In the Senate of the United States, 
June 28, 2016. 
Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representa-
tives (H.R. 3766) entitled ‘‘An Act to direct the President to 
establish guidelines for United States foreign development 
and economic assistance programs, and for other purposes.’’, 
do pass with the following 
AMENDMENTS: 
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following: 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Aid Trans-
parency and Accountability Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) 
APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit-
tees’’ means—
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(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations of 
the Senate; 
(B) the Committee on Appropriations of the 
Senate; 
(C) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives; and 
(D) the Committee on Appropriations of the 
House of Representatives. 
(2) 
EVALUATION.—The 
term 
‘‘evaluation’’ 
means, with respect to a covered United States foreign 
assistance program, the systematic collection and 
analysis of information about the characteristics and 
outcomes of the program, including projects conducted 
under such program, as a basis for— 
(A) making judgments and evaluations re-
garding the program; 
(B) improving program effectiveness; and 
(C) informing decisions about current and 
future programming. 
(3) COVERED UNITED STATES FOREIGN ASSIST-
ANCE.—The term ‘‘covered United States foreign as-
sistance’’ means assistance authorized under— 
(A) part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), except for—
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(i) title IV of chapter 2 of such part 
(relating to the Overseas Private Investment 
Corporation); and 
(ii) chapter 3 of such part (relating to 
International 
Organizations 
and 
Pro-
grams); 
(B) chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign As-
sistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.; re-
lating to Economic Support Fund); 
(C) the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 
(22 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.); and 
(D) the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1721 
et seq.). 
SEC. 3. GUIDELINES FOR COVERED UNITED STATES FOR-
EIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 
(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are to— 
(1) evaluate the performance of covered United 
States foreign assistance and its contribution to the 
policies, strategies, projects, program goals, and prior-
ities undertaken by the Federal Government; 
(2) support and promote innovative programs to 
improve effectiveness; and 
(3) coordinate the monitoring and evaluation 
processes of Federal departments and agencies that 
administer covered United States foreign assistance.
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(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF GUIDELINES.—Not later than 
18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
President shall set forth guidelines, according to best prac-
tices of monitoring and evaluation studies and analyses, for 
the establishment of measurable goals, performance metrics, 
and monitoring and evaluation plans that can be applied 
with reasonable consistency to covered United States foreign 
assistance. 
(c) OBJECTIVES OF GUIDELINES.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The guidelines established 
pursuant to subsection (b) shall provide direction to 
Federal departments and agencies that administer 
covered United States foreign assistance on— 
(A) monitoring the use of resources; 
(B) evaluating the outcomes and impacts of 
covered United States foreign assistance projects 
and programs; and 
(C) applying the findings and conclusions 
of such evaluations to proposed project and pro-
gram design. 
(2) OBJECTIVES.—The guidelines established 
pursuant to subsection (b) shall provide direction to 
Federal departments and agencies that administer 
covered United States foreign assistance on how to—
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(A) establish annual monitoring and eval-
uation objectives and timetables to plan and 
manage the process of monitoring, evaluating, 
analyzing progress, and applying learning to-
ward achieving results; 
(B) develop specific project monitoring and 
evaluation plans, including measurable goals 
and performance metrics, and to identify the re-
sources necessary to conduct such evaluations, 
which should be covered by program costs; 
(C) apply rigorous monitoring and evalua-
tion methodologies to such programs, including 
through the use of impact evaluations, ex-post 
evaluations, or other methods, as appropriate, 
that clearly define program logic, inputs, out-
puts, intermediate outcomes, and end outcomes; 
(D) disseminate guidelines for the develop-
ment and implementation of monitoring and 
evaluation programs to all personnel, especially 
in the field, who are responsible for the design, 
implementation, and management of covered 
United States foreign assistance programs; 
(E) establish methodologies for the collection 
of data, including baseline data to serve as a ref-
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erence point against which progress can be meas-
ured; 
(F) evaluate, at least once in their lifetime, 
all programs whose dollar value equals or exceeds 
the median program size for the relevant office or 
bureau or an equivalent calculation to ensure the 
majority of program resources are evaluated; 
(G) conduct impact evaluations on all pilot 
programs before replicating, or conduct perform-
ance evaluations and provide a justification for 
not conducting an impact evaluation when such 
an evaluation is deemed inappropriate or im-
practicable; 
(H) develop a clearinghouse capacity for the 
collection, dissemination, and preservation of 
knowledge and lessons learned to guide future 
programs for United States foreign assistance 
personnel, implementing partners, the donor 
community, and aid recipient governments; 
(I) internally distribute evaluation reports; 
(J) publicly report each evaluation, includ-
ing an executive summary, a description of the 
evaluation methodology, key findings, appro-
priate context, including quantitative and quali-
tative data when available, and recommenda-
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tions made in the evaluation within 90 days 
after the completion of the evaluation; 
(K) undertake collaborative partnerships 
and coordinate efforts with the academic commu-
nity, implementing partners, and national and 
international institutions, as appropriate, that 
have expertise in program monitoring, evalua-
tion, and analysis when such partnerships pro-
vide needed expertise or significantly improve 
the evaluation and analysis; 
(L) ensure verifiable, reliable, and timely 
data, including from local beneficiaries and 
stakeholders, are available to monitoring and 
evaluation personnel to permit the objective eval-
uation of the effectiveness of covered United 
States foreign assistance programs, including an 
assessment of assumptions and limitations in 
such evaluations; and 
(M) ensure that standards of professional 
evaluation organizations for monitoring and 
evaluation efforts are employed, including ensur-
ing the integrity and independence of evalua-
tions, permitting and encouraging the exercise of 
professional judgment, and providing for quality
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control and assurance in the monitoring and 
evaluation process. 
(d) PRESIDENT’S REPORT.—Not later than 18 months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 
shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional com-
mittees that contains a detailed description of the guidelines 
established pursuant to subsection (b). The report shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but it may contain a classi-
fied annex. 
(e) COMPTROLLER GENERAL’S REPORT.—The Comp-
troller General of the United States shall, not later than 
18 months after the report required by subsection (d) is sub-
mitted to Congress, submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report that— 
(1) analyzes the guidelines established pursuant 
to subsection (b); and 
(2) assesses the implementation of the guidelines 
by the agencies, bureaus, and offices that implement 
covered United States foreign assistance as outlined 
in the President’s budget request. 
SEC. 4. INFORMATION ON COVERED UNITED STATES FOR-
EIGN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 
(a) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.— 
(1) UPDATE OF EXISTING WEBSITE.—Not later 
than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this
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Act, the Secretary of State shall update the Depart-
ment of State’s website, ‘‘ForeignAssistance.gov’’, to 
make publicly available comprehensive, timely, and 
comparable information on covered United States for-
eign assistance programs, including all information 
required under subsection (b) that is available to the 
Secretary of State. 
(2) INFORMATION SHARING.—Not later than 2 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
quarterly thereafter, the head of each Federal depart-
ment or agency that administers covered United 
States foreign assistance shall provide the Secretary 
of State with comprehensive information about the 
covered United States foreign assistance programs 
carried out by such department or agency. 
(3) UPDATES TO WEBSITE.—Not later than 2 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
quarterly thereafter, the Secretary of State shall pub-
lish, on the ‘‘ForeignAssistance.gov’’ website or 
through a successor online publication, the informa-
tion provided under subsection (b). 
(b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The information described in 
subsection (a)—
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(A) shall be published for each country on 
a detailed basis, such as award-by-award; or 
(B) if assistance is provided on a regional 
level, shall be published for each such region on 
a detailed basis, such as award-by-award. 
(2) TYPES OF INFORMATION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—To ensure the trans-
parency, accountability, and effectiveness of cov-
ered United States foreign assistance programs, 
the information described in subsection (a) shall 
include— 
(i) links to all regional, country, and 
sector assistance strategies, annual budget 
documents, congressional budget justifica-
tions, and evaluations in accordance with 
section 3(c)(2)(J); 
(ii) basic descriptive summaries for 
covered United States foreign assistance 
programs and awards under such programs; 
and 
(iii) obligations and expenditures. 
(B) PUBLICATION.—Each type of informa-
tion described in subparagraph (A) shall be pub-
lished or updated on the appropriate website not
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later than 90 days after the date on which the 
information is issued. 
(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this paragraph may be construed to require a 
Federal department or agency that administers 
covered United States foreign assistance to pro-
vide any information that does not relate to, or 
is not otherwise required by, the covered United 
States foreign assistance programs carried out 
by such department or agency. 
(3) REPORT IN LIEU OF INCLUSION.— 
(A) HEALTH
OR
SECURITY
OF
IMPLE-
MENTING PARTNERS.—If the head of a Federal 
department or agency, in consultation with the 
Secretary of State, makes a determination that 
the inclusion of a required item of information 
online would jeopardize the health or security of 
an implementing partner or program beneficiary 
or would require the release of proprietary infor-
mation of an implementing partner or program 
beneficiary, the head of the Federal department 
or agency shall provide such determination in 
writing to the appropriate congressional commit-
tees, including the basis for such determination.
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(B) NATIONAL INTERESTS OF THE UNITED 
STATES.—If the Secretary of State makes a de-
termination that the inclusion of a required item 
of information online would be detrimental to 
the national interests of the United States, the 
Secretary of State shall provide such determina-
tion, including the basis for such determination, 
in writing to the appropriate congressional com-
mittees. 
(C) FORM.—Information provided under 
this paragraph may be provided in classified 
form, as appropriate. 
(4) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—If a Federal depart-
ment or agency fails to comply with the requirements 
under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a), or 
subsection (c), with respect to providing information 
described in subsection (a), and the information is 
not subject to a determination under subparagraph 
(A) or (B) of paragraph (3) not to make the informa-
tion publicly available, the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget, in consultation with the 
head of such department or agency, not later than one 
year after the date of the enactment of this Act, shall 
submit a consolidated report to the appropriate con-
gressional committees that includes, with respect to
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each required item of information not made publicly 
available— 
(A) a detailed explanation of the reason for 
not making such information publicly available; 
and 
(B) a description of the department’s or 
agency’s plan and timeline for— 
(i) making such information publicly 
available; and 
(ii) ensuring that such information is 
made publicly available in subsequent 
years. 
(c) SCOPE OF INFORMATION.—The online publication 
required under subsection (a) shall, at a minimum— 
(1) in each of the fiscal years 2016 through 2019, 
provide the information required under subsection (b) 
for fiscal years 2015 through the current fiscal year; 
and 
(2) for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year 
thereafter, provide the information required under 
subsection (b) for the immediately preceding 5 fiscal 
years in a fully searchable form. 
(d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 
that the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the 
United States Agency for International Development should
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coordinate the consolidation of processes and data collection 
and presentation for the Department of State’s website, 
‘‘ForeignAssistance.gov’’, and the United States Agency for 
International 
Development’s 
website, 
‘‘Ex-
plorer.USAID.gov’’, to the extent that is possible to maxi-
mize efficiencies, no later than the end of fiscal year 2018. 
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to direct the 
President to establish guidelines for covered United 
States foreign assistance programs, and for other pur-
poses.’’. 
Attest: 
Secretary.