[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 177 (Tuesday, December 8, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H9063-H9067]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        FOREIGN AID TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2015

  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 3766) to direct the President to establish guidelines 
for United States foreign development and economic 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. 3766

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Aid Transparency and 
     Accountability Act of 2015''.

     SEC. 2. GUIDELINES FOR UNITED STATES FOREIGN DEVELOPMENT AND 
                   ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

       (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to evaluate 
     the performance of United States foreign development and 
     economic assistance and its contribution to the policies, 
     strategies, projects, program goals, and priorities 
     undertaken by the Federal Government, to foster and promote 
     innovative programs to improve effectiveness, and to 
     coordinate the monitoring and evaluation processes of Federal 
     departments and agencies that administer United States 
     foreign development and economic assistance.
       (b) Establishment of Guidelines.--Not later than 18 months 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 
     shall set forth guidelines for the establishment of 
     measurable goals, performance metrics, and monitoring and 
     evaluation plans that can be applied with reasonable 
     consistency to United States foreign development and economic 
     assistance. Such guidelines shall be established according to 
     best practices of monitoring and evaluation studies and 
     analyses.
       (c) Objectives of Guidelines.--
       (1) In general.--The guidelines established under 
     subsection (b) shall provide direction to Federal departments 
     and agencies that administer United States foreign 
     development and economic assistance on monitoring the use of 
     resources, evaluating the outcomes and impacts of United 
     States foreign development and economic assistance projects 
     and programs, and applying the findings and conclusions of 
     such evaluations to proposed project and program design.
       (2) Objectives.--Specifically, the guidelines established 
     under subsection (b) shall require Federal departments and 
     agencies that administer United States foreign development 
     and economic assistance to take the following actions:
       (A) Establish annual monitoring and evaluation agendas and 
     objectives to plan and manage the process of monitoring, 
     evaluating, analyzing progress, and applying learning toward 
     achieving results.
       (B) Develop specific project monitoring and evaluation 
     plans, to include measurable goals and performance metrics, 
     and identify the resources necessary to conduct such 
     evaluations, which should be covered by program costs, during 
     project design.
       (C) Apply rigorous monitoring and evaluation methodologies 
     to such programs, including through the use of impact 
     evaluations, ex-post evaluations, or other methods as 
     appropriate, that clearly define program logic, inputs, 
     outputs, intermediate outcomes, and end outcomes.
       (D) Disseminate guidelines for the development and 
     implementation of monitoring and evaluation programs to all 
     personnel, especially in the field, who are responsible for 
     the design, implementation, and management of United States 
     foreign development and economic assistance programs.
       (E) Establish methodologies for the collection of data, 
     including baseline data to serve

[[Page H9064]]

     as a reference point against which progress can be measured.
       (F) Evaluate at least once in their lifetime all programs 
     whose dollar value equals or exceeds the median program size 
     for the relevant office or bureau or an equivalent 
     calculation to ensure the majority of program resources are 
     evaluated.
       (G) Conduct impact evaluations on all pilot programs before 
     replicating wherever possible, or provide a written 
     justification for not conducting an impact evaluation where 
     such an evaluation was deemed inappropriate or impossible.
       (H) Develop a clearinghouse capacity for the collection and 
     dissemination of knowledge and lessons learned that serve as 
     benchmarks to guide future programs for United States 
     development professionals, implementing partners, the donor 
     community, and aid recipient governments, and as a repository 
     of knowledge on lessons learned.
       (I) Distribute evaluation reports internally.
       (J) Publicly report each evaluation, including an executive 
     summary, a description of the evaluation methodology, key 
     findings, appropriate context (including quantitative and 
     qualitative data when available), and recommendations made in 
     the evaluation within 90 days after the completion of the 
     evaluation.
       (K) Undertake collaborative partnerships and coordinate 
     efforts with the academic community, implementing partners, 
     and national and international institutions that have 
     expertise in program monitoring, evaluation, and analysis 
     when such partnerships provide needed expertise or 
     significantly improve the evaluation and analysis.
       (L) Ensure verifiable, valid, credible, precise, reliable, 
     and timely data are available to monitoring and evaluation 
     personnel to permit the objective evaluation of the 
     effectiveness of United States foreign development and 
     economic assistance programs, including an assessment of 
     assumptions and limitations in such evaluations.
       (M) Ensure that standards of professional evaluation 
     organizations for monitoring and evaluation efforts are 
     employed, including ensuring the integrity and independence 
     of evaluations, permitting and encouraging the exercise of 
     professional judgment, and providing for quality control and 
     assurance in the monitoring and evaluation process.
       (d) Presidential Report.--Not later than 18 months after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall 
     submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 
     that contains a detailed description of the guidelines 
     established under subsection (b). The report shall be 
     submitted in unclassified form, but it may contain a 
     classified annex.
       (e) Comptroller General Report.--The Comptroller General of 
     the United States shall, not later than 1 year after the 
     report required by subsection (d) is submitted to Congress, 
     submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 
     that analyzes--
       (1) the guidelines established pursuant to subsection (b); 
     and
       (2) a side-by-side comparison of the President's budget 
     request for that fiscal year of every operational unit that 
     carries out United States foreign development and economic 
     assistance and the performance of such units during the prior 
     fiscal year.

     SEC. 3. INFORMATION ON UNITED STATES FOREIGN DEVELOPMENT AND 
                   ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

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

     SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
     ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
       (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the Senate; and
       (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
       (2) Evaluation.--The term ``evaluation'' means, with 
     respect to a United States foreign development and economic 
     assistance program, the systematic collection and analysis of 
     information about the characteristics and outcomes of the 
     program, including projects conducted under such program, as 
     a basis for making judgments and evaluations regarding the 
     program, to improve program effectiveness, and to inform 
     decisions about current and future programming.
       (3) United states foreign development and economic 
     assistance.--The term ``United States foreign development and 
     economic assistance'' means assistance provided primarily for 
     the purposes of foreign development and economic support, 
     including assistance authorized under--
       (A) part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
     2151 et seq.), other than--

[[Page H9065]]

       (i) title IV of chapter 2 of such part (relating to the 
     Overseas Private Investment Corporation);
       (ii) chapter 3 of such part (relating to International 
     Organizations and Programs); and
       (iii) chapter 8 of such part (relating to International 
     Narcotics Control);
       (B) chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
     1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.; relating to Economic Support 
     Fund);
       (C) the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7701 et 
     seq.); and
       (D) the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1721 et seq.).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) and the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) each will 
control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Royce and the ranking member, 
my cosponsor on this legislation, Mr. Connolly from Virginia, for this 
legislation being brought to the House floor tonight.
  The Foreign Aid Authorization Act first passed Congress in 1961. If 
you mention foreign aid to many Americans, Madam Speaker, it raises 
their blood pressure. Members of our communities often are concerned 
about foreign aid to other countries because they are just not quite 
sure where that aid is going and what that aid is accomplishing.
  It is important that we, as Members of the House of Representatives, 
legislatively communicate to America how America's money is being spent 
in foreign countries. It is important that we are accountable and that 
that money, that aid, is accountable to the taxpayers.
  It may shock you, Madam Speaker--maybe it won't--but Congress has 
never passed a law requiring transparency and accountability of foreign 
aid. I will use a different phrase. We have never audited our foreign 
aid to see if it is working and to see what it is doing so people can 
see whether it is successful or not.
  The American public is uninformed about how much we spend and why we 
spend that money. A recent Publish What You Fund study rated half of 
U.S. agencies in the ``poor'' category when it came to transparency of 
aid. Transparency is important because it sheds light on where the 
money is spent. It is a lot harder to steal money if everybody knows 
where the money went and what it was for.
  The American people have a right to know what we are doing with their 
money. There are a lot of success stories, but many Americans don't 
know about them. So it is important that we post that information and 
that the agencies that help in foreign aid assistance post that 
information on the Web so we know who is getting the money and what 
they are doing with that money.
  Transparency will help foreign aid. It will make it harder for bad 
actors to steal that aid. It will make those who implement our programs 
work more vigilantly knowing the information will also be posted 
online. It will educate the American public about all the ways our 
country is helping other people around the world. As I said, Madam 
Speaker, there are a lot of success stories where people are better off 
because America is helping them.
  Transparency by itself, however, won't save all of foreign aid's 
problems, but without transparency, those problems will not be solved. 
We also need to evaluate our foreign aid program so we know what works.
  The key portions of this bill are transparency of the aid and 
evaluation of the aid: evaluate that aid to see if it is working, and 
if it is working may continue to do that aid; evaluate aid--if it is 
not working, then we cut it off and do something else.
  We have all heard about the boondoggles of foreign aid. Big 
infrastructure projects are especially prone to waste and 
mismanagement. That is why it is so critically important that, as part 
of this bill being implemented, licensed engineers who know how to do 
these infrastructure projects are more involved with their expert input 
and operational skills.
  Let me give you some examples of where foreign aid has been 
mismanaged. Schools are being built by Americans overseas, but some of 
those schools never had a student attend them. The Special Inspector 
for Iraq Reconstruction found out that at least $8 billion in American 
taxpayer dollars was lost to fraud, waste, and abuse. $44 million was 
spent on a residential camp to house international police trainers. The 
camp included an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The problem is, swimming 
pool and all, it was never used.
  The $43 million natural gas station in Afghanistan was built by the 
Department of Defense when it built the same kind of gas station for 
$500,000 in Pakistan. Let me explain that again. American taxpayers 
built a $43 million natural gas station. Besides the enormous, 
outrageous cost, nobody ever used the gas station in Afghanistan.
  So rigorous evaluations of our foreign aid are important because they 
can tell us whether or not we are really making a lasting impact. We 
have a long way to go, and the State Department really doesn't have a 
system in place to keep track of the dollars spent on evaluation of 
those projects.
  The State Department can only tell how much it plans to spend in the 
future, but as soon as it spends that money on evaluations, it has no 
way of tracking where the money went. So the State Department can't 
even tell how many evaluations were even done last year on the aid that 
we are already spending. Even in its policy, the State Department is 
moving in the wrong direction. Its new evaluation policy lowers the 
amount of evaluations that must be done.
  USAID has some troubling signs as well. USAID spent less money on 
evaluations in 2014 than it did in 2013. To solve some of these 
problems with transparency and with accountability of our foreign aid, 
Representative Connolly and myself have introduced H.R. 3766, the 
Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act. This bill requires the 
President to issue guidelines requiring tough evaluations. And on 
transparency, it codifies what is already being done and increases the 
amount of information required to be posted online, including actual 
expenditures and evaluations so everyone knows what we are doing and 
whether it is working or not.
  We need to be reporting on more foreign aid in a more understandable 
way. The American people want to know where their aid is going, what it 
is for, and if that aid is effective.
  Transparency and accountability for our foreign aid: this is a 
commonsense bill, and it doesn't cost any money, Madam Speaker.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of this measure.
  First of all, I want to thank Congressman Poe and Congressman 
Connolly for all their hard work on this bill. Enhancing transparency 
and accountability in our foreign assistance spending is something with 
which we can all agree. And it is important that we get our foreign 
assistance right. Our foreign aid represents just a tiny sliver of the 
Federal Government's annual budget--less than 1 percent. But if it is 
put to the right use, it is an investment that pays huge dividends.
  Why is that? Because when we support the construction of a water 
treatment facility in an overcrowded city or train teachers in a rural 
village, we are doing more than just directly helping those affected. 
We are helping to bring stability and prosperity to entire communities 
and populations. And when we have stronger partners around the world, 
it helps enhance our own security and advance our own interests.

  So, as I like to say, foreign assistance is the right thing to do for 
those who are in desperate need, and it is also the smart thing to do 
in terms of American foreign policy and national security. But it is 
important that we are spending our limited foreign assistance dollars 
efficiently and effectively.

[[Page H9066]]

  The Obama administration is taking important steps to enhance the 
monitoring and evaluation of our foreign assistance programs. When she 
was Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was at the forefront of those 
efforts.
  This legislation, the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability 
Act, would build on the great progress already made by the 
administration. It would write into law many of the steps they have 
already taken, making these efforts permanent for future 
administrations.
  This will help ensure that our investments are as effective as 
possible by requiring measurable goals and plans for monitoring and 
evaluation.
  Madam Speaker, this important legislating will help all of us to 
better understand how our foreign assistance programs help promote 
stability, prosperity, and democracy around the world, and how these 
investments advance our own security interests.
  I am for accountability, so I strongly support this bill. I urge my 
colleagues to do the same.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Babin).
  Mr. BABIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today with strong concerns over 
President Obama attempting to unilaterally bypass Congress once again 
and enter the United States into the so-called ``Paris Protocol'' on 
global warming.
  As the proud Representative of the 36th Congressional District in the 
State of Texas, I can tell you that my constituents want nothing to do 
with this expensive, ineffective, and unnecessary proposal.
  According to the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, the 
Paris Protocol will reduce U.S. gross domestic product by an average of 
9.1 percent, or $5 trillion per year. And consistent with this, NERA 
Economic Consulting states this will cost U.S. taxpayers approximately 
more than $30 billion per year.
  Aside from the constitutional issues of the President bypassing the 
Senate and not submitting this proposal as a treaty, and the outrageous 
costs, these negotiations will not even accomplish their end goal of 
substantial climate benefits.
  A U.S. pledge to the U.N. is estimated to prevent only one-fiftieth 
of 1 degree Celsius temperature rise over the next 85 years.

                              {time}  1745

  Simply put, our planet will see no measurable benefit at all, but our 
economy will be wrecked by this accord.
  This is just another example of the terrible leadership that we have 
seen from this administration and of the important role that Congress 
must play in standing up and fighting back on behalf of the American 
people.
  Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I thought we were debating Mr. Poe's and Mr. Connolly's bill. I 
didn't realize that climate change was on the agenda. Let me say that 
today, Secretary Kerry met with a bunch of businesspeople and led a 
meeting, and they talked about climate change because climate change is 
real.
  Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Connolly), a valued member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and an 
author of this legislation.
  Mr. CONNOLLY. Madam Speaker, I thank my dear friend from New York, 
the distinguished ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs 
Committee, for his great leadership and for always being supportive of 
all of our work.
  I also want to thank my dear friend from Texas, Ted Poe. He has been 
a wonderful partner and initiator of reform and of thoughtful 
legislation on our committee. It has been my privilege to cosponsor a 
lot of legislation with Mr. Poe to try to make things better.
  Today, I rise in support of another such example, the Foreign Aid 
Transparency and Accountability Act of 2015.
  Madam Speaker, this bill is a project I have worked on with Judge Poe 
for a number of years now. In the 112th Congress, a previous iteration 
of the bill passed this body by a unanimous vote. We hope for a similar 
outcome in this Congress and for quick Senate consideration and 
passage.
  The bill directs the President to establish monitoring and evaluation 
guidelines for the 22 Federal agencies that are charged with 
implementing some piece of development and economic assistance.
  The guidelines will require M&E plans as part of the project 
development process, and agencies will be encouraged to incorporate the 
findings of evaluations and impact studies into subsequent foreign 
assistance programs. This feedback loop will include measurable goals, 
performance metrics, and a clearinghouse for lessons learned on U.S.-
led aid projects, something long overdue after 60-plus years of foreign 
aid. Additionally, the legislation requires that the documents and 
reports created under this M&E regime be made available to the public 
on foreignassistance.gov.
  This administration has developed an encouraging record on foreign 
aid transparency. The Foreign Assistance Dashboard, which was created 
in 2010, is a great example of demonstrating a promising inclination 
toward disclosure that we hope to enshrine in this law. This measure 
will strengthen and codify those transparency best practices to ensure 
that they exist as agency policy under future administrations that 
might not be as accommodating of the aid community's demand for this 
information.
  Aid programs that are held accountable for their performance and 
results can be made more effective, and their impact on communities and 
countries abroad can be more easily demonstrated. Perhaps, with more 
information, we can dispel the commonly held belief that 26 percent of 
our budget goes to foreign aid, when, as my friend Judge Poe pointed 
out, it is actually 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 overseas and who take their 
families to remote areas of the world, often dangerous, in the interest 
of helping vulnerable populations, are certainly not seeking fame, 
glory, or fortune. They do it because they can envision a path to 
prosperity in even the most poverty-stricken areas of the world, and 
they see the promise of democracy in the face of the most repressive 
and authoritarian regimes.
  While our passion is well-defined, our mission and metrics are not.
  Regarding our mission, I was a staffer on the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee the last time Congress actually passed a foreign 
aid authorization bill in 1986. The original Foreign Assistance Act of 
1961, which Judge Poe cited, listed five principal goals for foreign 
aid. Today, we have more than 260. Some are competing and some are 
redundant.
  What is our core mission today?
  Until January 2014, USAID's mission statement read as follows: 
``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 governments, institutions, and civil society, we assist 
individuals to build their own futures by mobilizing the full range of 
America's public and private resources through our expert presence 
overseas.''
  That is not a clear mission statement. I am hopeful this bill will 
help us focus on the foreign assistance operations.
  While I think we have some distance to travel in streamlining the 
legislative construct for foreign assistance and clearly articulating 
our mission, we have an opportunity today to make immense progress 
toward establishing badly needed metrics for aid programs with the 
passage of this bill. It is time to apply a data-driven approach to 
constructing an assistance operation that has the support of both this 
Congress and of a well-informed public.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Again, I particularly thank my friend, Judge Poe, for his leadership, 
for his initiative, and for his vision with respect to this subject. I 
know it is going to actually make U.S. foreign assistance investments 
in the future a lot more effective and a lot more accountable.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I thank the gentleman from Virginia for his comments. A couple of 
things that he mentioned are worth mentioning again, I believe.

[[Page H9067]]

  This very bill that we have been working on for a long time passed 
unanimously in this House of Representatives 4 years ago in December. 
Why didn't it become law? Because, in the Senate's rules, one Senator 
was able to block the legislation from even being voted on in the 
Senate. So here we are again, 4 years later, trying to get this 
legislation passed.
  My friend mentioned USAID and their mission statement. Nothing in the 
definition of ``assistance'' in this bill precludes USAID from 
reporting on data fields that it currently reports on for the Green 
Book and for OECD. So, if they are already making reports, this 
legislation, to be very clear, does not prohibit them from also making 
those other reports, but they will comply with the legislation in this 
bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline), a valued member of the House Foreign 
Affairs Committee.
  Mr. CICILLINE. I thank the distinguished gentleman from New York for 
yielding time.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3766, the Foreign Aid 
Transparency and Accountability Act.
  I want to begin by recognizing my colleagues, the distinguished 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) and the distinguished gentleman 
from Texas (Mr. Poe), for all of the work that they have done to get 
this important bill to the floor and to thank them for working, as they 
always do, in a bipartisan way on behalf of the members of our 
committee.
  I also thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for their 
leadership on this bill and for their creating an environment on the 
Foreign Affairs Committee, where we work together in a bipartisan way, 
and this legislation is a product of that work.
  Madam Speaker, the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act 
will enhance the transparency and effectiveness of U.S. foreign 
assistance by requiring a framework for monitoring and evaluating 
foreign development and economic programs and for publicly disclosing 
the data and results.
  The United States carries out a wide variety of assistance programs 
overseas, and it is important that there is a clearly articulated 
strategy and monitoring apparatus for our assistance. It is just as 
important that the American people have access to the information about 
what activities their tax dollars are funding. This is critical to 
sustaining public understanding and support for our diplomatic work and 
our foreign assistance.
  I also want to take a moment to commend the Obama administration for 
making much of this information publicly available online on their 
Foreign Assistance Dashboard.
  I hope that my colleagues support this legislation so that we can 
continue to increase efficiency and accountability in our foreign 
assistance programs. The American people deserve this, and it will make 
our foreign assistance better understood and more impactful. I urge my 
colleagues to support this excellent legislation.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, as I have no further requests for 
time, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  In closing, let me, again, thank Chairman Royce for bringing this 
bill forward and thank Representatives Poe and Connolly for their hard 
work.
  Our foreign assistance helps improve the lives of countless people 
around the world, and it helps advance American interests and American 
values. Foreign assistance deserves the continued support of Congress. 
At the same time, we need to know that our foreign assistance dollars 
are being put to the best use possible, that we are getting the biggest 
bang for our buck. The American people expect no less when it comes to 
their tax dollars, and they are right.
  So let's stand up for foreign assistance and for transparency and 
accountability by passing this bill. I urge a ``yes'' vote.
  I congratulate Judge Poe and Mr. Connolly.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my 
time.
  I want to thank Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, and, of course, 
my friend, Mr. Connolly from Virginia, for their support on this bill.
  Madam Speaker, the Foreign Affairs Committee is probably more 
bipartisan than any committee in the House of Representatives. Almost 
everything that we do and the legislation we bring to the floor, the 
vast majority of Members support. Sometimes every Member supports the 
legislation. This is another one of those pieces of legislation that is 
good for the country and is really good for the whole world.
  Transparency and evaluation is what this bill is about. As I started 
out in my comments, many Americans don't know what we do with their 
money. Let me just give a few examples:
  Because of American aid, there are now millions of girls in other 
parts of the world who are getting an education. Because of Americans 
and their interest, half of the AIDS epidemic in Africa has been cut. 
It has been cut in half, the epidemic of AIDS in Africa. The life 
expectancy of people in Afghanistan, because of American aid, has grown 
20 years. When it comes to the youth, many children throughout the 
world are dying because they have dirty water. It is not clean. Because 
of USAID and their help, that number has been cut in half. The children 
are now living because they are getting clean water.
  Those are just a few things that are being done. We should be proud 
of those accomplishments.
  We also want to make sure that those accomplishments and what we are 
doing with American money is transparent. We want to continue to 
evaluate it to see if it is working. If it is working, let's continue 
it, and if it is not working, then let's do something else.
  I do want to thank those involved for their support, especially the 
chairman and the ranking member.
  H.R. 3766 will give us the tools to make foreign aid programs 
efficient and effective, two words that sometimes aren't used with 
``government.'' I strongly support this legislation.
  And that is just the way it is.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) that the House suspend the rules and 
pass the bill, H.R. 3766, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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