IV 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 699 
Welcoming African leaders to the first United States–Africa Leaders’ Summit 
and African trade ministers to the 13th Forum of the African Growth 
and Opportunity Act (AGOA). 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 31, 2014 
Mr. MEEKS (for himself, Mr. CAMP, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. NUNES, 
Mr. ROYCE, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. BASS, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BISHOP of Geor-
gia, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, 
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, 
Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of 
Illinois, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. AL 
GREEN of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. JACK-
SON LEE, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. 
LEWIS, Ms. MOORE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. 
RUSH, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SE-
WELL of Alabama, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. 
WATERS, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. YOUNG of Indiana, Mr. BOU-
STANY, Mr. LARSON
of Connecticut, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Mr. 
MCDERMOTT) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on 
Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Welcoming African leaders to the first United States–Africa 
Leaders’ Summit and African trade ministers to the 
13th Forum of the African Growth and Opportunity 
Act (AGOA). 
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•HRES 699 IH 
Whereas the United States Congress enacted the African 
Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2000, with 
broad bipartisan support and with a view to expanding 
growth and opportunity in Africa; 
Whereas in the original AGOA legislation, Congress encour-
aged the establishment of more regular high-level dia-
logues, including regular meetings by the President with 
his African counterparts; 
Whereas the people of Africa share the hopes and aspirations 
of the people of the United States for peace and pros-
perity, and are both committed to strengthening eco-
nomic relations; 
Whereas it is in the national interest of the United States to 
support the reduction of poverty in the continent of Afri-
ca; 
Whereas greater opportunities for mutually beneficial trade 
and investments promote economic growth, development, 
poverty reduction, democracy, the rule of law, and sta-
bility; 
Whereas good governance, including respecting constitutional 
term limits, human rights, and ensuring that civil society 
organizations are able to function freely contribute to en-
during economic and social development in Africa; 
Whereas the countries in Africa are important economic part-
ners of the United States; 
Whereas Africa has today 6 of the 10 fastest growing econo-
mies in the world, over 1,000,000,000 people, 60 percent 
of the world’s uncultivated agricultural land, and expand-
ing democracies; 
Whereas Africa is rich through the youth of its population, 
enjoying a demographic advantage over all other regions 
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•HRES 699 IH 
of the world, and is likely to replace China as the biggest 
contributor to the global workforce by 2050; 
Whereas it is in the economic interest of the United States 
to engage and compete in emerging African markets, 
boost United States-Africa trade and investment, support 
greater capacity building for Africa, and invest in Afri-
ca’s youth and leadership development; 
Whereas exports from sub-Saharan Africa to the United 
States under AGOA have increased over three-fold from 
$7,600,000,000 in 2001 to $24,800,000,000 in 2013; 
Whereas United States exports to sub-Saharan Africa have 
increased from $6,900,000,000 to $23,900,000,000 and 
United States investment in sub-Saharan Africa has in-
creased six-fold; 
Whereas per capita income in sub-Saharan Africa has more 
than tripled to $1,624 annually since Congress first 
passed AGOA, yet nearly half the population in sub-Sa-
haran Africa lives in poverty; 
Whereas timely renewal of AGOA, which expires September 
30, 2015, is critical to the maintenance and promotion of 
investment opportunities in the region; 
Whereas regional integration should be strengthened to im-
prove the full utilization of AGOA preferences, and elimi-
nation of barriers to trade and investment in Africa, such 
as high tariffs, forced localization requirements, restric-
tions on investment, and customs barriers, among others, 
will strengthen and improve regional and global integra-
tion; 
Whereas it remains the goal of United States policy to sup-
port the diversification of sub-Saharan exports in terms 
of products and countries that utilize AGOA; 
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•HRES 699 IH 
Whereas the members of the World Trade Organization 
(WTO) adopted several important Decisions and Declara-
tions in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2013, including the 
Agreement on Trade Facilitation and specific results on 
agriculture and development, with the protocol of amend-
ment for the Agreement on Trade Facilitation to be 
adopted on July 31, 2014; 
Whereas full implementation of the Agreement on Trade Fa-
cilitation will help to address supply-side constraints in 
Africa, promote regional integration on the continent, 
and facilitate integration into global supply chains; 
Whereas the House of Representatives introduced on June 
27, 2013, and passed on May 8, 2014, the Electrify Afri-
ca Act, to make it a national policy of the United States 
to promote the electrification of Sub-Saharan Africa to 
more than double the number of people with access to 
power in order to improve health and education outcomes 
and stimulate economic opportunity; and 
Whereas, on June 30, 2013, in Cape Town, South Africa, 
President Barack Obama announced the Power Africa 
Initiative, to significantly increase the number of people 
with access to power in Sub-Saharan Africa: Now, there-
fore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) welcomes African leaders to the first United 
States–Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington, DC; 
(2) welcomes African trade ministers to the 
13th African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) 
Forum; 
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•HRES 699 IH 
(3) recognizes the significant progress and hope 
that modern Africa represents today in global affairs 
and economic advancement with its booming demo-
graphics, increasing modernization, dynamic youth, 
and vast resources; 
(4) acknowledges the vast opportunities to boost 
cultural, trade, and economic relations and partner-
ships between the United States and Africa; 
(5) recognizes the importance of renewing the 
AGOA program well before its expiration in Sep-
tember 2015; 
(6) supports studying potential changes to the 
program to improve its effectiveness and utilization 
and exploring how Africa can address barriers to be-
come more attractive to trade and investment within 
Africa as well as globally; 
(7) encourages the prompt and full implementa-
tion of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade 
Facilitation Agreement as one important way to ad-
dress supply-side barriers and encourage greater 
trade and investment in Africa; and 
(8) welcomes that the African Leaders at the 
African Union Summit on June 27, 2014, re-
affirmed their commitments to all the decisions the 
Ministers took in Bali, including emphasizing that 
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•HRES 699 IH 
assistance and support for capacity building should 
be provided as envisaged in the Agreement on Trade 
Facilitation, and that the Agreement should be im-
plemented in line with the decision Trade Ministers 
took in Bali, which provides that a protocol be 
adopted by July 31, 2014, and definitive entry into 
force by July 31, 2015. 
Æ 
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