Millennium Challenge Corporation Candidate Country Reform Act

II Calendar No. 50 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1240 To modify the requirements for candidate countries under the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 20, 2023 Mr. RISCH (for himself and Mr. MENENDEZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations MAY 4, 2023 Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, without amendment A BILL To modify the requirements for candidate countries under the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, 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 ‘‘Millennium Challenge 4 Corporation Candidate Country Reform Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1240.RS S1240 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1240 RS SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS OF REQUIREMENTS TO BECOME A 1 CANDIDATE COUNTRY. 2 Section 606 of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 3 (22 U.S.C. 7705) is amended to read as follows: 4 ‘‘SEC. 606. CANDIDATE COUNTRIES. 5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A country shall be a candidate 6 country for purposes of eligibility to receive assistance 7 under section 605 if— 8 ‘‘(1) the per capita income of the country in a 9 fiscal year is equal to or less than the World Bank 10 threshold for initiating the International Bank for 11 Reconstruction and Development graduation process 12 for the fiscal year; and 13 ‘‘(2) subject to subsection (b), the country is 14 not ineligible to receive United States economic as- 15 sistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act 16 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) by reason of the 17 application of any provision of the Foreign Assist- 18 ance Act of 1961 or any other provision of law. 19 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For the purposes of 20 determining whether a country is eligible, pursuant to sub- 21 section (a)(2), to receive assistance under section 605, the 22 exercise by the President, the Secretary of State, or any 23 other officer or employee of the United States Government 24 of any waiver or suspension of any provision of law re- 25 ferred to in subsection (a)(2), and notification to the ap- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1240.RS S1240 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1240 RS propriate congressional committees in accordance with 1 such provision of law, shall be construed as satisfying the 2 requirements under subsection (a). 3 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION BY THE BOARD.—The Board 4 shall determine whether a country is a candidate country 5 for purposes of this section.’’. 6 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 7 (a) AMENDMENT TO REPORT IDENTIFYING CAN- 8 DIDATE COUNTRIES.—Section 608(a)(1) of the Millen- 9 nium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7707(a)(1)) is 10 amended by striking ‘‘section 606(a)(1)(B)’’ and inserting 11 ‘‘section 606(a)(2)’’. 12 (b) AMENDMENT TO MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE COM- 13 PACT AUTHORITY.—Section 609(b)(2) of such Act (22 14 U.S.C. 7708(b)(2)) is amended— 15 (1) by amending the paragraph heading to read 16 as follows: ‘‘COUNTRY CONTRIBUTIONS’’; and 17 (2) by striking ‘‘with respect to a lower middle 18 income country described in section 606(b),’’. 19 (c) AMENDMENT TO AUTHORIZATION TO PROVIDE 20 ASSISTANCE FOR CANDIDATE COUNTRIES.—Section 21 616(b)(1) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 7715(b)(1)) is amended 22 by striking ‘‘subsection (a) or (b) of section 606’’ and in- 23 serting ‘‘section 606(a)’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1240.RS S1240 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1240 RS SEC. 4. MODIFICATION TO FACTORS IN DETERMINING ELI- 1 GIBILITY. 2 Section 607(c)(2) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 3 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7706(c)(2)) is amended in the matter 4 preceding subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘consider’’ and 5 inserting ‘‘prioritize need and impact by considering’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1240.RS S1240 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1240.RS S1240 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB Calendar No. 50 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1240 A BILL To modify the requirements for candidate countries under the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, and for other purposes. MAY 4, 2023 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 May 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S1240.RS S1240 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB