United States-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act of 2016

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

United States-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act of 2016

(Sec. 2) This bill declares that it is U.S. policy to increase engagement with the governments of the Caribbean region, including the private sector, and with civil society in both the United States and the Caribbean.

(Sec. 3) The Department of State shall submit to Congress a multi-year strategy for U.S. engagement to support the efforts of interested nations in the Caribbean region that:

• identifies State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) priorities for U.S. policy towards the Caribbean region;
• outlines an approach to partner with Caribbean governments to improve citizen security, reduce illicit drug trafficking, strengthen the rule of law, and improve the effectiveness and longevity of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI);
• encourages efforts of the region to implement regional and national strategies that improve Caribbean energy security by increasing access to all available sources of energy, including by taking advantage of the indigenous energy sources of the Caribbean and the ongoing energy revolution in the United States;
• improves diplomatic engagement with Caribbean governments;
• describes how the United States can develop an approach to supporting Caribbean countries in efforts they are willing to undertake with their own resources to diversify their economies; and
• describes ways to ensure the active participation of citizens of the Caribbean in existing program and initiatives administered by the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

(Sec. 4) The State Department shall offer to annually brief the appropriate congressional committees on efforts to implement such strategy.

(Sec. 5) The President shall report within two years on progress made in implementing such strategy.

(Sec. 6) The Foreign Service Act of 1980 is amended to eliminate from the State Department's Foreign Service workplace report descriptions of steps taken in furtherance of compatibility and the development of uniform procedures and consolidated personnel functions.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov