II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 615 

To establish an interagency program to assist countries in North Africa 

and West Africa to improve immediate and long-term capabilities to 

counter terrorist threats, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 5, 2021 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself and Mr. RISCH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To establish an interagency program to assist countries in 

North Africa and West Africa to improve immediate 

and long-term capabilities to counter terrorist threats, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trans-Sahara Counter5 terrorism Partnership Program Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) terrorist and violent extremist organiza2 tions, such as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, 

3 Boko Haram, the Islamic State of West Africa, and 

4 other affiliated groups, have killed tens of thousands 

5 of innocent civilians, displaced populations, desta6 bilized local and national governments, and caused 

7 mass human suffering in the affected communities; 

8 (2) poor governance, political and economic 

9 marginalization, and lack of accountability for 

10 human rights abuses by security forces are drivers 

11 of extremism; 

12 (3) it is in the national security interest of the 

13 United States— 

14 (A) to combat the spread of terrorism and 

15 violent extremism; and 

16 (B) to build the capacity of partner coun17 tries to combat such threats in Africa; 

18 (4) terrorist and violent extremist organizations 

19 exploit vulnerable and marginalized communities 

20 suffering from poverty, lack of economic opportunity 

21 (particularly among youth populations), corruption, 

22 and weak governance; and 

23 (5) a comprehensive, coordinated interagency 

24 approach is needed to develop an effective strategy— 


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1 (A) to address the security challenges in 

2 the Sahel-Maghreb; 

3 (B) to appropriately allocate resources and 

4 de-conflict programs; and 

5 (C) to maximize the effectiveness of United 

6 States defense, diplomatic, and development ca7 pabilities. 

8 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

9 It is the policy of the United States to assist coun10 tries in North Africa and West Africa, and other allies 

11 and partners that are active in those regions, in combating 

12 terrorism and violent extremism through a coordinated 

13 interagency approach with a consistent strategy that ap14 propriately balances security activities with diplomatic and 

15 development efforts to address the political, socioeconomic, 

16 governance, and development challenges in North Africa 

17 and West Africa that contribute to terrorism and violent 

18 extremism. 

19 SEC. 4. TRANS-SAHARA COUNTERTERRORISM PARTNER20 SHIP PROGRAM. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

22 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State, 

23 in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and 

24 the Administrator of the United States Agency for 

25 International Development, shall establish a partnerVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S615.IS S615

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1 ship program, which shall be known as the ‘‘Trans2 Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership Program’’ (re3 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Program’’), to co4 ordinate all programs, projects, and activities of the 

5 United States Government in countries in North Af6 rica and West Africa that are conducted— 

7 (A) to improve governance and the capac8 ities of countries in North Africa and West Af9 rica to deliver basic services, particularly to at10 risk communities, as a means of countering ter11 rorism and violent extremism by enhancing 

12 state legitimacy and authority and countering 

13 corruption; 

14 (B) to address the factors that make peo15 ple and communities vulnerable to recruitment 

16 by terrorist and violent extremist organizations, 

17 including economic vulnerability and mistrust of 

18 government and government security forces, 

19 through activities such as— 

20 (i) supporting strategies that increase 

21 youth employment opportunities; 

22 (ii) promoting girls’ education and 

23 women’s political participation; 

24 (iii) strengthening local governance 

25 and civil society capacity; 


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1 (iv) improving government trans2 parency and accountability; 

3 (v) fighting corruption; 

4 (vi) improving access to economic op5 portunities; and 

6 (vii) other development activities nec7 essary to support community resilience; 

8 (C) to strengthen the rule of law in such 

9 countries, including by enhancing the capability 

10 of the judicial institutions to independently, 

11 transparently, and credibly deter, investigate, 

12 and prosecute acts of terrorism and violent ex13 tremism; 

14 (D) to improve the ability of military and 

15 law enforcement entities in partner countries— 

16 (i) to detect, disrupt, respond to, and 

17 prosecute violent extremist and terrorist 

18 activity, while respecting human rights; 

19 and 

20 (ii) to cooperate with the United 

21 States and other partner countries on 

22 counterterrorism and counter-extremism 

23 efforts; 


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1 (E) to enhance the border security capacity 

2 of partner countries, including the ability to 

3 monitor, detain, and interdict terrorists; 

4 (F) to identify, monitor, disrupt, and 

5 counter the human capital and financing pipe6 lines of terrorism; or 

7 (G) to support the free expression and op8 erations of independent, local-language media, 

9 particularly in rural areas, while countering the 

10 media operations and recruitment propaganda 

11 of terrorist and violent extremist organizations. 

12 (2) ASSISTANCE FRAMEWORK.—Program activi13 ties shall— 

14 (A) be carried out in countries in which 

15 the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 

16 Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of 

17 the United States Agency for International De18 velopment— 

19 (i) determines that there is an ade20 quate level of partner country commitment; 

21 and 

22 (ii) has considered partner country 

23 needs, absorptive capacity, sustainment ca24 pacity, and efforts of other donors in the 

25 sector; 


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1 (B) have clearly defined outcomes; 

2 (C) be closely coordinated among United 

3 States diplomatic and development missions, 

4 United States Africa Command, and relevant 

5 participating departments and agencies; 

6 (D) have specific plans with robust indica7 tors to regularly monitor and evaluate outcomes 

8 and impact; 

9 (E) complement and enhance efforts to 

10 promote democratic governance, the rule of law, 

11 human rights, and economic growth; 

12 (F) in the case of train and equip pro13 grams, complement longer-term security sector 

14 institution-building; and 

15 (G) have mechanisms in place to track re16 sources and routinely monitor and evaluate the 

17 efficacy of relevant programs. 

18 (3) CONSULTATION.—In coordinating activities 

19 through the Program, the Secretary of State shall 

20 consult, as appropriate, with the Director of Na21 tional Intelligence, the Secretary of the Treasury, 

22 the Attorney General, the Chief Executive Officer of 

23 the United States Agency for Global Media (for24 merly known as the Broadcasting Board of Gov25 ernors), and the heads of other relevant Federal deVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S615.IS S615

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1 partments and agencies, as determined by the Presi2 dent. 

3 (4) CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Not later 

4 than 15 days before obligating amounts for an activ5 ity coordinated through the Program under para6 graph (1), the Secretary of State shall notify the ap7 propriate congressional committees, in accordance 

8 with section 634A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

9 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2394–1), of— 

10 (A) the foreign country and entity, as ap11 plicable, whose capabilities are to be enhanced 

12 in accordance with the purposes described in 

13 paragraph (1); 

14 (B) the amount, type, and purpose of sup15 port to be provided; 

16 (C) the absorptive capacity of the foreign 

17 country to effectively implement the assistance 

18 to be provided; 

19 (D) the anticipated implementation 

20 timeline for the activity; and 

21 (E) the plans to sustain any military or se22 curity equipment provided beyond the comple23 tion date of such activity, if applicable, and the 

24 estimated cost and source of funds to support 

25 such sustainment. 


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1 (b) INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION.—Efforts car2 ried out under this section— 

3 (1) shall take into account partner country 

4 counterterrorism, counter-extremism, and develop5 ment strategies; 

6 (2) shall be aligned with such strategies, to the 

7 extent practicable; and 

8 (3) shall be coordinated with counterterrorism 

9 and counter-extremism activities and programs in 

10 the areas of defense, diplomacy, and development 

11 carried out by other like-minded donors and inter12 national organizations in the relevant country. 

13 (c) STRATEGIES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec16 retary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of 

17 Defense and the Administrator of the United States 

18 Agency for International Development and other rel19 evant Federal Government agencies, shall submit the 

20 strategies described in paragraphs (2) and (3) to the 

21 appropriate congressional committees. 

22 (2) COMPREHENSIVE, 5-YEAR STRATEGY FOR

23 THE SAHEL-MAGHREB.—The Secretary of State 

24 shall develop a comprehensive, 5-year strategy for 

25 the Sahel-Maghreb, including details related to 


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1 whole-of-government efforts in the areas of defense, 

2 diplomacy, and development to advance the national 

3 security, economic, and humanitarian interests of 

4 the United States, including— 

5 (A) efforts to ensure coordination with 

6 multilateral and bilateral partners, such as the 

7 Joint Force of the Group of Five of the Sahel, 

8 and with other relevant assistance frameworks; 

9 (B) a public diplomacy strategy and ac10 tions to ensure that populations in the Sahel11 Maghreb are aware of the development activi12 ties of the United States Government, especially 

13 in countries with a significant Department of 

14 Defense presence or engagement through train 

15 and equip programs; 

16 (C) activities aimed at supporting demo17 cratic institutions and countering violent extre18 mism with measurable goals and transparent 

19 benchmarks; 

20 (D) plans to help each partner country ad21 dress humanitarian and development needs and 

22 to help prevent, respond to, and mitigate inter23 communal violence; 

24 (E) a comprehensive plan to support secu25 rity sector reform in each partner country that 


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1 includes a detailed section on programs and ac2 tivities being undertaken by relevant stake3 holders and other international actors operating 

4 in the sector; and 

5 (F) a specific strategy for Mali that in6 cludes plans for sustained, high-level diplomatic 

7 engagement with stakeholders, including coun8 tries in Europe and the Middle East with inter9 ests in the Sahel-Maghreb, regional govern10 ments, relevant multilateral organizations, sig11 natory groups of the Agreement for Peace and 

12 Reconciliation in Mali, done in Algiers July 24, 

13 2014, and civil society actors. 

14 (3) A COMPREHENSIVE FIVE-YEAR STRATEGY

15 FOR PROGRAM COUNTERTERRORISM EFFORTS.—The 

16 Secretary of State shall develop a comprehensive 5- 

17 year strategy for the Program that includes— 

18 (A) a clear statement of the objectives of 

19 United States counterterrorism efforts in North 

20 Africa and West Africa with respect to the use 

21 of all forms of United States assistance to com22 bat terrorism and counter violent extremism, in23 cluding efforts— 

24 (i) to build military and civilian law 

25 enforcement capacity; 


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1 (ii) to strengthen the rule of law; 

2 (iii) to promote responsive and ac3 countable governance; and 

4 (iv) to address the root causes of ter5 rorism and violent extremism; 

6 (B) a plan for coordinating programs 

7 through the Program pursuant to subsection 

8 (a)(1), including identifying the agency or bu9 reau of the Department of State, as applicable, 

10 that will be responsible for leading and coordi11 nating each such program; 

12 (C) a plan to monitor, evaluate, and share 

13 data and learning about the Program in accord14 ance with monitoring and evaluation provisions 

15 under sections 3 and 4 of the Foreign Aid 

16 Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016 

17 (22 U.S.C. 2394c note and 2394c); and 

18 (D) a plan for ensuring coordination and 

19 compliance with related requirements in United 

20 States law, including the Global Fragility Act of 

21 2019 (22 U.S.C. 9801 et seq.). 

22 (4) CONSULTATION.—Not later than 90 days 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec24 retary of State shall consult with the appropriate 

25 congressional committees regarding the progress 


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1 made towards developing the strategies required 

2 under paragraphs (2) and (3). 

3 (d) SUPPORTING MATERIAL IN ANNUAL BUDGET

4 REQUEST.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 

6 include a description of the requirements, activities, 

7 and planned allocation of amounts requested by the 

8 Program in the budget materials submitted to Con9 gress in support of the President’s annual budget re10 quest pursuant to section 1105 of title 31, United 

11 States Code, for each fiscal year beginning after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act and annually 

13 thereafter for the following 5 years. 

14 (2) EXCEPTION.—The requirement under para15 graph (1) shall not apply to activities of the Depart16 ment of Defense conducted pursuant to authorities 

17 under title 10, United States Code. 

18 (e) MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS

19 AND ACTIVITIES.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

20 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 

21 the following 5 years, the Secretary of State, in consulta22 tion with the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator 

23 of the United States Agency for International Develop24 ment, shall submit a report to the appropriate congres25 sional committees that describes— 


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1 (1) the progress made in meeting the objectives 

2 of the strategies required under paragraphs (2) and 

3 (3) of subsection (c), including any lessons learned 

4 in carrying out Program activities and any rec5 ommendations for improving such programs and ac6 tivities; 

7 (2) the efforts taken to coordinate, de-conflict, 

8 and streamline Program activities to maximize re9 source effectiveness; 

10 (3) the extent to which each partner country 

11 has demonstrated the ability to absorb the equip12 ment or training provided in the previous year under 

13 the Program, and as applicable, the ability to main14 tain and appropriately utilize such equipment; 

15 (4) the extent to which each partner country is 

16 investing its own resources to advance the goals de17 scribed in subsection (a)(1) or is demonstrating a 

18 commitment and willingness to cooperate with the 

19 United States to advance such goals; 

20 (5) the actions taken by the government of each 

21 partner country receiving assistance under the Pro22 gram to combat corruption, improve transparency 

23 and accountability, and promote other forms of 

24 democratic governance; 


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1 (6) the assistance provided in each of the 3 pre2 ceding fiscal years under the Program, broken down 

3 by partner country, including the type, statutory au4 thorization, and purpose of all United States secu5 rity assistance provided to the country pursuant to 

6 authorities under title 10, United States Code, the 

7 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et 

8 seq.), or any other ‘‘train and equip’’ authorities of 

9 the Department of Defense; and 

10 (7) any changes or updates to the Comprehen11 sive 5-Year Strategy for the Program required under 

12 subsection (c)(3) necessitated by the findings in this 

13 annual report. 

14 (f) REPORTING REQUIREMENT RELATED TO AUDIT

15 OF BUREAU OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS MONITORING AND CO16 ORDINATION OF THE TRANS-SAHARA COUNTERTER17 RORISM PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.—Not later than 90 

18 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 

19 120 days thereafter until the earlier of the date on which 

20 all 13 recommendations in the September 2020 Depart21 ment of State Office of Inspector General audit entitled 

22 ‘‘Audit of the Department of State Bureau of African Af23 fairs Monitoring and Coordination of the Trans-Sahara 

24 Counterterrorism Partnership Program’’ (AUD–MERO– 

25 20–42) are closed or the date that is 3 years after the 


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1 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State 

2 shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional 

3 committees that identifies— 

4 (1) which of the 13 recommendations in AUD– 

5 MERO–20–42 have not been closed; 

6 (2) a description of progress made since the 

7 last report toward closing each recommendation 

8 identified under paragraph (1); 

9 (3) additional resources needed, including as10 sessment of staffing capacity, if any, to complete ac11 tion required to close each recommendation identi12 fied under paragraph (1); and 

13 (4) the anticipated timeline for completion of 

14 action required to close each recommendation identi15 fied under paragraph (1), including application of all 

16 recommendations into all existing security assistance 

17 programs managed by the Department of State 

18 under the Program. 

19 (g) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.—Not later than 120 

20 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec21 retary of State shall submit a report to Congress that de22 scribes plans for conducting a written review of a rep23 resentative sample of each of the security assistance pro24 grams administered by the Bureau of African Affairs 

25 that— 


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1 (1) identifies potential waste, fraud, abuse, inef2 ficiencies, or deficiencies; and 

3 (2) includes an analysis of staff capacity, in4 cluding human resource needs, available resources, 

5 procedural guidance, and monitoring and evaluation 

6 processes to ensure that the Bureau of African Af7 fairs is managing programs efficiently and effec8 tively. 

9 (h) FORM.—The strategies required under para10 graphs (2) and (3) of subsection (c) and the report re11 quired under subsection (e) shall be submitted in unclassi12 fied form, but may include a classified annex. 

13 (i) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE14 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres15 sional committees’’ means— 

16 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

17 Senate; 

18 (2) the Committee on Armed Services of the 

19 Senate; 

20 (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

21 Senate; 

22 (4) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

23 Senate; 

24 (5) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

25 House of Representatives; 


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1 (6) the Committee on Armed Services of the 

2 House of Representatives; 

3 (7) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

4 House of Representatives; and 

5 (8) the Permanent Select Committee on Intel6 ligence of the House of Representatives. 

Æ 


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