1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 3 (1) commends the courage and resourcefulness demonstrated by the people of Bangladesh in response to the 1988 floods; (2) commends the President for the generous provision by the United States of emergency assistance for Bangladesh; (3) commends United States private and voluntary organizations, international organizations, foreign governments, and others for their compassionate response to this natural disaster; (4) expresses its support for the people of Bangladesh at this most critical time; (5) declares its willingness to work with the President to provide generous levels of emergency humanitarian assistance to the people of Bangladesh; (6) declares its willingness to work with the Government of Bangladesh and with private and voluntary organizations to ensure that emergency assistance quickly reaches those most in need; and (7) declares its willingness to work with the international community to seek the means to prevent a recurrence of such natural disasters. 23 SEC. 4. EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE FOR BANGLADESH. 24 (a) USE OF FOOD FOR DEVELOPMENT LOCAL CUR 25 RENCIES FOR DISASTER ASSISTANCE.-(1) Section 301 of 4 1 the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 2 1954 is amended by adding at the end the following: 3 "(c) In the event of a serious natural disaster in a coun4 try participating in a Food for Development Program, funds 5 accruing from the sale of commodities made available under 6 this title may be used, with the approval of the United States 7 Government, for disaster relief, rehabilitation, and recon8 struction assistance in any rural or urban area of that country 9 adversely affected by the disaster. Such assistance may in10 clude (but is not limited to) food, medicine and medical sup11 plies, shelter, and in-country transportation.". 12 (2) Food for Development agreements entered into 13 under title III of that Act before the date of enactment of this 14 Act may be amended in order to implement the amendment 15 made by paragraph (1). 16 (3) Pending amendment pursuant to paragraph (2) of 17 Food for Development agreements with the Government of 18 Bangladesh, the use of funds accruing under those agree19 ments, with the approval of the United States Government, 20 for flood-related disaster assistance authorized by the amend21 ment made by paragraph (1) shall be deemed to be consistent 22 with the applicable agreement. 23 (b) ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR DISASTER ASSISTANCE 24 FOR BANGLADESH.-It is the sense of the Congress that, in 25 order to provide additional resources for disaster assistance 5 1 for the victims of the 1988 floods in Bangladesh, not less 2 than $100,000,000 of the local currencies generated under 3 Food for Development agreements with the Government of 4 Bangladesh should be used for the disaster relief, rehabilita5 tion, and reconstruction assistance purposes authorized by 6 the amendment made by subsection (a)(1). 7 (c) REGULAR ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS TO BE MAIN8 TAINED.-Disaster assistance provided for Bangladesh by 9 the United States because of the 1988 floods should be in 10 addition to the regularly programmed assistance for that 11 country for fiscal year 1989 under chapter 1 of part I of the 12 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating to development as13 sistance) and titles I, II, and III of the Agriculture Trade 14 Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (relating to food 15 assistance); and the level of such regularly programmed as16 sistance should not be reduced because of such disaster as17 sistance. 18 (d) EXTENSION OF PERIOD FOR USE OF FOOD FOR 19 DEVELOPMENT LOCAL CURRENCIES.-It is the sense of the 20 Congress that the period, during which funds accruing under 21 Food for Development agreements with the Government of 22 Bangladesh must be used, should be extended from Septem23 ber 30, 1989, to at least September 30, 1990. 6 1 SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.-Not later than 6 months after the 3 date of enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to 4 the Congress a report on efforts by the international commu5 nity and the governments of the region to develop regional 6 programs for the Ganges basin and the Brahmaputra basin 7 that are designed— 8 9 10 11 12 (1) to ensure an equipable and predictable supply of water in the dry season; and (2) to promote better flood control mechanisms to mitigate in the mid-term, and prevent in the long-term, floods as severe as the 1988 floods in Bangladesh. (b) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.-The report required by 14 subsection (a) 13 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 (1) shall describe what efforts have been made by international organizations and other international institutions, by bilateral and multilateral assistance donors, and by countries in the region, to achieve the objectives set forth in subsection (a); (2) shall describe the feasibility studies, planning studies, or actual projects that are in preparation or have been completed to achieve those objectives; (3) shall analyze the potential costs, the technology obstacles (such as those presented by the earthquakes to which the region is prone), and the political problems that stand in the way of effective flood con 7 1 2 3 4 trol in the Ganges basin and the Brahmaputra basin; and (4) shall describe the environmental causes of the flood, particularly deforestation and soil erosion. 5 SEC. 6. OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT. 6 It is the sense of the Congress that the Office of Tech7 nology Assessment 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 (1) should cooperate in the effort described in section 5; and (2) in particular, should provide to the Depart ment of State and the Congress (A) a synopsis of all current studies and re ports (i) on flood control in the Ganges basin and the Brahmaputra basin, or (ii) on state-of-the-art technology available for the construction and maintenance of flood control projects, and (B) any cost benefit analysis of efforts to improve water availability in the dry season and to mitigate or prevent severe flooding. |