I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2638 

To direct the President to establish guidelines for United States foreign 

assistance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 10, 2013 

Mr. POE of Texas (for himself and Mr. CONNOLLY) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the President to establish guidelines for United 

States foreign assistance, 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 ‘‘Foreign Aid Trans5 parency and Accountability Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GUIDELINES FOR UNITED STATES FOREIGN ASSIST7 ANCE. 

8 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 

9 evaluate the performance of United States foreign assist10 ance and its contribution to policy, strategies, projects, 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2638 IH

1 program goals, and priorities undertaken by the United 

2 States, to foster and promote innovative programs to im3 prove the effectiveness of United States foreign assistance, 

4 and to coordinate the monitoring and evaluation processes 

5 of Federal departments and agencies that administer 

6 United States foreign assistance. 

7 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF GUIDELINES.—Not later 

8 than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this 

9 Act, the President shall establish guidelines regarding the 

10 establishment of measurable goals, performance metrics, 

11 and monitoring and evaluation plans that can be applied 

12 with reasonable consistency to United States foreign as13 sistance. Such guidelines should be established according 

14 to best practices of monitoring and evaluation studies and 

15 analyses. 

16 (c) OBJECTIVES OF GUIDELINES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The guidelines established 

18 under this section shall provide direction to Federal 

19 departments and agencies that administer United 

20 States foreign assistance on how to develop the com21 plete range of activities relating to the monitoring of 

22 resources, the evaluation of projects, the evaluation 

23 of program impacts, and analysis that is necessary 

24 for the identification of findings, generalizations that 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2638 IH

1 can be derived from those findings, and their appli2 cability to proposed project and program design. 

3 (2) OBJECTIVES.—Specifically, the guidelines 

4 shall provide direction on how to achieve the fol5 lowing objectives for monitoring and evaluation of 

6 programs: 

7 (A) Building measurable goals, perform8 ance metrics, and monitoring and evaluation 

9 into program design, to be tracked against an 

10 established baseline at the outset, including the 

11 provision of sufficient program resources to 

12 conduct monitoring and evaluation. 

13 (B) Disseminating guidelines for the devel14 opment and implementation of monitoring and 

15 evaluation programs to all personnel, especially 

16 in the field, who are responsible for the design, 

17 implementation, and management of United 

18 States foreign assistance programs. 

19 (C) Developing a clearinghouse capacity 

20 for the collection and dissemination of knowl21 edge and lessons learned that serve as bench22 marks to guide future programs for United 

23 States development professionals, implementing 

24 partners, the international aid community, and 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2638 IH

1 aid recipient governments, and as a repository 

2 of knowledge on lessons learned. 

3 (D) Distributing evaluation reports inter4 nally and making the reports available online to 

5 the public. In addition, providing a summary of 

6 each evaluation, including a description of the 

7 evaluation methodology, and key findings and 

8 recommendations made in the evaluation, to the 

9 public online in a fully searchable form, within 

10 90 days after the completion of the evaluation. 

11 Any material made available online under this 

12 subparagraph may not include any classified or 

13 proprietary information of nongovernmental or14 ganizations, contractors, or private sector enti15 ties. 

16 (E) Establishing annual monitoring and 

17 evaluation agendas and objectives. 

18 (F) Applying rigorous monitoring and eval19 uation methodologies to focus on learning, ac20 countability, and policymaking, choosing from 

21 among a wide variety of qualitative, quan22 titative, summative, and formative methods 

23 common in the field of social scientific inquiry, 

24 including impact evaluations, a simple grading 

25 system providing a clear evaluation of outVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:05 Jul 11, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2638.IH H2638

smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2638 IH

1 comes, and analysis of project logic that in2 cludes inputs, activities, outputs, intermediate 

3 outcomes, and end outcomes. 

4 (G) Partnering with the academic commu5 nity, implementing partners, and national and 

6 international institutions that have expertise in 

7 monitoring and evaluation and analysis when 

8 such partnerships will provide needed expertise 

9 or will significantly improve the evaluation and 

10 analysis. 

11 (H) Developing and implementing a train12 ing plan for appropriate aid personnel on the 

13 proper conduct of monitoring and evaluation 

14 programs. 

15 (I) Providing relevant and useful evalua16 tion questions that meet the needs of decision 

17 makers, an appropriate and feasible design for 

18 the evaluation questions, and criteria that per19 mit objective assessment and valid conclusions 

20 on the evaluation questions. 

21 (J) Ensuring sufficient, credible, and reli22 able measures and data in the evaluation of the 

23 effectiveness of foreign assistance programs, in24 cluding an assessment of assumptions and limi25 tations made in such evaluation. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2638 IH

1 (K) Ensuring that generally accepted 

2 standards such as independence, professional 

3 judgment, competence, and quality control and 

4 assurance are followed in the monitoring and 

5 evaluation of programs. 

6 (d) IMPLEMENTATION OF GUIDELINES.—Beginning 

7 not later than one year after the date on which the Presi8 dent establishes the guidelines under this section, the head 

9 of each Federal department or agency that administers 

10 United States foreign assistance shall administer the 

11 United States foreign assistance in accordance with the 

12 guidelines. 

13 (e) PRESIDENTIAL REPORT.—Not later than 18 

14 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

15 President shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

16 committees a report that contains a detailed description 

17 of the guidelines that have been developed on measurable 

18 goals, performance metrics, and monitoring and evalua19 tion plans for United States foreign assistance established 

20 under this section. The report shall be submitted in un21 classified form to the maximum extent possible, but may 

22 include a classified annex. 

23 (f) IMPLEMENTATION NOT REQUIRED FOR CERTAIN

24 SECURITY SECTOR ASSISTANCE.— 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2638 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 

2 not be required to administer any United States for3 eign assistance program relating to United States 

4 security sector assistance in accordance with the 

5 guidelines established under this section if the Sec6 retary of State makes a determination that the ad7 ministration of such program in accordance with the 

8 guidelines would be detrimental to the national in9 terests of the United States. 

10 (2) BRIEFINGS OR REPORT.—The Secretary of 

11 State shall provide briefings or submit a written re12 port to the appropriate congressional committees ex13 plaining any determination made under paragraph 

14 (1). Any such report may be submitted to the appro15 priate congressional committees in classified form. 

16 (g) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORTS.—The Comp17 troller General of the United States shall— 

18 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of the 

19 enactment of this Act, submit to the appropriate 

20 congressional committees a report that contains an 

21 analysis of the actions that the major Federal de22 partments and agencies that administer United 

23 States foreign assistance have taken to ensure that 

24 the evaluation of United States foreign assistance is 

25 planned, conducted, and utilized effectively; 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 2638 IH

1 (2) not later than 3 years after the date of the 

2 enactment of this Act, submit to the appropriate 

3 congressional committees a report that contains an 

4 analysis of— 

5 (A) the guidelines established pursuant to 

6 subsection (b); and 

7 (B) the implementation of the guidelines 

8 by the major Federal departments and agencies 

9 that administer United States foreign assist10 ance; and 

11 (3) not later than 5 years after the date of the 

12 enactment of this Act, and biennially thereafter for 

13 8 years, submit to the appropriate congressional 

14 committees a report that contains an analysis of the 

15 implementation of the guidelines by the major Fed16 eral departments and agencies that administer 

17 United States foreign assistance. 

18 (h) EVALUATION DEFINED.—In this section, the 

19 term ‘‘evaluation’’ means, with respect to a United States 

20 foreign assistance program, the systematic collection and 

21 analysis of information about the characteristics and out22 comes of the program and projects under the program as 

23 a basis for judgments, to improve effectiveness, and to in24 form decisions about current and future programming. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 2638 IH

1 SEC. 3. REVISION TO INTERNET WEBSITE TO MAKE PUB2 LICLY AVAILABLE COMPREHENSIVE, TIMELY, 

3 COMPARABLE, AND ACCESSIBLE INFORMA4 TION ON UNITED STATES FOREIGN ASSIST5 ANCE PROGRAMS. 

6 (a) REVISION; INFORMATION SHARING AND UP7 DATES; FEEDBACK MECHANISM.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 

10 shall direct the Secretary of State to revise the De11 partment of State’s Internet website 

12 ‘‘ForeignAssistance.gov’’ to make publicly available 

13 in unclassified form comprehensive, timely, com14 parable, and accessible information on United States 

15 foreign assistance. 

16 (2) INFORMATION SHARING AND UPDATES.— 

17 (A) INFORMATION SHARING.—The head of 

18 each Federal department or agency that admin19 isters United States foreign assistance shall, 

20 not later than 2 years after the date of the en21 actment of this Act, and every 90 days there22 after, provide to the Secretary of State such in23 formation with respect to the United States for24 eign assistance programs carried out by such 

25 Federal department or agency. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 2638 IH

1 (B) UPDATES.—The Secretary of State 

2 shall publish not later than 2 years after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act and thereafter 

4 update on a quarterly basis on the Internet 

5 website the information provided under sub6 paragraph (A). 

7 (3) FEEDBACK MECHANISM.—The website de8 scribed in paragraph (1) shall include a feedback 

9 mechanism through which individuals are able to 

10 provide comments on any United States foreign as11 sistance program. 

12 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.— 

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

14 subsection (a)(1) shall be published on a detailed 

15 program-by-program basis and country-by-country 

16 basis. 

17 (2) TYPES OF INFORMATION.—To ensure trans18 parency, accountability, and effectiveness of United 

19 States foreign assistance, such information shall in20 clude country assistance strategies, annual budget 

21 documents, congressional budget justifications, obli22 gations, expenditures, and reports and evaluations, 

23 including those developed pursuant to the guidelines 

24 established under section 2, for United States for25 eign assistance programs and projects under such 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 2638 IH

1 programs. Each type of information described in this 

2 paragraph shall be published or updated on the 

3 Internet website not later than 90 days after the 

4 date on which the information is issued. 

5 (3) REPORT IN LIEU OF INCLUSION.—If— 

6 (A) the head of a Federal department or 

7 agency makes a determination that the inclu8 sion of a required item of information on the 

9 Internet website under subsection (a)(1) would 

10 jeopardize the health or security of an imple11 menting partner or program beneficiary, or 

12 (B) the Secretary of State makes a deter13 mination that the inclusion of a required item 

14 of information on the Internet website under 

15 subsection (a)(1) would be detrimental to the 

16 national interests of the United States, 

17 then the head of such Federal department or agency 

18 or the Secretary of State, as the case may be, shall 

19 provide briefings to the appropriate congressional 

20 committees on the item of information or submit to 

21 the appropriate congressional committees the item of 

22 information in a written report in lieu of it being in23 cluded on the Internet website, along with the rea24 sons for it not being included on the Internet 

25 website. Any such item of information may be subVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:05 Jul 11, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2638.IH H2638

smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 2638 IH

1 mitted to the appropriate congressional committees 

2 in classified form. 

3 (c) SCOPE OF INFORMATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Internet website shall 

5 contain the information described in subsection (b) 

6 as follows: 

7 (A) For fiscal year 2013, the information 

8 relating to such fiscal year and each of the im9 mediately preceding 2 fiscal years. 

10 (B) For fiscal year 2014, the information 

11 relating to such fiscal year and each of the im12 mediately preceding 3 fiscal years. 

13 (C) For fiscal year 2015, the information 

14 relating to such fiscal year and each of the im15 mediately preceding 4 fiscal years. 

16 (D) For fiscal year 2016 and each fiscal 

17 year thereafter, the information relating to such 

18 fiscal year and each of the immediately pre19 ceding 5 fiscal years. 

20 (2) OLDER INFORMATION.—For fiscal year 

21 2017 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Internet 

22 website shall also contain a link to a searchable 

23 database available to the public containing informa24 tion described in subsection (b) relating to fiscal 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 2638 IH

1 years prior to the immediately preceding 5 fiscal 

2 years but subsequent to fiscal year 2010. 

3 SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL BRIEFINGS IF REQUIREMENTS OF 

4 SECTION 3 ARE NOT MET. 

5 If the information described in section 3(b) with re6 spect to a United States foreign assistance program is not 

7 provided as required under section 3, then the head of the 

8 relevant Federal department or agency shall provide brief9 ings to the appropriate congressional committees, along 

10 with a detailed explanation of why the requirements for 

11 publication on the Internet have not been met and when 

12 they will be met, with respect to each month for which 

13 such information is not published on the Internet. 

14 SEC. 5. OFFSET. 

15 Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated for 

16 United States foreign assistance programs of a Federal 

17 department or agency that administers such programs for 

18 a fiscal year, up to 5 percent of such amounts are author19 ized to be appropriated to carry out this Act with respect 

20 to such programs for such fiscal year. 

21 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT24 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com25 mittees’’ means— 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
14 

•HR 2638 IH

1 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

2 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

3 of Representatives; and 

4 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

5 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

6 Senate. 

7 (2) UNITED STATES FOREIGN ASSISTANCE.— 

8 The term ‘‘United States foreign assistance’’ means 

9 any tangible or intangible item provided by gift, 

10 loan, sale, credit, guaranty, or other means by any 

11 agency of the United States Government to a foreign 

12 country, including any training, service, or technical 

13 advice, any item of real, personal, or mixed property, 

14 any agricultural commodity, United States dollars, 

15 and any currencies of any foreign country which are 

16 owned by the United States Government. 

17 (3) UNITED STATES SECURITY SECTOR ASSIST18 ANCE.—The term ‘‘United States security sector as19 sistance’’— 

20 (A) means policies, programs, and activi21 ties that the United States Government employs 

22 to engage with foreign partners in the use of 

23 force to protect both the foreign state and its 

24 citizens at home or abroad, maintain inter25 national peace and security, and to enforce the 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
15 

•HR 2638 IH

1 law and provide oversight of security institu2 tions and forces; and 

3 (B) includes helping foreign partners build 

4 and sustain the capacity and effectiveness of in5 stitutions to provide security, safety, and justice 

6 for their people and to contribute to efforts that 

7 address common security challenges. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS