A bill to authorize humanitarian, technical, and enterprise fund assistance for the Baltic states and the Soviet republics, and for other purposes.
Economic Development and Security Act of 1991 - Title I: Commission on Economy Security - Establishes the Commission on Economic Security to: (1) consider a wide range of political and economic issues and to develop a long-term economic strategy for dealing with the Baltic States and Soviet republics; and (2) develop a long-term economic cooperation and assistance program for such States and republics for use in guiding executive and legislative branch policy. Defines "Soviet republics" as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Byelorussia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Moldavia, Russia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
Title II: Appointment of Coordinator for Economic Development and Working Groups for the Baltic States and Republics of the Soviet Union - Directs the President to appoint a Coordinator for Economic Development to coordinate activities of all U.S. Government agencies in offering humanitarian or technical assistance to the Soviet republics.
Authorizes the Secretary of State to: (1) enter into agreements with each of the Baltic States and Soviet republics for the establishment of bilateral working groups, consisting of members drawn from governmental agencies and the private sector, for purposes of developing plans of action for the economic development of each State or republic; and (2) establish the U.S. delegation to each group, upon execution of an agreement.
Title III: Eligibility for Assistance - Requires the Baltic States and Soviet republics, in order to be eligible for assistance under this Act (other than emergency or humanitarian assistance), to be: (1) in compliance with the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe; (2) making progress toward establishing democratic states and market-based economies; (3) in compliance with all applicable U.S. laws; and (4) certified by the President as meeting such requirements.
Title IV: Emergency Assistance and Humanitarian Assistance - Authorizes the President, acting through the Coordinator, to begin sending food assistance and medicine to the Soviet Union through the Agency for International Development (AID) and other organizations.
Requires the Coordinator to: (1) develop a plan for humanitarian assistance to the Soviet Union, which would include making available Department of Defense supplies of excess nonlethal materials; and (2) make recommendations on ways to improve the distribution of agricultural commodities and resolve the problem of hoarding.
Title V: Technical Assistance - Directs the Coordinator, in order to develop programs that would facilitate democracy-building and the creation of market-based economies in the Baltic States and Soviet republics, to: (1) consult with private sector groups; and (2) monitor and cooperate with the activities of groups or individuals funded under the National Endowment of Democracy, the Fulbright Scholarship Program, and the National Academy of Sciences.
Requires the Coordinator to coordinate long-term technical assistance programs among all relevant Federal agencies for the Baltic States and Soviet republics.
Authorizes the President to conduct medium-term technical assistance programs for the Baltic States and the Soviet Union which shall utilize U.S. private sector firms.
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Coordinator should coordinate and promote exchanges between public and private sector groups in the United States and their counterparts in the Soviet Union, particularly business and economic organizations.
Title VI: Government-to-Government Programs for the Promotion of Private Enterprise - Directs the Export-Import Bank of the United States to carry out: (1) a special program to facilitate guarantees, direct loans, and insurance for the Soviet republics and the Baltic States; and (2) special programs to assist U.S. exporters for understanding the new markets in such republics and States.
Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to make the Baltic States and Soviet republics eligible for Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) programs.
Requires: (1) the Export-Import Bank to develop a National Interest Account for the development of the oil sector for the Soviet republics that will not require a sovereign guarantee for the Bank to transact business; and (2) OPIC to provide a portion of its guarantee authority to aid with investment in the oil sector.
Directs AID to: (1) establish a program to assist with the infrastructure needs of the Baltic States and Soviet republics; and (2) work with the Export-Import Bank and the Trade and Development Program to put together transactions that help such States and republics and American exporters.
Repeals a provision of the Trade Act of 1974 which prohibits Federal agencies from approving financing in excess of a specified amount in connection with exports to the Soviet Union. Repeals a similar provision of the Export-Import Bank Act.
Supports negotiations on investment and economic treaties with the Baltic States and Soviet republics.
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should designate the Baltic States and Soviet republics as beneficiary developing countries under title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (relating to the Generalized System of Preferences) for purposes of according duty-free treatment to eligible articles; and (2) such States and republics should be made eligible for U.S. quotas under existing international textile agreements.
Title VII: Multilateral Initiatives - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. executive directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to: (1) support membership in the IMF and the Bank of Soviet republics eligible for assistance under this Act; and (2) recommend availability of emergency and immediate relief for the Baltic States and such republics through the IMF and the Bank.
Directs the Secretary to instruct the U.S. executive director of the IMF to propose the establishment of a currency stabilization fund using Special Discovery Rights to help make the currencies of the Baltic States and Soviet republics transferable.
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) call for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to include the Baltic States and the Soviet republics as part of their "Partners in Transition" program within the Center for Cooperation for European Economies in Transition (CCEET); (2) request CCEET to study the economies of such States and republics; and (3) call for the full membership of States and republics eligible for assistance under this Act in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
Requires the Secretary to direct the U.S. executive director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to: (1) support the lifting of limits on borrowing restrictions for Soviet republics; (2) request the Bank to set up private sector programs for such republics and the Baltic States and to act as a clearinghouse for aid and technical assistance from organizations trying to help them; and (3) propose the establishment of an international payments union among such States and republics and Eastern European countries.
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should support the admission into the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe of Soviet republics and Baltic States eligible for assistance under this Act.
Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to the coordination of aid efforts with other Group of Seven nations.
Title VIII: Private Sector Development - Authorizes appropriations for the Baltic-American and Soviet-American Enterprise Funds. Requires the President to designate two private, nonprofit organizations to receive such funds for purposes of promoting private sector development in the Baltic States and Soviet republics. Sets forth auditing and recordkeeping requirements for the Funds.
Title IX: Utilization of Energy Resources - Establishes a Task Force on Soviet Energy Resource Utilization to develop U.S. policies with respect to the promotion of: (1) the development of energy resources in the Soviet Union; (2) economic development opportunities for U.S. energy firms; and (3) competition in world energy production to help assure domestic prices and stable energy markets.
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
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