Millennium Compacts for Regional Economic Integration Act

To amend the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 to authorize concurrent compacts for purposes of regional economic integration and cross-border collaborations, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Millennium Compacts for Regional Economic Integration Act M–CORE Act 2. Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) Over the last 50 years, economies around the world have experienced significant and sustained growth that has been fueled by support to regional infrastructure and integrated trade agreements. (2) Unfortunately, many countries and their economies are isolated and will require greater support to benefit from regional integration of markets, infrastructure, and trade promotion-type policies. (3) By connecting isolated economies around the world, there exists the potential to increase investment opportunities and support market-based growth. (4) Developing countries, international organizations, and regional economic bodies have increasingly realized that key drivers to economic growth must involve greater cross-border collaboration and regional economic integration. (5) The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) plays a unique role in economic development throughout the world and pursues its mission of reducing poverty through economic growth by making time-bound grant investments through data selectivity, country ownership, and a focus on results. (6) The MCC’s compacts have increased access to reliable power, built highway corridors, and improved business climates, thereby promoting economic growth and cross-border engagement within MCC partner countries. (7) The MCC’s extensive analysis has concluded that a regional approach to poverty reduction, under the right circumstances, can present opportunities to take advantage of higher rates of return on investment and larger scale reductions in poverty. (8) This increased flexibility would promote economic growth and cross-border engagement between and among countries, creating larger and more compatible markets and enabling the United States private sector to compete more effectively and partner with the host-country private sectors. (9) The MCC is developing new partnerships in Asia, including implementation of current compacts in Indonesia and the Philippines, new compacts for Mongolia and the Philippines, and MCC’s first-ever compact engagement in South Asia. (10) In Central America, the MCC’s work in road infrastructure could potentially have had an even greater impact had the roads connected across borders. (11) In Africa, neighboring countries could collaborate on a regional power pool, connect land locked countries to transport, or address other policy, institutional, and logistical issues that hamper trade. (12) To make a coordinated regional investment across several countries work, the Board of Directors of the MCC would need to select a block of countries at the same time to coordinate project development and compact signings, which is unrealistic, or be able to enter into a concurrent compact with one of those countries, for which it currently lacks authority. 3. Purpose The purpose of this Act is to expand the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s ability to develop compacts with countries, particularly in Africa, that promote regional economic integration and cross-border collaborations. 4. Millennium challenge compact (a) In general Section 609 of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 ( 22 U.S.C. 7708 (1) in subsection (k), by striking the first sentence; and (2) by adding after subsection (k) the following new subsection: (l) Concurrent compacts An eligible country and the United States that have entered into and have in effect a Compact under this section may enter into and have in effect at the same time not more than one additional Compact in accordance with the requirements of this title if— (1) one or both of the Compacts are or will be for purposes of regional economic integration, increased regional trade, or cross-border collaborations; and (2) the Board determines that the country is making considerable and demonstrable progress in implementing the terms of any existing Compacts and supplementary agreements thereto. . (b) Applicability The amendments made by subsection (a) apply with respect to Compacts entered into between the United States and an eligible country under the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 ( 22 U.S.C. 7701 et seq. (c) Conforming amendment Section 613(b)(2)(A) of such Act ( 22 U.S.C. 7712(b)(2)(A) the Compact any 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Millennium Compacts for Regional Economic Integration Act M-CORE Act 2. Purpose The purpose of this Act is to expand the Millennium Challenge Corporation's ability to develop compacts with countries, particularly in Africa, that promote regional economic integration and cross-border collaborations, and make other changes to the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 to promote the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s mission. 3. Millennium challenge compact (a) In general Section 609 of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 ( 22 U.S.C. 7708 (1) in subsection (k), by striking the first sentence; and (2) by adding after subsection (k) the following new subsection: (l) Concurrent Compacts An eligible country and the United States that have entered into and have in effect a Compact under this section may enter into and have in effect at the same time not more than one additional Compact in accordance with the requirements of this title if— (1) one or both of the Compacts are or will be for purposes of regional economic integration, increased regional trade, or cross-border collaborations; and (2) the Board determines that the country is making considerable and demonstrable progress in implementing the terms of any existing Compacts and supplementary agreements thereto. . (b) Applicability The amendments made by subsection (a) apply with respect to Compacts entered into between the United States and an eligible country under the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 ( 22 U.S.C. 7701 et seq. (c) Conforming amendment Section 613(b)(2)(A) of such Act ( 22 U.S.C. 7712(b)(2)(A) the Compact any Compact 4. Candidacy status Section 606(a)(2) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 ( 22 U.S.C. 7705 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and moving such clauses, as so redesignated, 2 ems to the right; (2) by striking fiscal years fiscal years (A) In general A country ; and (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: (B) Treatment of countries with per capita income changes A country qualifying for candidate status under this section with a per capita income that changes in the fiscal year such that the country would be reclassified from a low income country to a lower middle income country or from a lower middle income country to a low income country shall retain its candidacy status in its former income classification for such fiscal year and the two subsequent fiscal years. . 5. Carryover authority for private sector members of board of directors Section 604(c)(4)(B) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 ( 22 U.S.C. 7703(c)(4)(B) (1) by striking 3 years and may be 3 years, may be (2) by inserting , and may continue in each appointment to serve until his or her successor is appointed, but in no case more than one year after such appointment or reappointment, as the case may be, has expired an additional 2 years 6. Public notification of entering into a compact Section 610 of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 ( 22 U.S.C. 7709(b) (2) shall publish in the Federal Register a notice that such detailed summary and the text of the Compact is available on the Internet website of the Corporation and provide the address of the website. . 7. Restriction on the use of threshold program funds Subsection (d) of section 616 of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 ( 22 U.S.C. 7715 (d) Funding (1) Fiscal year 2004 Not more than 10 percent of the amount appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under section 619(a) for fiscal year 2004 is authorized to be made available to carry out this section. (2) Restriction relating to threshold programs None of the funds authorized to carry out the purposes of this Act shall be available for assistance under this section to a country that does not qualify as a candidate country under section 606 for the fiscal year when such assistance is provided. . 8. Additional reporting to the Board on the treatment of civil society in an eligible country Section 607 of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 ( 22 U.S.C. 7706 (1) in subsection (b)(1)— (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking ; and (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking the semicolon at the end and inserting ; and (C) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: (F) the quality of the civil society enabling environment; ; (2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and (3) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new subsection: (e) Reporting on treatment of civil society Before the Board selects an eligible country for a Compact under section 607(c), the Corporation shall provide to the Board information on the country’s treatment of civil society, including classified information when appropriate. The information shall include an assessment and analysis of factors such as— (1) any relevant laws governing the formation or establishment of a civil society organization, particularly laws intended to curb the activities of foreign civil society organizations; (2) any relevant laws governing the operations of a civil society organization, particularly those laws seeking to define or otherwise regulate the actions of foreign civil society organizations; (3) laws relating to the legal status of civil society organizations, including laws which effectively discriminate against foreign civil society organizations as compared to similarly situated domestic organizations; (4) laws regulating the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly; and (5) laws regulating the usage of the Internet generally and by foreign civil society organizations in particular. . 9. Study on subnational compacts (a) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Millennium Challenge Corporation shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a study assessing the feasibility and desirability of developing partnerships at the subnational level within candidate countries that would be complementary to, and, where applicable, concurrent with, any Millennium Challenge Corporation national-level or regional investments. (b) Content The study required under subsection (a) shall examine, at a minimum, the following issues: (1) The extent to which targeting investments at the subnational level might provide new opportunities for reducing poverty through economic growth. (2) The extent to which traditional approaches to defining poverty may not adequately capture the nature of poverty within a country. (3) What types of subnational entities might be appropriate partners for subnational Millennium Challenge Corporation compacts, how such candidates might best be identified, and what role each national government should play in creating or implementing a subnational partnership. (c) Appropriate congressional committees defined In this section, the term appropriate congressional committees (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives. June 28, 2016 Reported with an amendment

Summary: Millennium Compacts for Regional Economic Integration Act or the M-CORE Act (Sec. 3) This bill amends he Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 to provide that a country that is eligible for assistance under such Act and the United States may enter into and have in effect at the same time not more than one additional compact if: one or both of the compacts are or will be for purposes of regional economic integration, increased regional trade, or cross-border collaborations; and the country is making considerable and demonstrable progress in implementing the terms of any existing compacts. (Sec. 4) The bill provides that a country qualifying for candidate status as an eligible country with a per capita income that changes in the fiscal year such that the country would be reclassified from a low income country to a lower middle income country, or from a lower middle income country to a low income country, shall retain its candidacy status in its former income classification for such fiscal year and the two subsequent fiscal years. (Sec. 5) A member of the corporation's board who is not a federal officer may continue to serve in each initial or additional appointment for up to one year until his or her successor is appointed. (Sec. 6) The board, after entering into a compact, shall publish in the Federal Register a notice that the compact's summary and text are available on the corporation's Internet website and provide the website's address. (The board is currently required to publish a compact's summary and text in the Federal Register and on the corporation's Internet website.) (Sec. 7) The bill prohibits assistance for a country that does not qualify as a candidate country for the fiscal year when such assistance is provided. (A candidate country is a country that: (1) satisfies specified low income- and assistance-related requirements; and (2) demonstrates a significant commitment to, but fails to meet, specified political, economic, and social criteria.) (Sec. 8) Before the board selects an eligible country for a compact, the corporation shall provide the board with information on the country's treatment of civil society. (Sec. 9) The corporation shall submit a study within 180 days assessing the feasibility of developing partnerships at the subnational level within candidate countries that would be complementary to and concurrent with national or regional investments.