Caribbean Basin Security Initiative Authorization Act

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7703 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 30, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations AN ACT To authorize appropriations for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, enhance the United States-Caribbean security partnership, prioritize disaster resilience, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7703.RFS H7703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 7703 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Caribbean Basin Secu- 2 rity Initiative Authorization Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE 4 CARIBBEAN BASIN SECURITY INITIATIVE. 5 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap- 6 propriated $74,800,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 7 through 2025 to carry out the Caribbean Basin Security 8 Initiative to achieve the purposes described in subsection 9 (b). 10 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes described in this sub- 11 section are the following: 12 (1) To promote citizen safety, security, and the 13 rule of law in the Caribbean through increased stra- 14 tegic engagement with the governments of bene- 15 ficiary countries and with elements of local civil soci- 16 ety, including the private sector, in such countries. 17 (2) To carry out the promotion of such safety, 18 security, and the rule of law through efforts includ- 19 ing the following: 20 (A) Capacity building for law enforcement 21 and military units, including professionalization, 22 anti-corruption and human rights training, vet- 23 ting, and community-based policing. 24 (B) Maritime and aerial security coopera- 25 tion, including assistance to strengthen Carib- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7703.RFS H7703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 7703 RFS bean maritime and aerial interdiction oper- 1 ations capability and the provision of support 2 systems and equipment, training, and mainte- 3 nance. 4 (C) Border and port security cooperation, 5 including support to strengthen capacity for 6 screening and to intercept narcotics, weapons, 7 bulk cash, and other contraband at airports and 8 seaports. 9 (D) Support for justice sector reform and 10 strengthening of the rule of law, including ca- 11 pacity building for prosecutors, judges, and 12 other justice officials, and support to increase 13 the efficacy of criminal courts. 14 (E) Cybersecurity and cybercrime coopera- 15 tion, including capacity-building and support 16 for cybersecurity systems. 17 (F) Countering transnational criminal or- 18 ganizations and local gang activity, including 19 capacity-building, equipment, and support for 20 operations targeting the finances and illegal ac- 21 tivities of transnational criminal networks and 22 local gangs such as their recruitment of at-risk 23 youth, and the provision of assistance to popu- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7703.RFS H7703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 7703 RFS lations vulnerable to being victims of extortion 1 and crime by criminal networks. 2 (G) Strengthening special prosecutorial of- 3 fices and providing technical assistance to com- 4 bat corruption, money laundering, financial 5 crimes, extortion, and human rights crimes, and 6 conduct asset forfeitures and criminal analysis. 7 (H) Strengthening the ability of the secu- 8 rity sector to respond to and become more resil- 9 ient in the face of natural disasters, including 10 by carrying out training exercises to ensure 11 critical infrastructure and ports are able to 12 come back online rapidly following disasters and 13 providing preparedness training to police and 14 first responders. 15 (I) Supporting training for civilian police 16 and appropriate security services in criminal in- 17 vestigations, best practices for citizen security, 18 and the protection of human rights. 19 (J) Improving community and law enforce- 20 ment cooperation to improve effectiveness and 21 professionalism of police and increase mutual 22 trust. 23 (K) Increasing economic opportunities for 24 at-risk youth and vulnerable populations, in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7703.RFS H7703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 7703 RFS cluding workforce development training and re- 1 medial education programs for at-risk youth. 2 (L) Improving juvenile justice sectors 3 through regulatory reforms, separating youth 4 from traditional prison systems, and improving 5 support and services in juvenile detention cen- 6 ters. 7 (3) To prioritize efforts to combat corruption 8 and include anti-corruption components to programs, 9 including by— 10 (A) strengthening national justice systems 11 and attorneys general and supporting inde- 12 pendent media and investigative reporting; 13 (B) supporting multilateral anti-corruption 14 mechanisms; and 15 (C) encouraging cooperative agreements 16 between the Department of State, other rel- 17 evant Federal departments and agencies, and 18 the attorneys general of relevant countries to 19 fight corruption in the Caribbean. 20 (4) To promote the rule of law in the Caribbean 21 and counter malign influence from authoritarian re- 22 gimes, including China and Russia, by: 23 (A) Monitoring security assistance from 24 authoritarian regimes and taking steps nec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7703.RFS H7703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 7703 RFS essary to ensure that this assistance does not 1 undermine or jeopardize U.S. security assist- 2 ance. 3 (B) Evaluating and, as appropriate, re- 4 stricting United States involvement in invest- 5 ment and infrastructure projects financed by 6 authoritarian regimes that might obstruct or 7 otherwise impact United States security assist- 8 ance to beneficiary countries. 9 (C) Monitoring and restricting equipment 10 and support from high risk vendors for tele- 11 communications infrastructure in beneficiary 12 countries. 13 (D) Countering disinformation by pro- 14 moting transparency and accountability from 15 beneficiary countries. 16 (E) Eliminating corruption linked to in- 17 vestment and infrastructure facilitated by au- 18 thoritarian regimes through support for invest- 19 ment screening, competitive tendering and bid- 20 ding processes, the implementation of invest- 21 ment law, and contractual transparency. 22 (5) To promote strategic engagement with the 23 governments of beneficiary countries through effec- 24 tive branding and messaging of United States assist- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7703.RFS H7703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 7703 RFS ance and security cooperation, including by devel- 1 oping a public diplomacy strategy for educating citi- 2 zens of beneficiary countries about United States as- 3 sistance and security cooperation programs and ben- 4 efits. 5 SEC. 3. STRATEGY TO IMPROVE DISASTER RESILIENCE. 6 (a) PRIORITIZATION.—During the 5-year period be- 7 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 8 retary of State shall, in consultation with the Adminis- 9 trator of the United States Agency for International De- 10 velopment and the President and Chief Executive Officer 11 of the Inter-American Foundation, prioritize efforts to in- 12 crease disaster response and resilience by carrying out 13 programs in beneficiary countries for the following pur- 14 poses: 15 (1) Encouraging coordination between bene- 16 ficiary countries and relevant Federal departments 17 and agencies to provide expertise and information 18 sharing. 19 (2) Supporting sharing of best practices on dis- 20 aster resilience including constructing resilient infra- 21 structure and rebuilding after natural disasters. 22 (3) Improving rapid-response mechanisms and 23 cross-government organizational preparedness for 24 natural disasters. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7703.RFS H7703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 7703 RFS (b) STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after the 1 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 2 shall, in coordination with the Administrator of the United 3 States Agency for International Development and in con- 4 sultation with the President and Chief Economic Officer 5 of the Inter-American Foundation, submit to the appro- 6 priate congressional committees a strategy that incor- 7 porates specific, measurable benchmarks to achieve the 8 purposes described in subsection (a) and to inform citizens 9 of beneficiary countries about the extent and benefits of 10 United States assistance to such countries. In developing 11 such strategy, the Secretary of State shall also consult 12 with nongovernmental organizations in beneficiary coun- 13 tries and in the United States. 14 (c) ANNUAL PROGRESS UPDATE.—The Secretary, in 15 coordination with the Administrator, shall annually submit 16 to the appropriate congressional committees a written de- 17 scription of the progress made as of the date of such sub- 18 mission in meeting the benchmarks included in the strat- 19 egy submitted pursuant to subsection (b). 20 SEC. 4. MONITORING AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 21 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 22 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination 23 with the Administrator of the United States Agency for 24 International Development, shall submit to the appro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7703.RFS H7703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 HR 7703 RFS priate congressional committees an implementation plan 1 that includes a timeline and stated objectives for actions 2 to be taken with respect to the Caribbean Basin Security 3 Initiative. The plan shall also include the following ele- 4 ments: 5 (1) A multi-year strategy with a timeline, over- 6 view of objectives, and anticipated outcomes for the 7 region and for each beneficiary country, with respect 8 to each program area described in section 2. 9 (2) Specific, measurable benchmarks to track 10 the progress of the Initiative towards accomplishing 11 the outcomes described pursuant to paragraph (1). 12 (3) A plan for the delineation of the roles to be 13 carried out by the Department of State, the United 14 States Agency for International Development, the 15 Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, 16 and any other Federal department or agency in car- 17 rying out the Initiative, to prevent overlap and unin- 18 tended competition between activities and resources. 19 (4) A plan to coordinate and track all activities 20 carried out under the Initiative between all relevant 21 Federal departments and agencies, in accordance 22 with the publication requirements described in sec- 23 tion 4 of the Foreign Aid Transparency and Ac- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7703.RFS H7703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 HR 7703 RFS countability Act of 2016 (Public Law 114–191; 22 1 U.S.C. 2394c). 2 (5) The results achieved during the previous 3 year— 4 (A) of monitoring and evaluation measures 5 to track the progress of the Initiative in accom- 6 plishing the benchmarks included pursuant to 7 paragraph (2); and 8 (B) of the implementation of the strategy 9 and plans described in paragraphs (1), (3), and 10 (4). 11 (6) A description of the process for co-locating 12 Caribbean Basin Security Initiative projects funded 13 by the United States Agency for International De- 14 velopment and the Bureau of International Nar- 15 cotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the Depart- 16 ment of State, to ensure that crime prevention fund- 17 ing and enforcement funding are used in the same 18 localities as necessary. 19 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 20 In this Act: 21 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 22 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 23 mittees’’ means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7703.RFS H7703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 HR 7703 RFS (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 1 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 2 of Representatives; and 3 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 4 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 5 Senate. 6 (2) BENEFICIARY COUNTRIES.—The term ‘‘ben- 7 eficiary countries’’ means the beneficiary countries 8 of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. 9 Passed the House of Representatives November 18, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:15 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7703.RFS H7703 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS