[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 130, 114th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


Public Law 114-191
114th Congress

An Act


 
To direct the President to establish guidelines for covered United
States foreign assistance programs, and for other purposes. <>

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 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.).

[[Page 667]]

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.
(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

[[Page 668]]

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.

[[Page 669]]

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.--

[[Page 670]]

(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,

[[Page 671]]

``Explorer.USAID.gov'', to the extent that is possible to maximize
efficiencies, no later than the end of fiscal year 2018.

Approved July 15, 2016.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--H.R. 3766 (S. 2184):
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
Vol. 161 (2015):
Dec. 8, considered and passed House.
Vol. 162 (2016):
June 28, considered and passed
Senate, amended.
July 5, House concurred in Senate
amendments.