§1442 — Title 22 Foreign Relations and Intercourse | U.S. Code

Summary

Lets the Director of the United States Information Agency back guarantees for investments in businesses that make or share information, when those guarantees help U.S. foreign policy goals. The Director can take on up to $28,000,000 of certain Treasury notes and get advances from the Treasury up to that amount. Money advanced is kept in a special Treasury account and used to pay claims on those guarantees. The Director can make guarantees even if time limits in another law would otherwise stop them, but the total guarantees at any one time cannot be more than the face amount of the assumed notes minus prior Treasury advances, plus the money in the special account. Foreign money received after June 30, 1955 from these guarantees can be sold for dollars under Treasury rules; the dollars go into the special account and can be used for new guarantees or, if Congress allows, for educational, scientific, cultural, or other agreed projects. Fees collected for issuing guarantees go into the special account and may be used to pay claims. The Director may charge up to $50 as a minimum fee for issuing or changing a guarantee. The Director may make advance payments under guarantees, but recipients must pay the currency to the U.S. within nine months and must provide security first. As soon as possible after July 18, 1956, all assets, debts, income, and costs tied to these informational-media guarantees dating back to April 3, 1948 must be kept separate from other guarantee programs. An annual appropriation is authorized to restore any real losses to the capital used for these guarantees through the last completed fiscal year. Those losses are the amount by which losses and accrued interest exceed revenue and earlier restorations, and they include dollar losses on sold foreign currencies and costs when currencies are judged unavailable or moved without repayment. Appropriated dollars may pay interest and principal on the notes; the Director can issue replacement notes to the Treasury with an interest rate set by the Secretary of the Treasury. Amounts appropriated to pay off notes that were outstanding on August 24, 1982 are not subject to section 1476(a).

Title 22, §1442

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Director of the United States Information Agency may make guaranties, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of section 1933 11 See References in Text note below. of this title, of investments in enterprises producing or distributing informational media consistent with the national interests of the United States: Provided, That the purpose of making informational media guaranties shall be the achievement of the foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the objective mentioned in section 1933(b)(4)(A) 1 and 1933(b)(4)(G) 1 of this title.

(b)The Director is authorized to assume the obligation of not to exceed $28,000,000 of the notes authorized to be issued pursuant to section 1509(c)(2) 1 of this title, together with the interest accrued and unpaid thereon, and to obtain advances from time to time from the Secretary of the Treasury up to such amount, less amounts previously advanced on such notes, as provided for in said notes. Such advances shall be deposited in a special account in the Treasury available for payments under informational media guaranties.

(c)The Director is authorized to make informational media guaranties without regard to the limitations of time contained in section 1933(b)(4) 1 of this title, but the total of such guaranties outstanding at any one time shall not exceed the sum of the face amount of the notes assumed by the Director less the amounts previously advanced on such notes by the Secretary of the Treasury plus the amount of the funds in the special account referred to in subsection (b).

(d)Foreign currencies available after June 30, 1955, from conversions made pursuant to the obligation of informational media guaranties may be sold, in accordance with Treasury Department regulations, for dollars which shall be deposited in the special account and shall be available for payments under new guaranties. Such currencies shall be available, as may be provided for by the Congress in appropriation Acts, for use for educational, scientific, and cultural purposes which are in the national interest of the United States, and for such other purposes of mutual interest as may be agreed to by the governments of the United States and the country from which the currencies derive.

(e)Notwithstanding the provisions of section 1933(b)(4)(E) 1 of this title, (1) fees collected for the issuance of informational media guaranties shall be deposited in the special account and shall be available for payments under informational media guaranties; and (2) the Director may require the payment of a minimum charge of up to fifty dollars for issuance of guaranty contracts, or amendments thereto.

(f)The Director is further authorized, under such terms as he may prescribe, to make advance payments under informational media guaranties: Provided, That currencies receivable from holders of such guaranties on account of such advance payments shall be paid to the United States within nine months from the date of the advance payment and that appropriate security to assure such payments is required before any advance payment is made.

(g)As soon as feasible after July 18, 1956, all assets, liabilities, income, expenses, and charges of whatever kind pertaining to informational media guaranties, including any charges against the authority to issue notes provided in section 1509(c)(2) 1 of this title, cumulative from April 3, 1948, shall be accounted for separately from other guaranties issued pursuant to section 1933(b) 1 of this title: Provided, That there shall be transferred from the special account established pursuant to subsection (b), into the account available for payments under guaranties other than the informational media guaranties, an amount equal to the total of the fees received for the issuance of guaranties other than informational media guaranties, and used to make payments under informational media guaranties.

(h)(1)There is authorized to be appropriated annually an amount to restore in whole or in part any realized impairment to the capital used in carrying on the authority to make informational media guaranties, as provided in subsection (c), through the end of the last completed fiscal year.

(2)Such impairment shall consist of the amount by which the losses incurred and interest accrued on notes exceed the revenue earned and any previous appropriations made for the restoration of impairment. Losses shall include the dollar losses on foreign currencies sold, and the dollar cost of foreign currencies which (a) the Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Director, has determined to be unavailable for, or in excess of, requirements of the United States, or (b) have been transferred to other accounts without reimbursement to the special account.

(3)Dollars appropriated pursuant to this section shall be applied to the payment of interest and in satisfaction of notes issued or assumed hereunder, and to the extent of such application to the principal of the notes, the Director is authorized to issue notes to the Secretary of the Treasury which will bear interest at a rate to be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into consideration the current average market yields of outstanding marketable obligations of the United States having maturities comparable to the guaranties. The currencies determined to be unavailable for, or in excess of, requirements of the United States as provided above shall be transferred to the Secretary of the Treasury to be held until disposed of, and any dollar proceeds realized from such disposition shall be deposited in miscellaneous receipts.

(4)section 1476(a) of this title 1 shall not apply with respect to any amounts appropriated under this section for the purpose of liquidating the notes (and any accrued interest thereon) which were assumed in the operation of the informational media guaranty program under this section and which were outstanding on August 24, 1982.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 1933 of this title, referred to in subsecs. (a), (c), (e), and (g), was repealed by Pub. L. 87–195, pt. III, § 642(a)(2), Sept. 4, 1961, 75 Stat. 460. See section 2351 of this title. section 1509 of this title, referred to in subsecs. (b) and (g), was repealed by act Aug. 26, 1954, ch. 937, title V, § 542(a)(4), (6), (9), (10), (11), 68 Stat. 861. See section 1754 et seq. of this title. section 1476(a) of this title, referred to in subsec. (h)(4), was repealed by Pub. L. 105–277, div. G, subdiv. A, title XIII, § 1336(1), Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681–790.

Amendments

1982—Subsec. (h)(4). Pub. L. 97–241, § 304(f), added par. (4). 1959—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 86–108 provided that the purpose of making informational media guaranties shall be the achievement of the foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the objective mentioned in former section 1933(b)(4)(A) and 1933(b)(4)(G) of this title, now covered by section 2351 of this title. 1958—Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 85–477 added subsec. (h). 1956—Subsec. (a). Act Aug. 26, 1954, § 544(g), as added by act

July 18, 1956, designated as subsec. (a) the entire former section and amended it to eliminate provisions which permitted the Director to make guaranties against funds made available by notes issued pursuant to section 1509(c)(2) of this title and which limited the amount of such guaranties in any fiscal year to not more than $10,000,000. Such provisions were covered by subsecs. (b) to (g) of this section. Subsecs. (b) to (g). Act Aug. 26, 1954, § 544(g), as added by act

July 18, 1956, added subsecs (b) to (g).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Repeals

section 544(a), (g) of act Aug. 26, 1954, cited as a credit to this section, was repealed by section 11(b)(1) of Pub. L. 85–141, except in so far as section 544(a), (g) affected this section.

Transfer of Functions

United States Information Agency (other than Broadcasting Board of Governors and International Broadcasting Bureau) abolished and functions transferred to Secretary of State, see section 6531 and 6532 of this title.

§1442 Informational Media Guaranties