H.R. 4031 — Caribbean Basin Security Initiative Authorization Act

This section defines key terms for the Act, including "(1) appropriate congressional committees," meaning the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Appropriations and the House Committees on Foreign Affairs and Appropriations; and "(2) beneficiary countries," meaning Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, The Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

This section authorizes the Secretary of State and USAID Administrator to carry out the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative in beneficiary countries to (1) promote citizen safety, security, and rule of law; (2) counter transnational criminal organizations and gangs through maritime and aerial interdiction, border and port security, and financial disruption; (3) advance law enforcement and justice capacity building, including anti-corruption, human rights training, professionalization, justice reform, and cybersecurity; (4) promote crime prevention for at-risk youth and vulnerable populations via community policing, economic opportunities, and juvenile justice improvements; (5) strengthen security sector disaster resilience; (6) prioritize anti-corruption efforts; (7) promote rule of law and counter malign influence from authoritarian regimes (e.g., China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba) through monitoring assistance, restricting risky investments and vendors, countering disinformation, and enhancing investment transparency; and (8) support branding of U.S. security assistance. It authorizes appropriations of $88 million to the Department of State and USAID.

This section directs the Secretary of State, in coordination with the USAID Administrator, to submit to the appropriate congressional committees, not later than 180 days after enactment, an implementation plan for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI)—a U.S. security assistance program for Caribbean beneficiary countries to counter illicit trafficking, gangs, and other transnational threats—that includes (1) a multi-year strategy with timeline, objectives, and anticipated outcomes for the region and each beneficiary country aligned with CBSI purposes; (2) specific, measurable benchmarks; (3) delineation of roles for State, USAID, DOJ, DOD, and other agencies to prevent overlap; (4) coordination and tracking of activities per the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016 (22 U.S.C. 2394c); (5) a process for co-locating USAID and State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs projects; and (6) an assessment and benchmarked framework for enhancing regional law enforcement coordination with the Haitian National Police. The section further requires annual progress reports to the committees, beginning one year after plan submission, on strategy implementation, benchmark progress, and prior-year CBSI funding disaggregated by country.

This section directs the Secretary of State, in consultation with the USAID Administrator and Inter-American Foundation President and CEO, to promote natural disaster response and resilience in beneficiary countries through specified programs during the five-year period beginning on the date of enactment. These programs must (1) encourage coordination and information sharing between beneficiary countries and relevant U.S. federal departments and agencies; (2) support sharing of best practices on resilience, including resilient infrastructure construction and post-disaster rebuilding; and (3) improve rapid-response mechanisms and cross-government preparedness. The section also requires the Secretary, in coordination with the USAID Administrator and after consulting the Inter-American Foundation President and CEO and relevant NGOs, to submit to the appropriate congressional committees (1) within 180 days of enactment, a strategy with specific, measurable benchmarks to achieve the programs' purposes and inform beneficiary country citizens of U.S. assistance benefits; and (2) annually thereafter, beginning one year after strategy submission, a written progress report on meeting those benchmarks.