S.Amdt. 2353

SA 2353. Mr. SCHATZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2025 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction,

[[Page S4691]]

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 end of subtitle D of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 1266. REVIEW OF DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND USAID
PROGRAMMING IN PACIFIC ISLANDS.

(a) In General.--The Secretary of State, in coordination
with the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development (in this section referred to as
``USAID''), shall include Pacific Island countries in
existing strategic planning and multi-sector program
evaluation processes, including the Integrated Country
Strategies of the Department of State, the Country
Development Cooperation Strategies of USAID, and the Joint
Strategic Plan of the Department and USAID.
(b) Strategic Framework.--Not later than 5 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and every 5 years
thereafter, the Administrator of USAID shall publish a 5-year
Pacific Islands Strategic Framework to guide USAID's work in
the Pacific and describe the current status of ongoing
programming.
(c) Programmatic Considerations.--Evaluations and
considerations for Pacific Island countries in the program
planning and strategic development processes under this
section should include--
(1) descriptions of the diplomatic and development
challenges of each Pacific Island country as those challenges
relate to the strategic, economic, and humanitarian interests
of the United States;
(2) reviews of existing Department of State and USAID
programs to address the diplomatic and development challenges
of those countries identified under paragraph (1);
(3) descriptions of the barriers, if any, to increasing
Department of State and USAID programming to Pacific Island
countries, including--
(A) the relative income level of Pacific Island countries
relative to other regions where there is high demand for
United States foreign assistance to support development
needs;
(B) the relative capacity of Pacific Island countries to
absorb United States foreign assistance for diplomatic and
development needs through partner governments and civil
society institutions; and
(C) any other factor that the Secretary or the
Administrator determines may constitute a barrier to
deploying or increasing United States foreign assistance to
the Pacific Island countries;
(4) assessments of the presence of, degree of international
development by, partner country indebtedness to, and
political influence of malign foreign governments, such as
the Government of the People's Republic of China, and non-
state actors;
(5) assessments of new foreign economic assistance
modalities that could assist in strengthening United States
foreign assistance in to Pacific Island countries, including
the deployment of technical assistance and asset recovery
tools to partner governments and civil society institutions
to help develop the capacity and expertise necessary to
achieve self-sufficiency;
(6) an evaluation of the existing budget and resource
management processes for the mission and work of the
Department of State and USAID with respect to programming in
Pacific Island countries;
(7) an explanation of how the Secretary and the
Administrator will use existing programming processes,
including those with respect to development of an Integrated
Country Strategy, a Country Development Cooperation Strategy,
and the Joint Strategic Plan to advance the long-term growth,
governance, economic development, and resilience of Pacific
Island countries; and
(8) any recommendations about appropriate budgetary,
resource management, and programmatic changes necessary to
assist in strengthening United States foreign assistance
programming in the Pacific Island countries.
(d) Briefing Requirement.--No later than 90 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter,
the Secretary and the Administrator shall brief Congress on
ongoing programming in Pacific Island Countries, including
the considerations described in subsection (c).
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