S. Con. Res. 24 Agreed to September 8, 2017

One Hundred Fifteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE FIRST SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and seventeen 

Concurrent Resolution 

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 

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

House of Representatives shall make the following corrections: 

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

appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2018, 

and for other purposes’’. 

(2) Insert before the first section 1 immediately following 

the enacting clause the following: 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Continuing Appropriations Act, 

2018 and Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2017’’. 

SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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 

DIVISION B—SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS FOR DISASTER RELIEF 

REQUIREMENTS ACT, 2017 

DIVISION C—TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF PUBLIC DEBT RELIEF 

DIVISION D—CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2018 

SEC. 3. REFERENCES. 

Except as expressly provided otherwise, any reference to ‘‘this 

Act’’ contained in any division of this Act shall be treated as 

referring only to the provisions of that division. 

DIVISION A—REINFORCING EDUCATION 

ACCOUNTABILITY IN DEVELOPMENT 

ACT 

(3) In section 3, strike subparagraph (B) of section 105(c)(4) 

of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by such section 

3, and all that follows through the end of such section 3, 

and insert the following: 
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‘‘(B) such assistance can produce a substantial, measurable impact on children and educational systems; and 

‘‘(C) there is the greatest opportunity to reduce childhood and adolescence exposure to or engagement in violent 

extremism or extremist ideologies.’’. 

(4) Insert after section 3 the following: 

SEC. 4. COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRATED UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO 

PROMOTE BASIC EDUCATION. 

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

date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to 

the appropriate congressional committees a comprehensive United 

States strategy to be carried out during the following five fiscal 

years to promote quality basic education in partner countries by— 

(1) seeking to equitably expand access to basic education 

for all children, particularly marginalized children and vulnerable groups; and 

(2) measurably improving the quality of basic education 

and learning outcomes. 

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

required under subsection (a), the President shall consult with— 

(1) the appropriate congressional committees; 

(2) relevant Executive branch agencies and officials; 

(3) partner country governments; and 

(4) local and international nongovernmental organizations, 

including faith-based organizations and organizations representing students, teachers, and parents, and other development partners engaged in basic education assistance programs 

in developing countries. 

(c) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The President shall provide an opportunity for public comment on the strategy required under subsection 

(a). 

(d) ELEMENTS.—The strategy required under subsection (a)— 

(1) shall be developed and implemented consistent with 

the principles set forth in section 105(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 3; and 

(2) shall seek— 

(A) to prioritize assistance provided under this subsection to countries that are partners of the United States 

and whose populations are most in need of improved basic 

education, as determined by indicators such as literacy 

and numeracy rates; 

(B) to build the capacity of relevant actors in partner 

countries, including in government and in civil society, 

to develop and implement national education plans that 

measurably improve basic education; 

(C) to identify and replicate successful interventions 

that improve access to and quality of basic education in 

conflict settings and in partner countries; 

(D) to project general levels of resources needed to 

achieve stated program objectives; 

(E) to develop means to track implementation in 

partner countries and ensure that such countries are 

expending appropriate domestic resources and instituting 

any relevant legal, regulatory, or institutional reforms 

needed to achieve stated program objectives; 
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(F) to leverage United States capabilities, including 

through technical assistance, training, and research; and 

(G) to improve coordination and reduce duplication 

among relevant Executive branch agencies and officials, 

other donors, multilateral institutions, nongovernmental 

organizations, and governments in partner countries. 

SEC. 5. IMPROVING COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT. 

(a) SENIOR COORDINATOR OF UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL

BASIC EDUCATION ASSISTANCE.—There is established within the 

United States Agency for International Development a Senior 

Coordinator of United States International Basic Education Assistance (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Senior Coordinator’’). The 

Senior Coordinator shall be appointed by the President, shall be 

a current USAID employee serving in a career or noncareer position 

in the Senior Executive Service or at the level of a Deputy Assistant 

Administrator or higher, and shall serve concurrently as the Senior 

Coordinator. 

(b) DUTIES.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The Senior Coordinator shall have primary responsibility for the oversight and coordination of all 

resources and activities of the United States Government 

relating to the promotion of international basic education programs and activities. 

(2) SPECIFIC DUTIES.—The Senior Coordinator shall— 

(A) facilitate program and policy coordination of international basic education programs and activities among 

relevant Executive branch agencies and officials, partner 

governments, multilateral institutions, the private sector, 

and nongovernmental and civil society organizations; 

(B) develop and revise the strategy required under 

section 4; 

(C) monitor, evaluate, and report on activities undertaken pursuant to the strategy required under section 4; 

and 

(D) establish due diligence criteria for all recipients 

of funds provided by the United States to carry out activities under this Act and the amendments made by this 

Act. 

(c) OFFSET.—In order to eliminate duplication of effort and 

activities and to offset any costs incurred by the United States 

Agency for International Development in appointing the Senior 

Coordinator under subsection (a), the President shall, after consulting with appropriate congressional committees, eliminate a position within the United States Agency for International Development 

(unless otherwise authorized or required by law) that the President 

determines to be necessary to fully offset such costs and eliminate 

duplication. 

SEC. 6. MONITORING AND EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS. 

The President shall seek to ensure that programs carried out 

under the strategy required under section 4 shall— 

(1) apply rigorous monitoring and evaluation methodologies 

to determine if programs and activities provided under this 

subsection accomplish measurable improvements in literacy, 

numeracy, or other basic skills development that prepare an 

individual to be an active, productive member of society and 

the workforce; 
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(2) include methodological guidance in the implementation 

plan and support systemic data collection using internationally 

comparable indicators, norms, and methodologies, to the extent 

practicable and appropriate; 

(3) disaggregate all data collected and reported by age, 

gender, marital status, disability, and location, to the extent 

practicable and appropriate; 

(4) include funding for both short- and long-term monitoring and evaluation to enable assessment of the sustainability 

and scalability of assistance programs; and 

(5) support the increased use and public availability of 

education data for improved decision making, program effectiveness, and monitoring of global progress. 

SEC. 7. TRANSPARENCY AND REPORTING TO CONGRESS. 

(a) ANNUAL REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGY.— 

Not later than 180 days after the end of each fiscal year during 

which the strategy developed pursuant to section 4(a) is carried 

out, the President shall— 

(1) submit a report to the appropriate congressional 

committees that describes the implementation of such strategy; 

and 

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

to the public. 

(b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report required under 

subsection (a) shall include— 

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

branch agencies and officials to implement the strategy developed pursuant to section 4, with a particular focus on the 

activities carried out under the strategy; 

(2) a description of the extent to which each partner country 

selected to receive assistance for basic education meets the 

priority criteria specified in section 105(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act, as added by section 3; and 

(3) a description of the progress achieved over the reporting 

period toward meeting the goals, objectives, benchmarks, and 

timeframes specified in the strategy developed pursuant to 

section 4 at the program level, as developed pursuant to monitoring and evaluation specified in section 6, with particular 

emphasis on whether there are demonstrable student improvements in literacy, numeracy, or other basic skills development 

that prepare an individual to be an active, productive member 

of society and the workforce. 

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

FUND’’, strike the first ‘‘Provided further’’ and insert ‘‘Provided’’. 

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

101(a)’’ and insert ‘‘under section 101(b)(1)’’. 
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(7) Strike the final section 4 and all that follows through 

the end. 

Attest: 

Secretary of the Senate. 

Attest: 

Clerk of the House of Representatives.