I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1062 

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide for the establishment 

and implementation of a system to verify that persons who receive 

United States foreign assistance funds are not affiliated with or do 

not support foreign terrorist organizations or do not otherwise commit 

or support acts of international terrorism, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2009 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN (for herself, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, 

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. MACK, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. POE of Texas, Mr. INGLIS, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. 

GALLEGLY, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. FOXX, 

Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. LAMBORN, Ms. FALLIN, and 

Mrs. LUMMIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide 

for the establishment and implementation of a system 

to verify that persons who receive United States foreign 

assistance funds are not affiliated with or do not support 

foreign terrorist organizations or do not otherwise commit or support acts of international terrorism, 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, 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
2 

•HR 1062 IH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Foreign 

3 Assistance Partner Vetting System Act of 2009’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS; STATEMENT OF 

5 POLICY. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

7 (1) current measures to ensure the vetting of 

8 recipients and subrecipients to ensure that United 

9 States foreign assistance is not distributed to per10 sons who are affiliated with or support foreign ter11 rorist organizations or who otherwise commit or sup12 port acts of international terrorism are insufficient 

13 to secure the interests and citizens of the United 

14 States at home and abroad; 

15 (2) it has been reported that the United States 

16 Agency for International Development has previously 

17 disbursed foreign assistance funds to the Hamas18 linked Islamic University in Gaza, where Palestinian 

19 police had arrested five Iranians who were allegedly 

20 making rockets and explosives; 

21 (3) it has been reported that in 2006 the 

22 United States Agency for International Development 

23 gave $2,300,000 in aid to Al-Quds University, which 

24 is linked to the Hamas terrorist organization and 

25 had held celebrations in honor of the man credited 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
3 

•HR 1062 IH

1 with designing and building the first suicide bomb 

2 belts; 

3 (4) in 2006, the United States Embassy in Bos4 nia discovered that a recipient of grant assistance 

5 from the United States Agency for International De6 velopment in Bosnia had been on a terrorism ‘‘watch 

7 list’’ since May 1997; 

8 (5) it has been reported that the United States 

9 Agency for International Development distributed 

10 aid to a man in Pakistan who was later sentenced 

11 to four years in prison for making false statements 

12 regarding his ties to a follower of Osama bin Laden, 

13 the leader of the terrorist group known as Al-Qaeda; 

14 (6) it has been reported that the United States 

15 Agency for International Development distributed 

16 funds to the Islamic American Relief Agency, a do17 mestic charity which was later identified by the De18 partment of the Treasury as a specially designated 

19 global terrorist organization that had engaged in 

20 transactions for the benefit of terrorists affiliated 

21 with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban; 

22 (7) measures to prevent the territory, resources, 

23 and financial services of the United States from 

24 being used to commit terrorist acts and to protect 

25 them from such acts should include a system for the 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
4 

•HR 1062 IH

1 vetting of recipients and subrecipients to ensure that 

2 United States foreign assistance is not distributed to 

3 persons who are affiliated with or support foreign 

4 terrorist organizations or who otherwise commit or 

5 support acts of international terrorism; and 

6 (8) an inspector general’s audit of USAID West 

7 Bank/Gaza, monitoring the implementation of Exec8 utive Order 13324 (relating to blocking property and 

9 prohibiting transactions with persons who commit, 

10 threaten to commit, or support acts of international 

11 terrorism), revealed that improved vetting proce12 dures, and the consistent use of antiterrorism 

13 clauses and certifications would effectively safeguard 

14 United States foreign assistance funding distributed 

15 through the United States Agency for International 

16 Development from reaching persons who are affili17 ated with or support foreign terrorist organizations 

18 or who otherwise commit or support acts of inter19 national terrorism. 

20 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con21 gress that— 

22 (1) combating the financing of acts of inter23 national terrorism is essential to safeguarding the 

24 interests of the territory of the United States, its 

25 citizens, and its interests abroad; 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
5 

•HR 1062 IH

1 (2) threats of acts of international terrorism 

2 committed by foreign terrorists, including the ter3 rorist attacks committed on September 11, 2001, in 

4 New York and Pennsylvania and against the Pen5 tagon, acts recognized and condemned in United Na6 tions Security Council Resolutions 1269 (October 

7 19, 1999) and 1368 (September 12, 2001), and the 

8 continuing and immediate threat of further attacks 

9 on United States citizens and the United States con10 stitute a threat to United States national security; 

11 (3) the Secretary of State should certify that 

12 United States foreign assistance is secured from dis13 bursement to persons who are affiliated with or sup14 port foreign terrorist organizations or who otherwise 

15 commit or support acts of international terrorism; 

16 and 

17 (4) securing United States taxpayer funds from 

18 disbursement to persons who are affiliated with or 

19 support foreign terrorist organizations or who other20 wise commit or support acts of international ter21 rorism requires— 

22 (A) a system for the vetting of persons and 

23 entities that are receiving or administering 

24 United States foreign assistance funds to en25 sure that such persons and entities are not afVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:22 Feb 14, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1062.IH H1062

rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
6 

•HR 1062 IH

1 filiated with or do not support foreign terrorist 

2 organizations or do not otherwise commit or 

3 support acts of international terrorism; 

4 (B) certifications by persons and entities 

5 receiving or administering United States foreign 

6 assistance funds that such persons and entities 

7 will not commit or support acts of international 

8 terrorism; and 

9 (C) inclusion of antiterrorism clauses in 

10 contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements. 

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

12 United States to protect the people, property, and terri13 tory of the United States against acts of international ter14 rorism through the implementation of a system to verify 

15 that persons who receive United States foreign assistance 

16 funds do not commit or support acts of international ter17 rorism. 

18 SEC. 3. VETTING SYSTEM FOR UNITED STATES FOREIGN 

19 ASSISTANCE. 

20 Part III of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 

21 U.S.C. 2351 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

22 the following new chapter: 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
7 

•HR 1062 IH

1 ‘‘CHAPTER 4—VETTING SYSTEM FOR 

2 UNITED STATES FOREIGN ASSISTANCE 

3 ‘‘SEC. 671. DEFINITIONS. 

4 ‘‘In this chapter: 

5 ‘‘(1) ACT OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM.— 

6 The term ‘act of international terrorism’ means an 

7 act— 

8 ‘‘(A) which is violent or dangerous to 

9 human life, property, or infrastructure; and 

10 ‘‘(B) which appears to be intended— 

11 ‘‘(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian 

12 population; 

13 ‘‘(ii) to influence the policy of a gov14 ernment by intimidation or coercion; or 

15 ‘‘(iii) to affect the conduct of a gov16 ernment by mass destruction, assassina17 tion, kidnapping, or hostage-taking. 

18 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT19 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com20 mittees’ means— 

21 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

22 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

23 House of Representatives; and 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
8 

•HR 1062 IH

1 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

2 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

3 Senate. 

4 ‘‘(3) FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.— 

5 The term ‘foreign terrorist organization’ means an 

6 organization designated as a foreign terrorist organi7 zation by the Secretary of State in accordance with 

8 section 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality 

9 Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)). 

10 ‘‘(4) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ means any 

11 individual, organization, or other private or govern12 ment entity, and includes a partnership, institution, 

13 association, corporation, or other organization, 

14 group, or subgroup. 

15 ‘‘(5) PERSON WHO RECEIVES UNITED STATES

16 FOREIGN ASSISTANCE FUNDS.—The term ‘person 

17 who receives United States foreign assistance funds’ 

18 means a person who is a grantee, subgrantee, con19 tractor, subcontractor, awardee or sub-awardee, or 

20 any other person, including international organiza21 tions, as determined by the Secretary of State, who 

22 is receiving United States foreign assistance funds. 

23 ‘‘(6) SUPPORT.—The term ‘support’ means, 

24 with respect to an act of international terrorism, the 

25 provision of material support or resources, including 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
9 

•HR 1062 IH

1 by means of currency or monetary instruments or fi2 nancial securities, financial services, lodging, 

3 safehouses, false documentation or identification, 

4 communications equipment, facilities, weapons, le5 thal substances, explosives, transportation, and other 

6 physical assets, but such term does not include the 

7 provision of medicine or religious materials. 

8 ‘‘(7) UNITED STATES FOREIGN ASSISTANCE.— 

9 The term ‘United States foreign assistance’ means— 

10 ‘‘(A) assistance authorized under this Act; 

11 ‘‘(B) assistance authorized under the 

12 FREEDOM Support Act (22 U.S.C. 5801 et 

13 seq.), the Support for East European Democ14 racy (SEED) Act of 1989 (22 U.S.C. 5401 et 

15 seq.), the Afghanistan Freedom Support Act of 

16 2002 (22 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.), the United 

17 States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuber18 culosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 

19 7601 et seq.), the Millennium Challenge Act of 

20 2003 (22 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.); and 

21 ‘‘(C) assistance authorized under any other 

22 provision of law that is classified under Inter23 national Affairs Budget Function 150 for bilat24 eral economic assistance administered by the 

25 Department of State or the United States 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
10 

•HR 1062 IH

1 Agency for International Development or for 

2 assistance provided through the Overseas Pri3 vate Investment Corporation or the Trade and 

4 Development Agency. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 672. PROHIBITION ON UNITED STATES FOREIGN AS6 SISTANCE. 

7 ‘‘For fiscal year 2010 and each subsequent fiscal 

8 year, United States foreign assistance funds may not be 

9 provided to persons who are affiliated with or support for10 eign terrorist organizations or who otherwise commit or 

11 support acts of international terrorism, as determined pur12 suant to the vetting system established under section 673. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 673. VETTING SYSTEM TO ENSURE UNITED STATES 

14 FOREIGN ASSISTANCE IS NOT USED FOR TER15 RORIST ACTIVITIES. 

16 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—Not later than 

17 June 30, 2010, the Secretary of State, in consultation 

18 with the Administrator of the United States Agency for 

19 International Development, shall establish and implement 

20 in accordance with the requirements of this section a sys21 tem to verify that persons who receive United States for22 eign assistance funds are not affiliated with or do not sup23 port foreign terrorist organizations or do not otherwise 

24 commit or support acts of international terrorism. 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
11 

•HR 1062 IH

1 ‘‘(b) ELEMENTS OF SYSTEM.—The system required 

2 under subsection (a) shall contain the following elements: 

3 ‘‘(1) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Collection of the in5 formation described in subparagraph (B) with 

6 respect to persons who receive United States 

7 foreign assistance, including individuals who are 

8 directors, officers, or other officials, or are oth9 erwise employed by such person for the specific 

10 project for which the person is applying for 

11 funding. 

12 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—The in13 formation referred to in subparagraph (A) in14 cludes the name, date of birth, place of birth, 

15 country of origin, Social Security Number or 

16 other identification type or number, nationality, 

17 residential address, mailing address, phone 

18 number, electronic mail (e-mail) address, and 

19 organizational affiliations of the personnel. 

20 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of State 

21 may modify the type and amount of information 

22 collected from non-United States persons who 

23 receive United States foreign assistance pursu24 ant to this paragraph if collection of all or part 

25 of the information described in subparagraph 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
12 

•HR 1062 IH

1 (B) with respect to the personnel of such per2 son is impracticable due to a lack of local ad3 ministrative resources or facilities resulting 

4 in— 

5 ‘‘(i) a lack of official records from 

6 which identifying information might be col7 lected or verified; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) deficiencies in official records 

9 from which identifying information might 

10 be collected or verified. 

11 ‘‘(2) VETTING OF INFORMATION.—Vetting of 

12 information collected under paragraph (1) against 

13 appropriate United States Government databases to 

14 ensure that persons who receive United States for15 eign assistance— 

16 ‘‘(A) are not affiliated with or do not sup17 port foreign terrorist organizations; or 

18 ‘‘(B) do not otherwise commit or support 

19 acts of international terrorism. 

20 ‘‘(3) CERTIFICATION BY PERSON.—Certification 

21 by persons who receive United States foreign assist22 ance funds that such persons are not affiliated with 

23 or do not support foreign terrorist organizations or 

24 do not otherwise commit or support acts of inter25 national terrorism and that such persons have taken 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
13 

•HR 1062 IH

1 all reasonable steps to ensure that persons employed 

2 by such persons for the specific project for which 

3 such persons are applying for funding are not affili4 ated with or do not support foreign terrorist organi5 zations or do not otherwise commit or support acts 

6 of international terrorism. 

7 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—Adminis8 trative provisions to ensure that contracts, grants, 

9 cooperative agreements, or any other similar instru10 ments contain provisions specifying the obligations 

11 under this chapter of persons who receive United 

12 States foreign assistance funds. 

13 ‘‘(c) REVIEW BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

15 the United States shall carry out an annual review 

16 of the use of United States foreign assistance funds 

17 to ensure compliance with the requirements of this 

18 section. The Secretary of State, the Administrator of 

19 the United States Agency for International Develop20 ment, and the heads of other United States Govern21 ment departments and agencies who receive or ad22 minister United States foreign assistance funding 

23 shall make available to the Comptroller General all 

24 relevant documents, records, and other information, 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
14 

•HR 1062 IH

1 as appropriate, for purposes of carrying out the re2 view. 

3 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than June 30, 2011, 

4 and June 30, 2012, the Comptroller General of the 

5 United States shall submit to the appropriate con6 gressional committees a report on the findings of the 

7 review carried out under paragraph (1). The report 

8 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may 

9 contain a classified annex, if appropriate. 

10 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later January 1, 2011, and an11 nually thereafter, the Secretary of State, in consultation 

12 with the Administrator for the United States Agency for 

13 International Development, shall submit to the appro14 priate congressional committees a report describing the 

15 status of the implementation of this section, including an 

16 assessment of the effectiveness of the vetting procedures 

17 under this section and recommendations for improvements 

18 and comparisons with best practices. The report required 

19 under this subsection shall be submitted in conjunction 

20 with the annual budget request submitted by the President 

21 to Congress under section 1105 of title 31, United States 

22 Code. 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
15 

•HR 1062 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 674. INFORMATION AND PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS 

2 RELATING TO DENIALS OF UNITED STATES 

3 FOREIGN ASSISTANCE. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall en5 sure that persons who are denied United States foreign 

6 assistance funds, as determined pursuant to the vetting 

7 system established under section 673, are provided the in8 formation and afforded the procedural safeguards de9 scribed in subsection (b). 

10 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION AND PROCEDURAL SAFE11 GUARDS.—A person referred to in subsection (a) shall 

12 be— 

13 ‘‘(1) provided as comprehensive and detailed a 

14 written explanation of the basis for the determina15 tion as the national security interests of the United 

16 States and other applicable law permit; 

17 ‘‘(2) provided a reasonable opportunity to reply 

18 in writing to the determination, and to request a re19 view of the determination by the panel described in 

20 paragraph (4) of this subsection; 

21 ‘‘(3) provided written notice of and reasons for 

22 the results of the review, the identity of the deciding 

23 authority, and written notice of the right to appeal 

24 to the panel described in paragraph (4) of this sub25 section; 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
16 

•HR 1062 IH

1 ‘‘(4) provided an opportunity to appeal in writ2 ing to a panel, appointed by the Secretary of State, 

3 which shall be comprised of at least three members, 

4 who are qualified for access to all information upon 

5 which this determination is based through appro6 priate clearance procedures, and the decisions of 

7 which shall be in writing; and 

8 ‘‘(5) provided an opportunity to appear person9 ally and to present relevant documents, materials, 

10 and information before the panel described in para11 graph (4) of this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(c) NO PRIVATE CAUSE OF ACTION.—Nothing in 

13 this section shall be construed to create a private cause 

14 of action for damages or injunctive relief. 

15 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS; ADDITIONAL REVIEW PRO16 CEEDINGS.—The Secretary of State and the Adminis17 trator of the United States Agency for International De18 velopment shall promulgate regulations to implement this 

19 section and, at their sole discretion and as resources and 

20 national security considerations permit, may provide addi21 tional review proceedings beyond those required under 

22 subsection (a). 

23 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL CERTIFICATION TO MODIFY PROCE24 DURAL SAFEGUARDS.—If the Secretary of State certifies 

25 to the appropriate congressional committees that a proceVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:51 Feb 17, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1062.IH H1062

rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
17 

•HR 1062 IH

1 dure set forth in this section cannot be made available in 

2 a particular case without damaging the national security 

3 interests of the United States by revealing classified infor4 mation, the procedure shall not be made available in such 

5 case. 

6 ‘‘(f) COMPLIANCE WITH FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

7 ACT AND PRIVACY ACT REQUIREMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Records in the system of 

9 records maintained for purposes of this chapter shall 

10 be made available only in accordance with section 

11 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly re12 ferred to as the ‘Freedom of Information Act’), and 

13 section 552a of title 5, United States Code (com14 monly referred to as the ‘Privacy Act’). The classi15 fication of any record provided by an agency for in16 clusion in or use by the system of records main17 tained for purposes of this chapter shall not be 

18 modified by reason of its inclusion in or use by such 

19 system of records. 

20 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms 

21 ‘agency’, ‘record’, and ‘system of records’ have the 

22 meanings given such terms in section 552a(a) of 

23 title 5, United States Code. 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS
18 

•HR 1062 IH

1 ‘‘SEC. 675. AUDIT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL. 

2 ‘‘(a) AUDIT.—The Comptroller General of the United 

3 States shall conduct on a biennial basis an audit of the 

4 implementation of this chapter. 

5 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall sub6 mit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 

7 that contains the findings of the audit conducted under 

8 subsection (a). The report shall be submitted in unclassi9 fied form, but may contain a classified annex, if necessary. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 676. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 ‘‘To carry out this chapter, there are authorized to 

12 be appropriated such sums that may be necessary for fis13 cal year 2010 and each subsequent fiscal year’’. 

Æ 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with BILLS