) OVERSIGHT.—The Administrator of the United 

12 States Agency for International Development shall mon13 itor the activities of the Haitian-American Enterprise 

14 Fund. 

15 SEC. 5. TREATMENT EQUIVALENT TO OTHER ENTERPRISE 

16 FUNDS; CONSULTATION WITH OTHER ENTER17 PRISE FUNDS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except to the extent inconsistent 

19 with the provisions of this Act, subsections (f) through (p) 

20 of section 201 of the Support for East European Democ21 racy (SEED) Act of 1989 (22 U.S.C. 5421) shall apply 

22 to the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund to the same ex23 tent and in the same manner as such subsections apply 

24 to the Polish-American Enterprise Fund, the Hungarian25 American Enterprise Fund, the Southern Africa EnterVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:49 Mar 29, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4961.IH H4961

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1 prise Development Fund, and other similarly situated en2 terprise funds established by the United States Govern3 ment. 

4 (b) CONSULTATION WITH OTHER ENTERPRISE

5 FUNDS.—The Haitian-American Enterprise Fund may 

6 consult extensively with other similarly situated enterprise 

7 funds established by the United States Government in 

8 order to seek out best practices relating to the start-up 

9 phase and other ongoing business matters of the Enter10 prise Fund. 

11 SEC. 6. HAITIAN-AMERICAN ECONOMIC OVERSIGHT PANEL. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President is authorized 

13 to establish the Haitian-American Economic Oversight 

14 Panel (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Oversight 

15 Panel’’). 

16 (b) DUTIES.—The Oversight Panel shall monitor the 

17 activities of the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund and 

18 all other economic development initiatives of the United 

19 States for Haiti. 

20 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Oversight Panel shall consist 

21 of individuals appointed by the President after consulta22 tion with Congress, from among United States citizens 

23 who are not officers or employees of any government and 

24 who have demonstrated concern and commitment to the 

25 economic development of Haiti. 


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1 (d) REPORT.—The Oversight Panel shall submit to 

2 Congress and the President an annual report on imple3 mentation of the Oversight Panel’s duties for the pre4 ceding year, including a detailed description of incidents 

5 of waste, fraud, and abuse relating to economic develop6 ment initiatives of the United States for Haiti. 

7 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec8 tion shall be construed to affect the authorities of the Hai9 tian-American Enterprise Fund. 

10 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro12 priated to the President to carry out this Act 

13 $240,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 

14 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant 

15 to the authorization of appropriations under subsection (a) 

16 are authorized to remain available until expended. 

17 (c) NONAPPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.—Notwith18 standing any other provision of law, amounts appropriated 

19 pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under sub20 section (a) may be expended by the Haitian-American En21 terprise Fund for the purposes of this Act. 

Æ 


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