I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5342

To establish a grant program to fund eligible joint ventures between United 

States and Israeli businesses and academic persons, to establish the 

International Energy Advisory Board, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 8, 2004

Mr. SHERMAN (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, and Mr. CARDOZA) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To establish a grant program to fund eligible joint ventures 

between United States and Israeli businesses and academic persons, to establish the International Energy Advisory Board, 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 ‘‘United States-Israel 

5 Energy Cooperation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) It is in the highest national security inter2 ests of the United States to ensure secure access to 

3 reliable energy sources. 

4 (2) The United States relies heavily upon the 

5 foreign supply of crude oil to meet its energy needs, 

6 currently importing 58 percent of its total oil re7 quirements, of which 45 percent comes from member 

8 states of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting 

9 Countries (OPEC). 

10 (3) Revenues from the sale of oil by some of 

11 these countries directly or indirectly provide funding 

12 for terrorism and propaganda hostile to the United 

13 States and Western values. 

14 (4) In the past, these countries have manipu15 lated the dependence of the United States on their 

16 oil supplies to exert undue influence upon United 

17 States policy, as during OPEC’s 1973 embargo on 

18 the sale of oil to the United States, which became 

19 a major factor in the ensuing recession. 

20 (5) Research by the Energy Information Ad21 ministration of the Department of Energy has 

22 shown that the dependence of the United States on 

23 foreign oil will increase by 33 percent over the next 

24 20 years. 
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1 (6) A rise in the price of imported oil sufficient 

2 to increase gasoline prices by 10 cents per gallon at 

3 the pump would result in an additional outflow of 18 

4 billion dollars from the United States to oil-export5 ing nations. 

6 (7) For economic and national security reasons, 

7 the United States should reduce, as soon as possible, 

8 its dependence on nations that do not share its in9 terests and values. 

10 (8) The state of Israel has been a steadfast ally 

11 and a close friend of the United States since its cre12 ation in 1948. 

13 (9) Like the United States, Israel is a democ14 racy which holds civil rights and liberties in the 

15 highest regard and is a proponent of the democratic 

16 values of peace, freedom, and justice. 

17 (10) Cooperation between the United Sates and 

18 Israel on such projects as the development of the 

19 Arrow Missile has resulted in mutual benefits to 

20 United States and Israeli security. 

21 (11) The special relationship between Israel and 

22 the United States has been and continues to be 

23 manifested in a variety of jointly-funded cooperative 

24 programs in the field of scientific research and de25 velopment, such as the United States-Israel Bina-
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1 tional Science Foundations (BSF), the United 

2 States-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and 

3 Development Fund (BARD), and the United States4 Israel Binational Industrial Research and Develop5 ment (BIRD) Foundation. 

6 (12) These programs, supported by the match7 ing contributions from the Government of Israel and 

8 the Government of the United States and directed 

9 by key scientists and academics from both countries, 

10 have made possible many scientific breakthroughs in 

11 the fields of life sciences, medicine, bioengineering, 

12 agriculture, biotechnology, communications, and oth13 ers. 

14 (13) Israeli scientists and researchers have long 

15 been at the forefront of research and development in 

16 the field of alternative renewable energy sources. 

17 (14) Many of the world’s top corporations have 

18 recognized Israel’s technological and scientific exper19 tise by locating important research and development 

20 facilities in Israel. 

21 (15) Among the technological breakthroughs 

22 made by Israeli scientists and researchers in the 

23 field of alternative, renewable energy sources are the 

24 development of a cathode that uses hexavalent iron 

25 salts which accept 3 electrons per ion and enable re-
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1 chargeable batteries to provide 3 times as much elec2 tricity as they currently do, the development of a 

3 technique that vastly increases the efficiency of uti4 lizing solar energy to generate hydrogen for use in 

5 energy cells, and the development of a novel mem6 brane utilized in new and powerful direct-oxidant 

7 fuel cells which is capable of competing favorably 

8 with hydrogen fuel cells and traditional internal 

9 combustion engines. 

10 (16) Cooperation between the United States 

11 and Israel in the field of research and development 

12 of alternative renewable energy sources would be in 

13 the interests of both countries, and both countries 

14 stand to gain much from such cooperation. 

15 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Assistant Secretary of 

17 Energy for Policy and International Affairs (hereafter re18 ferred to as the ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’) shall establish a 

19 grant program to award grants to eligible entities. 

20 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—For the purposes of this 

21 Act, ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a joint venture comprised of 

22 both Israeli and United States private business entities or 

23 a joint venture comprised of both Israeli academic persons 

24 (who reside and work in Israel) and United States aca25 demic persons, which—
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1 (1) carries out an eligible project; and 

2 (2) is selected by the BIRD or BSF using the 

3 criteria established by the International Energy Ad4 visory Board established under section 4. 

5 (c) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—For the purposes of this 

6 Act, ‘‘eligible project’’ means a project to encourage co7 operation between the United States and Israel on re8 search, development, and commercialization of alternative 

9 energy, improved energy efficiency, and renewable energy 

10 sources. 

11 (d) APPLICATION.—

12 (1) SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS TO BIRD OR

13 BSF.—To receive a grant under this section, an eli14 gible entity must submit an application to BIRD or 

15 BSF containing such information and assurances as 

16 the Directors of BIRD and BSF may require. 

17 (2) SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITIES BY BIRD

18 AND BSF.—The Directors of BIRD and BSF may 

19 review any application submitted by any eligible en20 tity and select any eligible entity meeting criteria es21 tablished by the Advisory Board for a grant under 

22 this section. 

23 (e) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of each grant 

24 to be awarded in a fiscal year under this section shall be 

25 determined by BIRD or BSF. 
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1 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after receiv2 ing a grant under this section, each recipient shall submit 

3 a report to the Assistant Secretary documenting how the 

4 recipient used the grant funds and evaluating the level of 

5 success of each project funded by the grant. 

6 SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL ENERGY ADVISORY BOARD. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

8 Department of Energy an International Energy Advisory 

9 Board (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘Advisory Board’’). 

10 (b) DUTIES.—The Advisory Board shall—

11 (1) establish criteria for the recipients of grants 

12 awarded under the grant program established in sec13 tion 3(a); and 

14 (2) determine the total amount of grant money 

15 to be awarded to all grantees selected by BIRD and 

16 the total amount of grant money to be awarded to 

17 all grantees selected by BSF for each fiscal year. 

18 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—

19 (1) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Advi20 sory Board shall be composed of 4 members as fol21 lows: 

22 (A) One member shall be appointed by the 

23 Secretary of Commerce. 

24 (B) One member shall be appointed by the 

25 Secretary of Energy. 
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1 (C) Two members shall be Israeli citizens 

2 and shall be appointed by the Secretary of En3 ergy after consultation with appropriate offi4 cials in the Israeli government. 

5 (2) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENTS.—The ap6 pointments under paragraph (1) shall be made be7 fore the expiration of the 60-day period which begins 

8 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

9 (3) TERM.—Each member shall be appointed 

10 for 4 years. 

11 (4) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Advisory 

12 Board shall be filled in the manner in which the 

13 original appointment was made. 

14 (5) BASIC PAY.—

15 (A) COMPENSATION.—Members shall serve 

16 without pay. 

17 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member 

18 shall receive travel expenses, including per diem 

19 in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with appli20 cable provisions under subchapter I of chapter 

21 57 of title 5, United States Code. 

22 (6) QUORUM.—3 members of the Advisory 

23 Board shall constitute a quorum. 
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1 (7) CHAIR.—The Chair shall be designated by 

2 the Secretary of Energy at the time of the appoint3 ment. 

4 (8) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at 

5 least once annually at the call of the Chair. 

6 (d) TERMINATION.—Section 14(a)(2)(B) of the Fed7 eral Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.; relating to 

8 the termination of advisory committees) shall not apply 

9 to the Advisory Board. 

10 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

12 this Act $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 and each suc13 ceeding fiscal year.

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