Sec. 7032.
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Of the funds appropriated by this Act, not less than $2,308,517,000 shall be made available for democracy programs. Funds made available by this Act for democracy programs may be made available notwithstanding any other provision of law, and with regard to the National Endowment for Democracy, any regulation. For purposes of funds appropriated by this Act, the term democracy programs means programs that support good governance, credible and competitive elections, freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion, human rights, labor rights, independent media, and the rule of law, and that otherwise strengthen the capacity of democratic political parties, governments, nongovernmental organizations and institutions, and citizens to support the development of democratic states, and institutions that are responsive and accountable to citizens.
Funds made available pursuant to this section that are made available for programs to strengthen government institutions shall be prioritized for those institutions that demonstrate a commitment to democracy and the rule of law, as determined by the Secretary of State or the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, as appropriate. With respect to the provision of assistance for democracy programs in this Act, the organizations implementing such assistance, the specific nature of that assistance, and the participants in such programs shall not be subject to the prior approval by the government of any foreign country:
Provided , That the Secretary of State, in coordination with the USAID Administrator, shall report to the Committees on Appropriations, not later than 120 days after enactment of this Act, detailing steps taken by the Department of State and USAID to comply with the requirements of this subsection. USAID shall continue to implement civil society and political competition and consensus building programs abroad with funds appropriated by this Act in a manner that recognizes the unique benefits of grants and cooperative agreements in implementing such programs:
Provided , That nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to affect the ability of any entity, including United States small businesses, from competing for proposals for USAID-funded civil society and political competition and consensus building programs. The Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Department of State, and the Assistant Administrator for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance, USAID, shall regularly inform the National Endowment for Democracy of democracy programs that are planned and supported by funds made available by this Act and prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs.
Not later than September 30, 2018, the Secretary of State and USAID Administrator shall each submit to the Committees on Appropriations a report detailing the use of contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements in the conduct of democracy programs with funds made available by the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2017 (division J of Public Law 115–31 ), which shall include funding level, account, program sector and subsector, and a brief summary of purpose.
The Secretary of State or the USAID Administrator, as appropriate, shall report to the appropriate congressional committees within 30 days of a decision to significantly change the objectives or the content of a democracy program or to close such a program due to the increasingly repressive nature of the host country government: Provided , That the report shall also include a strategy for continuing support for democracy promotion, if such programming is feasible, and may be submitted in classified form, if necessary.
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