The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“UNITED STATES-MEXICO ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S250-S251 on Jan. 15, 2020.
The State Department is responsibly for international relations with a budget of more than $50 billion. Tenure at the State Dept. is increasingly tenuous and it's seen as an extension of the President's will, ambitions and flaws.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
UNITED STATES-MEXICO ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP ACT
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 336, H.R. 133.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 133) to promote economic partnership and cooperation between the United States and Mexico.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign Relations, with an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States and Mexico have benefitted from a bilateral, mutually beneficial partnership focused on advancing the economic interests of both countries.
(2) In 2013, Mexico adopted major energy reforms that opened its energy sector to private investment, increasing energy cooperation between Mexico and the United States and opening new opportunities for United States energy engagement.
(3) On January 18, 2018, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs at the Department of State stated, ``Our exchange programs build enduring relationships and networks to advance U.S. national interests and foreign policy goals . . . The role of our exchanges . . . in advancing U.S. national security and economic interests enjoys broad bipartisan support from Congress and other stakeholders, and provides a strong return on investment.''.
(4) According to the Institute of International Education, in the 2015-2016 academic year, more than 56,000 United States students studied in other countries in the Western Hemisphere region while more than 84,000 non-United States students from the region studied in the United States, but only 5,000 of those United States students studied in Mexico and only 16,000 of those non-United States students were from Mexico.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to continue deepening economic cooperation between the United States and Mexico;
(2) to seek to prioritize and expand educational and professional exchange programs with Mexico, including through frameworks such as the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Initiative, the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative, Jovenes en Accion (Youth in Action), the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, and the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program; and
(3) to promote positive cross-border relations as a priority for advancing United States foreign policy and programs.
SEC. 4. STRATEGY TO PRIORITIZE AND EXPAND EDUCATIONAL AND
PROFESSIONAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMS WITH MEXICO.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of State shall develop a strategy to carry out the policy described in section 3, to include prioritizing and expanding educational and professional exchange programs with Mexico through frameworks such as those referred to in section 3(2).
(b) Elements.--The strategy required under subsection (a) shall--
(1) encourage more academic exchanges between the United States and Mexico at the secondary, post-secondary, and post-graduate levels;
(2) encourage United States and Mexican academic institutions and businesses to collaborate to assist prospective and developing entrepreneurs in strengthening their business skills and promoting cooperation and joint business initiatives across the United States and Mexico;
(3) promote energy infrastructure coordination and cooperation through support of vocational-level education, internships, and exchanges between the United States and Mexico; and
(4) assess the feasibility of fostering partnerships between universities in the United States and medical school and nursing programs in Mexico to ensure that medical school and nursing programs in Mexico have comparable accreditation standards as medical school and nursing programs in the United States by the Accreditation and Standards in Foreign Medical Education, in addition to the Accreditation Commission For Education in Nursing, so that medical students can pass medical licensing board exams, and nursing students can pass nursing licensing exams, in the United States.
(c) Briefing.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall brief the appropriate congressional committees regarding the strategy required under subsection (a).
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives.
SEC. 6. SUNSET PROVISION.
This Act shall remain in effect until December 31, 2023.
Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported amendment, in the nature of a substitute, was agreed to.
The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a third time.
The bill was read the third time.
The bill (H.R. 133), as amended, was passed.
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