Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB562 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 562
5	5	To advance a comprehensive, long-term United States strategy and policy
6	6	for the Pacific Islands, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8	JANUARY20, 2025
9	9	Mr. C
10	10	ASE(for himself, Mr. MOYLAN, Mr. LARSENof Washington, Ms. TITUS,
11	11	Ms. T
12	12	OKUDA, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, and Mr. SHER-
13	13	MAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
14	14	on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Re-
15	15	sources, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently deter-
16	16	mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions
17	17	as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
18	18	A BILL
19	19	To advance a comprehensive, long-term United States strat-
20	20	egy and policy for the Pacific Islands, and for other
21	21	purposes.
22	22	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
23	23	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
24	24	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
25	25	(a) S
26	26	HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
27	27	‘‘Boosting Long-term U.S. Engagement in the Pacific 5
28	28	Act’’ or the ‘‘BLUE Pacific Act’’. 6
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32	32	(b) TABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1
33	33	this Act is as follows: 2
34	34	Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents.
35	35	Sec. 2. Definitions.
36	36	Sec. 3. Authority to consolidate reports; form of reports.
37	37	TITLE I—POLITICAL LEADERSHIP AND REGIONALISM
38	38	Sec. 101. Findings.
39	39	Sec. 102. Statement of policy.
40	40	Sec. 103. Strategy for Pacific Islands Partnership.
41	41	Sec. 104. Staffing.
42	42	Sec. 105. Strategic communications in the Pacific Islands.
43	43	Sec. 106. Assistance with international organizations.
44	44	Sec. 107. Allies and partners in the Pacific Islands region.
45	45	Sec. 108. Extension of diplomatic immunities to the Pacific Islands Forum.
46	46	Sec. 109. Ambassador’s Self-Help Small Grants Program.
47	47	Sec. 110. Establishing a senior official for the Compacts of Free Association at
48	48	the Department of State.
49	49	TITLE II—PEOPLE-CENTERED DEVELOPMENT
50	50	Sec. 201. Assistance to improve public health outcomes and build public health
51	51	capacity.
52	52	Sec. 202. Assistance to promote freedom of the press.
53	53	Sec. 203. Indo-Pacific Media Advancement Program.
54	54	Sec. 204. Program to promote educational and professional development for
55	55	young adult leaders and professionals.
56	56	Sec. 205. Education assistance.
57	57	Sec. 206. People-to-people ties.
58	58	Sec. 207. Pacific Islands TRADES Program.
59	59	Sec. 208. Investment agreements.
60	60	Sec. 209. Committee on Engagement with Civil Society Organizations in the
61	61	Pacific Islands.
62	62	Sec. 210. American Spaces in the Pacific Islands.
63	63	TITLE III—PEACE AND SECURITY
64	64	Sec. 301. Building the capacity of local civilian and national security institu-
65	65	tions.
66	66	Sec. 302. Reporting.
67	67	Sec. 303. International Law Enforcement Academy.
68	68	TITLE IV—RESOURCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
69	69	Sec. 401. Trade development with the Pacific Islands.
70	70	Sec. 402. Trade capacity building initiative for the Pacific Islands.
71	71	Sec. 403. United States Commercial Service.
72	72	TITLE V—ENVIRONMENTAL AND DISASTER RESILIENCE
73	73	Sec. 501. Assistance to enhance preparedness for and resilience to natural dis-
74	74	asters and other emergencies.
75	75	Sec. 502. Climate resilient infrastructure.
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79	79	TITLE VI—OCEAN AND ENVIRONMENT
80	80	Sec. 601. Oceans management.
81	81	Sec. 602. Sea level rise.
82	82	Sec. 603. Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
83	83	TITLE VII—TECHNOLOGY AND CONNECTIVITY
84	84	Sec. 701. Digital access and inclusion.
85	85	Sec. 702. Cybersecurity.
86	86	TITLE VIII—REPORT ON THE STRATEGY FOR PACIFIC ISLANDS
87	87	PARTNERSHIP AND AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS
88	88	Sec. 801. Report on the Strategy for Pacific Islands Partnership.
89	89	Sec. 802. Authorization of appropriations.
90	90	SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
91	91	1
92	92	In this Act: 2
93	93	(1) A
94	94	PPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT -3
95	95	TEES.—Except as otherwise provided, the term ‘‘ap-4
96	96	propriate congressional committees’’ means— 5
97	97	(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 6
98	98	the Committee on Appropriations of the House 7
99	99	of Representatives; and 8
100	100	(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 9
101	101	and the Committee on Appropriations of the 10
102	102	Senate. 11
103	103	(2) P
104	104	ACIFIC ISLANDS.—The terms ‘‘Pacific Is-12
105	105	lands’’ means the Cook Islands, the Republic of Fiji, 13
106	106	the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of the Mar-14
107	107	shall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, 15
108	108	the Republic of Nauru, Niue, the Republic of Palau, 16
109	109	the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the 17
110	110	Independent State of Samoa, the Solomon Islands, 18
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114	114	the Kingdom of Tonga, Tuvalu, and the Republic of 1
115	115	Vanuatu. 2
116	116	SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO CONSOLIDATE REPORTS; FORM OF 3
117	117	REPORTS. 4
118	118	(a) A
119	119	UTHORITYTOCONSOLIDATEREPORTS.—Any 5
120	120	reports required to be submitted to the appropriate con-6
121	121	gressional committees under this Act that are subject to 7
122	122	deadlines for submission consisting of the same units of 8
123	123	time may be consolidated into a single report that is sub-9
124	124	mitted to the appropriate congressional committees pursu-10
125	125	ant to such deadlines and that contains all information 11
126	126	required under such reports. 12
127	127	(b) F
128	128	ORM OFREPORTS.—Each report required to be 13
129	129	submitted to the appropriate congressional committees 14
130	130	under this Act and any consolidated report described in 15
131	131	subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form but 16
132	132	may contain a classified annex. 17
133	133	TITLE I—POLITICAL 18
134	134	LEADERSHIP AND REGIONALISM 19
135	135	SEC. 101. FINDINGS. 20
136	136	Congress finds the following: 21
137	137	(1) The Pacific Islands— 22
138	138	(A) are home to roughly 12,300,000 resi-23
139	139	dents; 24
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143	143	(B) are spread across an expanse of the 1
144	144	Pacific Ocean equivalent to 15 percent of the 2
145	145	Earth’s surface, including the three subregions 3
146	146	of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia; and 4
147	147	(C) face shared challenges in development 5
148	148	that have distinct local contexts, including 6
149	149	unique environmental challenges and rising sea 7
150	150	levels, geographic distances from major mar-8
151	151	kets, and vulnerability to external shocks such 9
152	152	as natural disasters in both slow and sudden 10
153	153	onset situations. 11
154	154	(2) The United States is a Pacific country with 12
155	155	longstanding ties and shared values and interests 13
156	156	with the Pacific Islands, including through the Com-14
157	157	pacts of Free Association with the Freely Associated 15
158	158	States, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the 16
159	159	Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of 17
160	160	Palau. 18
161	161	(3) The United States has vital national secu-19
162	162	rity interests in the Pacific Islands, including— 20
163	163	(A) protecting regional peace and security 21
164	164	that fully respects the sovereignty of all nations; 22
165	165	(B) advancing economic prosperity free 23
166	166	from coercion and unfair practices through 24
167	167	trade and sustainable development; and 25
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171	171	(C) supporting democracy, good govern-1
172	172	ance, the rule of law, and human rights and 2
173	173	fundamental freedoms. 3
174	174	(4) Successive United States administrations 4
175	175	have recognized the importance of the Pacific region, 5
176	176	including the Pacific Islands, in high-level strategic 6
177	177	documents, including the following: 7
178	178	(A) The 2015 National Security Strategy, 8
179	179	which first declared the rebalance to Asia and 9
180	180	the Pacific, affirmed the United States as a Pa-10
181	181	cific nation, and paved the way for subsequent 11
182	182	United States engagement with the Pacific Is-12
183	183	lands, including several new policies focused on 13
184	184	conservation and environmental resilience an-14
185	185	nounced in September 2016. 15
186	186	(B) The 2017 National Security Strategy, 16
187	187	which includes a commitment to ‘‘shore up 17
188	188	fragile partner states in the Pacific Islands re-18
189	189	gion to reduce their vulnerability to economic 19
190	190	fluctuations and natural disasters’’. 20
191	191	(C) The 2019 Indo-Pacific Strategy Re-21
192	192	port, which identified the Pacific Islands as 22
193	193	‘‘critical to U.S. strategy because of our shared 23
194	194	values, interests, and commitments’’ and com-24
195	195	mitted the United States to ‘‘building capacity 25
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199	199	and resilience to address maritime security; Ille-1
200	200	gal, Unreported, and Unregulated fishing; drug 2
201	201	trafficking; and resilience to address climate 3
202	202	change and disaster response’’. 4
203	203	(D) The 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy Re-5
204	204	port, which recognized the need to engage fur-6
205	205	ther with the Pacific Islands on shared security 7
206	206	goals. 8
207	207	(E) The 2022 Strategy for Pacific Island 9
208	208	Partnership, which outlined goals and methods 10
209	209	for deepening the United States partnerships 11
210	210	with Pacific Island nations. 12
211	211	(F) The 2022 National Security Strategy, 13
212	212	which identified the Pacific Islands as an area 14
213	213	of particular focus for expansion of regional 15
214	214	diplomatic, development, and economic engage-16
215	215	ment in the broader Indo-Pacific. 17
216	216	(5) The United States has deepened its diplo-18
217	217	matic engagement with the Pacific Islands through 19
218	218	several recent initiatives, including— 20
219	219	(A) the Pacific Pledge, which provided an 21
220	220	additional $100,000,000 in 2019 and 22
221	221	$200,000,000 in 2020, in addition to the for-23
222	222	eign assistance that the United States provided 24
223	223	annually to the region, to support shared prior-25
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227	227	ities in economic and human development, envi-1
228	228	ronmental resilience, and more; 2
229	229	(B) the Small and Less Populous Island 3
230	230	Economies (SALPIE) Initiative launched in 4
231	231	March 2021 to strengthen United States col-5
232	232	laboration with island countries and territories, 6
233	233	including in the Pacific Islands, on COVID–19 7
234	234	economic challenges, long-term economic devel-8
235	235	opment, climate change, and other shared inter-9
236	236	ests; 10
237	237	(C) the declaration on U.S.-Pacific Part-11
238	238	nership of 2022 in which the United States and 12
239	239	the Pacific Islands resolved to strengthen their 13
240	240	partnership, bolstering Pacific regionalism; 14
241	241	(D) the Partners in the Blue Pacific Initia-15
242	242	tive, a new initiative, to increase diplomatic en-16
243	243	gagement and coordination in the region; 17
244	244	(E) the establishment of a U.S.-Pacific Is-18
245	245	lands Summit held in Washington, DC in 2022 19
246	246	and 2023; and 20
247	247	(F) the increase in the total amount of 21
248	248	United States foreign assistance provided to the 22
249	249	Pacific Islands, from $302,500,000 in fiscal 23
250	250	year 2022 to $466,100,000 in fiscal year 2023. 24
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254	254	(6) The Boe Declaration on Regional Security, 1
255	255	adopted in 2018 by leaders of the Pacific Islands 2
256	256	Forum, the central multilateral organization of the 3
257	257	Pacific Islands and partners, affirmed that climate 4
258	258	change ‘‘remains the single greatest threat to the 5
259	259	livelihoods, security, and well-being of the peoples of 6
260	260	the Pacific’’ and asserted ‘‘the sovereign right of 7
261	261	every Member to conduct its national affairs free of 8
262	262	external interference and coercion’’. 9
263	263	(7) The Asian Development Bank has estimated 10
264	264	that the Pacific Islands region requires upwards of 11
265	265	$2,800,000,000 a year in investment through 2030, 12
266	266	in addition to $300,000,000 a year for climate miti-13
267	267	gation and adaptation over the same period. 14
268	268	(8) Since 1966, thousands of Peace Corps vol-15
269	269	unteers have proudly served in the Pacific Islands, 16
270	270	building strong people-to-people relationships and 17
271	271	partnerships demonstrating the United States com-18
272	272	mitment to peace and sustainable development in the 19
273	273	region, including supporting education, health, and 20
274	274	economic development initiatives. Since having to 21
275	275	suspend operations during the COVID–19 pandemic, 22
276	276	the Peace Corps has reopened its posts in Fiji, 23
277	277	Tonga, Samoa, and Vanuatu and has signed a 24
278	278	Memorandum of Understanding with Palau regard-25
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282	282	ing its intent to reopen that post by the end of 1
283	283	2025. Peace Corps volunteers continue to be in high 2
284	284	demand in the Pacific Islands and have been re-3
285	285	quested across the region. 4
286	286	SEC. 102. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 5
287	287	It is the policy of the United States— 6
288	288	(1) to articulate and commit to a comprehen-7
289	289	sive, multifaceted, and principled United States pol-8
290	290	icy in the Pacific Islands that— 9
291	291	(A) promotes peace, security, and pros-10
292	292	perity for all countries through a rules-based 11
293	293	regional order that respects the sovereignty, 12
294	294	self-determination, and political independence of 13
295	295	all nations; 14
296	296	(B) preserves the Pacific Ocean as an open 15
297	297	and vibrant corridor for international maritime 16
298	298	trade and promotes trade and sustainable devel-17
299	299	opment that supports inclusive economic growth 18
300	300	and autonomy for all nations and addresses so-19
301	301	cioeconomic and environmental challenges re-20
302	302	lated to public health, education, renewable en-21
303	303	ergy, digital connectivity, and more; 22
304	304	(C) supports regional efforts to strengthen 23
305	305	resilience to natural disasters and through re-24
306	306	sponsible stewardship of natural resources and 25
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310	310	the needs for collective action to mitigate its 1
311	311	impacts and build resilience; 2
312	312	(D) improves civil society, strengthens 3
313	313	democratic governance and the rule of law, and 4
314	314	promotes human rights and the preservation of 5
315	315	the region’s unique cultural heritages; and 6
316	316	(E) supports existing regional architecture 7
317	317	and the international rules-based order and 8
318	318	principles of international law; 9
319	319	(2) to support the vision, values, and objectives 10
320	320	of existing regional multilateral institutions and 11
321	321	frameworks, such as the Pacific Islands Forum and 12
322	322	the Pacific Community, including— 13
323	323	(A) the 2000 Biketawa Declaration; 14
324	324	(B) the 2014 Framework for Pacific Re-15
325	325	gionalism; 16
326	326	(C) the 2018 Boe Declaration on Regional 17
327	327	Security; 18
328	328	(D) the Boe Declaration Action Plan; and 19
329	329	(E) the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific 20
330	330	Continent; and 21
331	331	(3) to work closely with United States allies 22
332	332	and partners with existing relationships and inter-23
333	333	ests in the Pacific Islands, including Australia, New 24
334	334	Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the United 25
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338	338	Kingdom, France, Germany, and India, in advancing 1
339	339	common goals. 2
340	340	SEC. 103. STRATEGY FOR PACIFIC ISLANDS PARTNERSHIP. 3
341	341	(a) I
342	342	NGENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 2027, 4
343	343	and every 4 years thereafter, the President shall submit 5
344	344	to the appropriate congressional committees a strategy to 6
345	345	be known as the ‘‘Strategy for Pacific Islands Partner-7
346	346	ship’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Strategy’’). 8
347	347	(b) M
348	348	ATTERSTOBEINCLUDED.—The Strategy shall 9
349	349	include the following: 10
350	350	(1) A description of overarching goals for the 11
351	351	United States-Pacific Island Partnership. 12
352	352	(2) A description of measurable objectives for 13
353	353	United States engagement in the Pacific Islands. 14
354	354	(3) An assessment of threats to the Pacific Is-15
355	355	lands region. 16
356	356	(4) A plan to address the security of the Pacific 17
357	357	Islands region. 18
358	358	(5) A strategy to invest in and improve critical 19
359	359	infrastructure. 20
360	360	(6) A regional Development Cooperation Strat-21
361	361	egy formulated by the United States Agency for 22
362	362	International Development. 23
363	363	(c) C
364	364	ONSULTATION.—In developing the Strategy, the 24
365	365	President should consult, as appropriate, with— 25
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369	369	(1) regional organizations, such as the Pacific 1
370	370	Islands Forum, the Pacific Islands Development 2
371	371	Program, the Pacific Community and Secretariat for 3
372	372	the Pacific Regional Environment Programme; 4
373	373	(2) the countries of the Pacific Islands; 5
374	374	(3) stakeholders such as civil society, faith- 6
375	375	based organizations, and non-state actors; 7
376	376	(4) United States allies and partners; and 8
377	377	(5) United States Pacific territories and States. 9
378	378	(d) C
379	379	OORDINATION.—In implementing the Strategy, 10
380	380	the President shall coordinate with the heads of other Fed-11
381	381	eral agencies, including the Secretary of State, the Sec-12
382	382	retary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Commerce, 13
383	383	the Administrator of United States Agency for Inter-14
384	384	national Development, the Secretary of Defense, and the 15
385	385	United States Trade Representative. 16
386	386	SEC. 104. STAFFING. 17
387	387	(a) I
388	388	NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State, the Ad-18
389	389	ministrator of the United States Agency for International 19
390	390	Development, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Chief 20
391	391	Executive Officer of the United States International De-21
392	392	velopment Finance Corporation shall endeavor to increase 22
393	393	the number of staff working on Pacific Islands issues and 23
394	394	in the Pacific Islands to carry out this Act. 24
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398	398	(b) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of State and 1
399	399	the Secretary of Commerce are authorized to hire locally- 2
400	400	employed staff in the Pacific Islands to promote increased 3
401	401	diplomatic engagement and economic and commercial en-4
402	402	gagement between the United States and the Pacific Is-5
403	403	lands. 6
404	404	SEC. 105. STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS IN THE PACIFIC 7
405	405	ISLANDS. 8
406	406	Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-9
407	407	ment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the 10
408	408	Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter-11
409	409	national Development and the Secretary of Defense, shall 12
410	410	submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 13
411	411	strategy for strategic communications in the Pacific Is-14
412	412	lands, including— 15
413	413	(1) a review of such communications, including 16
414	414	United States interagency and multilateral efforts 17
415	415	with like-minded partners; 18
416	416	(2) an assessment of the resources being used 19
417	417	for such communications, including the number of 20
418	418	staff devoted to such communications, the location 21
419	419	of such staff, and the funds appropriated for such 22
420	420	communications; 23
421	421	(3) an assessment of any additional resources 24
422	422	needed for such communications; 25
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426	426	(4) an assessment of how United States engage-1
427	427	ment is being perceived in the Pacific Islands and 2
428	428	how such perception might be improved; 3
429	429	(5) an assessment of how engagement by other 4
430	430	actors is being perceived in the Pacific Islands; and 5
431	431	(6) specific recommendations for the expansion 6
432	432	and improvement of such communications. 7
433	433	SEC. 106. ASSISTANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZA-8
434	434	TIONS. 9
435	435	(a) I
436	436	NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in coordi-10
437	437	nation with the Administrator of the United States Agen-11
438	438	cy for International Development, the Secretary of the 12
439	439	Treasury, and the Chief Executive Officer of the United 13
440	440	States International Development Finance Corporation, as 14
441	441	appropriate, shall provide support and technical assistance 15
442	442	to Pacific Islands countries to assist such countries to ac-16
443	443	cess existing development support and funding from inter-17
444	444	national organizations, such as the United Nations and 18
445	445	multilateral financial institutions. Such support and tech-19
446	446	nical assistance may include— 20
447	447	(1) technical support navigating grant pro-21
448	448	grams, international investment mechanisms, and 22
449	449	other opportunities offered by international organi-23
450	450	zations for sustainable development; 24
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454	454	(2) support receiving necessary certifications 1
455	455	and complying with technical requirements to par-2
456	456	ticipate in international financial mechanisms from 3
457	457	which Pacific Islands countries may benefit; and 4
458	458	(3) support complying with reporting and over-5
459	459	sight requirements for programs conducted by inter-6
460	460	national organizations. 7
461	461	(b) I
462	462	NTERNATIONAL FINANCIALINSTITUTIONS.— 8
463	463	The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the represent-9
464	464	atives of the United States to the World Bank Group, the 10
465	465	International Monetary Fund, and the Asian Development 11
466	466	Bank to use the voice and vote of the United States to 12
467	467	support resilient infrastructure projects and to build envi-13
468	468	ronmental resilience in the Pacific Islands. 14
469	469	SEC. 107. ALLIES AND PARTNERS IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS 15
470	470	REGION. 16
471	471	(a) I
472	472	NGENERAL.—The President, in consultation 17
473	473	with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland 18
474	474	Security, the Secretary of Commerce, the Administrator 19
475	475	of the United States Agency for International Develop-20
476	476	ment, the Secretary of Defense, the United States Trade 21
477	477	Representative, and any other relevant official, should con-22
478	478	sult and coordinate with allies and partners in the Pacific 23
479	479	Islands region, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, 24
480	480	South Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, France, Ger-25
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483	483	•HR 562 IH
484	484	many, and India, and regional institutions such as the Pa-1
485	485	cific Islands Forum, the Pacific Islands Development Pro-2
486	486	gram, the Pacific Community and Secretariat for the Pa-3
487	487	cific Regional Environment Programme, with respect to 4
488	488	programs to provide assistance to the Pacific Islands, in-5
489	489	cluding programs established by this Act, including for 6
490	490	purposes of— 7
491	491	(1) deconflicting programming; 8
492	492	(2) ensuring that any programming does not 9
493	493	adversely affect the absorptive capacity of the Pa-10
494	494	cific Islands; 11
495	495	(3) ensuring complementary programs benefit 12
496	496	the Pacific Islands to the maximum extent prac-13
497	497	ticable; and 14
498	498	(4) ensuring that programming aligns with re-15
499	499	gional development goals, as outlined by documents 16
500	500	such as the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Con-17
501	501	tinent in order to support sustainable development 18
502	502	and promote a shared vision for the future of the 19
503	503	Pacific Islands. 20
504	504	(b) F
505	505	ORMALCONSULTATIVEPROCESS.—The Presi-21
506	506	dent shall endeavor to establish a formal consultative proc-22
507	507	ess with such regional allies and partners to coordinate 23
508	508	with respect to such programs and future-years program-24
509	509	ming. 25
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512	512	•HR 562 IH
513	513	SEC. 108. EXTENSION OF DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITIES TO THE 1
514	514	PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM. 2
515	515	The provisions of the International Organizations Im-3
516	516	munities Act (22 U.S.C. 288 et seq.) may be extended to 4
517	517	the Pacific Islands Forum in the same manner, to the 5
518	518	same extent, and subject to the same conditions as such 6
519	519	provisions may be extended to a public international orga-7
520	520	nization in which the United States participates pursuant 8
521	521	to any treaty or under the authority of any Act of Con-9
522	522	gress authorizing such participation or making an appro-10
523	523	priation for such participation. 11
524	524	SEC. 109. AMBASSADOR’S SELF-HELP SMALL GRANTS PRO-12
525	525	GRAM. 13
526	526	(a) S
527	527	ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-14
528	528	gress that— 15
529	529	(1) at the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders 16
530	530	Meeting, the United States Government announced 17
531	531	that the United States Agency for International De-18
532	532	velopment and the Department of State are working 19
533	533	together to set up an Ambassador’s Self-Help Small 20
534	534	Grants Program that will provide targeted funding 21
535	535	for small-scale projects and increase the flexibility of 22
536	536	United States funding resources across the Pacific; 23
537	537	and 24
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540	540	•HR 562 IH
541	541	(2) this program will support community-led 1
542	542	initiatives, filling a gap by providing more accessible 2
543	543	resources for small projects that address local needs. 3
544	544	(b) I
545	545	NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State and Ad-4
546	546	ministrator of the United States Agency for International 5
547	547	Development shall continue to administer and implement 6
548	548	the Ambassador’s Self-Help Small Grants Program. 7
549	549	(c) A
550	550	UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 8
551	551	authorized to be appropriated $650,000 for each of the 9
552	552	fiscal years 2026 through 2033 to carry out this section. 10
553	553	SEC. 110. ESTABLISHING A SENIOR OFFICIAL FOR THE 11
554	554	COMPACTS OF FREE ASSOCIATION AT THE 12
555	555	DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 13
556	556	(a) I
557	557	NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall des-14
558	558	ignate a senior official at the Department of State respon-15
559	559	sible for administering the Compacts of Free Association 16
560	560	(in this section referred to as the ‘‘Compacts’’) at the De-17
561	561	partment of State (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sen-18
562	562	ior Official’’). The Senior Official shall report to the As-19
563	563	sistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Af-20
564	564	fairs. 21
565	565	(b) D
566	566	UTIES.—The Senior Official shall— 22
567	567	(1) be responsible for the conduct of United 23
568	568	States foreign policy with respect to the countries 24
569	569	affiliated with the United States Government under 25
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572	572	•HR 562 IH
573	573	the Compacts, namely the freely associated states 1
574	574	of— 2
575	575	(A) the Republic of Palau; 3
576	576	(B) the Republic of the Marshall Islands; 4
577	577	and 5
578	578	(C) the Federated States of Micronesia; 6
579	579	(2) assist the Assistant Secretary of State for 7
580	580	East Asian and Pacific Affairs in providing overall 8
581	581	direction, coordination, and supervision of inter-9
582	582	departmental activities of the United States Govern-10
583	583	ment in these countries, including ensuring the time-11
584	584	ly transfer of assistance and provision of benefits 12
585	585	through the United States Department of the Inte-13
586	586	rior, as specified in the Compacts; 14
587	587	(3) oversee and evaluate the adequacy and ef-15
588	588	fectiveness of United States policy with respect to 16
589	589	these countries as well as of the plans, programs, re-17
590	590	sources, and performance for implementing that pol-18
591	591	icy, including programs and other activities imple-19
592	592	mented by the Department of the Interior; 20
593	593	(4) directly supervise the policy and operations 21
594	594	of the Compacts and provide guidance to relevant 22
595	595	United States missions within the Indo-Pacific re-23
596	596	gion; 24
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599	599	•HR 562 IH
600	600	(5) ensure the provision of an adequate, regular 1
601	601	flow of information to posts abroad on United States 2
602	602	Government policies, policy deliberations, and diplo-3
603	603	matic exchanges in Washington, D.C.; and 4
604	604	(6) ensure the continuity of implementation of 5
605	605	commitments and Compact obligations and benefits, 6
606	606	consistent with United States national interests in 7
607	607	the Indo-Pacific region. 8
608	608	(c) A
609	609	UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 9
610	610	authorized to be appropriated $250,000 to support the 10
611	611	Senior Official in the conduct and discharge of the duties 11
612	612	described in subsection (b). 12
613	613	TITLE II—PEOPLE-CENTERED 13
614	614	DEVELOPMENT 14
615	615	SEC. 201. ASSISTANCE TO IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH OUT-15
616	616	COMES AND BUILD PUBLIC HEALTH CAPAC-16
617	617	ITY. 17
618	618	(a) I
619	619	NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State, is author-18
620	620	ized to assist the Pacific Islands to improve public health 19
621	621	outcomes and build public health capacity. 20
622	622	(b) A
623	623	CTIVITIESSUPPORTED.—Activities authorized 21
624	624	to be carried out under subsection (a) may include— 22
625	625	(1) programming, including grants, cooperative 23
626	626	agreements, and other forms of assistance, as appro-24
627	627	priate, to assist in building local capacity to ensure 25
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630	630	•HR 562 IH
631	631	that Pacific Islanders have access to the essential 1
632	632	health services they need to thrive and to address— 2
633	633	(A) maternal and child health; 3
634	634	(B) family planning and reproductive 4
635	635	health; 5
636	636	(C) gender-based violence; 6
637	637	(D) food security and nutrition; 7
638	638	(E) noncommunicable diseases; 8
639	639	(F) communicable diseases, including ne-9
640	640	glected tropical diseases, tuberculosis, HIV/ 10
641	641	AIDS, sexually-transmitted infections, and 11
642	642	zoonotic and emerging infectious disease 12
643	643	threats; 13
644	644	(G) equitable access to quality, essential, 14
645	645	and affordable health services and quality-as-15
646	646	sured, safe, effective medical products and their 16
647	647	appropriate use; and 17
648	648	(H) water, sanitation, and hygiene; 18
649	649	(2) technical assistance to strengthen local 19
650	650	health system capacity and resilience in the areas of 20
651	651	good leadership and governance, sustainable financ-21
652	652	ing, interoperable information systems and high 22
653	653	quality data for decision making, efficient medical 23
654	654	products and supply chain systems, and manage-24
655	655	ment of human resources for health, with special at-25
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658	658	•HR 562 IH
659	659	tention to increasing health worker performance, re-1
660	660	tention, productivity, number, skill mix, and com-2
661	661	petency, including through exploring opportunities 3
662	662	such as private sector engagement and digital health 4
663	663	integration and access; 5
664	664	(3) coordination with existing local and regional 6
665	665	health sector goals, efforts, institutions, and frame-7
666	666	works; and 8
667	667	(4) investment in and improvement of critical 9
668	668	infrastructure, including hospitals, health clinics and 10
669	669	pharmacies in the Pacific Islands. 11
670	670	(c) R
671	671	EPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 12
672	672	of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub-13
673	673	mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 14
674	674	on the implementation of this section. 15
675	675	SEC. 202. ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE FREEDOM OF THE 16
676	676	PRESS. 17
677	677	The Secretary of State is authorized to provide assist-18
678	678	ance to promote the dissemination of free and accurate 19
679	679	information in the Pacific Islands, including for the fol-20
680	680	lowing purposes: 21
681	681	(1) Media capacity building and education, in-22
682	682	cluding to— 23
683	683	(A) provide on-site media training tailored 24
684	684	to local needs; 25
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687	687	•HR 562 IH
688	688	(B) collaborate with local government and 1
689	689	nongovernmental entities to promote media lit-2
690	690	eracy and integrate media literacy into primary 3
691	691	education curricula in local languages and dia-4
692	692	lects to ensure accessibility; and 5
693	693	(C) routinize funding for professional pro-6
694	694	grams, such as the Pacific Islands Journalism 7
695	695	Reporting Tour, that bring media professionals 8
696	696	from the Pacific Islands to the United States. 9
697	697	(2) Strengthening and diversifying broadcast 10
698	698	content tailored to local audiences, including content 11
699	699	broadcast in the local vernacular. 12
700	700	(3) Investing in connectivity infrastructure with 13
701	701	an emphasis on broadcast radio and transmission. 14
702	702	SEC. 203. INDO-PACIFIC MEDIA ADVANCEMENT PROGRAM. 15
703	703	(a) I
704	704	NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall con-16
705	705	tinue to implement and develop the Indo-Pacific Media 17
706	706	Advancement Program to promote a robust, free media 18
707	707	in the Pacific Islands and strengthen the capacity of 19
708	708	media outlets and journalists in the Indo-Pacific region 20
709	709	to develop their business strategies, enhance their ability 21
710	710	to conduct independent journalism, and counter 22
711	711	disinformation. 23
712	712	(b) G
713	713	OALS.—The goals of the Indo-Pacific Media Ad-24
714	714	vancement Program shall be to accomplish the following: 25
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717	717	•HR 562 IH
718	718	(1) Increase the understanding of prevalent 1
719	719	misinformation and disinformation narratives. 2
720	720	(2) Develop the capacity of professional, inde-3
721	721	pendent media organizations and journalists to de-4
722	722	velop and implement media sustainability plans, im-5
723	723	prove business operations, and increase the quality 6
724	724	and quantity of published information and news. 7
725	725	(3) Expand media outlets’ access to resources, 8
726	726	content-sharing agreements, and equipment, so that 9
727	727	such outlets can provide quality content. 10
728	728	(4) Develop the technical and investigative 11
729	729	skills of journalists to conduct pre-bunking, fact- 12
730	730	checking, and debunking to address misinformation 13
731	731	and disinformation. 14
732	732	(c) R
733	733	EPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 15
734	734	of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in 16
735	735	coordination with the heads of other Federal departments 17
736	736	or agencies, as appropriate, shall submit to the appro-18
737	737	priate congressional committees a report on the Indo-Pa-19
738	738	cific Media Advancement Program and the engagement of 20
739	739	the United States with the free media in the Pacific Is-21
740	740	lands, including the following: 22
741	741	(1) An overview of the media and journalism 23
742	742	landscape in the Pacific Islands. 24
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745	745	•HR 562 IH
746	746	(2) A review of the efforts and planned efforts 1
747	747	of the United States Government to strengthen free 2
748	748	and independent media in the Pacific Islands, in-3
749	749	cluding a description of the objectives, means of im-4
750	750	plementation, and measures of success of the Indo- 5
751	751	Pacific Media Advancement Program. 6
752	752	(3) An assessment of challenges to a free and 7
753	753	open media in the Pacific Islands and to the imple-8
754	754	mentation of the Indo-Pacific Media Advancement 9
755	755	Program, including strategies to mitigate such chal-10
756	756	lenges. 11
757	757	(4) An assessment of any additional authorities 12
758	758	or resources necessary for more robust United 13
759	759	States engagement to promote a free media in the 14
760	760	Pacific Islands and greater implementation of the 15
761	761	Indo-Pacific Media Advancement Program. 16
762	762	(d) A
763	763	UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 17
764	764	are authorized to be appropriated $4,000,000 for each of 18
765	765	the fiscal years 2026 through 2033 to carry out this sec-19
766	766	tion. 20
767	767	SEC. 204. PROGRAM TO PROMOTE EDUCATIONAL AND PRO-21
768	768	FESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR YOUNG 22
769	769	ADULT LEADERS AND PROFESSIONALS. 23
770	770	(a) S
771	771	ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-24
772	772	gress that routinized people-to-people exchange programs 25
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775	775	•HR 562 IH
776	776	to bring Pacific Islands religious leaders, journalists, civil 1
777	777	society members, politicians, and others to the United 2
778	778	States, as well as supporting similar exchange participants 3
779	779	from the United States to the Pacific Islands, strengthens 4
780	780	existing relationships and advances United States inter-5
781	781	ests and shared values in the region. 6
782	782	(b) I
783	783	NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall de-7
784	784	velop and implement a program to promote educational 8
785	785	and professional development for young adult leaders and 9
786	786	professionals in the Pacific Islands with a demonstrated 10
787	787	passion to contribute to the continued development of the 11
788	788	Pacific Islands. 12
789	789	(c) C
790	790	ONDUCT OFPROGRAM.—The program developed 13
791	791	under this section may be carried out through— 14
792	792	(1) grants provided on a competitive basis to 15
793	793	qualified organizations with demonstrated expertise 16
794	794	relating to the Pacific Islands; 17
795	795	(2) grants in amounts not to exceed $50,000 18
796	796	provided on a competitive basis to qualified young 19
797	797	leaders from the Pacific Islands for the purpose of 20
798	798	carrying out projects dedicated to the improvement 21
799	799	of their communities in the Pacific Islands; 22
800	800	(3) regional workshops and professional, voca-23
801	801	tional, and academic fellowships; and 24
802	802	(4) people-to-people exchanges. 25
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805	805	•HR 562 IH
806	806	(d) BRIEFING.— 1
807	807	(1) I
808	808	N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 2
809	809	after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec-3
810	810	retary of State, acting through the Assistant Sec-4
811	811	retary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, 5
812	812	should brief the appropriate congressional commit-6
813	813	tees on exchange programs for the Pacific Islands 7
814	814	region. 8
815	815	(2) E
816	816	LEMENTS.—The briefing required by 9
817	817	paragraph (1) shall include— 10
818	818	(A) an assessment of any factors con-11
819	819	straining the number and frequency of Inter-12
820	820	national Visitor Leadership Program partici-13
821	821	pants from countries of the Pacific Islands; 14
822	822	(B) an identification of resources that are 15
823	823	necessary to address the factors described in 16
824	824	subparagraph (A); and 17
825	825	(C) a strategy for connecting alumni and 18
826	826	participants of the Department of State’s pro-19
827	827	fessional development exchange programs in 20
828	828	East Asia, such as the Young Southeast Asian 21
829	829	Leaders Initiative and the Young Pacific Lead-22
830	830	ers programs, to enhance interregion and 23
831	831	intraregion people-to-people ties. 24
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835	835	SEC. 205. EDUCATION ASSISTANCE. 1
836	836	(a) S
837	837	ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-2
838	838	gress that— 3
839	839	(1) promoting basic education in the Pacific Is-4
840	840	lands, particularly in traditionally underserved com-5
841	841	munities, advances United States foreign policy 6
842	842	goals and requires a whole of government approach, 7
843	843	and the United States Government currently dedi-8
844	844	cates insufficient resources and attention to assisting 9
845	845	with education needs in the region; 10
846	846	(2) the Peace Corps alone is insufficient to 11
847	847	achieve United States objectives of promoting sus-12
848	848	tainable, quality basic education; and 13
849	849	(3) countries of the Pacific Islands meet the re-14
850	850	quirements outlined in subsection (c)(4) of section 15
851	851	105 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 16
852	852	U.S.C. 2151c). 17
853	853	(b) E
854	854	DUCATIONASSISTANCE.—The President is au-18
855	855	thorized to provide assistance under section 105 of the 19
856	856	Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151c) to pro-20
857	857	mote sustainable, quality basic education in the Pacific Is-21
858	858	lands, including for the following purposes: 22
859	859	(1) Supporting national nutrition and health 23
860	860	programs. 24
861	861	(2) Working with partner governments to re-25
862	862	form policies, improve curricula, strengthen data 26
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866	866	systems, train teachers, and provide quality learning 1
867	867	materials. 2
868	868	(3) Building new schools and renovating older 3
869	869	facilities to ensure safe places for learning. 4
870	870	(4) Providing individuals, particularly at-risk 5
871	871	youth, with relevant education, training, and skills 6
872	872	for meaningful employment. 7
873	873	(5) Removing barriers to entering formal edu-8
874	874	cation for out-of-school individuals, assisting in 9
875	875	keeping them in school, and providing an oppor-10
876	876	tunity to catch up on schooling for those left behind. 11
877	877	(6) Promoting teaching and research exchanges 12
878	878	between the Pacific Islands and United States insti-13
879	879	tutions of higher education, including community 14
880	880	colleges. 15
881	881	SEC. 206. PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE TIES. 16
882	882	The Secretary of State and Administrator of the 17
883	883	United States Agency for International Development shall 18
884	884	continue to administer and expand programs fostering 19
885	885	people-to-people ties between the United States and Pa-20
886	886	cific Islands, including— 21
887	887	(1) the Youth Ambassadors Program in the Bu-22
888	888	reau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; 23
889	889	(2) the Academy of Women Entrepreneurs; 24
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893	893	(3) the Minority Serving Institutions Partner-1
894	894	ships Initiatives to the Pacific; 2
895	895	(4) the U.S.-Pacific Institute for Rising Lead-3
896	896	ers Fellowship; and 4
897	897	(5) the Global STEM Development Scholarship 5
898	898	Program. 6
899	899	SEC. 207. PACIFIC ISLANDS TRADES PROGRAM. 7
900	900	(a) E
901	901	STABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the 8
902	902	United States Agency for International Development shall 9
903	903	establish a program, to be known as the ‘‘Pacific Islands 10
904	904	Training and Resources for Advancement in Development, 11
905	905	Education, and Skills Program’’ or the ‘‘Pacific Islands 12
906	906	TRADES Program’’, to, through scholarships, training 13
907	907	from such agency, and grants to partner organizations, 14
908	908	assist with workforce development in the Pacific Islands 15
909	909	to— 16
910	910	(1) increase the capacity of the local workforce 17
911	911	through medium- and long-term training and tech-18
912	912	nical assistance in sectors of critical importance to 19
913	913	the Pacific Islands, such as construction, tourism, 20
914	914	boat maintenance, and fisheries; 21
915	915	(2) balance maximizing workforce retention in 22
916	916	the Pacific Islands with any necessary training out-23
917	917	side of the Pacific Islands, with a focus on avoiding 24
918	918	exacerbating outward labor flows; 25
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922	922	(3) keep Pacific priorities in mind by coordi-1
923	923	nating with like-minded allies and partners and 2
924	924	working with local organizations and governments; 3
925	925	and 4
926	926	(4) provide resources for technical and manage-5
927	927	ment skills development to adequately prepare the 6
928	928	workforce of the Pacific Islands for any potential in-7
929	929	coming investment. 8
930	930	(b) R
931	931	EPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 9
932	932	of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub-10
933	933	mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 11
934	934	on the Pacific Islands TRADES Program, including the 12
935	935	following: 13
936	936	(1) A comprehensive overview of such program. 14
937	937	(2) An identification of the office overseeing 15
938	938	such program. 16
939	939	(3) A list of any partner organizations involved 17
940	940	in such program. 18
941	941	(4) A description of the training and workforce 19
942	942	development planned as part of such program. 20
943	943	(5) An assessment of the impact of such pro-21
944	944	gram. 22
945	945	(6) Any additional resources needed to imple-23
946	946	ment such program. 24
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950	950	(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1
951	951	are authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for each 2
952	952	of the fiscal years 2026 through 2033 to carry out this 3
953	953	section. 4
954	954	SEC. 208. INVESTMENT AGREEMENTS. 5
955	955	(a) S
956	956	ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-6
957	957	gress that— 7
958	958	(1) the United States International Develop-8
959	959	ment Finance Corporation has a dual mandate to 9
960	960	advance United States foreign policy and make de-10
961	961	velopment-focused investment around the world with 11
962	962	a focus on communities most in need; 12
963	963	(2) the United States International Develop-13
964	964	ment Finance Corporation must enter into an in-14
965	965	vestment incentive agreement with a jurisdiction’s 15
966	966	government in order to pursue development projects 16
967	967	in that jurisdiction; 17
968	968	(3) the market-based private sector development 18
969	969	and inclusive economic growth of Solomon Islands 19
970	970	and the Republic of Vanuatu are in the United 20
971	971	States foreign policy interest; 21
972	972	(4) the United States International Develop-22
973	973	ment Finance Corporation has not entered into in-23
974	974	vestment incentive agreements with the government 24
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978	978	of Solomon Islands or with the government of the 1
979	979	Republic of Vanuatu; and 2
980	980	(5) the inability of the United States Inter-3
981	981	national Development Finance Corporation to sup-4
982	982	port investments in Solomon Islands and the Repub-5
983	983	lic of Vanuatu undermines United States policy to 6
984	984	provide countries a robust alternative to state-direct 7
985	985	investments by authoritarian governments and 8
986	986	United States strategic competitors. 9
987	987	(b) I
988	988	NVESTMENTAGREEMENTS.—The Chief Execu-10
989	989	tive Officer of the United States International Develop-11
990	990	ment Finance Corporation, in coordination with the Sec-12
991	991	retary of State, shall continue and prioritize efforts to 13
992	992	enter into investment incentive agreements with the gov-14
993	993	ernments of those Pacific Islands in which the United 15
994	994	States International Development Finance Corporation is 16
995	995	otherwise authorized to operate under the BUILD Act of 17
996	996	2018 (22 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.). 18
997	997	(c) T
998	998	ECHNICALASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of 19
999	999	State, in coordination with the Administrator of the 20
1000	1000	United States Agency for International Development, the 21
1001	1001	Secretary of the Treasury, and the Chief Executive Officer 22
1002	1002	of the United States International Development Finance 23
1003	1003	Corporation, as appropriate, is authorized to provide tech-24
1004	1004	nical assistance to assist the Pacific Islands in negotiating 25
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1008	1008	and executing investment incentive agreements with the 1
1009	1009	United States International Development Finance Cor-2
1010	1010	poration. 3
1011	1011	SEC. 209. COMMITTEE ON ENGAGEMENT WITH CIVIL SOCI-4
1012	1012	ETY ORGANIZATIONS IN THE PACIFIC IS-5
1013	1013	LANDS. 6
1014	1014	(a) E
1015	1015	STABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State, in co-7
1016	1016	ordination with the Administrator of the United States 8
1017	1017	Agency for International Development and the Secretary 9
1018	1018	of Defense, shall establish a committee, to be known as 10
1019	1019	the ‘‘Committee on Engagement with Civil Society Organi-11
1020	1020	zations in the Pacific Islands’’ (referred to in this sub-12
1021	1021	section as the ‘‘Committee’’) for the purposes of— 13
1022	1022	(1) coordinating interagency engagement with 14
1023	1023	civil society organizations in the Pacific Islands; 15
1024	1024	(2) coordinating collaboration with United 16
1025	1025	States partners and allies on engagement with civil 17
1026	1026	society organizations in the Pacific Islands; and 18
1027	1027	(3) aligning such engagement with the needs of 19
1028	1028	the Pacific Islands and the national security prior-20
1029	1029	ities of the United States. 21
1030	1030	(b) S
1031	1031	TRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after the 22
1032	1032	date of the enactment of this Act, the Committee shall 23
1033	1033	submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 24
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1037	1037	strategy on engagement with civil society organizations in 1
1038	1038	the Pacific Islands, including— 2
1039	1039	(1) a review of current efforts across the United 3
1040	1040	States Government to engage with such organiza-4
1041	1041	tions, including the role of such efforts in the deliv-5
1042	1042	ery of foreign aid to communities; 6
1043	1043	(2) a plan for engagement across the United 7
1044	1044	States Government with such organizations; 8
1045	1045	(3) an assessment of the importance of engage-9
1046	1046	ment by the United States with such organizations 10
1047	1047	and how such engagement aligns with the advance-11
1048	1048	ment of Indo-Pacific and Pacific Islands priorities 12
1049	1049	within the National Security Strategy, Indo-Pacific 13
1050	1050	Strategy, and Pacific Partnership Strategy; 14
1051	1051	(4) an analysis of interagency cooperation re-15
1052	1052	garding United States engagement with such organi-16
1053	1053	zations and specific recommendations for expansion 17
1054	1054	and improvement of such cooperation; 18
1055	1055	(5) an analysis of the resources needed to bol-19
1056	1056	ster and streamline United States engagement with 20
1057	1057	such organizations, including any additional statu-21
1058	1058	tory authorities or appropriations of funds; 22
1059	1059	(6) an analysis of any engagement conducted by 23
1060	1060	a country other than the United States with such or-24
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1064	1064	ganizations, including engagement that may under-1
1065	1065	mine civil society in the Pacific Islands; and 2
1066	1066	(7) an assessment of opportunities for greater 3
1067	1067	coordination between the United States and like- 4
1068	1068	minded partners and allies. 5
1069	1069	SEC. 210. AMERICAN SPACES IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS. 6
1070	1070	Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-7
1071	1071	ment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall develop and 8
1072	1072	submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re-9
1073	1073	port on the state of and plans for American Spaces in 10
1074	1074	the Pacific Islands, including— 11
1075	1075	(1) an overview of American Spaces in the Pa-12
1076	1076	cific Islands (including American Corners and Amer-13
1077	1077	ican Centers), including an assessment of the cur-14
1078	1078	rent and historical programming and resources of 15
1079	1079	American Spaces; 16
1080	1080	(2) a plan for future American Spaces in Pa-17
1081	1081	cific Island countries, including any new develop-18
1082	1082	ment or expansion of existing American Spaces, and 19
1083	1083	a description of any additional resources needed for 20
1084	1084	such expansion; and 21
1085	1085	(3) an assessment of the impact of American 22
1086	1086	Spaces on American foreign policy and national se-23
1087	1087	curity interests, including in comparison to the simi-24
1088	1088	lar initiatives of other actors. 25
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1092	1092	TITLE III—PEACE AND 1
1093	1093	SECURITY 2
1094	1094	SEC. 301. BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF LOCAL CIVILIAN 3
1095	1095	AND NATIONAL SECURITY INSTITUTIONS. 4
1096	1096	(a) I
1097	1097	NGENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in coordi-5
1098	1098	nation with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary 6
1099	1099	of Homeland Security, as appropriate, is authorized to 7
1100	1100	provide assistance to build the capacity of local civilian 8
1101	1101	and national security institutions of the Pacific Islands for 9
1102	1102	purposes of— 10
1103	1103	(1) enhancing maritime security and maritime 11
1104	1104	domain awareness to address challenges such as ille-12
1105	1105	gal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; 13
1106	1106	(2) assisting local law enforcement in detecting, 14
1107	1107	preventing, and combating trafficking in persons and 15
1108	1108	drug trafficking and other forms of transnational 16
1109	1109	crime; 17
1110	1110	(3) providing essential services to civilian popu-18
1111	1111	lations and responding to humanitarian challenges 19
1112	1112	caused by natural disasters; 20
1113	1113	(4) participating in efforts by regional institu-21
1114	1114	tions and frameworks to coordinate and facilitate co-22
1115	1115	operation on shared security challenges; 23
1116	1116	(5) expanding information sharing and working 24
1117	1117	toward operational coordination and interoperability 25
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1121	1121	among Pacific Island maritime security forces, in-1
1122	1122	cluding through regional fusion centers; and 2
1123	1123	(6) providing assistance in legal actions, includ-3
1124	1124	ing hiring legal counsel or providing legal support, 4
1125	1125	as appropriate, to support the Pacific Islands in de-5
1126	1126	fending their rights and interests related to mari-6
1127	1127	time security, combating transnational crime, re-7
1128	1128	sponding to natural disasters, and participating in 8
1129	1129	regional security efforts. 9
1130	1130	(b) R
1131	1131	ELATEDPROGRAMS AND AUTHORITIES.—The 10
1132	1132	assistance and capacity building authorized by this sub-11
1133	1133	section should build on the following: 12
1134	1134	(1) The International Military Education and 13
1135	1135	Training program. 14
1136	1136	(2) The Foreign Military Financing program. 15
1137	1137	(3) The Overseas Humanitarian Disaster and 16
1138	1138	Civic Aid program. 17
1139	1139	(4) The authority to build the capacity of for-18
1140	1140	eign security forces under section 333 of title 10, 19
1141	1141	United States Code. 20
1142	1142	(5) The authority to provide excess defense ar-21
1143	1143	ticles under section 516 of the Foreign Assistance 22
1144	1144	Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321j). 23
1145	1145	(6) The National Guard State Partnership Pro-24
1146	1146	gram. 25
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1150	1150	(7) The International Narcotics Control and 1
1151	1151	Law Enforcement Program. 2
1152	1152	(c) N
1153	1153	ATIONALPOLICEFORCES AND COAST 3
1154	1154	G
1155	1155	UARDS.—The national police forces and coast guards of 4
1156	1156	countries of the Pacific Islands are eligible to receive as-5
1157	1157	sistance under the programs and authorities described in 6
1158	1158	subsection (b) (other than the programs and authorities 7
1159	1159	described in paragraphs (1), (4), (6), and (7) of subsection 8
1160	1160	(b)). 9
1161	1161	SEC. 302. REPORTING. 10
1162	1162	(a) U
1163	1163	PDATES OFCERTAINREPORTS.—The Secretary 11
1164	1164	of State, in coordination with the heads of other Federal 12
1165	1165	agencies as appropriate, shall identify and update the re-13
1166	1166	ports described in subsection (b) to include in such reports 14
1167	1167	a discussion of forms of transnational crime affecting the 15
1168	1168	Pacific Islands. 16
1169	1169	(b) R
1170	1170	EPORTSDESCRIBED.—The reports described in 17
1171	1171	this subsection are the following: 18
1172	1172	(1) The International Narcotics Control Strat-19
1173	1173	egy report. 20
1174	1174	(2) The Improving International Fisheries Man-21
1175	1175	agement report. 22
1176	1176	(3) The Trafficking in Persons report. 23
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1180	1180	SEC. 303. INTERNATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ACADEMY. 1
1181	1181	(a) S
1182	1182	ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-2
1183	1183	gress that— 3
1184	1184	(1) the Department of State’s International 4
1185	1185	Law Enforcement Academies are valuable tools in 5
1186	1186	our relationships with other countries and enhancing 6
1187	1187	the capacity of foreign criminal justice partners to 7
1188	1188	combat transnational crime; 8
1189	1189	(2) assistance in combating transnational crime 9
1190	1190	is frequently cited as an area of need from Pacific 10
1191	1191	Islands leaders; and 11
1192	1192	(3) the International Law Enforcement Acad-12
1193	1193	emy in Bangkok, Thailand recently widened its audi-13
1194	1194	ence to include the Pacific Islands. 14
1195	1195	(b) R
1196	1196	EPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 15
1197	1197	of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in 16
1198	1198	coordination with the heads of other relevant Federal 17
1199	1199	agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional 18
1200	1200	committees a report— 19
1201	1201	(1) detailing training and other activities that 20
1202	1202	the International Law Enforcement Academy in 21
1203	1203	Bangkok, Thailand has conducted with Pacific Is-22
1204	1204	lands participants; 23
1205	1205	(2) describing any planned expansions to the 24
1206	1206	Bangkok International Law Enforcement Academy’s 25
1207	1207	programming, including the Pacific Islands, and any 26
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1211	1211	challenges to those planned expansions, including 1
1212	1212	any gaps and needs in funding, staffing levels, and 2
1213	1213	physical space; and 3
1214	1214	(3) assessing the feasibility of continuing to ad-4
1215	1215	minister and expand programming for the Pacific Is-5
1216	1216	lands through the International Law Enforcement 6
1217	1217	Academy in Bangkok, or if the establishment of an 7
1218	1218	additional International Law Enforcement Academy 8
1219	1219	dedicated to serving the Pacific Islands is necessary, 9
1220	1220	and what resources and authorities would be needed 10
1221	1221	to do so. 11
1222	1222	TITLE IV—RESOURCE AND 12
1223	1223	ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 13
1224	1224	SEC. 401. TRADE DEVELOPMENT WITH THE PACIFIC IS-14
1225	1225	LANDS. 15
1226	1226	(a) S
1227	1227	ENSE OFCONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-16
1228	1228	gress that the United States should expand bilateral and 17
1229	1229	multilateral trade with the Pacific Islands to promote so-18
1230	1230	cioeconomic development and mutual prosperity. 19
1231	1231	(b) T
1232	1232	RADEDEVELOPMENT.—The United States 20
1233	1233	Trade Representative is authorized to expand and diver-21
1234	1234	sify trade and promote regional development with the Pa-22
1235	1235	cific Islands, including through negotiating trade and in-23
1236	1236	vestment framework agreements. 24
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1240	1240	SEC. 402. TRADE CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVE FOR THE 1
1241	1241	PACIFIC ISLANDS. 2
1242	1242	(a) I
1243	1243	NGENERAL.—The Administrator of the United 3
1244	1244	States Agency for International Development, in coordina-4
1245	1245	tion with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the 5
1246	1246	Treasury, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Chief Exec-6
1247	1247	utive Officer of the United States International Develop-7
1248	1248	ment Finance Corporation, and the Director of the United 8
1249	1249	States Trade and Development Agency are authorized to 9
1250	1250	implement programming to build trade capacity in the Pa-10
1251	1251	cific Islands. 11
1252	1252	(b) A
1253	1253	CTIVITIES.—The activities authorized under this 12
1254	1254	section include— 13
1255	1255	(1) development of human and institutional ca-14
1256	1256	pacity and infrastructure across multiple sectors of 15
1257	1257	economies, including digital connectivity and cyber-16
1258	1258	security; 17
1259	1259	(2) assistance with development and implemen-18
1260	1260	tation of regional and international trade agree-19
1261	1261	ments, including the World Trade Organization’s 20
1262	1262	Agreement on Trade Facilitation and facilitation of 21
1263	1263	intraregional trade flows; 22
1264	1264	(3) support for women-owned enterprises and 23
1265	1265	gender equality; and 24
1266	1266	(4) promotion of government policies that en-25
1267	1267	courage free and fair competition, sound governance, 26
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1271	1271	environmental protection, and business environments 1
1272	1272	conducive to sustainable and inclusive economic 2
1273	1273	growth. 3
1274	1274	SEC. 403. UNITED STATES COMMERCIAL SERVICE. 4
1275	1275	The Secretary of Commerce shall expand the pres-5
1276	1276	ence of the United States Commercial Service in the Pa-6
1277	1277	cific Islands and allocate additional Foreign Commercial 7
1278	1278	Service Officers to the Pacific Islands, including by ele-8
1279	1279	vating existing partner posts and establishing new Com-9
1280	1280	mercial Service posts and partner posts, to— 10
1281	1281	(1) explore opportunities for United States pri-11
1282	1282	vate sector investment; 12
1283	1283	(2) examine regulations in host countries in the 13
1284	1284	Pacific Islands that may hinder foreign direct invest-14
1285	1285	ment, including those related to human rights, labor 15
1286	1286	rights, and environmental protection, and provide 16
1287	1287	technical assistance when requested by such host 17
1288	1288	countries; and 18
1289	1289	(3) report on the commercial and investment 19
1290	1290	activities of non-allied foreign actors in the Pacific 20
1291	1291	Islands. 21
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1295	1295	TITLE V—ENVIRONMENTAL AND 1
1296	1296	DISASTER RESILIENCE 2
1297	1297	SEC. 501. ASSISTANCE TO ENHANCE PREPAREDNESS FOR 3
1298	1298	AND RESILIENCE TO NATURAL DISASTERS 4
1299	1299	AND OTHER EMERGENCIES. 5
1300	1300	The Secretary of State is authorized to assist the Pa-6
1301	1301	cific Islands to enhance preparedness for and resilience to 7
1302	1302	natural disasters and other emergencies. Such assistance 8
1303	1303	includes— 9
1304	1304	(1) education and training programs on natural 10
1305	1305	disaster prevention and preparedness for emergency 11
1306	1306	management professionals in the Pacific Islands, in-12
1307	1307	cluding by leveraging the expertise of nonprofit orga-13
1308	1308	nizations and institutions of higher education in the 14
1309	1309	United States; 15
1310	1310	(2) technical assistance, including through 16
1311	1311	grants and cooperative agreements for qualified 17
1312	1312	United States and local nongovernmental organiza-18
1313	1313	tions, to enhance early warning systems, emergency 19
1314	1314	management and preparedness procedures, and post- 20
1315	1315	disaster relief and recovery; 21
1316	1316	(3) coordination of existing disaster mitigation 22
1317	1317	and response plans in the region, including by 23
1318	1318	United States allies and partners in the region; 24
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1322	1322	(4) infrastructure development and upgrades to 1
1323	1323	improve disaster preparedness and response, such as 2
1324	1324	the construction of evacuation centers, flood control 3
1325	1325	measures, and communication networks; 4
1326	1326	(5) support for local community-based disaster 5
1327	1327	risk reduction programs, including the development 6
1328	1328	of evacuation plans, training in first aid and emer-7
1329	1329	gency response, and provision of emergency supplies; 8
1330	1330	(6) technical assistance and training to enhance 9
1331	1331	the capacity of local emergency response agencies, 10
1332	1332	including search and rescue teams, fire departments, 11
1333	1333	and medical personnel; 12
1334	1334	(7) provision of critical humanitarian assist-13
1335	1335	ance, such as food, water, shelter, and medical care, 14
1336	1336	in the aftermath of disasters; and 15
1337	1337	(8) support for programs aimed at reducing the 16
1338	1338	long-term impacts of disasters, such as disaster risk 17
1339	1339	insurance, small business recovery programs, and 18
1340	1340	environmental restoration initiatives. 19
1341	1341	SEC. 502. CLIMATE RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE. 20
1342	1342	The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Ad-21
1343	1343	ministrator of the United States Agency for International 22
1344	1344	Development, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Chief 23
1345	1345	Executive Officer of the United States International De-24
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1349	1349	velopment Finance Corporation, as appropriate, is author-1
1350	1350	ized to— 2
1351	1351	(1) invest in and improve critical infrastructure, 3
1352	1352	including transport connectivity, hospitals, health 4
1353	1353	clinics, pharmacies, information and communications 5
1354	1354	technology, food security, coastal zone management, 6
1355	1355	marine and water resource management, and energy 7
1356	1356	security and access to electricity in the Pacific Is-8
1357	1357	lands, with an emphasis on climate resiliency and 9
1358	1358	sustainable development; 10
1359	1359	(2) provide technical assistance to assist local 11
1360	1360	government and civil society leaders assess risks to 12
1361	1361	local infrastructure, consider and implement risk 13
1362	1362	mitigation efforts and policies to strengthen resil-14
1363	1363	ience, and evaluate proposed projects and solutions 15
1364	1364	for their efficacy and sustainability; 16
1365	1365	(3) support investment and improvement in eco-17
1366	1366	system conservation and protection for the long-term 18
1367	1367	sustainable use of ecosystem services, especially 19
1368	1368	those that support environmental resilience, food se-20
1369	1369	curity and livelihoods; 21
1370	1370	(4) invest in and improve critical telecommuni-22
1371	1371	cations infrastructure and cybersecurity; 23
1372	1372	(5) foster public-private partnerships and co-24
1373	1373	operation among stakeholders to mobilize private 25
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1377	1377	sector investment and innovation for sustainable in-1
1378	1378	frastructure development and climate resiliency in 2
1379	1379	the Pacific Islands; 3
1380	1380	(6) provide technical assistance and capacity 4
1381	1381	building to local governments and communities to in-5
1382	1382	tegrate climate resilience into their infrastructure 6
1383	1383	planning and development strategies; 7
1384	1384	(7) develop and implement programs that pro-8
1385	1385	mote the use of renewable energy and energy effi-9
1386	1386	ciency technologies in the Pacific Islands, including 10
1387	1387	through investment in clean energy infrastructure 11
1388	1388	and technical assistance to local utilities and energy 12
1389	1389	regulators; 13
1390	1390	(8) work with regional organizations and gov-14
1391	1391	ernments to promote the sustainable management of 15
1392	1392	marine resources, including through the development 16
1393	1393	of marine protected areas and ecosystem-based man-17
1394	1394	agement approaches; 18
1395	1395	(9) foster partnerships between Pacific Island 19
1396	1396	governments and research institutions to build sci-20
1397	1397	entific capacity and support research on impacts to 21
1398	1398	climate and environment and adaptation strategies 22
1399	1399	in the region; and 23
1400	1400	(10) promote the use of innovative financing 24
1401	1401	mechanisms, such as green bonds and climate risk 25
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1405	1405	insurance, to help Pacific Island countries access af-1
1406	1406	fordable financing for climate-resilient infrastructure 2
1407	1407	development. 3
1408	1408	TITLE VI—OCEAN AND 4
1409	1409	ENVIRONMENT 5
1410	1410	SEC. 601. OCEANS MANAGEMENT. 6
1411	1411	The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Ad-7
1412	1412	ministrator of the United States Agency for International 8
1413	1413	Development and the Secretary of Commerce, is author-9
1414	1414	ized to— 10
1415	1415	(1) support programming that promotes fish-11
1416	1416	eries sustainability and marine biodiversity conserva-12
1417	1417	tion in the Pacific Islands; 13
1418	1418	(2) support the development, adoption, and im-14
1419	1419	plementation of regional sustainable fisheries poli-15
1420	1420	cies, standards, and regulatory frameworks; 16
1421	1421	(3) partner with regional private sector inter-17
1422	1422	ests in the adoption and implementation of seafood 18
1423	1423	industry fair-labor standards and sustainable fishing 19
1424	1424	practices; 20
1425	1425	(4) provide technical assistance to assist local 21
1426	1426	government and civil society leaders to improve envi-22
1427	1427	ronmental and ocean management; and 23
1428	1428	(5) provide technical assistance and capacity 24
1429	1429	building to improve data collection and management, 25
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1433	1433	including through the use of innovative technologies, 1
1434	1434	to support sustainable fisheries management and 2
1435	1435	biodiversity conservation in the region; 3
1436	1436	(6) support the development and implementa-4
1437	1437	tion of integrated ocean management and marine 5
1438	1438	spatial planning frameworks that incorporate local 6
1439	1439	knowledge and community input, promote eco-7
1440	1440	system-based management approaches, and address 8
1441	1441	transboundary marine conservation challenges; 9
1442	1442	(7) support research and monitoring programs 10
1443	1443	to better understand changes and challenges to 11
1444	1444	oceans and fisheries in the Pacific Islands and to in-12
1445	1445	form evidence-based management approaches; 13
1446	1446	(8) support regional efforts to combat illegal, 14
1447	1447	unreported, and unregulated fishing and promote 15
1448	1448	sustainable fisheries practices, including through the 16
1449	1449	development of traceability systems and improved 17
1450	1450	monitoring and enforcement capacity; 18
1451	1451	(9) encourage private sector investment in sus-19
1452	1452	tainable fisheries and marine conservation efforts in 20
1453	1453	the Pacific Islands, including through partnerships 21
1454	1454	with local communities and businesses; and 22
1455	1455	(10) promote public awareness and engagement 23
1456	1456	on issues related to sustainable fisheries and ocean 24
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1460	1460	management in the Pacific Islands, including 1
1461	1461	through education and outreach programs. 2
1462	1462	SEC. 602. SEA LEVEL RISE. 3
1463	1463	The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Ad-4
1464	1464	ministrator of the United States Agency for International 5
1465	1465	Development and the Secretary of Commerce, is author-6
1466	1466	ized to provide support and technical assistance to Pacific 7
1467	1467	Islands to address the impacts of sea level rise with the 8
1468	1468	aim of— 9
1469	1469	(1) protecting and mitigating the impacts of sea 10
1470	1470	level rise on coastal communities and their econo-11
1471	1471	mies; 12
1472	1472	(2) protecting and increasing the resilience of 13
1473	1473	critical coastal infrastructure; 14
1474	1474	(3) preserving Pacific Islands maritime bound-15
1475	1475	aries and their entitlements; 16
1476	1476	(4) preserving Pacific Islands’ statehoods; 17
1477	1477	(5) providing support to Pacific Islands to de-18
1478	1478	velop and implement effective and just migration 19
1479	1479	policies that address the impacts of sea level rise on 20
1480	1480	communities and provide options for those who wish 21
1481	1481	to migrate; 22
1482	1482	(6) collaborating with international organiza-23
1483	1483	tions and Pacific Island to provide humanitarian as-24
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1487	1487	sistance to those affected by sea level rise, including 1
1488	1488	through access to food, water, and shelter; and 2
1489	1489	(7) supporting efforts to build resilience and 3
1490	1490	sustainable livelihoods in affected communities, in-4
1491	1491	cluding through the development of alternative eco-5
1492	1492	nomic opportunities and sustainable agriculture 6
1493	1493	practices. 7
1494	1494	SEC. 603. ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED, AND UNREGULATED 8
1495	1495	FISHING. 9
1496	1496	Section 3553 of the National Defense Authorization 10
1497	1497	Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (16 U.S.C. 8033) is amended— 11
1498	1498	(1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 12
1499	1499	end; 13
1500	1500	(2) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para-14
1501	1501	graph (10); and 15
1502	1502	(3) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol-16
1503	1503	lowing: 17
1504	1504	‘‘(9) an assessment of gaps or limitations in the 18
1505	1505	ability of the United States to effectively assist pri-19
1506	1506	ority regions and priority flag states relating to IUU 20
1507	1507	fishing due to resource constraints and the addi-21
1508	1508	tional resources necessary to overcome those con-22
1509	1509	straints; and’’. 23
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1513	1513	TITLE VII—TECHNOLOGY AND 1
1514	1514	CONNECTIVITY 2
1515	1515	SEC. 701. DIGITAL ACCESS AND INCLUSION. 3
1516	1516	The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Ad-4
1517	1517	ministrator of the United States Agency for International 5
1518	1518	Development and the heads of the United States Inter-6
1519	1519	national Development Finance Corporation, the Millen-7
1520	1520	nium Challenge Corporation, and the United States Trade 8
1521	1521	and Development Authority, is authorized to provide sup-9
1522	1522	port to the Pacific Islands to— 10
1523	1523	(1) expand access to high quality broadband 11
1524	1524	and telecommunications infrastructure in the Pacific 12
1525	1525	Islands; 13
1526	1526	(2) partner with regional private and public sec-14
1527	1527	tor interests to promote and expand secure and ac-15
1528	1528	cessible broadband connectivity; and 16
1529	1529	(3) strengthen the private sector and civil soci-17
1530	1530	ety’s digital capacity and digital skillset. 18
1531	1531	SEC. 702. CYBERSECURITY. 19
1532	1532	The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Ad-20
1533	1533	ministrator of the United States Agency for International 21
1534	1534	Development and the heads of the United States Inter-22
1535	1535	national Development Finance Corporation, the Millen-23
1536	1536	nium Challenge Corporation, the Cybersecurity and Infra-24
1537	1537	structure Security Agency, and the United States Trade 25
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1541	1541	and Development Authority, is authorized to provide sup-1
1542	1542	port and technical assistance to the Pacific Islands to— 2
1543	1543	(1) increase adoption of policies and regulatory 3
1544	1544	positions that encourage open, interoperable, reli-4
1545	1545	able, and secure digital infrastructure; 5
1546	1546	(2) increase adoption of cybersecurity best prac-6
1547	1547	tices in the Pacific Islands, including through edu-7
1548	1548	cation and training programs for government and 8
1549	1549	private sector entities; 9
1550	1550	(3) assist with the development and implemen-10
1551	1551	tation of cybersecurity strategies and policies, in-11
1552	1552	cluding incident response plans and risk manage-12
1553	1553	ment frameworks; 13
1554	1554	(4) promote international cooperation and infor-14
1555	1555	mation sharing on cybersecurity threats and inci-15
1556	1556	dents; and 16
1557	1557	(5) assist in the establishment and strength-17
1558	1558	ening of national and regional Computer Emergency 18
1559	1559	Response Teams (CERTs) to enhance cyber incident 19
1560	1560	detection and response capabilities. 20
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1564	1564	TITLE VIII—REPORT ON THE 1
1565	1565	STRATEGY FOR PACIFIC IS-2
1566	1566	LANDS PARTNERSHIP AND 3
1567	1567	AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO-4
1568	1568	PRIATIONS 5
1569	1569	SEC. 801. REPORT ON THE STRATEGY FOR PACIFIC IS-6
1570	1570	LANDS PARTNERSHIP. 7
1571	1571	(a) I
1572	1572	NGENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 8
1573	1573	date on which the initial report on the progress in imple-9
1574	1574	menting the Strategy for Pacific Islands Partnership re-10
1575	1575	quired by section 103 is submitted to the appropriate con-11
1576	1576	gressional committees, and not later than January 1 of 12
1577	1577	each odd-numbered year thereafter, the President, in con-13
1578	1578	sultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of 14
1579	1579	Homeland Security, the Secretary of Commerce, the Ad-15
1580	1580	ministrator of United States Agency for International De-16
1581	1581	velopment, the Secretary of Defense, the United States 17
1582	1582	Trade Representative, and any other relevant official, shall 18
1583	1583	submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re-19
1584	1584	port on the progress in implementing the Strategy for Pa-20
1585	1585	cific Islands Partnership. 21
1586	1586	(b) M
1587	1587	ATTERSTOBEINCLUDED.—The report re-22
1588	1588	quired by subsection (a) shall include the following: 23
1589	1589	(1) An assessment of the security challenges to 24
1590	1590	the Pacific Islands, including— 25
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1594	1594	(A) an assessment of the status of security 1
1595	1595	challenges to the Pacific Islands, including as 2
1596	1596	outlined by regional documents such as the Boe 3
1597	1597	Declaration on regional security; 4
1598	1598	(B) an analysis of demonstrated needs of 5
1599	1599	the Pacific Islands for assistance, including ex-6
1600	1600	cess defense equipment and related materials 7
1601	1601	with humanitarian and development uses to ful-8
1602	1602	fill such needs; 9
1603	1603	(C) a review of existing security assistance 10
1604	1604	programs in the Pacific Islands, including pro-11
1605	1605	grams and efforts provided by United States al-12
1606	1606	lies and partners; 13
1607	1607	(D) a plan for programs for training and 14
1608	1608	sustainment with respect to such excess defense 15
1609	1609	equipment and related materials, including 16
1610	1610	those with humanitarian and development uses; 17
1611	1611	(E) a list of militaries, national police 18
1612	1612	forces, coast guards, and other national security 19
1613	1613	forces of the Pacific Islands receiving assistance 20
1614	1614	under the strategy; 21
1615	1615	(F) a plan to provide humanitarian assist-22
1616	1616	ance and disaster relief, if necessary, through 23
1617	1617	the Overseas Humanitarian Disaster and Civic 24
1618	1618	Aid program; 25
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1622	1622	(G) a review of existing cross-border mari-1
1623	1623	time law enforcement operations (commonly 2
1624	1624	known as ‘‘shiprider agreements’’) with the Pa-3
1625	1625	cific Islands, an assessment of additional 4
1626	1626	resourcing needs to enhance operational capac-5
1627	1627	ity, and a plan to improve on these programs 6
1628	1628	and operations; 7
1629	1629	(H) a review of existing National Guard 8
1630	1630	State Partnership Programs with the Pacific Is-9
1631	1631	lands, an assessment of additional opportunities 10
1632	1632	to leverage National Guard State Partnership 11
1633	1633	Programs to address law enforcement, disaster 12
1634	1634	relief and emergency management, and related 13
1635	1635	priorities, and a plan to expand, as appropriate, 14
1636	1636	existing and new National Guard State Part-15
1637	1637	nership Programs in the region; 16
1638	1638	(I) a review of current efforts and progress 17
1639	1639	in removing unexploded ordnance in the Pacific 18
1640	1640	Islands and an assessment of additional 19
1641	1641	resourcing needed to ensure continued progress, 20
1642	1642	including to support coordination with regional 21
1643	1643	efforts and those of United States allies and 22
1644	1644	partners; 23
1645	1645	(J) a review of existing regional fusion cen-24
1646	1646	ters and other cooperative intelligence sharing 25
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1650	1650	efforts in the Pacific Islands to address mari-1
1651	1651	time security, transnational crime, natural dis-2
1652	1652	asters, and other security challenges and an as-3
1653	1653	sessment of opportunities for the United States 4
1654	1654	to participate in such efforts, including by allo-5
1655	1655	cating staff and supplying resourcing; 6
1656	1656	(K) measures to evaluate success for the 7
1657	1657	strategy; and 8
1658	1658	(L) a detailed assessment of appropriations 9
1659	1659	required to achieve the objectives for the strat-10
1660	1660	egy in future years. 11
1661	1661	(2) An assessment of the diplomatic presence in 12
1662	1662	the Pacific Islands, including— 13
1663	1663	(A) a description of the Department of 14
1664	1664	State, United States Agency for International 15
1665	1665	Development, United States International De-16
1666	1666	velopment Finance Corporation, Millennium 17
1667	1667	Challenge Corporation, United States Trade 18
1668	1668	and Development Authority and United States 19
1669	1669	Commercial Service presence, staffing, pro-20
1670	1670	gramming, and resourcing of operations in the 21
1671	1671	Pacific Islands, including programming and 22
1672	1672	resourcing not specifically allocated to the Pa-23
1673	1673	cific Islands; and 24
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1677	1677	(B) a description of gaps in such presence, 1
1678	1678	including unfilled full-time equivalent positions. 2
1679	1679	(3) A description of coordination with regional 3
1680	1680	allies, including— 4
1681	1681	(A) a review of ongoing efforts, initiatives, 5
1682	1682	and programs undertaken by regional allies and 6
1683	1683	partners, including multilateral organizations, 7
1684	1684	to advance the priorities identified in this Act; 8
1685	1685	(B) a review of ongoing efforts, initiatives, 9
1686	1686	and programs undertaken by nonallied foreign 10
1687	1687	actors that are viewed as being potentially 11
1688	1688	harmful or in any way detrimental to one or 12
1689	1689	more countries of the Pacific Islands; and 13
1690	1690	(C) an assessment of United States pro-14
1691	1691	grams in the Pacific Islands and their align-15
1692	1692	ment and complementarity with the efforts of 16
1693	1693	regional allies and partners. 17
1694	1694	(4) A description of trade capacity building, in-18
1695	1695	cluding— 19
1696	1696	(A) economic opportunities for which 20
1697	1697	United States businesses, or those of other like- 21
1698	1698	minded partners, would be competitive; 22
1699	1699	(B) legal, economic, governance, 23
1700	1700	infrastructural, or other hurdles limiting United 24
1701	1701	States investment in the Pacific Islands; and 25
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1705	1705	(C) steps the United States has taken to— 1
1706	1706	(i) develop human and institutional 2
1707	1707	capacity and infrastructure across multiple 3
1708	1708	sectors of economies, including digital 4
1709	1709	connectivity and cybersecurity; 5
1710	1710	(ii) assist with development and im-6
1711	1711	plementation of regional and international 7
1712	1712	trade agreements, including the World 8
1713	1713	Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade 9
1714	1714	Facilitation and facilitation of 10
1715	1715	intraregional trade flows; 11
1716	1716	(iii) support women-owned enterprises 12
1717	1717	and gender equality; and 13
1718	1718	(iv) promote government policies that 14
1719	1719	encourage free and fair competition, sound 15
1720	1720	governance, environmental protection, and 16
1721	1721	business environments conducive to sus-17
1722	1722	tainable and inclusive economic growth. 18
1723	1723	(5) A description of trade development, includ-19
1724	1724	ing— 20
1725	1725	(A) an assessment of the readiness of 21
1726	1726	countries in the Pacific Islands to enter into en-22
1727	1727	hanced trade relationships with the United 23
1728	1728	States, including with respect to reducing or 24
1729	1729	eliminating tariff and nontariff barriers inhib-25
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1733	1733	iting progress towards deepening trade relation-1
1734	1734	ships; 2
1735	1735	(B) a review of existing regional multilat-3
1736	1736	eral and bilateral trade agreements and pref-4
1737	1737	erence programs involving the Pacific Islands 5
1738	1738	and their impacts on regional trade and devel-6
1739	1739	opment; and 7
1740	1740	(C) an identification of opportunities to 8
1741	1741	work with existing regional frameworks to in-9
1742	1742	crease trade and economic integration with the 10
1743	1743	Pacific Islands. 11
1744	1744	(6) A description of emergency preparedness for 12
1745	1745	the Pacific Islands, including— 13
1746	1746	(A) an assessment of disaster risks in the 14
1747	1747	Pacific Islands and existing local and regional 15
1748	1748	capacity to respond to such risks; and 16
1749	1749	(B) a review of existing efforts by United 17
1750	1750	States allies and partners to provide assistance 18
1751	1751	and training for natural disaster preparedness 19
1752	1752	and emergency management. 20
1753	1753	(7) A description of activities of the Peace 21
1754	1754	Corps in the Pacific Islands, including— 22
1755	1755	(A) a comparative analysis of the Peace 23
1756	1756	Corps presence in the Pacific Islands region to 24
1757	1757	other regions of the world, including a cost-ben-25
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1761	1761	efit analysis of placement in the region versus 1
1762	1762	elsewhere globally; 2
1763	1763	(B) an analysis of current impediments to 3
1764	1764	Peace Corps expansion in the Pacific Islands 4
1765	1765	region; 5
1766	1766	(C) outcomes of consultations among 6
1767	1767	United States agencies, and with regional allies 7
1768	1768	and partners, on areas in which cooperation can 8
1769	1769	reduce factors limiting Peace Corps expansion, 9
1770	1770	particularly those related to medical transpor-10
1771	1771	tation and personal safety; and 11
1772	1772	(D) a plan and timeline for implementing 12
1773	1773	outcomes identified to facilitate expansion of 13
1774	1774	Peace Corps presence in the region, where ap-14
1775	1775	propriate. 15
1776	1776	(8) A description of public health and health 16
1777	1777	care challenges in the Pacific Islands, including 17
1778	1778	health systems strengthening, immunization, non-18
1779	1779	communicable diseases, and gender-based violence. 19
1780	1780	(9) A description of resilient development in the 20
1781	1781	Pacific Islands, including— 21
1782	1782	(A) a review of foreign infrastructure de-22
1783	1783	velopments in the Pacific Islands by non-United 23
1784	1784	States allies and partners; 24
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1788	1788	(B) assessments of the environmental im-1
1789	1789	pact and sustainability of such developments; 2
1790	1790	(C) an analysis of the financial sustain-3
1791	1791	ability of such developments and their impacts 4
1792	1792	on the debt of host countries in the Pacific Is-5
1793	1793	lands; and 6
1794	1794	(D) an analysis of the region’s banking in-7
1795	1795	frastructure and Pacific Island access to finan-8
1796	1796	cial services. 9
1797	1797	(10) A description of press freedom in the Pa-10
1798	1798	cific Islands, including— 11
1799	1799	(A) an assessment of the national laws of 12
1800	1800	the Pacific Islands with respect to foreign in-13
1801	1801	vestment in media and related sectors; 14
1802	1802	(B) relevant licensing regulations of the 15
1803	1803	Pacific Islands and governmental restrictions on 16
1804	1804	free expression that limit the availability of di-17
1805	1805	verse media voices in the Pacific Islands; and 18
1806	1806	(C) analyses of covert efforts by foreign 19
1807	1807	media actors in the Pacific Islands— 20
1808	1808	(i) to influence, shape, or circumvent 21
1809	1809	regulations in the media or telecommuni-22
1810	1810	cation sectors; and 23
1811	1811	(ii) to co-opt local media and nar-24
1812	1812	ratives. 25
1813	1813	VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:18 Feb 24, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00063 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H562.IH H562
1814	1814	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 64
1815	1815	•HR 562 IH
1816	1816	(11) A description of civil society engagement 1
1817	1817	and development, including— 2
1818	1818	(A) an assessment of the strength and via-3
1819	1819	bility of civil society sectors of the Pacific Is-4
1820	1820	lands, including legal, organizational capacity, 5
1821	1821	financial, advocacy, services, infrastructure, and 6
1822	1822	public image sectors; and 7
1823	1823	(B) an identification of objectives and 8
1824	1824	measures of success for the program. 9
1825	1825	(12) A description of United States Govern-10
1826	1826	ment efforts to assist the Pacific Islands in the im-11
1827	1827	provement of critical physical and cyber infrastruc-12
1828	1828	ture, including— 13
1829	1829	(A) investments in the development or im-14
1830	1830	provement critical infrastructure supported by 15
1831	1831	the United States; 16
1832	1832	(B) technical assistance for the develop-17
1833	1833	ment or improvement of critical infrastructure 18
1834	1834	supported by the United States; and 19
1835	1835	(C) a description of support given to the 20
1836	1836	Pacific Islands on the expansion of tele-21
1837	1837	communications infrastructure. 22
1838	1838	(13) A description of United States Govern-23
1839	1839	ment efforts to assist the Pacific Islands in access-24
1840	1840	ing support from international organizations. 25
1841	1841	VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:18 Feb 24, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00064 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H562.IH H562
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1843	1843	•HR 562 IH
1844	1844	(14) A description of how United States Gov-1
1845	1845	ernment efforts align with regional development 2
1846	1846	goals, as outlined in documents such as the 2050 3
1847	1847	Strategy for a Blue Pacific Continent. 4
1848	1848	(c) R
1849	1849	ECOMMENDATION .—Beginning on the date that 5
1850	1850	is 10 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 6
1851	1851	the President may submit to the appropriate congressional 7
1852	1852	committees a recommendation on the consolidation or 8
1853	1853	elimination of any duplicative reports as required by this 9
1854	1854	section. 10
1855	1855	SEC. 802. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 11
1856	1856	There are authorized to be appropriated 12
1857	1857	$270,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2033 13
1858	1858	to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this 14
1859	1859	Act. 15
1860	1860	Æ
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1862	1862	ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS