109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1973
AN ACT 
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.
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 ‘‘Senator Paul Simon 
Water for the Poor Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Water-related diseases are a human trag-
edy, killing up to five million people annually, pre-
venting millions of people from leading healthy lives, 
and undermining development efforts. 
(2) A child dies an average of every 15 seconds 
because of lack of access to safe water and adequate 
sanitation. 
(3) In the poorest countries in the world, one 
out of five children dies from a preventable, water-
related disease. 
(4) Lack of access to safe drinking water, inad-
equate sanitation, and poor hygiene practices are di-
rectly responsible for the vast majority of diarrheal 
diseases which kill over two million children each 
year. 
(5) At any given time, half of all people in the 
developing world are suffering from one or more of 
the main diseases associated with inadequate provi-
sion of water supply and sanitation services. 
(6) Over 1.1 billion people, one in every six peo-
ple in the world, lack access to safe drinking water.
(7) Nearly 2.6 billion people, two in every five 
people in the world, lack access to basic sanitation 
services. 
(8) Half of all schools in the world do not have 
access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. 
(9) Over the past 20 years, two billion people 
have gained access to safe drinking water and 600 
million people have gained access to basic sanitation 
services. 
(10) Access to safe water and sanitation and 
improved hygiene are significant factors in control-
ling the spread of disease in the developing world 
and positively affecting worker productivity and eco-
nomic development. 
(11) Increasing access to safe water and sanita-
tion advances efforts toward other development ob-
jectives, such as fighting poverty and hunger, pro-
moting primary education and gender equality, re-
ducing child mortality, promoting environmental sta-
bility, improving the lives of slum dwellers, and 
strengthening national security. 
(12) Providing safe supplies of water and sani-
tation and hygiene improvements would save millions 
of lives by reducing the prevalence of water-borne
diseases, water-based diseases, water-privation dis-
eases, and water-related vector diseases. 
(13) Because women and girls in developing 
countries are often the carriers of water, lack of ac-
cess to safe water and sanitation disproportionately 
affects women and limits women’s opportunities at 
education, livelihood, and financial independence. 
(14) Between 20 percent and 50 percent of ex-
isting water systems in developing countries are not 
operating or are operating poorly. 
(15) In developing world water delivery sys-
tems, an average of 50 percent of all water is lost 
before it gets to the end-user. 
(16) Every $1 invested in safe water and sani-
tation would yield an economic return of between $3 
and $34, depending on the region. 
(17) Developing sustainable financing mecha-
nisms, such as pooling mechanisms and revolving 
funds, is necessary for the long-term viability of im-
proved water and sanitation services. 
(18) The annual level of investment needed to 
meet the water and sanitation needs of developing 
countries far exceeds the amount of Official Develop-
ment Assistance (ODA) and spending by govern-
ments of developing countries, so facilitating and at-
tracting greater public and private investment is es-
sential. 
(19) Meeting the water and sanitation needs of 
the lowest-income developing countries will require 
an increase in the resources available as grants from 
donor countries. 
(20) The long-term sustainability of improved 
water and sanitation services can be advanced by 
promoting community level action and engagement 
with civil society. 
(21) Target 10 of the United Nations Millen-
nium Development Goals is to reduce by half the 
proportion of people without sustainable access to 
safe drinking water by 2015. 
(22) The participants in the 2002 World Sum-
mit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannes-
burg, South Africa, including the United States, 
agreed to the Plan of Implementation of the World 
Summit on Sustainable Development which included 
an agreement to work to reduce by one-half ‘‘the 
proportion of people who are unable to reach or af-
ford safe drinking water,’’ and ‘‘the proportion of 
people without access to basic sanitation’’ by 2015. 
(23) At the World Summit on Sustainable De-
velopment, the United States announced the Water
for the Poor Initiative, committing $970 million for 
fiscal years 2003 through 2005 to improve sustain-
able management of fresh water resources and accel-
erate and expand international efforts to achieve the 
goal of cutting in half by 2015 the proportion of 
people who are unable to reach or to afford safe 
drinking water. 
(24) United Nations General Assembly Resolu-
tion 58/217 (February 9, 2004) proclaimed ‘‘the pe-
riod from 2005 to 2015 the International Decade for 
Action, ‘Water for Life’, to commence on World 
Water Day, 22 March 2005’’ for the purpose of in-
creasing the focus of the international community on 
water-related issues at all levels and on the imple-
mentation of water-related programs and projects. 
(25) Around the world, 263 river basins are 
shared by two or more countries, and many more 
basins and watersheds cross political or ethnic 
boundaries. 
(26) Water scarcity can contribute to insecurity 
and conflict on subnational, national, and inter-
national levels, thus endangering the national secu-
rity of the United States.
(27) Opportunities to manage water problems 
can be leveraged in ways to build confidence, trust, 
and peace between parties in conflict. 
(28) Cooperative water management can help 
resolve conflicts caused by other problems and is 
often a crucial component in resolving such conflicts. 
(29) Cooperative water management can help 
countries recover from conflict and, by promoting 
dialogue and cooperation among former parties in 
conflict, can help prevent the reemergence of con-
flict. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States—
(1) to increase the percentage of water and 
sanitation assistance targeted toward countries des-
ignated as high priority countries under section 6(f) 
of this Act; 
(2) to ensure that water and sanitation assist-
ance reflect an appropriate balance of grants, loans, 
contracts, investment insurance, loan guarantees, 
and other assistance to further ensure affordability 
and equity in the provision of access to safe water 
and sanitation for the very poor; 
(3) to ensure that the targeting of water and 
sanitation assistance reflect an appropriate balance
between urban, periurban, and rural areas to meet 
the purposes of assistance described in section 135 
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by 
section 5(a) of this Act; 
(4) to ensure that forms of water and sanita-
tion assistance provided reflect the level of existing 
resources and markets for investment in water and 
sanitation within recipient countries; 
(5) to ensure that water and sanitation assist-
ance, to the extent possible, supports the poverty re-
duction strategies of recipient countries and, when 
appropriate, encourages the inclusion of water and 
sanitation within such poverty reduction strategies; 
(6) to promote country and local ownership of 
safe water and sanitation programs, to the extent 
appropriate; 
(7) to promote community-based approaches in 
the provision of affordable and equitable access to 
safe water and sanitation, including the involvement 
of civil society; 
(8) to mobilize and leverage the financial and 
technical capacity of businesses, governments, non-
governmental organizations, and civil society in the 
form of public-private alliances;
(9) to encourage reforms and increase the ca-
pacity of foreign governments to formulate and im-
plement policies that expand access to safe water 
and sanitation in an affordable, equitable, and sus-
tainable manner, including integrated strategic plan-
ning; and 
(10) to protect the supply and availability of 
safe water through sound environmental manage-
ment, including preventing the destruction and deg-
radation of ecosystems and watersheds. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1) in order to make the most effective use of 
amounts of Official Development Assistance for 
water and sanitation and avoid waste and duplica-
tion, the United States should seek to establish inno-
vative international coordination mechanisms based 
on best practices in other development sectors; and 
(2) the United States should greatly increase 
the amount of Official Development Assistance made 
available to carry out section 135 of the Foreign As-
sistance Act of 1961, as added by section 5(a) of 
this Act.
SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE TO PROVIDE SAFE WATER AND SANI-
TATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 135. ASSISTANCE TO PROVIDE SAFE WATER AND 
SANITATION. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of assistance author-
ized by this section are—
‘‘(1) to promote good health, economic develop-
ment, poverty reduction, women’s empowerment, 
conflict prevention, and environmental sustainability 
by providing assistance to expand access to safe 
water and sanitation, promoting integrated water re-
source management, and improving hygiene for peo-
ple around the world; 
‘‘(2) to seek to reduce by one-half from the 
baseline year 1990 the proportion of people who are 
unable to reach or afford safe drinking water and 
the proportion of people without access to basic sani-
tation by 2015; 
‘‘(3) to focus water and sanitation assistance 
toward the countries, locales, and people with the 
greatest need; 
‘‘(4) to promote affordability and equity in the 
provision of access to safe water and sanitation for
the very poor, women, and other vulnerable popu-
lations; 
‘‘(5) to improve water efficiency through water 
demand management and reduction of unaccounted-
for water; 
‘‘(6) to promote long-term sustainability in the 
affordable and equitable provision of access to safe 
water and sanitation through the creation of innova-
tive financing mechanisms such as national revolving 
funds, and by strengthening the capacity of recipient 
governments and communities to formulate and im-
plement policies that expand access to safe water 
and sanitation in a sustainable fashion, including in-
tegrated planning; 
‘‘(7) to secure the greatest amount of resources 
possible, encourage private investment in water and 
sanitation infrastructure and services, particularly in 
lower middle-income countries, without creating 
unsustainable debt for low-income countries or 
unaffordable water and sanitation costs for the very 
poor; and 
‘‘(8) to promote the capacity of recipient gov-
ernments to provide affordable, equitable, and sus-
tainable access to safe water and sanitation.
‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION.—To carry out the purposes of 
subsection (a), the President is authorized to furnish as-
sistance for programs in developing countries to provide 
affordable and equitable access to safe water and sanita-
tion. 
‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Assistance provided 
under subsection (b) shall, to the maximum extent prac-
ticable, be used to—
‘‘(1) expand affordable and equitable access to 
safe water and sanitation for underserved popu-
lations; 
‘‘(2) support the design, construction, mainte-
nance, upkeep, repair, and operation of water deliv-
ery and sanitation systems; 
‘‘(3) improve the safety and reliability of water 
supplies, including environmental management; and 
‘‘(4) improve the capacity of recipient govern-
ments and local communities, including capacity-
building programs for improved water resource man-
agement. 
‘‘(d) LOCAL CURRENCY.—The President may use 
payments made in local currencies under an agreement 
made under title I of the Agricultural Trade Development 
and Assistance Act of 1954 (7 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to 
provide assistance under this section.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 104(c) of 
the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act 
of 1954 (7 U.S.C. 1704(c)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(9) SAFE WATER AND SANITATION.—To pro-
vide assistance under section 135 of the Foreign As-
sistance Act of 1961 to promote good health, eco-
nomic development, poverty reduction, women’s em-
powerment, conflict prevention, and environmental 
sustainability by increasing affordable and equitable 
access to safe water and sanitation.’’. 
SEC. 6. SAFE WATER AND SANITATION STRATEGY. 
(a) STRATEGY.—The President, acting through the 
Secretary of State, shall develop a strategy to further the 
United States foreign assistance objective to provide af-
fordable and equitable access to safe water and sanitation 
in developing countries, as described in section 135 of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 5(a) 
of this Act. 
(b) CONSULTATION.—The strategy required by sub-
section (a) shall be developed in consultation with the Ad-
ministrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, the heads of other appropriate Federal de-
partments and agencies, international organizations, inter-
national financial institutions, recipient governments,