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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 312 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 312

Expressing the sense of the Senate on empowering and strengthening the 
      United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 13, 2009

 Mr. Dodd (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Bond, Mr. Burris, 
  Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Kerry, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Menendez, Mr. 
   Sanders, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Casey, Mr. Merkley, Mr. 
   Lugar, Mr. Leahy, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Lautenberg, and Mrs. Boxer) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                          on Foreign Relations

                            November 9, 2009

      Considered, amended, and agreed to with an amended preamble

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Expressing the sense of the Senate on empowering and strengthening the 
      United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Whereas foreign development assistance is an important foreign policy tool in 
        addition to diplomacy and the military;
Whereas the United States is currently involved in two wars, both of which 
        military and civilian experts agree can only be solved with sound 
        development strategies to complement military efforts;
Whereas development assistance is part of any comprehensive United States 
        response to regional conflicts, terrorist threats, weapons 
        proliferation, disease pandemics, and persistent widespread poverty;
Whereas in 2002 and 2006, the United States National Security Strategy included 
        global development, along with the military and diplomacy, as the three 
        pillars of national security;
Whereas in its early years, the United States Agency for International 
        Development (USAID) had more than 5,000 full-time Foreign Service 
        Officers and 15,000 total staff;
Whereas in 2008, USAID had slightly more than 1,000 full-time Foreign Service 
        Officers and 3,000 total staff;
Whereas the loss in permanent staff and institutional expertise at USAID has 
        compelled it to rely disproportionally on outside contractors to help 
        manage programs in more than 150 countries;
Whereas from the early 1960s until 1992, the Office of Management and Budget 
        enforced a rule mandating that all foreign aid programs and spending 
        must go through USAID, except when USAID chose to contract with other 
        Federal agencies;
Whereas today more than half of all foreign assistance programs are administered 
        by Federal agencies other than USAID, and funding for such programs is 
        spread across more than 20 United States Government agencies; and
Whereas this decline in personnel, budgets, and coordinating leadership has 
        diminished the capacity of USAID and the United States Government to 
        provide development assistance and implement foreign assistance 
        programs: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) a highly capable and knowledgeable individual should be 
        nominated with all expediency and exigency to serve as the 
        Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
        Development;
            (2) the Administrator should--
                    (A) serve as the chief advocate for United States 
                development capacity and strategy in top-level national 
                security deliberations;
                    (B) serve as a powerful advocate and effective 
                leader of an empowered USAID; and
                    (C) marshal the resources, knowledge, capacity, and 
                experiences of USAID--
                            (i) to effectively represent USAID in 
                        interagency debate and in advancing and 
                        executing foreign policy; and
                            (ii) to improve ultimately the 
                        effectiveness and capability of United States 
                        foreign assistance;
            (3) USAID must be empowered to be the primary development 
        agency of the United States, and the Administrator must serve 
        as the principal advisor to the President and national security 
        organs of the United States Government on the capacity and 
        strategy of United States development assistance;
            (4) the Administrator should substantially and 
        transparently increase the total number of full-time Foreign 
        Service Officers employed by USAID, in part by reducing the 
        reliance on outside contractor personnel, in order to enhance 
        the ability of the agency to--
                    (A) carry out development activities around the 
                world by providing USAID with additional human 
                resources and expertise needed to meet important 
                development and humanitarian needs around the world;
                    (B) strengthen the institutional capacity of USAID 
                as the lead development agency of the United States; 
                and
                    (C) more effectively help developing nations to 
                become more stable, healthy, democratic, prosperous, 
                and self-sufficient; and
            (5) the Administrator should submit a strategy to Congress 
        that includes--
                    (A) a plan to create a professional training 
                program that will provide new and current Agency 
                employees with technical, management, leadership, and 
                language skills;
                    (B) a 5-year staffing plan;
                    (C) a description of further resources and 
                statutory changes necessary to implement the proposed 
                training and staffing plans; and
                    (D) a plan to address fraud and corruption in 
                United States development assistance and procedures to 
                safeguard United States foreign assistance funds from 
                going to persons or organizations that advocate or 
                engage in acts of international terrorism.
                                 <all>
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