    [House Hearing, 114 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                      GLOBAL HEALTH INNOVATION ACT OF 2015;
                         AGOA ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2015;
                     FIRST RESPONDERS PASSPORT ACT OF 2015;
                          AND FOREIGN AID TRANSPARENCY AND
                             ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2015

    =======================================================================

                                     MARKUP

                                   BEFORE THE

                          COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                        ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                       ON

                 H.R. 2241, H.R. 2845, H.R. 3750 and H.R. 3766

                                   __________

                                NOVEMBER 5, 2015

                                   __________

                               Serial No. 114-112

                                   __________

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                          COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

                     EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman
    CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey     ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York
    ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida         BRAD SHERMAN, California
    DANA ROHRABACHER, California         GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York
    STEVE CHABOT, Ohio                   ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
    JOE WILSON, South Carolina           GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia
    MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas             THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida
    TED POE, Texas                       BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
    MATT SALMON, Arizona                 KAREN BASS, California
    DARRELL E. ISSA, California          WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts
    TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania             DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island
    JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina          ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
    MO BROOKS, Alabama                   AMI BERA, California
    PAUL COOK, California                ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
    RANDY K. WEBER SR., Texas            GRACE MENG, New York
    SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania            LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
    RON DeSANTIS, Florida                TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii
    MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina         JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas
    TED S. YOHO, Florida                 ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois
    CURT CLAWSON, Florida                BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania
    SCOTT DesJARLAIS, Tennessee
    REID J. RIBBLE, Wisconsin
    DAVID A. TROTT, Michigan
    LEE M. ZELDIN, New York
    TOM EMMER, MinnesotaUntil 5/18/
        15 deg.
    DANIEL DONOVAN, New YorkAs
        of 5/19/15 deg.

         Amy Porter, Chief of Staff      Thomas Sheehy, Staff Director

                   Jason Steinbaum, Democratic Staff Director

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page

                                   MARKUP OF

    H.R. 2241, To direct the Administrator of the United States
      Agency for International Development to submit to Congress a
      report on the development and use of global health innovations
      in the programs, projects, and activities of the Agency........     2
      Amendment to H.R. 2241 offered by the Honorable Albio Sires, a
        Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey......     6
    H.R. 2845, To promote access to benefits under the African Growth
      and Opportunity Act, and for other purposes....................     7
    H.R. 3750, To waive the passport fees for first responders
      proceeding abroad to aid a foreign country suffering from a
      natural disaster...............................................    13
      Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 3750 offered by
        the Honorable Darrell E. Issa, a Representative in Congress
        from the State of California.................................    15
    H.R. 3766, To direct the President to establish guidelines for
      United States foreign development and economic assistance
      programs, and for other purposes...............................    17

                                    APPENDIX

    Markup notice....................................................    40
    Markup minutes...................................................    41
    Markup summary...................................................    43
    The Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress
      from the State of New Jersey: Prepared statement...............    44

                     GLOBAL HEALTH INNOVATION ACT OF 2015;
                         AGOA ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2015;.
                     FIRST RESPONDERS PASSPORT ACT OF 2015;.
                          AND FOREIGN AID TRANSPARENCY AND
                          ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2015

                                  ----------

                           THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015

                           House of Representatives,

                         Committee on Foreign Affairs,

                                Washington, DC.

        The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:18 a.m., in
    room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Edward Royce
    (chairman of the committee) presiding.
        Chairman Royce. So this committee will come to order. And
    pursuant to notice, we meet today to mark up four bipartisan
    measures. Without objection, all members may have 5 days to
    submit any statements for the record or any extraneous
    materials that they want to include on today's business.
        All members were notified yesterday we intend to consider
    today's measures en bloc. And so, without objection, the
    following items previously provided to members will be
    considered en bloc and are considered as read.
        And those are H.R. 2241, the Global Health Innovation Act
    of 2015, with the Sires amendment 210 to H.R. 2241. Second,
    H.R. 2845, the African Growth and Opportunity Act Enhancement
    Act of 2015. Third, H.R. 3750, the First Responders Passport
    Act of 2015, with the Issa amendment 50 in the nature of a
    substitute to this House resolution. And H.R. 3766, the Foreign
    Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2015.
        [The information referred to follows:]H.R.
    2241 deg.
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        Chairman Royce. And after recognizing myself and the
    ranking member, I will be pleased to recognize any member
    seeking recognition to speak on these measures.
        So we begin with the AGOA Enhancement Act markup. And I
    will just tell you, just as a reminder, we recently passed AGOA
    and gave it a 10-year extension. And I thank the members for
    their help on that and thank Congresswoman Karen Bass in
    particular. We have been involved in this committee since 1998
    when we wrote the original measure here, part of it, as
    cosponsors.
        AGOA, obviously, allows qualified sub-Saharan African
    countries to export thousands and thousands of goods, like
    apparel and energy and other products, to the United States on
    a duty-free basis, but it is done in conjunction with changes
    made that help civil society in these African countries with
    respect to the rule of law and developing independent courts.
        So it has helped draw hundreds of millions of dollars in
    foreign investment into the subcontinent, and it has helped put
    thousands of Africans into much needed work. It is good for
    exporters too. As you know, about two-thirds of the countries
    in Africa qualify for AGOA. But to qualify you have to take
    certain steps toward rule of law.
        In May of this year, Congress successfully reauthorized
    AGOA, as I shared with you, for 10 years. This bill, the AGOA
    Enhancement Act, contains provisions that will improve trade
    capacity and relations between African companies and companies
    here in the United States. Namely, the Millennium Challenge
    Corporation, or MCC, will be allowed to enter into a second
    compact in an eligible country for purposes of promoting
    economic integration and trade, helping to unlock a region's
    full potential for growth. And the bill also modernizes AGOA's
    implementation by getting more information about its trade
    preferences online, so that companies on both sides of the
    Atlantic can better understand and utilize AGOA's benefits.
        So I, again, want to thank our ranking member, Mr. Engel,
    and the Africa Subcommittee Chairman Smith for his work on
    this, and Ranking Member Bass, for their support.
        Second, we have H.R. 3766, the Foreign Aid Transparency and
    Accountability Act, which will enhance--well, the bill will
    ensure that many Federal departments and agencies that
    implement these programs, these foreign aid programs,
    coordinate and not duplicate efforts and apply the lessons
    learned from evaluations so we can do more of what works in
    development and less of what doesn't work. And the bill is the
    result of years of consultation and collaboration between
    Congress and the administration and experts and advocates.
        And I want to thank the bill's sponsor, Judge Poe, and his
    coauthor, Mr. Connolly, for their steadfast work and leadership
    in bringing this before us today.
        Third, we have H.R. 3750, the First Responders Passport
    Act. This will allow the Secretary of State to waive passport
    fees for individuals working with the U.S. Government to
    respond to natural disasters abroad.
        Many of us represent teams that deploy around the globe
    just hours after a disaster hits. This makes us very proud. But
    every year, brave Americans volunteer to be on call for this
    duty, but as a result must bear the expense of ensuring their
    passports are up to date. And this act will provide a small but
    important benefit for those who represent us so well, such as
    the team that deployed to Nepal.
        Lastly, H.R. 2241, the Global Health Innovation Act,
    directs the Administrator of U.S. Agency for International
    Development to provide Congress with five annual reports on the
    Agency's efforts to develop and apply new, innovative health
    technologies within U.S. Global Health Programs.
        The reason that is of interest to us is because through
    USAID, through the Global Development Lab and the Center for
    Accelerating Innovation and Impact, they have partnered with a
    lot of private sector groups to develop and bring to scale low-
    cost, high-impact health technologies. We are seeing that
    impact particularly in maternal health.
        So these reports will improve our oversight of this
    important effort. And I thank Mr. Sires for bringing this
    forward in a timely measure.
        And I want to turn to Ranking Member Karen Bass of the
    Africa Subcommittee for her opening remarks.
        Ms. Bass. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
        In true fashion, the AGOA Enhancement Act is bipartisan.
    And I want to think Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, and
    the Africa Subcommittee chair, Chris Smith, for their
    longstanding and consistent support of AGOA and their foresight
    regarding the need to ensure that the reauthorized AGOA is
    implemented in a transparent and effective manner and supported
    by complementary legislation, such as the AGOA Enhancement Act.
        I also want to thank the HFAC committee staffers who worked
    long and hard and creatively on this bill to ensure its
    relevancy and complementary support of AGOA.
        The AGOA Enhancement Act does exactly what its title
    suggests, it enhances AGOA by strengthening transparency and
    commonsense priorities aimed at enabling eligible AGOA
    countries to utilize AGOA benefits more effectively by
    obtaining greater access to information about AGOA, developing
    trade capacity building, and expanding regional economic
    coordination.
        Transparency is addressed by requiring the administration
    to, for example, create an AGOA Web site for the collection and
    dissemination of information regarding AGOA. Trade capacity
    building is addressed by requiring that the administration
    encourage and facilitate transboundary cooperation among
    eligible African countries in order to facilitate trade and
    encourage the provision of technical assistance to eligible
    African countries.
        H.R. 2845 also recognizes the unique role played by the
    U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation, or MCC--and I want to
    take a moment to acknowledge MCC's leadership and their stellar
    staff--in economic development and its success working with
    nations to improve economic growth and address regional
    integration. MCC is enabled to work with partner countries on a
    regional basis. The MCC requested this authority as a way to
    better leverage and facilitate economic growth through its
    investments and supports this provision being included.
        Over the next 10 years, Africa will become an even more
    important part of the world economy with a large youthful
    population that is increasingly university educated, tech
    savvy, and entrepreneurial. Without question, it is in the
    interest of the United States and the countries of Africa, the
    world's new economic frontier, that we work together toward a
    stronger and mutually beneficial economic relationship that
    will stand the test of time.
        Thank you, and I yield back my time.
        Chairman Royce. The ranking member, Mr. Eliot Engel.
        Mr. Engel. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for calling
    up these bipartisan measures. It is good, as always, to see our
    committee working together to advance legislation and getting
    it to the House floor.
        Let me begin with Chairman Royce's measure, the African
    Growth and Opportunity Act Enhancement Act of 2015. Earlier
    this year, Congress authorized the African Growth and
    Opportunity Act through 2025. That bill seeks to promote trade
    between Africa and the United States, but it has become clear
    that a number of eligible countries lack sufficient capacity to
    reap the program's benefits.
        H.R. 2845, which I am proud to cosponsor along with Rep.
    Bass and Rep. Smith, would encourage the United States to work
    with sub-Saharan African governments to improve the rule of
    law, strengthen and expand the private sector, reduce
    bureaucratic barriers to trade, and promote the role of women
    on the continent.
        In short, this bill seeks to improve investment, trade, and
    job growth in the region. This, in turn, would strengthen the
    global economy and encourage development in sub-Saharan Africa,
    two priorities for this committee.
        Let me next thank my friend, Albio Sires, for introducing
    H.R. 2241, the Global Health Innovation Act of 2015. The Ebola
    epidemic and other public health crises remind us there is a
    vital need for the United States to maintain our research and
    development efforts and response capabilities in the health
    field.
        Over the years, USAID has made some major advances in
    health research and development. We have seen that through
    innovative programs such as the Malaria Vaccine Development
    Program. And successive administrations have rightly supported
    a significant expansion of those efforts.
        H.R. 2241 directs USAID to report annually to Congress on
    its new programs, projects, and activities related to global
    health. It is important that the Agency continues to focus on
    innovation, and it is important for the Congress to make sure
    that the resources it receives are spent in the most effective
    way possible.
        Next, I would like to thank Rep. Issa for introducing H.R.
    3750, and I am proud to be a cosponsor of this measure. This
    bill would authorize the Secretary of State to waive passport
    fees for the brave Americans who help other countries in times
    of natural disaster.
        USAID search-and-rescue teams based in Fairfax County,
    Virginia, Miami-Dade County, Florida, and Los Angeles County,
    California, have played an essential role in the aftermath of
    many overseas natural disasters, including earthquakes that
    have struck Nepal, Haiti, Japan, and New Zealand. These teams
    provide specialized capabilities and demonstrate our commitment
    to international partners during times of need.
        We need to be ready to respond, and waiving passport fees
    is the least we can do for Americans who risk life and limb to
    help other countries during times of despair. The State
    Department and USAID support this measure, and I urge my
    colleagues to do so as well.
        And finally, let me thank Congressman Poe for introducing
    the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act, along with
    Congressman Connolly for his hard work on this measure. The
    State Department, under Secretary Hillary Clinton, and USAID,
    under the leadership of Raj Shah, took major steps to improve
    monitoring, evaluation, and transparency in our foreign
    assistance programs.
        These improvements include the first-ever Presidential
    policy directive on development in the Foreign Assistance
    Dashboard, an initiative that collects information from across
    the Federal Government, increasing transparency in foreign
    assistance programs.
        This legislation seeks to double down on these
    groundbreaking efforts to help the government and the American
    people better understand how their development investments
    improve lives around the world.
        So again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for your work, as usual,
    to move forward with these bills and on all these subjects.
    And, as always, thank you for working with us in a bipartisan
    manner. I yield back.
        Chairman Royce. Thank you, Mr. Engel.
        We go now to Judge Poe.
        Mr. Poe. I want to thank the chairman and the ranking
    member for moving this legislation forward. And I also want to
    thank my friend from Virginia, Mr. Connolly, for his work on
    the foreign aid bill that we are talking about today. H.R.
    3766.
        Foreign assistance has been around 50 years-plus. And what
    this legislation does is make that assistance transparent, let
    the American public and everyone else know what we are doing
    all over the world, and make it easy to understand. Some of the
    postings by government agencies regarding what they are doing
    are so complicated you can't figure out what that means.
        So the transparency aspect is the first aspect of this
    legislation, transparent about foreign assistance, and make it
    easy for everyone to understand what we are doing, the good
    that we are doing throughout the world.
        The second half of this legislation is to evaluate those
    programs. One would think that we have over the years evaluated
    foreign assistance, but we haven't really evaluated it to see
    whether it is working or not. So an evaluation is required of
    departments that give American money as assistance, evaluate
    those programs to see, first of all, if they are reaching the
    goal of the program and the assistance. And if it is not
    reaching that goal, then we need to evaluate whether we should
    continue that type of assistance.
        We continue to give money to certain programs and we really
    don't know whether it is working to solve the problem of hunger
    or water or whatever it is somewhere in the world. So the
    evaluation must take place by all these departments, evaluate
    the things that are working, things that continue to work and
    are doing good assistance. We may continue those. And if it is
    not working, then we need to stop that program.
        So it is an audit, I would call it an audit of foreign
    assistance that we are doing. If it works, continue to do it.
    If not, then reevaluate it, maybe we should not. One percent of
    the budget goes to foreign assistance. Therefore, with the
    limited money, we certainly should find out what we are doing,
    transparency, and we should also find out and evaluate all of
    the programs to see whether they are a success or not.
        And thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will yield back.
        Chairman Royce. Thank you, Mr. Poe.
        Mr. Connolly, I want to recognize Mr. Connolly. He looks
    apprehensive here.
        Mr. Connolly. No. No. I wasn't quite sure what you were
    looking at.
        I thank the chair and the ranking member for putting this
    on the agenda today. And I want to thank Judge Poe for his
    leadership. We have been doing this together for a couple of
    years now and we are so glad to have it.
        This bill directs the President to establish monitoring and
    evaluation guidelines for the 22 Federal agencies charged with
    implementing development and economic assistance programs
    abroad, chief among them, of course, USAID. The guidelines will
    require M&E plans as part of the project development process
    and agencies will be encouraged to incorporate the findings of
    project evaluations and impact studies.
        Aid programs that are held accountable for their
    performance and results can be made more effective, as Judge
    Poe just indicated, and their impact on communities and
    countries abroad more easily measured. And if we do that, as
    Judge Poe just said, we can dispel the notion in public polling
    that, apparently, foreign assistance is 26 percent of the
    Federal budget, when, of course, it is less than 1 percent.
        The U.S. foreign assistance operation does not lack
    passion. The men and women who put themselves in harm's way in
    often very remote parts of the globe or take their families to
    those parts of the world in the interest of helping vulnerable
    populations certainly aren't seeking glory, fame, or fortune.
    They do it because they envision a path to prosperity for
    others even in the most poverty-stricken areas of the world.
        While our passion is well defined, our mission and metrics
    are not. Regarding the mission, I was a staffer on the Senate
    Foreign Relations Committee that wrote the last foreign aid
    authorization bill passed by Congress back in 1986. In that
    time, we had, like, five principal goals. Today, we have 260.
        And the mission is not clear. The mission statement just a
    year ago for USAID read: ``USAID accelerates human progress in
    developing countries by reducing poverty, advancing democracy,
    building market economies, promoting security, responding to
    crises, and improving quality of life. Working with governance
    institutions and civil society, we assist individuals to build
    their own futures by mobilizing the full range of American
    public and private resources through our expert presence
    overseas.'' That is not a clear mission.
        So I am hopeful, Mr. Chairman, this bill will help focus--
    refocus--U.S. foreign assistance programs in a more efficacious
    way. And I am proud to call myself a cosponsor of this
    legislation and am, again, grateful for Judge Poe for his
    leadership. I yield back.
        Chairman Royce. Thank you, Mr. Connolly.
        We are going to go to Mr. Issa and then to Mr. Sires.
        Mr. Issa. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And in the case of H.R.
    3750, I will be very brief.
        The State Department has needed this authority for a long
    time, although on a routine basis there are as few as 450
    individuals that this would cover in the way of first
    responders, and at any given time, with a typical 10-year
    passport, only a few would need it.
        However, if there is a catastrophic event somewhere within
    the world and we call on a large number of first responders,
    many of whom may not have current passports, the ability to
    quickly waive it is a capability the State Department would
    want and need if the United States Government is directing
    these first responders to go to the distressed area.
        And as CBO has scored it as narrowly targeted, fixed, and
    it will be a negligible amount and can be paid out of existing
    funds, it has no CBO score. It is something the State
    Department very much believes is in their best interest to have
    in the case of a major event and will have a de minimus cost
    compared to the cost of transporting those individuals and the
    benefit to America of having first responders go to the scene
    of a catastrophe.
        And so I urge the support. And I yield back.
        Chairman Royce. Thank you, Mr. Issa.
        We go now to Mr. Sires.
        Mr. Sires. I want to start by thanking Chairman Royce,
    Ranking Member Engel for their work on global health and their
    efforts to mark up this bill. I would also like to thank the
    many members of this committee who have cosponsored this bill
    and all the staff that worked on this bill.
        H.R. 2241, the Global Health Innovation Act, is a bill that
    will provide the oversight needed to gain a clearer picture of
    USAID's global health research and development. Over the years,
    research and development projects have greatly expanded at
    USAID in searching for advancement toward an HIV- and AIDS-free
    generation, in preventable maternal and childhood death, and
    preventable infectious disease.
        This legislation is an effort to keep up with the scope of
    USAID's expanded effort and ensure their research and
    development activities reflect their goals and priorities. This
    report asks them to provide clarity on their goals and metrics
    to better understand their work. H.R. 2241 directs the USAID's
    Administrator to report annually to Congress on the development
    and use of global health innovations in USAID's programs,
    projects, and activities.
        The report must also include how the Agency measures
    progress, investment, and development toward their health-
    related goals. Lastly, the amendment I introduced will sunset
    this requirement after five reports.
        I thank the committee for their time and urge my colleagues
    to support this legislation. I yield back.
        Chairman Royce. Thank you, Mr. Sires.
        And I will remind members, you can put statements into the
    record. We are in the last 7 minutes of the vote or so. And if
    there are any necessary statements, I think we have covered
    those who are authors or coauthors of amendments.
        Any other members seek time? If not, hearing no further
    requests for recognition, the question occurs on the items
    considered en bloc.
        All those in favor, say aye.
        All those opposed, no.
        In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it and the
    measures considered en bloc are agreed to.
        So, without objection, the measures considered en bloc are
    ordered favorably reported as amended and staff is directed to
    make any technical and conforming changes. And also, without
    objection, the chair is authorized to seek House consideration
    of these measures under suspension of the rules.
        That concludes our business today. And I want to thank
    Ranking Member Engel and all of our committee members for their
    contributions and assistance with this markup today. We stand
    adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 11:41 a.m., the committee was adjourned.]

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