Sec. 253. Americas Partnership Enterprise Fund
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The President, after consultation with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the minority leader of the House of Representatives, the majority leader of the Senate, the minority leader of the Senate, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, may designate a private, nonprofit organization registered in an Americas partner country that is established to carry out the purposes set forth in subsection
(b)as the Americas Partnership Enterprise Fund (referred to in this section as the Fund ). The purposes of the Fund are— to support the development of ecosystems for critical supply chains in the Americas partner countries; to support the development of private sector responses to migration; to promote near-shoring strategic industry and supply chains from the People's Republic of China; and to support policies and practices conducive to private sector development in Americas partner countries through loans, grants, equity investments, feasibility studies, technical assistance, training, insurance, guarantees, and other measures. The Fund shall be governed by a Board of Directors, consisting of 3, 4, or 5 individuals described in subparagraph (C). Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall— appoint the initial members of the Board of Directors, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate; and submit the names of such appointees to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness of the Committee on Finance of the Senate . Each member of the Board of Directors— shall be a citizen of an Americas partner country; may not be closely affiliated with any government, civil society organization, academic institution, think tank, or any other not-for-profit entity; and shall have demonstrated experience and expertise in the areas of private sector development in which the Fund is to be involved. Each member of the Board of Directors shall serve for a term of 5 years. At its first meeting, the Board of Directors shall elect a Chairperson, who may only serve in such position for a single term. The Board of Directors shall meet not less frequently than quarterly. The Board of Directors shall unanimously appoint a qualified individual to serve as Executive Director of the Fund. The Executive Director shall be compensated at a rate equivalent to level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United States Code. If a vacancy occurs before the expiration of the term of a member of the Board of Directors, the President shall appoint an individual with the qualifications described in subparagraph
(C)to fill the remainder of such term, in the manner described in subparagraph (B). The Fund shall hire sufficient host country nationals to staff the central office to ensure that Fund resources are managed appropriately and to carry out the day-to-day operations of the central office, including— program managers, who— shall head the core management unit; may approve program expenditures of up to $150,000; and shall be evaluated primarily on the success of their respective portfolios; and additional support staff, provided that not more than 25 percent of the Fund’s annual expenditures are used for staffing and administration. The Fund shall have an ethics officer, who— shall be responsible for oversight of the host country nationals; shall develop ethical standards for the management of the Fund; shall facilitate the mainstreaming of ethics with respect to the staff of the Fund; may evaluate individual activities, as needed; and should develop standard investment procedures that do not affect the flexibility and speed of the investment activities. The Fund shall partner with local entities, wholly-owned subsidiaries, and other instruments, as appropriate, to carry out investment activities in Americas partner countries, under the supervision of the central office. None of the amounts managed by the Fund may be used to provide any benefit to any member of the Board of Directors or to any officer or employee of the Fund, other than a reasonable salary as compensation for services rendered. In this subsection, the term qualified private sector entity means a business organization that is duly registered in the United States or in an Americas partner country. The Fund may provide grants, loans, technical assistance, goods, and services to qualified private sector entities, in accordance with paragraphs
(3)through (7), for programs and projects that are consistent with the purposes described in subsection (b). The Fund shall establish a process for awarding grants to qualified private sector entities to carry out activities that are consistent with the purposes described in subsection (b). Not later than 20 working days after receiving an application for a grant under this paragraph, the Fund shall complete its review and evaluation of the application, using anticipated return on investment as the sole criterion for determining whether a grant will be awarded to the applicant. The Fund shall establish a process for providing low-interest loans to qualified private sector entities to carry out activities that are consistent with the purposes described in subsection (b). Loans authorized under this paragraph may be offered in the form of equity if the Fund determines that such form is appropriate. Not later than 20 working days after receiving an application for a loan under this paragraph, the Fund shall complete its review and evaluation of the application, using anticipated return on investment as the sole criterion for determining whether a loan will be awarded to the applicant. The Fund may enter into partnerships with commercial banks to manage loan portfolios under this paragraph. The Fund, with support from United States entities, such as the United States Trade and Development Agency and other agencies or offices based in the United States, may hire or contract with individuals and entities capable of providing technical assistance in support of the purposes described in subsection (b). Not later than 20 working days after receiving an application for technical assistance under this paragraph, the Fund shall complete its review and evaluation of the application, using anticipated return on investment as the sole criterion for determining whether the requested technical assistance will be awarded to the applicant. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the United States Trade and Development Agency may work in any Americas partner country regardless of income status designation. There is authorized to be appropriated to the United States Trade and Development Agency $10,000,000, which shall be expended on activities related to partnership agreements entered into under section 201. The Fund may directly procure and deploy goods and services to the extent required to support the purposes described in subsection (b). Not later than 20 working days after receiving an application for goods or services under this paragraph, the Fund shall complete its review and evaluation of the application, using anticipated return on investment as the sole criterion for determining whether the requested goods or services will be provided to the applicant. The Fund may provide cash and in-kind goods or services to foreign governmental entities in order to advance the purposes described in subsection (b). Not later than 20 working days after receiving an application from a foreign government for cash or in-kind goods or services under this paragraph, the Fund shall complete its review and evaluation of such application. During the first fiscal year beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Fund shall receive $1,000,000,000 from the Re-shoring and Near-shoring Account established under section 301 for initial capitalization. The Fund may be recapitalized in accordance with paragraph (4). In order to maximize the resources available to carry out the activities authorized under this Act, the Fund should establish financial instruments that enable private businesses in Americas partner countries with a commercial nexus in the United States to effectively multiply the impact of United States grants awarded by the Fund. The Fund may distribute financial returns on Fund investments, include private venture capital, equity, or loan repayments, at such times and in such amounts as the Board of Directors may determine, to the central account of the Fund. It is the sense of Congress that the return on investment described in subparagraph
(A)should— recapitalize the central account of the Fund; guarantee the sustainability of the Fund; limit the need for additional appropriations to the Fund; spur additional investment; promote small and medium-sized enterprises; advance good governance and transparency; and promote job creation. After 80 percent of the initial capital in the Fund has been expended pursuant to paragraph (1), the Board of Directors may request additional capital for the Fund by— submitting a request to the Re-shoring and Near-shoring Account that identifies the additional amount needed for the Fund; and submitting a report to Congress that details the Fund's activities and justifies the need for the additional capital. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, amounts appropriated pursuant to this subsection may be made available to the Fund and used for the purposes set forth in this section. The Fund may not provide any grant, loan, technical assistance, or government support valued in excess of $499,999 unless the Board of Directors approves such action in advance. The Fund shall use the e-governance platform to maintain a database containing relevant information, as established by the Secretary of Commerce, regarding activities of the Fund, which shall be accessible by any member of the Board of Directors at any time. A member of the Board of Directors may not approve, deny, or influence the approval or denial of an expenditure by the Fund valued at less than $500,000 unless the Board of Directors determines that the individual authorized to approve or deny such expenditure, subject to the thresholds under this section, has engaged in independently verified malfeasance. The Fund shall submit an annual report to the Board of Directors that— describes the status of the registration and management of the Fund; identifies the activities undertaken by the Fund, disaggregated by activity type, country, and strategic sector; and details the successes and failures of such activities. The Board of Directors shall annually submit— to Congress a copy of each report received pursuant to paragraph (1); and to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives a chapter within the comprehensive Department of Commerce report that identifies, for the reporting period— the number of grants, loans, instances of technical assistance, goods and services, and other Government support provided by the Fund; the repayment rates for the loans and other support referred to in clause (i); a summary of activities conducted by the Fund; the countries in which the Fund is conducting such activities; success stories involving entities receiving assistance from the Fund; lessons learned from the activities conducted by the Fund; and any other information contained in other reports required under this Act that relates to the Fund. Not less frequently than annually, the activities of the Fund shall be subject to an audit by an independent private entity selected by the Board of Directors. Each independent private entity referred to in paragraph
(1)shall submit a report to the Board of Directors that contains the findings of the audit conducted pursuant to such paragraph. The Board of Directors shall post the report received pursuant to subparagraph
(A)on the Fund’s publicly accessible website. The Fund shall remain operational indefinitely. Venture capital profits, equity, and loan interest shall be returned to the central account of the Fund, with the goal that the Fund become self-sufficient. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, executive branch agencies may conduct programs and activities and provide services in support of the activities of the Fund.