Millennium Challenge Corporation Candidate Country Reform Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3042 To modify the requirements for candidate countries under the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 2, 2023 Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself, Mrs. KIM of California, and Mr. MEEKS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 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 SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS OF REQUIREMENTS TO BECOME A 6 CANDIDATE COUNTRY. 7 Section 606 of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 8 (22 U.S.C. 7705) is amended to read as follows: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3042.IH H3042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3042 IH ‘‘SEC. 606. CANDIDATE COUNTRIES. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A country shall be a candidate 2 country for purposes of eligibility to receive assistance 3 under section 605 if— 4 ‘‘(1) the per capita income of the country in a 5 fiscal year is equal to or less than the World Bank 6 threshold for initiating the International Bank for 7 Reconstruction and Development graduation process 8 for the fiscal year; and 9 ‘‘(2) subject to subsection (b), the country is 10 not ineligible to receive United States economic as- 11 sistance under part I of the Foreign Assistance Act 12 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) by reason of the 13 application of any provision of the Foreign Assist- 14 ance Act of 1961 or any other provision of law. 15 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For the purposes of 16 determining whether a country is eligible, pursuant to sub- 17 section (a)(2), to receive assistance under section 605, the 18 exercise by the President, the Secretary of State, or any 19 other officer or employee of the United States Government 20 of any waiver or suspension of any provision of law re- 21 ferred to in subsection (a)(2), and notification to the ap- 22 propriate congressional committees in accordance with 23 such provision of law, shall be construed as satisfying the 24 requirements under subsection (a). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3042.IH H3042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3042 IH ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION BY THE BOARD.—The Board 1 shall determine whether a country is a candidate country 2 for purposes of this section.’’. 3 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 4 (a) AMENDMENT TO REPORT IDENTIFYING CAN- 5 DIDATE COUNTRIES.—Section 608(a)(1) of the Millen- 6 nium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7707(a)(1)) is 7 amended by striking ‘‘section 606(a)(1)(B)’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘section 606(a)(2)’’. 9 (b) AMENDMENT TO MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE COM- 10 PACT AUTHORITY.—Section 609(b)(2) of such Act (22 11 U.S.C. 7708(b)(2)) is amended— 12 (1) by amending the paragraph heading to read 13 as follows: ‘‘COUNTRY CONTRIBUTIONS’’; and 14 (2) by striking ‘‘with respect to a lower middle 15 income country described in section 606(b),’’. 16 (c) AMENDMENT TO AUTHORIZATION TO PROVIDE 17 ASSISTANCE FOR CANDIDATE COUNTRIES.—Section 18 616(b)(1) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 7715(b)(1)) is amended 19 by striking ‘‘subsection (a) or (b) of section 606’’ and in- 20 serting ‘‘section 606(a)’’. 21 SEC. 4. MODIFICATION TO FACTORS IN DETERMINING ELI- 22 GIBILITY. 23 Section 607(c)(2) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 24 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7706(c)(2)) is amended in the matter 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3042.IH H3042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3042 IH preceding subparagraph (A) by striking ‘‘consider’’ and 1 inserting ‘‘prioritize need and impact by considering’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:43 May 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3042.IH H3042 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS