[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 24 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.Con.Res.24
                                     Agreed to September 8, 2017        

                     One Hundred Fifteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
          the third day of January, two thousand and seventeen


                          Concurrent Resolution

    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),
    That in the enrollment of the bill H.R. 601, the Clerk of the House 
of Representatives shall make the following corrections:
        (1) Amend the long title so as to read: ``Making continuing 
    appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2018, and 
    for other purposes''.
        (2) Insert before the first section 1 immediately following the 
    enacting clause the following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 
and Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 
2017''.

SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. References.

   DIVISION A--REINFORCING EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY IN DEVELOPMENT ACT

DIVISION B--SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR DISASTER RELIEF REQUIREMENTS 
                                ACT, 2017

          DIVISION C--TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF PUBLIC DEBT RELIEF

             DIVISION D--CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2018

SEC. 3. REFERENCES.

    Except as expressly provided otherwise, any reference to ``this 
Act'' contained in any division of this Act shall be treated as 
referring only to the provisions of that division.

  DIVISION A--REINFORCING EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY IN DEVELOPMENT ACT

    
        (3) In section 3, strike subparagraph (B) of section 105(c)(4) 
    of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by such section 3, 
    and all that follows through the end of such section 3, and insert 
    the following:
            ``(B) such assistance can produce a substantial, measurable 
        impact on children and educational systems; and
            ``(C) there is the greatest opportunity to reduce childhood 
        and adolescence exposure to or engagement in violent extremism 
        or extremist ideologies.''.
        (4) Insert after section 3 the following:

SEC. 4. COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRATED UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO PROMOTE 
              BASIC EDUCATION.

    (a) Strategy Required.--Not later than one year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a comprehensive United States 
strategy to be carried out during the following five fiscal years to 
promote quality basic education in partner countries by--
        (1) seeking to equitably expand access to basic education for 
    all children, particularly marginalized children and vulnerable 
    groups; and
        (2) measurably improving the quality of basic education and 
    learning outcomes.
    (b) Requirement To Consult.--In developing the strategy required 
under subsection (a), the President shall consult with--
        (1) the appropriate congressional committees;
        (2) relevant Executive branch agencies and officials;
        (3) partner country governments; and
        (4) local and international nongovernmental organizations, 
    including faith-based organizations and organizations representing 
    students, teachers, and parents, and other development partners 
    engaged in basic education assistance programs in developing 
    countries.
    (c) Public Comment.--The President shall provide an opportunity for 
public comment on the strategy required under subsection (a).
    (d) Elements.--The strategy required under subsection (a)--
        (1) shall be developed and implemented consistent with the 
    principles set forth in section 105(c) of the Foreign Assistance 
    Act of 1961, as added by section 3; and
        (2) shall seek--
            (A) to prioritize assistance provided under this subsection 
        to countries that are partners of the United States and whose 
        populations are most in need of improved basic education, as 
        determined by indicators such as literacy and numeracy rates;
            (B) to build the capacity of relevant actors in partner 
        countries, including in government and in civil society, to 
        develop and implement national education plans that measurably 
        improve basic education;
            (C) to identify and replicate successful interventions that 
        improve access to and quality of basic education in conflict 
        settings and in partner countries;
            (D) to project general levels of resources needed to 
        achieve stated program objectives;
            (E) to develop means to track implementation in partner 
        countries and ensure that such countries are expending 
        appropriate domestic resources and instituting any relevant 
        legal, regulatory, or institutional reforms needed to achieve 
        stated program objectives;
            (F) to leverage United States capabilities, including 
        through technical assistance, training, and research; and
            (G) to improve coordination and reduce duplication among 
        relevant Executive branch agencies and officials, other donors, 
        multilateral institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and 
        governments in partner countries.

SEC. 5. IMPROVING COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT.

    (a) Senior Coordinator of United States International Basic 
Education Assistance.--There is established within the United States 
Agency for International Development a Senior Coordinator of United 
States International Basic Education Assistance (referred to in this 
section as the ``Senior Coordinator''). The Senior Coordinator shall be 
appointed by the President, shall be a current USAID employee serving 
in a career or noncareer position in the Senior Executive Service or at 
the level of a Deputy Assistant Administrator or higher, and shall 
serve concurrently as the Senior Coordinator.
    (b) Duties.--
        (1) In general.--The Senior Coordinator shall have primary 
    responsibility for the oversight and coordination of all resources 
    and activities of the United States Government relating to the 
    promotion of international basic education programs and activities.
        (2) Specific duties.--The Senior Coordinator shall--
            (A) facilitate program and policy coordination of 
        international basic education programs and activities among 
        relevant Executive branch agencies and officials, partner 
        governments, multilateral institutions, the private sector, and 
        nongovernmental and civil society organizations;
            (B) develop and revise the strategy required under section 
        4;
            (C) monitor, evaluate, and report on activities undertaken 
        pursuant to the strategy required under section 4; and
            (D) establish due diligence criteria for all recipients of 
        funds provided by the United States to carry out activities 
        under this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
    (c) Offset.--In order to eliminate duplication of effort and 
activities and to offset any costs incurred by the United States Agency 
for International Development in appointing the Senior Coordinator 
under subsection (a), the President shall, after consulting with 
appropriate congressional committees, eliminate a position within the 
United States Agency for International Development (unless otherwise 
authorized or required by law) that the President determines to be 
necessary to fully offset such costs and eliminate duplication.

SEC. 6. MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS.

    The President shall seek to ensure that programs carried out under 
the strategy required under section 4 shall--
        (1) apply rigorous monitoring and evaluation methodologies to 
    determine if programs and activities provided under this subsection 
    accomplish measurable improvements in literacy, numeracy, or other 
    basic skills development that prepare an individual to be an 
    active, productive member of society and the workforce;
        (2) include methodological guidance in the implementation plan 
    and support systemic data collection using internationally 
    comparable indicators, norms, and methodologies, to the extent 
    practicable and appropriate;
        (3) disaggregate all data collected and reported by age, 
    gender, marital status, disability, and location, to the extent 
    practicable and appropriate;
        (4) include funding for both short- and long-term monitoring 
    and evaluation to enable assessment of the sustainability and 
    scalability of assistance programs; and
        (5) support the increased use and public availability of 
    education data for improved decision making, program effectiveness, 
    and monitoring of global progress.

SEC. 7. TRANSPARENCY AND REPORTING TO CONGRESS.

    (a) Annual Report on the Implementation of Strategy.--Not later 
than 180 days after the end of each fiscal year during which the 
strategy developed pursuant to section 4(a) is carried out, the 
President shall--
        (1) submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees 
    that describes the implementation of such strategy; and
        (2) make the report described in paragraph (1) available to the 
    public.
    (b) Matters To Be Included.--The report required under subsection 
(a) shall include--
        (1) a description of the efforts made by relevant Executive 
    branch agencies and officials to implement the strategy developed 
    pursuant to section 4, with a particular focus on the activities 
    carried out under the strategy;
        (2) a description of the extent to which each partner country 
    selected to receive assistance for basic education meets the 
    priority criteria specified in section 105(c) of the Foreign 
    Assistance Act, as added by section 3; and
        (3) a description of the progress achieved over the reporting 
    period toward meeting the goals, objectives, benchmarks, and 
    timeframes specified in the strategy developed pursuant to section 
    4 at the program level, as developed pursuant to monitoring and 
    evaluation specified in section 6, with particular emphasis on 
    whether there are demonstrable student improvements in literacy, 
    numeracy, or other basic skills development that prepare an 
    individual to be an active, productive member of society and the 
    workforce.
        (5) In division B, under the heading ``disaster relief fund'', 
    strike the first ``Provided further'' and insert ``Provided''.
        (6) In section 101(c)(1) of division C, strike ``under section 
    101(a)'' and insert ``under section 101(b)(1)''.
        (7) Strike the final section 4 and all that follows through the 
    end.
Attest:

                                               Secretary of the Senate.
Attest:

                                 Clerk of the House of Representatives.