PUBLIC LAW 114–191—JULY 15, 2016 

FOREIGN AID TRANSPARENCY AND 

ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2016 


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130 STAT. 666 PUBLIC LAW 114–191—JULY 15, 2016 

Public Law 114–191 

114th Congress 

An Act 

To direct the President to establish guidelines for covered United States foreign 

assistance programs, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Aid Transparency and 

Accountability Act of 2016’’. 

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The term 

‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means— 

(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; 

(B) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; 

(C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

of Representatives; and 

(D) the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

of Representatives. 

(2) EVALUATION.—The term ‘‘evaluation’’ means, with 

respect to a covered United States foreign assistance program, 

the systematic collection and analysis of information about 

the characteristics and outcomes of the program, including 

projects conducted under such program, as a basis for— 

(A) making judgments and evaluations regarding the 

program; 

(B) improving program effectiveness; and 

(C) informing decisions about current and future 

programming. 

(3) COVERED UNITED STATES FOREIGN ASSISTANCE.—The 

term ‘‘covered United States foreign assistance’’ means assistance authorized under— 

(A) part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 

U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), except for— 

(i) title IV of chapter 2 of such part (relating to 

the Overseas Private Investment Corporation); and 

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

Organizations and Programs); 

(B) chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance 

Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.; relating to Economic 

Support Fund); 

(C) the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 

7701 et seq.); and 

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

Foreign Aid 

Transparency 

and 

Accountability 

Act of 2016. 

22 USC 2151 

note. 

22 USC 2394c 

note. 

July 15, 2016 

[H.R. 3766] 


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PUBLIC LAW 114–191—JULY 15, 2016 130 STAT. 667 

SEC. 3. GUIDELINES FOR COVERED UNITED STATES FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 

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

(1) evaluate the performance of covered United States foreign assistance and its contribution to the policies, strategies, 

projects, program goals, and priorities undertaken by the Federal Government; 

(2) support and promote innovative programs to improve 

effectiveness; and 

(3) coordinate the monitoring and evaluation processes of 

Federal departments and agencies that administer covered 

United States foreign assistance. 

(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF GUIDELINES.—Not later than 18 months 

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

set forth guidelines, according to best practices of monitoring and 

evaluation studies and analyses, for the establishment of measurable goals, performance metrics, and monitoring and evaluation 

plans that can be applied with reasonable consistency to covered 

United States foreign assistance. 

(c) OBJECTIVES OF GUIDELINES.— (1) IN GENERAL.—The guidelines established pursuant to 

subsection (b) shall provide direction to Federal departments 

and agencies that administer covered United States foreign 

assistance on— 

(A) monitoring the use of resources; 

(B) evaluating the outcomes and impacts of covered 

United States foreign assistance projects and programs; 

and 

(C) applying the findings and conclusions of such 

evaluations to proposed project and program design. 

(2) OBJECTIVES.—The guidelines established pursuant to 

subsection (b) shall provide direction to Federal departments 

and agencies that administer covered United States foreign 

assistance on how to— 

(A) establish annual monitoring and evaluation objectives and timetables to plan and manage the process of 

monitoring, evaluating, analyzing progress, and applying 

learning toward achieving results; 

(B) develop specific project monitoring and evaluation 

plans, including measurable goals and performance metrics, 

and to identify the resources necessary to conduct such 

evaluations, which should be covered by program costs; 

(C) apply rigorous monitoring and evaluation methodologies to such programs, including through the use of 

impact evaluations, ex-post evaluations, or other methods, 

as appropriate, that clearly define program logic, inputs, 

outputs, intermediate outcomes, and end outcomes; 

(D) disseminate guidelines for the development and 

implementation of monitoring and evaluation programs to 

all personnel, especially in the field, who are responsible 

for the design, implementation, and management of covered 

United States foreign assistance programs; 

(E) establish methodologies for the collection of data, 

including baseline data to serve as a reference point against 

which progress can be measured; 

(F) evaluate, at least once in their lifetime, all programs whose dollar value equals or exceeds the median 

Applicability. 

Plans. 

Deadline. 

Evaluation. 

Coordination. 

22 USC 2394c 

note. 


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130 STAT. 668 PUBLIC LAW 114–191—JULY 15, 2016 

program size for the relevant office or bureau or an equivalent calculation to ensure the majority of program resources 

are evaluated; 

(G) conduct impact evaluations on all pilot programs 

before replicating, or conduct performance evaluations and 

provide a justification for not conducting an impact evaluation when such an evaluation is deemed inappropriate or 

impracticable; 

(H) develop a clearinghouse capacity for the collection, 

dissemination, and preservation of knowledge and lessons 

learned to guide future programs for United States foreign 

assistance personnel, implementing partners, the donor 

community, and aid recipient governments; 

(I) internally distribute evaluation reports; 

(J) publicly report each evaluation, including an executive summary, a description of the evaluation methodology, 

key findings, appropriate context, including quantitative 

and qualitative data when available, and recommendations 

made in the evaluation within 90 days after the completion 

of the evaluation; 

(K) undertake collaborative partnerships and coordinate efforts with the academic community, implementing 

partners, and national and international institutions, as 

appropriate, that have expertise in program monitoring, 

evaluation, and analysis when such partnerships provide 

needed expertise or significantly improve the evaluation 

and analysis; 

(L) ensure verifiable, reliable, and timely data, 

including from local beneficiaries and stakeholders, are 

available to monitoring and evaluation personnel to permit 

the objective evaluation of the effectiveness of covered 

United States foreign assistance programs, including an 

assessment of assumptions and limitations in such evaluations; and 

(M) ensure that standards of professional evaluation 

organizations for monitoring and evaluation efforts are 

employed, including ensuring the integrity and independence of evaluations, permitting and encouraging the exercise of professional judgment, and providing for quality 

control and assurance in the monitoring and evaluation 

process. 

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

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

report to the appropriate congressional committees that contains 

a detailed description of the guidelines established pursuant to 

subsection (b). The report shall be submitted in unclassified form, 

but it may contain a classified annex. 

(e) COMPTROLLER GENERAL’S REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the United States shall, not later than 18 months after 

the report required by subsection (d) is submitted to Congress, 

submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that— 

(1) analyzes the guidelines established pursuant to subsection (b); and 

(2) assesses the implementation of the guidelines by the 

agencies, bureaus, and offices that implement covered United 

States foreign assistance as outlined in the President’s budget 

request. 

Assessments. 

Analysis. 

Public 

information. 

Recommendations. 

Deadline. 

Reports. 


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PUBLIC LAW 114–191—JULY 15, 2016 130 STAT. 669 

SEC. 4. INFORMATION ON COVERED UNITED STATES FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 

(a) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.— 

(1) UPDATE OF EXISTING WEBSITE.—Not later than 90 days 

after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

of State shall update the Department of State’s website, 

‘‘ForeignAssistance.gov’’, to make publicly available comprehensive, timely, and comparable information on covered United 

States foreign assistance programs, including all information 

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

of State. 

(2) INFORMATION SHARING.—Not later than 2 years after 

the date of the enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter, 

the head of each Federal department or agency that administers 

covered United States foreign assistance shall provide the Secretary of State with comprehensive information about the covered United States foreign assistance programs carried out 

by such department or agency. 

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

the date of the enactment of this Act, and quarterly thereafter, 

the Secretary of State shall publish, on the 

‘‘ForeignAssistance.gov’’ website or through a successor online 

publication, the information provided under subsection (b). 

(b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.— 

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

(a)— 

(A) shall be published for each country on a detailed 

basis, such as award-by-award; or 

(B) if assistance is provided on a regional level, shall 

be published for each such region on a detailed basis, 

such as award-by-award. 

(2) TYPES OF INFORMATION.— 

(A) IN GENERAL.—To ensure the transparency, accountability, and effectiveness of covered United States foreign 

assistance programs, the information described in subsection (a) shall include— 

(i) links to all regional, country, and sector assistance strategies, annual budget documents, congressional budget justifications, and evaluations in accordance with section 3(c)(2)(J); 

(ii) basic descriptive summaries for covered United 

States foreign assistance programs and awards under 

such programs; and 

(iii) obligations and expenditures. 

(B) PUBLICATION.—Each type of information described 

in subparagraph (A) shall be published or updated on the 

appropriate website not later than 90 days after the date 

on which the information is issued. 

(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to require a Federal department 

or agency that administers covered United States foreign 

assistance to provide any information that does not relate 

to, or is not otherwise required by, the covered United 

States foreign assistance programs carried out by such 

department or agency. 

(3) REPORT IN LIEU OF INCLUSION.— Determinations. 

Deadline. 

Web posting. 

Public 

information. 

Deadlines. 

22 USC 2394c. 


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130 STAT. 670 PUBLIC LAW 114–191—JULY 15, 2016 

(A) HEALTH OR SECURITY OF IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS.—If the head of a Federal department or agency, 

in consultation with the Secretary of State, makes a determination that the inclusion of a required item of information online would jeopardize the health or security of an 

implementing partner or program beneficiary or would 

require the release of proprietary information of an implementing partner or program beneficiary, the head of the 

Federal department or agency shall provide such determination in writing to the appropriate congressional 

committees, including the basis for such determination. 

(B) NATIONAL INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES.—If 

the Secretary of State makes a determination that the 

inclusion of a required item of information online would 

be detrimental to the national interests of the United 

States, the Secretary of State shall provide such determination, including the basis for such determination, in writing 

to the appropriate congressional committees. 

(C) FORM.—Information provided under this paragraph 

may be provided in classified form, as appropriate. 

(4) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—If a Federal department or agency 

fails to comply with the requirements under paragraph (1), 

(2), or (3) of subsection (a), or subsection (c), with respect 

to providing information described in subsection (a), and the 

information is not subject to a determination under subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (3) not to make the information 

publicly available, the Director of the Office of Management 

and Budget, in consultation with the head of such department 

or agency, not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, shall submit a consolidated report to the 

appropriate congressional committees that includes, with 

respect to each required item of information not made publicly 

available— 

(A) a detailed explanation of the reason for not making 

such information publicly available; and 

(B) a description of the department’s or agency’s plan 

and timeline for— 

(i) making such information publicly available; and 

(ii) ensuring that such information is made publicly available in subsequent years. 

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

under subsection (a) shall, at a minimum— 

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

the information required under subsection (b) for fiscal years 

2015 through the current fiscal year; and 

(2) for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter, 

provide the information required under subsection (b) for the 

immediately preceding 5 fiscal years in a fully searchable form. 

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

the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States 

Agency for International Development should coordinate the consolidation of processes and data collection and presentation for the 

Department of State’s website, ‘‘ForeignAssistance.gov’’, and the 

United States Agency for International Development’s website, 

Deadline. 

Time period. 

Public 

information. 

Consultation. 

Deadline. 

Reports. 

Consultation. 


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PUBLIC LAW 114–191—JULY 15, 2016 130 STAT. 671 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 3766 (S. 2184): 

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: 

Vol. 161 (2015): Dec. 8, considered and passed House. 

Vol. 162 (2016): June 28, considered and passed Senate, amended. 

July 5, House concurred in Senate amendments. 

Æ 

‘‘Explorer.USAID.gov’’, to the extent that is possible to maximize 

efficiencies, no later than the end of fiscal year 2018. 

Approved July 15, 2016. 


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