I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4368 
To authorize the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, to enhance the United 
States-Caribbean security partnership, to prioritize natural disaster resil-
ience, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 14, 2025 
Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself and Ms. SALAZAR) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To authorize the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, to en-
hance the United States-Caribbean security partnership, 
to prioritize natural disaster resilience, 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 ‘‘Caribbean Basin Secu-
rity Initiative Authorization Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 
and the Committee on Appropriations of the 
Senate; and 
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 
the Committee on Appropriations of the House 
of Representatives. 
(2) BENEFICIARY COUNTRIES.—The term ‘‘ben-
eficiary countries’’ means— 
(A) Antigua and Barbuda; 
(B) the Bahamas; 
(C) Barbados; 
(D) Dominica; 
(E) the Dominican Republic; 
(F) Grenada; 
(G) Guyana; 
(H) Jamaica; 
(I) Saint Lucia; 
(J) Saint Kitts and Nevis; 
(K) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; 
(L) Suriname; and 
(M) Trinidad and Tobago. 
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SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR THE CARIBBEAN BASIN SECU-
RITY INITIATIVE. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION FOR THE CARIBBEAN BASIN SE-
CURITY INITIATIVE.—The Secretary of State and the Ad-
ministrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development may carry out an initiative, to be known as 
the ‘‘Caribbean Basin Security Initiative’’, in beneficiary 
countries to achieve the purposes described in subsection 
(b). 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes described in this sub-
section are the following: 
(1) To promote citizen safety, security, and the 
rule of law in the Caribbean through increased stra-
tegic engagement with— 
(A) the governments of beneficiary coun-
tries; and 
(B) elements of local civil society, including 
the private sector, in such countries. 
(2) To counter transnational criminal organiza-
tions and local gangs in beneficiary countries, in-
cluding through— 
(A) maritime and aerial security coopera-
tion, including— 
(i) assistance to strengthen capabili-
ties of maritime and aerial interdiction op-
erations in the Caribbean; and 
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(ii) the provision of support systems 
and equipment, training, and maintenance; 
(B) cooperation on border and port secu-
rity, including support to strengthen capacity 
for screening and intercepting narcotics, weap-
ons, bulk cash, and other contraband at air-
ports and seaports; and 
(C) capacity building and the provision of 
equipment and support for operations tar-
geting— 
(i) the finances and illegal activities of 
such organizations and gangs; and 
(ii) the recruitment by such organiza-
tions and gangs of at-risk youth. 
(3) To advance law enforcement and justice sec-
tor capacity building and rule of law initiatives in 
beneficiary countries, including by— 
(A) strengthening special prosecutorial of-
fices and providing technical assistance— 
(i) to combat— 
(I) corruption; 
(II) money laundering; 
(III) human, firearms, and wild-
life trafficking; 
(IV) human smuggling; 
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(V) financial crimes; and 
(VI) extortion; and 
(ii) to conduct asset forfeitures and 
criminal analysis; 
(B) supporting training for civilian police 
and appropriate security services in criminal in-
vestigations, best practices for citizen security, 
and the protection of human rights; 
(C) supporting capacity building for law 
enforcement and military units, including 
professionalization, anti-corruption and human 
rights training, vetting, and community-based 
policing; 
(D) supporting justice sector reform and 
strengthening of the rule of law, including— 
(i) capacity building for prosecutors, 
judges, and other justice officials; and 
(ii) support to increase the efficacy of 
criminal courts; and 
(E) 
strengthening 
cybersecurity 
and 
cybercrime 
cooperation, 
including 
capacity 
building and support for cybersecurity systems. 
(4) To promote crime prevention efforts in ben-
eficiary countries, particularly among at-risk youth 
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and 
other 
vulnerable 
populations, 
including 
through— 
(A) improving community and law enforce-
ment cooperation to improve the effectiveness 
and professionalism of police and increase mu-
tual trust; 
(B) increasing economic opportunities for 
at-risk youth and vulnerable populations, in-
cluding through workforce development training 
and remedial education programs for at-risk 
youth; 
(C) improving juvenile justice sectors 
through regulatory reforms, separating youth 
from traditional prison systems, and improving 
support and services in juvenile detention cen-
ters; and 
(D) the provision of assistance to popu-
lations vulnerable to being victims of extortion 
and crime by criminal networks. 
(5) To strengthen the ability of the security 
sector in beneficiary countries to respond to and be-
come more resilient in the face of natural disasters, 
including by— 
(A) carrying out training exercises to en-
sure critical infrastructure and ports are able to 
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come back online rapidly following natural dis-
asters; and 
(B) providing preparedness training to po-
lice and first responders. 
(6) To prioritize efforts to combat corruption 
and include anti-corruption components in programs 
in beneficiary countries, including by— 
(A) building the capacity of national jus-
tice systems and attorneys general to prosecute 
and try acts of corruption; 
(B) increasing the capacity of national law 
enforcement services to carry out anti-corrup-
tion investigations; and 
(C) encouraging cooperative agreements 
among the Department of State, other relevant 
Federal departments and agencies, and the at-
torneys general of relevant countries. 
(7) To promote the rule of law in beneficiary 
countries and counter malign influence from authori-
tarian regimes, including China, Russia, Iran, Ven-
ezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, by— 
(A) monitoring security assistance from 
such authoritarian regimes and taking steps 
necessary to ensure that such assistance does 
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not undermine or jeopardize United States se-
curity assistance; 
(B) evaluating and, as appropriate, re-
stricting the involvement of the United States 
in investment and infrastructure projects fi-
nanced by authoritarian regimes that might ob-
struct or otherwise impact United States secu-
rity assistance to beneficiary countries; 
(C) monitoring and restricting equipment 
and support from high-risk vendors of tele-
communications infrastructure in beneficiary 
countries; 
(D) countering disinformation by pro-
moting transparency and accountability from 
beneficiary countries; and 
(E) eliminating corruption linked to invest-
ment and infrastructure facilitated by authori-
tarian regimes through support for investment 
screening, competitive tendering and bidding 
processes, the implementation of investment 
law, and contractual transparency. 
(8) To support the effective branding and mes-
saging of United States security assistance and co-
operation in beneficiary countries, including by de-
veloping and implementing a public diplomacy strat-
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egy for informing citizens of beneficiary countries 
about the benefits to their respective countries of 
United States security assistance and cooperation 
programs. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State 
and the United States Agency for International Develop-
ment $88,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 
2029 to carry out the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative 
to achieve the purposes described in subsection (b). 
SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 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 appropriate congressional committees an implemen-
tation plan that includes a timeline and stated objectives 
for actions to be taken in beneficiary countries with re-
spect to the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The implementation plan required 
by subsection (a) shall include the following elements: 
(1) A multi-year strategy with a timeline, over-
view of objectives, and anticipated outcomes for the 
region and for each beneficiary country, with respect 
to each purpose described in section 3. 
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(2) Specific, measurable benchmarks to track 
the progress of the Caribbean Basin Security Initia-
tive toward accomplishing the outcomes included 
under paragraph (1). 
(3) A plan for the delineation of the roles to be 
carried out by the Department of State, the United 
States Agency for International Development, the 
Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, 
and any other Federal department or agency in car-
rying out the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, to 
prevent overlap and unintended competition between 
activities and resources. 
(4) A plan to coordinate and track all activities 
carried out under the Caribbean Basin Security Ini-
tiative among all relevant Federal departments and 
agencies, in accordance with the publication require-
ments described in section 4 of the Foreign Aid 
Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016 (22 
U.S.C. 2394c). 
(5) A description of the process for co-locating 
projects of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative 
funded by the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development and the Bureau of Inter-
national Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of 
the Department of State to ensure that crime pre-
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