H. R. 1973
One Hundred Ninth Congress
of the
United States of America 
AT THE FIRST SESSION 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 
the fourth day of January, two thousand and five 
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 Representatives 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 tragedy, killing 
up to five million people annually, preventing 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, inadequate sanita-
tion, and poor hygiene practices are directly 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 provision of water supply and sani-
tation services. 
(6) Over 1.1 billion people, one in every six people 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 controlling the spread of dis-
ease in the developing world and positively affecting worker 
productivity and economic development. 
(11) Increasing access to safe water and sanitation 
advances efforts toward other development objectives, such as 
fighting poverty and hunger, promoting primary education and
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gender equality, reducing child mortality, promoting environ-
mental stability, improving the lives of slum dwellers, and 
strengthening national security. 
(12) Providing safe supplies of water and sanitation and 
hygiene improvements would save millions of lives by reducing 
the prevalence of water-borne diseases, water-based diseases, 
water-privation diseases, and water-related vector diseases. 
(13) Because women and girls in developing countries are 
often the carriers of water, lack of access to safe water and 
sanitation disproportionately affects women and limits women’s 
opportunities at education, livelihood, and financial independ-
ence. 
(14) Between 20 percent and 50 percent of existing water 
systems in developing countries are not operating or are oper-
ating poorly. 
(15) In developing world water delivery systems, 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 sanitation would 
yield an economic return of between $3 and $34, depending 
on the region. 
(17) Developing sustainable financing mechanisms, such 
as pooling mechanisms and revolving funds, is necessary for 
the long-term viability of improved water and sanitation serv-
ices. 
(18) The annual level of investment needed to meet the 
water and sanitation needs of developing countries far exceeds 
the amount of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and 
spending by governments of developing countries, so facilitating 
and attracting greater public and private investment is essen-
tial. 
(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 Millennium Develop-
ment 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 Summit on 
Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, 
including the United States, agreed to the Plan of Implementa-
tion 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 afford safe 
drinking water,’’ and ‘‘the proportion of people without access 
to basic sanitation’’ by 2015. 
(23) At the World Summit on Sustainable Development, 
the United States announced the Water for the Poor Initiative, 
committing $970 million for fiscal years 2003 through 2005 
to improve sustainable management of fresh water resources 
and accelerate 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 Resolution 58/217 
(February 9, 2004) proclaimed ‘‘the period from 2005 to 2015
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the International Decade for Action, ‘Water for Life’, to com-
mence on World Water Day, 22 March 2005’’ for the purpose 
of increasing the focus of the international community on water-
related issues at all levels and on the implementation 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 international levels, thus endan-
gering the national security of the United States. 
(27) Opportunities to manage water problems can be lever-
aged in ways to build confidence, trust, and peace between 
parties in conflict. 
(28) Cooperative water management can help resolve con-
flicts 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 coopera-
tion among former parties in conflict, can help prevent the 
reemergence of conflict. 
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 designated as high priority 
countries under section 6(f) of this Act; 
(2) to ensure that water and sanitation assistance 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 sanitation assistance 
provided reflect the level of existing resources and markets 
for investment in water and sanitation within recipient coun-
tries; 
(5) to ensure that water and sanitation assistance, to the 
extent possible, supports the poverty reduction 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 provi-
sion of affordable and equitable access to safe water and sanita-
tion, including the involvement of civil society; 
(8) to mobilize and leverage the financial and technical 
capacity 
of 
businesses, 
governments, 
nongovernmental 
organizations, and civil society in the form of public-private 
alliances; 
(9) to encourage reforms and increase the capacity of for-
eign governments to formulate and implement policies that
H. R. 1973—4
expand access to safe water and sanitation in an affordable, 
equitable, and sustainable manner, including integrated stra-
tegic planning; and 
(10) to protect the supply and availability of safe water 
through sound environmental management, including pre-
venting the destruction and degradation 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 duplication, the United States should 
seek to establish innovative international coordination mecha-
nisms 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 Assistance Act of 1961, as added 
by section 5(a) of this Act. 
SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE TO PROVIDE SAFE WATER AND SANITATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance 
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 135. ASSISTANCE TO PROVIDE SAFE WATER AND SANITATION. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of assistance authorized by this 
section are—
‘‘(1) to promote good health, economic development, poverty 
reduction, women’s empowerment, conflict prevention, and 
environmental sustainability by providing assistance to expand 
access to safe water and sanitation, promoting integrated water 
resource management, and improving hygiene for people 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 sanitation 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 populations; 
‘‘(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 innovative financing mechanisms such 
as national revolving funds, and by strengthening the capacity 
of recipient governments and communities to formulate and 
implement policies that expand access to safe water and sanita-
tion in a sustainable fashion, including integrated planning; 
‘‘(7) to secure the greatest amount of resources possible, 
encourage private investment in water and sanitation infra-
structure and services, particularly in lower middle-income 
countries, without creating unsustainable debt for low-income
H. R. 1973—5
countries or unaffordable water and sanitation costs for the 
very poor; and 
‘‘(8) to promote the capacity of recipient governments to 
provide affordable, equitable, and sustainable access to safe 
water and sanitation. 
‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION.—To carry out the purposes of subsection 
(a), the President is authorized to furnish assistance for programs 
in developing countries to provide affordable and equitable access 
to safe water and sanitation. 
‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—Assistance provided under sub-
section (b) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be used to—
‘‘(1) expand affordable and equitable access to safe water 
and sanitation for underserved populations; 
‘‘(2) support the design, construction, maintenance, upkeep, 
repair, and operation of water delivery and sanitation systems; 
‘‘(3) improve the safety and reliability of water supplies, 
including environmental management; and 
‘‘(4) improve the capacity of recipient governments and 
local communities, including capacity-building programs for 
improved water resource management. 
‘‘(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 Agricul-
tural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (7 U.S.C. 
1704(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(9) SAFE WATER AND SANITATION.—To provide assistance 
under section 135 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to 
promote good health, economic development, poverty reduction, 
women’s empowerment, 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 affordable 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 subsection (a) 
shall be developed in consultation with the Administrator of the 
United States Agency for International Development, the heads 
of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies, inter-
national organizations, international financial institutions, recipient 
governments, United States and international nongovernmental 
organizations, indigenous civil society, and other appropriate enti-
ties. 
(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of State, acting through 
the Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, shall implement the strategy required by subsection 
(a). The strategy may also be implemented in part by other Federal 
departments and agencies, as appropriate.
H. R. 1973—6
(d) CONSISTENT WITH SAFE WATER AND SANITATION POLICY.—
The strategy required by subsection (a) shall be consistent with 
the policy stated in section 3 of this Act. 
(e) CONTENT.—The strategy required by subsection (a) shall 
include—
(1) an assessment of the activities that have been carried 
out, or that are planned to be carried out, by all appropriate 
Federal departments and agencies to improve affordable and 
equitable access to safe water and sanitation in all countries 
that receive assistance from the United States; 
(2) specific and measurable goals, benchmarks, and time-
tables to achieve the objective described in subsection (a); 
(3) an assessment of the level of funding and other assist-
ance for United States water and sanitation programs needed 
each year to achieve the goals, benchmarks, and timetables 
described in paragraph (2); 
(4) methods to coordinate and integrate United States 
water and sanitation assistance programs with other United 
States development assistance programs to achieve the objective 
described in subsection (a); 
(5) methods to better coordinate United States water and 
sanitation assistance programs with programs of other donor 
countries and entities to achieve the objective described in 
subsection (a); and 
(6) an assessment of the commitment of governments of 
countries that receive assistance under section 135 of the For-
eign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 5(a) of this 
Act, to policies or policy reforms that support affordable and 
equitable access by the people of such countries to safe water 
and sanitation. 
(f) DESIGNATION OF HIGH PRIORITY COUNTRIES.—The strategy 
required by subsection (a) shall further include the designation 
of high priority countries for assistance under section 135 of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 5(a) of this 
Act. This designation shall be made on the basis of—
(1) countries in which the need for increased access to 
safe water and sanitation is greatest; and 
(2) countries in which assistance under such section can 
be expected to make the greatest difference in promoting good 
health, economic development, poverty reduction, women’s 
empowerment, conflict prevention, and environmental sustain-
ability. 
(g) REPORTS.—
(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report 
that describes the strategy required by subsection (a). 
(2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not less than once every year after 
the submission of the initial report under paragraph (1) 
until 2015, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appro-
priate congressional committees a report on the status 
of the implementation of the strategy, progress made in 
achieving the objective described in subsection (a), and 
any changes to the strategy since the date of the submission 
of the last report.
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(B) ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION.—Such reports shall 
include information on the amount of funds expended in 
each country or program, disaggregated by purpose of 
assistance, including information on capital investments, 
and the source of such funds by account. 
(3) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate 
congressional committees’’ means—
(A) the Committee on International Relations and the 
Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representa-
tives; and 
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Com-
mittee on Appropriations of the Senate. 
SEC. 7. MONITORING REQUIREMENT. 
The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development shall monitor the 
implementation of assistance under section 135 of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 5(a) of this Act, to 
ensure that the assistance is reaching its intended targets and 
meeting the intended purposes of assistance. 
SEC. 8. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL 
CAPACITY. 
It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State should 
expand current programs and develop new programs, as necessary, 
to train local water and sanitation managers and other officials 
of countries that receive assistance under section 135 of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 5(a) of this Act. 
SEC. 9. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ADDITIONAL WATER AND 
SANITATION PROGRAMS. 
It is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) the United States should further support, as appro-
priate, water and sanitation activities of United Nations agen-
cies, such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the 
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); and 
(2) the Secretary of the Treasury should instruct each 
United States Executive Director at the multilateral develop-
ment banks (within the meaning of section 1701(c) of the Inter-
national Financial Institutions Act) to encourage the inclusion 
of water and sanitation programs as a critical element of their 
development assistance. 
SEC. 10. REPORT REGARDING WATER FOR PEACE AND SECURITY. 
(a) SENSE
OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that 
United States programs to support and encourage efforts around 
the world to develop river basin, aquifer, and other watershed-
wide mechanisms for governance and cooperation are critical compo-
nents of long-term United States national security and should be 
expanded. 
(b) REPORT.—The Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, shall submit to the Committee on International Rela-
tions of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate a report on efforts that the United States 
is making to support and promote programs that develop river
H. R. 1973—8
basin, aquifer, and other watershed-wide mechanisms for govern-
ance and cooperation. 
SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appropriated for 
fiscal year 2006 and each subsequent fiscal year such sums as 
may be necessary to carry out this Act and the amendments made 
by this Act. 
(b) OTHER AMOUNTS.—Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
authorization of appropriations in subsection (a) shall be in addition 
to the amounts otherwise available to carry out this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act. 
(c) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
authorization of appropriations under subsection (a) are authorized 
to remain available until expended.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.