A bill to address the participation of Taiwan in the Inter-American Development Bank.
Bill: S.3090 | Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert (D-NJ)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This bill authorizes the Department of State to initiate a U.S. plan to endorse Taiwan's membership in the Inter-American Development Bank as a nonborrowing member. (The bank's nonborrowing members, such as the United States, provide capital and have voting representation in the bank's board of governors and board of executive directors.)
The State Department may also instruct the U.S. governor at the bank to work with the board of governors to admit Taiwan as a nonborrowing member.

To address the participation of Taiwan in the Inter-American 
                           Development Bank.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Inter-American Development Bank (referred to in 
        this Act as the ``IDB'') was established in 1959 and--
                    (A) is the premier multilateral development bank in 
                the Western Hemisphere;
                    (B) is the largest source of development financing 
                for Latin America and the Caribbean; and
                    (C) issued more than $140,000,000,000 in loans and 
                grants between 2011 and 2021.
            (2) The IDB--
                    (A) has 48 member states, of which 26 are borrowing 
                members in the Latin America and the Caribbean region; 
                and
                    (B) constitutes a critical forum for fostering 
                collective action and meeting shared regional 
                challenges, including COVID-19 recovery and response.
            (3) Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the People's Republic 
        of China are among the 22 non-borrowing, non-Western Hemisphere 
        members of the IDB.
            (4) Taiwan--
                    (A) has been an observer at the IDB since 1991;
                    (B) has contributed to a specialized financial 
                intermediary development fund at IDB Lab since 2006;
                    (C) has been a non-regional member country of the 
                Central American Bank for Economic Integration since 
                1992;
                    (D) is a member of the Asian Development Bank, the 
                World Trade Organization, the Asia-Pacific Economic 
                Cooperation, and the International Chamber of Commerce; 
                and
                    (E) is a participant of the Organisation for 
                Economic Co-operation and Development's Competition 
                Committee, its Steel Committee, and its Fisheries 
                Committee.
            (5) Taiwan's economy is the 7th largest in Asia and the 
        20th largest in the world by purchasing power parity.
            (6) Taiwan has been a model contributor of foreign aid in 
        Latin America and the Caribbean, allocating between 30 percent 
        and 50 percent of its foreign aid budget to Latin America and 
        the Caribbean.
            (7) Since 2010, Taiwan's International Cooperation and 
        Development Fund has funded 95 projects in Central America, 64 
        projects in the Caribbean, and 21 projects in South America.
            (8) Taiwan has been a firm supporter of Haiti as it 
        confronts multiple simultaneous crises--
                    (A) by providing more than $145,000,000 in 
                financing to modernize Haiti's electrical grid;
                    (B) by delivering 280,000 masks at the height of 
                the COVID-19 pandemic; and
                    (C) by pledging $500,000 in disaster relief 
                immediately after the August 14, 2021, earthquake in 
                Haiti.
            (9) According to data from the Pan American Development 
        Foundation, communities receiving assistance from Taiwan 
        display increased--
                    (A) food security;
                    (B) income generation; and
                    (C) capacity to recover from natural disasters.
            (10) Taiwan has placed special emphasis on fostering 
        development in Central America and in the Caribbean, including 
        by signing the Agreement on the Republic of China (Taiwan)--
        Central America Economic Development Fund in 1998.
            (11) Through its non-regional partner status at the Central 
        American Bank for Economic Integration, Taiwan has provided 
        $266,700,000 in financial assistance to help Central American 
        countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 22, 2021, 
        the Central American Bank for Economic Integration announced 
        the opening of its Representative Office in Taiwan, deepening 
        investment ties between Taiwan and Central America.
            (12) Taiwan maintains diplomatic relations with 9 countries 
        in Latin America and the Caribbean and 8 representative offices 
        in 7 other countries in the region.
            (13) Since 2016, the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China has engaged in aggressive economic diplomacy to compel 
        the withdrawal of diplomatic recognition for Taiwan, most 
        notably in Panama, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador, all 
        of which have terminated longstanding and productive diplomatic 
        relationships with Taiwan and granted diplomatic recognition to 
        the People's Republic of China.
            (14) The Government of the People's Republic of China--
                    (A) announced a $1,100,000,000 construction project 
                in Panama on the day that Panama switched its 
                recognition from Taiwan to the People's Republic of 
                China; and
                    (B) similarly offered assistance packages to the 
                Dominican Republic and El Salvador in 2018 in exchange 
                for these countries ceasing their diplomatic 
                recognition of Taiwan.
            (15) Taiwan's international engagement has faced increased 
        resistance from the Government of the People's Republic of 
        China, which has used its influence to deny Taiwan's 
        invitations to multilateral fora. For example, Taiwan was not 
        invited to the 2016 Assembly of the International Civil 
        Aviation Organization (ICAO), despite participating as a guest 
        at ICAO's 2013 summit. Taiwan's requests to participate in the 
        General Assembly of the International Criminal Police 
        Organization (commonly known as ``INTERPOL'') were also 
        rejected.
            (16) Taiwan's inclusion in multilateral organizations, such 
        as the IDB, advances peace and stability in the world and in 
        the Western Hemisphere specifically.
            (17) Congress has demonstrated a longstanding policy of 
        supporting Taiwan's participation in international bodies that 
        address shared transnational challenges by--
                    (A) authorizing the Secretary of State, in Public 
                Law 106-137, Public Law 107-10, and Public Law 108-235, 
                to initiate a United States plan for supporting 
                Taiwan's participation as an observer in the activities 
                of the World Health Organization;
                    (B) directing the Secretary of State, in Public Law 
                113-17, to report on a strategy to obtain observer 
                status for Taiwan at the International Civil Aviation 
                Organization Assembly; and
                    (C) directing the Secretary of State, in Public Law 
                114-139, to develop a strategy to obtain observer 
                status for Taiwan at the INTERPOL Assembly.
            (18) Despite these efforts, Taiwan has not received an 
        invitation to attend as an observer any of the events of the 
        international organizations referred to in paragraph (17) since 
        2016.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the United States fully supports Taiwan's participation 
        in, and contribution to, international organizations and 
        underscores the importance of the relationship between Taiwan 
        and the United States;
            (2) diversifying the Inter-American Development Bank's 
        donor base and increasing ally engagement in the Western 
        Hemisphere reinforces United States national interests;
            (3) Taiwan's significant contribution to the development 
        and economies of Latin America and the Caribbean demonstrate 
        that Taiwan's membership in the IDB as a non-borrowing member 
        would benefit the IDB and the entire Latin American and 
        Caribbean region; and
            (4) non-borrowing membership in the IDB would allow Taiwan 
        to substantially leverage and channel the immense resources 
        Taiwan already provides to Latin America and the Caribbean to 
        reach a larger number of beneficiaries.

SEC. 3. PLAN FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN THE INTER-AMERICAN 
              DEVELOPMENT BANK.

    The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of the 
Treasury, is authorized--
            (1) to initiate a United States plan to endorse non-
        borrowing IDB membership for Taiwan; and
            (2) to instruct the United States Governor of the IDB to 
        work with the IDB Board of Governors to admit Taiwan as a non-
        borrowing member of the IDB.

SEC. 4. REPORT CONCERNING MEMBER STATE STATUS FOR TAIWAN AT THE INTER-
              AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
and not later than April 1 of each year thereafter, the Secretary of 
State, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall submit 
an unclassified report to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives that--
            (1) describes the United States plan to endorse and obtain 
        non-borrowing membership status for Taiwan at the IDB;
            (2) includes an account of the efforts that the Secretary 
        of State and the Secretary of the Treasury have made to 
        encourage IDB member states to promote Taiwan's bid to obtain 
        non-borrowing membership at the IDB; and
            (3) identifies the steps that the Secretary of State and 
        the Secretary of the Treasury will take to endorse and obtain 
        non-borrowing membership status for Taiwan at the IDB in the 
        following year.
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