In the Senate of the United States, 

June 28, 2016. 

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 3766) entitled ‘‘An Act to direct the President to 

establish guidelines for United States foreign development 

and economic assistance programs, and for other purposes.’’, 

do pass with the following 

AMENDMENTS: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 

following: 

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Aid Trans3 parency and Accountability Act of 2016’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT7 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit8 tees’’ means— 
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1 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

2 the Senate; 

3 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

4 Senate; 

5 (C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

6 House of Representatives; and 

7 (D) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

8 House of Representatives. 

9 (2) EVALUATION.—The term ‘‘evaluation’’ 

10 means, with respect to a covered United States foreign 

11 assistance program, the systematic collection and 

12 analysis of information about the characteristics and 

13 outcomes of the program, including projects conducted 

14 under such program, as a basis for— 

15 (A) making judgments and evaluations re16 garding the program; 

17 (B) improving program effectiveness; and 

18 (C) informing decisions about current and 

19 future programming. 

20 (3) COVERED UNITED STATES FOREIGN ASSIST21 ANCE.—The term ‘‘covered United States foreign as22 sistance’’ means assistance authorized under— 

23 (A) part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

24 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), except for— 
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1 (i) title IV of chapter 2 of such part 

2 (relating to the Overseas Private Investment 

3 Corporation); and 

4 (ii) chapter 3 of such part (relating to 

5 International Organizations and Pro6 grams); 

7 (B) chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign As8 sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.; re9 lating to Economic Support Fund); 

10 (C) the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 

11 (22 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.); and 

12 (D) the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1721 

13 et seq.). 

14 SEC. 3. GUIDELINES FOR COVERED UNITED STATES FOR15 EIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 

16 (a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are to— 

17 (1) evaluate the performance of covered United 

18 States foreign assistance and its contribution to the 

19 policies, strategies, projects, program goals, and prior20 ities undertaken by the Federal Government; 

21 (2) support and promote innovative programs to 

22 improve effectiveness; and 

23 (3) coordinate the monitoring and evaluation 

24 processes of Federal departments and agencies that 

25 administer covered United States foreign assistance. 
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1 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF GUIDELINES.—Not later than 

2 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

3 President shall set forth guidelines, according to best prac4 tices of monitoring and evaluation studies and analyses, for 

5 the establishment of measurable goals, performance metrics, 

6 and monitoring and evaluation plans that can be applied 

7 with reasonable consistency to covered United States foreign 

8 assistance. 

9 (c) OBJECTIVES OF GUIDELINES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The guidelines established 

11 pursuant to subsection (b) shall provide direction to 

12 Federal departments and agencies that administer 

13 covered United States foreign assistance on— 

14 (A) monitoring the use of resources; 

15 (B) evaluating the outcomes and impacts of 

16 covered United States foreign assistance projects 

17 and programs; and 

18 (C) applying the findings and conclusions 

19 of such evaluations to proposed project and pro20 gram design. 

21 (2) OBJECTIVES.—The guidelines established 

22 pursuant to subsection (b) shall provide direction to 

23 Federal departments and agencies that administer 

24 covered United States foreign assistance on how to— 
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1 (A) establish annual monitoring and eval2 uation objectives and timetables to plan and 

3 manage the process of monitoring, evaluating, 

4 analyzing progress, and applying learning to5 ward achieving results; 

6 (B) develop specific project monitoring and 

7 evaluation plans, including measurable goals 

8 and performance metrics, and to identify the re9 sources necessary to conduct such evaluations, 

10 which should be covered by program costs; 

11 (C) apply rigorous monitoring and evalua12 tion methodologies to such programs, including 

13 through the use of impact evaluations, ex-post 

14 evaluations, or other methods, as appropriate, 

15 that clearly define program logic, inputs, out16 puts, intermediate outcomes, and end outcomes; 

17 (D) disseminate guidelines for the develop18 ment and implementation of monitoring and 

19 evaluation programs to all personnel, especially 

20 in the field, who are responsible for the design, 

21 implementation, and management of covered 

22 United States foreign assistance programs; 

23 (E) establish methodologies for the collection 

24 of data, including baseline data to serve as a ref-
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1 erence point against which progress can be meas2 ured; 

3 (F) evaluate, at least once in their lifetime, 

4 all programs whose dollar value equals or exceeds 

5 the median program size for the relevant office or 

6 bureau or an equivalent calculation to ensure the 

7 majority of program resources are evaluated; 

8 (G) conduct impact evaluations on all pilot 

9 programs before replicating, or conduct perform10 ance evaluations and provide a justification for 

11 not conducting an impact evaluation when such 

12 an evaluation is deemed inappropriate or im13 practicable; 

14 (H) develop a clearinghouse capacity for the 

15 collection, dissemination, and preservation of 

16 knowledge and lessons learned to guide future 

17 programs for United States foreign assistance 

18 personnel, implementing partners, the donor 

19 community, and aid recipient governments; 

20 (I) internally distribute evaluation reports; 

21 (J) publicly report each evaluation, includ22 ing an executive summary, a description of the 

23 evaluation methodology, key findings, appro24 priate context, including quantitative and quali25 tative data when available, and recommenda-
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1 tions made in the evaluation within 90 days 

2 after the completion of the evaluation; 

3 (K) undertake collaborative partnerships 

4 and coordinate efforts with the academic commu5 nity, implementing partners, and national and 

6 international institutions, as appropriate, that 

7 have expertise in program monitoring, evalua8 tion, and analysis when such partnerships pro9 vide needed expertise or significantly improve 

10 the evaluation and analysis; 

11 (L) ensure verifiable, reliable, and timely 

12 data, including from local beneficiaries and 

13 stakeholders, are available to monitoring and 

14 evaluation personnel to permit the objective eval15 uation of the effectiveness of covered United 

16 States foreign assistance programs, including an 

17 assessment of assumptions and limitations in 

18 such evaluations; and 

19 (M) ensure that standards of professional 

20 evaluation organizations for monitoring and 

21 evaluation efforts are employed, including ensur22 ing the integrity and independence of evalua23 tions, permitting and encouraging the exercise of 

24 professional judgment, and providing for quality 
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1 control and assurance in the monitoring and 

2 evaluation process. 

3 (d) PRESIDENT’S REPORT.—Not later than 18 months 

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

5 shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional com6 mittees that contains a detailed description of the guidelines 

7 established pursuant to subsection (b). The report shall be 

8 submitted in unclassified form, but it may contain a classi9 fied annex. 

10 (e) COMPTROLLER GENERAL’S REPORT.—The Comp11 troller General of the United States shall, not later than 

12 18 months after the report required by subsection (d) is sub13 mitted to Congress, submit to the appropriate congressional 

14 committees a report that— 

15 (1) analyzes the guidelines established pursuant 

16 to subsection (b); and 

17 (2) assesses the implementation of the guidelines 

18 by the agencies, bureaus, and offices that implement 

19 covered United States foreign assistance as outlined 

20 in the President’s budget request. 

21 SEC. 4. INFORMATION ON COVERED UNITED STATES FOR22 EIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 

23 (a) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.— 

24 (1) UPDATE OF EXISTING WEBSITE.—Not later 

25 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 
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1 Act, the Secretary of State shall update the Depart2 ment of State’s website, ‘‘ForeignAssistance.gov’’, to 

3 make publicly available comprehensive, timely, and 

4 comparable information on covered United States for5 eign assistance programs, including all information 

6 required under subsection (b) that is available to the 

7 Secretary of State. 

8 (2) INFORMATION SHARING.—Not later than 2 

9 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

10 quarterly thereafter, the head of each Federal depart11 ment or agency that administers covered United 

12 States foreign assistance shall provide the Secretary 

13 of State with comprehensive information about the 

14 covered United States foreign assistance programs 

15 carried out by such department or agency. 

16 (3) UPDATES TO WEBSITE.—Not later than 2 

17 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

18 quarterly thereafter, the Secretary of State shall pub19 lish, on the ‘‘ForeignAssistance.gov’’ website or 

20 through a successor online publication, the informa21 tion provided under subsection (b). 

22 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The information described in 

24 subsection (a)— 
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1 (A) shall be published for each country on 

2 a detailed basis, such as award-by-award; or 

3 (B) if assistance is provided on a regional 

4 level, shall be published for each such region on 

5 a detailed basis, such as award-by-award. 

6 (2) TYPES OF INFORMATION.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—To ensure the trans8 parency, accountability, and effectiveness of cov9 ered United States foreign assistance programs, 

10 the information described in subsection (a) shall 

11 include— 

12 (i) links to all regional, country, and 

13 sector assistance strategies, annual budget 

14 documents, congressional budget justifica15 tions, and evaluations in accordance with 

16 section 3(c)(2)(J); 

17 (ii) basic descriptive summaries for 

18 covered United States foreign assistance 

19 programs and awards under such programs; 

20 and 

21 (iii) obligations and expenditures. 

22 (B) PUBLICATION.—Each type of informa23 tion described in subparagraph (A) shall be pub24 lished or updated on the appropriate website not 
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1 later than 90 days after the date on which the 

2 information is issued. 

3 (C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

4 this paragraph may be construed to require a 

5 Federal department or agency that administers 

6 covered United States foreign assistance to pro7 vide any information that does not relate to, or 

8 is not otherwise required by, the covered United 

9 States foreign assistance programs carried out 

10 by such department or agency. 

11 (3) REPORT IN LIEU OF INCLUSION.— 

12 (A) HEALTH OR SECURITY OF IMPLE13 MENTING PARTNERS.—If the head of a Federal 

14 department or agency, in consultation with the 

15 Secretary of State, makes a determination that 

16 the inclusion of a required item of information 

17 online would jeopardize the health or security of 

18 an implementing partner or program beneficiary 

19 or would require the release of proprietary infor20 mation of an implementing partner or program 

21 beneficiary, the head of the Federal department 

22 or agency shall provide such determination in 

23 writing to the appropriate congressional commit24 tees, including the basis for such determination. 
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1 (B) NATIONAL INTERESTS OF THE UNITED

2 STATES.—If the Secretary of State makes a de3 termination that the inclusion of a required item 

4 of information online would be detrimental to 

5 the national interests of the United States, the 

6 Secretary of State shall provide such determina7 tion, including the basis for such determination, 

8 in writing to the appropriate congressional com9 mittees. 

10 (C) FORM.—Information provided under 

11 this paragraph may be provided in classified 

12 form, as appropriate. 

13 (4) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—If a Federal depart14 ment or agency fails to comply with the requirements 

15 under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a), or 

16 subsection (c), with respect to providing information 

17 described in subsection (a), and the information is 

18 not subject to a determination under subparagraph 

19 (A) or (B) of paragraph (3) not to make the informa20 tion publicly available, the Director of the Office of 

21 Management and Budget, in consultation with the 

22 head of such department or agency, not later than one 

23 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, shall 

24 submit a consolidated report to the appropriate con25 gressional committees that includes, with respect to 
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1 each required item of information not made publicly 

2 available— 

3 (A) a detailed explanation of the reason for 

4 not making such information publicly available; 

5 and 

6 (B) a description of the department’s or 

7 agency’s plan and timeline for— 

8 (i) making such information publicly 

9 available; and 

10 (ii) ensuring that such information is 

11 made publicly available in subsequent 

12 years. 

13 (c) SCOPE OF INFORMATION.—The online publication 

14 required under subsection (a) shall, at a minimum— 

15 (1) in each of the fiscal years 2016 through 2019, 

16 provide the information required under subsection (b) 

17 for fiscal years 2015 through the current fiscal year; 

18 and 

19 (2) for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year 

20 thereafter, provide the information required under 

21 subsection (b) for the immediately preceding 5 fiscal 

22 years in a fully searchable form. 

23 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 

24 that the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the 

25 United States Agency for International Development should 
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1 coordinate the consolidation of processes and data collection 

2 and presentation for the Department of State’s website, 

3 ‘‘ForeignAssistance.gov’’, and the United States Agency for 

4 International Development’s website, ‘‘Ex5 plorer.USAID.gov’’, to the extent that is possible to maxi6 mize efficiencies, no later than the end of fiscal year 2018. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to direct the 

President to establish guidelines for covered United 

States foreign assistance programs, and for other purposes.’’. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H.R. 3766 

AMENDMENTS