Home > 106th Congressional Bills > H.R. 985 (ih) To amend title 49, United States Code, concerning the treatment of certain aircraft as public aircraft. [Introduced in House] ...H.R. 985 (ih) To amend title 49, United States Code, concerning the treatment of certain aircraft as public aircraft. [Introduced in House] ...
Union Calendar No. 363
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 984
[Report No. 106-519, Part I]
To provide additional trade benefits to certain beneficiary countries
in the Caribbean, to provide assistance to the countries in Central
America and the Caribbean affected by Hurricane Mitch and Hurricane
Georges, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 4, 1999
Mr. Crane (for himself, Mr. Kolbe, Mr. Rangel, and Mr. Matsui)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on International
Relations, Banking and Financial Services, the Judiciary, and Armed
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
March 13, 2000
Reported from the Committee on Ways and Means with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
March 13, 2000
Referral to the Committees on International Relations, Banking and
Financial Services, the Judiciary, and Armed Services extended for a
period ending not later than May 26, 2000
May 26, 2000
Referral to the Committees on International Relations, Banking and
Financial Services, the Judiciary, and Armed Services extended for a
period ending not later than June 7, 2000
June 7, 2000
Additional sponsors: Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Houghton, Mr. Dreier, Mr.
Hinojosa, Mr. English, Mrs. Meek of Florida, Mr. Rush, Mrs.
Christensen, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Foley, Mr. Dooley of California, Mr.
Moran of Virginia, Mr. Ramstad, Mr. Payne, Mr. Miller of Florida, Mr.
Towns, Mr. Owens, Mr. Armey, Ms. Dunn, Mr. Shaw, Mr. McInnis, Mr. Davis
of Virginia, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Eddie Bernice
Johnson of Texas, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Ms. Kilpatrick, Mr. Bliley,
Mr. Portman, Ms. Pryce of Ohio, Mr. McIntosh, Mr. Bentsen, Ms. Eshoo,
Mr. LaTourette, Mr. Lewis of California, Mr. Cannon, Mr. Brady of
Texas, Mr. Ehlers, Mr. Nussle, Mr. Frelinghuysen, Mr. Davis of Florida,
Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Radanovich, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Farr of
California, Mrs. Roukema, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Weiner, Mr. Camp, Mr.
Barrett of Nebraska, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Royce, Mr. Ford, Mr. Oxley, Mrs.
Morella, Mr. Mascara, Ms. Berkley, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Talent, Mr. Hilliard,
Mr. Vitter, Mr. Bereuter, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Goss, and Mr.
Shays
Deleted sponsor: Mr. Boehner (added April 27, 1999; deleted May 6,
1999)
June 7, 2000
Committees on International Relations, Banking and Financial Services,
the Judiciary, and Armed Services discharged; committed to the
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to
be printed
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March
4, 1999]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide additional trade benefits to certain beneficiary countries
in the Caribbean, to provide assistance to the countries in Central
America and the Caribbean affected by Hurricane Mitch and Hurricane
Georges, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Caribbean and
Central America Relief and Economic Stabilization Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
TITLE I--UNITED STATES-CARIBBEAN TRADE PARTNERSHIP
Subtitle A--Trade Provisions
Sec. 101. Short title.
Sec. 102. Policy.
Sec. 103. Definitions.
Sec. 104. Temporary provisions to provide NAFTA parity to partnership
countries.
Sec. 105. Effect of NAFTA on sugar imports from beneficiary countries.
Sec. 106. Duty-free treatment for certain beverages made with Caribbean
rum.
Sec. 107. Meetings of trade ministers and USTR.
Sec. 108. Report on economic development and market oriented reforms in
the Caribbean.
Subtitle B--Revenue Offset
Sec. 111. Limitations on welfare benefit funds of 10 or more employer
plans.
Subtitle C--Suspension of Limitation on Cover Over of Tax on Distilled
Spirits
Sec. 121. Suspension of limitation on cover over of tax on distilled
spirits.
TITLE II--FOREIGN ASSISTANCE FOR CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Subtitle A--Microcredit and Agricultural Assistance
Sec. 201. Declaration of policy.
Sec. 202. Microenterprise assistance.
Sec. 203. Support for producer-owned cooperative marketing
associations.
Sec. 204. Agricultural research and extension activities.
Sec. 205. Nonemergency food assistance programs.
Subtitle B--Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Sec. 211. Private sector development activities of OPIC.
Subtitle C--Economic Support Fund Assistance
Sec. 221. Economic support fund assistance.
Sec. 222. Reimbursement of international disaster account.
Sec. 223. Rule of construction; availability of amounts.
TITLE III--DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Sec. 301. Replacement of funds used for disaster relief and
reconstruction.
TITLE IV--IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE
Sec. 401. Detention facilities.
TITLE V--DEBT RESCHEDULING AND REDUCTION FOR HONDURAS AND NICARAGUA;
FUNDING FOR THE CENTRAL AMERICAN EMERGENCY TRUST FUND OF THE
INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Subtitle A--Debt Rescheduling and Reduction for Honduras and Nicaragua
Sec. 501. Rescheduling of interest payments owed by Honduras and
Nicaragua.
Sec. 502. Reduction of debt owed by Honduras.
Subtitle B--Authorization of Funding for the Central American Emergency
Trust Fund of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Sec. 511. Authorization of funding.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) In October of 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated areas of
the Caribbean and Central America. The National Hurricane
Center has called this storm ``the most deadly hurricane in the
Atlantic in over 200 years''. Hurricane Mitch killed 9,860
people and left approximately 3,000,000 people homeless in the
region.
(2) Hurricane Georges hit the Florida Keys, the islands of
the Caribbean, and the Gulf coast of the United States in
September of 1998, causing more than $1,000,000,000 in damage.
The storm killed 250 people.
(3) The total direct economic impact of Hurricane Mitch and
Hurricane Georges on Honduras, Nicaragua, the Dominican
Republic, El Salvador and Guatemala amounts to $4,200,000,000.
Honduras' losses represent more than 50 percent of its gross
domestic product and Nicaragua lost a quarter of its gross
domestic product.
(4) The United States must continue to play a leading role
in responding to the disaster and encourage others to
contribute to the recovery effort. For example, Taiwan has
contributed $50,800,000 in assistance for the construction of
roads and housing, the rehabilitation of agricultural
production, and the distribution of supplies. Sweden, Spain,
and France have sent engineering teams to the region to assess
damage to roads, and Japan and the European Union have pledged
millions of dollars in assistance. The United States praises
the efforts of these and other nations in assisting with the
rehabilitation of the region.
(5) Approximately 356 bridges were destroyed in the region,
and 57 percent of the region's roads were impacted. The United
States equivalent of this would be the destruction of 3,900,000
miles of highway. These roads must be reconstructed quickly so
that farmers can transport their goods to market and much-
needed medical supplies can reach rural areas.
(6) Hurricane Mitch devastated the agricultural sector in
the affected areas of Central America and the Caribbean,
particularly the countries of Honduras and Guatemala. An estimated 70
percent of Honduras' crops were destroyed by Hurricane Mitch, including
90 percent of the country's banana and grain crops. In Guatemala, an
estimated 95 percent of the nation's banana crop was damaged, 25-60
percent of the corn, bean, coffee, and sugar crops were destroyed, and
30 percent of the cattle was lost.
(7) Approximately 50 percent of Central America and the
Caribbean's workforce is employed in agriculture. The
devastation to the agriculture sector by Hurricane Mitch has
resulted in a widespread shortage of food which is likely to
continue in the long term unless the region's agricultural
sector is rehabilitated.
(8) Significant numbers of displaced Central Americans are
moving north to the United States in the wake of Hurricane
Mitch's devastation. Border Patrol agents in Brownsville,
Texas, report that apprehensions of Hondurans alone increased
by 61 percent in the last three months of 1998. The massive
influx of immigrants places severe pressures upon the ability
of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to detain
and remove non-criminal illegal immigrants. At current funding
levels, the INS does not have the resources to detain illegal
non-criminal border crossers from Central America. If this
situation continues, the INS is concerned that many more people
will attempt to illegally cross the border.
(9) Partially in an effort to alleviate these pressures,
the Attorney General provided temporary protected status to
aliens from Honduras and Nicaragua on December 30, 1998 for a
period of 18 months. No such status was provided to immigrants
from El Salvador and Guatemala.
(10) Agricultural assistance and training and microcredit
assistance will provide much needed aid to the affected areas
of Central America and the Caribbean as the areas rebuild their
agriculture sectors. The immediate distribution of food aid is
important in the short term, but it is essential that the
region be able to return to self-sufficiency in food production
so the citizens of Central America and the Caribbean will be
able to feed themselves once again.
(11) The goal of United States assistance to the region
should focus on, in addition to the short-term disaster
assistance, long-term solutions for a successful economic
recovery of Central America and the Caribbean. Successful
economic recovery lies in the region's ability to expand its
international trade with important trading partners such as the
United States.
(12) Since 1983, the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act
has represented a permanent and successful commitment by the
United States to encourage the development of strong democratic
governments and revitalized economies in neighboring countries
in the Caribbean Basin.
(13) Thirty-four democratically elected leaders agreed at
the 1994 Summit of the Americas to conclude negotiation of a
Free Trade Area of the Americas (referred to in this Act as
``FTAA'') by the year 2005.
(14) The economic security of the countries in the
Caribbean Basin will be enhanced by the completion of the FTAA.
(15) Offering temporary benefits to Caribbean Basin
countries on the 30 percent of imports from the region that are
not currently duty-free under the Caribbean Basin Economic
Recovery Act and other trade programs, will promote the growth
of free enterprise and economic opportunity in these
neighboring countries and thereby enhance the national security
interests of the United States.
(16) Given the greater propensity of countries located in
the Western Hemisphere to use United States components and to
purchase United States products compared to other countries,
increased trade and economic activity between the United States
and countries in the Western Hemisphere will create new jobs in
the United States as a result of expanding export
opportunities.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development.
(2) Affected areas of central america and the caribbean.--
The term ``affected areas of Central America and the
Caribbean'' means areas in the Central American countries and
the Caribbean countries that incurred damage from Hurricane
Georges in September of 1998 and Hurricane Mitch in October of
1998.
(3) Caribbean countries.--The term ``Caribbean countries''
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