Appropriations bill FY98, Foreign Operations

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Title I: Export and Investment Assistance

Title II: Bilateral Economic Assistance

Title III: Military Assistance

Title IV: Multilateral Economic Assistance

Title V: General Provisions

Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1998 - Title I: Export and Investment Assistance - Makes appropriations for FY 1998 for: (1) direct loans, loan guarantees, tied-aid grants, insurance, and administrative expenses under Export-Import Bank programs; (2) Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) direct and guaranteed loans and credit and insurance programs, including administrative expenses; and (3) the Trade and Development Agency.

Title II: Bilateral Economic Assistance - Makes appropriations for FY 1998 for: (1) expenses of the President in carrying out certain programs under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961; (2) the Agency for International Development (AID) for child survival and disease programs, including basic education programs; (3) specified development assistance (allowing availability of limited amounts for the Inter-American Foundation and the African Development Foundation); (4) private and voluntary organizations; (5) specified projects aimed at reunification of Cyprus; (6) certain activities in Burma; (7) international disaster assistance; (8) debt restructuring; (9) micro and small enterprise development programs; (10) guaranteed loans for the urban and environmental credit program; (11) the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability Fund; (12) operating expenses of AID and the AID Office of Inspector General; (13) Economic Support Fund (ESF) assistance (earmarking amounts for Israel, Egypt, and Jordan, and for the Middle East Peace and Stability Fund); (14) the International Fund for Ireland; (15) economic assistance for Eastern Europe and the Baltic States (earmarking amounts for Bosnia and Herzegovina, but with a prohibition on funds for new housing construction or repair or reconstruction of existing housing in Bosnia and Herzegovina unless directly related to U.S. troop efforts to promote peace there); (16) assistance for the new independent states of the former Soviet Union (subject to specified conditions, and earmarking amounts for Mongolia, Ukraine, and the Southern Caucasus, including Georgia and Armenia, especially the areas of Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh); (17) the Peace Corps (but with a prohibition on the use of such funds for abortions); (18) international narcotics control; (19) narcotics interdiction; (20) migration and refugee assistance; (21) refugee resettlement assistance; (22) the Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund; and (23) nonproliferation, anti-terrorism and related programs and activities (specifying conditions on funds for the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO)). Bars the use of development assistance funds for: (1) coercive abortions or involuntary sterilizations; and (2) U.S. private and voluntary organizations which obtain less than 20 percent of annual funding from sources other than the U.S. Government.

Authorizes the President to withhold the availability of funds for economic revitalization programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina if the President certifies to the Committees on Appropriations that: (1) the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not complied with article III of annex 1-A of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina concerning the withdrawal of foreign forces; and (2) intelligence cooperation on training, investigations, and related activities between Iranian officials and Bosnian officials has not been terminated.

Requires the withholding of certain funds from Russia unless the President certifies to the Committees on Appropriations that: (1) such assistance is vital to the U.S. national security interest; and (2) Russia is taking steps to terminate arrangements to provide Iran with technology to develop a nuclear program.

Prohibits funds to: (1) Cambodia (except humanitarian, demining, or election-related activities); and (2) the Government of Azerbaijan until the President reports to the Congress that it has ceased all blockades against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Title III: Military Assistance - Makes appropriations for FY 1998 for: (1) international military education and training (IMET) (earmarking amounts for Indonesia and Guatemala, with specified restrictions); (2) foreign military financing grants and direct loans (earmarking amounts for Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Greece, Turkey, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic); and (3) international peacekeeping operations (subject to certain conditions).

Prohibits foreign military financing for Sudan, Liberia, and Guatemala.

Title IV: Multilateral Economic Assistance - Makes appropriations for FY 1998 for the U.S. contribution to: (1) the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank); (2) the International Development Association; (3) the Inter-American Development Bank; (4) the Enterprise for the Americas Multilateral Investment Fund; (5) the Asian Development Bank; (6) the Asian Development Fund; (7) the African Development Fund; (8) the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; and (9) the North American Development Bank.

Makes appropriations for FY 1998 for international programs and organizations. Sets certain restrictions on international organization funding, including prohibiting the use of funds made available to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for activities in China. Prohibits the use of funds for: (1) the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO); and (2) the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Title V: General Provisions - Sets forth limits on the use of appropriations, including that no more than 15 percent of such appropriations shall be obligated during the last month of availability. Specifies limits for official residence expenses, entertainment expenses, and representation allowances for AID, and for entertainment and representation allowances for the Inter-American Foundation and the Trade and Development Agency. Limits the use of funds for entertainment expenses of the Peace Corps, or under the Foreign Military Financing Program.

(Sec. 502) Prohibits the use of funds for: (1) bilateral funding of international financial institutions; (2) the export of nuclear equipment, fuel, or technology (except for nuclear safety purposes); (3) direct assistance or reparations to Cuba, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Iran, Sudan, or Syria; (4) assistance to any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree; (5) certain transfers between appropriations accounts without prior presidential consultation with the Congress; (6) assistance to any country in default in excess of a year on payments on a U.S. loan (except for Nicaragua and Liberia, and narcotics-related assistance for Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru); and (7) assistance (except in certain circumstances) for production of any commodity for export by a foreign country, if the commodity is likely to be in surplus on world markets when the resulting productive capacity is expected to become operative, and if the assistance will injure U.S. producers of a similar commodity.

(Sec. 514) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Directors of specified international financial institutions to oppose any assistance for the production or extraction of any commodity or mineral for export if it is in surplus on world markets and such assistance will cause substantial injury to U.S. producers of a similar commodity.

(Sec. 516) Prohibits the use of international organization funds for Libya, Iran, or certain Communist countries.

(Sec. 517) Declares it is U.S. policy that appropriations for ESF funds allocated to Israel shall not be less than the annual debt repayment from Israel to the United States.

(Sec. 518) Prohibits the use of development assistance funds for abortions or involuntary sterilizations as methods of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions, or provide any financial incentive to undergo sterilization.

(Sec. 519) Requires the President to report to the appropriate congressional committees on annual arms sales proposals covering major weapons under the Arms Export Control Act.

(Sec. 520) Prohibits the use of funds for Colombia, Haiti, Liberia, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Serbia, Sudan, or the Democratic Republic of Congo, except through the regular notification procedures of the Committees on Appropriations.

(Sec. 522) Makes funds available to AID for family planning, health, child survival, and basic education and AIDS research and control in developing countries.

(Sec. 523) Bars funding for indirect assistance or reparations to Cuba, Iraq, Libya, Iran, Syria, North Korea, or China unless the President certifies that the withholding of such funds is contrary to the U.S. national security interest.

(Sec. 524) Amends the Arms Export Control Act to extend the President's waiver authority with respect to reciprocal leasing through FY 1998.

(Sec. 525) Requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to notify the Committees on Appropriations before providing excess DOD articles to certain NATO and major non-NATO countries.

(Sec. 527) Prohibits bilateral assistance funds to any country which the President determines grants sanctuary from prosecution to any individual or group which has committed an act of international terrorism or otherwise supports such activities. Authorizes a waiver of this prohibition by the President for national security and humanitarian reasons, requiring notification to the Committees on Appropriations.

(Sec. 528) Authorizes the commercial leasing of defense articles (instead of government-to-government sale) to Israel, Egypt, NATO, and major non-NATO allies if the President determines that there are compelling foreign policy or national security reasons.

(Sec. 529) Requires all AID contracts and subcontracts to include a clause requiring that U.S. insurance companies have a fair opportunity to bid for insurance when insurance is necessary or appropriate.

(Sec. 530) Prohibits U.S. sale of Stinger missiles in the Persian Gulf region, with certain exceptions.

(Sec. 531) Authorizes nongovernmental organizations which are AID grantees or contractors to place funds made available to them under this Act in interest bearing accounts in order to enhance their participation in economic activities under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, including endowments and debt-for-development and debt-for-nature exchanges.

(Sec. 532) Directs the Administrator of AID to require foreign countries that receive foreign assistance which results in the generation of local currencies to deposit such currencies in a separate account to be used to finance foreign assistance activities.

(Sec. 533) Prohibits payments to any international financial institution while the U.S. Executive Director to the institution is compensated at a rate in excess of that for a specified position under the Executive Schedule.

(Sec. 534) Bars assistance to any country that is not in compliance with the United Nations (UN) sanctions against Iraq unless the President certifies to the Congress that such assistance: (1) is in the U.S. national interest; (2) will directly benefit the needy people in that country; or (3) will be humanitarian assistance for foreign nationals who have fled Iraq and Kuwait.

(Sec. 536) Extends the authority to obligate funds to close the Special Defense Acquisition Fund.

(Sec. 537) Declares that provisions under this or any other Act authorizing appropriations for foreign operations or export financing shall not be construed to prohibit activities authorized by the Peace Corps Act, the Inter-American Foundation Act, or the African Development Foundation Act. Requires an agency to report to the Committees on Appropriations whenever it is conducting or proposing activities in a country for which such assistance is prohibited.

(Sec. 538) Prohibits the use of funds to provide: (1) any financial incentive to a business for purposes of inducing it to relocate outside the United States if it will reduce the number of employees in the United States; (2) assistance for establishing or developing in a foreign country an export processing zone or other designated area in which a country's tax, tariff, labor, environment, and safety laws do not apply to activities in the area, unless the President certifies that such assistance is not likely to cause a loss of U.S. jobs; or (3) assistance for any project that contributes to the violation of internationally recognized workers rights in the recipient country.

(Sec. 539) Declares that funds appropriated under this Act for Afghanistan, Lebanon, and for victims of war, displaced children, displaced Burmese, humanitarian assistance for Romania, and humanitarian assistance for the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Kosova, may be made available notwithstanding any other provision of law.

Authorizes the use of foreign assistance funds to support: (1) tropical forestry and energy programs aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases; and (2) biodiversity conservation activities.

Authorizes AID to employ personal services contractors to administer programs for the West Bank and Gaza.

(Sec. 540) Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to: (1) immediate public renunciation by Arab League countries of the boycott of Israel (reinstated in 1997) and of American firms having commercial ties with Israel; and (2) steps the President should take to encourage such renunciation.

(Sec. 541) Authorizes the use of ESF funds to strengthen the administration of justice in countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and in other regions. Allows such use of ESF funds (including for anti-narcotics activities) for Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru, notwithstanding specified provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.

(Sec. 542) Declares that restrictions on assistance to foreign countries contained in this Act or any other Act (except those relating to international terrorism or human rights violations) shall not be construed to restrict assistance: (1) in support of certain programs of nongovernmental organizations; or (2) under specified provisions of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954.

(Sec. 543) Authorizes the reprogramming of earmarked appropriations for other programs within the same account, provided certain requirements are met.

(Sec. 545) Prohibits the use of funds for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States that were not authorized before the enactment of this Act.

Makes specified funds available to private and voluntary organizations to deal with world hunger problems abroad.

(Sec. 546) Declares that assistance under this Act should make full use of American resources, including commodities, products, and services, to the maximum extent possible.

Declares the sense of the Congress that, to the greatest extent practicable, all equipment and products purchased with funds made available in this Act should be American-made. Requires Federal agency heads, in providing financial assistance to or entering into any contract with any entity using funds made available in this Act, to notify such entity of this intention.

(Sec. 547) Prohibits the use of funds to pay any assessments, arrearages, or dues of any U.N. member.

(Sec. 549) Prohibits the provision of funds to a private voluntary organization that fails to provide any document, file, or record necessary to the auditing requirements of AID.

(Sec. 550) Prohibits the provision of funds to any foreign government that provides lethal military equipment to a country that the Secretary of State has determined has a terrorist government, unless the President determines that the furnishing of such assistance is in the U.S. national interest.

(Sec. 551) Withholds assistance to a foreign country in an amount equal to 110 percent of the total unpaid parking fines and penalties owed by the country to the District of Columbia.

(Sec. 552) Prohibits the obligation of any appropriations for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for the West Bank and Gaza unless the President has exercised certain authorities to suspend prohibitions on assistance to the PLO.

(Sec. 553) Permits the President to provide up to a specified amount of commodities and services to the UN War Crimes Tribunal if doing so will contribute to a just resolution of charges regarding genocide or other violations of international law in the former Yugoslavia.

(Sec. 554) Authorizes disposal on a grant basis in foreign countries of demining equipment used in support of the clearing of land mines and unexploded ordnance for humanitarian purposes.

Directs the Secretary of Defense to report to the congressional Committees on Appropriations on potential alternative technologies to protect anti-tank mines from tampering in a manner consistent with the "Convention on the Prohibition, Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction."

(Sec. 555) Prohibits the obligation of appropriations to create in Jerusalem a new U.S. agency office for the purpose of conducting U.S. business with the Palestinian Authority over Gaza and Jericho (or any successor Palestinian governing entity) provided for in the Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles.

(Sec. 556) Prohibits the obligation of certain funds appropriated for Informational Program activities to pay for: (1) alcoholic beverages; (2) food (other than food provided at a military installation) not provided in conjunction with Informational Program trips where students do not stay at a military installation; or (3) entertainment expenses for recreational activities.

(Sec. 557) Limits the amount of certain foreign assistance funds to Latin America and the Caribbean region.

(Sec. 558) Authorizes the President to reduce amounts owed to the United States by eligible countries as a result of: (1) housing guarantees made pursuant to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961; (2) credits extended or guarantees issued under the Arms Export Control Act; or (3) any obligation for a Latin American country to pay for certain purchases of U.S. agricultural commodities.

Permits exercise of such authority only: (1) to implement multilateral official debt relief and referendum agreements known as the Paris Club Agreed Minutes; and (2) with respect to countries with heavy debt burdens that are eligible to borrow from the International Development Association (but not from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) (IDA-only countries). Prescribes additional conditions for the exercise of such authority.

(Sec. 559) Authorizes the President to engage in certain debt buybacks or sales. Authorizes sale, reduction, or cancellation of certain loans to foreign governments, upon receipt of payment from an eligible purchaser that plans to use such loans only for the purposes of engaging in debt-for-equity swaps, debt-for-development swaps, debt-for-nature swaps, or a debt buyback by an eligible country of its own qualified debt, subject to specified conditions. Limits such authority to funds appropriated by this Act under the heading of debt restructuring.

(Sec. 560) Authorizes appropriations for the U.S. contribution to: (1) the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; (2) the International Development Association; (3) the Asian Development Fund; and (4) the Inter-American Development Bank.

Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to require the International Finance Corporation to comply with environmental standards that apply to other multilateral institutions.

Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. executive Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association to use the U.S. vote to encourage such institutions to: (1) provide public information on procurement opportunities available to U.S. suppliers, with an emphasis on small business; and (2) consult with local communities on the potential impact of loans as part of the normal lending process, and expand the participation of affected peoples and nongovernmental organizations in decisions on the selection, design, and implementation of policies and projects.

(Sec. 561) Provides for bilateral and multilateral assistance sanctions against countries harboring war criminals indicted with respect to Rwanda or Nazi Germany.

(Sec. 562) Prohibits provision to the Government of Haiti of any funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act unless the President reports to the Congress that such Government: (1) is conducting thorough investigations of extrajudicial and political killings; (2) is cooperating with U.S. authorities in such investigations; (3) has substantially completed privatization of (or placed under long-term private management or concession) at least three major public enterprises; and (4) has taken action to remove from the Haitian National Police, national palace and residential guard, ministerial guard, and any other public security entity individuals who have committed human rights violations. Makes such prohibition inapplicable to humanitarian, electoral, counter narcotics, or law enforcement assistance. Authorizes the President to waive such conditions on a semiannual basis upon determination and certification to the appropriate congressional committees that it is in the U.S. national interest.

(Sec. 563) Requires a specified annual report of the Secretary of State containing the voting record of each foreign member country of the UN to include a side-by-side comparison of each country's overall support for the United States at the UN and the amount of U.S. assistance provided to it in FY 1997.

(Sec. 564) Prohibits the United States from paying any voluntary contribution to the UN, including the UN Development Program, unless the President certifies to the Congress 15 days in advance of such payment that the UN is not engaged in any effort to implement or impose any taxation on U.S. persons in order to raise revenue for itself or any of its specialized agencies.

(Sec. 565) Limits the amount of ESF assistance to Turkey.

(Sec. 566) Prohibits the obligation of any appropriations for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), unless the President certifies to the Congress that it is in the U.S. national security interests.

(Sec. 567) Prohibits the use of funds for Croatia to relocate the remains of Croatian Ustashe soldiers at the site of the World War II concentration camp at Jasenovac, Croatia.

(Sec. 568) Requires the Secretary of Labor to report to the Committees on Appropriations on labor practices in Burma.

(Sec. 569) Makes the Government of Haiti eligible to purchase U.S. defense articles and services for the civilian-led Haitian National Police and Coast Guard.

(Sec. 570) Prohibits the use of funds for the security forces of a foreign country if the Secretary of State believes they have committed gross violations of human rights, unless the Secretary reports to the Committees on Appropriations that such country is taking steps to bring the responsible persons to justice.

(Sec. 571) Requires that any agreement between the United States and the Government of Indonesia for the sale of lethal weapons shall state that such items will not be used in East Timor.

(Sec. 573) Provides for bilateral and multilateral assistance sanctions (with humanitarian, democratization, and certain infrastructure project exceptions) against countries harboring war criminals indicted with respect to the former Yugoslavia.

(Sec. 574) Amends the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1990 to extend through FY 1998 the authorization for admission into the United States of a specified number of refugees from the independent states of the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania based on religious persecution owing to participation in the Ukrainian Catholic or Orthodox churches.

Makes September 30, 1998, the latest allowable entry date for specified aliens from the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia for purposes of qualifying for adjustment of status.

(Sec. 575) Makes funds available for FY 1998 for defense article stockpiles in foreign countries, including the Republic of Korea and Thailand.

(Sec. 577) Prohibits the use of funds for the Government of the Russian Federation unless the President certifies to specified congressional committees that the Federation has not enacted laws or promulgated executive orders that discriminate against religious minorities in violation of international agreements on human rights and religious freedoms to which it is a signatory.

(Sec. 578) Declares that U.S. policy in the South Caucasus and Central Asian countries should be to: (1) promote sovereignty and independence with democratic government; (2) assist in the resolution of regional conflicts; (3) promote economic cooperation and market-oriented principles; (4) assist in the development of infrastructure necessary for communications, transportation, and energy and trade on an East-West axis in order to build strong relations and commerce between those countries and the democratic, market-oriented countries of the Euro-Atlantic community; and (5) support U.S. business interests and investments in the region.

(Sec. 579) Declares that no provisions under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or any other law shall be construed to prohibit Pakistan from receiving OPIC programs if it is in the U.S. national interest.

Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Director of the Trade and Development Agency should use trade and development program funds to promote U.S. exports to Pakistan.

(Sec. 580) Directs the President to provide: (1) the Congress an account of all Federal agency obligations and expenditures for climate change programs and activities (domestic and international) for FY 1997 and 1998; and (2) the appropriate congressional committees any plan for programs thereafter in the context of negotiations to amend the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC).

(Sec. 581) Extends through FY 1999 the authority of OPIC to issue investment insurance and guarantees. Revises requirements for investment insurance and guarantees to specify a single maximum contingent liability outstanding at any time of $29 million in the aggregate for investment insurance, investment guarantees, and direct investment.

(Sec. 582) Directs the President to withhold a specified amount of foreign assistance funds (except development or humanitarian assistance) from countries that violate any UN sanction against Libya.

(Sec. 583) Amends the War Crimes Act of 1996 to include violations of other specified international conventions or any protocol relating to the laws of warfare (including the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-traps and Other Devices as amended at Geneva on May 3, 1996) within the offense of war crimes and conduct subject to a fine, imprisonment for life or a term of years, or both, and the death penalty, if death results to the victim.

(Sec. 584) Urges the Secretary of Defense to ensure that approximately 30 percent of funds appropriated for the cost of Latin American participants in IMET programs will be disbursed for supporting the enrollment of such participants in expanded IMET courses.

(Sec. 585) Bars funds to the Government of Congo until the President reports to the Congress that it is cooperating fully with investigators from the UN in accounting for human rights violations committed there or in adjacent countries.

(Sec. 586) Earmarks specified foreign assistance funds for Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza, the Israel-Lebanon Monitoring Group, the Multinational Force and Observers, the Middle East Regional Democracy Fund, Middle East Regional Cooperation, and Middle East Multilateral Working Groups.

(Sec. 588) Amends the Support for East European Democracy Act to revise specified restrictions on payments to Enterprise Fund personnel to limit certain forms of future compensation unless notified in advance by the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

(Sec. 589) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. executive directors of international financial institutions to use their vote to oppose loans to Cambodia (except loans to support basic human needs).

(Sec. 591) Makes specified funds available for: (1) FY 1998 direct loans and loan guarantees for foreign development assistance; and (2) bilateral assistance for population planning activities.