115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 24 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 

2 concurring), 

3 That in the enrollment of the bill H.R. 601, the Clerk 

4 of the House of Representatives shall make the following 

5 corrections: 

6 (1) Amend the long title so as to read: ‘‘Making 

7 continuing appropriations for the fiscal year ending 

8 September 30, 2018, and for other purposes’’. 

9 (2) Insert before the first section 1 immediately 

10 following the enacting clause the following: 

11 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Continuing Appropria13 tions Act, 2018 and Supplemental Appropriations for Dis14 aster Relief Requirements Act, 2017’’. 

15 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

16 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. References. 

DIVISION A—REINFORCING EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY IN 

DEVELOPMENT ACT 
2 

†SCON 24 ES 

DIVISION B—SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR DISASTER 

RELIEF REQUIREMENTS ACT, 2017 

DIVISION C—TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF PUBLIC DEBT RELIEF 

DIVISION D—CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2018 

1 SEC. 3. REFERENCES. 

2 Except as expressly provided otherwise, any reference 

3 to ‘‘this Act’’ contained in any division of this Act shall 

4 be treated as referring only to the provisions of that divi5 sion. 

6 DIVISION A—REINFORCING EDU7 CATION ACCOUNTABILITY IN 

8 DEVELOPMENT ACT 

9

10 (3) In section 3, strike subparagraph (B) of sec11 tion 105(c)(4) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, 

12 as added by such section 3, and all that follows 

13 through the end of such section 3, and insert the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(B) such assistance can produce a sub16 stantial, measurable impact on children and 

17 educational systems; and 

18 ‘‘(C) there is the greatest opportunity to 

19 reduce childhood and adolescence exposure to or 

20 engagement in violent extremism or extremist 

21 ideologies.’’. 

22 (4) Insert after section 3 the following: 
3 

†SCON 24 ES 

1 SEC. 4. COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRATED UNITED STATES 

2 STRATEGY TO PROMOTE BASIC EDUCATION. 

3 (a) STRATEGY REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 

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

5 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

6 a comprehensive United States strategy to be carried out 

7 during the following five fiscal years to promote quality 

8 basic education in partner countries by— 

9 (1) seeking to equitably expand access to basic 

10 education for all children, particularly marginalized 

11 children and vulnerable groups; and 

12 (2) measurably improving the quality of basic 

13 education and learning outcomes. 

14 (b) REQUIREMENT TO CONSULT.—In developing the 

15 strategy required under subsection (a), the President shall 

16 consult with— 

17 (1) the appropriate congressional committees; 

18 (2) relevant Executive branch agencies and offi19 cials; 

20 (3) partner country governments; and 

21 (4) local and international nongovernmental or22 ganizations, including faith-based organizations and 

23 organizations representing students, teachers, and 

24 parents, and other development partners engaged in 

25 basic education assistance programs in developing 

26 countries. 
4 

†SCON 24 ES 

1 (c) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The President shall provide 

2 an opportunity for public comment on the strategy re3 quired under subsection (a). 

4 (d) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required under sub5 section (a)— 

6 (1) shall be developed and implemented con7 sistent with the principles set forth in section 105(c) 

8 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by 

9 section 3; and 

10 (2) shall seek— 

11 (A) to prioritize assistance provided under 

12 this subsection to countries that are partners of 

13 the United States and whose populations are 

14 most in need of improved basic education, as 

15 determined by indicators such as literacy and 

16 numeracy rates; 

17 (B) to build the capacity of relevant actors 

18 in partner countries, including in government 

19 and in civil society, to develop and implement 

20 national education plans that measurably im21 prove basic education; 

22 (C) to identify and replicate successful 

23 interventions that improve access to and quality 

24 of basic education in conflict settings and in 

25 partner countries; 
5 

†SCON 24 ES 

1 (D) to project general levels of resources 

2 needed to achieve stated program objectives; 

3 (E) to develop means to track implementa4 tion in partner countries and ensure that such 

5 countries are expending appropriate domestic 

6 resources and instituting any relevant legal, 

7 regulatory, or institutional reforms needed to 

8 achieve stated program objectives; 

9 (F) to leverage United States capabilities, 

10 including through technical assistance, training, 

11 and research; and 

12 (G) to improve coordination and reduce 

13 duplication among relevant Executive branch 

14 agencies and officials, other donors, multilateral 

15 institutions, nongovernmental organizations, 

16 and governments in partner countries. 

17 SEC. 5. IMPROVING COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT. 

18 (a) SENIOR COORDINATOR OF UNITED STATES

19 INTERNATIONAL BASIC EDUCATION ASSISTANCE.—There 

20 is established within the United States Agency for Inter21 national Development a Senior Coordinator of United 

22 States International Basic Education Assistance (referred 

23 to in this section as the ‘‘Senior Coordinator’’). The Senior 

24 Coordinator shall be appointed by the President, shall be 

25 a current USAID employee serving in a career or non-
6 

†SCON 24 ES 

1 career position in the Senior Executive Service or at the 

2 level of a Deputy Assistant Administrator or higher, and 

3 shall serve concurrently as the Senior Coordinator. 

4 (b) DUTIES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Senior Coordinator 

6 shall have primary responsibility for the oversight 

7 and coordination of all resources and activities of the 

8 United States Government relating to the promotion 

9 of international basic education programs and activi10 ties. 

11 (2) SPECIFIC DUTIES.—The Senior Coordinator 

12 shall— 

13 (A) facilitate program and policy coordina14 tion of international basic education programs 

15 and activities among relevant Executive branch 

16 agencies and officials, partner governments, 

17 multilateral institutions, the private sector, and 

18 nongovernmental and civil society organizations; 

19 (B) develop and revise the strategy re20 quired under section 4; 

21 (C) monitor, evaluate, and report on activi22 ties undertaken pursuant to the strategy re23 quired under section 4; and 

24 (D) establish due diligence criteria for all 

25 recipients of funds provided by the United 
7 

†SCON 24 ES 

1 States to carry out activities under this Act and 

2 the amendments made by this Act. 

3 (c) OFFSET.—In order to eliminate duplication of ef4 fort and activities and to offset any costs incurred by the 

5 United States Agency for International Development in 

6 appointing the Senior Coordinator under subsection (a), 

7 the President shall, after consulting with appropriate con8 gressional committees, eliminate a position within the 

9 United States Agency for International Development (un10 less otherwise authorized or required by law) that the 

11 President determines to be necessary to fully offset such 

12 costs and eliminate duplication. 

13 SEC. 6. MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS. 

14 The President shall seek to ensure that programs car15 ried out under the strategy required under section 4 

16 shall— 

17 (1) apply rigorous monitoring and evaluation 

18 methodologies to determine if programs and activi19 ties provided under this subsection accomplish meas20 urable improvements in literacy, numeracy, or other 

21 basic skills development that prepare an individual 

22 to be an active, productive member of society and 

23 the workforce; 

24 (2) include methodological guidance in the im25 plementation plan and support systemic data collec-
8 

†SCON 24 ES 

1 tion using internationally comparable indicators, 

2 norms, and methodologies, to the extent practicable 

3 and appropriate; 

4 (3) disaggregate all data collected and reported 

5 by age, gender, marital status, disability, and loca6 tion, to the extent practicable and appropriate; 

7 (4) include funding for both short- and long8 term monitoring and evaluation to enable assess9 ment of the sustainability and scalability of assist10 ance programs; and 

11 (5) support the increased use and public avail12 ability of education data for improved decision mak13 ing, program effectiveness, and monitoring of global 

14 progress. 

15 SEC. 7. TRANSPARENCY AND REPORTING TO CONGRESS. 

16 (a) ANNUAL REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF

17 STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after the end of 

18 each fiscal year during which the strategy developed pur19 suant to section 4(a) is carried out, the President shall— 

20 (1) submit a report to the appropriate congres21 sional committees that describes the implementation 

22 of such strategy; and 

23 (2) make the report described in paragraph (1) 

24 available to the public. 
9 

†SCON 24 ES 

1 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re2 quired under subsection (a) shall include— 

3 (1) a description of the efforts made by relevant 

4 Executive branch agencies and officials to implement 

5 the strategy developed pursuant to section 4, with a 

6 particular focus on the activities carried out under 

7 the strategy; 

8 (2) a description of the extent to which each 

9 partner country selected to receive assistance for 

10 basic education meets the priority criteria specified 

11 in section 105(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act, as 

12 added by section 3; and 

13 (3) a description of the progress achieved over 

14 the reporting period toward meeting the goals, objec15 tives, benchmarks, and timeframes specified in the 

16 strategy developed pursuant to section 4 at the pro17 gram level, as developed pursuant to monitoring and 

18 evaluation specified in section 6, with particular em19 phasis on whether there are demonstrable student 

20 improvements in literacy, numeracy, or other basic 

21 skills development that prepare an individual to be 

22 an active, productive member of society and the 

23 workforce. 
10 

†SCON 24 ES 

1 (5) In division B, under the heading ‘‘DISASTER

2 RELIEF FUND’’, strike the first ‘‘Provided further’’ 

3 and insert ‘‘Provided’’. 

4 (6) In section 101(c)(1) of division C, strike 

5 ‘‘under section 101(a)’’ and insert ‘‘under section 

6 101(b)(1)’’. 

7 (7) Strike the final section 4 and all that follows 

8 through the end. 

Passed the Senate September 7, 2017. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 24 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Providing for a correction in the enrollment of H.R. 

601.