Title 22Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-73

§2274 Economic assistance coordination

Title 22 › Chapter CHAPTER 32— - FOREIGN ASSISTANCE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT › Part Part VI— - Central America Democracy, Peace, and Development Initiative › § 2274

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Calls for the President to negotiate creating a Central American Development Organization to help coordinate political, economic, and social progress in Central America and to strengthen U.S. cooperation with those countries. Membership should be open to the United States, other donors, and Central American countries that commit to things like respecting human rights, building democracy, and pursuing fair economic growth. The group should include public and private sector representatives, such as labor, farm, and business leaders, meet regularly, and have a small professional staff. It should make recommendations on development goals (including democracy and human rights), resource needs and aid, and economic policy reform, and it must be able to monitor and evaluate countries’ progress. To the maximum extent practical, the United States should follow the Organization’s recommendations when giving bilateral aid; no more than 75 percent of U.S. assistance in any fiscal year may be paid out until that year’s recommendations are final and sent to donor countries, with that restriction applying only to recommendations finalized and sent before the fourth quarter. The head of the U.S. agency in charge of this part of aid, or a designee, will represent the United States under the Secretary of State’s direction and must prepare a detailed proposal while keeping the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee fully informed. The President may join the Organization, but must send the text of any proposed agreement establishing U.S. participation to those two committees at least 60 days before signing, and allow full consultations and review during that 60-day period under the procedures for reprogramming notifications in section 2394–1.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §2274

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Congress finds that participation by Central American countries in an effective forum for dialog on, and the continuous review and advancement of, Central America’s political, economic, and social development would foster cooperation between the United States and Central American countries.
(b)It is the sense of the Congress that—
(1)the President should enter into negotiations with the countries of Central America to establish a Central American Development Organization (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Organization”) to help provide a continuous and coherent approach to the development of the Central American region; and
(2)the establishment of the Organization should be based upon the following principles:
(A)Participation in the Organization should be open to the United States, other donors, and those Central American countries that commit themselves to, among other things, respecting internationally recognized human rights, building democracy, and encouraging equitable economic growth through policy reforms.
(B)The Organization should be structured to include representatives from both the public and private sectors, including representatives from the labor, agriculture, and business communities.
(C)The Organization should meet periodically to carry out the functions described in subparagraphs (D) and (E) of this paragraph and should be supported by a limited professional secretariat.
(D)The Organization should make recommendations affecting Central American countries on such matters as—
(i)political, economic, and social development objectives, including the strengthening of democratic pluralism and the safeguarding of internationally recognized human rights;
(ii)mobilization of resources and external assistance needs; and
(iii)reform of economic policies and structures.
(E)The Organization should have the capacity for monitoring country performance on recommendations issued in accordance with subparagraph (D) of this paragraph and for evaluating progress toward meeting such country objectives.
(F)To the maximum extent practicable, the United States should follow the recommendations of the Organization in disbursing bilateral economic assistance for any Central American country. No more than 75 percent of such United States assistance in any fiscal year should be disbursed until the recommendations of the Organization for that fiscal year have been made final and communicated to the donor countries. The limitation on disbursements contained in the preceding sentence should apply only to recommendations made final and communicated to donor countries prior to the fourth quarter of such fiscal year. The United States representative to the Organization should urge other donor countries to similarly implement the recommendations of the Organization.
(G)The administrator of the agency primarily responsible for administering subchapter I of this chapter, or his designee, should represent the United States Government in the Organization and should carry out his functions in that capacity under the continuous supervision and general direction of the Secretary of State.
(c)Subject to subsection (d)(2), the President is authorized to participate in the Organization.
(d)(1)The administrator of the agency primarily responsible for administering subchapter I of this chapter, under the supervision and direction of the Secretary of State, shall prepare a detailed proposal to carry out this section and shall keep the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate fully and currently informed concerning the development of this proposal.
(2)The President shall transmit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a copy of the text of any agreement, which he proposes to sign, that would provide for the establishment of and United States participation in the Organization no less than sixty days prior to his signature. During that sixty-day period there shall be full and formal consultations with and review by those committees in accordance with procedures applicable to reprogramming notifications pursuant to section 2394–1 of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Another section 464 of Pub. L. 87–195 is classified to section 2284 of this title.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

References to Subchapter I Deemed To Include Certain Parts of Subchapter IIReferences to subchapter I of this chapter are deemed to include parts IV (§ 2346 et seq.), VI (§ 2348 et seq.), and VIII (§ 2349aa et seq.) of subchapter II of this chapter, and references to subchapter II are deemed to exclude such parts. See section 202(b) of Pub. L. 92–226, set out as a note under section 2346 of this title, and section 2348c and 2349aa–5 of this title.

Executive Documents

Delegation of Functions For delegation of functions of President under this section, see Ex. Ord. No. 12163, Sept. 29, 1979, 44 F.R. 56673, as amended, set out as a note under section 2381 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 2274

Title 22Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73