[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3090 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3090
To address the participation of Taiwan in the Inter-American
Development Bank.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 27, 2021
Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Risch, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Inhofe, Mr.
Markey, and Mr. Rubio) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To address the participation of Taiwan in the Inter-American
Development Bank.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Inter-American Development Bank (referred to in
this Act as the ``IDB'') was established in 1959 and--
(A) is the premier multilateral development bank in
the Western Hemisphere;
(B) is the largest source of development financing
for Latin America and the Caribbean; and
(C) issued more than $140,000,000,000 in loans and
grants between 2011 and 2021.
(2) The IDB--
(A) has 48 member states, of which 26 are borrowing
members in the Latin America and the Caribbean region;
and
(B) constitutes a critical forum for fostering
collective action and meeting shared regional
challenges, including COVID-19 recovery and response.
(3) Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the People's Republic
of China are among the 22 non-borrowing, non-Western Hemisphere
members of the IDB.
(4) Taiwan--
(A) has been an observer at the IDB since 1991;
(B) has contributed to a specialized financial
intermediary development fund at IDB Lab since 2006;
(C) has been a non-regional member country of the
Central American Bank for Economic Integration since
1992;
(D) is a member of the Asian Development Bank, the
World Trade Organization, the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation, and the International Chamber of Commerce;
and
(E) is a participant of the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development's Competition
Committee, its Steel Committee, and its Fisheries
Committee.
(5) Taiwan's economy is the 7th largest in Asia and the
20th largest in the world by purchasing power parity.
(6) Taiwan has been a model contributor of foreign aid in
Latin America and the Caribbean, allocating between 30 percent
and 50 percent of its foreign aid budget to Latin America and
the Caribbean.
(7) Since 2010, Taiwan's International Cooperation and
Development Fund has funded 95 projects in Central America, 64
projects in the Caribbean, and 21 projects in South America.
(8) Taiwan has been a firm supporter of Haiti as it
confronts multiple simultaneous crises--
(A) by providing more than $145,000,000 in
financing to modernize Haiti's electrical grid;
(B) by delivering 280,000 masks at the height of
the COVID-19 pandemic; and
(C) by pledging $500,000 in disaster relief
immediately after the August 14, 2021, earthquake in
Haiti.
(9) According to data from the Pan American Development
Foundation, communities receiving assistance from Taiwan
display increased--
(A) food security;
(B) income generation; and
(C) capacity to recover from natural disasters.
(10) Taiwan has placed special emphasis on fostering
development in Central America and in the Caribbean, including
by signing the Agreement on the Republic of China (Taiwan)--
Central America Economic Development Fund in 1998.
(11) Through its non-regional partner status at the Central
American Bank for Economic Integration, Taiwan has provided
$266,700,000 in financial assistance to help Central American
countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 22, 2021,
the Central American Bank for Economic Integration announced
the opening of its Representative Office in Taiwan, deepening
investment ties between Taiwan and Central America.
(12) Taiwan maintains diplomatic relations with 9 countries
in Latin America and the Caribbean and 8 representative offices
in 7 other countries in the region.
(13) Since 2016, the Government of the People's Republic of
China has engaged in aggressive economic diplomacy to compel
the withdrawal of diplomatic recognition for Taiwan, most
notably in Panama, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador, all
of which have terminated longstanding and productive diplomatic
relationships with Taiwan and granted diplomatic recognition to
the People's Republic of China.
(14) The Government of the People's Republic of China--
(A) announced a $1,100,000,000 construction project
in Panama on the day that Panama switched its
recognition from Taiwan to the People's Republic of
China; and
(B) similarly offered assistance packages to the
Dominican Republic and El Salvador in 2018 in exchange
for these countries ceasing their diplomatic
recognition of Taiwan.
(15) Taiwan's international engagement has faced increased
resistance from the Government of the People's Republic of
China, which has used its influence to deny Taiwan's
invitations to multilateral fora. For example, Taiwan was not
invited to the 2016 Assembly of the International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO), despite participating as a guest
at ICAO's 2013 summit. Taiwan's requests to participate in the
General Assembly of the International Criminal Police
Organization (commonly known as ``INTERPOL'') were also
rejected.
(16) Taiwan's inclusion in multilateral organizations, such
as the IDB, advances peace and stability in the world and in
the Western Hemisphere specifically.
(17) Congress has demonstrated a longstanding policy of
supporting Taiwan's participation in international bodies that
address shared transnational challenges by--
(A) authorizing the Secretary of State, in Public
Law 106-137, Public Law 107-10, and Public Law 108-235,
to initiate a United States plan for supporting
Taiwan's participation as an observer in the activities
of the World Health Organization;
(B) directing the Secretary of State, in Public Law
113-17, to report on a strategy to obtain observer
status for Taiwan at the International Civil Aviation
Organization Assembly; and
(C) directing the Secretary of State, in Public Law
114-139, to develop a strategy to obtain observer
status for Taiwan at the INTERPOL Assembly.
(18) Despite these efforts, Taiwan has not received an
invitation to attend as an observer any of the events of the
international organizations referred to in paragraph (17) since
2016.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the United States fully supports Taiwan's participation
in, and contribution to, international organizations and
underscores the importance of the relationship between Taiwan
and the United States;
(2) diversifying the Inter-American Development Bank's
donor base and increasing ally engagement in the Western
Hemisphere reinforces United States national interests;
(3) Taiwan's significant contribution to the development
and economies of Latin America and the Caribbean demonstrate
that Taiwan's membership in the IDB as a non-borrowing member
would benefit the IDB and the entire Latin American and
Caribbean region; and
(4) non-borrowing membership in the IDB would allow Taiwan
to substantially leverage and channel the immense resources
Taiwan already provides to Latin America and the Caribbean to
reach a larger number of beneficiaries.
SEC. 3. PLAN FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN THE INTER-AMERICAN
DEVELOPMENT BANK.
The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of the
Treasury, is authorized--
(1) to initiate a United States plan to endorse non-
borrowing IDB membership for Taiwan; and
(2) to instruct the United States Governor of the IDB to
work with the IDB Board of Governors to admit Taiwan as a non-
borrowing member of the IDB.
SEC. 4. REPORT CONCERNING MEMBER STATE STATUS FOR TAIWAN AT THE INTER-
AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
and not later than April 1 of each year thereafter, the Secretary of
State, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall submit
an unclassified report to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives that--
(1) describes the United States plan to endorse and obtain
non-borrowing membership status for Taiwan at the IDB;
(2) includes an account of the efforts that the Secretary
of State and the Secretary of the Treasury have made to
encourage IDB member states to promote Taiwan's bid to obtain
non-borrowing membership at the IDB; and
(3) identifies the steps that the Secretary of State and
the Secretary of the Treasury will take to endorse and obtain
non-borrowing membership status for Taiwan at the IDB in the
following year.
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