United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 587 To promote economic partnership and cooperation between the United States and Mexico. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 27, 2019 Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To promote economic partnership and cooperation between the United States and Mexico. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Mexico 4 Economic Partnership Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The United States and Mexico have bene- 8 fitted from a bilateral, mutually beneficial partner- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S587.IS S587 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 587 IS ship focused on advancing the economic interests of 1 both countries. 2 (2) In 2013, Mexico adopted major energy re- 3 forms that opened its energy sector to private invest- 4 ment, increasing energy cooperation between Mexico 5 and the United States and opening new opportuni- 6 ties for United States energy engagement. 7 (3) On January 18, 2018, the Principal Deputy 8 Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Af- 9 fairs at the Department of State stated, ‘‘Our ex- 10 change programs build enduring relationships and 11 networks to advance U.S. national interests and for- 12 eign policy goals. . . . The role of our exchanges 13 . . . in advancing U.S. national security and eco- 14 nomic interests enjoys broad bipartisan support from 15 Congress and other stakeholders, and provides a 16 strong return on investment.’’. 17 (4) According to the Institute of International 18 Education, in the 2015–2016 academic year, more 19 than 56,000 United States students studied in other 20 countries in the Western Hemisphere region while 21 more than 84,000 non-United States students from 22 the region studied in the United States, but only 23 5,000 of those United States students studied in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S587.IS S587 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 587 IS Mexico and only 16,000 of those non-United States 1 students were from Mexico. 2 (5) In March 2011, the United States launched 3 the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Initiative, which 4 seeks to increase educational exchanges between the 5 United States and other countries in the Western 6 Hemisphere region so that 100,000 United States 7 students are studying in other countries in the West- 8 ern Hemisphere region and 100,000 non-United 9 States students from the region are studying in the 10 United States per year by 2020. 11 (6) In January 2014, the United States estab- 12 lished the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innova- 13 tion Fund, which seeks to realize the goals of the 14 100,000 Strong in the Americas Initiative by facili- 15 tating a public-private partnership between the De- 16 partment of State and nongovernmental organiza- 17 tions, corporations, and universities in the United 18 States and other countries of the Western Hemi- 19 sphere region. 20 (7) To date, the 100,000 Strong in the Amer- 21 icas Innovation Fund has awarded more than 100 22 grants to more than 250 higher education institu- 23 tions from 25 countries in the Western Hemisphere 24 region, and has raised $9,000,000 in investments, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S587.IS S587 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 587 IS 75 percent of which was from corporations, founda- 1 tions, and regional governments. 2 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 3 It is the policy of the United States— 4 (1) to continue deepening economic cooperation 5 between the United States and Mexico; and 6 (2) to seek to prioritize and expand educational 7 and professional exchange programs with Mexico, in- 8 cluding through the framework of the 100,000 9 Strong in the Americas Initiative. 10 SEC. 4. STRATEGY TO PRIORITIZE AND EXPAND EDU- 11 CATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL EXCHANGE 12 PROGRAMS WITH MEXICO. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall de- 14 velop a strategy to carry out the policy described in section 15 3, which shall include prioritizing and expanding edu- 16 cational and professional exchange programs with Mexico 17 through the framework of the 100,000 Strong in the 18 Americas Initiative. 19 (b) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub- 20 section (a) shall— 21 (1) encourage more academic exchanges be- 22 tween the United States and Mexico at the sec- 23 ondary, post-secondary, and post-graduate levels, es- 24 pecially with communities and through academic in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S587.IS S587 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 587 IS stitutions in the covered United States-Mexico bor- 1 der region; 2 (2) encourage United States and Mexican aca- 3 demic institutions and businesses to collaborate to 4 assist prospective and developing entrepreneurs in 5 strengthening their business skills and promoting co- 6 operation and joint business initiatives across the 7 United States and Mexico, with a focus on initiatives 8 in the covered United States-Mexico border region; 9 (3) promote energy infrastructure coordination 10 and cooperation through support of vocational-level 11 education, internships, and exchanges between the 12 United States and Mexico; and 13 (4) assess the feasibility of fostering partner- 14 ships between universities in the United States and 15 medical school and nursing programs in Mexico to 16 ensure that medical school and nursing programs in 17 Mexico have comparable accreditation standards as 18 medical school and nursing programs in the United 19 States by the Accreditation and Standards in For- 20 eign Medical Education, in addition to the Accredi- 21 tation Commission For Education in Nursing, so 22 that medical students can pass medical licensing 23 board exams, and nursing students can pass nursing 24 licensing exams, in the United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S587.IS S587 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 587 IS (c) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 1 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 2 submit a report to Congress that describes the strategy 3 required under subsection (a). 4 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 5 In this Act: 6 (1) 100,000 STRONG IN THE AMERICAS INITIA- 7 TIVE.—The term ‘‘100,000 Strong in the Americas 8 Initiative’’ means the initiative established in March 9 2011 by the United States Government to increase 10 educational exchanges in the Western Hemisphere. 11 (2) COVERED UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER 12 REGION.—The term ‘‘covered United States-Mexico 13 border region’’ means those portions of the United 14 States and Mexico that are within 100 kilometers of 15 the international boundary between those countries. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:40 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S587.IS S587 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS