[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1409 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1409

 To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for 
orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 17, 2005

Ms. Lee (for herself, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Leach, and Ms. McCollum 
of Minnesota) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                  Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for 
orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Assistance for Orphans and Other 
Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) As of July 2004, there were more than 143,000,000 
        children living in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and 
        the Caribbean who were identified as orphans, having lost one 
        or both of their parents. Of this number, approximately 
        16,200,000 children were identified as double orphans, having 
        lost both parents--the vast majority of whom died of AIDS. 
        These children often are disadvantaged in numerous and 
        devastating ways and most households with orphans cannot meet 
        the basic needs of health care, food, clothing, and educational 
        expenses.
            (2) It is estimated that 121,000,000 children worldwide do 
        not attend school and that the majority of such children are 
        young girls. According to the United Nations Children's Fund 
        (UNICEF), orphans are less likely to be in school and more 
        likely to be working full time.
            (3) School food programs, including take-home rations, in 
        developing countries provide strong incentives for children to 
        remain in school and continue their education. School food 
        programs can reduce short-term hunger, improve cognitive 
        functions, and enhance learning, behavior, and achievement.
            (4) Financial barriers, such as school fees and other costs 
        of education, prevent many orphans and other vulnerable 
        children in developing countries from attending school. 
        Providing children with free primary school education, while 
        simultaneously ensuring that adequate resources exist for 
        teacher training and infrastructure, would help more orphans 
        and other vulnerable children obtain a quality education.
            (5) The trauma that results from the loss of a parent can 
        trigger behavior problems of aggression or emotional withdrawal 
        and negatively affect a child's performance in school and the 
        child's social relations. Children living in families affected 
        by HIV/AIDS or who have been orphaned by AIDS often face 
        stigmatization and discrimination. Providing culturally 
        appropriate psychosocial support to such children can assist 
        them in successfully accepting and adjusting to their 
        circumstances.
            (6) Orphans and other vulnerable children in developing 
        countries routinely are denied their inheritance or encounter 
        difficulties in claiming the land and other property which they 
        have inherited. Even when the inheritance rights of women and 
        children are spelled out in law, such rights are difficult to 
        claim and are seldom enforced. In many countries it is 
        difficult or impossible for a widow, even if she has young 
        children, to claim property after the death of her husband.
            (7) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has had a devastating affect on 
        children and is deepening poverty in entire communities and 
        jeopardizing the health, safety, and survival of all children 
        in affected areas.
            (8) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has increased the number of 
        orphans worldwide and has exacerbated the poor living 
        conditions of the world's poorest and most vulnerable children. 
        AIDS has created an unprecedented orphan crisis, especially in 
        sub-Saharan Africa, where children have been hardest hit. An 
        estimated 14,000,000 orphans have lost 1 or both parents to 
        AIDS. By 2010, it is estimated that over 25,000,000 children 
        will have been orphaned by AIDS.
            (9) Approximately 2,500,000 children under the age of 15 
        worldwide have HIV/AIDS. Every day another 2,000 children under 
        the age of 15 are infected with HIV. Without treatment, most 
        children born with HIV can expect to die by age two, but with 
        sustained drug treatment through childhood, the chances of 
        long-term survival and a productive adulthood improve 
        dramatically.
            (10) Few international development programs specifically 
        target the treatment of children with HIV/AIDS in developing 
        countries. Reasons for this include the perceived low priority 
        of pediatric treatment, a lack of pediatric health care 
        professionals, lack of expertise and experience in pediatric 
        drug dosing and monitoring, the perceived complexity of 
        pediatric treatment, and mistaken beliefs regarding the risks 
        and benefits of pediatric treatment.
            (11) Although a number of organizations seek to meet the 
        needs of orphans or other vulnerable children, extended 
        families and local communities continue to be the primary 
        providers of support for such children.
            (12) The HIV/AIDS pandemic is placing huge burdens on 
        communities and is leaving many orphans with little support. 
        Alternatives to traditional orphanages, such as community-based 
        resource centers, continue to evolve in response to the massive 
        number of orphans that has resulted from the pandemic.
            (13) The AIDS orphans crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has 
        implications for political stability, human welfare, and 
        development that extend far beyond the region, affecting 
        governments and people worldwide, and this crisis requires an 
        accelerated response from the international community.
            (14) Although section 403(b) of the United States 
        Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 
        2003 (22 U.S.C. 7673(b)) establishes the requirement that not 
        less than 10 percent of amounts appropriated for HIV/AIDS 
        assistance for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2008 shall be 
        expended for assistance for orphans and other vulnerable 
        children affected by HIV/AIDS, there is an urgent need to 
        provide assistance to such children prior to 2006.
            (15) Numerous United States and indigenous private 
        voluntary organizations, including faith-based organizations, 
        provide assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children in 
        developing countries. Many of these organizations have 
        submitted applications for grants to the Administrator of the 
        United States Agency for International Development to provide 
        increased levels of assistance for orphans and other vulnerable 
        children in developing countries.
            (16) Increasing the amount of assistance that is provided 
        by the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
        International Development through United States and indigenous 
        private voluntary organizations, including faith-based 
        organizations, will provide greater protection for orphans and 
        other vulnerable children in developing countries.
            (17) It is essential that the United States Government 
        adopt a comprehensive approach for the provision of assistance 
        to orphans and other vulnerable children in developing 
        countries. A comprehensive approach would ensure that important 
        services, such as basic care, psychosocial support, school food 
        programs, increased educational opportunities and employment 
        training and related services, the protection and promotion of 
        inheritance rights for such children, and the treatment of 
        orphans and other vulnerable children with HIV/AIDS, are made 
        more accessible.
            (18) Assistance for orphans and other vulnerable children 
        can best be provided by a comprehensive approach of the United 
        States Government that--
                    (A) ensures that Federal agencies and the private 
                sector coordinate efforts to prevent and eliminate 
                duplication of efforts and waste in the provision of 
                such assistance; and
                    (B) to the maximum extent possible, focuses on 
                community-based programs that allow orphans and other 
                vulnerable children to remain connected to the 
                traditions and rituals of their families and 
                communities.

SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN 
              DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.

    Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 
section:

``SEC. 135. ASSISTANCE FOR ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNERABLE CHILDREN.

    ``(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            ``(1) There are more than 143,000,000 orphans living sub-
        Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Of this 
        number, approximately 16,200,000 children have lost both 
        parents.
            ``(2) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has created an unprecedented 
        orphan crisis, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where children 
        have been hardest hit. The pandemic is deepening poverty in 
        entire communities, and is jeopardizing the health, safety, and 
        survival of all children in affected countries. It is estimated 
        that 14,000,000 children have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
            ``(3) The orphans crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has 
        implications for human welfare, development, and political 
        stability that extend far beyond the region, affecting 
        governments and people worldwide.
            ``(4) Extended families and local communities are 
        struggling to meet the basic needs of orphans and vulnerable 
        children by providing food, health care including treatment of 
        children living with HIV/AIDS, education expenses, and 
        clothing.
            ``(5) Famines, natural disasters, chronic poverty, ongoing 
        conflicts, and civil wars in developing countries are adversely 
        affecting children in these countries, the vast majority of 
        whom currently do not receive humanitarian assistance or other 
        support from the United States.
            ``(6) The United States Government administers various 
        assistance programs for orphans and other vulnerable children 
        in developing countries. In order to improve targeting and 
        programming of resources, the United States Agency for 
        International Development should develop methods to adequately 
        track the overall number of orphans and other vulnerable 
        children receiving assistance, the kinds of programs for such 
        children by sector and location, and any other such related 
        data and analysis.
            ``(7) The United States Agency for International 
        Development should improve its capabilities to deliver 
        assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children in 
        developing countries through partnerships with private 
        volunteer organizations, including community and faith-based 
        organizations.
            ``(8) The United States Agency for International 
        Development should be the primary United States Government 
        agency responsible for identifying and assisting orphans and 
        other vulnerable children in developing countries.
            ``(9) Providing assistance to such children is an important 
        expression of the humanitarian concern and tradition of the 
        people of the United States.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Aids.--The term `AIDS' has the meaning given the term 
        in section 104A(g)(1) of this Act.
            ``(2) Children.--The term `children' means persons who have 
        not attained 18 years of age.
            ``(3) Hiv/aids.--The term `HIV/AIDS' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 104A(g)(3) of this Act.
            ``(4) Orphan.--The term `orphan' means a child deprived by 
        death of one or both parents.
            ``(5) Psychosocial support.--The term `psychosocial 
        support' includes care that addresses the ongoing psychological 
        and social problems that affect individuals, their partners, 
        families, and caregivers in order to alleviate suffering, 
        strengthen social ties and integration, provide emotional 
        support, and promote coping strategies.
    ``(c) Assistance.--The President is authorized to provide 
assistance, including providing such assistance through international 
or nongovernmental organizations, for programs in developing countries 
to provide basic care and services for orphans and other vulnerable 
children. Such programs should provide assistance--
            ``(1) to support families and communities to mobilize their 
        own resources through the establishment of community-based 
        organizations to provide basic care for orphans and other 
        vulnerable children;
            ``(2) for school food programs, including the purchase of 
        local or regional foodstuffs where appropriate;
            ``(3) to increase primary school enrollment through the 
        elimination of school fees, where appropriate, or other 
        barriers to education while ensuring that adequate resources 
        exist for teacher training and infrastructure;
            ``(4) to provide employment training and related services 
        for orphans and other vulnerable children who are of legal 
        working age;
            ``(5) to protect and promote the inheritance rights of 
        orphans, other vulnerable children, and widows;
            ``(6) to provide culturally appropriate psychosocial 
        support to orphans and other vulnerable children; and
            ``(7) to treat orphans and other vulnerable children with 
        HIV/AIDS through the provision of pharmaceuticals, the 
        recruitment and training of individuals to provide pediatric 
        treatment, and the purchase of pediatric-specific technologies.
    ``(d) Monitoring and Evaluation.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--To maximize the sustainable 
        development impact of assistance authorized under this section, 
        and pursuant to the strategy required in section 4 of the 
        Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in 
        Developing Countries Act of 2005, the President shall establish 
        a monitoring and evaluation system to measure the effectiveness 
        of United States assistance to orphans and other vulnerable 
        children.
            ``(2) Requirements.--The monitoring and evaluation system 
        shall--
                    ``(A) establish performance goals for the 
                assistance and expresses such goals in an objective and 
                quantifiable form, to the extent feasible;
                    ``(B) establish performance indicators to be used 
                in measuring or assessing the achievement of the 
                performance goals described in subparagraph (A); and
                    ``(C) provide a basis for recommendations for 
                adjustments to the assistance to enhance the impact of 
                assistance.
    ``(e) Special Advisor for Assistance to Vulnerable Populations.--
            ``(1) Appointment.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary of State, in 
                consultation with the Administrator of the United 
                States Agency for International Development, shall 
                appoint a Special Advisor for Assistance to Vulnerable 
                Populations.
                    ``(B) Delegation.--At the discretion of the 
                Secretary of State, the authority to appoint a Special 
                Advisor under subparagraph (A) may be delegated by the 
                Secretary of State to the Administrator of the United 
                States Agency for International Development.
            ``(2) Duties.--The duties of the Special Advisor for 
        Assistance to Vulnerable Populations shall include the 
        following:
                    ``(A) Coordinate assistance to orphans and other 
                vulnerable children among the various offices, bureaus, 
                and field missions within the United States Agency for 
                International Development.
                    ``(B) Advise the various offices, bureaus, and 
                field missions within the United States Agency for 
                International Development to ensure that programs 
                approved for assistance under this section are 
                consistent with best practices, meet the requirements 
                of this Act, and conform to the strategy outlined in 
                section 4 of the Assistance for Orphans and Other 
                Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 
                2005.
                    ``(C) Advise the various offices, bureaus, and 
                field missions within the United States Agency for 
                International Development in developing any component 
                of their annual plan, as it relates to assistance for 
                orphans or other vulnerable children in developing 
                countries, to ensure that each program, project, or 
                activity relating to such assistance is consistent with 
                best practices, meets the requirements of this Act, and 
                conforms to the strategy outlined in section 4 of the 
                Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in 
                Developing Countries Act of 2005.
                    ``(D) Coordinate all United States assistance to 
                orphans and other vulnerable children among United 
                States departments and agencies, including the 
                provision of assistance relating to HIV/AIDS authorized 
                under the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, 
                Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-
                25), and the amendments made by such Act (including 
                section 102 of such Act, and the amendments made by 
                such section, relating to the coordination of HIV/AIDS 
                programs).
                    ``(E) Establish priorities that promote the 
                delivery of assistance to the most vulnerable 
                populations of orphans and children, particularly in 
                those countries with a high rate of HIV infection among 
                women.
                    ``(F) Disseminate a collection of best practices to 
                field missions of the United States Agency for 
                International Development to guide the development and 
                implementation of programs to assist orphans and 
                vulnerable children.
                    ``(G) Administer the monitoring and evaluation 
                system established in subsection (d).
                    ``(H) Prepare the annual report required by section 
                5 of the Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable 
                Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005.
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
        to the President to carry out this section such sums as may be 
        necessary for each of the fiscal years 2005 and 2006.
            ``(2) Availability of funds.--Amounts made available under 
        paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available until expended 
        and are in addition to amounts otherwise available for such 
        purposes.
            ``(3) Relationship to other laws.--Amounts made available 
        for assistance pursuant to this subsection, and amounts made 
        available for such assistance pursuant to any other provision 
        of law, may be used to provide such assistance notwithstanding 
        any other provision of law.''.

SEC. 4. STRATEGY OF THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) Requirement for Strategy.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the President shall develop, and 
transmit to the appropriate congressional committees, a strategy for 
coordinating, implementing, and monitoring assistance programs for 
orphans and vulnerable children.
    (b) Consultation.--The strategy described in subsection (a) should 
be developed in consultation with the Special Advisor for Assistance to 
Vulnerable Populations (appointed pursuant to section 135(e)(1) of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (as added by section 3 of this Act)) and 
with employees of the field missions of the United States Agency for 
International Development to ensure that the strategy--
            (1) will not impede the efficiency of implementing 
        assistance programs for orphans and vulnerable children; and
            (2) addresses the specific needs of indigenous populations.
    (c) Content.--The strategy required by subsection (a) shall 
include--
            (1) the identity of each agency or department of the 
        Federal Government that is providing assistance for orphans and 
        vulnerable children in foreign countries;
            (2) a description of the efforts of the head of each such 
        agency or department to coordinate the provision of such 
        assistance with other agencies or departments of the Federal 
        Government or nongovernmental entities;
            (3) a description of a coordinated strategy, including 
        coordination with other bilateral and multilateral donors, to 
        provide the assistance authorized in section 135 of the Foreign 
        Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 3 of this Act;
            (4) an analysis of additional coordination mechanisms or 
        procedures that could be implemented to carry out the purposes 
        of such section;
            (5) a description of a monitoring system that establishes 
        performance goals for the provision of such assistance and 
        expresses such goals in an objective and quantifiable form, to 
        the extent feasible; and
            (6) a description of performance indicators to be used in 
        measuring or assessing the achievement of the performance goals 
        described in paragraph (5).

SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT.

    (a) Report.--Not later than one year after the date on which the 
President transmits to the appropriate congressional committees the 
strategy required by section 4(a), and annually thereafter, the 
President shall transmit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
report on the implementation of this Act.
    (b) Contents.--The report shall contain the following information 
for each grant, cooperative agreement, contract, contribution, or other 
form of assistance awarded or entered into under this section:
            (1) The amount of funding, the name of the recipient 
        organization, the location the program or activity, the status 
        of progress of the program or activity, and the number of 
        orphans and other vulnerable children who received direct or 
        indirect assistance under the program or activity.
            (2) The results of the monitoring and evaluation system 
        with respect to the grant, cooperative agreement, contract, 
        contribution, or other form of assistance.
            (3) The percentage of assistance provided in support of 
        orphans or other vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS.
            (4) Any other appropriate information relating to the needs 
        of orphans and other vulnerable children in developing 
        countries that could be addressed through the provision of 
        assistance authorized in section 135 of the Foreign Assistance 
        Act of 1961, as added by section 3 of this Act, or under any 
        other provision of law.

SEC. 6. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED.

    In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
means the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations and the 
Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives.
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