[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2184 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2184

   To direct the President to establish guidelines for United States 
  foreign development and economic assistance programs, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 20, 2015

 Mr. Rubio (for himself and Mr. Cardin) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To direct the President to establish guidelines for United States 
  foreign development and economic assistance programs, 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 ``Foreign Aid Transparency and 
Accountability Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
                Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
                    (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 
                of Representatives; and
                    (D) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives.
            (2) Evaluation.--The term ``evaluation'' means, with 
        respect to a United States foreign development and economic 
        assistance program, the systematic collection and analysis of 
        information about the characteristics and outcomes of the 
        program, including projects conducted under such program, as a 
        basis for--
                    (A) making judgments and evaluations regarding the 
                program;
                    (B) improving program effectiveness; and
                    (C) informing decisions about current and future 
                programming.
            (3) United states foreign development and economic 
        assistance.--The term ``United States foreign development and 
        economic assistance'' means assistance provided primarily for 
        the purposes of foreign development and economic support, 
        including assistance authorized under--
                    (A) part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
                (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), except for--
                            (i) title IV of chapter 2 of such part 
                        (relating to the Overseas Private Investment 
                        Corporation);
                            (ii) chapter 3 of such part (relating to 
                        International Organizations and Programs); and
                            (iii) chapter 8 of such part (relating to 
                        International Narcotics Control);
                    (B) chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance 
                Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.; relating to 
                Economic Support Fund);
                    (C) the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 
                7701 et seq.); and
                    (D) the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1721 et seq.).

SEC. 3. GUIDELINES FOR UNITED STATES FOREIGN DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC 
              ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

    (a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are--
            (1) to evaluate the performance of United States foreign 
        development and economic assistance and its contribution to the 
        policies, strategies, projects, program goals, and priorities 
        undertaken by the Federal Government;
            (2) to foster and promote innovative programs to improve 
        effectiveness; and
            (3) to coordinate the monitoring and evaluation processes 
        of Federal departments and agencies that administer United 
        States foreign development and economic assistance.
    (b) Establishment of Guidelines.--Not later than 18 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall set forth 
guidelines, according to best practices of monitoring and evaluation 
studies and analyses, for the establishment of measurable goals, 
performance metrics, and monitoring and evaluation plans that can be 
applied with reasonable consistency to United States foreign 
development and economic assistance.
    (c) Objectives of Guidelines.--
            (1) In general.--The guidelines established pursuant to 
        subsection (b) shall provide direction to Federal departments 
        and agencies that administer United States foreign development 
        and economic assistance on--
                    (A) monitoring the use of resources;
                    (B) evaluating the outcomes and impacts of United 
                States foreign development and economic assistance 
                projects and programs; and
                    (C) applying the findings and conclusions of such 
                evaluations to proposed project and program design.
            (2) Objectives.--The guidelines established pursuant to 
        subsection (b) shall require Federal departments and agencies 
        that administer United States foreign development and economic 
        assistance--
                    (A) to establish annual monitoring and evaluation 
                agendas and objectives to plan and manage the process 
                of monitoring, evaluating, analyzing progress, and 
                applying learning toward achieving results;
                    (B) to develop specific project monitoring and 
                evaluation plans, including measurable goals and 
                performance metrics, and to identify the resources 
                necessary to conduct such evaluations, which should be 
                covered by program costs, during project design;
                    (C) to apply rigorous monitoring and evaluation 
                methodologies to such programs, including through the 
                use of impact evaluations, ex-post evaluations, or 
                other methods as appropriate, that clearly define 
                program logic, inputs, outputs, intermediate outcomes, 
                and end outcomes;
                    (D) to disseminate guidelines for the development 
                and implementation of monitoring and evaluation 
                programs to all personnel, especially in the field, who 
                are responsible for the design, implementation, and 
                management of United States foreign development and 
                economic assistance programs;
                    (E) to establish methodologies for the collection 
                of data, including baseline data to serve as a 
                reference point against which progress can be measured;
                    (F) to evaluate, at least once in their lifetime, 
                all programs whose dollar value equals or exceeds the 
                median program size for the relevant office or bureau 
                or an equivalent calculation to ensure the majority of 
                program resources are evaluated;
                    (G) to conduct impact evaluations on all pilot 
                programs before replicating wherever possible, or 
                provide a written justification for not conducting an 
                impact evaluation where such an evaluation was deemed 
                inappropriate or impossible;
                    (H) to develop a clearinghouse capacity for the 
                collection and dissemination of knowledge and lessons 
                learned that serve as benchmarks to guide future 
                programs for United States development professionals, 
                implementing partners, the donor community, and aid 
                recipient governments, and as a repository of knowledge 
                on lessons learned;
                    (I) to internally distribute evaluation reports;
                    (J) to develop a summary of each evaluation, 
                including a description of the evaluation methodology 
                and key findings and recommendations made in the 
                evaluation within 90 days after the completion of the 
                evaluation;
                    (K) to undertake collaborative partnerships and 
                coordinate efforts with the academic community, 
                implementing partners, and national and international 
                institutions that have expertise in program monitoring, 
                evaluation, and analysis when such partnerships provide 
                needed expertise or significantly improve the 
                evaluation and analysis;
                    (L) to ensure verifiable, valid, credible, precise, 
                reliable, and timely data are available to monitoring 
                and evaluation personnel to permit the objective 
                evaluation of the effectiveness of United States 
                foreign development and economic assistance programs, 
                including an assessment of assumptions and limitations 
                in such evaluations; and
                    (M) to ensure that standards of professional 
                evaluation organizations for monitoring and evaluation 
                efforts are employed, including ensuring the integrity 
                and independence of evaluations, permitting and 
                encouraging the exercise of professional judgment, and 
                providing for quality control and assurance in the 
                monitoring and evaluation process.
    (d) President's Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit a report to the 
appropriate congressional committees that contains a detailed 
description of the guidelines established pursuant to subsection (b). 
The report shall be submitted in unclassified form, but it may contain 
a classified annex.
    (e) Comptroller General's Report.--Not later than 1 year after the 
date on which the report required under subsection (d) is submitted to 
Congress, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit a 
report to the appropriate congressional committees that--
            (1) analyzes the guidelines established pursuant to 
        subsection (b); and
            (2) provides a side-by-side comparison of--
                    (A) the President's budget request for that fiscal 
                year of every operational unit that carries out United 
                States foreign development and economic assistance; and
                    (B) the performance of such units during the most 
                recently completed fiscal year.

SEC. 4. INFORMATION ON UNITED STATES FOREIGN DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC 
              ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

    (a) Publication of Information.--
            (1) Update of existing website.--Not later than 90 days 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
        State shall update the Department of State's website, 
        ``ForeignAssistance.gov'', to make publicly available 
        comprehensive, timely, and comparable information on United 
        States foreign development and economic assistance programs, 
        including all information required under subsection (b) that is 
        available to the Secretary of State.
            (2) Information sharing.--Not later than 2 years after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter, 
        the head of each Federal department or agency that administers 
        United States foreign development and economic assistance shall 
        provide the Secretary of State with comprehensive information 
        about the United States foreign development and economic 
        assistance programs carried out by such department or agency.
            (3) Updates to website.--Not later than 2 years after the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter, 
        the Secretary of State shall publish, on the 
        ``ForeignAssistance.gov'' website or through a successor online 
        publication, the information provided under subsection (b).
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--
            (1) In general.--The information described in subsection 
        (a)--
                    (A) shall be published on a detailed award-by-award 
                and country-by-country basis; or
                    (B) if assistance is provided on a regional level, 
                shall be published on an award-by-award and region-by-
                region basis.
            (2) Types of information.--
                    (A) In general.--To ensure the transparency, 
                accountability, and effectiveness of United States 
                foreign development and economic assistance programs, 
                the information described in subsection (a) shall 
                include--
                            (i) all regional, country, and sector 
                        assistance strategies, annual budget documents, 
                        congressional budget justifications, 
                        obligations, expenditures, evaluations and 
                        summaries of evaluations in accordance with 
                        section 3(c)(2)(J); and
                            (ii) basic descriptive summaries for United 
                        States foreign development and economic 
                        assistance programs and awards under such 
                        programs.
                    (B) Publication.--Each type of information 
                described in subparagraph (A) shall be published or 
                updated on the appropriate website not later than 90 
                days after the date on which the information is issued.
                    (C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this 
                paragraph may be construed to require a Federal 
                department or agency that administers United States 
                foreign development and economic assistance to provide 
                any information that does not relate to, or is not 
                otherwise required by, the United States foreign 
                development and economic assistance programs carried 
                out by such department or agency.
            (3) Report in lieu of inclusion.--
                    (A) Health or security of implementing partners.--
                If the head of a Federal department or agency makes a 
                determination that the inclusion of a required item of 
                information online would jeopardize the health or 
                security of an implementing partner or program 
                beneficiary or would require the release of proprietary 
                information of an implementing partner or program 
                beneficiary, the head of the Federal department or 
                agency shall provide such determination in writing to 
                the appropriate congressional committees, including the 
                basis for such determination and shall--
                            (i) provide a briefing to the appropriate 
                        congressional committees on such information; 
                        or
                            (ii) submit such information to the 
                        appropriate congressional committees in a 
                        written report.
                    (B) National interests of the united states.--If 
                the Secretary of State makes a determination that the 
                inclusion of a required item of information online 
                would be detrimental to the national interests of the 
                United States, the Secretary of State shall--
                            (i) provide such determination, including 
                        the basis for such determination, in writing to 
                        the appropriate congressional committees; and
                            (ii)(I) provide a briefing on such 
                        information to the appropriate congressional 
                        committees; or
                            (II) submit the item of information in a 
                        written report to the appropriate congressional 
                        committees.
                    (C) Form.--Any briefing or item of information 
                provided under this paragraph may be provided in 
                classified form, as appropriate.
            (4) Failure to comply.--If a Federal department or agency 
        fails to comply with the requirements under paragraph (1) or 
        (2), subsection (a), or subsection (c), with respect to 
        providing information described in subsection (a), and the 
        information is not subject to a determination under 
        subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (3) not to make the 
        information publicly available, the Director of the Office of 
        Management and Budget, in consultation with the head of such 
        department or agency, not later than September 1, 2016, shall 
        submit a consolidated report to the appropriate congressional 
        committees that includes, with respect to each required item of 
        information not made publicly available--
                    (A) a detailed explanation of the failure of not 
                making such information publicly available; and
                    (B) a description of the department's or agency's 
                plan and timeline for--
                            (i) immediately making such information 
                        publicly available; and
                            (ii) ensuring that such failures do not 
                        take place in subsequent years.
    (c) Scope of Information.--The online publication required under 
subsection (a) shall, at a minimum--
            (1) in each of the fiscal years 2016 through 2019, provide 
        the information required under subsection (b) for fiscal years 
        2012 through the current fiscal year; and
            (2) for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter, 
        provide the information required under subsection (b) for the 
        immediately preceding 5 fiscal years in a fully searchable 
        form.
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