119-s820

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 820 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 820

 To authorize the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, to enhance the 
 United States-Caribbean security partnership, to prioritize natural 
 disaster resilience, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 March 3, 2025

 Mr. Kaine (for himself and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To authorize the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, to enhance the 
 United States-Caribbean security partnership, to prioritize natural 
 disaster resilience, 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 ``Caribbean Basin Security Initiative 
Authorization Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
 ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
        (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
        (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
 Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
 Representatives.

    (2) Beneficiary countries.--The term ``beneficiary 
 countries'' means--
        (A) Antigua and Barbuda;
        (B) the Bahamas;
            (C) Barbados;
            (D) Dominica;
        (E) the Dominican Republic;
        (F) Grenada;
        (G) Guyana;
        (H) Jamaica;
            (I) Saint Lucia;
        (J) Saint Kitts and Nevis;
        (K) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;
            (L) Suriname; and
            (M) Trinidad and Tobago.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION FOR THE CARIBBEAN BASIN SECURITY INITIATIVE.

    (a) Authorization for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.--The 
Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency 
for International Development may carry out an initiative, to be known 
as the ``Caribbean Basin Security Initiative'', in beneficiary 
countries to achieve the purposes described in subsection

    (b) .

    (b) 

=== Purposes ===
-The purposes described in this subsection are the 
following:

    (1) To promote citizen safety, security, and the rule of 
 law in the Caribbean through increased strategic engagement 
 with--
        (A) the governments of beneficiary countries; and
        (B) elements of local civil society, including the 
 private sector, in such countries.

    (2) To counter transnational criminal organizations and 
 local gangs in beneficiary countries, including through--
        (A) maritime and aerial security cooperation, 
 including--
            (i) assistance to strengthen capabilities 
 of maritime and aerial interdiction operations 
 in the Caribbean; and
            (ii) the provision of support systems and 
 equipment, training, and maintenance;
        (B) cooperation on border and port security, 
 including support to strengthen capacity for screening 
 and intercepting narcotics, weapons, bulk cash, and 
 other contraband at airports and seaports; and
            (C) capacity building and the provision of 
 equipment and support for operations targeting--
            (i) the finances and illegal activities of 
 such organizations and gangs; and
            (ii) the recruitment by such organizations 
 and gangs of at-risk youth.

    (3) To advance law enforcement and justice sector capacity 
 building and rule of law initiatives in beneficiary countries, 
 including by--
        (A) strengthening special prosecutorial offices and 
 providing technical assistance--
            (i) to combat--
            (I) corruption;
            (II) money laundering;
            (III) human, firearms, and wildlife 
 trafficking;
            (IV) human smuggling;
            (V) financial crimes; and
            (VI) extortion; and
            (ii) to conduct asset forfeitures and 
 criminal analysis;
        (B) supporting training for civilian police and 
 appropriate security services in criminal 
 investigations, best practices for citizen security, 
 and the protection of human rights;
            (C) supporting capacity building for law 
 enforcement and military units, including 
 professionalization, anti-corruption and human rights 
 training, vetting, and community-based policing;
            (D) supporting justice sector reform and 
 strengthening of the rule of law, including--
            (i) capacity building for prosecutors, 
 judges, and other justice officials; and
            (ii) support to increase the efficacy of 
 criminal courts; and
        (E) strengthening cybersecurity and cybercrime 
 cooperation, including capacity building and support 
 for cybersecurity systems.

    (4) To promote crime prevention efforts in beneficiary 
 countries, particularly among at-risk-youth and other 
 vulnerable populations, including through--
        (A) improving community and law enforcement 
 cooperation to improve the effectiveness and 
 professionalism of police and increase mutual trust;
        (B) increasing economic opportunities for at-risk 
 youth and vulnerable populations, including through 
 workforce development training and remedial education 
 programs for at-risk youth;
            (C) improving juvenile justice sectors through 
 regulatory reforms, separating youth from traditional 
 prison systems, and improving support and services in 
 juvenile detention centers; and
            (D) the provision of assistance to populations 
 vulnerable to being victims of extortion and crime by 
 criminal networks.

    (5) To strengthen the ability of the security sector in 
 beneficiary countries to respond to and become more resilient 
 in the face of natural disasters, including by--
        (A) carrying out training exercises to ensure 
 critical infrastructure and ports are able to come back 
 online rapidly following natural disasters; and
        (B) providing preparedness training to police and 
 first responders.

    (6) To prioritize efforts to combat corruption and include 
 anti-corruption components in programs in beneficiary 
 countries, including by--
        (A) building the capacity of national justice 
 systems and attorneys general to prosecute and try acts 
 of corruption;
        (B) increasing the capacity of national law 
 enforcement services to carry out anti-corruption 
 investigations; and
            (C) encouraging cooperative agreements among the 
 Department of State, other relevant Federal departments 
 and agencies, and the attorneys general of relevant 
 countries.

    (7) To promote the rule of law in beneficiary countries and 
 counter malign influence from authoritarian regimes, including 
 China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, by--
        (A) monitoring security assistance from such 
 authoritarian regimes and taking steps necessary to 
 ensure that such assistance does not undermine or 
 jeopardize United States security assistance;
        (B) evaluating and, as appropriate, restricting the 
 involvement of the United States in investment and 
 infrastructure projects financed by authoritarian 
 regimes that might obstruct or otherwise impact United 
 States security assistance to beneficiary countries;
            (C) monitoring and restricting equipment and 
 support from high-risk vendors of telecommunications 
 infrastructure in beneficiary countries;
            (D) countering disinformation by promoting 
 transparency and accountability from beneficiary 
 countries; and
        (E) eliminating corruption linked to investment and 
 infrastructure facilitated by authoritarian regimes 
 through support for investment screening, competitive 
 tendering and bidding processes, the implementation of 
 investment law, and contractual transparency.

    (8) To support the effective branding and messaging of 
 United States security assistance and cooperation in 
 beneficiary countries, including by developing and implementing 
 a public diplomacy strategy for informing citizens of 
 beneficiary countries about the benefits to their respective 
 countries of United States security assistance and cooperation 
 programs.
            (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Department of State and the United States Agency 
for International Development $88,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 
through 2029 to carry out the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative to 
achieve the purposes described in subsection

    (b) .

SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 
an implementation plan that includes a timeline and stated objectives 
for actions to be taken in beneficiary countries with respect to the 
Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.

    (b) Elements.--The implementation plan required by subsection

    (a) shall include the following elements:

    (1) A multi-year strategy with a timeline, overview of 
 objectives, and anticipated outcomes for the region and for 
 each beneficiary country, with respect to each purpose 
 described in 

section 3.

    (2) Specific, measurable benchmarks to track the progress 
 of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative toward accomplishing 
 the outcomes included under paragraph

    (1) .

    (3) A plan for the delineation of the roles to be carried 
 out by the Department of State, the United States Agency for 
 International Development, the Department of Justice, the 
 Department of Defense, and any other Federal department or 
 agency in carrying out the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, 
 to prevent overlap and unintended competition between 
 activities and resources.

    (4) A plan to coordinate and track all activities carried 
 out under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative among all 
 relevant Federal departments and agencies, in accordance with 
 the publication requirements described in 

section 4 of the 
 Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016 (22 
 U.S.C. 2394c).

    (5) A description of the process for co-locating projects 
 of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative funded by the United 
 States Agency for International Development and the Bureau of 
 International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the 
 Department of State to ensure that crime prevention funding and 
 enforcement funding are used in the same localities as 
 necessary.

    (6) An assessment of steps taken, as of the date on which 
 the plan is submitted, to increase regional coordination and 
 collaboration between the law enforcement agencies of 
 beneficiary countries and the Haitian National Police, and a 
 framework with benchmarks for increasing such coordination and 
 collaboration, in order to address the urgent security crisis 
 in Haiti.
            (c) Annual Progress Update.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
on which the implementation plan required by subsection

    (a) is 
submitted, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State, in 
coordination with the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
International Development, shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a written description of results achieved 
through the Caribbean Basin Security Imitative, including with respect 
to--

    (1) the implementation of the strategy and plans described 
 in paragraphs

    (1) ,

    (3) , and

    (4) of subsection

    (b) ;

    (2) compliance with, and progress related to, meeting the 
 benchmarks described in paragraph

    (2) of subsection

    (b) ; and

    (3) funding statistics for the Caribbean Basin Security 
 Initiative for the preceding year, disaggregated by country.

SEC. 5. PROGRAMS AND STRATEGY TO INCREASE NATURAL DISASTER RESPONSE AND 
 RESILIENCE.

    (a) Programs.--During the 5-year period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with 
the Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development and the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Inter-
American Foundation, shall promote natural disaster response and 
resilience in beneficiary countries by carrying out programs for the 
following purposes:

    (1) Encouraging coordination between beneficiary countries 
 and relevant Federal departments and agencies to provide 
 expertise and information sharing.

    (2) Supporting the sharing of best practices on natural 
 disaster resilience, including on constructing resilient 
 infrastructure and rebuilding after natural disasters.

    (3) Improving rapid-response mechanisms and cross-
 government organizational preparedness for natural disasters.

    (b) Strategy.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development 
and in consultation with the President and Chief Executive Officer of 
the Inter-American Foundation and nongovernmental organizations in 
beneficiary countries and in the United States, shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a strategy that incorporates 
specific, measurable benchmarks--

    (1) to achieve the purposes described in subsection

    (a) ; 
 and

    (2) to inform citizens of beneficiary countries about the 
 extent and benefits of United States assistance to such 
 countries.
            (c) Annual Progress Update.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
on which the strategy required by subsection

    (b) is submitted, and 
annually thereafter, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
written description of the progress made as of the date of such 
submission in meeting the benchmarks included in the strategy.
 <all>