IC 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1875 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 29, 2016 

Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

AN ACT 

To support enhanced accountability for United States 

assistance to Afghanistan, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Afghanistan Account3 ability Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINED TERM. 

5 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com6 mittees’’ means— 

7 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

8 Senate; 

9 (2) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

10 Senate; 

11 (3) the Committee on Armed Services of the 

12 Senate; 

13 (4) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

14 Senate; 

15 (5) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

16 House of Representatives; 

17 (6) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

18 House of Representatives; 

19 (7) the Committee on Armed Services of the 

20 House of Representatives; and 

21 (8) the Permanent Select Committee on Intel22 ligence of the House of Representatives. 


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1 TITLE I—EFFECTIVE AFGHANI2 STAN ASSISTANCE AND AC3 COUNTABILITY 

4 SEC. 101. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) Following the terrorist attacks of September 

7 11, 2001, the United States launched Operation En8 during Freedom, and since then the United States 

9 Armed Forces and the Afghan National Security 

10 Forces have made countless sacrifices in defending 

11 Afghanistan against the threat of terrorism and in12 surgency and by extension the United States and the 

13 wider world. 

14 (2) Since 2001, the United States has worked 

15 with a broad coalition of nations that has helped to 

16 dramatically improve numerous development indica17 tors within Afghanistan, including— 

18 (A) a dramatic increase in the number of 

19 girls enrolled in primary education from an esti20 mated 5,000 under the Taliban to 2,400,000 

21 girls as of 2010; 

22 (B) an increase in the percentage of indi23 viduals above the poverty line from 25.4 percent 

24 in 2002 to 35.8 percent in 2011; 


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1 (C) an increase in the percentage of indi2 viduals who now have access to an improved 

3 water source in rural areas from 22 percent in 

4 2001 to 56 percent in 2012; 

5 (D) a precipitous decline in maternal mor6 tality from 1200/100,000 births in 1995 to 

7 400/100,000 births in 2013; and 

8 (E) an expansion of women’s rights. 

9 (3) Numerous research studies have shown that 

10 government corruption is a driver of conflict and 

11 particularly so in Afghanistan, where it has served 

12 as a powerful recruitment tool for the Taliban. 

13 (4) Since the first democratic transfer of power 

14 in the history of Afghanistan in 2014, President 

15 Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah 

16 Abdullah have led a National Unity Government 

17 that has identified key security and development 

18 challenges in order to make Afghanistan a full and 

19 productive member of the community of democratic 

20 nations. 

21 (5) The National Unity Government has re22 newed specific focus on addressing corruption within 

23 the country as a driver of instability, including re24 opening a fraud case involving high level officials 


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1 and the Kabul Bank that resulted in the disappear2 ance of an estimated $1,000,000,000. 

3 (6) In its report ‘‘Realizing Self Reliance: Com4 mitments to Reform and Renewed Partnership’’, the 

5 Government of Afghanistan committed to the inter6 national community in London in December 2014, 

7 to address the ‘‘main drivers of corruption in Af8 ghanistan,’’ including ‘‘collusive procurement prac9 tices, weak rule of law and abuse of the legal sys10 tem, and arbitrary regulations that build in incen11 tives to pay bribes’’. Government of Afghanistan 

12 commitments included— 

13 (A) forming an independent anti-corrup14 tion commission with time-bound prosecutorial 

15 powers; 

16 (B) implementing recommendations by the 

17 Monitoring and Evaluation Committee on a na18 tional action plan to reduce corruption; 

19 (C) requiring all government officials to 

20 provide public declarations of their assets; 

21 (D) meeting all Financial Action Task 

22 Force (FATF) requirements to further limit 

23 and investigate illicit fund flows; 

24 (E) forming a national procurement board 

25 staffed by qualified professionals who will manVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 May 03, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1875.RFH S1875

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1 age all large value contracts using internation2 ally recognized standards and procedures; and 

3 (F) delineating the roles, responsibilities, 

4 and jurisdiction of anti-corruption institutions 

5 such as the High Office of Oversight and Anti6 Corruption (HOO) and the Attorney General to 

7 restrict them to focus on their core function of 

8 enforcement instead of oversight. 

9 (7) The December 2014 Government of Af10 ghanistan report ‘‘Realizing Self Reliance: Commit11 ments to Reform and Renewed Partnership’’, ex12 pressed a commitment to ‘‘enhancing productivity, 

13 growth and revenues’’ by— 

14 (A) developing natural resources through 

15 public-private partnerships that bring in rents, 

16 taxes, and profits; 

17 (B) removing obstacles to trade and transit 

18 and ending smuggling that diverts revenue 

19 away from the treasury; 

20 (C) negotiating expanded market access in 

21 regional and global markets; 

22 (D) gradually formalizing the informal 

23 economy and changing the compact between the 

24 state and citizens to one where citizens pay 


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1 taxes for services they tangibly benefit from; 

2 and 

3 (E) transferring government payments 

4 electronically to eliminate losses in transit. 

5 (8) In 2012, international donors and the Gov6 ernment of Afghanistan agreed to the Tokyo Mutual 

7 Accountability Framework (‘‘TMAF’’) which com8 mitted to provide $4,000,000,000 in economic assist9 ance per year from 2012–2015 and sustain assist10 ance at or near the same levels of the past decade 

11 through 2017, while the Government of Afghanistan 

12 committed to meet benchmarks related to democracy 

13 and governance, public finance and revenue genera14 tion, and economic development. 

15 (9) At the end of 2014, under the TMAF, the 

16 Government of Afghanistan had fallen short in meet17 ing benchmarks related to: revenue collection, the 

18 enhancement of women’s rights, corruption and the 

19 illicit economy, and the protection of human rights. 

20 (10) In the Joint Declaration following the 

21 London Conference on Afghanistan of December 4, 

22 2014, the international community and the new Gov23 ernment of Afghanistan agreed to refresh the exist24 ing TMAF and associated commitments at the 2015 

25 Senior Officials Meeting based on the reform proVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 May 03, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1875.RFH S1875

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1 gram and priorities as laid out by the Government 

2 of Afghanistan. 

3 (11) Afghanistan faces great difficulties in 

4 making progress in countering illegal narcotics and 

5 remains the leading global illicit opium poppy pro6 ducer. 

7 (12) The illegal narcotics trade results in the 

8 transfer of illicit funds and encourages and also re9 quires corrupt financial transactions, and, if mini10 mized, could have beneficial impacts on trade and 

11 reduce overall levels of corruption. 

12 (13) The international community has endorsed 

13 Afghanistan’s longer-term development following the 

14 war and identified the criticality of the ‘‘trans15 formation decade’’ from 2015–2024 outlined by the 

16 Government of Afghanistan and has acknowledged 

17 that the Government of Afghanistan will seek con18 tinued international assistance in order for it to be19 come a stable, self-sustained partner in the commu20 nity of democratic countries. 

21 (14) As development assistance from the United 

22 States and broader international community gradu23 ally diminishes in the coming years, the accelerated 

24 development of the Afghan private sector and gov25 erning institutions becomes even more necessary to 


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1 maintain the gains of the past decade and to en2 hance our mutual goals of Afghan security and sta3 bility. 

4 (15) While Afghan National Security Forces 

5 (ANSF) have taken over lead combat responsibil6 ities, they continue to operate in close coordination 

7 with, and with significant resources from the inter8 national community, under the Resolute Support 

9 Mission and in coordination with ongoing counter10 terrorism operations. Development of civilian over11 sight institutions for the security sector has lagged. 

12 Such oversight will be important for ensuring that 

13 Afghan security forces are accountable and do not 

14 abuse their powers. 

15 SEC. 102. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON UNITED STATES ASSIST16 ANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN AFGHANI17 STAN. 

18 It is the sense of Congress that— 

19 (1) the National Unity Government of Afghani20 stan has made a substantial commitment to reform 

21 that should be supported but also subject to height22 ened scrutiny by the Afghan people and inter23 national donors given past failures and persistent 

24 challenges in the country; 


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1 (2) Afghanistan is at a critical inflection point, 

2 having gone through political and security transi3 tions as the international community draws down its 

4 military forces. The international community should 

5 work closely with the new government in supporting 

6 development priorities for the rest of the trans7 formation decade that translate into producing con8 crete development results for the Afghan people; 

9 (3) sustainable accountability and reform of Af10 ghan governing institutions will not come from the 

11 international community but from a commitment by 

12 the Government of Afghanistan and society rein13 forced by domestic watchdog groups and internal 

14 government accountability monitoring mechanisms; 

15 (4) the United States Government should deep16 en its dialogue on anti-corruption efforts with the 

17 Government of Afghanistan to develop effective over18 sight mechanisms to ensure large donor contracts do 

19 not contribute to corruption; 

20 (5) the United States should encourage Af21 ghanistan’s participation in the Open Government 

22 Partnership, a multilateral initiative in which gov23 ernment and civil society collaborate to promote 

24 transparency, fight corruption, and use technologies 

25 to strengthen government; 


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1 (6) the United States should urge the Govern2 ment of Afghanistan to build upon existing anti3 money laundering and countering terrorism financ4 ing legislation by developing effective regulations 

5 and institutions to implement reforms; 

6 (7) the United States should urge the Govern7 ment of Afghanistan to broaden personal asset dis8 closures to include members of the covered officials’ 

9 immediate families or households and develop effec10 tive mechanisms for verifying disclosed information; 

11 (8) in the event of future egregious cases of 

12 corruption in Afghanistan, the President should im13 pose visa bans and asset freezes on those respon14 sible, especially in instances where United States as15 sistance is stolen or misappropriated; 

16 (9) the United States Government should co17 operate with the Government of Afghanistan and 

18 with international donors to develop a series of strict 

19 accountability benchmarks based on the refreshed 

20 Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework and the 

21 Government of Afghanistan’s own ‘‘Realizing Self 

22 Reliance’’ report commitments that will condition 

23 levels of assistance and the amount of on-budget as24 sistance on anti-corruption performance acceptable 

25 to donors; 


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1 (10) the United States should support the Af2 ghan Parliament to refine and strengthen the legal 

3 framework of anti-corruption and anti-money laun4 dering laws to address beneficial ownership, coun5 tering bid-rigging and other contracting and pro6 curement fraud, criminal investigations of financial 

7 transactions, complementary banks, personal asset 

8 or other financial declarations and disclosures as re9 quired by law or regulation, efforts to meet FATF 

10 requirements, and other areas to further inhibit the 

11 illicit flow of money; 

12 (11) the commitment by the Government of Af13 ghanistan to strengthen its nascent private sector 

14 should be supported and sustained using the full 

15 array of tools of the United States, including tech16 nical and legal assistance; 

17 (12) United States assistance to the Afghan ju18 dicial system and other Afghan legal institutions 

19 that enable and empower private sector development 

20 by instilling greater investor confidence should be 

21 prioritized to ensure the protection of private prop22 erty, the sanctity of contracts, and effective dispute 

23 resolution mechanisms for businesses and investors; 

24 (13) the United States Government should 

25 identify opportunities for the United States to introVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 May 03, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1875.RFH S1875

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1 duce trade facilitation as part of the economic rela2 tionship between the 2 countries; 

3 (14) the Governments of the United States and 

4 Afghanistan should work together to identify more 

5 Afghan products and raw materials to be included 

6 on the United States Generalized System of Pref7 erences (GSP) treatment list; 

8 (15) the American University of Afghanistan is 

9 an emerging pillar in Afghanistan’s education sys10 tem and has provided a unique opportunity for high11 er education for Afghan youth, especially women; 

12 and 

13 (16) the United States should encourage the 

14 Government of Afghanistan to implement with ur15 gency electoral reforms in accordance with the 

16 ‘‘Agreement between the Two Campaign Teams Re17 garding the Structure of the National Unity Govern18 ment’’. 

19 SEC. 103. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE POLICY FOR AF20 GHANISTAN. 

21 It is the policy of the United States— 

22 (1) to conduct assistance programs that result 

23 in highly effective, impact driven development out24 comes for the people of Afghanistan while maintainVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:14 May 03, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1875.RFH S1875

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1 ing the highest standards of accountability for 

2 United States taxpayers; 

3 (2) that all United States Government agencies 

4 and entities working in Afghanistan coordinate, 

5 plan, and regularly review plans in a coherent, well6 informed process to develop United States policy and 

7 assistance programming; 

8 (3) to support the development of effective Gov9 ernment of Afghanistan oversight institutions and 

10 domestic watchdog civil society organizations; 

11 (4) subject to significant evident progress made 

12 in meeting TMAF accountability and improved gov13 ernance as it relates to development, to abide by re14 source commitments made as part of the Tokyo Mu15 tual Accountability Framework; 

16 (5) to provide incentivized assistance to Af17 ghanistan’s governing institutions based upon 

18 verifiable and measurable development outcomes and 

19 on-budget assistance based upon demonstrated ca20 pacity improvements that are mutually agreed to by 

21 the Government of Afghanistan and Government of 

22 the United States; 

23 (6) to support the development of democratic 

24 governing institutions in Afghanistan, promote the 


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1 development of a growing private sector, and 

2 strengthen civil society in Afghanistan; 

3 (7) to recognize that Afghanistan’s sustainable 

4 development is grounded in growing the regional 

5 economy, and to support the efforts of the Govern6 ment and people of Afghanistan to build strong re7 gional economic connectivity with the country’s 

8 neighbors; 

9 (8) to support, where appropriate, proven pro10 grams that promote private sector job creation in 

11 Afghanistan; and 

12 (9) that assistance programs in direct support 

13 of Afghan women and girls remain a priority for the 

14 United States, including specific efforts to support 

15 women and girls education, meaningful engagement 

16 in political and reconciliation processes, training and 

17 recruitment of Afghan female police and security 

18 forces, advancement of women’s legal rights, eco19 nomic development, and efforts to increase the over20 all health and well-being of Afghan women and girls. 

21 SEC. 104. EFFECTIVE AFGHANISTAN ASSISTANCE AND AC22 COUNTABILITY. 

23 (a) STRATEGY TO COMBAT CORRUPTION IN AF24 GHANISTAN.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in 

2 consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the 

3 Government of Afghanistan, shall develop a com4 prehensive interagency strategy for United States 

5 assistance that is sustainable and is not counter-pro6 ductive to combating corruption in Afghanistan. 

7 (2) ELEMENTS.—The strategy developed under 

8 paragraph (1) should include the following elements: 

9 (A) Multi-year goals, objectives, and meas10 urable outcomes for targeted activities to 

11 strengthen selected Afghan official institutions 

12 and nongovernmental organizations to prevent, 

13 investigate, deter, and prosecute corruption. 

14 (B) An operational plan incorporating all 

15 United States Government programming to im16 plement the anti-corruption goals and objec17 tives. 

18 (C) A summary of United States efforts to 

19 coordinate with other international donors to 

20 ensure that anti-corruption advice or program21 ming provided to the Government of Afghani22 stan is not contradictory. 

23 (D) A focus on the development of govern24 mental and nongovernmental Afghan capacity 

25 to ensure accountability and combat corruption. 


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1 (E) An evaluation of Afghan civil society 

2 anti-corruption capacities that includes their 

3 ability to use technology to combat corruption. 

4 (b) AFGHANISTAN ANTI-CORRUPTION FUND.—Sub5 ject to the availability of funds, the President is authorized 

6 to provide technical and financial assistance to official 

7 Government of Afghanistan anti-corruption and audit in8 stitutions and Afghan civil society watchdog groups in 

9 support of the anti-corruption priorities identified by the 

10 Government of Afghanistan and the United States Gov11 ernment. Subject to careful consideration by the United 

12 States Government of the legitimacy, efficacy, and direct 

13 impact and influence of such entities and individuals, of14 fices, and organizations that are funded under this sub15 section could include— 

16 (1) the Supreme Audit Office; 

17 (2) the Attorney General; 

18 (3) the Ministry of Justice; 

19 (4) Inspectors General within key ministries; 

20 (5) the Independent Joint Anti-Corruption 

21 Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (MEC); 

22 (6) the major crimes task force, Technical In23 vestigative Unit, and the Sensitive Investigative 

24 Unit; 


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1 (7) the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Cor2 ruption; 

3 (8) the Anti-Corruption Tribunal; 

4 (9) the Financial Transactions and Reports 

5 Analysis Center of Afghanistan; 

6 (10) the proposed procurement board; and 

7 (11) civil society organizations engaged in over8 sight, anti-corruption advocacy, and support of good 

9 governance. 

10 (c) PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, PRESS FREE11 DOM, AND SECURITY SECTOR ACCOUNTABILITY.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 

13 funds, the Secretary of State, in consultation with 

14 the Secretary of Defense, is authorized to provide 

15 support for efforts of the Government of Afghani16 stan to improve oversight and accountability of the 

17 Afghan National Security Forces, including the Af18 ghan National Police, and Afghan local police, and 

19 strengthen Afghan civil society and investigative 

20 journalists to provide watchdog oversight of these in21 stitutions. Subject to due consideration of the legit22 imacy, efficacy, and direct impact and influence of 

23 such entities and individuals, these efforts could in24 clude— 


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1 (A) supporting the ANSF to strengthen 

2 the capacity, independence, and power of its in3 ternal Inspector General to collect and inves4 tigate all credible reports of abuse by armed 

5 forces; 

6 (B) supporting the Office of the Attorney 

7 General and the Ministries of Defense and Inte8 rior to be better capable to investigate and, if 

9 appropriate, criminally prosecute police, mili10 tary, intelligence, and militia personnel, regard11 less of rank, found responsible for human rights 

12 abuses and war crimes; 

13 (C) considering establishing a special inde14 pendent mechanism to investigate government 

15 officials and security force officers implicated in 

16 abuses; 

17 (D) supporting the Ministry of Interior to 

18 establish a centralized register of all detainees 

19 held in police and National Directorate of Secu20 rity custody, and ensure that it is accessible to 

21 independent monitors and is updated regularly 

22 and in a transparent manner; 

23 (E) supporting implementation of the Ac24 cess to Information Law and the 2009 Mass 

25 Media Law, particularly provisions of the latter 


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1 that would disband the Media Violations Inves2 tigation Commission and replace it with a Mass 

3 Media Commission; 

4 (F) supporting the Attorney General’s Of5 fice to undertake prompt, impartial, and thor6 ough investigations into all attacks on journal7 ists and media organizations and bring prosecu8 tions as appropriate; and 

9 (G) supporting the further establishment 

10 of civil society organizations to provide essential 

11 ‘‘watchdog’’ oversight of the police and armed 

12 forces; as well as efforts to strengthen and im13 prove coordination among civil society organiza14 tions, such as the Afghan Independent Human 

15 Rights Commission. 

16 SEC. 105. REPORTS. 

17 (a) REPORTING ON CORRUPTION IN AFGHANI18 STAN.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enact19 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter through 2024, 

20 the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate con21 gressional committees a report listing each individual who 

22 the President determines, based on credible evidence— 

23 (1) is a Government of Afghanistan official, a 

24 senior associate, or close relative of such an official, 

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1 trolling, or otherwise directing, acts of significant 

2 corruption, including the expropriation of private or 

3 public assets for personal gain, corruption related to 

4 government contracts or the extraction of natural re5 sources, bribery, or the facilitation or transfer of the 

6 proceeds of corruption to foreign jurisdictions; or 

7 (2) has materially assisted, sponsored, or pro8 vided financial, material, or technological support 

9 for, or goods or services in support of, an activity 

10 described above. 

11 (b) REPORT ON CIVILIAN-MILITARY ASSISTANCE EF12 FORTS IN AFGHANISTAN.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp15 troller General of the United States shall submit a 

16 report to the appropriate congressional committees 

17 that describes civilian-military assistance efforts in 

18 Afghanistan. 

19 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required under 

20 paragraph (1) shall include the following elements: 

21 (A) A description of lessons learned from 

22 conducting development programming in Af23 ghanistan to include recommendations on how 

24 to improve coordination between United States 


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1 development agencies and the United States 

2 Armed Forces. 

3 (B) An assessment of the ability of the 

4 United States Agency for International Devel5 opment to advance development goals within 

6 Afghanistan, operating alongside providers of 

7 United States military assistance. 

8 (C) An assessment of whether funding 

9 under the Commander’s Emergency Response 

10 Program achieved the program’s counterinsur11 gency goals, including force protection, and 

12 whether this program had any long term devel13 opment impact, including any negative unin14 tended consequences. 

Passed the Senate April 28, 2016. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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