Partnership Fund for Peace Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1727 To establish the Partnership Fund for Peace to promote joint economic development and finance ventures between Palestinian entrepreneurs and companies and those in the United States and Israel to improve economic cooperation and people-to-people peacebuilding programs, and to further shared community building, peaceful coexistence, dialogue, and reconcili- ation between Israelis and Palestinians. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 5, 2019 Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. KAINE, and Mr. GARDNER) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Foreign Relations A BILL To establish the Partnership Fund for Peace to promote joint economic development and finance ventures between Palestinian entrepreneurs and companies and those in the United States and Israel to improve economic co- operation and people-to-people peacebuilding programs, and to further shared community building, peaceful coex- istence, dialogue, and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:06 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1727.IS S1727 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1727 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Partnership Fund for 2 Peace Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) Economic development in conflict settings 6 has been shown to support stabilization by empow- 7 ering entrepreneurs, growing the middle class, and 8 mitigating unemployment. 9 (2) In 2018, unemployment in the Palestinian 10 territories was 32.4 percent, reaching 53.7 percent 11 in Gaza and 18 percent in the West Bank. GDP 12 growth in the Palestinian territories declined from 13 2.7 percent in 2017 to 2 percent in 2018, and it is 14 projected to further decline to between 1.7 and 1.9 15 percent in 2019 and 2020. 16 (3) Increased economic activity and projects to 17 improve the quality and conditions of life for the 18 Palestinians will help create a viable Palestinian 19 economy. 20 (4) Although economic development is an im- 21 portant tool for stabilizing conflict-prone settings 22 and establishing connections between communities, 23 economic development by itself will not lead to last- 24 ing peace. People-to-people peacebuilding programs 25 further advance reconciliation efforts by promoting 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:06 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1727.IS S1727 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1727 IS greater understanding, mutual trust, and coopera- 1 tion between communities. 2 (5) While the United States and its inter- 3 national allies continue to support diplomatic and 4 political negotiations between the representatives of 5 the parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, such 6 efforts require broad popular support among the 7 people on the ground to succeed. 8 (6) Achieving sustainable, high-level agreements 9 for lasting peace in the Middle East must come 10 through, and with the support of, the people who 11 live there. 12 (7) Economic initiatives and people-to-people 13 peacebuilding programs can help millions of ordinary 14 Israelis and Palestinians affected by the ongoing 15 conflict in the Middle East. 16 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 17 It is the sense of Congress that— 18 (1) building a viable Palestinian economy is 19 central to the effort to preserve the possibility of a 20 2-state solution; 21 (2) strengthening engagement between the Pal- 22 estinian territories, the United States and Israel in 23 the areas of economic development and people-to- 24 people peacebuilding programs will— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:06 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1727.IS S1727 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1727 IS (A) increase the bonds of friendship and 1 understanding between the people living in the 2 Palestinian territories and the people of the 3 United States and Israel; and 4 (B) advance the state of research and de- 5 velopment in multiple sectors to the benefit of 6 all parties; 7 (3) cooperation between the business sectors of 8 the Palestinian territories, the United States and 9 Israel will benefit the Palestinian, American, and 10 Israeli people and should be encouraged; and 11 (4) United States and international support for 12 grassroots, people-to-people efforts aimed at shared 13 reconciliation and fostering tolerance can help 14 counter extremist propaganda and the growing issue 15 of incitement. 16 SEC. 4. PARTNERSHIP FUND FOR PEACE. 17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 19 United States Agency for International Develop- 20 ment, in consultation with the Secretary of State 21 and the Secretary of the Treasury, shall establish 22 the Partnership Fund for Peace (referred to in this 23 section as the ‘‘Fund’’), which— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:06 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1727.IS S1727 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1727 IS (A) shall be funded with amounts appro- 1 priated pursuant to section 5; and 2 (B) managed by the Administrator of the 3 United States Agency for International Devel- 4 opment. 5 (2) CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Administrator of 6 the United States Agency for International Develop- 7 ment, in consultation with the Secretary of State 8 and the Secretary of the Treasury, shall seek addi- 9 tional contributions for the Fund from the inter- 10 national community, including countries in the Mid- 11 dle East and Europe. 12 (b) GOVERNANCE.— 13 (1) BOARD OF GOVERNORS.— 14 (A) APPOINTMENT.—Except as provided in 15 subparagraph (D), the Fund shall be governed 16 by a Board of Governors, which shall be com- 17 posed of 5 private, United States citizens or 18 legal permanent residents, who shall be ap- 19 pointed by the Administrator of the United 20 States Agency for International Development, 21 in consultation with the Secretary of State, the 22 Speaker of the House of Representatives, the 23 minority leader of the House of Representa- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:06 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1727.IS S1727 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1727 IS tives, the majority leader of the Senate, and the 1 minority leader of the Senate. 2 (B) QUALIFICATIONS.— 3 (i) GENERAL EXPERIENCE.—Members 4 of the Board of Governors shall be selected 5 from among people who have demonstrated 6 experience and expertise in the affairs re- 7 lated to Israel and the Palestinian terri- 8 tories. 9 (ii) BUSINESS EXPERIENCE.—Not 10 fewer than 2 members of the Board of 11 Governors shall have— 12 (I) demonstrated experience and 13 expertise in international and particu- 14 larly emerging markets investment ac- 15 tivities, such as private equity or ven- 16 ture capital investment, banking, fi- 17 nance, strategic business consulting, 18 or entrepreneurial business creation; 19 and 20 (II) backgrounds in priority busi- 21 ness sectors of the Palestinian econ- 22 omy. 23 (iii) CONFLICT MITIGATION EXPERI- 24 ENCE.—Not fewer than 2 members of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:06 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1727.IS S1727 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1727 IS Board of Governors shall have dem- 1 onstrated experience and expertise in con- 2 flict mitigation and people-to-people pro- 3 grams. 4 (iv) USAID OFFICIAL.—The Adminis- 5 trator of the United States Agency for 6 International Development (USAID) shall 7 appoint 1 USAID official as a member of 8 the Board of Governors. 9 (C) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Board of 10 Governors shall— 11 (i) determine the amount annually al- 12 located from the Fund for each Technical 13 Board; and 14 (ii) approve the Technical Boards’ 15 recommendations, as appropriate. 16 (D) INTERNATIONAL DONOR SEATS.—With 17 the approval of the existing Board of Gov- 18 ernors, the Administrator may appoint up to 2 19 additional members to the Board who shall— 20 (i) represent international organiza- 21 tions or foreign governments that have do- 22 nated to the Fund; and 23 (ii) meet the qualifications set forth in 24 subparagraph (B)(i). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:06 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1727.IS S1727 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1727 IS (E) TECHNICAL BOARDS.— 1 (i) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Board of 2 Governors shall establish— 3 (I) a Business and Economic De- 4 velopment Technical Board; and 5 (II) a People-to-People Programs 6 Technical Board. 7 (ii) APPOINTMENTS.—Members of the 8 technical boards established pursuant to 9 clause (i) shall be appointed by the Admin- 10 istrator of the United States Agency for 11 International Development. 12 (iii) INVESTMENT APPROVAL AND 13 RECOMMENDATIONS.—The technical boards 14 established pursuant to clause (i)— 15 (I) may approve investments of 16 Fund assets up to $250,000; and 17 (II) may recommend investments 18 of Fund assets greater than 19 $250,000, which shall be subject to 20 the approval of the Board of Gov- 21 ernors. 22 (iv) STAFF.—Each technical board es- 23 tablished pursuant to clause (i) shall con- 24 sist of a Secretariat, which shall be staffed 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:06 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1727.IS S1727 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1727 IS by individuals with demonstrated experi- 1 ence and expertise relevant to the technical 2 board on which they sit. 3 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Fund are— 4 (1) to promote the private sector in the Pales- 5 tinian territories through facilitating and financing 6 between small- and medium-sized Palestinian entre- 7 preneurs and companies and those in the United 8 States, Israel, and other countries to improve the 9 Palestinian private sector through economic coopera- 10 tion in research and development; 11 (2) to improve the quality of life, stimulate the 12 economy, and advance security by creating private 13 sector jobs for Palestinians in the Palestinian terri- 14 tories and furthering the development of a Pales- 15 tinian middle class; and 16 (3) to further shared community building, 17 peaceful coexistence, dialogue, and reconciliation be- 18 tween Israelis and Palestinians by financing people- 19 to-people peacebuilding programs. 20 (d) USES OF FUNDS.—Amounts deposited into the 21 Fund may be used— 22 (1) to carry out the purposes set forth in sub- 23 section (c); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:06 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1727.IS S1727 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1727 IS (2) to pay for the administrative expenses of 1 operating the Fund. 2 (e) ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIPS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—All economic partnerships 4 requesting support from the Fund shall include a 5 Palestinian entrepreneur or company in the Pales- 6 tinian territories and an entrepreneur or company 7 from the United States or Israel. 8 (2) TRIPARTITE AGREEMENTS.—If an entre- 9 preneur or company outside of the United States or 10 Israel desires to partner with a Palestinian entre- 11 preneur or company, a tripartite agreement shall be 12 established that includes an entrepreneur or com- 13 pany from the United States or Israel. 14 (3) PRIORITY.—The Board of Governors and 15 the technical boards established pursuant to sub- 16 section (b)(1)(E)(i) should prioritize partnerships 17 between Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurs and 18 companies. 19 (4) FUNDING REQUIREMENT.—During each fis- 20 cal year, not less than 25 percent of the funding al- 21 located from the Fund for economic partnerships 22 shall be awarded to partnerships that include— 23 (A) Palestinian entrepreneurs or compa- 24 nies based in the Palestinian territories; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:06 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1727.IS S1727 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1727 IS (B) Israeli entrepreneurs or companies 1 based in Israel. 2 (f) PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE PARTNERSHIPS.—All people- 3 to-people partnerships requesting support from the Fund 4 shall include— 5 (1) a Palestinian nonprofit organization, an 6 Israeli nonprofit organization, or an international 7 nonprofit organization that brings Palestinians and 8 Israelis together for shared community building, 9 peaceful coexistence, dialogue, and reconciliation; or 10 (2) nonprofit organizations that further shared 11 community building, peaceful coexistence, dialogue, 12 and reconciliation between Arab and Jewish citizens 13 of Israel. 14 (g) ALTERNATIVE FUNDING STREAMS.—The Board 15 of Governors should explore initiatives to promote long- 16 term financial sustainability of the Fund through revenue 17 accrued by successful ventures. 18 (h) LIMITATIONS, VETTING, AND OVERSIGHT.— 19 (1) LIMITATIONS.—None of the funds made 20 available under this Act may be made available for— 21 (A) financial assistance to national govern- 22 ments; 23 (B) assistance for any individual or group 24 that the Administrator of the United States 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:06 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1727.IS S1727 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1727 IS Agency for International Development, in con- 1 sultation with the heads of other relevant Fed- 2 eral agencies, determines to be— 3 (i) involved in, or advocating, terrorist 4 activity; or 5 (ii) a member of a foreign terrorist or- 6 ganization (as designated pursuant to sec- 7 tion 219 of the Immigration and Nation- 8 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189)); or 9 (C) assistance for the Palestinian Author- 10 ity, Hamas, or the Palestine Liberation Organi- 11 zation. 12 (2) APPLICABLE LAWS.—Assistance from the 13 Fund shall be subject to all relevant laws relating to 14 United States Government assistance, including to 15 the Palestinians. 16 (3) COMPLIANCE WITH MISSION DIRECTIVES.— 17 All expenditures from the Fund shall follow the mis- 18 sion directives applicable to the West Bank and 19 Gaza that have been issued by United States Agency 20 for International Development Mission Director or 21 Contracting Officer. 22 (4) USAID INSPECTOR GENERAL.—All oper- 23 ations and expenditures of the Fund shall be subject 24 to audits, investigations, and inspections conducted 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:06 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1727.IS S1727 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1727 IS by the Office of the Inspector General at the United 1 States Agency [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]