GROW American Jobs Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3288 To establish the SelectUSA program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 13, 2019 Mr. RUIZ (for himself, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. SWALWELL of California, and Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To establish the SelectUSA program, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Get Reinvesting in Op- 4 portunities for Workers American Jobs Act of 2019’’ or 5 the ‘‘GROW American Jobs Act of 2019’’. 6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECTUSA. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the De- 8 partment of Commerce the SelectUSA program (in this 9 Act referred to as ‘‘SelectUSA’’), a Government-wide pro- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3288.IH H3288 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3288 IH gram to attract and retain investment in the United 1 States economy. 2 (b) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Secretary of Com- 3 merce shall designate a senior staff member of the Depart- 4 ment of Commerce to be the Executive Director of 5 SelectUSA, who shall coordinate activities relating to busi- 6 ness investment decisions within the Department of Com- 7 merce and with other Federal agencies with responsibility 8 for such activities. 9 (c) MISSION.—SelectUSA shall— 10 (1) facilitate business investment in the United 11 States in order to create jobs, spur economic growth, 12 and promote United States competitiveness; 13 (2) provide enhanced coordination of Federal 14 activities in order to increase the impact of Federal 15 resources that support domestic and foreign invest- 16 ment in the United States; 17 (3) in providing assistance, work to maximize 18 impact on business investment, job creation, and 19 economic growth; and 20 (4) work on behalf of the entire United States 21 and exercise strict neutrality, except as specified in 22 subsection (e), with regard to specific locations with- 23 in the United States. 24 (d) FUNCTIONS.—SelectUSA shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3288.IH H3288 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3288 IH (1) coordinate outreach and engagement by the 1 Federal Government to promote the United States 2 as the premier location to operate a business; 3 (2) endeavor to coordinate and avoid duplica- 4 tion with other Federal agencies; 5 (3) serve as an ombudsman that facilitates the 6 resolution of issues involving Federal programs or 7 activities related to pending investments; 8 (4) provide information to domestic and foreign 9 firms on— 10 (A) the investment climate in the United 11 States; 12 (B) Federal programs and incentives avail- 13 able to investors; and 14 (C) State and local economic development 15 organizations; and 16 (5) report periodically to the President, through 17 the National Economic Council, the Domestic Policy 18 Council, and the National Security Staff, on out- 19 reach activities of SelectUSA, requests for informa- 20 tion received by SelectUSA, and efforts of 21 SelectUSA to resolve issues. 22 (e) INCREASED OPPORTUNITIES FOR RURAL AREAS 23 AND SMALLER STATES.—SelectUSA shall endeavor— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3288.IH H3288 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3288 IH (1) to increase foreign direct investment oppor- 1 tunities for rural areas and smaller States; and 2 (2) to make its services increasingly available to 3 rural areas and smaller States, including through— 4 (A) teleconferencing; 5 (B) geographic positioning of conferences 6 and events of SelectUSA, when practicable; and 7 (C) increased attention by staff of 8 SelectUSA. 9 (f) PARTICIPATION OF OTHER AGENCIES.—All Fed- 10 eral agencies with responsibility for activities relating to 11 business investment decisions shall cooperate with 12 SelectUSA, as requested by the Executive Director, to 13 support the objectives of SelectUSA. 14 SEC. 3. FEDERAL INTERAGENCY INVESTMENT WORKING 15 GROUP. 16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Fed- 17 eral Interagency Investment Working Group (in this sec- 18 tion referred to as the ‘‘Working Group’’), which shall be 19 convened and chaired by the Executive Director of 20 SelectUSA, in coordination with the Director of the Na- 21 tional Economic Council. 22 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Working Group shall consist 23 of senior officials from— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3288.IH H3288 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3288 IH (1) agencies represented on the Trade Pro- 1 motion Coordinating Committee established by sec- 2 tion 2312 of the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 3 (15 U.S.C. 4727); and 4 (2) such other agencies as the Secretary of 5 Commerce may designate. 6 (c) FUNCTIONS.—The Working Group shall coordi- 7 nate activities to promote business investment and re- 8 spond to specific issues that affect business investment de- 9 cisions. 10 SEC. 4. REPORTS AND NOTIFICATIONS TO CONGRESS. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31 of 12 each year, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to Con- 13 gress a report on the activities of SelectUSA during the 14 preceding fiscal year. 15 (b) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under sub- 16 section (a) shall include, for the period covered by the re- 17 port, the following: 18 (1) A description of the outreach activities of 19 SelectUSA. 20 (2) A statement of the funds used by 21 SelectUSA. 22 (3) An assessment of the number of foreign 23 firms that located in the United States using the 24 services provided by SelectUSA, including the eco- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3288.IH H3288 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3288 IH nomic effect of such locations for the United States, 1 and an assessment of related services provided by 2 SelectUSA to State, local, regional, and tribal eco- 3 nomic development organizations and international 4 investors. 5 (4) A description of the progress made by the 6 United States in increasing its share of foreign di- 7 rect investment from the Asia and Pacific regions. 8 (5) A description of the efforts of SelectUSA in 9 promoting foreign direct investment in rural areas or 10 smaller States. 11 (6) A description of the efforts of SelectUSA in 12 coordinating with other Federal agencies, including 13 the United States and Foreign Commercial Service 14 established under section 2301 of the Export En- 15 hancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4721), the De- 16 partment of State, and the Foreign Agricultural 17 Service of the Department of Agriculture. 18 (7) Any findings that are made by SelectUSA 19 in conducting its activities and are relevant to pro- 20 moting the United States as a destination for for- 21 eign direct investment. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3288.IH H3288 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3288 IH SEC. 5. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE ASSESS- 1 MENT OF EFFECTIVENESS OF SELECTUSA. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 4 of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 5 assessing the effectiveness of SelectUSA in increasing, en- 6 couraging, and supporting foreign direct investment in the 7 United States. 8 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report required by 9 subsection (a) shall include, as appropriate, recommenda- 10 tions for ways SelectUSA may— 11 (1) increase foreign direct investment in the 12 United States; 13 (2) better coordinate with other Federal agen- 14 cies and other entities; 15 (3) better serve rural areas and smaller States, 16 including by tailoring activities to those areas and 17 States; 18 (4) increase foreign direct investment in those 19 areas and States; and 20 (5) more effectively use its resources. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3288.IH H3288 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3288 IH SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR 1 SELECTUSA. 2 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 3 SelectUSA $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 4 through 2024. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3288.IH H3288 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS