I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2639 

To require the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy 

to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting the 

reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, 

and the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development 

Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 

1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2009 

Mr. SMITH of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign 

policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the 

achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of 

people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on 

less than $1 per day. 

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

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Poverty Act 

3 of 2009’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) More than one billion people worldwide live 

7 on less than $1 per day, and another 1,600,000,000 

8 people struggle to survive on less than $2 per day, 

9 according to the World Bank. 

10 (2) At the United Nations Millennium Summit 

11 in 2000, the United States joined more than 180 

12 other countries in committing to work toward the 

13 United Nations Millennium Development Goals to 

14 improve life for the world’s poorest people by 2015. 

15 (3) The United Nations Millennium Develop16 ment Goals include the goal of reducing by one-half 

17 the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 

18 and 2015, that live on less than $1 per day, cutting 

19 in half the proportion of people suffering from hun20 ger and unable to access safe drinking water and 

21 sanitation, reducing child mortality by two-thirds, 

22 ensuring basic education for all children, and revers23 ing the spread of HIV/AIDS and malaria, while sus24 taining the environment upon which human life de25 pends. 

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1 (4) On March 22, 2002, President George W. 

2 Bush stated: ‘‘We fight against poverty because hope 

3 is an answer to terror. We fight against poverty be4 cause opportunity is a fundamental right to human 

5 dignity. We fight against poverty because faith re6 quires it and conscience demands it. We fight 

7 against poverty with a growing conviction that major 

8 progress is within our reach.’’. 

9 (5) The 2002 National Security Strategy of the 

10 United States notes: ‘‘[A] world where some live in 

11 comfort and plenty, while half of the human race 

12 lives on less than $2 per day, is neither just nor sta13 ble. Including all of the world’s poor in an expanding 

14 circle of development and opportunity is a moral im15 perative and one of the top priorities of United 

16 States international policy.’’. 

17 (6) The 2006 National Security Strategy of the 

18 United States notes: ‘‘America’s national interests 

19 and moral values drive us in the same direction: to 

20 assist the world’s poor citizens and least developed 

21 nations and help integrate them into the global econ22 omy.’’. 

23 (7) The bipartisan Final Report of the National 

24 Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United 

25 States recommends: ‘‘A comprehensive United 

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1 States strategy to counter terrorism should include 

2 economic policies that encourage development, more 

3 open societies, and opportunities for people to im4 prove the lives of their families and enhance pros5 pects for their children.’’. 

6 (8) At the summit of the Group of Eight (G– 

7 8) nations in July 2005, leaders from all eight coun8 tries committed to increase aid to Africa from the 

9 current $25,000,000,000 annually to 

10 $50,000,000,000 by 2010, and to cancel 100 percent 

11 of the debt obligations owed to the World Bank, Af12 rican Development Bank, and International Mone13 tary Fund by 18 of the world’s poorest nations. 

14 (9) At the United Nations World Summit in 

15 September 2005, the United States joined more 

16 than 180 other governments in reiterating their 

17 commitment to achieve the United Nations Millen18 nium Development Goals by 2015. 

19 (10) The United States has recognized the need 

20 for increased financial and technical assistance to 

21 countries burdened by extreme poverty, as well as 

22 the need for strengthened economic and trade oppor23 tunities for those countries, through significant ini24 tiatives in recent years, including the United States 

25 Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and 

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1 Malaria Act of 2003, the Millennium Challenge Act 

2 of 2003, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initia3 tive, and trade preference programs for developing 

4 countries, such as the African Growth and Oppor5 tunity Act. 

6 (11) In January 2006, United States Secretary 

7 of State Condoleezza Rice initiated a restructuring 

8 of the United States foreign assistance program, in9 cluding the creation of a Director of Foreign Assist10 ance, who maintains authority over Department of 

11 State and United States Agency for International 

12 Development (USAID) foreign assistance funding 

13 and programs. 

14 (12) In January 2007, the Department of 

15 State’s Office of the Director of Foreign Assistance 

16 added poverty reduction as an explicit, central com17 ponent of the overall goal of United States foreign 

18 assistance. The official goal of United States foreign 

19 assistance is: ‘‘To help build and sustain democratic, 

20 well-governed states that respond to the needs of 

21 their people, reduce widespread poverty and conduct 

22 themselves responsibly in the international system.’’. 

23 SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF POLICY. 

24 It is the policy of the United States to promote the 

25 reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme 

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1 global poverty, and the achievement of the United Nations 

2 Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the 

3 proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, 

4 who live on less than $1 per day. 

5 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT TO DEVELOP COMPREHENSIVE 

6 STRATEGY. 

7 (a) STRATEGY.—The President, acting through the 

8 Secretary of State, and in consultation with the heads of 

9 other appropriate departments and agencies of the Gov10 ernment of the United States, international organizations, 

11 international financial institutions, the governments of de12 veloping and developed countries, United States and inter13 national nongovernmental organizations, civil society orga14 nizations, and other appropriate entities, shall develop and 

15 implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United 

16 States foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction 

17 of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global pov18 erty, and the achievement of the United Nations Millen19 nium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the pro20 portion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who 

21 live on less than $1 per day. 

22 (b) CONTENTS.—The strategy required by subsection 

23 (a) shall include, but not be limited to, specific and meas24 urable goals, efforts to be undertaken, benchmarks, and 

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1 timetables to achieve the objectives described in subsection 

2 (a). 

3 (c) COMPONENTS.—The strategy required by sub4 section (a) should include, but not be limited to, the fol5 lowing components: 

6 (1) Continued investment in existing United 

7 States initiatives related to international poverty re8 duction, such as the United States Leadership 

9 Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act 

10 of 2003, the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, the 

11 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, and 

12 trade preference programs for developing countries, 

13 such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act. 

14 (2) Improving the effectiveness of development 

15 assistance and making available additional overall 

16 United States assistance levels as appropriate. 

17 (3) Enhancing and expanding debt relief as ap18 propriate. 

19 (4) Leveraging United States trade policy 

20 where possible to enhance economic development 

21 prospects for developing countries. 

22 (5) Coordinating efforts and working in co23 operation with developed and developing countries, 

24 international organizations, and international finan25 cial institutions. 

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1 (6) Mobilizing and leveraging the participation 

2 of businesses, United States and international non3 governmental organizations, civil society, and public4 private partnerships. 

5 (7) Coordinating the goal of poverty reduction 

6 with other development goals, such as combating the 

7 spread of preventable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, 

8 tuberculosis, and malaria, increasing access to pota9 ble water and basic sanitation, reducing hunger and 

10 malnutrition, and improving access to and quality of 

11 education at all levels regardless of gender. 

12 (8) Integrating principles of sustainable devel13 opment into policies and programs. 

14 (d) REPORTS.— 

15 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than one year 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

17 President, acting through the Secretary of State, 

18 shall transmit to the appropriate congressional com19 mittees a report that describes the strategy required 

20 by subsection (a). 

21 (2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—Not less than 

22 once every two years after the submission of the ini23 tial report under paragraph (1) until and including 

24 2015, the President shall transmit to the appro25 priate congressional committees a report on the stamstockstill@gpo.gov on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 tus of the implementation of the strategy, progress 

2 made in achieving the global poverty reduction objec3 tives described in subsection (a), and any changes to 

4 the strategy since the date of the submission of the 

5 last report. 

6 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT9 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com10 mittees’’ means— 

11 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

12 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

13 of Representatives; and 

14 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

15 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

16 Senate. 

17 (2) EXTREME GLOBAL POVERTY.—The term 

18 ‘‘extreme global poverty’’ refers to the conditions in 

19 which individuals live on less than $1 per day, ad20 justed for purchasing power parity in 1993 United 

21 States dollars, according to World Bank statistics. 

22 (3) GLOBAL POVERTY.—The term ‘‘global pov23 erty’’ refers to the conditions in which individuals 

24 live on less than $2 per day, adjusted for purchasing 

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1 power parity in 1993 United States dollars, accord2 ing to World Bank statistics. 

Æ 

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