1.This Act may be cited as
the Increasing America's Global
Development Capacity Act of 2009
.
2.Congress finds that—
(1)foreign
development assistance is an important foreign policy tool in addition to
diplomacy and defense;
(2)development
assistance is part of any comprehensive United States response to regional
conflicts, terrorist threats, weapons proliferation, disease pandemics, and
persistent widespread poverty;
(3)in 2002 and 2006,
the United States National Security Strategy included global development, along
with defense and diplomacy, as the 3 pillars of national security;
(4)in its early
years, the United States Agency for International Development (referred to in
this Act as USAID
) had more than 5,000 full-time Foreign Service
Officers;
(5)in 2008, USAID
had slightly more than 1,000 full-time Foreign Service Officers;
(6)the budget at
USAID, calculated in real dollars, has dropped 27 percent since 1985;
and
(7)this decline in
personnel and operating budgets has diminished the capacity of USAID to provide
development assistance and implement foreign assistance programs.
3.Hiring of
additional Foreign Service Officers as USAID employees
(a)Except as provided
under subsection (c), not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Administrator of USAID (referred to in this section as the
Administrator
) shall increase by not less than 700 the total
number of full-time Foreign Service Officers employed by USAID compared to the
number of such officers employed by USAID on September 30, 2008. These officers
shall be used to enhance the ability of USAID to—
(1)carry out
development activities around the world by providing USAID with additional
human resources and expertise needed to meet important development and
humanitarian needs around the world;
(2)strengthen the
institutional capacity of USAID as the lead development agency of the United
States; and
(3)more effectively
help developing nations to become more stable, healthy, democratic, prosperous,
and self-sufficient.
(b)
(1)Except as provided
under subsection (c), during the 2-year period beginning 1 year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall increase by not less than
1,300 the total number of full-time Foreign Service Officers over the number of
such officers at the beginning of such 2-year period to carry out the
activities described in subsection (a), contingent upon sufficient
appropriations.
(2)Not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Administrator shall submit a strategy to Congress that includes—
(A)a plan to create
a professional training program that will provide new and current USAID
employees with technical, management, leadership, and language skills;
(B)a staffing plan
for the subsequent 5 years; and
(C)a description of
further resources and statutory changes necessary to implement the proposed
training and staffing plans.
(c)If
the Administrator determines that USAID has competing needs that are more
urgent than the hirings described in subsection (a) or (b), or finds a shortage
of qualified individuals for such hirings, the Administrator may reduce the
number of such hirings and use the available funds for competing needs if the
Administrator submits a report describing such competing needs and, if
applicable, the nature of the shortage, to—
(1)the
Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate;
(2)the
Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate;
(3)the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives; and
(4)the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives.