[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 624 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 624

 To provide 100,000,000 people with first-time access to safe drinking 
 water and sanitation on a sustainable basis by 2015 by improving the 
capacity of the United States Government to fully implement the Senator 
               Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 17, 2009

 Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Corker, and Mrs. Murray) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                           Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide 100,000,000 people with first-time access to safe drinking 
 water and sanitation on a sustainable basis by 2015 by improving the 
capacity of the United States Government to fully implement the Senator 
               Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005.

    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 ``Senator Paul Simon Water for the 
World Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 
        (Public Law 109-121)--
                    (A) makes access to safe water and sanitation for 
                developing countries a specific policy objective of 
                United States foreign assistance programs;
                    (B) requires the Secretary of State to--
                            (i) develop a strategy to elevate the role 
                        of water and sanitation policy; and
                            (ii) improve the effectiveness of United 
                        States assistance programs undertaken in 
                        support of that strategy;
                    (C) codifies Target 10 of the United Nations 
                Millennium Development Goals; and
                    (D) seeks to reduce by half between 1990 (the 
                baseline year) and 2015--
                            (i) the proportion of people who are unable 
                        to reach or afford safe drinking water; and
                            (ii) the proportion of people without 
                        access to basic sanitation.
            (2) On December 20, 2006, the United Nations General 
        Assembly, in GA Resolution 61/192, declared 2008 as the 
        International Year of Sanitation, in recognition of the impact 
        of sanitation on public health, poverty reduction, economic and 
        social development, and the environment.
            (3) On August 1, 2008, Congress passed H. Con. Res. 318, 
        which--
                    (A) supports the goals and ideals of the 
                International Year of Sanitation; and
                    (B) recognizes the importance of sanitation on 
                public health, poverty reduction, economic and social 
                development, and the environment.
            (4) While progress is being made on safe water and 
        sanitation efforts--
                    (A) more than 884,000,000 people throughout the 
                world lack access to safe drinking water; and
                    (B) 2 of every 5 people in the world do not have 
                access to basic sanitation services.
            (5) The health consequences of unsafe drinking water and 
        poor sanitation are significant, accounting for--
                    (A) nearly 10 percent of the global burden of 
                disease; and
                    (B) more than 2,000,000 deaths each year.
            (6) The effects of climate change are expected to produce 
        severe consequences for water availability and resource 
        management in the future, with 2,800,000,000 people in more 
        than 48 countries expected to face severe and chronic water 
        shortages by 2025.
            (7) According to the November 2008 report entitled, 
        ``Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World'', the National 
        Intelligence Council expects rapid urbanization and future 
        population growth to exacerbate already limited access to 
        water, particularly in agriculture-based economies.
            (8) A 2009 report published in the Proceedings of the 
        National Academy of Sciences projects that the effects of 
        climate change will produce long-term droughts and raise sea 
        levels for the next 1,000 years, regardless of future efforts 
        to combat climate change.
            (9) According to the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 
        commissioned by the United Nations, more than \1/5\ of the 
        world population relies on freshwater that is either polluted 
        or excessively withdrawn.
            (10) The impact of water scarcity on conflict and 
        instability is evident in many parts of the world, including 
        the Darfur region of Sudan, where demand for water resources 
        has contributed to armed conflict between nomadic ethnic groups 
        and local farming communities.
            (11) In order to further the United States contribution to 
        safe water and sanitation efforts, it is necessary to--
                    (A) expand foreign assistance capacity to address 
                the challenges described in this section; and
                    (B) represent issues related to water and 
                sanitation at the highest levels of United States 
                foreign assistance and diplomatic deliberations, 
                including those related to issues of global health, 
                food security, the environment, global warming, and 
                maternal and child mortality.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that the United States should lead a 
global effort to bring sustainable access to clean water and sanitation 
to poor people throughout the world.

SEC. 4. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is--
            (1) to provide first-time access to safe water and 
        sanitation, on a sustainable basis, for 100,000,000 people in 
        high priority countries (as designated under section 6(f) of 
        the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (22 
        U.S.C. 2152h note) by 2015; and
            (2) to enhance the capacity of the United States Government 
        to fully implement the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor 
        Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-121).

SEC. 5. DEVELOPING UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT CAPACITY.

    Section 135 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2152h) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Office of Water.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--To carry out the purposes of 
        subsection (a), the Administrator of the United States Agency 
        for International Development shall establish the Office of 
        Water within the Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and 
        Trade.
            ``(2) Leadership.--The Office of Water shall be headed by a 
        Director for Safe Water and Sanitation, who shall report 
        directly to the Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for 
        Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade.
            ``(3) Duties.--The Director shall--
                    ``(A) implement this section and the Senator Paul 
                Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-
                121);
                    ``(B) develop and implement country-specific water 
                strategies and expertise, in collaboration with 
                appropriate United States Agency for International 
                Development Mission Directors, to meet the goal of 
                providing 100,000,000 additional people with 
                sustainable access to safe water and sanitation by 
                2015; and
                    ``(C) place primary emphasis on providing safe, 
                affordable, and sustainable drinking water, sanitation, 
                and hygiene in a manner that--
                            ``(i) is consistent with sound water 
                        resource management principles; and
                            ``(ii) utilizes such approaches as direct 
                        service provision, capacity building, 
                        institutional strengthening, regulatory reform, 
                        and partnership collaboration.
            ``(4) Capacity.--The Director may utilize interagency 
        details or partnerships with universities, civil society, and 
        the private sector, as needed, to strengthen implementation 
        capacity.
    ``(f) Special Coordinator for International Water.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--To increase the capacity of the 
        Department of State to address international issues regarding 
        safe water, sanitation, integrated river basin management, and 
        other international water programs, the Secretary of State 
        shall establish a Special Coordinator for International Water 
        (referred to in this subsection as the `Special Coordinator'), 
        who shall report to the Under Secretary for Democracy and 
        Global Affairs.
            ``(2) Duties.--The Special Coordinator shall--
                    ``(A) oversee and coordinate the diplomatic policy 
                of the United States Government with respect to global 
                freshwater issues, including interagency coordination 
                related to--
                            ``(i) sustainable access to safe drinking 
                        water, sanitation, and hygiene;
                            ``(ii) integrated river basin and watershed 
                        management;
                            ``(iii) transboundary conflict;
                            ``(iv) agricultural and urban productivity 
                        of water resources;
                            ``(v) disaster recovery, response, and 
                        rebuilding,
                            ``(vi) pollution mitigation; and
                            ``(vii) adaptation to hydrologic change due 
                        to climate variability; and
                    ``(B) ensure that international freshwater issues 
                are represented--
                            ``(i) within the United States Government; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) in key diplomatic, development, and 
                        scientific efforts with other nations and 
                        multilateral organizations.
            ``(3) Staff.--The Special Coordinator is authorized to hire 
        a limited number of staff to carry out the duties described in 
        paragraph (2).''.

SEC. 6. SAFE WATER, SANITATION, AND HYGIENE STRATEGY.

    Section 6 of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 
(22 U.S.C. 2152h note) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the following: 
        ``In developing the program activities needed to implement the 
        strategy, the Secretary shall consider the results of the 
        assessment described in subsection (e)(9).''; and
            (2) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in paragraph (5), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (6), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting a semicolon; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) an assessment of all United States Government foreign 
        assistance allocated to the drinking water and sanitation 
        sector during the 3 previous fiscal years, across all United 
        States Government agencies and programs, including an 
        assessment of the extent to which the United States 
        Government's efforts are reaching the goal of providing first-
        time access to safe water and sanitation on a sustainable basis 
        for 100,000,000 people in high priority countries;
            ``(8) recommendations on what the United States Government 
        would need to do to achieve the goals referred to in paragraph 
        (7), in support of the United Nation's Millennium Development 
        Goal on access to safe drinking water; and
            ``(9) an assessment of best practices for mobilizing and 
        leveraging the financial and technical capacity of business, 
        governments, nongovernmental organizations, and civil society 
        in forming public-private partnerships that measurably increase 
        access to safe drinking water and sanitation.''.

SEC. 7. DEVELOPING LOCAL CAPACITY.

    The Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (Public Law 
109-121) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating sections 9, 10, and 11 as sections 10, 
        11, and 12, respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after section 8 the following:

``SEC. 9. WATER AND SANITATION INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY-BUILDING PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Establishment.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of State and the 
        Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
        Development (referred to in this section as the `Secretary' and 
        the `Administrator', respectively), in consultation with host 
        country institutions, the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention, the Department of Agriculture, and other agencies, 
        as appropriate, shall establish, in every high priority 
        country, a program to build the capacity of host country 
        institutions and officials responsible for water and sanitation 
        in countries that receive assistance under section 135 of the 
        Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, including training at 
        appropriate levels, to--
                    ``(A) provide affordable, equitable, and 
                sustainable access to safe drinking water and 
                sanitation;
                    ``(B) educate the populations of such countries 
                about the dangers of unsafe drinking water and lack of 
                proper sanitation; and
                    ``(C) encourage behavior change to reduce 
                individuals' risk of disease from unsafe drinking water 
                and lack of proper sanitation and hygiene.
            ``(2) Coordination.--The programs established under 
        subsection (a) shall be coordinated in each country by the lead 
        country water manager designated in subsection (b)(2).
            ``(3) Expansion.--The Secretary and the Administrator may 
        establish the program described in this section in additional 
        countries if the receipt of such capacity building would be 
        beneficial for promoting access to safe drinking water and 
        sanitation, with due consideration given to good governance.
            ``(4) Capacity.--The Secretary and the Administrator--
                    ``(A) shall designate staff with appropriate 
                expertise to carry out the strategy developed under 
                section 4; and
                    ``(B) may utilize, as needed, interagency details 
                or partnerships with universities, civil society, and 
                the private sector to strengthen implementation 
                capacity.
    ``(b) Designation.--The United States Agency for International 
Development Mission Director for each country receiving a `high 
priority' designation under section 6(f) and for each region containing 
a country receiving such designation shall--
            ``(1) designate safe drinking water and sanitation as a 
        strategic objective;
            ``(2) appoint an employee of the United States Agency for 
        International Development as in-country water and sanitation 
        manager to coordinate the in-country implementation of this Act 
        and section 135 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
        U.S.C. 2152h) with host country officials at various levels of 
        government responsible for water and sanitation, the Department 
        of State, and other relevant United States Government agencies; 
        and
            ``(3) coordinate with the Development Credit Authority and 
        the Global Development Alliance to further the purposes of this 
        Act.''.

SEC. 8. OTHER ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.

    Section 135(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act (22 U.S.C. 2152h(c)) 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end; 
        and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) foster global cooperation on research and technology 
        development, including regional partnerships among water 
        experts to address safe drinking water, sanitation, water 
        resource management, and other water-related issues;
            ``(6) establish regional and cross-border cooperative 
        activities between scientists and specialists that work to 
        share technologies and best practices, mitigate shared water 
        challenges, foster international cooperation, and defuse cross-
        border tensions;
            ``(7) provide grants through the United States Agency for 
        International Development to foster the development, 
        dissemination, and increased and consistent use of low cost and 
        sustainable technologies, such as household water treatment, 
        hand washing stations, and latrines, for providing safe 
        drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene that are suitable for 
        use in high priority countries, particularly in places with 
        limited resources and infrastructure;
            ``(8) in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control 
        and Prevention, Department of Agriculture, the Environmental 
        Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration, and other agencies, as appropriate, conduct 
        formative and operational research and monitor and evaluate the 
        effectiveness of programs that provide safe drinking water and 
        sanitation; and
            ``(9) integrate efforts to promote safe drinking water, 
        sanitation and hygiene with existing foreign assistance 
        programs, as appropriate, including activities focused on HIV/
        AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, maternal and child health, food 
        security, and nutritional support.''.

SEC. 9. UPDATED REPORT REGARDING WATER FOR PEACE AND SECURITY.

    Section 11(b) of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 
2005, as redesignated by section 7, is amended by adding at the end the 
following: ``The report submitted under this subsection shall include 
an assessment of current and likely future political tensions over 
water sources and multidisciplinary assessment of the expected impacts 
of global climate change on water supplies in 10, 25, and 50 years.''.

SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 
year 2009 and for each subsequent fiscal year such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act, 
pursuant to the criteria set forth in the Senator Paul Simon Water for 
the Poor Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-121).
    (b) Use of Funds.--
            (1) General water resource management activities.--Up to 20 
        percent of the amounts appropriated to implement this Act may 
        be used to support general water resource management activities 
        that improve countries' overall water sources.
            (2) Other activities.--Any amounts appropriated to 
        implement this Act that are not used to carry out the 
        activities described in paragraph (1) shall be allocated for 
        activities related to safe drinking water, sanitation, and 
        hygiene.
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