[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4646-S4647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2291. Mr. COONS submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by 
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2025 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of title XII, add the following:

     Subtitle G--Locally Led Development and Humanitarian Response

     SEC. 1291. SHORT TITLE.

       This subtitle may be cited as the ``Locally Led Development 
     and Humanitarian Response Act''.

     SEC. 1292. PURPOSE.

       The purpose of this subtitle is to encourage USAID to 
     pursue a model of locally led development and humanitarian 
     response and expanded engagement and partnership with local 
     entities.

     SEC. 1293. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) locally led development and humanitarian response--
       (A) is more equitable and inclusive;
       (B) is linked to more efficient and sustainable development 
     and humanitarian outcomes; and
       (C) is vital to building long-term self-reliance;
       (2) over multiple presidential administrations, USAID has 
     sought to achieve greater development outcomes through 
     stronger local partnerships, including through ``Country 
     Ownership'', ``The Journey to Self-Reliance'', and ``Locally 
     Led Development'';
       (3) USAID should increase direct funding to local entities, 
     including by increasing the amount of development and 
     humanitarian assistance to such entities;
       (4) USAID should ensure its programming enables local 
     communities to exercise leadership over priorities, project 
     design, implementation, and measuring and evaluating results 
     of such programs;
       (5) working with local partners often requires more time 
     and resources than traditional partners, including extended 
     availability of funds and additional staff resources; and
       (6) increased flexibility is critical to enable USAID to 
     respond to local priorities and leverage local capacities, 
     including with respect to staffing, availability of funds, 
     program design, and acquisition and assistance processes.

     SEC. 1294. DEFINITIONS.

       In this subtitle:
       (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) NICRA.--The term ``NICRA'' means Negotiated Indirect 
     Cost Rate.
       (3) USAID.--The term ``USAID'' means the United States 
     Agency for International Development.

     SEC. 1295. WORKING WITH LOCAL PARTNERS.

       The Administrator of USAID should, to the extent feasible 
     and appropriate, localize the USAID partner base by--
       (1) simplifying and increasing access to USAID resources 
     for local partners in humanitarian and development sectors, 
     including local partners who have relations, agency, or power 
     structures in place that produced, or can produce, strong 
     trust, accountability, and legitimacy in the communities or 
     networks in which such partners work;
       (2) diversifying award types to streamline performance 
     requirements and working with the Office of Management and 
     Budget to address threshold constraints, such as fixed

[[Page S4647]]

     amount subaward thresholds, category management award 
     targets, and other thresholds, policies, and contracting 
     incentives that pose a barrier to effectively supporting 
     local partners;
       (3) streamlining monitoring and evaluation, periodic 
     reporting, and other USAID reporting requirements;
       (4) ensuring USAID staff are able and encouraged to conduct 
     regular consultation with local partners in local languages 
     of the host countries, making available solicitations for 
     acquisitions and assistance and accepting submissions in 
     local languages, video format, or verbal presentations, 
     including by--
       (A) investing in translation services;
       (B) hosting workshop-based engagements; and
       (C) advertising solicitations in local trade publications, 
     local media including newspapers and radio, local community 
     centers, and local online forums;
       (5) allowing and promoting multi-year, flexible, tiered, 
     and milestone-based funding for new programs and to bring 
     successful programs to scale;
       (6) strengthening the capacity of USAID staff and local 
     partners to undertake risk management and mitigation;
       (7) supporting consistent and unimpeded access to full cost 
     recovery for local partners implementing activities funded by 
     USAID;
       (8) assessing current definitions of ``local partner'', 
     ``local ownership'', and ``localization'' used by USAID for 
     programming and reporting metrics, and updating such 
     definitions, as necessary;
       (9) undertaking outreach campaigns and engaging with local 
     partners (formally and informally) to raise awareness about 
     opportunities and the process for applying for and managing 
     awards in compliance with applicable Federal regulations and 
     USAID policies, and ensuring such engagement is accessible to 
     all entities, including unregistered and informal 
     organizations;
       (10) strengthening oversight of capacity strengthening 
     components of awards to ensure United States and 
     international awardees are making good-faith efforts to 
     strengthen local organizations' capacities, including 
     independent and external evaluations to evaluate the 
     mentorship process and regular feedback loops;
       (11) expeditiously solving the shortage of contracting 
     officers within USAID, including granting warrants to 
     qualified staff and providing appropriate training;
       (12) addressing performance evaluation criteria to create 
     greater workforce incentives for USAID personnel to champion 
     locally-led development;
       (13) addressing internal delays and recipient organization 
     issues that result in the required extension of provisional 
     NICRAs, in accordance with section 200.414(g) of title 2, 
     Code of Federal Regulations;
       (14) conducting NICRA seminars in local languages and 
     providing NICRA documentation in local languages; and
       (15) ensuring that contracting officers and agreement 
     officers communicate to awardees who do not submit for a 
     NICRA that they are eligible for the de minimis indirect cost 
     rate.

     SEC. 1296. INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS.

       Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this Act, the Administrator of USAID shall initiate policy 
     actions, including rulemaking, if necessary, to 
     institutionalize the actions taken pursuant to section 615, 
     to the extent appropriate and feasible, within all relevant 
     USAID internal rules and regulations, including--
       (1) the Automated Directive System;
       (2) the Acquisition and Assistance Strategy;
       (3) the Local Capacity Strengthening Policy;
       (4) the Localization of Humanitarian Assistance Strategy;
       (5) the USAID Acquisition Regulation;
       (6) the Local Systems Framework; and
       (7) the Private Sector Engagement Policy.

     SEC. 1297. AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT APPLICATIONS, PROPOSALS, AND 
                   CONTRACTING AGREEMENTS IN LOCAL LANGUAGES AND 
                   LOCAL LANGUAGE SUPPORT.

       (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, USAID is authorized to accept applications or proposals 
     in languages other than English if--
       (1) such acceptance eases the burden of a local entity 
     working with USAID; and
       (2) USAID staff are able to effectively evaluate such 
     applications or proposals.
       (b) Local Language Support.--
       (1) In general.--The Administrator of USAID shall conduct 
     an assessment of options to enable USAID to utilize local 
     languages to support local partners with award solicitations, 
     proposals and applications, evaluations, management, and 
     close out, including advising local partners on applicable 
     United States regulations and USAID policies and local 
     country rules and regulations common in such activities.
       (2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Administrator of USAID shall 
     submit a report to Congress containing the results of the 
     assessment conducted pursuant to paragraph (1).

     SEC. 1298. MODIFICATIONS RELATING TO THE CODE OF FEDERAL 
                   REGULATIONS AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS.

       (a) Increase in the De Minimis Indirect Cost.--The 
     Administrator of USAID is authorized--
       (1) to increase the de minimis indirect cost rate provided 
     for in section 200.414 of title 2, Code of Federal 
     Regulations, or in any successor regulations, to 15 percent 
     for local entities receiving USAID assistance awards;
       (2) to establish a similar de minimis indirect cost rate of 
     15 percent for acquisitions awarded to local entities 
     pursuant to title 48, Code of Federal Regulations; and
       (3) to further increase such threshold if such action is 
     recommended by regulations promulgated by the Office of 
     Management and Budget.
       (b) Exemption for Local Entities.--The Administrator of 
     USAID is authorized to exempt local entities, as needed, from 
     the reporting requirements under the Federal Funding 
     Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6106 
     note; Public Law 109-282) to allow for a 180-day delay in 
     obtaining a unique entity identifier and registration in the 
     System for Award Management if such exemption is not granted 
     later than 30 days before the end of the award's period of 
     performance.
       (c) Local Competition Authority.--
       (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, the Administrator of USAID, or a designee of the 
     Administrator, may award contracts and other acquisition 
     instruments in which competition is limited to local entities 
     if such process would--
       (A) result in cost savings;
       (B) strengthen local capacity; or
       (C) enable USAID to deliver a program or activities more 
     sustainably or quickly than if competition were not so 
     limited.
       (2) Limitation.--The authority granted under paragraph (1) 
     may not be used--
       (A) to make acquisition awards in excess of $25,000,000; or
       (B) with respect to more than 10 percent of the amounts 
     appropriated to USAID in any fiscal year.
       (d) Use of National or International Generally Accepted 
     Accounting Principles.--The Administrator of USAID, in 
     consultation with the Administrator of the General Services 
     Administration, the Secretary of Defense, and the 
     Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 
     Administration, may permit foreign entities to use national 
     or international generally accepted accounting principles 
     instead of United States Generally Accepted Accounting 
     Principles (GAAP) for contracts or grants awarded under 
     chapter 7 of title 2, Code of Federal Regulations, or chapter 
     7 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations.

     SEC. 1299. ANNUAL REPORT.

       Not later than 180 days after the last day of each fiscal 
     year, and annually thereafter, the Administrator of USAID 
     shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and 
     publish on the USAID website a report on the progress made by 
     USAID during the most recently completed fiscal year to 
     advance locally-led development and humanitarian response, 
     which shall include, with respect to the reporting period--
       (1) the amount of funding expended directly or indirectly 
     by local entities, including through all development and 
     humanitarian assistance programs;
       (2) an assessment of how USAID is enabling more local 
     leadership of programs funded by USAID, including--
       (A) recipients of direct funding;
       (B) subrecipients and subcontractors to an international 
     implementing partner;
       (C) participants in a USAID-funded program; and
       (D) members of a community affected by a USAID program;
       (3) an assessment of progress made by USAID towards 
     implementing--
       (A) the Acquisitions and Assistance Strategy;
       (B) the Local Capacity Strengthening Policy;
       (C) the Policy on Locally Led Humanitarian Assistance; and
       (D) any other relevant strategies and policies;
       (4) an assessment of--
       (A) how USAID is using the new authorities granted under 
     sections 617 and 618; and
       (B) the impact of such authorities on the ability of USAID 
     to work with local partners; and
       (5) an assessment of--
       (A) the number of organizations with a NICRA known to USAID 
     that are utilizing provisional NICRAs for longer than 4 years 
     without a final NICRA; and
       (B) the steps that USAID recommends be taken to reduce the 
     extension of provisional NICRAs beyond 1 year.
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