II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 492

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2, 2005

Mr. FRIST (for himself, Mr. REID, and Mr. LUGAR) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign 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.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Water: Currency 

5 for Peace Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Water-related diseases are a human trag9 edy, killing and debilitating millions of people annu-
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1 ally, preventing millions of people from leading 

2 healthy lives, and undermining development efforts. 

3 (2) Providing safe supplies of water, and sani4 tation and hygiene improvements would save millions 

5 of lives by reducing the prevalence of water-borne 

6 diseases, water-based diseases, water-privation dis7 eases, and water-related vector diseases. 

8 (3) An estimated 1,800,000 people die of 

9 diarrhoeal diseases every year. Ninety percent of 

10 these people are children under the age of five who 

11 live in developing countries. Simple household and 

12 personal hygiene measures, such as household water 

13 treatment and safe storage and effective hand wash14 ing with soap, reduce the burden of diarrhoeal dis15 ease by more than 40 percent. 

16 (4) According to the World Health Organiza17 tion, 88 percent of diarrhoeal disease can be attrib18 uted to unsafe water supply, and inadequate sanita19 tion and hygiene. 

20 (5) Around the world, more than 150,000,000 

21 people are threatened by blindness caused by tra22 choma, a disease that is spread through poor hy23 giene and sanitation, and aggravated by inadequate 

24 water supply. 
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1 (6) Chronic intestinal helminth infections are a 

2 leading source of global morbidity, including cog3 nitive impairment and anemia for hundreds of mil4 lions of children and adults. Access to safe water 

5 and sanitation and better hygiene practices can 

6 greatly reduce the number of these infections. 

7 (7) Schistosomiasis is a disease that affects 

8 200,000,000 people, 20,000,000 of whom suffer seri9 ous consequences, including liver and intestinal dam10 age. Improved water resource management to reduce 

11 infestation of surface water, improved sanitation and 

12 hygiene, and deworming treatment can dramatically 

13 reduce this burden. 

14 (8) In 2002, 2,600,000,000 people lacked ac15 cess to improved sanitation. In sub-Saharan Africa, 

16 only 36 percent of the population has access to im17 proved sanitation. In developing countries, only 31 

18 percent of the population in rural areas has access 

19 to improved sanitation. 

20 (9) Improved management of water resources 

21 can contribute to comprehensive strategies for con22 trolling mosquito populations associated with life23 threatening vector-borne diseases in developing coun24 tries, especially malaria, which kills more than 
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1 1,000,000 people each year, most of whom are chil2 dren. 

3 (10) Natural disasters such as floods and 

4 droughts threaten people’s health. Floods contami5 nate drinking-water systems with industrial waste 

6 refuse, sewage, and human and animal excreta. 

7 Droughts exacerbate malnutrition and limit access 

8 to drinking water supplies. Sound water resource 

9 management can mitigate the impact of such natural 

10 disasters. 

11 (11) The United Nations Population Fund re12 port entitled ‘‘Water: A Critical Resource’’ stated 

13 that ‘‘Nearly 500 million people [suffer from] water 

14 stress or serious water scarcity. Under current 

15 trends, two-thirds of the world’s population may be 

16 subject to moderate to high water stress by 2025’’. 

17 Effective water management and equitable allocation 

18 of scarce water supplies for all uses will become in19 creasingly important for meeting both human and 

20 ecosystem water needs in the future. 

21 (12) The participants in the World Summit on 

22 Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg, 

23 South Africa, in 2002, agreed to the Plan of Imple24 mentation of the World Summit on Sustainable De25 velopment which included an agreement to work to
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1 reduce by one-half ‘‘the proportion of people who are 

2 unable to reach or afford safe drinking water,’’ and 

3 ‘‘the proportion of people without access to basic 

4 sanitation’’ by 2015. 

5 (13) At the World Summit on Sustainable De6 velopment, building on the U.S.-Japan Partnership 

7 for Security and Prosperity announced in June 2001 

8 by President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi, the 

9 United States and Japan announced a Clean Water 

10 for People Initiative to cooperate in providing safe 

11 water and sanitation to the world’s poor, improve 

12 watershed management, and increase the produc13 tivity of water. 

14 (14) At the World Summit on Sustainable De15 velopment, the United States announced the Water 

16 for the Poor Initiative which committed the United 

17 States to provide $970,000,000 over 3 years to in18 crease access to safe water and sanitation services, 

19 improve watershed management, and increase the 

20 productivity of water. During fiscal year 2004, the 

21 United States provided an estimated $817,000,000 

22 in assistance to the Water for the Poor Initiative, in23 cluding funds made available for reconstruction ac24 tivities in Iraq, of which $388,000,000 was made 
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1 available for safe drinking water and sanitation pro2 grams. 

3 (15) During fiscal year 2004, the United States 

4 provided $49,000,000 in assistance for activities to 

5 provide safe drinking water and sanitation in sub6 Saharan Africa, an amount that is equal to 6.5 per7 cent of total United States foreign assistance pro8 vided for all water activities in the Water for the 

9 Poor Initiative. 

10 (16) At the 2003 Summit of the Group of 

11 Eight in Evian, France, the members of the Group 

12 of Eight produced a plan entitled ‘‘Water: A G8 Ac13 tion Plan’’ that stated that a lack of water can un14 dermine human security. The Action Plan committed 

15 the members of the Group of Eight to playing a 

16 more active role in international efforts to provide 

17 safe water and sanitation to the world’s poor by mo18 bilizing domestic resources in developing countries 

19 for water infrastructure financing through the devel20 opment and strengthening of local capital markets 

21 and financial institutions, particularly by estab22 lishing, where appropriate, at the national and local 

23 levels, revolving funds that offer local currency 

24 financings, which allow communities to finance cap-
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1 ital-intensive water infrastructure projects over an 

2 affordable period of time at competitive rates. 

3 (17) The G8 Action Plan also committed mem4 bers of the Group of Eight to provide risk mitigation 

5 mechanisms for such revolving funds and to provide 

6 technical assistance for the development of efficient 

7 local financial markets and building municipal gov8 ernment capacity to design and implement finan9 cially viable projects and provide, as appropriate, 

10 targeted subsidies for the poorest communities that 

11 cannot fully service market rate debt. 

12 (18) The United Nations General Assembly 

13 Resolution 58/217 of February 9, 2004, proclaimed 

14 ‘‘the period from 2005 to 2015 the International 

15 Decade for Action, ‘Water for Life’, to commence on 

16 World Water Day, 22 March 2005’’ for the purpose 

17 of increasing the focus of the international commu18 nity on water-related issues at all levels and on the 

19 implementation of water-related programs and 

20 projects. 

21 SEC. 3. WATER FOR HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part I of the Foreign Assistance 

23 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by in24 serting after section 104C the following new section: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 104D. WATER FOR HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

2 ‘‘(a) FINDING.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 ‘‘(1) Access to safe water and sanitation and 

5 improved hygiene are significant factors in control6 ling the spread of disease in the developing world 

7 and positively affecting economic development. 

8 ‘‘(2) The health of children and other vulner9 able rural and urban populations in developing coun10 tries, especially sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, 

11 is threatened by a lack of adequate safe water, sani12 tation, and hygiene. 

13 ‘‘(3) Efforts to meet United States foreign as14 sistance objectives, including those related to agri15 culture, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 

16 and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), 

17 and the environment will be advanced by improving 

18 access to safe water and sanitation and promoting 

19 sound water management throughout the world. 

20 ‘‘(4) Developing sustainable financing mecha21 nisms, including private sector financing, is critical 

22 to the long-term sustainability of improved water 

23 supply, sanitation, and hygiene. 

24 ‘‘(5) The annual level of investment needed to 

25 meet the water and sanitation needs of developing 

26 countries far exceeds the amount of Official Develop-
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1 ment Assistance (ODA) and spending by govern2 ments of developing countries, so attracting greater 

3 public and private investment is essential. 

4 ‘‘(6) Long-term sustainability in the provision 

5 of access to safe water and sanitation and in the 

6 maintenance of water and sanitation facilities re7 quires a legal and regulatory environment conducive 

8 to private sector investment and private sector par9 ticipation in the delivery of water and sanitation 

10 services. 

11 ‘‘(7) The absence of robust domestic financial 

12 markets and sources for long-term financing are a 

13 major impediment to the development of water and 

14 sanitation projects in developing countries. 

15 ‘‘(8) At the 2003 Summit of the Group of 

16 Eight in Evian, France, the members of the Group 

17 of Eight produced a plan entitled ‘Water: A G8 Ac18 tion Plan’ that contemplated the promotion of do19 mestic revolving funds to provide local currency fi20 nancing for capital-intensive water infrastructure 

21 projects. Innovative financing mechanisms such as 

22 revolving funds and pooled-financings have been ef23 fective vehicles for mobilizing domestic savings for 

24 investments in water and sanitation both in the 

25 United States and in some developing countries.
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1 These mechanisms can serve as a catalyst for great2 er investment in water and sanitation projects by vil3 lages, small towns, and municipalities. 

4 ‘‘(9) The G8 Action Plan also committed mem5 bers of the Group of Eight to improving coordina6 tion and cooperation between donors, and such im7 proved coordination and cooperation is essential for 

8 enlarging the beneficial impact of donor initiatives. 

9 ‘‘(b) POLICY.—It is a major objective of United 

10 States foreign assistance—

11 ‘‘(1) to promote good health and economic de12 velopment by providing assistance to expand access 

13 to safe water and sanitation, promote sound water 

14 management, and improve hygiene for people around 

15 the world; and 

16 ‘‘(2) to promote, to the maximum extent prac17 ticable and appropriate, long-term sustainability in 

18 the provision of access to safe water and sanitation 

19 by encouraging private investment in water and 

20 sanitation infrastructure and services. 

21 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the policy set 

23 out in subsection (b), the President is authorized to 

24 furnish assistance, including health information and 

25 education, to advance good health and promote eco-
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1 nomic development by improving the safety of water 

2 supplies, expanding access to safe water and sanita3 tion, promoting sound water management, and pro4 moting better hygiene. 

5 ‘‘(2) LOCAL CURRENCY.—The President may 

6 use payments made in local currencies under an 

7 agreement made under title I of the Agricultural 

8 Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (7 

9 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to provide assistance under this 

10 section, including assistance for activities related to 

11 drilling or maintaining wells.’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 104(c) of 

13 the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act 

14 of 1954 (7 U.S.C. 1704(c)) is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(9) SAFE WATER.—To provide assistance 

17 under section 104D of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

18 1961 to advance good health and promote economic 

19 development by improving the safety of water sup20 plies, including programs related to drilling or main21 taining wells.’’. 
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1 SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM FOR WATER SUSTAINABILITY IN2 FRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT AND CAPAC3 ITY BUILDING. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 104D of the Foreign As5 sistance Act of 1961, as added by section 3, is amended 

6 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(d) PILOT CLEAN WATER SUSTAINABILITY INFRA8 STRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.—

9 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY FOR PILOT PROGRAM.—In 

10 order to study the feasibility and desirability of a 

11 program to assist countries that have a high propor12 tion of the population that is susceptible to water13 borne illnesses as a result of a lack of basic infra14 structure for clean water and sanitation, the Presi15 dent, in close coordination with the Administrator of 

16 the United States Agency for International Develop17 ment and the Director of the Overseas Private In18 vestment Corporation, is authorized to establish a 5-

19 year pilot program under which the President may—

20 ‘‘(A) provide for the issuance of investment 

21 insurance, investment guarantees, or loan guar22 antees, provide for direct investment or invest23 ment encouragement, or carry out special 

24 projects and programs for eligible investors to 

25 assist such countries in the development of safe 
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1 drinking water and sanitation infrastructure 

2 programs; and 

3 ‘‘(B) provide assistance to support the ac4 tivities described in subparagraphs (A) through 

5 (D) of paragraph (2) for the purposes of—

6 ‘‘(i) carrying out the policy set out in 

7 subsection (b); and 

8 ‘‘(ii) maximizing the effectiveness of 

9 assistance provided under subparagraph 

10 (A). 

11 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Assistance pro12 vided to a country under paragraph (1)(B) shall be 

13 used to—

14 ‘‘(A) assess the water development needs 

15 of such country; 

16 ‘‘(B) design projects to address such water 

17 development needs; 

18 ‘‘(C) develop the capacity of individuals 

19 and institutions in such country to carry out 

20 and maintain water development programs 

21 through training, joint work projects, and edu22 cational programs; and 

23 ‘‘(D) provide long-term monitoring of 

24 water development programs. 
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1 ‘‘(3) GEOGRAPHIC LIMITATION.—The President 

2 may only provide assistance under the pilot program 

3 under paragraph (1) to a country based on consulta4 tion with Congress. 

5 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA.—In making deter6 minations of eligibility under this subsection, the 

7 President should give preferential consideration to 

8 projects sponsored by or significantly involving 

9 United States small businesses or cooperatives. 

10 ‘‘(5) IMPLEMENTATION.—To the extent pro11 vided for in advance in appropriations Acts, the 

12 President is authorized to create such legal mecha13 nisms as may be necessary for the implementation of 

14 its authorities under this subsection. Such legal 

15 mechanisms may be deemed non-Federal borrowers 

16 for purposes of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 

17 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.). 

18 ‘‘(6) LOAN GUARANTEES.—Notwithstanding 

19 any other provision of law, the President is author20 ized to provide assistance under the pilot program 

21 under paragraph (1) in the form of partial loan 

22 guarantees, provided that such a loan guarantee 

23 may not exceed 75 percent of the total amount of 

24 the loan. 
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1 ‘‘(7) COORDINATION.—The President is author2 ized to coordinate the activities of each agency or de3 partment of the United States to provide to a coun4 try assistance for an activity described in subpara5 graphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (2). 

6 ‘‘(8) FEDERAL AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES.—

7 Under the direction of the President, the head of 

8 each agency or department of the United States is 

9 authorized to assign, detail, or otherwise make avail10 able to the Department of State any officer or em11 ployee of such agency or department who possesses 

12 expertise related to an activity described in subpara13 graphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (2). 

14 ‘‘(9) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The President 

15 shall annually prepare and submit to the Committee 

16 on Appropriations, the Committee on Foreign Rela17 tions, and the Committee on Health, Education, 

18 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Com19 mittee on Appropriations, the Committee on Inter20 national Relations, and the Committee on Energy 

21 and Commerce of the House of Representatives a re22 port concerning the implementation of the pilot pro23 gram under this subsection.’’. 
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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 subsection (a) shall be effective during the 5-year period 

3 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act. 

4 SEC. 5. SAFE WATER STRATEGY. 

5 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR STRATEGY.—The Secretary 

6 of State, in close coordination with the Administrator of 

7 the United States Agency for International Development 

8 and in consultation with other appropriate Federal agen9 cies, appropriate international organizations, foreign gov10 ernments, United States nongovernmental organizations, 

11 and other appropriate entities, shall develop and imple12 ment a strategy to further the United States foreign as13 sistance objective to promote economic development by 

14 promoting good health through the provision of assistance 

15 to expand access to safe water and sanitation, to promote 

16 sound water management, and to improve hygiene for peo17 ple around the world. 

18 (b) CONTENT.—The strategy required by subsection 

19 (a) shall include—

20 (1) an assessment of the activities that have 

21 been carried out, or that are planned to be carried 

22 out, by the United States to improve hygiene or ac23 cess to safe water and sanitation by underserved 

24 rural or urban poor populations, the countries of 

25 sub-Saharan Africa, or in countries that receive as-
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1 sistance from the United States Agency for Inter2 national Development; 

3 (2) methods to achieve long-term sustainability 

4 in the provision of access to safe water and sanita5 tion, the maintenance of water and sanitation facili6 ties, and effective promotion of improved hygiene, in 

7 the context of appropriate financial, municipal, 

8 health, and water management systems; 

9 (3) methods to use United States assistance to 

10 promote community-based approaches, including the 

11 involvement of civil society, to further the objectives 

12 described in subsection (a); 

13 (4) methods to mobilize and leverage the finan14 cial, technical, and managerial expertise of busi15 nesses, governments, nongovernmental, and civil so16 ciety in the form of public-private alliances such as 

17 the Global Development Alliances of the Agency 

18 which encourage innovation and effective solutions 

19 for improving sustainable access to safe water and 

20 sanitation; 

21 (5) goals to further the objectives described in 

22 subsection (a) and methods to measure whether 

23 progress is being made to meet such goals, including 

24 indicators to measure progress and procedures to 

25 regularly evaluate and monitor progress; 
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1 (6) assessments of the challenges and obstacles 

2 that impede the provision of access to safe water 

3 and sanitation, as well as the improvement of hy4 giene practices, critical in developing countries; 

5 (7) assessments of how access to safe water, 

6 sanitation, and hygiene programs, as well as water 

7 resource programs, effectively support the goal of 

8 combating the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 

9 and the acquired immune deficiency syndrome 

10 (AIDS); 

11 (8) assessments of the roles that other coun12 tries or entities, including international organiza13 tions, could play in furthering such objective and 

14 mechanisms to establish coordination among the 

15 United States, foreign countries, and other entities; 

16 (9) assessments of the level of resources that 

17 are needed each year to further such objective; and 

18 (10) methods to coordinate and integrate pro19 grams of the United States to further such objective 

20 with other United States foreign assistance pro21 grams. 

22 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—

23 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Presi-
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1 dent shall submit to Congress a report that de2 scribes the strategy required by subsection (a). 

3 (2) REPORT.—Not less than once every 2 years 

4 after the submission of the initial report under para5 graph (1), the President shall submit to Congress a 

6 report on the status of the implementation of the 

7 strategy and progress made in achieving the objec8 tive described in subsection (a). 

9 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro11 priated for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2011 

12 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act and 

13 the amendments made by this Act. 

14 (b) OTHER AMOUNTS.—Amounts appropriated pur15 suant to the authorization of appropriations in subsection 

16 (a) shall be in addition to the amounts otherwise available 

17 to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this 

18 Act.

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