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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1973 Introduced in House (IH)]

109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1973

To make access to safe water and sanitation for developing countries a 
   specific policy objective of the United States foreign assistance 
                   programs, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 28, 2005

   Mr. Blumenauer (for himself, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Leach, Mr. 
George Miller of California, and Mr. Tancredo) introduced the following 
  bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To make access to safe water and sanitation for developing countries a 
   specific policy objective of the United States foreign assistance 
                   programs, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Water for the Poor Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Water-related diseases are a human tragedy, killing up 
        to 5 million people annually, preventing millions of people 
        from leading healthy lives, and undermining development 
        efforts.
            (2) A child dies an average of every 15 seconds because of 
        lack of access to safe water and adequate sanitation.
            (3) In the poorest countries in the world, one out of five 
        children dies from a preventable, water-related disease.
            (4) Lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate 
        sanitation, and poor hygiene practices are directly responsible 
        for the vast majority of diarrheal diseases which kill over 2 
        million children each year.
            (5) At any given time, half of all people in the developing 
        world are suffering from one or more of the main diseases 
        associated with inadequate provision of water supply and 
        sanitation services.
            (6) Over 1.2 billion people, one in every four people in 
        the developing world, lack access to safe drinking water.
            (7) Over 2.4 billion people, two in every five people in 
        the developing world, lack access to basic sanitation services.
            (8) Nearly 500 million people are affected by water stress 
        or serious water scarcity. Under current trends, two-thirds of 
        the world's population may be subject to moderate to high water 
        stress by 2025.
            (9) Access to safe water and sanitation and improved 
        hygiene are significant factors in controlling the spread of 
        disease in the developing world and positively affecting worker 
        productivity and economic development.
            (10) Increasing access to safe water and sanitation 
        advances efforts toward other development objectives, such as 
        fighting poverty and hunger, promoting primary education and 
        gender equality, reducing child mortality, promoting 
        environmental stability, improving the lives of slum dwellers, 
        and strengthening national security.
            (11) Providing safe supplies of water and sanitation and 
        hygiene improvements would save millions of lives by reducing 
        the prevalence of water-borne diseases, water-based diseases, 
        water-privation diseases, and water-related vector diseases.
            (12) Because women and girls in developing countries are 
        often the carriers of water, lack of access to safe water and 
        sanitation disproportionately affects women and limits women's 
        opportunities at education, livelihood, and financial 
        independence.
            (13) Every $1 invested in safe water and sanitation would 
        yield an economic return of between $3 and $34, depending on 
        the region.
            (14) Developing sustainable financing mechanisms, such as 
        pooling mechanisms and revolving funds, is necessary for the 
        long-term viability of improved water and sanitation services.
            (15) The annual level of investment needed to meet the 
        water and sanitation needs of developing countries far exceeds 
        the amount of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and 
        spending by governments of developing countries, so 
        facilitating and attracting greater public and private 
        investment is essential.
            (16) Meeting the water and sanitation needs of the lowest-
        income developing countries will require an increase in the 
        resources available as grants from donor countries.
            (17) The long-term sustainability of improved water and 
        sanitation services can be advanced by promoting community 
        level action and engagement with civil society.
            (18) Target 10 of the United Nations Millennium Development 
        Goals is to reduce by half the proportion of people without 
        sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015.
            (19) The participants in the 2002 World Summit on 
        Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, 
        including the United States, agreed to the Plan of 
        Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development 
        which included an agreement to work to reduce by one-half ``the 
        proportion of people who are unable to reach or afford safe 
        drinking water,'' and ``the proportion of people without access 
        to basic sanitation'' by 2015.
            (20) At the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the 
        United States announced the Water for the Poor Initiative, 
        committing $970 million for fiscal years 2003 through 2005 to 
        improve sustainable management of fresh water resources and 
        accelerate and expand international efforts to achieve the goal 
        of cutting in half by 2015 the proportion of people who are 
        unable to reach or to afford safe drinking water.
            (21) United Nations General Assembly Resolution 58/217 
        (February 9, 2004) proclaimed ``the period from 2005 to 2015 
        the International Decade for Action, `Water for Life', to 
        commence on World Water Day, 22 March 2005'' for the purpose of 
        increasing the focus of the international community on water-
        related issues at all levels and on the implementation of 
        water-related programs and projects.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) in order to make the most effective use of amounts of 
        Official Development Assistance (ODA) for water and sanitation 
        and avoid waste and duplication, the United States should seek 
        to establish innovative international coordination mechanisms 
        based on best practices in other development sectors;
            (2) the United States should greatly increase the amount of 
        Official Development Assistance made available to carry out 
        section 104D of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by 
        section 4(a) of this Act;
            (3) United States water and sanitation assistance programs 
        should reflect an appropriate balance of grants, loans, 
        investment insurance, loan guarantees, and other assistance to 
        ensure affordability and equity in the provision of access to 
        safe water and sanitation for the very poor;
            (4) United States water and sanitation assistance programs, 
        to the extent possible, should support the poverty reduction 
        strategies of recipient countries;
            (5) United States water and sanitation assistance programs 
        should promote community-based approaches in the provision of 
        affordable and equitable access to safe water and sanitation, 
        including the involvement of civil society; and
            (6) protecting the supply and availability of safe water 
        requires sound environmental management.

SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE TO PROVIDE SAFE WATER AND SANITATION.

    (a) In General.--Part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 104C the 
following new section:

``SEC. 104D. ASSISTANCE TO PROVIDE SAFE WATER AND SANITATION.

    ``(a) Purposes.--The purposes of assistance authorized by this 
section are--
            ``(1) to promote good health, economic development, poverty 
        reduction, women's empowerment, and environmental 
        sustainability by providing assistance to expand access to safe 
        water and sanitation, promoting integrated water resource 
        management, and improving hygiene for people around the world;
            ``(2) to seek to reduce by one-half from the baseline year 
        1990 the proportion of people who are unable to reach or afford 
        safe drinking water and the proportion of people without access 
        to basic sanitation by 2015;
            ``(3) to focus water and sanitation assistance toward the 
        countries and people with the greatest need;
            ``(4) to promote affordability and equity in the provision 
        of access to safe water and sanitation for the very poor, 
        women, and other vulnerable populations;
            ``(5) to promote long-term sustainability in the affordable 
        and equitable provision of access to safe water and sanitation 
        through the creation of innovative financing mechanisms such as 
        national revolving funds, and by strengthening the capacity of 
        recipient governments and communities to formulate and 
        implement policies that expand access to safe water and 
        sanitation in a sustainable fashion, including securing loans 
        and strategic planning;
            ``(6) to secure the greatest amount of resources possible, 
        encourage private investment in water and sanitation 
        infrastructure and services, particularly in lower middle-
        income countries, without creating unsustainable debt for low-
        income countries or unaffordable water and sanitation costs for 
        the very poor; and
            ``(7) to promote the capacity of recipient governments to 
        provide affordable, equitable, and sustainable access to safe 
        water and sanitation.
    ``(b) Authorization.--To carry out the purposes of subsection (a), 
the President is authorized to furnish assistance for programs in 
developing countries to provide affordable and equitable access to safe 
water and sanitation.
    ``(c) Activities Supported.--Assistance provided under subsection 
(b) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be used to--
            ``(1) expand affordable and equitable access to safe water 
        and sanitation for underserved populations;
            ``(2) support the construction, maintenance, upkeep, 
        repair, and operation of water delivery and sanitation systems;
            ``(3) improve the safety and reliability of water supplies, 
        including environmental management; and
            ``(4) improve the institutional capacity of recipient 
        governments, including capacity-building programs for improved 
        water resource management.
    ``(d) Local Currency.--The President may use payments made in local 
currencies under an agreement made under title I of the Agricultural 
Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (7 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to 
provide assistance under this section, including assistance for 
activities related to drilling or maintaining wells.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 104(c) of the Agricultural Trade 
Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (7 U.S.C. 1704(c)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(9) Safe water.--To provide assistance under section 104D 
        of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to promote good health, 
        economic development, poverty reduction, women's empowerment, 
        and environmental sustainability by improving the safety of 
        water supplies, including programs related to drilling or 
        maintaining wells.''.

SEC. 5. SAFE WATER AND SANITATION STRATEGY.

    (a) Strategy.--The Administrator of the United States Agency for 
International Development, in consultation with the heads of other 
appropriate Federal departments and agencies, international 
organizations, international financial institutions, recipient 
governments, United States and international nongovernmental 
organizations, indigenous civil society, and other appropriate 
entities, shall develop and implement a strategy to further the United 
States foreign assistance objective to provide affordable and equitable 
access to safe water and sanitation in developing countries.
    (b) Content.--The strategy required by subsection (a) shall 
include--
            (1) an assessment of the activities that have been carried 
        out, or that are planned to be carried out, by all appropriate 
        Federal departments and agencies to improve affordable and 
        equitable access to safe water and sanitation and hygiene in 
        all countries that receive assistance from the United States 
        Agency for International Development;
            (2) specific and measurable goals, benchmarks, and 
        timetables to achieve the objective described in subsection 
        (a);
            (3) an assessment of the level of resources that are needed 
        each year to achieve the goals, benchmarks, and timetables 
        described in paragraph (2);
            (4) methods to mobilize and leverage the financial, 
        technical, and managerial expertise of businesses, governments, 
        nongovernmental organizations, and civil society in the form of 
        public-private alliances;
            (5) methods to encourage reforms and increase the capacity 
        of foreign governments to formulate and implement policies that 
        expand access to safe water and sanitation in an affordable, 
        equitable, and sustainable fashion, including securing loans 
        and strategic planning;
            (6) methods to coordinate and integrate United States water 
        and sanitation assistance programs with other United States 
        development assistance programs to achieve the objective 
        described in subsection (a);
            (7) methods to better coordinate United States water and 
        sanitation assistance programs with programs of other donor 
        countries and entities to achieve the objective described in 
        subsection (a);
            (8) methods to take into account the different needs of 
        countries with an absolute lack of resources to expand water 
        and sanitation access and countries with the need to better 
        allocate potentially sufficient existing resources and the 
        different activities appropriate to each, as well as countries 
        with existing markets for investment in water and sanitation 
        and countries without existing markets for investment in water 
        and sanitation; and
            (9) methods to take into account the need for an 
        appropriate balance of grants, loans, investment insurance, 
        loan guarantees, and other assistance to ensure affordability 
        and equity in the provision of access to safe water and 
        sanitation for the very poor.
    (c) Reports.--
            (1) Initial report.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the United 
        States Agency for International Development shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees a report that describes 
        the strategy required by subsection (a).
            (2) Subsequent reports.--Not less than once every year 
        after the submission of the initial report under paragraph (1) 
        until 2015, the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate 
        congressional committees a report on the status of the 
        implementation of the strategy, progress made in achieving the 
        objective described in subsection (a), and any changes to the 
        strategy since the date of the submission of the last report.
            (3) Definition.--In this subsection, the term ``appropriate 
        congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on International Relations and 
                the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
                Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 
year 2006 and each subsequent fiscal year such sums as may be necessary 
to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
    (b) Other Amounts.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
authorization of appropriations in subsection (a) shall be in addition 
to the amounts otherwise available to carry out this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act.
    (c) Availability.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
authorization of appropriations under section (a) are authorized to 
remain available until expended.
                                 <all>
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