.., . ' / ' ,. I. t]. . / " I ~ I: ') MURIEL BOWSER MAYOR

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1 .., / '. ' t].. / " I ~ I...,. I I: ') ") MURIEL BOWSER MAYOR The Honorable Phil Mendelson Chairman Council of the District of Columbia 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Suite 504 Washington, DC Dear Chairman Mendelson: On behalf of the citizens of the District of Columbia (the District"), 1 hereby request that you introduce, and that the Council of the District of Columbia (the 'Council'') vote to approve, the enclosed draft resolution titled, "Center for Strategic and International Studies, Inc. Revenue Bonds Project Emergency Approval Resolution of 20 17" (the " Resolution'} The Resolution authorizes the issuance, sale, and delivery of tax-exempt revenue bonds, notes or other obligations in aggregate principal amount not to exceed $53,000, These bonds will be used for the advance refunding of bonds used in the financing, refinancing, or reimbursing of costs incun-ed by Center for Strategic and International Studies, Inc., to finance an approximately 130,000 square foot office building and associated land, located at 1616 Rhode Island A venue, N.W., Washington, DC in Ward 2. The Center for Strategic and International Studies c CSIS") seeks to advance global security and prosperity in an era of economic and political transf01mation by providing strategic insights and practical policy solutions to decision makers. CSIS serves as a strategic planning partner for the government by conducting research and analysis and developing policy initiatives that look into the future and anticipate change. Founded in 1962 by David Abshire and Admiral Arleigh Burke, CSIS is a bipartisan, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. with more than 190 full time staff and a large network of affiliated experts. Former U.S. Senator Sam N unn became chairman of the CSIS Board of Trustees in 1999, and John Hamre has led CSIS as its president and chief executive officer since April CSIS experts conduct research and analysis and develop policy initiatives that are organized around more than 25 programs grouped under three themes.

2 The proposed project is comprised of the advance refunding of the Series 2011 bonds used to finance an approximately130,000 square foot office building and associated land, funding cost of issuance, issuer's fee and a debt service reserve. The building serves as CSIS Headquarters and the property is owned by the CSIS. In accordance with Section 490 of the Home Rule Act, we have determined that the bonds, when, as, and if issued, shall be without recourse to the District. The bonds shall not be general obligations of the District; shall not be a pledge of or involve the full faith and credit or the taxing power of the District; shall not constitute a debt of the District; and shall not constitute a lending of public credit for private undertakings as prohibited in section 602(a) (2) of the Home Rule Act. The bonds shall not give rise to any pecuniary liability of the District and the District shall have no obligation with respect to the purchase of the bonds. I find that the proposed financing will assist in furthering the efforts of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Inc., in providing education, association, trade, commerce, and employment opportunities to the citizens of the District of Columbia. I urge the Council to take prompt and favorable action on the measure. Sincerely,

3 A PROPOSED RESOLUTION ~~ at the request of the Mayor IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to authorizing and providing for the issuance, 20 sale, and delivery in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $53 million of District of 21 Columbia revenue bonds in one or more series, and to authorize and provide for the loan 22 of the proceeds of such bonds to assist the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 23 Inc. in the financing, refinancing, or reimbursing of costs associated with an authorized 24 project pursuant to section 490 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, that this 27 resolution may be cited as the "Center for Strategic and International Studies, Inc. Revenue Bonds 28 Project Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2017". 29 Sec. 2. The Council finds that: 30 (1) The Center for Strategic and International Studies, Inc. (the "Borrower"), is a nonprofit 31 corporation organized and existing under the laws of the state of Delaware which seeks to have 32 District of Columbia revenue bonds issued and receive a loan of the proceeds from the sale thereof 33 for the financing, refinancing or reimbursing of all or a portion of the Borrower's costs of: 34 (A) Refunding the District of Columbia Revenue Bonds (Center for Strategic and 35 International Studies, Inc. Issue) Series 2011, originally issued in the aggregate principal amount

4 of $44,815,000, pursuant to provisions of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Inc. 2 Revised Revenue Bonds Project Approval Resolution of 2011, (Resolution No , adopted 3 by the Council on May 3, 2011 ); 4 (B) Funding any credit enhancement costs, liquidity costs or debt service reserve 5 fund relating to the Bonds; and 6 (~)Paying cost of issuance and other related costs to the extent permissible relating 7 to the Bonds. 8 (2) The planned financing will make available funds critically needed to finance, 9 refinance, or reimburse the Borrower for costs of the Project. 10 (3) H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, released by the House Ways and Means 11 Committee on November 2, 2017, proposes to eliminate the exemption of interest from federal 12 income taxes for qualified private activity bonds described in Section 141(e) of the Internal 13 Revenue Code, of 1986, as amended, including qualified 50l(c)(3) bonds such as the District of 14 Columbia revenue bonds. The effective date of the elimination of the exemption under the 15 proposed legislation is currently December 31, To ensure that the Borrower is able to 16 benefit from District of Columbia revenue bonds, the issuance date of the bonds needs to occur as 17 soon as possible. 18 (4) Council approval of the bond resolution authorizing the issuance of up to $53 19 million of District of Columbia revenue bonds would permit the revenue bonds to be issued 20 promptly to provide maximum savings for the Borrower and enable the project described in this 21 section 2 to be completed. 22 Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances 23 enumerated in section 2 hereof constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the

5 "Center for Strategic and International Studies, Inc. Revenue Bonds Project Emergency Approval 2 Resolution of 2017" be adopted after a single reading. 3 Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.