American Cooperation with Our Neighbors Act

IIB 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2789 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 8, 2024 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations AN ACT To direct the Secretary of State to develop a strategy on efforts to strengthen subnational cooperation between the United States and Mexico, 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 02:53 Jul 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2789.RFS H2789 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 HR 2789 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Cooperation 2 with Our Neighbors Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. SUBNATIONAL COOPERATION STRATEGY. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days after the 5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 6 in coordination with the Administrator of the United 7 States Agency for International Development, shall submit 8 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep- 9 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 10 the Senate a strategy on efforts to strengthen subnational 11 cooperation between the United States and Mexico for the 12 purposes of— 13 (1) enhancing law enforcement cooperation and 14 local, State, and Federal security forces cooperation 15 at a subnational level for the purpose of curbing 16 fentanyl trafficking and other synthetic opioids, in- 17 cluding activities such as— 18 (A) bolstering technical assistance and co- 19 ordination for law enforcement agencies and 20 local, State, and Federal security forces; 21 (B) carrying out exchange programs for 22 the purposes of professional development; and 23 (C) enhancing data sharing, as appro- 24 priate; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Jul 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2789.RFS H2789 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 HR 2789 RFS (2) bolstering subnational dialogue and capacity 1 building between Federal and local governments, 2 civil society, faith-based organizations, and business 3 community leaders and integrating issues faced by 4 local communities, including with respect to traf- 5 ficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids; and 6 (3) strengthening capacity building and provide 7 resources for border towns and organizations within 8 those towns that attempt to meet the needs of com- 9 munities. 10 (b) UPDATE.—Not later than 2 years after the date 11 of the submission of the strategy under subsection (a), the 12 President shall submit to the congressional committees 13 specified in subsection (a) an update containing an assess- 14 ment of the implementation and effectiveness of the strat- 15 egy, lessons learned from the past year with respect to 16 the strategy, and planned changes to the strategy. 17 (c) FORM.—The strategy under subsection (a), and 18 the update under subsection (b), shall be submitted in un- 19 classified form. 20 (d) LIMITATION ON DATA SHARING.— 21 (1) LIMITATION.—The Secretary of State may 22 not carry out any project, program, or activity that 23 implements the strategy under subsection (a) for the 24 purpose specified in paragraph (1)(C) of such sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Jul 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2789.RFS H2789 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 HR 2789 RFS section until the Secretary submits to the appro- 1 priate congressional committees a notification re- 2 garding the data intended to be shared with foreign 3 countries pursuant to such strategy. 4 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 5 TEES.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate 6 congressional committees’’ means— 7 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary, the 8 Committee on Homeland Security, the Com- 9 mittee on Foreign Affairs, and the Permanent 10 Select Committee on Intelligence of the House 11 of Representatives; and 12 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary, the 13 Committee on Homeland Security and Govern- 14 mental Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Rela- 15 tions, and the Select Committee on Intelligence 16 of the Senate. 17 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF STATE REVIEW OF ACCESS TO FI- 18 NANCE IN CARICOM MEMBER STATES. 19 (a) REVIEW.—The Secretary of State, in consultation 20 with the Secretary of Treasury, shall conduct a review to 21 determine any steps, balancing costs and benefits, that the 22 Secretaries could take to expand financial access to the 23 member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), 24 including through a review of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Jul 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2789.RFS H2789 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 HR 2789 RFS (1) sanctions enforcement laws and compliance 1 standards; 2 (2) reporting requirements pertaining to nar- 3 cotics trafficking and illicit finance thereof; 4 (3) possible expansion of embassies and con- 5 sulates in the region; and 6 (4) programming or lack thereof pertaining to 7 access to capital in the region. 8 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the ap- 9 propriate congressional committees a report on the find- 10 ings of the Secretary pertaining to the review under sub- 11 section (a). 12 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE- 13 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres- 14 sional committees’’ means— 15 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 16 Committee on Financial Services of the House of 17 Representatives; and 18 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Jul 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2789.RFS H2789 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 HR 2789 RFS (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 1 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af- 2 fairs of the Senate. 3 Passed the House of Representatives June 25, 2024. Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Jul 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2789.RFS H2789 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB