Overseas Private Investment Corporation Act
Latest action. Referred to Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
Overseas Private Investment Corporation Act - Title I: Overseas Private Investment Corporation - Establishes the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) as an independent agency. Sets forth the duties of OPIC. Provides for the capital of OPIC to be paid in through the appropriation process and through transfer from OPIC's earned income. Sets forth the structure of OPIC with a Board of Directors, a President of the Corporation, an Executive Vice President of the Corporation, other officers and staff, and consultants. Authorizes OPIC to issue insurance to eligible investors covering new or existing investments protecting against specified risks. Authorizes OPIC to make arrangements with foreign governments or multilateral organizations for sharing liabilities. Limits the insurance that may be issued to a single investor. Authorizes OPIC to issue guarantees of loans and other investments. Sets forth limitations on such guarantees. Authorizes OPIC to make direct loans to privately owned or mixed publicly and privately owned firms for projects sponsored by or significantly involving United States small business or cooperatives. Limits the circumstances under which OPIC may acquire stock in any other corporation. Authorizes OPIC to initiate and support the identification, assessment, and promotion of private investment opportunities, with specified exceptions. Authorizes OPIC to administer special projects to provide private technical, professional, or managerial assistance in the development of human resources, skills, technology, capital savings, and intermediate financial institutions and cooperatives. Authorizes OPIC to engage in other insurance, reinsurance, and risk sharing activities with other insurance companies, financial institutions, persons, or groups. Limits the amount of reinsurance of liabilities which OPIC may issue. Limits the amount of maximum contingent liability pursuant to insurance or guarantees issued under this Act which may be outstanding at any one time. Establishes the: (1) Direct Investment Fund as a revolving fund to be available for direct investments; and (2) Insurance Reserve and Guaranty Reserve to be available for discharging liabilities. Authorizes appropriations to the investment and guaranty fund in specified circumstances. Authorizes OPIC to issue obligations in specified circumstances in order to discharge liabilities. Requires that all revenues and income transferred to or earned by OPIC be available to carry out OPIC's purposes. Directs OPIC to determine that suitable arrangements exist for protecting OPIC's interests in connection with any insurance, guaranty, or reinsurance issued under this Act. Pledges the full faith and credit of the United States for the full payment and performance of previous obligations. Sets forth conditions with respect to insurance, guaranty, and reinsurance coverage under this Act concerning fees, time limits, fraud, and settlement of disputes. Sets forth administrative provisions and duties applicable to OPIC. Requires OPIC to undertake to broaden the participation of United States small business, cooperatives, and other small investors in the development of small private enterprise in less developed friendly countries or areas. Directs OPIC to report annually to Congress concerning its operations. Title II: Amendment of Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to define "eligible investor" in terms of this Act with respect to housing guarantees. Repeals provisions: (1) prohibiting the transfer of OPIC funds between accounts; (2) authorizing the President to deny assistance to any less developed country which fails to enter into an agreement to institute the investment guaranty program; and (3) establishing OPIC.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on December 20, 1979. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on December 20, 1979: Referred to Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
JACOB JAVITS (R-NY) introduced it on December 20, 1979, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 2 Democrats, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on December 20, 1979, 17066 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17066 days ago, on December 20, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers