II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1730 

To implement policies to end preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths 

globally. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2017 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. COONS, Mr. MORAN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. 

RUBIO, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. ENZI, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. DURBIN, and 

Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To implement policies to end preventable maternal, newborn, 

and child deaths globally. 

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 ‘‘Reach Every Mother 

5 and Child Act of 2017’’. 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1730 IS

1 SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE TO END PREVENTABLE MATERNAL, 

2 NEWBORN, AND CHILD DEATHS GLOBALLY. 

3 The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 

4 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end of chapter I of 

5 part I the following new section: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 137. ASSISTANCE TO END PREVENTABLE MATERNAL, 

7 NEWBORN, AND CHILD DEATHS GLOBALLY. 

8 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to im9 plement a strategic approach for providing foreign assist10 ance in order to end preventable child and maternal deaths 

11 globally by 2030. 

12 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Adminis14 trator’ means the Administrator of the United 

15 States Agency for International Development. 

16 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT17 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com18 mittees’ means— 

19 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

20 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

21 Senate; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

23 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

24 House of Representatives. 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1730 IS

1 ‘‘(3) COORDINATOR.—The term ‘Coordinator’ 

2 means the Child and Maternal Survival Coordinator 

3 established under subsection (e). 

4 ‘‘(4) RELEVANT PARTNER ENTITIES.—The 

5 term ‘relevant partner entities’ means each of the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(A) The governments of other donor 

8 countries. 

9 ‘‘(B) International financial institutions. 

10 ‘‘(C) Nongovernmental organizations. 

11 ‘‘(D) Faith-based organizations. 

12 ‘‘(E) Professional organizations 

13 ‘‘(F) The private sector. 

14 ‘‘(G) Multilateral organizations. 

15 ‘‘(H) Local and international civil society 

16 groups. 

17 ‘‘(I) Local health workers. 

18 ‘‘(J) International organizations. 

19 ‘‘(5) TARGET COUNTRIES.—The term ‘target 

20 countries’ means specific countries that have the 

21 greatest need and highest burden of child and ma22 ternal deaths, taking into consideration countries 

23 that— 

24 ‘‘(A) have high-need communities in fragile 

25 states or conflict-affected states; 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1730 IS

1 ‘‘(B) are low- or middle-income countries; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(C) are located in regions with weak 

4 health systems. 

5 ‘‘(c) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

6 United States, in partnership with target countries and 

7 relevant partner entities, to establish and implement a co8 ordinated, integrated, and comprehensive strategy to com9 bat the leading causes of maternal, newborn, and child 

10 mortality globally and ensure healthy and productive lives 

11 by— 

12 ‘‘(1) scaling up the highest impact, evidence13 based interventions, including for the most vulner14 able populations, with a focus on country ownership; 

15 ‘‘(2) designing, implementing, monitoring, and 

16 evaluating programs in a way that enhances trans17 parency and accountability, increases sustainability, 

18 and improves outcomes in target countries; and 

19 ‘‘(3) supporting the development and scale up 

20 of innovative tools and approaches to accelerate 

21 progress toward ending preventable child and mater22 nal deaths. 

23 ‘‘(d) STRATEGY.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

25 after the date of the enactment of the Reach Every 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1730 IS

1 Mother and Child Act of 2017, the President shall 

2 establish and implement a comprehensive five-year, 

3 whole-of-government strategy to achieve, with target 

4 countries and donors, the goal of ending preventable 

5 child and maternal deaths globally and ensure 

6 healthy and productive lives by 2030. 

7 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—The strategy established 

8 under paragraph (1) shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) set outcome-based targets to achieve 

10 the goals of the strategy and ascertain baseline 

11 data relevant for each target country and for all 

12 areas of focus and programming as of the date 

13 of the release of the strategy; 

14 ‘‘(B) utilize United States Government 

15 strategies and frameworks relevant to ending 

16 preventable child and maternal deaths, includ17 ing specific objectives, programs, and ap18 proaches to implement highest impact, evidence19 based interventions to address the leading 

20 causes of death, particularly among the most 

21 vulnerable populations, of— 

22 ‘‘(i) women related to pregnancy, 

23 childbirth, and post delivery; 

24 ‘‘(ii) newborns in their first 28 days; 

25 and 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1730 IS

1 ‘‘(iii) infants and children under the 

2 age of five years old; 

3 ‘‘(C) include development and scale up of 

4 new technologies and approaches, including 

5 those supported by public-private partnerships, 

6 for research and innovation; 

7 ‘‘(D) promote coordination and efficiency 

8 within and amongst the relevant executive 

9 branch agencies and initiatives, including the 

10 United States Agency for International Devel11 opment, the Department of State, the Depart12 ment of Health and Human Services, the Cen13 ters for Disease Control and Prevention, the 

14 National Institutes of Health, the Millennium 

15 Challenge Corporation, the Peace Corps, the 

16 Department of the Treasury, the Office of the 

17 Global AIDS Coordinator, and the President’s 

18 Malaria Initiative; 

19 ‘‘(E) project general levels of resources 

20 needed to achieve the strategy’s stated objec21 tives; 

22 ‘‘(F) identify strategies for leveraging re23 sources in new and innovative ways; 

24 ‘‘(G) align with country-driven maternal, 

25 newborn, and child health and survival plans 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1730 IS

1 and improve coordination with foreign govern2 ments and international organizations; 

3 ‘‘(H) outline consultations with target 

4 countries and relevant partner entities as ap5 propriate; 

6 ‘‘(I) implement results-based contracting 

7 (such as pay-for-success) and financial and 

8 operational risk reduction; 

9 ‘‘(J) promote a shift towards investments 

10 that support inclusive and sustainable business 

11 models; and 

12 ‘‘(K) support the transition to domestic 

13 sustainably financed health systems. 

14 ‘‘(3) INITIAL STRATEGY.—For the purposes of 

15 this section, a strategy meeting the criteria described 

16 in paragraph (2) that is in effect as of the date of 

17 enactment of this section may be deemed to fulfill 

18 the establishment requirement in paragraph (1). 

19 ‘‘(e) ESTABLISHMENT OF CHILD AND MATERNAL

20 SURVIVAL COORDINATOR.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall des22 ignate a current USAID employee serving in a ca23 reer or non-career position in the Senior Executive 

24 Service or at the level of a Deputy Assistant Admin25 istrator or higher to serve concurrently as the Child 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1730 IS

1 and Maternal Survival Coordinator. The Coordinator 

2 shall be responsible for— 

3 ‘‘(A) overseeing the strategy established 

4 under subsection (d); and 

5 ‘‘(B) all United States Government funds 

6 appropriated or used for international maternal 

7 and child health and nutrition programs. 

8 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Coordinator shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) have the primary responsibility for 

10 the oversight and coordination of all resources 

11 and international activities of the United States 

12 Government appropriated or used for inter13 national maternal and child health and nutri14 tion programs; 

15 ‘‘(B) direct the budget, planning, and 

16 staffing to implement international maternal 

17 and child health and nutrition projects and pro18 grams for the purpose of achieving reductions 

19 in preventable child and maternal deaths; 

20 ‘‘(C) lead implementation and revision, not 

21 less frequently than once every 5 years, of the 

22 strategy established under subsection (d)(1); 

23 ‘‘(D) coordinate with relevant executive 

24 branch agencies, target countries, and relevant 

25 partner entities as appropriate, to carry out the 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1730 IS

1 strategy established under section 5(a) and to 

2 align current and future investments with high3 impact, evidence-based interventions to save 

4 lives; 

5 ‘‘(E) provide direction to the design and 

6 oversight of grants, contracts, and cooperative 

7 agreements with nongovernmental organizations 

8 (including community, faith-based, and civil so9 ciety organizations) and private sector entities 

10 for the purpose of carrying out the strategy es11 tablished under subsection (d)(1); and 

12 ‘‘(F) report directly to the Administrator 

13 regarding implementation of the strategy estab14 lished under subsection (d)(1). 

15 ‘‘(3) RESTRICTION ON ADDITIONAL OR SUPPLE16 MENTAL COMPENSATION.—The Coordinator shall re17 ceive no additional or supplemental compensation as 

18 a result of carrying out responsibilities and duties 

19 under this section. 

20 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY TO ASSIST IN IMPLEMENTATION OF

21 THE STRATEGY.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall provide 

23 assistance to implement the strategy established 

24 under subsection (d)(1). 

25 ‘‘(2) FOCUS ON IMPACT.— 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 1730 IS

1 ‘‘(A) TARGETS FOR INCREASED IMPLE2 MENTATION REQUIRED.—Consistent with the 

3 requirements for foreign assistance programs 

4 included in the Foreign Aid Transparency and 

5 Accountability Act of 2016 (Public Law 114– 

6 119), USAID grants, contracts, and cooperative 

7 agreements for the purposes of the strategy es8 tablished under subsection (d)(1) shall be re9 quired to include targets for increased imple10 mentation of high-impact, evidence-based inter11 ventions and strengthening health systems, as 

12 appropriate, including the establishment of 

13 baseline measurements from which to quantify 

14 progress. 

15 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—In exceptional cir16 cumstances where USAID determines that in17 clusion of coverage targets or baseline measures 

18 are not reasonable or practicable for the grant, 

19 contract, or cooperative agreement, the funding 

20 mechanism shall include an explanation of the 

21 omission and explicitly state how measurable 

22 impact will be targeted and tracked. 

23 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than one 

25 year after the date of the enactment of this section, 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 1730 IS

1 and annually thereafter for 5 additional years, the 

2 President shall submit to the appropriate congres3 sional committees a report on progress made to 

4 achieve the strategy established under subsection 

5 (d)(1) as well as progress toward the goal to end 

6 preventable child and maternal deaths globally. The 

7 data in the report shall be made publicly available. 

8 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION INCLUDED IN REPORT.— 

9 The report required under paragraph (1) shall in10 clude the following elements: 

11 ‘‘(A) Indicators of progress made by 

12 United States Government programs carried 

13 out under international maternal and child 

14 health and nutrition programs for the purposes 

15 of improving maternal, newborn, and child 

16 health and survival, particularly among the 

17 most vulnerable populations, in each target 

18 country and overall, including— 

19 ‘‘(i) maternal mortality ratio per 

20 100,000 live births and under-5 mortality 

21 ratio per 1,000 live births; 

22 ‘‘(ii) number of maternal, newborn, 

23 and child deaths averted; 

24 ‘‘(iii) percentage of births attended by 

25 skilled health personnel; 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 1730 IS

1 ‘‘(iv) an analysis of gaps in the health 

2 workforce required to end preventable child 

3 and maternal deaths, including an analysis 

4 of health workforce density (number of cer5 tified health workers, including commu6 nity-based health workers, per population); 

7 ‘‘(v) a description of the measured or 

8 estimated impact on maternal, newborn, 

9 and child survival of each ongoing program 

10 or project; 

11 ‘‘(vi) progress towards achieving the 

12 goal to save 15,000,000 children’s lives 

13 and 600,000 women’s lives by 2020, and 

14 any subsequent goals established under the 

15 strategy required under subsection (d); and 

16 ‘‘(vii) any other targets identified by 

17 the Coordinator as essential to meeting the 

18 goals of the strategy for ending prevent19 able child and maternal deaths. 

20 ‘‘(B) Assessments of progress made toward 

21 achieving the targets set forth under subpara22 graph (A). 

23 ‘‘(C) A description of how the interventions 

24 or programs are designed to— 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
13 

•S 1730 IS

1 ‘‘(i) increase activities in target coun2 tries; 

3 ‘‘(ii) reach underserved, marginalized, 

4 vulnerable, and impoverished populations; 

5 ‘‘(iii) address causes of maternal, new6 born, and child mortality with innovative 

7 efforts and interventions posed to go to 

8 scale; 

9 ‘‘(iv) invest in activities that empower 

10 women, support voluntarism, and provide 

11 respectful maternity care; 

12 ‘‘(v) improve transparency and ac13 countability at all levels and include com14 mon metrics for tracking progress; 

15 ‘‘(vi) ensure that high-impact, evi16 dence-based interventions are prioritized; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(vii) expand access to quality services 

19 through community-based approaches and 

20 include community accountability meas21 ures. 

22 ‘‘(D) Reporting on each aspect of the 

23 strategy established under subsection (d)(1), in24 cluding— 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
14 

•S 1730 IS

1 ‘‘(i) multi-sectoral approaches, specific 

2 strategies, and programming utilizing high3 impact, evidence-based interventions to ad4 dress the leading causes of preventable 

5 child and maternal deaths; 

6 ‘‘(ii) activities to develop and scale up 

7 new technologies and approaches, including 

8 those identified by public-private partner9 ships, for research and innovation; 

10 ‘‘(iii) coordination with United States 

11 agencies, foreign governments, nongovern12 mental organizations, and international or13 ganizations; 

14 ‘‘(iv) methods used to leverage new fi15 nancial and other public and private re16 sources in innovative ways; and 

17 ‘‘(v) best practices identified by the 

18 executive branch. 

19 ‘‘(E) Reporting on grants, contracts, and 

20 cooperative agreements awarded, including— 

21 ‘‘(i) a comprehensive list of USAID 

22 grants, contracts, and cooperative agree23 ments awarded in implementation of the 

24 strategy established under subsection 

25 (d)(1); and 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
15 

•S 1730 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) a description of— 

2 ‘‘(I) the targets for coverage of 

3 interventions or services and the base4 line against which they are measured 

5 and the status of progress in meeting 

6 the targets; or 

7 ‘‘(II) in the case of exceptional 

8 circumstances where USAID deter9 mines that inclusion of targets or 

10 baseline measurements is not reason11 able or practicable, an explanation of 

12 how the impact of the grant, contract, 

13 agreement, or resulting program is 

14 being measured. 

15 ‘‘(F) Reporting on the innovative public16 private financing tools, including an analysis of 

17 the feasibility and potential effectiveness of new 

18 financing tools that could be used to fund ef19 forts to end preventable child and maternal 

20 deaths globally. 

21 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—For fiscal years 2018 

23 through 2022, the provisions of this section shall be 

24 carried out using amounts appropriated or otherwise 

25 made available for the Department of State or the 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
16 

•S 1730 IS

1 United States Agency for International Development 

2 and available for global health programs. 

3 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—Funds appropriated or 

4 otherwise made available to carry out activities 

5 under this section shall be subject to all applicable 

6 restrictions under Federal law. 

7 ‘‘(3) EXPIRATION OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro8 priated or otherwise made available to carry out ac9 tivities under this section shall remain available for 

10 obligation for a period of 5 years.’’. 

Æ 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS