H.R. 6181 — Introduced in House

I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 6181 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 2, 2023Mr. Castro of Texas (for himself and Mr. Issa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To authorize the Secretary of State to support the establishment of an ASEAN Center in the United States, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the U.S.-ASEAN Center Act. 2. Establishment of an ASEAN Center (a) Defined term In this section, the term ASEAN means the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. (b) Establishment The Secretary of State is authorized to enter into a public-private partnership for the purposes of establishing a US-ASEAN Center in the United States to support United States economic and cultural engagement with Southeast Asia. (c) Functions Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Secretary of State and the US-ASEAN Center established pursuant to subsection (b) may— (1) provide grants for research to support and elevate the importance of the US-ASEAN partnership; (2) facilitate activities to strengthen US-ASEAN trade and investment; (3) expand economic and technological relationships between ASEAN countries and the United States into new areas of cooperation; (4) provide training to United States citizens and citizens of ASEAN countries that improve people-to-people ties; (5) develop educational programs to increase awareness for the United States and ASEAN countries on the importance of relations between the United States and ASEAN countries; and (6) carry out other activities the Secretary considers necessary to strengthen ties between the United States and ASEAN countries and achieve the objectives of the US-ASEAN Center. (d) Authority This section may be carried out using any amounts authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of State, including amounts authorized to carry out chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.). (e) Parameters In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall ensure that the activities of the US-ASEAN Center do not duplicate current lines of effort being conducted by the United States Government or its grantees.