Sec. 4. Limitation on funds; creation of Tunisia Democracy Support Fund; report
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Effective upon the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development— shall limit funding to Tunisia, as provided for in subsection (b); and is authorized to establish a Tunisia Democracy Support Fund , as provided for in subsection (c), to encourage reforms that restore Tunisian democracy and rule of law. Of the funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 to carry out chapters 1 and 8 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq. ), chapters 1 through 6, 8, and 9 of part II of such Act ( 22 U.S.C. 2301 et seq. ), and section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act ( 22 U.S.C. 2763 ) for the Government of Tunisia, an aggregate amount of 25 percent for each such fiscal year shall be withheld from obligation, with the exception of funding for Tunisian civil society, until the Secretary of State determines and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the state of emergency declared on July 25, 2021, has been terminated.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of State $100,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2024 and 2025, which shall be used to establish the Tunisia Democracy Support Fund for the purpose of encouraging reforms that restore Tunisia’s democratic institutions and rule of law. Funds authorized to be appropriated pursuant to paragraph
(1)shall not be available for obligation until the Secretary of State certifies in writing to the appropriate congressional committees that the Government of Tunisia has demonstrated measurable progress towards the democratic benchmarks outlined in subsection (d). Pursuant to subsection (c)(2), the democratic benchmarks to be addressed in the Secretary of State’s certification are whether the Government of Tunisia— appropriately empowers Parliament to serve the Tunisian people and serve as an independent, co-equal branch of government essential to a healthy democracy; restores judicial independence and establishes the Constitutional Court in a manner that fosters an independent judiciary and serves as a check on the presidency; is taking credible steps to respect freedoms of expression, association, and the press; creates an enabling operating environment in which Tunisian civil society organizations can operate without undue interference, including permitting international funding; ceases use of military courts to try civilians; and ceases efforts to intimidate Tunisian independent media through arbitrary arrests and criminal prosecutions of journalists on illegitimate charges. Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter through 2028, the Secretary of State shall provide a report and accompanying briefing on the state of Tunisia’s democracy and associated progress on the democratic benchmarks outlined in subsection
(d)to the appropriate congressional committees. The report required by paragraph
(1)shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex. The Secretary of State may waive the limitation on funding under subsection
(b)if the Secretary, not later than 15 days before the waiver is to take effect, certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that such waiver is in the national interest of the United States. The Secretary shall submit with the certification a detailed justification explaining the reasons for the waiver. In this section, the term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate ; the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate ; the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives ; and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives .
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Sec. 4
Limitation on funds; creation of Tunisia Democracy Support Fund; report
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