II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 355 

To enhance the capacity of the United States to undertake global development 

activities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 29, 2009 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. CARDIN, and 

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

A BILL 

To enhance the capacity of the United States to undertake 

global development activities, 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 ‘‘Increasing America’s 

5 Global Development Capacity Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) foreign development assistance is an impor9 tant foreign policy tool in addition to diplomacy and 

10 defense; 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
2 

•S 355 IS

1 (2) development assistance is part of any com2 prehensive United States response to regional con3 flicts, terrorist threats, weapons proliferation, dis4 ease pandemics, and persistent widespread poverty; 

5 (3) in 2002 and 2006, the United States Na6 tional Security Strategy included global develop7 ment, along with defense and diplomacy, as the 3 

8 pillars of national security; 

9 (4) in its early years, the United States Agency 

10 for International Development (referred to in this 

11 Act as ‘‘USAID’’) had more than 5,000 full-time 

12 Foreign Service Officers; 

13 (5) in 2008, USAID had slightly more than 

14 1,000 full-time Foreign Service Officers; 

15 (6) the budget at USAID, calculated in real 

16 dollars, has dropped 27 percent since 1985; and 

17 (7) this decline in personnel and operating 

18 budgets has diminished the capacity of USAID to 

19 provide development assistance and implement for20 eign assistance programs. 

21 SEC. 3. HIRING OF ADDITIONAL FOREIGN SERVICE OFFI22 CERS AS USAID EMPLOYEES. 

23 (a) INITIAL HIRINGS.—Except as provided under 

24 subsection (c), not later than 1 year after the date of the 

25 enactment of this Act, the Administrator of USAID (reVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:28 Feb 02, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S355.IS S355

wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
3 

•S 355 IS

1 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall in2 crease by not less than 700 the total number of full-time 

3 Foreign Service Officers employed by USAID compared 

4 to the number of such officers employed by USAID on 

5 September 30, 2008. These officers shall be used to en6 hance the ability of USAID to— 

7 (1) carry out development activities around the 

8 world by providing USAID with additional human 

9 resources and expertise needed to meet important 

10 development and humanitarian needs around the 

11 world; 

12 (2) strengthen the institutional capacity of 

13 USAID as the lead development agency of the 

14 United States; and 

15 (3) more effectively help developing nations to 

16 become more stable, healthy, democratic, prosperous, 

17 and self-sufficient. 

18 (b) SUBSEQUENT HIRINGS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under 

20 subsection (c), during the 2-year period beginning 1 

21 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

22 Administrator shall increase by not less than 1,300 

23 the total number of full-time Foreign Service Offi24 cers over the number of such officers at the begin25 ning of such 2-year period to carry out the activities 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
4 

•S 355 IS

1 described in subsection (a), contingent upon suffi2 cient appropriations. 

3 (2) STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis5 trator shall submit a strategy to Congress that in6 cludes— 

7 (A) a plan to create a professional training 

8 program that will provide new and current 

9 USAID employees with technical, management, 

10 leadership, and language skills; 

11 (B) a staffing plan for the subsequent 5 

12 years; and 

13 (C) a description of further resources and 

14 statutory changes necessary to implement the 

15 proposed training and staffing plans. 

16 (c) EXCEPTION.—If the Administrator determines 

17 that USAID has competing needs that are more urgent 

18 than the hirings described in subsection (a) or (b), or finds 

19 a shortage of qualified individuals for such hirings, the 

20 Administrator may reduce the number of such hirings and 

21 use the available funds for competing needs if the Admin22 istrator submits a report describing such competing needs 

23 and, if applicable, the nature of the shortage, to— 

24 (1) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

25 Senate; 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS
5 

•S 355 IS

1 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

2 Senate; 

3 (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

4 House of Representatives; and 

5 (4) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

6 House of Representatives. 

Æ 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with BILLS