H.R. 8625

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8625 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8625

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize assistance for 
certain development activities in high-income countries, and for other 
purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 30, 2026

Mr. Moylan (for himself and Ms. Tokuda) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize assistance for 
certain development activities in high-income countries, and for other 
purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``United States Trade and Development 
Agency Modernization Act of 2026'' or the ``USTDA Modernization Act of 
2026''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that the United States Trade and 
Development Agency plays a critical role in advancing United States 
commercial, energy, digital, and infrastructure interests in priority 
emerging markets by supporting early-stage project preparation and 
technical assistance and should be authorized to allocate some of its 
annual program funds for activities in high-income countries that 
directly affect United States economic and national security.

SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF COUNTRY ELIGIBILITY.

Section 661(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2421(b)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) as 
paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) Assistance in high-income countries.--Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, the Director of the Trade and 
Development Agency is authorized to provide not more than 15 
percent of the total amount of funds appropriated in a fiscal 
year for assistance under this section for--
``(A) activities described in paragraph (2) in 
high-income countries; or
``(B) projects in high-income countries that serve 
United States strategic interests in the energy, 
critical minerals, transport, or telecommunications 
sectors.''.

SEC. 4. PERSONNEL AUTHORITIES.

Section 661(c) of such Act (22 U.S.C. 2421(c)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ``2'' and inserting 
``5'' before ``may be appointed''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Personal services contractors.--
``(A) The Trade and Development Agency may contract 
with individuals for personal services, and such 
individuals may not be considered Federal employees for 
the purpose of any provision of law administered by the 
Director of the Office of Personnel Management.
``(B) The Director shall submit to Congress an 
annual report describing the number of individuals 
contracted for personal services by the Trade and 
Development Agency, the roles of such contractors, and 
the costs associated with such contracts.''.
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