[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 104 (Tuesday, June 28, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4678-S4679]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 4927. Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Mr. Cardin) proposed an amendment
to the bill H.R. 3766, to direct the President to establish guidelines
for covered United States foreign assistance programs, and for other
purposes; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Aid Transparency and
Accountability Act of 2016''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
(C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives; and
(D) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Evaluation.--The term ``evaluation'' means, with
respect to a covered United States foreign 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--
(A) making judgments and evaluations regarding the program;
(B) improving program effectiveness; and
(C) informing decisions about current and future
programming.
(3) Covered united states foreign assistance.--The term
``covered United States foreign assistance'' means assistance
authorized under--
(A) part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2151 et seq.), except for--
(i) title IV of chapter 2 of such part (relating to the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation); and
(ii) chapter 3 of such part (relating to International
Organizations and Programs);
(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.).
SEC. 3. GUIDELINES FOR COVERED UNITED STATES FOREIGN
ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.
(a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are to--
(1) evaluate the performance of covered United States
foreign assistance and its contribution to the policies,
strategies, projects, program goals, and priorities
undertaken by the Federal Government;
(2) support and promote innovative programs to improve
effectiveness; and
(3) coordinate the monitoring and evaluation processes of
Federal departments and agencies that administer covered
United States foreign 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, according to best practices of
monitoring and evaluation studies and analyses, for the
establishment of measurable goals, performance metrics, and
monitoring and evaluation plans that can be applied with
reasonable consistency to covered United States foreign
assistance.
(c) Objectives of Guidelines.--
(1) In general.--The guidelines established pursuant to
subsection (b) shall provide direction to Federal departments
and agencies that administer covered United States foreign
assistance on--
(A) monitoring the use of resources;
(B) evaluating the outcomes and impacts of covered United
States foreign assistance projects and programs; and
(C) applying the findings and conclusions of such
evaluations to proposed project and program design.
[[Page S4679]]
(2) Objectives.--The guidelines established pursuant to
subsection (b) shall provide direction to Federal departments
and agencies that administer covered United States foreign
assistance on how to--
(A) establish annual monitoring and evaluation objectives
and timetables 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, including measurable goals and performance metrics,
and to identify the resources necessary to conduct such
evaluations, which should be covered by program costs;
(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 covered United
States foreign assistance programs;
(E) establish methodologies for the collection of data,
including baseline data to serve 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, or conduct performance evaluations and provide a
justification for not conducting an impact evaluation when
such an evaluation is deemed inappropriate or impracticable;
(H) develop a clearinghouse capacity for the collection,
dissemination, and preservation of knowledge and lessons
learned to guide future programs for United States foreign
assistance personnel, implementing partners, the donor
community, and aid recipient governments;
(I) internally distribute evaluation reports;
(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, as appropriate,
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, reliable, and timely data, including
from local beneficiaries and stakeholders, are available to
monitoring and evaluation personnel to permit the objective
evaluation of the effectiveness of covered United States
foreign assistance programs, including an assessment of
assumptions and limitations in such evaluations; and
(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) President's Report.--Not later than 18 months after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit
a report to the appropriate congressional committees that
contains a detailed description of the guidelines established
pursuant to subsection (b). The report shall be submitted in
unclassified form, but it may contain a classified annex.
(e) Comptroller General's Report.--The Comptroller General
of the United States shall, not later than 18 months after
the report required by subsection (d) is submitted to
Congress, submit to the appropriate congressional committees
a report that--
(1) analyzes the guidelines established pursuant to
subsection (b); and
(2) assesses the implementation of the guidelines by the
agencies, bureaus, and offices that implement covered United
States foreign assistance as outlined in the President's
budget request.
SEC. 4. INFORMATION ON COVERED UNITED STATES FOREIGN
ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.
(a) Publication of Information.--
(1) Update of existing website.--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 website,
``ForeignAssistance.gov'', to make publicly available
comprehensive, timely, and comparable information on covered
United States foreign assistance programs, including all
information required under subsection (b) that is available
to the Secretary of State.
(2) Information sharing.--Not later than 2 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter,
the head of each Federal department or agency that
administers covered United States foreign assistance shall
provide the Secretary of State with comprehensive information
about the covered United States foreign assistance programs
carried out by such department or agency.
(3) Updates to website.--Not later than 2 years after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter,
the Secretary of State shall publish, on the
``ForeignAssistance.gov'' website or through a successor
online publication, the information provided under subsection
(b).
(b) Matters to Be Included.--
(1) In general.--The information described in subsection
(a)--
(A) shall be published for each country on a detailed
basis, such as award-by-award; or
(B) if assistance is provided on a regional level, shall be
published for each such region on a detailed basis, such as
award-by-award.
(2) Types of information.--
(A) In general.--To ensure the transparency,
accountability, and effectiveness of covered United States
foreign 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, and evaluations in accordance with section
3(c)(2)(J);
(ii) basic descriptive summaries for covered United States
foreign assistance programs and awards under such programs;
and
(iii) obligations and expenditures.
(B) Publication.--Each type of information described in
subparagraph (A) shall be published or updated on the
appropriate website not later than 90 days after the date on
which the information is issued.
(C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this paragraph may be
construed to require a Federal department or agency that
administers covered United States foreign assistance to
provide any information that does not relate to, or is not
otherwise required by, the covered United States foreign
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.
(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, including the
basis for such determination, in writing to the appropriate
congressional committees.
(C) Form.--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 under paragraph (1),
(2), or (3) of subsection (a), 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) not to make the
information publicly available, the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget, in consultation with the head of such
department or agency, not later than one year after the date
of the enactment of this Act, shall submit a consolidated
report to the appropriate congressional committees that
includes, 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) a description of the department's or agency's plan and
timeline for--
(i) making such information publicly available; and
(ii) ensuring that such information is made publicly
available in subsequent years.
(c) Scope of Information.--The online publication required
under subsection (a) shall, at a minimum--
(1) in each of the fiscal years 2016 through 2019, provide
the information required under subsection (b) for fiscal
years 2015 through the current fiscal year; and
(2) for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter,
provide the information required under subsection (b) for the
immediately preceding 5 fiscal years in a fully searchable
form.
(d) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United
States Agency for International Development should coordinate
the consolidation of processes and data collection and
presentation for the Department of State's website,
``ForeignAssistance.gov'', and the United States Agency for
International Development's website, ``Explorer.USAID.gov'',
to the extent that is possible to maximize efficiencies, no
later than the end of fiscal year 2018.
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