I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2064
To reauthorize the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 25, 1997
Mr. MANZULLO (for himself, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. HAMILTON,
Mr. BEREUTER, Mr. ARCHER, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. BER-
MAN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. BRYANT, Mr. CALLAHAN,
Mr. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. DREIER, Mr. ENGLISH of Penn-
sylvania, Mr. EWING, Mr. FAZIO of California, Mr. FILNER, Mr.
HASTERT, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mrs. KENNELLY
of Connecticut, Mr. KOLBE, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. LIVING-
STON, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr.
SHERMAN, Mr. SKIMKUS, and Mr. TORRES) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on International Relations
A BILL
To reauthorize the Overseas Private Investment Corporation,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Jobs and Exports Re-
newal Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) since it began operations in 1971, the Over-
seas Private Investment Corporation (hereinafter in
this Act referred to as ‘‘OPIC’’) has mobilized pri-
vate sector resources to assist developing countries
and emerging democracies in the transition from
nonmarket to market economies;
(2) in an era of declining federal budgetary re-
sources, OPIC has consistently demonstrated an
ability to operate on a self-sustaining basis to sup-
port United States companies and promote economic
reform in emerging economies in Africa, the newly
independent states of the former Soviet Union,
Latin America, and the Caribbean;
(3) OPIC has played an important role in rein-
forcing United States foreign policy goals and in
strengthening the United States economy by creat-
ing jobs and promoting exports;
(4) over the past 25 years, projects supported
by OPIC have generated over $52,000,000,000 in
United States exports and created more than
225,000 United States jobs;
(5) OPIC has been run on a sound financial
basis 
with 
reserves 
totaling 
approximately
$2,700,000,000 and with earnings reaching a record
$209,000,000 in 1996;
(6) OPIC has maintained a claims recovery rate
of 98 percent, settling 258 insurance claims for
$519,000,000 and recovering all but $11,000,000;
(7) all 26 members of the Organization of Eco-
nomic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have
organizations similar to OPIC; and
(8) OPIC programs have served to rectify mar-
ket failures, including limited market information in
developing countries and underdeveloped capital
markets, by insuring United States firms against
economic and market uncertainties.
SEC. 3. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS.
The Congress makes the following declarations:
(1) OPIC should set its fees at levels sufficient
to cover all operating costs, repay any subsidy ap-
propriations, and set aside adequate reserves against
future losses.
(2) OPIC should maintain a conservative ratio
of reserves to contingent liabilities and limit its obli-
gations in any one country in its worldwide finance
or insurance portfolio.
(3) Projects supported by OPIC should not dis-
place commercial finance or insurance offerings and
should encourage private sector financing and insur-
ance participation.
(4) Independent auditors should report annually
to the Congress on the level of OPIC’s reserves in
relation to its liabilities and provide an analysis of
the trends in the levels of reserves and liabilities and
the composition of its insurance and finance port-
folios.
(5) It is appropriate that the President des-
ignate an Inspector General to have jurisdiction over
OPIC.
(6) The Secretary of State should provide guid-
ance to OPIC on any applicable human rights stand-
ards governing the provision of OPIC assistance.
(7) OPIC should—
(A) ensure that its activities are conducted
in a way that ensures protection of the environ-
ment and natural resources consistent with its
obligations under relevant statutes and Execu-
tive orders; and
(B) develop transparency and public par-
ticipation guidelines as part of its policies to
implement obligations relating to protection of
the environment and natural resources, includ-
ing conducting environmental assessments, and
to ensure that adequate information is provided
to the public and to the Congress on the imple-
mentation of these obligations.
(8) The President should—
(A) initiate discussions with other coun-
tries providing financing, insurance, or reinsur-
ance programs similar or equivalent to those of-
fered by OPIC with the goal of concluding an
arrangement under the auspices of the Organi-
zation for Economic Cooperation and Develop-
ment that would provide greater transparency,
better notification, and maximum common
terms for all such financing and insurance pro-
grams; and
(B) report annually on the progress made
toward achieving such an arrangement.
SEC. 4. ISSUING AUTHORITY.
Section 235(a)(3) of the Foreign Assistance Act of
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2195(a)(3)) is amended by striking
‘‘1997’’ and inserting ‘‘1999’’.
SEC. 5. CEILING ON INVESTMENT INSURANCE.
Section 235(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
(22 U.S.C. 2195(a)) is amended—
(1) by striking paragraph (1) and all that fol-
lows through the end of subparagraph (A) of para-
graph (2) and inserting the following:
‘‘(1) MAXIMUM CONTINGENT LIABILITY.—The
maximum contingent liability outstanding at any one
time pursuant to insurance issued under section
234(a) and financing issued under subsections (b)
and 
(c) 
of 
section 
234 
shall 
not 
exceed
$29,000,000,000 in the aggregate.’’; and
(2) by striking ‘‘(B) Subject’’ and inserting
‘‘(2) SUBSIDY COST.—Subject’’.
SEC. 6. LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNTS OBLIGATED FOR
PROJECTS.
Section 234 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
(22 U.S.C. 2194) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(h) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNTS OBLIGATED FOR
PROJECTS.—No loan, financial guarantee, or insurance
commitment in an amount exceeding $200,000,000 ap-
proved by the Corporation should be effective unless in
each case the Corporation has submitted to the Congress,
with respect to such loan, financial guarantee, or insur-
ance commitment, a detailed statement describing and ex-
plaining the transaction, at least 35 calendar days before
the date on which the loan, financial guarantee, or insur-
ance commitment becomes effective.’’.
SEC. 7. EXPORT PROMOTION COMMISSION.
(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to
establish for a 1-year period a Commission on Foreign Ex-
port and Investment Promotion to assess the impact on
United States economic and foreign policy interests of
Federal Government agencies and programs which pro-
mote foreign export and investment opportunities for
United States business concerns.
(b) COMPOSITION OF THE COMMISSION.—
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—To carry out the pur-
poses of this section, there is established a Commis-
sion on Foreign Export and Investment Promotion
(in this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).
(2) COMPOSITION.—The Commission shall be
composed of 12 members, as follows:
(A) Four members shall be appointed by
the President, of whom two shall be appointed
from the executive branch of the Government
and two shall be appointed from private life.
(B) Two members shall be appointed by
the majority leader of the Senate, of whom one
shall be a Member of the Senate and one shall
be appointed from private life.