S.Amdt. 156

SA 156. Mr. ROMNEY (for himself, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Sullivan, Mr.
Cornyn, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, and Mr. Braun) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2226, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2024 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place in title XII, insert the
following:

SEC. 12__. ENDING CHINA'S DEVELOPING NATION STATUS.

(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Ending
China's Developing Nation Status Act''.
(b) Finding; Statement of Policy.--
(1) Finding.--Congress finds that the People's Republic of
China is still classified as a developing nation under
multiple treaties and international organization structures,
even though China has grown to be the second largest economy
in the world.
(2) Statement of policy.--It is the policy of the United
States--
(A) to oppose the labeling or treatment of the People's
Republic of China as a developing nation in current and
future treaty negotiations and in each international
organization of which the United States and the People's
Republic of China are both current members;
(B) to pursue the labeling or treatment of the People's
Republic of China as a developed nation in each international
organization of which the United States and the People's
Republic of China are both current members; and
(C) to work with allies and partners of the United States
to implement the policies described in paragraphs (1) and
(2).
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of State.
(d) Report on Development Status in Current Treaty
Negotiations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to
the appropriate committees of Congress that--
(1) identifies all current treaty negotiations in which--
(A) the proposed treaty would provide for different
treatment or standards for enforcement of the treaty based on
respective development status of the states that are party to
the treaty; and
(B) the People's Republic of China is actively
participating in the negotiations, or it is reasonably
foreseeable that the People's Republic of China would seek to
become a party to the treaty; and
(2) for each treaty negotiation identified pursuant to
paragraph (1), describes how the treaty under negotiation
would provide different treatment or standards for
enforcement of the treaty based on development status of the
states parties.
(e) Report on Development Status in Existing Organizations
and Treaties.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to
the appropriate committees of Congress that--
(1) identifies all international organizations or treaties,
of which the United States is a member, that provide
different treatment or standards for enforcement based on the
respective development status of the member states or states
parties;
(2) describes the mechanisms for changing the country
designation for each relevant treaty or organization; and
(3) for each of the organizations or treaties identified
pursuant to paragraph (1)--
(A) includes a list of countries that--
(i) are labeled as developing nations or receive the
benefits of a developing nation under the terms of the
organization or treaty; and
(ii) meet the World Bank classification for upper middle
income or high-income countries; and
(B) describes how the organization or treaty provides
different treatment or standards for enforcement based on
development status of the member states or states parties.
(f) Mechanisms for Changing Development Status.--
(1) In general.--In any international organization of which
the United States and the People's Republic of China are both
current members, the Secretary, in consultation with allies
and partners of the United States, shall pursue--
(A) changing the status of the People's Republic of China
from developing nation to developed nation if a mechanism
exists in such organization to make such status change; or
(B) proposing the development of a mechanism described in
paragraph (1) to change the status of the People's Republic
of China in such organization from developing nation to
developed nation.
(2) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of
subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) with respect to any
international organization if the President notifies the
appropriate committees of Congress that such a waiver is in
the national interests of the United States.
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