American Cooperation with Our Neighbors Act

Subjects: International Affairs, Border security and unlawful immigration, Caribbean area, Congressional oversight, Diplomacy, foreign officials, Americans abroad, Drug trafficking and controlled substances, International exchange and broadcasting, Internet, web applications, social media, Latin America, Law enforcement administration and funding, Mexico, Sanctions, Spacecraft and satellites, Telephone and wireless communication


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2789 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2789

 To direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy on efforts to 
   strengthen subnational cooperation between the United States and 
                    Mexico, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 20, 2023

 Mr. Stanton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy on efforts to 
   strengthen subnational cooperation between the United States and 
                    Mexico, and for other purposes.

    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 ``American Cooperation with Our 
Neighbors Act''.

SEC. 2. SUBNATIONAL COOPERATION STRATEGY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate a strategy on efforts to strengthen subnational cooperation 
between the United States and Mexico for the purposes of--
            (1) enhancing law enforcement cooperation at a subnational 
        level for the purpose of curbing fentanyl trafficking and other 
        synthetic opioids, including activities such as--
                    (A) bolstering technical assistance for law 
                enforcement agencies;
                    (B) carrying out exchange programs for the purposes 
                of professional development; and
                    (C) enhancing data sharing, as appropriate;
            (2) bolstering subnational dialogue between local 
        governments, civil society, faith-based organizations, and 
        business community leaders and integrating issues faced by 
        local communities, including with respect to trafficking of 
        fentanyl and other synthetic opioids; and
            (3) strengthening capacity building and provide resources 
        for border towns and organizations within those towns that 
        attempt to meet the needs of local communities.
    (b) Update.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
submission of the strategy under subsection (a), the President shall 
submit to the congressional committees specified in subsection (a) an 
update containing an assessment of the implementation and effectiveness 
of the strategy, lessons learned from the past year with respect to the 
strategy, and planned changes to the strategy.
    (c) Form.--The strategy under subsection (a), and the update under 
subsection (b), shall be submitted in unclassified form.

SEC. 3. LOW-EARTH ORBIT SATELLITE TECHNOLOGIES FEASIBILITY STUDY AND 
              REPORT.

    (a) Feasibility Study.--The Secretary of State, in consultation 
with the Secretary of Commerce, the Administrator of the United States 
Agency for International Development, the Director of the United States 
Trade and Development Agency, and the heads of other Federal agencies 
as appropriate, shall conduct a feasibility study for the countries of 
Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean on the possibility of low-
Earth orbit satellites, high altitude platforms systems, or other 
trusted space-based telecommunications technologies to--
            (1) provide broadband connection to remote areas that lack 
        access to network service;
            (2) provide mobile and internet services without the use of 
        untrusted telecommunications equipment or services; and
            (3) provide uncensored internet access to the people of 
        such countries the governments of which use firewalls to 
        prevent their populations from freely accessing information.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the completion of the 
feasibility study under subsection (a), the Secretary shall prepare and 
submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a 
report on the results of the feasibility study under subsection (a) 
that includes an analysis of the--
            (1) scalability of the implementation of the technologies 
        described in subsection (a);
            (2) economic viability of using space-based technologies to 
        reach remote areas, including the cost of space-enabled 
        broadband service per newly connected person;
            (3) feasibility of using such technologies to limit or 
        phase out the use of untrusted telecommunications equipment or 
        services; and
            (4) capability of satellite internet technologies to 
        provide uncensored internet to people in countries where open 
        internet access is forbidden or curtailed.

SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF STATE REVIEW OF ACCESS TO FINANCE IN THE 
              COUNTRIES OF THE CARIBBEAN.

    (a) Review.--The Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Treasury, shall conduct a review to determine any steps, 
balancing costs and benefits, that the Secretaries could take to expand 
financial access to the countries of the Caribbean, including through a 
review of--
            (1) sanctions enforcement laws and compliance standards;
            (2) reporting requirements pertaining to narcotics 
        trafficking and illicit finance thereof;
            (3) possible expansion of embassies and consulates in the 
        region; and
            (4) programming or lack thereof pertaining to access to 
        capital in the region.
    (b) Report.--The Secretary shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report on the findings of the Secretary 
pertaining to the review under subsection (a).
    (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
        Financial Services of the House of Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
        Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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