[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1114 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1114
To authorize the establishment of a Haitian American Enterprise Fund
for Haiti, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 7, 2025
Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick (for herself, Ms. Schakowsky, and Mr. Jackson
of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Ways
and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the establishment of a Haitian American Enterprise Fund
for Haiti, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``L'Ouverture Economic Development
Plan for Haiti Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The General Secretariat of the Organization of the
American States stated in 2022, ``The international community,
international financial institutions, the multilateral system,
and the international financial community of donor countries
must make a decision: whether they want to industrialize Haiti
sufficiently to ensure work for nine million Haitians, or
whether it is economically more profitable to continue
absorbing Haitian migrants and let host countries accommodate
them as and how they can and in such economic conditions as
they can offer.''.
(2) Rather than building upon the ongoing lucrative trade
relations with a newly independent Republic of Haiti in 1804,
the United States decided to impose a trade embargo on the
nascent state in 1806 because Haiti's independence ended
chattel slavery in its land and perceived it as a threat
because it became the world's first Black republic.
(3) After its independence, Haiti was made to pay an
indemnity to France, its former colonial power, beginning in
1825, for breaking away from slavery, which amounts to at least
$21,000,000,000 today, setting the stage for Haiti's dire
impoverishment today.
(4) Haiti's independence from France in 1804 directly
resulted in France selling the bulk of its possessions in
mainland North America in what became the Louisiana Purchase,
fueling the westward expansion of the young United States to
the Pacific Ocean in what is today States such as Arkansas,
Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Kansas, Montana, Missouri, and
Nebraska.
(5) Despite a tortured relationship, Haiti has long been a
reliable partner of the United States. For example, after the
bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Haiti was among the first
nations to join the United States in World War II and
contributed funds to the United States effort.
(6) Haiti bears a strategic importance to the United States
due to its location in the Western Hemisphere.
(7) Haitian Americans continue to make important
contributions to the United States economy and have played a
significant role in education, health care, literature,
politics, art, and culture.
(8) The Bureau of the Census estimates that the Haitian-
American population is 1.2 million, which many believe may be
severely undercounted, as persons of Haitian descent have been
coming to the United States since prior to the founding of the
United States.
(9) The Haitian American population plays a vital role in
Haiti's development efforts, leveraging their resources,
expertise, and networks to support education, technology,
sustainable development, resilience, and prosperity in the
country and could do much more in partnership with the United
States Government.
(10) According to the World Bank, the Haitian diaspora sent
over $4,000,000,000 in remittances to Haiti in 2023, equaling
more than one-fifth of the country's gross domestic product
with these remittances having a crucial role in Haiti's
economy, providing a steady source of income for families in
Haiti, contributing to poverty reduction, amounting to more
than the sum of yearly foreign assistance to the country.
(11) Haiti has played a pivotal role in Afro-descendants'
struggle for American values such as freedom in America, the
Caribbean, and African countries, including the Haitian
American leaders such as W.E.B. DuBois, cofounder of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, who
have contributed to the Civil Rights movement in the United
States and across the world.
(12) Assisting Haiti with a well-processed development
program leading to sustainable economic development that keeps
Haitians at home is in the vital interest of the United States.
(13) The United States should assist Haiti in establishing
sustainable inclusive development to meet the needs of all of
its people, instead of being drawn to the lure of debt-trap
driven development promoted by the People's Republic of China.
(14) According to the United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development, Haiti will need, at minimum, an estimate of
$19,300,000,000 (in 2020/2021 dollars) to meet key development
metrics including to--
(A) achieve 7 percent annual GDP growth;
(B) eliminate extreme poverty;
(C) double manufacturing growth;
(D) improve health and well-being;
(E) improve quality primary and secondary formal
education leading to relevant and effective learning
outcomes; and
(F) protect environmental biodiversity.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are to promote and facilitate--
(1) development of the Haitian private sector, particularly
micro, small, and medium businesses, the agriculture,
biodiversity, construction, energy, finance, manufacturing, and
tourism industries, and U.S.-Haitian joint ventures, including
the Haitian-American diaspora;
(2) policies and practices conducive to Haitian private
sector development through equity investments, feasibility
studies, grants, guarantees, insurance, loans, technical
assistance, and training;
(3) an economic environment conducive for an accountable,
transparent, and sustained democratic system of governance in
Haiti, inclusive for its people, in coordination with the
Global Fragility Act of 2019 (section 501 of title V of
division J of Public Law 116-94; Stat. 3060); and
(4) policies that engender conditions for an industrialized
Haiti sufficient to ensure work at full employment levels
meeting United Nations medium to high human development from
human development index indicators for the people of Haiti,
thereby reducing irregular migration flows from the country, a
United States national security concern.
SEC. 4. STATEMENTS OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States to support the sustainable
rebuilding and development of Haiti in a manner that--
(1) recognizes that the United States has longstanding
historical, economic, and cultural ties to Haiti, with millions
of Americans tracing their heritage to the country, and has a
vested interest in Haiti's stability and development;
(2) recognizes Haitian independence, self-reliance, and
sovereignty;
(3) acknowledges that it is in the United States national
and regional security interest to assist a stable, democratic
and prosperous Haiti that will consequently reduce irregular
migration, regional crime, narcotics proliferation, and
insecurity;
(4) supports the restoration of democratic governance in
Haiti through free, fair, and transparent elections as an
essential condition for reestablishing lasting security,
economic development, and the national interests of Haiti and
the United States by--
(A) supporting the self-determination of the
Haitian people and recognizing that the sovereign and
national right of the citizens of Haiti must be
exercised free of interference;
(B) acknowledging that any political transition
must come from a Haitian-led solution; and
(C) opposing any efforts to destabilize the state
of Haiti;
(5) supports democratic transition, the strengthening of
institutions, good governance, and the rule of law in Haiti
by--
(A) assisting in strengthening Haiti's
institutions, judiciary system, governance structures
and mechanisms to better respond to the needs of
Haitians;
(B) supporting anticorruption efforts;
(C) promoting press freedom;
(D) supporting the empowerment of Haitian civil
society;
(E) improving transparency and the independence of
the media;
(F) preventing favorable treatment or influence on
behalf of any individual, entity, or party in the
selection by the Haitian people of their future
government; and
(G) reducing violence against women and children
and addressing human rights concerns, including through
the enforcement of sanctions imposed in accordance with
the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act
(22 U.S.C. 2656 note) on individuals implicated in
human rights violations and corruption;
(6) improves Haiti's security by--
(A) supporting the goals of the U.S. Strategy to
Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability 10-Year Plan for
Haiti report, a derivative of the Global Fragility Act
of 2019;
(B) supporting continued funding of the Haitian
National Police;
(C) supporting Haiti's and international efforts to
assist the Haitian National Police in combating
internal insecurity, including gang violence;
(D) stemming the flow of illicit firearms
trafficking from the United States to the Caribbean,
including Haiti;
(E) encouraging the development of civilian
oversight of the Haitian National Police;
(F) encouraging the Haitian National Police to
respect human rights and uphold anti-corruption
measures in its practices; and
(G) encouraging a Disarmaments, Demobilization, and
Reinsertion program to reduce criminality and protect
the youth;
(7) addresses humanitarian needs by providing appropriate
forms of assistance, such as humanitarian assistance, to the
people of Haiti by addressing urgent food security, health, and
education needs as well as protecting women and children;
(8) spurs economic development by--
(A) leveraging public and private source funding to
address Haiti's long term development goal and
achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goals;
(B) helping, creating, and enabling an environment
that facilitates trade and investment in Haiti;
(C) assisting in building the resilient and
supportive physical infrastructure sector required for
a stable and prosperous country, including country-wide
access to reliable electricity, passable roads, ports,
railroads, water, sanitation and health programs and
digital infrastructure;
(D) reducing poverty and building prosperity by
providing capacity building support to promote
entrepreneurship and support small and medium-sized
enterprises, including participation of Haitian women
and youth in governmental and nongovernmental
institutions and in economic development and governance
assistance programs funded by the United States;
(E) supporting trade preferences with Haiti,
including the preferences created through the Haitian
Hemispheric Opportunity Through Partnership Act of 2006
(title V of division D of Public Law 109-432; 120 Stat.
3181) and the Haiti Economic Lift Program Act of 2010
(19 U.S.C. 2703 et seq.);
(F) assisting in building the long-term capacity of
the Government of Haiti, civil society, local resource
mobilization in Haiti, and the private sector to foster
economic opportunities in Haiti; and
(G) fostering collaboration and activities between
the Haitian diaspora in the United States, including
dual citizens of Haiti and the United States, and the
Government of Haiti, local resource mobilization in
Haiti, and the business community in Haiti;
(9) encourages other countries, along with bilateral and
multilateral organizations, to provide similar assistance and
to work cooperatively with such countries and organizations to
coordinate such assistance; and
(10) respects and helps restore the natural resources of
Haiti and strengthens community-level resilience to
environmental and weather-related impacts.
SEC. 5. HAITIAN AMERICAN ENTERPRISE FUND FOR HAITI.
(a) Designation.--The President may designate a private, nonprofit
organization (as described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such code) as
the Haitian American Enterprise Fund for Haiti (in this Act referred to
as the ``Enterprise Fund''), if the President--
(1) determines that such organization has the ability to
carry out the activities described in section 7; and
(2) has consulted with the Speaker and the minority leader
of the House of Representatives and the majority leader and the
minority leader of the Senate regarding such designation.
(b) Operation.--Upon the designation of the Enterprise Fund under
subsection (a), the Chief Executive Officer of the United States
International Development Finance Corporation shall operate such Fund.
(c) Consultation.--The Chief Executive Officer may consult and
coordinate with the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development regarding the Enterprise Fund.
(d) Private Character of Enterprise Fund.--Nothing in this Act may
be construed to make--
(1) the Enterprise Fund an agency or establishment of the
United States Government; or
(2) the officers and employees of the Enterprise Fund or
members of the Oversight Panel officers or employees of the
United States for purposes of title 5, United States Code.
SEC. 6. OVERSIGHT PANEL.
(a) In General.--The Enterprise Fund shall be monitored by a Board
of Directors Oversight Panel (hereafter referred to as the ``Oversight
Panel'') composed of 9 members.
(b) Composition.--
(1) Appointments by chief executive officer.--The Chief
Executive Officer shall appoint to the Oversight Panel--
(A) 5 individuals who are not employed by the
Federal Government and--
(i) are citizens of the United States; or
(ii) are citizens of the Republic of Haiti
who--
(I) primarily reside in the United
States; and
(II) have demonstrated respect for
democracy and a free-market economy;
and
(B) 2 individuals who are citizens of Haiti who--
(i) are not citizens of the United States;
(ii) have demonstrated respect for
democracy and a free-market economy; and
(iii) have--
(I) had a successful business
career in private equity, banking, or
finance in a developing economy; or
(II) experience comparable to
service on the board of directors of a
fund that is similar to the Enterprise
Fund and which earned a positive return
on the amounts under the control of
such fund.
(2) Appointments by president.--The President shall appoint
to the Oversight Panel 2 individuals who are citizens of the
United States, who--
(A) primarily reside in the United States; and
(B) have demonstrated concern for and commitment to
the economic development of Haiti.
(c) Consultations.--The Chief Executive Officer and members of the
Oversight Panel are encouraged to consult extensively with--
(1) representatives of similar enterprise funds established
by the United States Government, in order to learn best
practices relating to the start-up phase and ongoing business
of an enterprise fund;
(2) representatives of multilateral institutions, including
the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and the
International Monetary Fund, to coordinate support for
infrastructure in Haiti; and
(3) leaders from the private sector, civil society, labor
organizations, human rights groups, academia, and environmental
organizations in the United States and Haiti.
SEC. 7. INVESTMENTS FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS.
(a) Requirements for Investments.--The Enterprise Fund may only
provide investments in programs and projects tha