[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 130 (Tuesday, August 1, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4684-S4686]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        REINFORCING EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY IN DEVELOPMENT ACT

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 116, H.R. 601.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 601) to enhance the transparency and 
     accelerate the impact of assistance provided under the 
     Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to promote quality basic 
     education in developing countries, to better enable such 
     countries to achieve universal access to quality basic 
     education and improved learning outcomes, to eliminate 
     duplication and waste, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, 
which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign Relations, with 
amendments, as follows:
  (The parts of the bill intended to be stricken are shown in boldface 
brackets and the parts of the bill intended to be inserted are shown in 
italics.)

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the 
     ``Reinforcing Education Accountability in Development Act'' 
     or the ``READ Act''.
       (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act 
     is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 3. Assistance to promote sustainable, quality basic education.
Sec. 4. Comprehensive integrated United States strategy to promote 
              basic education.
Sec. 5. Improving coordination and oversight.
Sec. 6. Monitoring and evaluation of programs.
Sec. 7. Transparency and reporting to Congress.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       (a) Appropriate Congressional Committees.--In this Act, the 
     term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
       (1) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
       (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
       (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
     Representatives; and
       (4) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
     Representatives.
       (b) Other Definitions.--In this Act, the terms ``basic 
     education'', ``marginalized children and vulnerable groups'', 
     ``national education plan'', ``partner country'', and 
     ``relevant Executive branch agencies and officials'' have the 
     meanings given such terms in section 105(c) of the Foreign 
     Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 3.

     SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE, QUALITY BASIC 
                   EDUCATION.

       Section 105 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
     U.S.C. 2151c) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(c) Assistance To Promote Sustainable, Quality Basic 
     Education.--
       ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
       ``(A) Basic education.--The term `basic education' 
     includes--
       ``(i) measurable improvements in literacy, numeracy, and 
     other basic skills development that prepare an individual to 
     be an active, productive member of society and the workforce;
       ``(ii) workforce development, vocational training, and 
     digital literacy informed by real market needs and 
     opportunities and that results in measurable improvements in 
     employment;
       ``(iii) programs and activities designed to demonstrably 
     improve--

       ``(I) early childhood, preprimary education, primary 
     education, and secondary education, which can be delivered in 
     formal or nonformal education settings; and
       ``(II) learning for out-of-school youth and adults; and

       ``(iv) capacity building for teachers, administrators, 
     counselors, and youth workers that results in measurable 
     improvements in student literacy, numeracy, or employment.
       ``(B) Communities of learning.--The term `communities of 
     learning' means a holistic approach to education and 
     community engagement in which schools act as the primary 
     resource center for delivery of a service to the community at 
     large, leveraging and maximizing the impact of other 
     development efforts and reducing duplication and waste.
       ``(C) Gender parity in basic education.--The term `gender 
     parity in basic education' means that girls and boys have 
     equal access to quality basic education.
       ``(D) Marginalized children and vulnerable groups.--The 
     term `marginalized children and vulnerable groups' includes 
     girls, children affected by or emerging from armed conflict 
     or humanitarian crises, children with disabilities, children 
     in remote or rural areas (including those who lack access to 
     safe water and sanitation), religious or ethnic minorities, 
     indigenous peoples, orphans and children affected by HIV/
     AIDS, child laborers, married adolescents, and victims of 
     trafficking.
       ``(E) National education plan.--The term `national 
     education plan' means a comprehensive national education plan 
     developed by partner country governments in consultation with 
     other stakeholders as a means for wide-scale improvement of 
     the country's education system, including explicit, credible 
     strategies informed by effective practices and standards to 
     achieve quality universal basic education.
       ``(F) Nonformal education.--The term `nonformal education' 
     means organized educational activities outside the 
     established formal system, whether operating separately or as 
     an important feature of a broader activity, that are intended 
     to provide students with measurable improvements in literacy, 
     numeracy, and other basic skills development that prepare an 
     individual to be an active, productive member of society and 
     the workforce.
       ``(G) Partner country.--The term `partner country' means a 
     developing country that

[[Page S4685]]

     participates in or benefits from basic education programs 
     under this subsection pursuant to the prioritization criteria 
     described in paragraph (4), including level of need, 
     opportunity for impact, and the availability of resources.
       ``(H) Relevant executive branch agencies and officials.--
     The term `relevant Executive branch agencies and officials' 
     means the Department of State, the United States Agency for 
     International Development, the Department of the Treasury, 
     the Department of Labor, the Department of Education, the 
     Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Defense, the 
     Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge 
     Corporation, the National Security Advisor, and the Director 
     of the Peace Corps.
       ``(I) Sustainability.--The term `sustainability' means, 
     with respect to any basic education program that receives 
     funding pursuant to this section, the ability of a service 
     delivery system, community, partner, or beneficiary to 
     maintain, over time, such basic education program without the 
     use of foreign assistance.
       ``(2) Policy.--In carrying out this section, it shall be 
     the policy of the United States to work with partner 
     countries, as appropriate, other donors, multilateral 
     institutions, the private sector, and nongovernmental and 
     civil society organizations, including faith-based 
     organizations and organizations that represent teachers, 
     students, and parents, to promote sustainable, quality basic 
     education through programs and activities that--
       ``(A) take into consideration and help respond to the 
     needs, capacities, and commitment of developing countries to 
     achieve measurable improvements in literacy, numeracy, and 
     other basic skills development that prepare an individual to 
     be an active, productive member of society and the workforce;
       ``(B) strengthen educational systems, promote communities 
     of learning, as appropriate, expand access to safe learning 
     environments, including by breaking down specific barriers to 
     basic education for women and girls, ensure continuity of 
     education, including in conflict settings, measurably improve 
     teacher skills and learning outcomes, and support the 
     engagement of parents in the education of their children to 
     help partner countries ensure that all children, including 
     marginalized children and other vulnerable groups, have 
     access to and benefit from quality basic education;
       ``(C) promote education as a foundation for sustained 
     economic growth and development within a comprehensive 
     assistance strategy that places partner countries on a 
     trajectory toward graduation from assistance provided under 
     this section with clearly defined benchmarks of success that 
     are used as requirements for related procurement vehicles, 
     such as grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements; and
       ``(D) monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and quality of 
     basic education programs in partner countries.
       ``(3) Principles.--In carrying out the policy referred to 
     in paragraph (2), the United States shall be guided by the 
     following principles of aid effectiveness:
       ``(A) Alignment.--Assistance provided under this section to 
     support programs and activities under this subsection shall 
     be aligned with and advance United States foreign policy and 
     economic interests.
       ``(B) Country ownership.--To the greatest extent 
     practicable, assistance provided under this section to 
     support programs and activities under this subsection should 
     be aligned with and support the national education plans and 
     country development strategies of partner countries, 
     including activities that are appropriate for and meet the 
     needs of local and indigenous cultures.
       ``(C) Coordination.--
       ``(i) In general.--Assistance provided under this section 
     to support programs and activities under this subsection 
     should be coordinated with and leverage the unique 
     capabilities and resources of local and national governments 
     in partner countries, other donors, multilateral 
     institutions, the private sector, and nongovernmental and 
     civil society organizations, including faith-based 
     organizations and organizations that represent teachers, 
     students, and parents.
       ``(ii) Multilateral programs and initiatives.--Assistance 
     provided under this section to support programs and 
     activities under this subsection should be coordinated with 
     and support proven multilateral education programs and 
     financing mechanisms, which may include the Global 
     Partnership for Education, that demonstrate commitment to 
     efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, and accountability.
       ``(D) Efficiency.--The President shall seek to improve the 
     efficiency and effectiveness of assistance provided under 
     this section to support programs and activities under this 
     subsection by coordinating the related efforts of relevant 
     Executive branch agencies and officials.
       ``(E) Effectiveness.--Programs and activities supported 
     under this subsection--
       ``(i) shall be consistent with the policies and principles 
     set forth in this subsection;
       ``(ii) shall be designed to achieve specific, measurable 
     goals and objectives that are directly related to the 
     provision of basic education (as defined in this section); 
     and
       ``(iii) shall include appropriate targets, metrics, and 
     indicators that--

       ``(I) move a country along the path to graduation from 
     assistance provided under this subsection; and
       ``(II) can be applied with reasonable consistency across 
     such programs and activities to measure progress and 
     outcomes.

       ``(F) Transparency and accountability.--Programs and 
     activities supported under this subsection shall be subject 
     to rigorous monitoring and evaluation, which may include 
     impact evaluations, the results of which shall be made 
     publically available in a fully searchable, electronic 
     format.
       ``(4) Priority and other requirements.--The President shall 
     ensure that assistance provided under this section to support 
     programs and activities under this subsection is aligned with 
     the foreign policy and economic interests of the United 
     States and, subject to such alignment, priority is given to 
     developing countries in which--
       ``(A) there is the greatest need and opportunity to expand 
     access to basic education and to improve learning outcomes, 
     including for marginalized and vulnerable groups, 
     particularly women and girls to ensure gender parity in basic 
     education, or populations affected by conflict or crisis; and
       ``(B) such assistance can produce a substantial, measurable 
     impact on children and educational systems.''.

     SEC. 4. COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRATED UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO 
                   PROMOTE BASIC EDUCATION.

       (a) Strategy Required.--[Not later than October 1, 2017, 
     the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
     committees a comprehensive United States strategy to be 
     carried out during fiscal years 2018 through 2022 to promote 
     quality basic education in partner countries by--]Not later 
     than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
     the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
     committees a comprehensive United States strategy to be 
     carried out during the following five fiscal years to promote 
     quality basic education in partner countries by--
       (1) seeking to equitably expand access to basic education 
     for all children, particularly marginalized children and 
     vulnerable groups; and
       (2) measurably improving the quality of basic education and 
     learning outcomes.
       (b) Requirement To Consult.--In developing the strategy 
     required under subsection (a), the President shall consult 
     with--
       (1) the appropriate congressional committees;
       (2) relevant Executive branch agencies and officials;
       (3) partner country governments; and
       (4) local and international nongovernmental organizations, 
     including faith-based organizations and organizations 
     representing students, teachers, and parents, and other 
     development partners engaged in basic education assistance 
     programs in developing countries.
       (c) Public Comment.--The President shall provide an 
     opportunity for public comment on the strategy required under 
     subsection (a).
       (d) Elements.--The strategy required under subsection (a)--
       (1) shall be developed and implemented consistent with the 
     principles set forth in section 105(c) of the Foreign 
     Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 3; and
       (2) shall seek--
       (A) to prioritize assistance provided under this subsection 
     to countries that are partners of the United States and whose 
     populations are most in need of improved basic education, as 
     determined by indicators such as literacy and numeracy rates;
       (B) to build the capacity of relevant actors in partner 
     countries, including in government and in civil society, to 
     develop and implement national education plans that 
     measurably improve basic education;
       (C) to identify and replicate successful interventions that 
     improve access to and quality of basic education in conflict 
     settings and in partner countries;
       (D) to project general levels of resources needed to 
     achieve stated program objectives;
       (E) to develop means to track implementation in partner 
     countries and ensure that such countries are expending 
     appropriate domestic resources and instituting any relevant 
     legal, regulatory, or institutional reforms needed to achieve 
     stated program objectives;
       (F) to leverage United States capabilities, including 
     through technical assistance, training, and research; and
       (G) to improve coordination and reduce duplication among 
     relevant Executive branch agencies and officials, other 
     donors, multilateral institutions, nongovernmental 
     organizations, and governments in partner countries.

     SEC. 5. IMPROVING COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT.

       (a) Senior Coordinator of United States International Basic 
     Education Assistance.--There is established within the United 
     States Agency for International Development a Senior 
     Coordinator of United States International Basic Education 
     Assistance (referred to in this section as the ``Senior 
     Coordinator''). The Senior Coordinator shall be appointed by 
     the President, shall be a current USAID employee serving in a 
     career or noncareer position in the Senior Executive Service 
     or at the level of a Deputy Assistant Administrator or 
     higher, and shall serve concurrently as the Senior 
     Coordinator.
       (b) Duties.--
       (1) In general.--The Senior Coordinator shall have primary 
     responsibility for the oversight and coordination of all 
     resources

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     and activities of the United States Government relating to 
     the promotion of international basic education programs and 
     activities.
       (2) Specific duties.--The Senior Coordinator shall--
       (A) facilitate program and policy coordination of 
     international basic education programs and activities among 
     relevant Executive branch agencies and officials, partner 
     governments, multilateral institutions, the private sector, 
     and nongovernmental and civil society organizations;
       (B) develop and revise the strategy required under section 
     4;
       (C) monitor, evaluate, and report on activities undertaken 
     pursuant to the strategy required under section 4; and
       (D) establish due diligence criteria for all recipients of 
     funds provided by the United States to carry out activities 
     under this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
       (c) Offset.--In order to eliminate duplication of effort 
     and activities and to offset any costs incurred by the United 
     States Agency for International Development in appointing the 
     Senior Coordinator under subsection (a), the President shall, 
     after consulting with appropriate congressional committees, 
     eliminate a position within the United States Agency for 
     International Development (unless otherwise authorized or 
     required by law) that the President determines to be 
     necessary to fully offset such costs and eliminate 
     duplication.

     SEC. 6. MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS.

       The President shall seek to ensure that programs carried 
     out under the strategy required under section 4 shall--
       (1) apply rigorous monitoring and evaluation methodologies 
     to determine if programs and activities provided under this 
     subsection accomplish measurable improvements in literacy, 
     numeracy, or other basic skills development that prepare an 
     individual to be an active, productive member of society and 
     the workforce;
       (2) include methodological guidance in the implementation 
     plan and support systemic data collection using 
     internationally comparable indicators, norms, and 
     methodologies, to the extent practicable and appropriate;
       (3) disaggregate all data collected and reported by age, 
     gender, marital status, disability, and location, to the 
     extent practicable and appropriate;
       (4) include funding for both short- and long-term 
     monitoring and evaluation to enable assessment of the 
     sustainability and scalability of assistance programs; and
       (5) support the increased use and public availability of 
     education data for improved decision making, program 
     effectiveness, and monitoring of global progress.

     SEC. 7. TRANSPARENCY AND REPORTING TO CONGRESS.

       (a) Annual Report on the Implementation of Strategy.--[Not 
     later than each March 31 immediately following a fiscal year 
     during which the strategy developed pursuant to section 4(a) 
     was carried out, the President shall--]Not later than 180 
     days after the end of each fiscal year during which the 
     strategy developed pursuant to section 4(a) is carried out, 
     the President shall--
       (1) submit a report to the appropriate congressional 
     committees that describes the implementation of such 
     strategy; and
       (2) make the report described in paragraph (1) available to 
     the public.
       (b) Matters To Be Included.--The report required under 
     subsection (a) shall include--
       (1) a description of the efforts made by relevant Executive 
     branch agencies and officials to implement the strategy 
     developed pursuant to section 4, with a particular focus on 
     the activities carried out under the strategy;
       (2) a description of the extent to which each partner 
     country selected to receive assistance for basic education 
     meets the priority criteria specified in section 105(c) of 
     the Foreign Assistance Act, as added by section 3; and
       (3) a description of the progress achieved over the 
     reporting period toward meeting the goals, objectives, 
     benchmarks, and timeframes specified in the strategy 
     developed pursuant to section 4 at the program level, as 
     developed pursuant to monitoring and evaluation specified in 
     section 6, with particular emphasis on whether there are 
     demonstrable student improvements in literacy, numeracy, or 
     other basic skills development that prepare an individual to 
     be an active, productive member of society and the workforce.

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
committee-reported amendments be agreed to, the Rubio amendment at the 
desk be agreed to, and the bill, as amended, be considered read a third 
time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendments were agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 743) was agreed to, as follows:

 (Purpose: To add provisions regarding the promotion of United States 
values and the reduction of childhood exposure to extremist ideologies)

       On page 8, line 20, strike ``; and'' and insert a 
     semicolon.
       On page 8, line 23, strike the period at the end and insert 
     ``; and''.
       On page 8, between lines 23 and 24, insert the following:
       ``(E) promote United States values, especially respect for 
     all persons and freedoms of religion, speech, and the press.
       On page 12, line 14, strike ``; and'' and insert a 
     semicolon.
       On page 12, strike line 17 and insert ``educational 
     systems; and''.
       On page 12, between lines 17 and 18, insert the following:
       ``(C) there is the greatest opportunity to reduce childhood 
     and adolescence exposure to or engagement in violent 
     extremism or extremist ideologies.''.

  The amendments were ordered to be engrossed, and the bill to be read 
a third time.
  The bill was read the third time.
  Mr. PORTMAN. I know of no further debate on the bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
  Hearing none, the bill having been read the third time, the question 
is, Shall the bill pass?
  The bill (H.R. 601), as amended, was passed.
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion 
to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________