[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 41 (Thursday, March 17, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1848-S1850]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Corker, Mr. Reid, Mr. Roberts, 
        Mr. Cardin, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Leahy):
  S. 641. A bill to provide 100,000,000 people with first-time access 
to safe drinking water and sanitation on a sustainable basis within six 
years by improving the capacity of the United States Government to 
fully implement the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005; 
to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, on March 22, countries around the world 
will celebrate World Water Day--a day to mark the progress we have made 
protecting this most important resource and to reflect on the many 
challenges we still face in providing clean, safe water to the world's 
poor.
  In 2005, Congress in a bipartisan effort, passed the Senator Paul 
Simon Water for the Poor Act to establish American leadership on this 
issue. The bill had the support of then-Majority Leader Bill Frist and 
then-Congressman Henry Hyde in the House. President George W. Bush 
signed the bill into law.
  The bill was appropriately named after my predecessor in the Senate, 
Paul Simon, who was years ahead of many others recognizing the 
importance of water.
  This act has already done a great deal to help bring clean water and 
sanitation to the world's poor. But we can do more.
  That is why today Senators Corker, Reid, Roberts, Cardin, Isakson, 
Leahy, and I are reintroducing the Senator Paul Simon Water for the 
World Act. This bill would improve the original Water for the Poor 
Act--by strengthening America's ability to provide clean water and 
sanitation to 100 million of the world's poor within six years of 
enactment.
  Tragically, today nearly 1 billion people still lack access to safe 
drinking water, and more than 2 billion still lack basic sanitation. 
Lack of access to stable supplies of water is reaching critical 
proportions, particularly for agricultural purposes. And the problem 
will only worsen with rapid urbanization worldwide. Experts suggest 
that another 1.2 billion people will lack access to clean water and 
sanitation within 20 years.
  The overall economic loss in Africa alone due to lack of access to 
safe water and basic sanitation is estimated at $28.4 billion a year. 
In many poor nations, women and girls walk 2 or 3 hours or more each 
way, every day, to collect water that is often dirty and unsafe.
  The United Nations estimates that women and girls in sub-Saharan 
Africa spend a total of 40 billion working hours each year collecting 
water. That is equivalent to all of the hours worked in France in a 
year. Clearly, the world needs to do more to help with such a basic 
human need.
  Last year, the Senate passed the Water for the World Act with 33 
cosponsors representing the broad political spectrum of the Senate. You 
see, American leadership in providing the world's poor with this most 
basic of human needs has always been bipartisan in the past--and it 
should be today.
  As we celebrate World Water Day next week, let's renew our commitment 
to making sure the world's poor have access to water and sanitation 
need by sending this critical piece of legislation to the President's 
desk.
  The Water for the World Act is not an effort to create vast new 
programs, but rather to focus our foreign assistance on a 
comprehensive, strategic series of investments related to water and 
sanitation. These are simple, common-sense steps that will make a real 
difference in people's lives.
  Our legislation would make the United States a leader in trying to 
meet Millennium Development Goals for drinking water and sanitation, 
which is to reduce by half the proportion of people without safe water 
and sanitation by 2015. The bill targets aid to areas with the greatest 
need and helps build the capacity of poor nations to meet their own 
water and sanitation challenges.
  The Water for the World Act also supports research of clean water 
technologies and regional partnerships to find solutions to shared 
water challenges. The bill provides technical assistance--best 
practices, credit authorities, and training--to help countries expand 
access to clean water and sanitation. Our development experts will 
design the assistance based on local needs.
  The bill also would strengthen the capacity of USAID and the State 
Department to implement development assistance efforts related to water 
and ramp up U.S. developmental and diplomatic leadership.
  And lastly, the bill includes a 25 percent cost share for these water 
and sanitation programs--requiring USAID to partner with universities, 
philanthropies, and other donors in meeting the key goals.
  USAID's sustained commitment to addressing water and sanitation 
issues has been invaluable in combating poverty and disease worldwide. 
In fact, USAID recently announced the position of a Senior Water 
Coordinator, Chris Holmes, whom I had the pleasure of meeting this 
week. I applaud USAID Administrator Shah for taking this important step 
that will save lives.
  Not only is helping people access clean water and sanitation the 
right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do. For example, research 
shows that for every dollar put into clean water and sanitation, $8 in 
returns are gained in health, education and economic productivity.
  Water scarcity can also be a source of conflict and economic 
calamity. Without reliable supplies of water, farmers struggle to grow 
crops, and areas once abundant with water are slowly becoming barren. 
Quite simply, no other issue is more important to human health, peace 
and security than access to sustainable supplies of water.
  Helping other nations is in our national interest. Some say that now 
is not the time to invest in poor nations half a world away, when our 
economy is in crisis and so many Americans are hurting. That view is 
understandable. Recovering from this recession and rebuilding our 
economy for the long term must be, and is, our government's top 
priority.
  But investing in clean water for the world is a smart strategy that 
will make our foreign assistance dollars achieve more--something we 
need in these hard economic times.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 641

       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 2011''.

     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;

[[Page S1849]]

       (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) Water scarcity has negative consequences for 
     agricultural productivity and food security for the 
     1,200,000,000 people who, as of 2010, suffer from chronic 
     hunger and seriously threatens the ability of the world to 
     more than double food production to meet the demands of a 
     projected population of 9,000,000,000 people by 2050.
       (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) 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.
       (9) 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.
       (10) 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 
     help undertake 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 enable 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) within 6 years of the date of enactment of 
     this Act through direct funding, development activities, and 
     partnerships; 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) Senior Advisor for Water.--
       ``(1) In general.--To carry out the purposes of subsection 
     (a), the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
     International Development shall designate a senior advisor to 
     coordinate and conduct the activities described in this 
     section and the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 
     2005 (Public Law 109-121). The Advisor shall report directly 
     to the Administrator and be known as the `Senior Advisor for 
     Water'. The initial Senior Advisor for Water shall be the 
     individual serving as the USAID Global Water Coordinator as 
     of the date of the enactment of the Senator Paul Simon Water 
     for the World Act of 2010.
       ``(2) Duties.--The Advisor shall--
       ``(A) implement this section and the Senator Paul Simon 
     Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-121);
       ``(B) develop and oversee implementation in high priority 
     countries of country-specific water strategies and expertise, 
     in coordination with appropriate United States Agency for 
     International Development Mission Directors, to enable the 
     goal of providing 100,000,000 additional people with 
     sustainable access to safe water and sanitation through 
     direct funding, development activities, and partnerships 
     within 6 years of the date of the enactment of the Senator 
     Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2011; 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; and
       ``(D) integrate water strategies with country-specific or 
     regional food security strategies.
       ``(3) Capacity.--The Advisor shall be designated 
     appropriate staff and may utilize interagency details or 
     partnerships with universities, civil society, and the 
     private sector, as needed, to strengthen implementation 
     capacity.
       ``(4) Funding sources.--The Advisor shall ensure that at 
     least 25 percent of the overall funding necessary to meet the 
     global goal set forth under paragraph (2)(B) is provided by 
     non-Federal sources, including foreign governments, 
     international institutions, and through partnerships with 
     universities, civil society, and the private sector, 
     including private and corporate foundations.
       ``(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. The initial Special Coordinator 
     shall be the individual serving as Special Coordinator for 
     Water Resources as of the date of the enactment of the 
     Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2011.
       ``(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) global food security;
       ``(iv) transboundary conflict;
       ``(v) agricultural and urban productivity of water 
     resources;
       ``(vi) disaster recovery, response, and rebuilding,
       ``(vii) pollution mitigation; and
       ``(viii) 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) Support staff.--The Special Coordinator shall be 
     designated appropriate staff to support 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 (b), by adding at the end the following: 
     ``The Special Coordinator for International Water established 
     under section 135(f) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 
     (22 U.S.C. 2152h(f)) shall take actions to ensure that the 
     safe water and sanitation strategy is integrated into any 
     review or development of a Federal strategy for global 
     development, global health, or global food security that sets 
     forth or establishes the United States mission for global 
     development, guidelines for assistance programs, and how 
     development policy will be coordinated with policies 
     governing trade, immigration, and other relevant 
     international issues.'';
       (2) 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
       (3) 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 and supporting the goal of 
     enabling 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 and support the goals referred to 
     in

[[Page S1850]]

     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, affordable, 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 coordination 
     with mission directors in high priority countries, 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) 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.
       ``(3) Capacity.--The Secretary and the Administrator--
       ``(A) should designate appropriate staff with relevant 
     expertise to carry out the strategy developed under section 
     6; 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 report annually to Congress on the status 
     of--
       ``(1) designating safe drinking water and sanitation as a 
     strategic objective;
       ``(2) integrating the water strategy into a food security 
     strategy;
       ``(3) assigning 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
       ``(4) coordinating with the Development Credit Authority 
     and the Global Development Alliance to further the purposes 
     of this Act.''.

     SEC. 8. OTHER ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.

       In addition to the requirements of section 135(c) of the 
     Foreign Assistance Act (22 U.S.C. 2152h(c)) the Administrator 
     should--
       (1) 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;
       (2) 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;
       (3) 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;
       (4) 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
       (5) integrate efforts to promote safe drinking water, 
     sanitation and hygiene with existing foreign assistance 
     programs, as appropriate, including activities focused on 
     food security, HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, maternal and 
     child health, food security, and nutritional support.

     SEC. 9. MONITORING AND EVALUATION.

       (a) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress 
     that--
       (1) achieving United States foreign policy objectives 
     requires the consistent and systematic evaluation of the 
     impact of United States foreign assistance programs and 
     analysis on what programs work and why, when, and where they 
     work;
       (2) the design of assistance programs and projects should 
     include the collection of relevant baseline data required to 
     measure outcomes and impacts;
       (3) the design of assistance programs and projects should 
     reflect the knowledge gained from evaluation and analysis;
       (4) a culture and practice of high quality evaluation 
     should be revitalized at agencies managing foreign assistance 
     programs, which requires that the concepts of evaluation and 
     analysis are used to inform policy and programmatic 
     decisions, including the training of aid professionals in 
     evaluation design and implementation;
       (5) the effective and efficient use of funds cannot be 
     achieved without an understanding of how lessons learned are 
     applicable in various environments and under similar or 
     different conditions; and
       (6) project evaluations should be used as sources of data 
     when running broader analyses of development outcomes and 
     impacts.
       (b) Coordination and Integration.--To the extent possible, 
     the Administrator shall coordinate and integrate evaluation 
     of United States water programs with the learning, 
     evaluation, and analysis efforts of the United States Agency 
     for International Development aimed at measuring development 
     impact.

     SEC. 10. 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 
     changes to water supplies and agricultural productivity in 
     10, 25, and 50 years.''.

     SEC. 11. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS AND 
                   EFFICIENCY OF UNITED STATES EFFORTS TO PROVIDE 
                   SAFE WATER AND SANITATION FOR DEVELOPING 
                   COUNTRIES.

       (a) Report Required.--Not later than one year after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 
     the United States shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 
     Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
     Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on the effectiveness 
     and efficiency of United States efforts to provide safe water 
     and sanitation for developing countries.
       (b) Elements.--In preparing the report required by 
     subsection (a), the Comptroller General shall, at a minimum--
       (1) identify all programs (and respective Federal agencies) 
     in the Federal Government that perform the mission of 
     providing safe water and sanitation for developing countries, 
     including capacity-building, professional exchanges, and 
     other related programs;
       (2) list the actual costs for the implementation, 
     operation, and support of the individual programs;
       (3) assess the effectiveness of these programs in meeting 
     their goals;
       (4) assess the efficiency of these programs compared to 
     each other and to programs to provide similar aid performed 
     by nongovernmental organizations and other governments, and 
     identify best practices from this assessment;
       (5) identify and assess programs that are duplicative of 
     each other or of efforts by nongovernmental organizations and 
     other governments;
       (6) assess whether appropriate oversight of these programs 
     is being conducted by Federal agencies, especially in the 
     programs in which Federal agencies are utilizing contractors 
     instead of government employees to perform this mission; and
       (7) make such recommendations as the Comptroller General 
     considers appropriate.
                                 ______