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[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2500 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2500

 To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for 
orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries, and for 
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 3, 2004

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for 
orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries, 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 ``Assistance for Orphans and Other 
Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) More than 110,000,000 orphans live in sub-Saharan 
        Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. These children 
        often are disadvantaged in numerous and devastating ways and 
        most households with orphans cannot meet the basic needs of 
        health care, food, clothing, and educational expenses.
            (2) It is estimated that 121,000,000 children worldwide do 
        not attend school and that the majority of such children are 
        young girls. According to the United Nations Children's Fund 
        (UNICEF), orphans are less likely to be in school and more 
        likely to be working full time.
            (3) School food programs, including take-home rations, in 
        developing countries provide strong incentives for children to 
        remain in school and continue their education. School food 
        programs can reduce short-term hunger, improve cognitive 
        functions, and enhance learning, behavior, and achievement.
            (4) The lack of financial resources prevents many orphans 
        and other vulnerable children in developing countries from 
        attending school because of the requirement to pay school fees 
        and other costs of education. Providing children with free 
        primary school education, while simultaneously ensuring that 
        adequate resources exist for teacher training and 
        infrastructure, would help more orphans and other vulnerable 
        children obtain a quality education.
            (5) The trauma that results from the loss of a parent can 
        trigger behavior problems of aggression or emotional withdrawal 
        and negatively affect a child's performance in school and the 
        child's social relations. Children living in families affected 
        by HIV/AIDS or who have been orphaned by AIDS often face 
        stigmatization and discrimination. Providing culturally 
        appropriate psychological counselling to such children can 
        assist them in successfully accepting and adjusting to their 
        circumstances.
            (6) Orphans and other vulnerable children in developing 
        countries routinely are denied their inheritance or encounter 
        difficulties in claiming the land and other property which they 
        have inherited. Even when the inheritance rights of women and 
        children are spelled out in law, such rights are difficult to 
        claim and are seldom enforced. In many countries it is 
        difficult or impossible for a widow, even if she has young 
        children, to claim property after the death of her husband.
            (7) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has had a devastating affect on 
        children and is deepening poverty in entire communities and 
        jeopardizing the health, safety, and survival of all children 
        in affected areas.
            (8) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has increased the number of 
        orphans worldwide and has exacerbated the poor living 
        conditions of the world's poorest and most vulnerable children. 
        AIDS has created an unprecedented orphan crisis, especially in 
        sub-Saharan Africa, where children have been hardest hit. An 
        estimated 14,000,000 orphans have lost 1 or both parents to 
        AIDS. By 2010, it is estimated that over 250,000,000 children 
        will have been orphaned by AIDS.
            (9) Although a number of organizations seek to meet the 
        needs of orphans or other vulnerable children, extended 
        families and local communities continue to be the primary 
        providers of support for such children.
            (10) The HIV/AIDS pandemic is placing huge burdens on 
        communities and is leaving many orphans with little support. 
        Alternatives to traditional orphanages, such as community-based 
        resource centers, continue to evolve in response to the massive 
        number of orphans that has resulted from the pandemic.
            (11) The AIDS orphans crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has 
        implications for political stability, human welfare, and 
        development that extend far beyond the region, affecting 
        governments and people worldwide, and this crisis requires an 
        accelerated response from the international community.
            (12) Although section 403(b) of the United States 
        Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 
        2003 (22 U.S.C. 7673(b)) establishes the requirement that not 
        less than 10 percent of amounts appropriated for HIV/AIDS 
        assistance for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2008 shall be 
        expended for assistance for orphans and other vulnerable 
        children affected by HIV/AIDS, there is an urgent need to 
        provide assistance to such children prior to 2006.
            (13) Numerous United States and indigenous private 
        voluntary organizations, including faith-based organizations, 
        provide assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children in 
        developing countries. Many of these organizations have 
        submitted applications for grants to the United States Agency 
        for International Development to provide increased levels of 
        assistance for orphans and other vulnerable children in 
        developing countries.
            (14) Increasing the amount of assistance that is provided 
        by the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
        International Development through United States and indigenous 
private voluntary organizations, including faith-based organizations, 
will provide greater protection for orphans and other vulnerable 
children in developing countries.
            (15) It is essential that the United States Government 
        adopt a comprehensive approach for the provision of assistance 
        to orphans and other vulnerable children in developing 
        countries. A comprehensive approach would ensure that important 
        services, such as basic care, mental health and related 
        services, school food programs, increased educational 
        opportunities and employment training and related services, and 
        the protection and promotion of inheritance rights for such 
        children, are made more accessible.
            (16) Assistance for orphans and other vulnerable children 
        can best be provided by a comprehensive approach of the United 
        States Government that--
                    (A) ensures that Federal agencies and the private 
                sector coordinate efforts to prevent and eliminate 
                duplication of efforts and waste in the provision of 
                such assistance; and
                    (B) to the maximum extent possible, focuses on 
                community-based programs that allow orphans and other 
                vulnerable children to remain connected to the 
                traditions and rituals of their families and 
                communities.

SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN 
              DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.

    Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 
section:

``SEC. 135. ASSISTANCE FOR ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNERABLE CHILDREN.

    ``(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            ``(1) There are more than 110,000,000 orphans living in 
        sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
            ``(2) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has created an unprecedented 
        orphan crisis, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where children 
        have been hardest hit. The pandemic is deepening poverty in 
        entire communities, and is jeopardizing the health, safety, and 
        survival of all children in affected countries. It is estimated 
        that 14,000,000 children have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
            ``(3) The orphans crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has 
        implications for human welfare, development, and political 
        stability that extend far beyond the region, affecting 
        governments and people worldwide.
            ``(4) Extended families and local communities are 
        struggling to meet the basic needs of orphans and vulnerable 
        children by providing food, health care, education expenses, 
        and clothing.
            ``(5) Providing assistance to such children is an important 
        expression of the humanitarian concern and tradition of the 
        people of the United States.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) AIDS.--The term `AIDS' has the meaning given the term 
        in section 104A(g)(1) of this Act.
            ``(2) Children.--The term `children' means persons who have 
        not attained the age of 18.
            ``(3) HIV/AIDS.--The term `HIV/AIDS' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 104A(g)(3) of this Act.
            ``(4) Orphan.--The term `orphan' means a child deprived by 
        death of one or both parents.
    ``(c) Assistance.--The President is authorized to provide 
assistance for programs in developing countries to provide basic care 
and services for orphans and other vulnerable children. Such programs 
should provide assistance--
            ``(1) to support families and communities to mobilize their 
        own resources through the establishment of community-based 
        organizations to provide basic care for orphans and other 
        vulnerable children;
            ``(2) for school food programs, including the purchase of 
        local or regional foodstuffs where appropriate;
            ``(3) to reduce barriers to access to primary education 
        through the elimination of school fees where appropriate, 
        helping to otherwise cover costs of education, and improving 
        the quality of teaching and education infrastructure;
            ``(4) to provide employment training and related services 
        for orphans and other vulnerable children who are of legal 
        working age;
            ``(5) to protect and promote the inheritance rights of 
        orphans, other vulnerable children, and widows with children; 
        and
            ``(6) to provide culturally appropriate mental health 
        treatment and related services to orphans and other vulnerable 
        children.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
        to the President to carry out this section such sums as may be 
        necessary for each of the fiscal years 2005 and 2006.
            ``(2) Availability of funds.--Amounts made available under 
        paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available until expended 
        and are in addition to amounts otherwise available for such 
        purposes.
            ``(3) Relationship to other laws.--Amounts made available 
        for assistance pursuant to this subsection, and amounts made 
        available for such assistance pursuant to any other provision 
        of law, may be used to provide such assistance notwithstanding 
        any other provision of law.''.

SEC. 4. STRATEGY OF THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) Requirement for Strategy.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the President shall develop a strategy 
for coordinating and implementing assistance programs for orphans and 
vulnerable children.
    (b) Content.--The strategy required by subsection (a) shall 
include--
            (1) the identity of each agency or department of the 
        Federal Government that is providing assistance for orphans and 
        vulnerable children in foreign countries;
            (2) a description of the efforts of the head of each such 
        agency or department to coordinate the provision of such 
        assistance with other agencies or departments of the Federal 
        Government or nongovernmental entities;
            (3) a description of a coordinated strategy to provide the 
        assistance authorized in section 135 of the Foreign Assistance 
        Act of 1961, as added by section 3 of this Act; and
            (4) an analysis of additional coordination mechanisms or 
        procedures that could be implemented to carry out the purposes 
        of such section.
                                 <all>
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