Annex 7 Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership For Peace Act of 2020.pdf

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TITLE VIII 1

NITA M. LOWEY MIDDLE EAST PARTNERSHIP 2

FOR PEACE ACT OF 2020 3

SHORT TITLE 4

SEC. 8001. This title may be cited as the ‘‘Nita M. 5

Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act of 2020’’. 6

FINDINGS 7

SEC. 8002. Congress finds the following: 8

(1) Economic development in conflict settings 9 has been shown to support stabilization by empow-10 ering entrepreneurs, growing the middle class, and 11 mitigating unemployment. 12

(2) In 2018, unemployment in the Palestinian 13 territories was 32.4 percent. Gross Domestic Prod-14 uct (GDP) growth in the Palestinian territories de-15 clined from 2017 to 2019, and it is projected to fur-16 ther decline in 2020. 17

(3) According to the World Bank Ad Hoc Liai-18 son Committee’s April 2019 Economic Monitoring 19

Report, ‘‘to achieve sustainable economic growth, in 20 the Palestinian territories, growth and job creation 21 going forward will need to be private sector driven’’. 22

(4) According to the 2018 Joint Strategic Plan 23 of the Department of State and the United States 24

Agency for International Development, ‘‘assistance 25

December 21, 2020 (12:59 p.m.)

can help prevent new recruitment to terrorist organi-1 zations, reduce levels of violence, promote legitimate 2 governance structures that strengthen inclusion, and 3 reduce policies that marginalize communities’’. 4

(5) Although economic development is an im-5 portant tool for stabilizing conflict-prone settings 6 and establishing connections between communities, 7 economic development by itself will not lead to last-8 ing peace. People-to-people peace-building programs 9 further advance reconciliation efforts by promoting 10 greater understanding, mutual trust, and coopera-11 tion between communities. 12

(6) While the United States and its inter-13 national partners continue to support diplomatic and 14 political negotiations between the representatives of 15 the parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, such 16 efforts require broad popular support among the 17 people on the ground to succeed. 18

(7) Achieving sustainable, high-level agreements 19 for lasting peace in the Middle East must come 20 through, and with the support of, the people who 21 live there, and the United States and its inter-22 national partners can help the people of the region 23 build popular support for sustainable agreements for 24 lasting peace. 25

SENSE OF CONGRESS 1

SEC. 8003. It is the sense of Congress that— 2

(1) building a viable Palestinian economy is 3 central to the effort to preserve the possibility of a 4 negotiated settlement leading to a sustainable two- 5 state solution with the democratic, Jewish state of 6

Israel and a demilitarized, democratic Palestinian 7 state living side-by-side in peace, security, and mu-8 tual recognition; 9

(2) United States and international support for 10 grassroots, people-to-people efforts aimed at fos-11 tering tolerance, and building support for such solu-12 tion, can help counter extremist propaganda and the 13 growing issue of incitement; 14

(3) strengthening engagement between Palestin-15 ians and Israelis, including through people-to-people 16 peace-building programs can increase the bonds of 17 friendship and understanding; 18

(4) investing in the development of the Pales-19 tinian economy and in joint economic ventures can 20 advance multiple sectors to the benefit of local, re-21 gional, and global parties; and 22

(5) Congress encourages cooperation between 23

Palestinian, American, and Israeli business sectors 24 in order to benefit the Palestinian, American, and 1

Israeli peoples and economies. 2

PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE FUND 3

SEC. 8004. Chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign As-4 sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.) is amended 5 by adding at the end the following: 6

‘‘SEC. 535 PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE 7

FUND. 8

‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Beginning on the date that 9 is one year after the date of enactment of this section, 10 the Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter-11 national Development is authorized to establish a program 12 to provide funding for projects to help build the founda-13 tion for peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Pal-14 estinians and for a sustainable two-state solution. The 15 program established under this subsection shall be known 16 as the ‘People-to-People Partnership for Peace Fund’ (re-17 ferred to in this section as the ‘Fund’). 18

‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY FOR SUPPORT.—In providing fund-19 ing for projects through the Fund, the Administrator may 20 provide support for qualified organizations, prioritizing 21 those organizations that seek to build better cooperation 22 between Israelis and Palestinians, including Palestinian 23 organizations, Israeli organizations, and international or-24 ganizations that bring Israelis and Palestinians together. 25

‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY FOR SUPPORT.—In 1 providing funding for projects through the Fund, the Ad-2 ministrator may additionally provide support to qualified 3 organizations that further shared community building, 4 peaceful co-existence, dialogue, and reconciliation between 5

Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel. 6

‘‘(d) CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Administrator— 7

‘‘(1) is encouraged to work with foreign govern-8 ments and international organizations to leverage 9 the impact of United States resources and achieve 10 the objectives of this section; and 11

‘‘(2) is authorized to accept contributions for 12 the purposes of the Fund, consistent with subsection 13

(d) of section 635. 14

‘‘(e) ADVISORY BOARD.— 15

‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator 16 shall establish an advisory board to make rec-17 ommendations to the Administrator regarding the 18 types of projects that should be considered for fund-19 ing through the Fund. 20

‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 21

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-22 graph (B), the advisory board shall be com-23 posed of 13 members, none of whom may be 24

Members of Congress, who shall be appointed 1 for renewable periods of 3 years, as follows: 2

‘‘(i) One member to serve as chair, 3 appointed by the Administrator, in con-4 sultation with the Secretary of State. 5

‘‘(ii) One member appointed by the 6 chair, and one member appointed by the 7 ranking member, of the Committee on For-8 eign Relations of the Senate. 9

‘‘(iii) One member appointed by the 10 chair, and one member appointed by the 11 ranking member, of the Committee on For-12 eign Affairs of the House of Representa-13 tives. 14

‘‘(iv) One member appointed by the 15 chair, and one member appointed by the 16 ranking member, of the Committee on Ap-17 propriations of the Senate. 18

‘‘(v) One member appointed by the 19 chair, and one member appointed by the 20 ranking member, of the Committee on Ap-21 propriations of the House of Representa-22 tives. 23

‘‘(vi) One member appointed by the 24 majority leader, and one member ap-25 pointed by the minority leader, of the Sen-1 ate. 2

‘‘(vii) One member appointed by the 3

Speaker, and one member appointed by the 4 minority leader, of the House of Rep-5 resentatives. 6

‘‘(B) INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION.— 7

The Administrator may appoint up to two addi-8 tional members to the advisory board who are 9 representatives of foreign governments or inter-10 national organizations for renewable periods of 11

3 years. 12

‘‘(C) QUALIFICATIONS.—Members of the 13 advisory board shall have demonstrated regional 14 expertise and experience and expertise in con-15 flict mitigation and people-to-people programs, 16 and shall not receive compensation on account 17 of their service on the advisory board. 18

‘‘(f) USAID MISSION RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 19

Administrator shall consider the input and recommenda-20 tions from missions of the United States Agency for Inter-21 national Development in the region and mission directors 22 regarding projects that should be considered for funding 23 through the Fund. 24

‘‘(g) COORDINATION.—The Administrator shall co-1 ordinate with the Secretary of State in carrying out the 2 provisions of this section.’’. 3

JOINT INVESTMENT FOR PEACE INITIATIVE 4

SEC. 8005. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Beginning on the 5 date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of 6 this Act, the Chief Executive Officer of the United States 7

International Development Finance Corporation (referred 8 to in this section as the ‘‘Chief Executive Officer’’ and 9 the ‘‘Corporation’’, respectively) is authorized to establish 10 a program to provide investments in, and support to, enti-11 ties that carry out projects that contribute to the develop-12 ment of the Palestinian private sector economy in the 13

West Bank and Gaza. The program established under this 14 subsection shall be known as the ‘‘Joint Investment for 15

Peace Initiative’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Initia-16 tive’’) and shall be subject to all existing terms, conditions, 17 restrictions, oversight requirements, and applicable provi-18 sions of law, including the Better Utilization of Invest-19 ments Leading to Development Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 20

9611 et seq), including through strict adherence to the 21 less-developed country focus under section 1412(c) of such 22

Act. 23

(b) PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENT.—In carrying out 24 the Initiative, the Chief Executive Officer shall ensure par-25 ticipation by small and medium-sized enterprises owned 1 by Palestinians, which may include the technology sector, 2 the agriculture sector, and other high value-added or 3 emerging industries. 4

(c) PRIORITY.—In carrying out the Initiative, the 5

Chief Executive Officer shall prioritize support to projects 6 that increase economic cooperation between Israelis and 7

Palestinians. 8

(d) USE OF EXISTING AUTHORITIES.—In carrying 9 out the Initiative, the Chief Executive Officer shall utilize 10 the authorities under section 1421 of the Better Utiliza-11 tion of Investments Leading to Development Act of 2018 12

(22 U.S.C. 9621), including to— 13

(1) select a manager of the Initiative; 14

(2) oversee and direct the operation of the Ini-15 tiative consistent with such Act and other provisions 16 of law; 17

(3) provide the Initiative with loans, guaranties, 18 equity, and insurance, as appropriate, to enable the 19

Initiative to attract private investment; 20

(4) support the private sector in entering into 21 joint ventures between Palestinian and Israeli enti-22 ties; and 23

(5) carry out the purposes of the Initiative con-1 sistent with the provisions of this section and other 2 applicable provisions of law. 3

(e) ANNUAL REPORT.— 4

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31, 5

2021, and each December 31 thereafter until De-6 cember 31, 2031, the Chief Executive Officer shall 7 submit to the appropriate congressional committees 8 a report that describes the following: 9

(A) The extent to which the Initiative has 10 contributed to promoting and supporting Pales-11 tinian economic development. 12

(B) The extent to which the Initiative has 13 contributed to greater integration of the Pales-14 tinian economy into the international rules- 15 based business system. 16

(C) The extent to which projects that in-17 crease economic cooperation between Palestin-18 ians and Israelis and between Palestinians and 19

Americans have been prioritized, including 20 through support to the private sector to enter 21 into joint ventures. 22

(D) Information on the following: 23

(i) Investments received and provided 24 through the Initiative. 25

(ii) The mechanisms established for 1 transparency and accountability of invest-2 ments provided through the Initiative. 3

(E) The extent to which entities supported 4 by the Initiative have impacted the efficacy of 5 people-to-people programs. 6

(F) To the extent practicable, an assess-7 ment of the sustainability of commercial en-8 deavors that receive support from the Initiative. 9

(G) A description of the process for vetting 10 and oversight of entities eligible for support 11 from the Initiative to ensure compliance with 12 the requirements of section 8006(b) of this Act. 13

(2) FORM.—The reports required under this 14 subsection shall be submitted in unclassified form, 15 without the designation ‘‘For Official Use Only’’ or 16 any related or successor designation, but may be ac-17 companied by a classified annex. 18

(f) TERMINATION.— 19

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Initiative shall termi-20 nate at the end of the fiscal year that is 10 years 21 after the date on which the Chief Executive Officer 22 makes the first investment under the Initiative. 23

(2) EXCEPTION.—The Chief Executive Officer 24 is authorized to continue to manage investments 25 made under the Initiative on and after the date 1 specified in paragraph (1). 2

(g) COORDINATION.—The Chief Executive Officer 3 shall coordinate with the Secretary of State and the Ad-4 ministrator of the United States Agency for International 5

Development in carrying out the provisions of this section. 6

LIMITATIONS, VETTING, COORDINATION, AND OVERSIGHT 7

SEC. 8006. (a) LIMITATIONS.—None of the funds 8 made available to carry out this title, or any amendment 9 made by this title, may be used to provide— 10

(1) financial assistance to the national govern-11 ment of any foreign country; 12

(2) assistance for— 13

(A) any individual or group the Secretary 14 of State determines to be involved in, or advo-15 cating, terrorist activity; or 16

(B) any individual who is a member of a 17 foreign terrorist organization (as designated 18 pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and 19

Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189)); or 20

(3) assistance for the Palestinian Authority or 21 the Palestine Liberation Organization. 22

(b) APPLICABLE REGULATIONS.—Assistance made 23 available under this title, and any amendment made by 24 this title, shall adhere to the mission directives and vetting 25 practices for assistance for the West Bank and Gaza, as 1 set forth by the United States Agency for International 2

Development. 3

(c) COORDINATION.— 4

(1) The Chief Executive Officer of the United 5

States International Development Finance Corpora-6 tion, acting through the Chief Development Officer 7 of such Corporation, shall coordinate with the Ad-8 ministrator of the United States Agency for Inter-9 national Development and the Secretary of State to 10 ensure that all expenditures from the Joint Invest-11 ment for Peace Initiative comply with this section. 12

(2) To the extent practicable, the Administrator 13 of the United States Agency for International Devel-14 opment and the Chief Executive Officer of the 15

United States International Development Finance 16

Corporation should coordinate and share information 17 in advance of providing resources through the Peo-18 ple-to-People Partnership for Peace Fund and the 19

Joint Investment for Peace Initiative. 20

(d) REPORT.— 21

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 22 the end of the first fiscal year in which both the 23

People-to-People Partnership for Peace Fund and 24 the Joint Investment for Peace Initiative are in ef-25 fect, and annually thereafter, the Administrator of 1 the United States Agency for International Develop-2 ment and the Chief Executive Officer of the United 3

States International Development Finance Corpora-4 tion shall, in coordination with the Secretary of 5

State, jointly submit to the appropriate congres-6 sional committees a report in writing that de-7 scribes— 8

(A)(i) lessons learned and best practices 9 developed from funding for projects under the 10

People-to-People Partnership for Peace Fund 11 during the prior fiscal year; and 12

(ii) the extent to which such projects have 13 contributed to the purposes of the People-to- 14

People Partnership for Peace Fund; 15

(B)(i) lessons learned and best practices 16 developed from investments provided under the 17

Joint Investment for Peace Initiative during the 18 prior fiscal year; and 19

(ii) the extent to which such investments 20 have contributed to the purposes of the Joint 21

Investment for Peace Initiative; and 22

(C) how the United States International 23

Development Finance Corporation and the 24

United States Agency for International Devel-25 opment coordinate and share information with 1 respect to the People-to-People Partnership for 2

Peace Fund and the Joint Investment for Peace 3

Initiative. 4

(2) CONSULTATION.—The Administrator of the 5

United States Agency for International Develop-6 ment, in consultation with the Secretary of State, 7 shall consult with the advisory board established by 8 subsection (e) of section 535 of the Foreign Assist-9 ance Act of 1961 (as added by section 8004 of this 10

Act) to inform the reports required by paragraph 11

(1). 12

APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED 13

SEC. 8007. In this title, the term ‘‘appropriate con-14 gressional committees’’ has the meaning given that term 15 in section 1402 of the Better Utilization of Investments 16

Leading to Development Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 9601). 17

AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS 18

SEC. 8008. (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized 19 to be appropriated to carry out this title, and the amend-20 ments made by this title, $50,000,000 for each of the first 21

5 fiscal years beginning after the date of the enactment 22 of this Act. 23

(b) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 24

90 days after enactment of this Act, and prior to the obli-25 gation of funds made available to implement this title, the 1

Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter-2 national Development and the Chief Executive Officer of 3 the United States International Development Finance 4

Corporation, in coordination with the Secretary of State, 5 shall consult with the Committees on Appropriations on 6 the proposed uses of funds. 7

(c) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more than 5 8 percent of amounts authorized to be appropriated by sub-9 section (a) for a fiscal year should be made available for 10 administrative expenses to carry out section 535 of the 11

Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (as added by section 8004 12 of this Act). 13

(d) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts authorized to be ap-14 propriated by subsection (a) for a fiscal year are author-15 ized to remain available for such fiscal year and the subse-16 quent 4 fiscal years. 17