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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3202 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3202

      To promote the strengthening of the Haitian private sector.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 14, 2010

 Mr. Lugar (for himself and Mr. Leahy) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
      To promote the strengthening of the Haitian private sector.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Haitian-American Enterprise Fund 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on 
        January 12, 2010--
                    (A) was Haiti's worst natural catastrophe in 200 
                years;
                    (B) caused the deaths of more than 200,000 people;
                    (C) destroyed 105,000 homes, 50 hospitals and 
                health centers, and 1,300 school and university 
                buildings; and
                    (D) significantly damaged the Presidential Palace, 
                the National Assembly building, and most of the other 
                government buildings in the capital city of Port-au-
                Prince.
            (2) Even before the earthquake, Haiti was the poorest 
        country in the Western Hemisphere, with--
                    (A) 80 percent of the population living below the 
                poverty line;
                    (B) 54 percent of the population in abject poverty; 
                and
                    (C) more than \2/3\ of the labor force believed to 
                lack formal employment.
            (3) Although Haiti's per capita gross domestic product is 
        among the world's lowest, positive economic growth trends were 
        slowly emerging before the earthquake and Haiti was 1 of 2 
        Caribbean countries expected to experience positive economic 
        growth in 2009.
            (4) At a March 2010 meeting convened in Haiti by the Inter-
        American Development Bank and the United Nations, which brought 
        together Haitian government and private sector leaders to 
        discuss the country's most critical needs, meeting participants 
        agreed that 2 critical catalysts for creating potentially 
        hundreds of thousands of jobs are--
                    (A) modernizing Haitian policies and 
                infrastructure; and
                    (B) improving the flow of foreign private 
                investment into Haiti.
            (5) In section 201(b)(1) of the Support for East European 
        Democracy Act of 1989 (Public Law 101-279; 22 U.S.C. 5421), 
        Congress authorized USAID to provide a grant of $240,000,000 to 
        the Polish-American Enterprise Fund (referred to in this 
        section as the ``Polish Fund''), which was organized and 
        incorporated on April 27, 1990.
            (6) The Polish Fund--
                    (A) used the USAID grant to raise $2,300,000,000 in 
                private funds for investment in Poland; and
                    (B) used the reflows from the USAID grant to 
                establish the Polish-American Freedom Foundation, whose 
                endowment exceeds $250,000,000.
            (7) The success of the Polish Fund in attracting private 
        investment to Poland and in creating a legacy foundation from 
        its reflows represents a useful model for other Enterprise 
        Funds.
            (8) Enterprise Funds have enjoyed success in poorer and 
        less developed countries, such as Albania, where the Albanian-
        American Enterprise Fund played a pivotal role in helping to 
        develop the banking sector, privatizing and modernizing the 
        airport, and expanding access to international trade and 
        investment.
            (9) Enterprise Funds in Albania, the Baltic States, 
        Hungary, Poland, Russia, and other countries have created and 
        supported programs that have contributed to the growth of an 
        entrepreneurial middle class.
            (10) A professional and well-managed Haitian-American 
        Enterprise Fund, drawing upon the experience of members of the 
        Boards of Directors of prior Enterprise Funds, could achieve 
        similar success.
            (11) The programs run by the Enterprise Funds in other 
        countries, which could also be run in Haiti, include 
        microloans, carefully designed and monitored mortgage programs, 
        and small business loans that would create the infrastructure 
        and investment climate needed to begin to build an 
        entrepreneurial middle class in Haiti.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to promote the Haitian private sector, including small 
        businesses, the agricultural sector, and joint ventures with 
        United States and Haitian participants; and
            (2) to promote policies and practices conducive to the 
        private sector in Haiti through loans, grants, equity 
        investments, feasibility studies, technical assistance, 
        training, insurance, guarantees, and other measures.

SEC. 4. HAITIAN-AMERICAN ENTERPRISE FUND.

    (a) Designation.--The President is authorized to designate a 
private, nonprofit organization to receive funds and support made 
available under this Act after determining that such organization has 
been established for the purposes specified in section 3. The President 
should make such designation only after consultation with the 
leadership of each House of Congress. The organization designated under 
this subsection shall be known as the ``Haitian-American Enterprise 
Fund''.
    (b) Board of Directors.--
            (1) Appointment.--The Haitian-American Enterprise Fund 
        shall be governed by a Board of Directors, which shall be 
        comprised of 7 private citizens of the United States or Haiti, 
        appointed by the President, of which not more than 3 may be 
        citizens of Haiti or United States citizens of Haitian descent.
            (2) Qualifications.--Member of the Board of Directors shall 
        be selected from among people who have had successful business 
        careers in private equity, banking, or finance that is similar 
        to the experience of individuals who previously served on the 
        Board of Directors of a successful Enterprise Fund established 
        by the United States Government on or after January 1, 1990.
            (3) Additional board members.--Upon the recommendation of 
        the Board of Directors, the President may appoint up to 2 
        additional members to the Board (beyond the number of Directors 
        specified in paragraph (1)), of which not more than 1 may be a 
        citizen of Haiti or a United States citizen of Haitian descent.
    (c) Grants.--
            (1) In general.--Amounts appropriated to the President 
        pursuant to section 8 shall be granted to the Haitian-American 
        Enterprise Fund by the United States Agency for International 
        Development to enable the Fund to carry out the purposes 
        specified in section 3 and for the administrative expenses of 
        the Fund.
            (2) Eligible programs and projects.--Grants awarded under 
        this section may only be used for programs and projects that 
        support the purposes set forth in section 3.
            (3) Compliance requirement.--
                    (A) In general.--Grants may not be awarded to the 
                Haitian-American Enterprise Fund under this section 
                unless the Fund agrees to comply with the requirements 
                under this section.
                    (B) Grant agreement.--The grant agreement between 
                the United States Agency for International Development 
                (``USAID'') and the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund 
                shall state that the Fund shall liquidate its assets 
                and dissolve not later than December 31, 2020, unless 
                the USAID Administrator determines, after consultation 
                with the appropriate congressional committees, that the 
                Fund should be extended.
                    (C) Disposition of assets.--All assets of the 
                Haitian-American Enterprise Fund at the time the Fund 
                is dissolved shall be used by the Board of Directors to 
                organize and endow a follow-on United States-Haitian 
                legacy foundation.
    (d) Notification.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 15 days before designating 
        an organization to operate as the Haitian-American Enterprise 
        Fund pursuant to subsection (a), the President shall provide 
        the information described in paragraph (2) to the Chairman and 
        Ranking Member of the appropriate congressional committees.
            (2) Information.--The information described in this 
        paragraph is--
                    (A) the identity of the organization to be 
                designated to operate as the Haitian-American 
                Enterprise Fund pursuant to subsection (a); and
                    (B) the names and qualifications of the individuals 
                who will comprise the Initial Board.
    (e) Defined Term.--In this section, the term ``appropriate 
congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
            (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
            (3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (4) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives.

SEC. 5. OPERATION PROVISIONS.

    (a) Applicable Provisions.--Subsections (d)(5), (g), (h), (i), (k), 
(l), (m), (n), (o), and (p) of section 201 of the Support for East 
European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 (Public Law 101-179; 22 U.S.C. 
5421) shall apply with respect to the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund 
in the same manner as such provisions apply to Enterprise Funds 
designated pursuant to subsection (d) of such section.
    (b) Reinvestment.--Returns on investments of the Haitian-American 
Enterprise Fund and other payments to the Fund may be reinvested in 
projects carried out by the Fund without further appropriation by 
Congress.

SEC. 6. BEST PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES.

    To the maximum extent practicable, the Board of Directors of the 
Haitian-American Enterprise Fund should adopt the best practices and 
procedures used by Enterprise Funds, including those for which funding 
has been made available pursuant to section 201 of the Support for East 
European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 (Public Law 101-179; 22 U.S.C. 
5421).

SEC. 7. EXPERIENCE OF OTHER ENTERPRISE FUNDS.

    In implementing this Act, the President shall ensure that the 
Articles of Incorporation of the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund 
(including provisions specifying the responsibilities of the Board of 
Directors of the Fund), the terms of United States Government grant 
agreements with the Fund, and United States Government oversight of the 
Fund are, to the maximum extent practicable, consistent with the 
Articles of Incorporation of, the terms of grant agreements with, and 
the oversight of the Enterprise Funds established pursuant to section 
201 of the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989 (22 
U.S.C. 5421) and comparable provisions of law.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
President $100,000,000, which shall be used to provide funding for 
grants to the Haitian-American Enterprise Fund, which shall be used for 
the purposes specified in section 3.
    (b) Availability of Funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to 
subsection (a) shall remain available until expended.
    (c) Nonapplicability of Other Laws.--Amounts appropriated pursuant 
to subsection (a) may be used to carry out this Act notwithstanding any 
other provision of law.
                                 <all>
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