[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 170 (Sunday, December 30, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H7458-H7461]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        FOREIGN AID TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2012

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 3159) to direct the President, in consultation with the 
Department of State, United States Agency for International 
Development, Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the Department of 
Defense, to establish guidelines for United States foreign assistance 
programs, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3159

       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 2012''.

     SEC. 2. GUIDELINES FOR UNITED STATES FOREIGN DEVELOPMENT 
                   ASSISTANCE.

       (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to evaluate 
     the performance of United States foreign development 
     assistance and its contribution to policy, strategies, 
     projects, program goals, and priorities undertaken by the 
     United States, to foster and promote innovative programs to 
     improve the effectiveness of United States foreign 
     development assistance, and to coordinate the monitoring and 
     evaluation processes of Federal departments and agencies that 
     administer United States foreign development assistance.
       (b) Establishment of Guidelines.--Not later than 18 months 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 
     shall establish guidelines regarding the establishment of 
     measurable goals, performance metrics, and monitoring and 
     evaluation plans that can be applied with reasonable 
     consistency to United States foreign development assistance. 
     Such guidelines should be established according to best 
     practices of monitoring and evaluation studies and analyses.
       (c) Objectives of Guidelines.--
       (1) In general.--The guidelines established under this 
     section shall provide direction to Federal departments and 
     agencies that administer United States foreign development 
     assistance on how to develop the complete range of activities 
     relating to the monitoring of resources, the evaluation of 
     projects, the evaluation of program impacts, and analysis 
     that is necessary for the identification of findings, 
     generalizations that can be derived from those findings, and 
     their applicability to proposed project and program design.
       (2) Objectives.--Specifically, the guidelines shall provide 
     direction on how to achieve the following objectives for 
     monitoring and evaluation of programs:
       (A) Building measurable goals, performance metrics and 
     monitoring and evaluation into program design at the outset, 
     including the provision of sufficient program resources to 
     conduct monitoring and evaluation.
       (B) Disseminating 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 assistance programs.
       (C) Contributing to the collection and dissemination of 
     knowledge and lessons learned to United States development 
     professionals, implementing partners, the international aid 
     community, and aid recipient governments, and as a repository 
     of knowledge on lessons learned.
       (D) Distributing evaluation reports internally.
       (E) Establishing annual monitoring and evaluation agendas 
     and objectives.
       (F) Applying rigorous monitoring and evaluation 
     methodologies, including choosing from among a wide variety 
     of qualitative and quantitative methods common in the field 
     of social scientific inquiry.
       (G) Partnering with the academic community, implementing 
     partners, and national and international institutions that 
     have expertise in monitoring and evaluation and analysis when 
     such partnerships will provide needed expertise or will 
     significantly improve the evaluation and analysis.
       (H) Developing and implementing a training plan for 
     appropriate aid personnel on the proper conduct of monitoring 
     and evaluation programs.
       (d) Implementation of Guidelines.--Beginning not later than 
     one year after the date on which the President establishes 
     the guidelines under this section, the head of each Federal 
     department or agency that administers United States foreign 
     development assistance shall administer the United States 
     foreign development assistance in accordance with the 
     guidelines.
       (e) Presidential Report.--Not later than 18 months after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 
     submit to Congress a report that contains a detailed 
     description of the guidelines that have been developed on 
     measurable goals, performance metrics, and monitoring and 
     evaluation plans for United States foreign development 
     assistance established under this section. The report shall 
     be submitted in unclassified form to the maximum extent 
     possible, but may include a classified annex.
       (f) Comptroller General Reports.--The Comptroller General 
     of the United States shall--
       (1) not later than one year after the date of the enactment 
     of this Act, submit to the appropriate congressional 
     committees a report that contains an analysis of the actions 
     that the major Federal departments and agencies that 
     administer United States foreign development assistance have 
     taken to ensure that United States foreign development 
     assistance program evaluation is planned, conducted, and 
     utilized effectively; and

[[Page H7459]]

       (2) not later than two years after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, submit to the appropriate 
     congressional committees a report that contains an analysis 
     of--
       (A) the guidelines established pursuant to subsection (b); 
     and
       (B) the implementation of the guidelines by the major 
     Federal departments and agencies that administer United 
     States foreign development assistance.
       (g) Evaluation Defined.--In this section, the term 
     ``evaluation'' means, with respect to a United States foreign 
     development assistance program, the systematic collection and 
     analysis of information about the characteristics and 
     outcomes of the program and projects under the program as a 
     basis for judgments, to improve effectiveness, and to inform 
     decisions about current and future programming.

     SEC. 3. INTERNET WEBSITE TO MAKE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE 
                   COMPREHENSIVE, TIMELY, COMPARABLE, AND 
                   ACCESSIBLE INFORMATION ON UNITED STATES FOREIGN 
                   DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

       (a) Establishment; Publication and Updates.--Not later than 
     30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
     President shall direct the Secretary of State to establish 
     and maintain an Internet website to make publicly available 
     in unclassified form comprehensive, timely, comparable, and 
     accessible information on United States foreign development 
     assistance. The head of each Federal department or agency 
     that administers United States foreign development assistance 
     shall, not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment 
     of this Act, publish and on a quarterly basis update on the 
     Internet website such information with respect to the United 
     States foreign development assistance programs of such 
     Federal department or agency.
       (b) Matters To Be Included.--
       (1) In general.--Such information shall be published on a 
     detailed program-by-program basis and country-by-country 
     basis.
       (2) Types of information.--To ensure transparency, 
     accountability, and effectiveness of United States foreign 
     development assistance, such information should include 
     country assistance strategies, annual budget documents, 
     congressional budget justifications, obligations, 
     expenditures, and reports and evaluations, including those 
     developed pursuant to the guidelines established by section 
     2, for United States foreign development assistance programs 
     and projects under such programs. Each type of information 
     described in this paragraph shall be published or updated on 
     the Internet website not later than 90 days after the date of 
     issuance of the information.
       (3) Report in lieu of inclusion.--If--
       (A) the head of a Federal department or agency makes a 
     determination that the inclusion of a required item of 
     information on the Internet website would jeopardize the 
     health or security of an implementing partner or program 
     beneficiary, or
       (B) the Secretary of State makes a determination that the 
     inclusion of a required item of information on the Internet 
     website would be detrimental to the national interests of the 
     United States,
     then the head of such Federal department or agency or the 
     Secretary of State, as the case may be, shall provide 
     briefings to Congress on the item of information or submit to 
     Congress the item of information in a written report in lieu 
     of it being included on the Internet website, along with the 
     reasons for it not being included on the Internet website. 
     Any such item of information may be submitted to Congress in 
     classified form.
       (c) Scope of Information.--
       (1) In general.--The Internet website shall contain the 
     information described in subsection (b) as follows:
       (A) For fiscal year 2013, the information relating to such 
     fiscal year and each of the immediately preceding 2 fiscal 
     years.
       (B) For fiscal year 2014, the information relating to such 
     fiscal year and each of the immediately preceding 3 fiscal 
     years.
       (C) For fiscal year 2015, the information relating to such 
     fiscal year and each of the immediately preceding 4 fiscal 
     years.
       (D) For fiscal year 2016 and each fiscal year thereafter, 
     the information relating to such fiscal year and each of the 
     immediately preceding 5 fiscal years.
       (2) Older information.--For fiscal year 2017 and each 
     fiscal year thereafter, the Internet website shall also 
     contain a link to a searchable database available to the 
     public containing information described in subsection (b) 
     relating to fiscal years prior to the immediately preceding 5 
     fiscal years but subsequent to fiscal year 2010.

     SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFINGS IF REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION 3 
                   ARE NOT MET.

       If the information described in section 3(b) with respect 
     to a United States foreign development assistance program is 
     not provided as required under section 3, then the head of 
     the relevant Federal department or agency shall provide 
     briefings to the appropriate congressional committees, along 
     with a detailed explanation of why the requirements for 
     publication on the Internet have not been met and when they 
     will be met, with respect to each month for which such 
     information is not published on the Internet.

     SEC. 5. OFFSET.

       Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated for United 
     States foreign development assistance programs of a Federal 
     department or agency that administers such programs for a 
     fiscal year, up to 5 percent of such amounts are authorized 
     to be appropriated to carry out this Act with respect to such 
     programs for such fiscal year.

     SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
     ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
       (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and
       (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the Senate.
       (2) United states foreign development assistance.--The term 
     ``United States foreign development assistance'' means 
     assistance primarily for purposes of foreign development and 
     economic support, including but not limited to assistance 
     authorized under--
       (A) part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
     2151 et seq.), other than--
       (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) for long-term development; and
       (C) the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C 7701 et 
     seq.).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Connolly) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.


                             General Leave

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material in the Record on this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise in strong support of H.R. 3159 introduced by my good friend 
from Texas, Judge Poe.
  This bill stands for the simple proposition that consistent 
evaluation and transparency will improve the effectiveness of U.S. 
development assistance around the world. H.R. 3159 will require the 
President to establish guidelines for measurable goals, monitoring, and 
evaluation plans that can be applied with reasonable consistency to all 
overseas development assistance.
  I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3159, and I reserve the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 
3159, as amended, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Let me start first by thanking my distinguished colleague from Texas 
(Mr. Poe) for his leadership on this legislation. He and his staff have 
worked tirelessly to address a range of technical issues so that this 
bill could be considered under suspension.
  H.R. 3159 is an important first step in bringing greater rationality 
and oversight to the foreign aid process. It contains two fundamental 
reforms to make our programs more efficient, more effective, and better 
at serving our national interests.
  The first is to strengthen monitoring and evaluation so that we can 
be sure our aid is performing as intended. Right now we make most of 
our aid decisions in the dark. We set budgets year after year without 
having any idea necessarily what the outcomes might be. This bill 
requires the President to establish a consistent set of guidelines so 
that all Federal agencies carrying out development assistance will set 
measurable goals, establish indicators, monitor results, and evaluate 
impact. We can make much better decisions about how and where to invest 
our scarce resources once we know which types of programs are the most 
cost-effective and produce the best results.
  The second reform is to increase aid transparency so that everyone 
can see where we're spending the money and why. There are all too many 
misperceptions about the size of the foreign aid budget and exactly 
what it does. This bill will address that.
  It also requires the President to establish and maintain an Internet 
Web site that makes comprehensive and timely information accessible to 
the public.

[[Page H7460]]

  Similar reforms are included in comprehensive foreign aid reform 
legislation recently introduced by the current ranking member of our 
committee, Mr. Berman, and myself. They were also included in the State 
Department authorization bills passed by the full House under the 
leadership of our outgoing chairwoman, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, 
in 2009, and reported by the Foreign Affairs Committee in 2011. Both 
times, these provisions were adopted with strong bipartisan support.
  The administration also recognizes the need for these types of 
changes. They've created the Foreign Assistance Dashboard, a Web site 
that provides accessible and easy-to-understand data about our aid 
programs. Both the Millennium Challenge Corporation and USAID have put 
into place their own rigorous evaluation policies.
  This bill will ensure that all Federal agencies carrying out 
development programs will adhere to the same high standards, and at a 
time when there are so many issues that divide our parties and our 
Nation, I think this is one that we can come together on. Again, I urge 
my colleagues to support this legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.

                     [From The Hill, Dec. 12, 2012]

                Overhaul of U.S. Foreign Aid is Overdue

 (By Reps. Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.) and Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.))

       At a time when competing government priorities face the 
     chopping block, advocates of effective foreign aid have a 
     responsibility to make the case that aid directly serves our 
     country's long-term national-security and economic interests, 
     and in a cost-effective way.
       A key goal of foreign aid is to make the right investments 
     that reinforce America's priorities. Unfortunately, the 
     current foreign aid process and the underlying statute are 
     encrusted with legislative barnacles built up over half a 
     century that are messy, conflicting and outdated, and that 
     actually hinder our ability to deliver foreign aid 
     effectively and efficiently.
       It is time for a complete overhaul. The 21st century 
     requires a foreign aid program that recognizes today's 
     priorities and streamlines the process in the post-Cold War 
     era. For instance, do we still need language in current law, 
     passed in 1961, that requires the president to assure 
     Congress that foreign aid recipients are not ``controlled by 
     the international Communist conspiracy''?
       The many task forces and policy committees that have 
     examined U.S. foreign aid have cited the myriad goals, 
     objectives and priorities contained in the Foreign Assistance 
     Act of 1961. The Center for Global Development, for example, 
     identified more than 33 major objectives, 75 priorities and 
     247 directives relating to foreign aid in the act. And all of 
     this for a miniscule piece of the federal budget. Little 
     wonder, then, that we lack any central focus to our effort 
     and even less of an ability to measure its effectiveness.
       The Global Partnerships Act of 2012 (H.R. 6644) replaces 
     this byzantine labyrinth of priorities by identifying eight 
     concise goals for development assistance. The legislation 
     simplifies the bureaucracy administering foreign aid by 
     restoring the U.S. Agency for International Development's 
     policy and budget functions and clarifies the roles and 
     relationships of key officials involved in its delivery.
       In addition, the Global Partnerships Act tackles problems 
     like the lack of transparency, accountability and oversight 
     in the system. It requires the maintenance of an online 
     database of information, easily accessible by the public, 
     with complete information about all forms of U.S. foreign 
     assistance, including an unclassified database on security 
     assistance. This online database would provide detailed 
     information on overhead and administrative costs for overseas 
     projects, ensuring that U.S. taxpayers get the most out of 
     their investment.
       Opponents of foreign aid say that aid programs amount to 
     little more than handouts. But the purpose of foreign 
     assistance, as President Obama has insisted, must be to 
     create the conditions where it's no longer needed. To do 
     this, our programs should aim to build indigenous capacity in 
     various sectors, with the ultimate goals of country ownership 
     and self-reliance. The Global Partnerships Act emphasizes the 
     importance of country ownership by transforming the donor-
     recipient relationship to one of partners working toward 
     mutually agreed-upon and beneficial goals.
       Many believe that foreign assistance is a luxury we can no 
     longer afford in an era of tight budgets and fiscal 
     challenges. They perpetuate the misconception that foreign 
     aid encompasses a massive portion of the federal budget. In 
     reality, this assistance amounts to only about 1 percent of 
     federal spending.
       Moreover, foreign aid is a critical component of our 
     national-security strategy, which includes three key pillars: 
     defense, diplomacy and development. National-security experts 
     and military leaders frequently extol the importance of 
     foreign aid, recognizing, as former Defense Secretary Robert 
     Gates once said, that ``economic development is a lot cheaper 
     than sending soldiers.''
       It is critical that the United States modernize its foreign 
     aid policies and maintain its foreign aid investments. It is 
     also critical that we establish metrics to gauge the efficacy 
     of those investments. There are other countries ready and 
     willing to fill the vacuum that we will leave behind.
       Foreign assistance is a critical tool in the diplomatic 
     toolkit. A great power must have the tools to act--beyond 
     simply intervening militarily. A streamlined, effective 
     foreign aid template can enhance U.S. values and influence in 
     a dangerous world and help avoid the enormous costs in blood 
     and treasure that inevitably result from military 
     intervention.
       While admittedly some of our foreign aid investments have 
     been ineffectively deployed in the field over the years, it 
     is beyond dispute that foreign assistance has dramatically 
     lowered infant mortality rates, raised hundreds of millions 
     of people from poverty, extended longevity, created 
     employment and fostered democratic institutions in every 
     corner of the world. Its return is well worth the investment.

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Texas, Judge Poe, an esteemed member of our Foreign 
Affairs Committee and the author of this bill.
  Mr. POE of Texas. I thank the gentlewoman and appreciate her yielding 
me this time. I want to thank Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen, Ranking Member 
Berman, and House leadership for getting this bill to the House floor, 
and also Mr. Connolly from Virginia for his support of this 
legislation.

                              {time}  1820

  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3159, the Foreign Aid Transparency and 
Accountability Act, is a simple, bipartisan bill. We have, in fact, 
equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats as cosponsors of this 
legislation.
  Last year, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed this bill 
unanimously as an amendment to the state authorization bill. This bill 
does two things: it increases monitoring and evaluation of our foreign 
aid programs, and it also increases transparency of foreign aid.
  Our foreign aid can do some good to other countries, but there are 
also problems with American foreign aid. Unfortunately, we do not keep 
track of what we're spending, and we don't ask for real results.
  Since the passage of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, foreign aid 
programs have spread across 12 departments, 25 agencies, and almost 60 
Federal offices. There are so many Federal Government programs that 
they often don't know what each other is doing, and many Federal 
Government programs don't even keep track of what they're doing.
  According to an independent study commissioned by USAID in 2009, 
agencies don't assess the impact their aid is having on foreign 
countries:
  Do we know if our money actually helps people?
  Is our money helping people become more self-sufficient or more 
reliant on U.S. dollars?
  And does American aid leave people better off?
  We don't know the answers to these questions. This bill addresses 
this problem by requiring the President to set up tough monitoring and 
evaluation guidelines for development programs.
  These guidelines will be used for monitoring and evaluation of every 
foreign aid development program from agriculture to AIDS to democracy 
promotion. Monitoring will allow us to cut programs that simply do not 
work.
  We also need transparency. Americans don't know what we spend our aid 
on, and so that is why many Americans are frustrated when the word or 
phrase ``foreign aid'' is mentioned. We need to be honest with American 
taxpayers.
  Until November of 2011, the United States ranked 22nd out of 31 
countries when it came to transparency in foreign aid programs. That's 
according to the Brookings Institute and the Center for Global 
Development.
  We should have nothing to hide when it comes to foreign aid. Let's 
tell the American taxpayers what they're getting for their buck. This 
bill requires more information about foreign aid to be posted online so 
Americans can know what we are doing.
  We can't continue down the path of the same-old same-old regarding 
foreign aid. We need to restore trust with the American people. Lack of 
transparency and accountability invites corruption, waste, and 
incompetence.

[[Page H7461]]

  The losers are those who the programs aim to help and also Americans 
who pay for foreign aid. Regardless of whether a Member believes we 
need more foreign aid, less foreign aid, or no foreign aid at all, we 
should all agree that accountability and transparency are an absolute 
must.
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. I have no other speakers. Mr. Speaker, I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I also yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3159, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the 
ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a 
quorum is not present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

                          ____________________