[DOCID: f:sr342.110]
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Calendar No. 754
110th Congress Report
SENATE
2d Session 110-342
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EURASIA FOUNDATION ACT
_______
June 2, 2008.--Ordered to be printed
Mr. Biden, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,
submitted the following
REPORT
[To accompany S. 3024]
The Committee on Foreign Relations, having had under
consideration the bill (S. 3024), to authorize grants to the
Eurasia Foundation, and for other purposes, reports favorably
thereon and recommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose..........................................................1
II. Committee Action.................................................1
III. Discussion.......................................................1
IV. Cost Estimate....................................................2
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................4
VI. Changes in Existing Law..........................................4
I. PURPOSE
The purpose of the Eurasia Foundation Act is to authorize
an annual grant to the Eurasia Foundation, thereby maintaining
an investment the United States Government has made in the
Eurasia Foundation and ensure that the Foundation will continue
its work to promote accountable governance, civil society and
private enterprise in the 12 countries of the former Soviet
Union.
II. COMMITTEE ACTION
On May 15, 2008, Senators Biden and Lugar introduced S.
3024, the Eurasia Foundation Act. At a business meeting on May
20, 2008, the committee ordered the bill reported favorably by
voice vote, without amendment.
III. DISCUSSION
The region in which the Foundation operates--the nations of
the former Soviet Union--has major strategic significance for
the United States and its allies. In recognition of that fact,
the U.S. Government has already invested roughly $300 million
in the work of the Foundation since its inception in 1992.
Foreign governments and private donors have augmented these
funds with an additional $80 million. The Foundation has used
these resources well, developed a strong network of programs
and partners, and amassed an admirable record of
accomplishment. The Foundation's activities have become
particularly important in the face of new efforts by
authoritarian regimes to subvert the region's young, and still
fragile, democracies.
Much of the U.S. Government support to the Foundation has
come through the Freedom Support Act. The Freedom Support Act
budget, however, has decreased dramatically in recent years,
from $958 million in fiscal year 2002 to $396 million in fiscal
year 2008. The Eurasia Foundation Act establishes a regular
budget item in the budget of the Department of State, akin to
that now provided to the Asia Foundation under the Asia
Foundation Act (P.L. 98-164). This will help ensure
continuation of the Foundation's important work to promote
transparency, accountability, and civil society in the region
independent of funding levels for the Freedom Support Act. The
legislation also authorizes $15 million for the Eurasia
Foundation in fiscal year 2009.
The committee is aware of concerns that the work of the
Foundation not overlap with the work of the Asia Foundation.
Likewise, concerns have been expressed that the Eurasia
Foundation not duplicate the efforts of the U.S. Russia
Foundation for Economic Advancement and Rule of Law, the
successor entity to the U.S. Russia Investment Fund. The bill
addresses both of these issues. First, the bill defines the
term ``countries of Eurasia'' in section 6(b). Second, section
2, which sets forth the purposes of the bill, delineates the
geographic scope for the Foundation's activities. In this
regard, the committee notes that section 2(b)(1) authorizes the
Foundation to work with citizens of the countries of Eurasia
``in their own efforts to develop more open, just, and
democratic societies.'' A current project of the Foundation
provides support for the European Humanities University, which
recently relocated from Belarus to Lithuania and provides
instruction to Belarusian students there. This type of
project--assistance to people from the countries of Eurasia
(but located outside of such countries)--is contemplated by the
framework of section 2. With regard to the U.S. Russia
Foundation, section 5(a) of the bill mandates that the Eurasia
Foundation and the U.S. Russia Foundation enter into a
memorandum of understanding (MOU), the purpose of which is to
ensure coordination, and prevent duplication, in the work of
the two Foundations. The bill imposes a deadline for conclusion
of the MOU in section 5(b).
IV. COST ESTIMATE
In accordance with Rule XXVI, paragraph 11(a) of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the committee provides this
estimate of the costs of this legislation prepared by the
Congressional Budget Office.
United States Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, May 29, 2008.
Hon. Joseph R. Biden, Jr.,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 3024, the Eurasia
Foundation Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Sunita
D'Monte.
Sincerely,
Peter R. Orszag.
------
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
May 29, 2008.
S. 3024
Eurasia Foundation Act
AS ORDERED REPORTED BY THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS ON MAY
20, 2008
S. 3024 would authorize appropriations in 2009 and 2010 for
grants to the Eurasia Foundation. The foundation is a nonprofit
corporation based in Washington, D.C., that promotes
accountable public administration, civil society, and private
enterprise in Russia and countries in Central Asia, Eastern
Europe, and the South Caucasus region.
The bill would authorize the appropriation of $15 million
in 2009 and such sums as may be necessary in 2010 to carry out
the purposes of the foundation. CBO estimates that under the
bill the foundation would require about $15 million in 2010 and
that implementing the legislation would cost $30 million over
the 2009-2013 period, subject to the appropriation of the
authorized and estimated amounts.
S. 3024 would encourage the foundation to augment its
funding from private sources. According to the foundation, it
receives private funding worth about $4 million a year (about
20 percent of its annual expenditures). Because it is a
nongovernmental entity, the foundation's authority to accept
and spend gifts does not affect the federal budget. Enacting
the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues.
S. 3024 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Sunita D'Monte.
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT
Pursuant to Rule XXVI, paragraph 11(b) of the Standing
Rules of the Senate, the committee has determined that there is
no regulatory impact as a result of this legislation.
VI. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of Rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the committee notes that no
changes to existing law are made by this bill.