§ 2421. Trade and Development Agency
(a)
Purpose
The Trade and Development Agency shall be an agency of the United States under the foreign policy guidance of the Secretary of State. The purpose of the Trade and Development Agency is to promote United States private sector participation in development projects in developing and middle-income countries, with special emphasis on economic sectors with significant United States export potential, such as energy, transportation, telecommunications, and environment.
(b)
Authority to provide assistance
(1)
Authority
The Director of the Trade and Development Agency is authorized to work with foreign countries, including those in which the United States development programs have been concluded or those not receiving assistance under subchapter I of this chapter, to carry out the purpose of this section by providing funds for feasibility studies, architectural and engineering design, and other activities related to development projects which provide opportunities for the use of United States exports.
(2)
Use of funds
Funds under this section may be used to provide support for feasibility studies for the planning, development, and management of, and procurement for, bilateral and multilateral development projects, including training activities undertaken in connection with a project, for the purpose of promoting the use of United States goods and services in such projects. Funds under this section may also be used for architectural and engineering design, including—
(3)
Information dissemination
(4)
Nonapplicability of other provisions
Any funds used for purposes of this section may be used notwithstanding any other provision of law.
(c)
Director and personnel
(1)
Director
There shall be at the head of the Trade and Development Agency a Director who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(2)
Officers and employees
(A)
The Director may appoint such officers and employees of the Trade and Development Agency as the Director considers appropriate.
(B)
The officers and employees appointed under this paragraph shall have such functions as the Director may determine.
(C)
Of the officers and employees appointed under this paragraph, 2 may be appointed without regard to the provisions of title 5, governing appointments in the competitive service, and may be compensated without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 or subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title.
(D)
Under such regulations as the President may prescribe, any individual appointed under subparagraph (C) may be entitled, upon removal (except for cause) from the position to which the appointment was made, to reinstatement to the position occupied by that individual at the time of appointment or to a position of comparable grade and pay.
(d)
Annual report
The President shall, not later than December 31 of each year, submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on the activities of the Trade and Development Agency in the preceding fiscal year.
(e)
Audits
(2)
Independent audit
An independent certified public accountant shall perform a financial and compliance audit of the financial statements of the Trade and Development Agency each year, in accordance with generally accepted Government auditing standards for a financial and compliance audit, taking into consideration any standards recommended by the Comptroller General. The independent certified public accountant shall report the results of such audit to the Director of the Trade and Development Agency. The financial statements of the Trade and Development Agency shall be presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. These financial statements and the report of the accountant shall be included in a report which contains, to the extent applicable, the information identified in section
3512 of title
31, and which the Trade and Development Agency shall submit to the Congress not later than 61/2 months after the end of the last fiscal year covered by the audit. The Comptroller General may review the audit conducted by the accountant and the report to the Congress in the manner and at such times as the Comptroller General considers necessary.
(3)
Audit by Comptroller General
In lieu of the financial and compliance audit required by paragraph (2), the Comptroller General shall, if the Comptroller General considers it necessary or upon the request of the Congress, audit the financial statements of the Trade and Development Agency in the manner provided in paragraph (2).
(4)
Availability of information
All books, accounts, financial records, reports, files, workpapers, and property belonging to or in use by the Trade and Development Agency and the accountant who conducts the audit under paragraph (2), which are necessary for purposes of this subsection, shall be made available to the representatives of the Government Accountability Office designated by the Comptroller General.
(f)
Funding
(1)
Authorization
(2)
Funding for technical assistance grants by multilateral development banks
(A)
The Trade and Development Agency should, in carrying out its program, provide, as appropriate, funds to multilateral development banks for technical assistance grants.
(B)
As used in subparagraph (A)—