I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9719 

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to modify requirements regarding management of the United States Agency for International Development, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024 

Mr. MEEKS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and 

Accountability, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to modify 

requirements regarding management of the United 

States Agency for International Development, 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 ‘‘Strengthening USAID 

5 Management Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STAFFING TO PREVENT OR RESPOND TO CRISIS. 

2 Section 625 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

3 (22 U.S.C. 2384) is amended by adding after subsection 

4 (f) the following: 

5 ‘‘(g) The Administrator of the United States Agency 

6 for International Development is authorized to appoint 

7 and employ personnel in the excepted service using funds 

8 appropriated or otherwise made available to carry out the 

9 provisions of part I of this Act, chapter 4 of part II of 

10 this Act, and section 509(b) of the Global Fragility Act 

11 of 2019 (22 U.S.C. 9808(b)) to prevent or respond to for12 eign crises and contexts with increasing instability. Such 

13 funds are authorized to be made available for the oper14 ating expenses and administrative costs of such personnel. 

15 The Administrator shall coordinate with the Director of 

16 the Office of Personnel Management to implement this 

17 provision.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DE19 VELOPMENT PAY RATE ADJUSTMENT. 

20 Chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, is amend21 ed— 

22 (1) in section 5314, by inserting ‘‘and 1 other 

23 official of the Agency for International Development 

24 to be appointed by the President’’ after ‘‘Deputy Ad25 ministrator, Agency for International Development’’; 

26 and 


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1 (2) in section 5315, by striking ‘‘Development 

2 (6)’’ and inserting ‘‘Development (5)’’. 

3 SEC. 4. PAYMENT FOR SERVICES PERFORMED ABROAD 

4 PURSUANT TO CONTRACT. 

5 Section 636(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 

6 (22 U.S.C. 2396(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(17) employing individuals or organizations, 

9 by contract, for services performed abroad pursuant 

10 to this Act or title II of the Food for Peace Act (7 

11 U.S.C. 1721 et seq.), and individuals employed by 

12 contract to perform such services, provided that— 

13 ‘‘(A) such individuals shall not by virtue of 

14 such payment be considered to be employees of 

15 the United States Government for purposes of 

16 any law administered by the Office of Personnel 

17 Management (except that the Administrator of 

18 the United States Agency for International De19 velopment may determine the applicability to 

20 such individuals of section 5 of the State De21 partment Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 

22 U.S.C. 2672) regarding tort claims when such 

23 claims arise in a foreign country in connection 

24 with United States operations abroad and of 


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1 any other law administered by the Adminis2 trator concerning such individuals); and 

3 ‘‘(B) such contracts are authorized to be 

4 negotiated, the terms of such contracts to be 

5 prescribed, and the work to be performed, 

6 where necessary, without regard to such statu7 tory provisions as relate to the negotiation, 

8 making, and performance of contracts and per9 formance of work in the United States.’’. 

10 SEC. 5. FOREIGN SERVICE REPORT. 

11 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

12 of this Act, the Administrator of the United States Agency 

13 for International Development shall submit to the Com14 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

15 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

16 a report that includes— 

17 (1) a description of any effort by the Adminis18 trator in the 3 years prior to the submission of the 

19 report to empower and integrate cooperating country 

20 nationals throughout the agency, including an in21 crease in the number of— 

22 (A) warranted contracting officers and 

23 agreement officers who are cooperating country 

24 nationals; and 


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1 (B) cooperating country national advisor 

2 positions; and 

3 (2) a breakdown of Foreign Service National 

4 fellowships in the 5 years prior to the submission of 

5 the report that includes anonymized information re6 garding— 

7 (A) participant demographics; 

8 (B) the assigned mission associated with 

9 each fellowship; 

10 (C) operating unit in which each fellowship 

11 occurred; and 

12 (D) duration of each fellowship. 

13 SEC. 6. ANTI-TERRORISM CERTIFICATION. 

14 Not later than 270 days after the date of the enact15 ment of this Act, the Administrator of the United States 

16 Agency for International Development shall initiate rule17 making procedures to require bidders for programs in 

18 high-risk areas to certify that they do not provide material 

19 support or resources to individuals or entities involved in 

20 terrorism. 

21 SEC. 7. OVERSEAS PAY COMPARABILITY. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to such regulations as the 

23 Secretary of State may prescribe, including with respect 

24 to phase-in schedule and treatment as basic pay, and not25 withstanding any other provision of law, any eligible memVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:53 Sep 20, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9719.IH H9719

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1 ber may be paid a locality-based comparability payment 

2 (stated as a percentage) that is not more than two-thirds 

3 of the amount of the locality-based comparability payment 

4 (stated as a percentage) that would be payable to such 

5 member under section 5304 of title 5, United States Code, 

6 if the official duty station of such member were in the 

7 District of Columbia. 

8 (b) LIMITATION.—The amount of any locality-based 

9 comparability payment that is paid to an eligible member 

10 under this section shall be subject to any limitation on 

11 pay applicable to locality-based comparability payments 

12 under section 5304 of title 5, United States Code. 

13 (c) ELIGIBLE MEMBER DEFINED.—In this section, 

14 the term ‘‘eligible member’’ means a member of the For15 eign Service if— 

16 (1) such member is designated class 1 or below 

17 for purposes of section 403 of the Foreign Service 

18 Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3963); and 

19 (2) the official duty station of such member is 

20 not in the continental United States or a nonforeign 

21 area, as defined in section 591.205 of title 5, Code 

22 of Federal Regulations. 


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1 (d) SUNSET.—The authority under this section shall 

2 terminate on the date that is 2 years after the date of 

3 the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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