AUDIT Act

Bill: 118-hr-1775
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. McCormick, Richard [R-GA-6]
Introduced: 2023-03-24
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2023-03-24
text: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-03-24
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Assessing Unintended Drivers of Illegal Trafficking Act or the AUDIT Act</b></p> <p>This bill prohibits certain federal agencies from giving grants to implementing partners that provide abortion services to asylum seekers. The bill also requires these agencies to submit quarterly reports to Congress on grants that the agencies have provided for migrant services programs in Central and South America.</p> <p>The reporting requirements and grant prohibitions apply to (1) the U.S. Agency for International Development; (2) the Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration; and (3) the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. </p> <p>These federal agencies may not give grants to any implementing partners that (1) perform abortions, (2) provide health services that include referrals for abortions, or (3) provide assistance or funding in any manner for obtaining abortions. </p> <p>Among other required elements, the quarterly reports for specified migrant services grants shall explain why each implementing partner was chosen, the amount of money the partner received, the availability of asylum claims processing in countries where those partners operate, and the number of asylum claims processed in those countries.</p>

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 1775 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 24, 2023 Mr. McCormick introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To require certain bureaus of the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development to release quarterly reviews of certain grants, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Assessing Unintended Drivers of Illegal Trafficking Act or the AUDIT Act . 2. Latin America migrant services grant transparency (a) The Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration shall: (1) Issue a quarterly report documenting all the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration grant money spent on migrant and asylum-seeker programs in Central and South America. The report shall explain why each implementing partner was chosen, the amount of money it received, the availability of asylum claim processing in the countries in which those partners operate, and the number of claims processed in those countries. The report shall include— (A) grants given to non-governmental organization implementing partners which are building asylum shelters or creating asylum processing capacity in Central and South America; (B) grants given to implementing partners conducting casework, counseling, or legal representation for asylum seekers; and (C) grants given to implementing partners providing other services to asylum seekers, including transportation, monetary assistance, and housing. (2) Be prohibited from giving grants to implementing partners which provide abortion services to asylum seekers. This includes implementing partners— (A) providing sexual and reproductive health services that include referrals to receive abortions; (B) providing assistance in obtaining abortions; (C) providing the abortion procedure itself; and (D) which directly or indirectly fund abortions or services for obtaining abortions in any manner for asylum seekers. (b) The Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor shall: (1) Issue a quarterly report documenting all the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor grants given to migrant and asylum seeker rights programs in Central and South America. The report shall explain why each implementing partner was chosen, the amount of money it received, the availability of asylum claim processing in the countries in which those partners operate, and the number of claims processed in those countries. The report shall include— (A) direct grants from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor to migrant shelters; (B) grants to non-governmental organization implementing partners that provide grants or programming to other non-governmental organizations or migrants rights organizations; (C) the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor programming for building local asylum processing capacity or improving institutional transparency or efficiency; (D) grants given to implementing partners conducting casework, counseling, or legal representation for asylum seekers; and (E) any other programs the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor funds for the purpose of promoting migrant or asylum seeker rights. (2) Be prohibited from giving grants to implementing partners who provide abortion services to asylum seekers. This includes implementing partners— (A) providing sexual and reproductive health services that include referrals to receive abortions; (B) providing assistance in obtaining abortions; (C) providing the abortion procedure itself; (D) who directly or indirectly fund abortions or services for obtaining abortions in any manner for asylum seekers; and (E) which directly or indirectly fund abortions in any manner for asylum seekers, provisions, or assistance in obtaining an abortion. (c) The United States Agency for International Development shall: (1) Issue a quarterly report documenting all the United States Agency for International Development grants given to migrant, asylum seeker, and internally displaced persons programs in Central and South America. The report shall explain why each implementing partner was chosen, the amount of money it received, the availability of asylum claim processing in the countries in which those partners operate, and the number of claims processed in those countries. The report shall include— (A) direct grants from the United States Agency for International Development to migrant shelters; (B) grants from the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance to implementing partners in the region working with migrants and asylum seekers; (C) prosperity, security, and governance grants given to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras; (D) integration grants to Belize, Costa Rica, and Panama; (E) grants given to resettle and integrate Venezuelans outside their country and grants to implementing partners operating within Venezuela; (F) grants or programs related to messaging to citizens of Central and South America; and (G) grants given for governmental institutional capacity building. (2) Be prohibited from giving grants to implementing partners which provide abortion services to asylum seekers. This includes implementing partners— (A) providing sexual and reproductive health services that include referrals to receive abortions; (B) providing assistance in obtaining abortions; (C) providing the abortion procedure itself; (D) who directly or indirectly fund abortions or services for obtaining abortions in any manner for asylum seekers; and (E) which directly or indirectly fund abortions in any manner for asylum seekers, provisions, or assistance in obtaining an abortion. (d) The reports by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and the United States Agency for International Development shall begin the quarter after this legislation is enacted.