I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3286

To establish a commission to improve United States development assistance 

and food aid around the globe. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 8, 2003

Mr. WOLF (for himself and Mr. HYDE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on International Relations 

A BILL

To establish a commission to improve United States 

development assistance and food aid around the globe.

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 ‘‘HELP Commission 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The Congress finds that, despite the long-standing ef8 forts and resources of the United States dedicated to help9 ing needy people around the world, despair remains and 

10 in many areas is growing. Therefore, a commission should 
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1 be established to bring together the best minds associated 

2 with development and humanitarian assistance to make a 

3 comprehensive review of—

4 (1) policy decisions, including why certain devel5 opment projects are funded and others are not; 

6 (2) delivery obstacles, including the roles of 

7 United States agencies and other governmental and 

8 nongovernmental organizations; 

9 (3) methodology, including whether the delivery 

10 of United States development assistance always rep11 resents best practices and whether it can be im12 proved; and 

13 (4) results, including measuring improvements 

14 in human capacity instead of in purely economic 

15 terms. 

16 An examination of these issues should present new ap17 proaches and ideas to ensure that United States develop18 ment assistance reaches its intended recipients. 

19 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTIONS OF COMMISSION. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the 

21 Helping Enhance the Livelihood of People (HELP) 

22 Around the Globe Commission (in this Act referred to as 

23 the ‘‘Commission’’). 

24 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Commission shall—
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1 (1) identify the past and present objectives of 

2 United States development assistance, identify cases 

3 in which those objectives have been met, identify the 

4 beneficiaries of such assistance, and what percentage 

5 of the funds provided actually reached the intended 

6 beneficiaries; 

7 (2) identify cases in which United States devel8 opment assistance has been most successful, and 

9 analyze why such successes have not been transfer10 able to other countries or areas; 

11 (3) study ways to expand educational opportu12 nities and investments in people, and assess infra13 structure needs; 

14 (4) because of the difficulty in measuring re15 sults in lesser developed countries, study whether ad16 ditional resources should be dedicated in order to 

17 bring about tangible results; 

18 (5) analyze how the United States could place 

19 conditions on governments in countries receiving 

20 United States development assistance, in light of 

21 and notwithstanding the objectives of the Millennium 

22 Challenge Account; 

23 (6) analyze ways in which the United States 

24 can coordinate its development assistance programs 
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1 with those of other donor countries and international 

2 organizations; 

3 (7) analyze ways in which the safety of develop4 ment assistance workers can be ensured, particularly 

5 in the midst of conflicts; 

6 (8) compare the effectiveness of increased and 

7 open trade with development assistance, and analyze 

8 the advantages and disadvantages of such trade and 

9 whether such trade could be a more effective alter10 native to United States development assistance; 

11 (9) analyze ways in which the United States 

12 can strengthen the capacity of indigenous non13 governmental organizations to be more effective in 

14 grassroots development; 

15 (10) analyze how political pressures affect the 

16 decisionmaking process on providing development as17 sistance; 

18 (11) analyze ways in which decisions on pro19 viding development assistance can involve more of 

20 the people of the recipient countries; 

21 (12) analyze ways in which results can be meas22 ured if United States development assistance is tar23 geted to the least developed countries; 
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1 (13) recommend standards that should be set 

2 for ‘‘graduating’’ recipient countries from United 

3 States development assistance; 

4 (14) analyze whether United States develop5 ment assistance should be used as a means to 

6 achieve United States foreign policy objectives; 

7 (15) analyze how the United States can evalu8 ate the performance of its development assistance 

9 programs not only against economic indicators, but 

10 in other ways, including how to measure the success 

11 of United States development assistance in democra12 tization efforts; and 

13 (16) study any other areas that the Commission 

14 considers necessary relating to United States devel15 opment assistance. 

16 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 

17 (a) APPOINTMENT.—The Commission shall be com18 posed of 21 members as follows: 

19 (1) Six members shall be appointed by the 

20 President, of whom at least two shall be representa21 tives of nongovernmental organizations. 

22 (2) Four members shall be appointed by the 

23 majority leader of the Senate, and three members 

24 shall be appointed by the minority leader of the Sen25 ate. 
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1 (3) Four members shall be appointed by the 

2 Speaker of the House of Representatives, and three 

3 members shall be appointed by the minority leader 

4 of the House of Representatives. 

5 (4) The Administrator of the United States 

6 Agency for International Development shall serve as 

7 a member of the Commission, ex officio. 

8 Members under paragraphs (1) through (3) shall be ap9 pointed for the life of the Commission. 

10 (b) SELECTION.—Members of the Commission shall 

11 be selected from among individuals noted for their knowl12 edge and experience in foreign assistance, particularly de13 velopment and humanitarian assistance. 

14 (c) TIME OF APPOINTMENT.—The appointments 

15 under subsection (a) shall be made not later than 60 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

17 (d) CHAIR.—The President shall designate one of the 

18 members of the Commission from private life as the Chair 

19 of the Commission. 

20 (e) REGIONAL SUBCOMMITTEES.—In order to facili21 tate the workload of the Commission, the Commission 

22 shall divide the membership of the Commission into three 

23 subcommittees representing the different regions of the 

24 world to which the United States provides development as25 sistance, the membership of each subcommittee to be pro-
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1 portional to the percentage of United States development 

2 assistance provided to the region represented by the sub3 committee. Each subcommittee shall elect one of its mem4 bers as Chair of the subcommittee. 

5 (f) QUORUM AND MEETINGS.—

6 (1) COMMISSION.—Eleven members of the 

7 Commission shall constitute a quorum for purposes 

8 of transacting the business of the Commission. The 

9 Commission shall meet at the call of the Chair. 

10 (2) SUBCOMMITTEES.—A majority of the mem11 bers of each regional subcommittee shall constitute 

12 a quorum for purposes of transacting the business of 

13 the subcommittee. Each subcommittee shall meet at 

14 the call of the Chair of the subcommittee. 

15 (g) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy of the Commission 

16 shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the manner 

17 in which the original appointment was made. 

18 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—The Administrator 

19 of General Services shall provide to the Commission on 

20 a reimbursable basis (or, in the discretion of the Adminis21 trator, on a nonreimbursable basis) such administrative 

22 support services as the Commission may request to carry 

23 out this Act. 

24 (i) COMPENSATION.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

2 members of the Commission shall serve without pay. 

3 (2) PROHIBITION ON ADDITIONAL COMPENSA4 TION OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Members of the 

5 Commission who are full-time officers or employees 

6 of the United States or Members of Congress may 

7 not receive additional pay, allowances, or benefits by 

8 reason of their service on the Commission. 

9 (j) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members of the Commis10 sion shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem 

11 in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees 

12 of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 

13 United States Code, while away from their homes or reg14 ular places of business in the performance of services for 

15 the Commission. 

16 (k) STAFF.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairman of the Com18 mission may, without regard to the civil service laws 

19 and regulations, appoint and terminate an executive 

20 director and such other additional personnel as may 

21 be necessary to enable the Commission to perform 

22 its duties. The employment of an executive director 

23 shall be subject to confirmation by the Commission. 
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1 (2) COMPENSATION.—To the extent or in the 

2 amounts provided in advance in appropriations 

3 Acts—

4 (A) the executive director shall be com5 pensated at the rate payable for level V of the 

6 Executive Schedule under section 5316 of title 

7 5, United States Code; and 

8 (B) the Chairman of the Commission may 

9 fix the compensation of other personnel without 

10 regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and sub11 chapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United 

12 States Code, relating to classification of posi13 tions and General Schedule pay rates, except 

14 that the rate of pay for such personnel may not 

15 exceed the rate payable for level V of the Exec16 utive Schedule under section 5316 of such title. 

17 SEC. 5. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 

18 (a) HEARINGS AND SESSIONS.—The Commission 

19 may, for the purpose of carrying out its functions under 

20 this Act, hold hearings, sit and act at times and places 

21 in the United States and in countries which receive United 

22 States development assistance, take testimony, and receive 

23 evidence as the Commission considers advisable to carry 

24 out the purposes of this Act. 
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1 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The 

2 Commission may secure directly from any Federal depart3 ment or agency such information as the Commission con4 siders necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

5 Upon request of the Chair of the Commission, the head 

6 of such department or agency shall furnish such informa7 tion to the Commission, subject to applicable law. 

8 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may use 

9 the United States mails in the same manner and under 

10 the same conditions as other departments and agencies of 

11 the Federal Government. 

12 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES.—The Commis13 sion may adopt such rules and regulations, relating to ad14 ministrative procedure, as may be reasonably necessary to 

15 enable it to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

16 (e) TRAVEL.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Members of the Com18 mission may, with the approval of the Commission, 

19 conduct such travel as is necessary to carry out the 

20 purposes of this Act. Each trip must be approved by 

21 a majority of the Commission. 

22 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

23 the Congress that members of the Commission 

24 should, in order to carry out the functions of the 

25 Commission most effectively, travel to countries that 
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1 receive United States development assistance. The 

2 Commission is encouraged to invite Members of 

3 Congress to accompany members of the Commission 

4 on such travel. 

5 (f) STAFF AND SERVICES OF OTHER FEDERAL

6 AGENCIES.—Upon the request of the Commission, the 

7 head of any Federal department or agency may detail, on 

8 a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis, any of the per9 sonnel of that department or agency to the Commission 

10 to assist it in carrying out its functions under this Act. 

11 The detail of any such personnel shall be without interrup12 tion or loss of civil service or Foreign Service status or 

13 privilege. 

14 SEC. 6. REPORT OF THE COMMISSION. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

16 members of the Commission are appointed under section 

17 4(a), the Commission shall submit a report to the Presi18 dent, the Secretary of State, and the Congress setting 

19 forth its findings and recommendations under section 

20 3(b). 

21 (b) CLASSIFIED FORM OF REPORT.—The report may 

22 be submitted in classified form, together with a public 

23 summary of recommendations, if the classification of in24 formation would further the purposes of this Act. 
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1 (c) INDIVIDUAL OR DISSENTING VIEWS.—Each 

2 member of the Commission may include the individual or 

3 dissenting views of the member. 

4 SEC. 7. APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS. 

5 The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 

6 shall not apply to the Commission. 

7 SEC. 8. DEFINITION. 

8 In this Act, the term ‘‘United States development as9 sistance’’ means—

10 (1) assistance provided by the United States 

11 under chapters 1, 10, 11, and 12 of part I of the 

12 Foreign Assistance Act of 1961; and 

13 (2) assistance provided under any other provi14 sion of law to carry out purposes comparable to 

15 those set forth in the provisions referred to in para16 graph (1). 

17 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro19 priated to the Commission such sums as may be necessary 

20 to carry out this Act. 

21 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts authorized 

22 to be appropriated under subsection (a) are authorized to 

23 remain available until expended, but not later than the 

24 date of termination of the Commission. 
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1 SEC. 10. TERMINATION. 

2 The Commission shall terminate 30 days after the 

3 submission of its report under section 6.

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