[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3766 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.3766
One Hundred Fourteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
the fourth day of January, two thousand and sixteen
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.).
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 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.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.