I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5177
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for 
developing countries to promote quality basic education and to establish 
the achievement of universal basic education in all developing countries 
as an objective of United States foreign assistance policy, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 29, 2004
Mrs. LOWEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on International Relations 
A BILL 
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide 
assistance for developing countries to promote quality 
basic education and to establish the achievement of uni-
versal basic education in all developing countries as an 
objective of United States foreign assistance policy, and 
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Education for All Act 
of 2004’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Throughout the world, an alarming number 
of children are not receiving primary education. At 
least 104,000,000 children ages 6 through 11 are 
not in school, and 57 percent of such children are 
girls. Another 150,000,000 children are at risk of 
dropping out before completing primary school, and 
at least 66 percent of such children are girls. At 
least 86 countries are unlikely to achieve the goal of 
100 percent of children completing primary school 
by 2015. 
(2) The final report of the National Commis-
sion on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States 
(hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘‘Re-
port’’) concluded that education that teaches toler-
ance, the dignity and value of each individual, and 
respect for different beliefs must be a key element 
in any global strategy to eliminate terrorism. 
(3) Extending the vision of educational oppor-
tunity described in the Report to all developing 
countries is critical to achieve the United Nations 
Millennium Development Goals and prevent the rise 
of violent extremism worldwide. 
(4) The Report concluded that the United 
States Government must offer an example of moral
leadership in the world and offer parents and their 
children a vision of the future that emphasizes indi-
vidual educational and economic opportunity. 
(5) At the World Education Forum held in 
Dakar, Senegal in 2000, the United States joined 
more than 180 other nations in committing to the 
goal of universal basic education by 2015. Universal 
completion of primary school and eliminating gender 
disparity in all levels of education not later than 
2015 are part of the United Nations Millennium De-
velopment Goals. 
(6) According to the 2002 United Nations De-
velopment Programme Arab Human Development 
Report, 10,000,000 children between the ages of 6 
through 15 in the Arab world do not attend school, 
and 2⁄3 of the 65,000,000 illiterate adults in the 
Arab world are women. At all educational stages, the 
most important challenge facing education in the 
Arab world is the declining quality of such edu-
cation. 
(7) The Report noted that the United Nations 
has rightly equated ‘‘literacy as freedom’’ and that 
the international community is moving toward set-
ting a goal of reducing by half the illiteracy rate in 
the Middle East by 2010, through the implementa-
tion of education programs targeting women and 
girls and supporting programs for adult literacy. 
(8) Basic education has been demonstrated to 
be fundamental to development. No country has 
reached sustained economic growth without achiev-
ing near universal primary education. Education re-
duces poverty and inequality, and lays the founda-
tion for sound governance, civic participation, and 
strong institutions. 
(9) Investing in girls’ education delivers sub-
stantial returns not only in educational attainment 
but also in increasing women’s incomes, delaying the 
start of sexual activity, reducing infant mortality, in-
creasing women’s political participation, and spur-
ring economic growth. 
(10) The Report concluded that ensuring edu-
cational opportunity is essential to the efforts of the 
United States to defeat global terrorism and rec-
ommended that the United States Government 
‘‘should offer to join with other nations in gener-
ously supporting [spending funds] . . . directly on 
building and operating primary and secondary 
schools in those Muslim states that commit to sen-
sibly investing financial resources in public edu-
cation.’’.
(11) Credible estimates indicate that at least an 
additional $7,000,000,000 to $10,000,000,000 per 
year of external development assistance is necessary 
for developing countries to achieve universal basic 
education by 2015. 
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL BASIC EDU-
CATION. 
The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 105 the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 105A. UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 
ensure that the United States provides the resources and 
leadership to ensure a successful international effort to 
provide all children with a quality basic education in order 
to achieve the goal of universal basic education by 2015 
agreed to at the World Education Forum held in Dakar, 
Senegal in 2000. 
‘‘(b) POLICY.—It is the policy of the United States 
to work with foreign countries and international organiza-
tions to increase the global commitment to achieving uni-
versal basic education to—
‘‘(1) assist developing countries committed to 
serious reforms to provide all children with a quality 
elementary education and secondary education; and
GIES.—United States policies and programs shall 
encourage poor countries to ensure that efforts are 
developed within an overall strategy of economic and 
market reforms to reduce poverty and spur sus-
tained economic growth. 
‘‘(8) HIGH
STANDARDS
OF
ACCOUNTABILITY 
AND TRANSPARENCY IN BUDGETING.—The United 
States shall develop procedures to monitor the ex-
penditure of funds allocated for the purposes de-
scribed in this section, and shall only provide funds 
to the government of a foreign country only if such 
government has developed high standards of budget 
transparency, independent monitoring, and account-
ability. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) AIDS.—The term ‘AIDS’ has the meaning 
given that term in section 104A(g). 
‘‘(2) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’ means the Committee on Appropriations 
and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen-
ate and the Committee on Appropriations and the 
Committee on International Relations of the House 
of Representatives.
‘‘(3) BASIC EDUCATION.—The term ‘basic edu-
cation’ means an education, generally consisting of 
completion of 9–10 years of schooling, including 
early childhood development, primary education, 
some secondary education, teacher training, literacy 
training, and life skills training. 
‘‘(4) HIV/AIDS.—The term ‘HIV/AIDS’ has 
the meaning given that term in section 104A(g). 
‘‘(5) EDUCATION FOR ALL FAST TRACK INITIA-
TIVE.—The term ‘Education for All Fast Track Ini-
tiative’ means the Fast Track Initiative launched in 
2002 to mobilize donor resources to support Edu-
cation 
for 
All, 
an 
international 
commitment 
launched in 1990 to bring the benefits of education 
to every individual. 
‘‘(6) MEMBER
STATES
OF
THE
GROUP
OF 
EIGHT.—The term ‘member states of the Group of 
Eight’ means the countries of Canada, France, Ger-
many, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, 
and the United States. 
‘‘(e) DEVELOPMENT
AND IMPLEMENTATION
OF
A 
COMPREHENSIVE UNITED STATES STRATEGY ON EDU-
CATION FOR ALL.—
‘‘(1) EDUCATION FOR ALL TASK FORCE.—The 
President shall establish an Education for All Task 
Force as described in this subsection. 
‘‘(2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Task 
Force are—
‘‘(A) to carry out the policy set out in sub-
section (b); and 
‘‘(B) to develop a unified strategy of the 
United States to promote universal basic edu-
cation. 
‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall in-
clude the following members: 
‘‘(A) The Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary of the Treasury. 
‘‘(C) The Secretary of Labor. 
‘‘(D) The Secretary of Education. 
‘‘(E) The Secretary of Health and Human 
Services. 
‘‘(F) The Secretary of Agriculture. 
‘‘(G) The Secretary of State. 
‘‘(H) The Chief Executive Officer of the 
Millennium Challenge Corporation.
‘‘(I) The Coordinator of United States 
Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS 
Globally. 
‘‘(J) The National Security Advisor. 
‘‘(K) The National Economic Advisor. 
‘‘(4) CO-CHAIRS
AND
HEADQUARTERS.—The 
Task Force shall be co-chaired by the National Se-
curity Advisor and the National Economic Advisor, 
and the headquarters of the Task Force shall be lo-
cated at both the National Security Council and the 
National Economic Council. 
‘‘(f) UNIFIED STRATEGY.—
‘‘(1) CONTENT.—The unified strategy devel-
oped by the Task Force should include a detailed de-
scription of the United States plan to promote uni-
versal basic education, including a description of the 
following elements: 
‘‘(A) The manner in which the resources of 
the United States shall be used to achieve uni-
versal basic education, including—
‘‘(i) the efforts of the United States to 
coordinate 
an 
international 
effort 
to 
achieve universal basic education by 2015; 
‘‘(ii) the activities of the United 
States to leverage contributions from mem-
ber states of the Group of Eight and other 
donors to provide universal basic education 
by 2015; and 
‘‘(iii) the assistance provided by the 
United States to leverage contributions 
from the private sector and civil society or-
ganizations to achieve universal basic edu-
cation. 
‘‘(B) The efforts of the United States to 
coordinate with other donors to reduce duplica-
tion and waste at the global and country levels 
and ensure efficient coordination among all rel-
evant departments and agencies of the United 
States Government. 
‘‘(C) The strategy of the United States to 
support efforts to overcome challenges to 
achieving universal basic education, including 
strategies to target hard-to-reach populations to 
promote education as a fundamental means to 
preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, and to 
support efforts to reduce the adverse impact of 
HIV/AIDS on education systems. 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT TO CONSULT.—The Task 
Force shall consult with nongovernmental organiza-
tions and individuals involved in the promotion and
implementation of education assistance programs in 
developing countries to give such organizations and 
individuals an opportunity to contribute to, and com-
ment on, the unified strategy to promote universal 
basic education developed by the Task Force. 
‘‘(3) SCHEDULE FOR COMPLETION OF STRAT-
EGY.—Not later than 180 days after the date of en-
actment of the Education for All Act of 2004, the 
Task Force shall submit the unified strategy to the 
President and to appropriate congressional commit-
tees. 
‘‘(g) NATIONAL EDUCATION PLANS.—
‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The President is authorized 
to provide funds and other assistance to an eligible 
entity to assist a foreign country to create the poli-
cies, processes, or infrastructure to develop and im-
plement a comprehensive national education plan as 
described in this subsection to allow all citizens of 
such country to access and complete basic education. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this subsection, the 
term ‘eligible entity’ means—
‘‘(A) the government of a foreign country; 
or
‘‘(B) a person that the President deter-
mines is appropriate to receive assistance under 
this subsection. 
‘‘(3) CRITERIA
FOR
NATIONAL
EDUCATION 
PLANS.—Assistance may be provided under this sub-
section to an eligible entity to assist a foreign coun-
try that is developing a comprehensive, national edu-
cation plan, or to encourage a foreign country to de-
velop a comprehensive national education plan. Such 
a national education plan shall—
‘‘(A) include explicit, credible strategies to 
achieve universal basic education; 
‘‘(B) be developed in accordance with the 
provisions of—
‘‘(i) this section; 
‘‘(ii) the Education for All Fast Track 
Initiative; 
‘‘(iii) the Poverty Reduction Strategy 
Paper process administered by the World 
Bank and the International Monetary 
Fund; and 
‘‘(iv) the Millennium Challenge Act of 
2003 (22 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.);
‘‘(C) be developed and implemented in con-
sultation with indigenous, nongovernmental or-
ganizations and civil society organizations; 
‘‘(D) demonstrate a clear commitment of 
political and financial resources to education by 
the foreign country to ensure that assistance 
made available under this subsection supple-
ments, not supplants, the investment in edu-
cation made by such country; 
‘‘(E) establish clear processes for the mon-
itoring and tracking of funds committed to edu-
cation, and clear standards for assessing 
progress toward achieving universal basic edu-
cation; and 
‘‘(F) include special strategies to—
‘‘(i) target hard-to-reach populations, 
especially girls, out-of-school youth, chil-
dren with disabilities, orphans, refugees, 
populations in emergency situations, and 
children impacted by AIDS; 
‘‘(ii) improve coordination between 
education and other sectors, particularly 
the health sector, in order to address the 
role of education in preventing HIV/AIDS 
and other diseases and to specify efforts to
minimize the adverse impact of the disease 
on school systems and children’s access to 
schooling; and 
‘‘(iii) ensure that schools provide qual-
ity education and are not incubators for 
violent extremism. 
‘‘(4) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Assistance pro-
vided under this subsection may be used to support 
efforts to expand access and to improve the quality 
of basic education, including—
‘‘(A) in a foreign country that has dem-
onstrated a capacity to develop a national edu-
cation plan, efforts to—
‘‘(i) ensure an adequate supply of 
trained teachers, effective curriculum, and 
adequate infrastructure; 
‘‘(ii) build systems to provide con-
tinuing support, training, and professional 
development for all educators; 
‘‘(iii) eliminate fees for educational 
services, including fees for tuition, uni-
forms, and materials, and to provide access 
to education without additional costs to 
families;
‘‘(iv) build systems to ensure con-
tinuing information collection, monitoring, 
and evaluation of education services and fi-
nancing; and 
‘‘(v) ensure that schools are not incu-
bators for violent extremism; and 
‘‘(B) in a foreign country that has not 
demonstrated a capacity to develop a national 
education plan, efforts to—
‘‘(i) assist such country in developing 
such a capacity; 
‘‘(ii) assist civil society organizations, 
international organizations, and local gov-
ernments that have demonstrated a com-
mitment to education reform in imple-
menting programs to provide basic edu-
cation on a community level, with an em-
phasis on such programs that could be ex-
panded if such country demonstrates a na-
tional commitment to basic education; and 
‘‘(iii) assist civil society organizations 
and international organizations to provide 
education in situations of humanitarian 
emergency or armed conflict.
‘‘(4) SUSPENSION OF ASSISTANCE.—The Presi-
dent may suspend the provision of all or part of the 
assistance provided under this subsection for a for-
eign country if there is substantial evidence that a 
government of such country—
‘‘(A)(i) is not tracking and monitoring the 
use of foreign and domestic assistance to de-
velop or implement a comprehensive, national 
education plan and making such tracking and 
monitoring information available to the public; 
or 
‘‘(ii) using such assistance for unauthor-
ized purposes; and 
‘‘(B) fails to come forward with an imme-
diate plan to address a deficiency described in 
clause (i) or (ii) of subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(h) UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION FELLOWSHIP 
PROGRAM.—
‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Administrator of the 
United States Agency for International Development 
is authorized to establish an education fellowship 
program at the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development to increase the expertise of 
the personnel of the Agency in promoting universal
basic education and to carry out the provisions of 
this section. 
‘‘(2) TERM
OF
FELLOWSHIP.—An individual 
may participate in a fellowship under this subsection 
for a term of not more than 3 years. 
‘‘(3) QUALIFICATIONS.—An individual is quali-
fied to participate in a fellowship under this sub-
section if such individual has the specific expertise 
required—
‘‘(A) to develop and implement the policies 
and programs of this section; and 
‘‘(B) to promote the exchange of knowl-
edge and experience among the Agency, the 
education service delivery community, private 
business, and the academic and research com-
munities. 
‘‘(i) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—The Presi-
dent shall exercise the authority provided in this section 
in accordance with other applicable law. 
‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—
There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
President to carry out the provisions of this section 
amounts as follows: 
‘‘(A) $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2005.
‘‘(B) $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2006. 
‘‘(C) $1,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2007. 
‘‘(D) $2,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2008. 
‘‘(E) $2,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2009. 
‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts made 
available under paragraph (1) are authorized to re-
main available until expended and are in addition to 
amounts otherwise available for such purposes.’’.
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