(C) the extent to which each partner coun-
try has demonstrated the ability to absorb the 
equipment or training provided in the year pre-
vious under TSCTP programs, and where appli-
cable, the ability to maintain and appropriately 
utilize such equipment provided; 
(D) the extent to which each partner coun-
try is investing its own resources to advance the 
goals described in subsection (a)(1) or dem-
onstrated a commitment and willingness to co-
operate with the United States to advance such 
goals; and 
(E) the actions taken by the government of 
each
partner
country
receiving
assistance 
through programs coordinated by the TSCTP 
to combat corruption, improve transparency 
and accountability, and promote other forms of 
good governance. 
(d) FORM.—The strategy required by subsection 
(b)(1) and the report required by subsection (c)(2) shall 
be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classi-
fied annex. 
(e) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres-
sional committees’’ means— 
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(1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on 
Appropriations, and the Permanent Select Com-
mittee on Intelligence of the House of Representa-
tives; and 
(2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 
Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 
Appropriations, and the Select Committee on Intel-
ligence of the Senate. 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trans-Sahara Counter-
terrorism Partnership Program Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) terrorist and violent extremist organizations, 
such as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Boko 
Haram, the Islamic State of West Africa, and other 
affiliated groups, have killed tens of thousands of in-
nocent civilians, displaced populations, destabilized 
local and national governments, and caused mass 
human suffering in the affected communities; 
(2) poor governance, political and economic 
marginalization, and lack of accountability for 
human rights abuses by security forces are drivers of 
extremism; 
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(3) it is in the national security interest of the 
United States to combat the spread of terrorism and 
violent extremism and build the capacity of partner 
countries to combat these threats in Africa; 
(4) terrorist and violent extremist organizations 
exploit vulnerable and marginalized communities suf-
fering from poverty, lack of economic opportunity 
(particularly among youth populations), corruption, 
and weak governance; and 
(5) a comprehensive, coordinated interagency ap-
proach is needed to develop an effective strategy to ad-
dress the security challenges in the Sahel-Maghreb, 
appropriately allocate resources, de-conflict programs, 
and maximize the effectiveness of United States de-
fense, diplomatic, and development capabilities. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States to assist countries 
in North and West Africa, and other allies and partners 
active in those regions, in combating terrorism and violent 
extremism through a coordinated interagency approach 
with a consistent strategy that appropriately balances secu-
rity activities with diplomatic and development efforts to 
address the political, socioeconomic, governance, and devel-
opment challenges in North and West Africa that contribute 
to terrorism and violent extremism. 
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SEC. 4. TRANS-SAHARA COUNTERTERRORISM PARTNER-
SHIP PROGRAM. 
(a) TRANS-SAHARA COUNTERTERRORISM PARTNER-
SHIP PROGRAM.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State, 
in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development, shall establish a partnership 
program, to be known as the ‘‘Trans-Sahara Counter-
terrorism Partnership (TSCTP) Program’’ to coordi-
nate all programs, projects, and activities of the 
United States Government in countries in North and 
West Africa that are conducted for any of the fol-
lowing purposes: 
(A) To improve governance and the capac-
ities of countries in North and West Africa to de-
liver basic services, particularly with at-risk 
communities, as a means of countering terrorism 
and violent extremism by enhancing state legit-
imacy and authority and countering corruption. 
(B) To address the factors that make people 
and communities vulnerable to recruitment by 
terrorist and violent extremist organizations, in-
cluding economic vulnerability and mistrust of 
government and government security forces, 
through activities such as— 
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(i) supporting strategies that increase 
youth employment opportunities; 
(ii) promoting girls’ education and 
women’s political participation; 
(iii) strengthening local governance 
and civil society capacity; 
(iv) 
improving 
government 
trans-
parency and accountability; 
(v) fighting corruption; 
(vi) improving access to economic op-
portunities; and 
(vii) other development activities nec-
essary to support community resilience. 
(C) To strengthen the rule of law in such 
countries, including by enhancing the capability 
of the judicial institutions to independently, 
transparently, and credibly deter, investigate, 
and prosecute acts of terrorism and violent extre-
mism. 
(D) To improve the ability of military and 
law enforcement entities in partner countries to 
detect, disrupt, respond to, and prosecute violent 
extremist and terrorist activity while respecting 
human rights, and to cooperate with the United 
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