United States Security Assistance Effectiveness Act

Bill: 119-hr-4455
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Jacobs, Sara [D-CA-51]
Introduced: 2025-07-16
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2025-07-16
text: Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4455 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 16, 2025 Ms. Jacobs (for herself and Mr. Moylan ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs , and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services , for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for reform of the Department of State with respect to security assistance.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the United States Security Assistance Effectiveness Act . 2. Organizational reform (a) Under secretary for arms control and international security The duties of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security relating to security assistance shall include— (1) within the Department and across United States diplomatic posts— (A) providing strategic policy guidance on objectives, metrics, and priorities for security assistance; and (B) ensuring strategic integration of budgets and planning for security assistance; and (2) overseeing Department coordination with the Secretary of Defense and the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies on all matters relating to security assistance, including by leading or delegating Secretary concurrence for all security assistance and security cooperation authorities under title 10, United States Code. (b) Office of security assistance (1) In general The Secretary shall designate an existing office or establish a new office to be the Office of Security Assistance, which— (A) shall be located in the Office of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security; and (B) shall report to Office of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security. (2) Coordinator The head of the Office shall be the Coordinator for Security Assistance, who shall be an individual who is a member of the Senior Executive Service and of demonstrated competency in the fields of security assistance and international diplomacy. (3) Duties The duties of the Coordinator shall include within the Department and across United States diplomatic posts— (A) guiding and supporting security assistance; (B) maintaining the common database described in section 5; (C) coordinating the assessment, monitoring, and evaluation program established under section 6; and (D) establishing the framework described in section 7. (c) Coordination within the department (1) Designation Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and subject to paragraph (2), the head of each bureau of the Department that is involved in directing or implementing security assistance shall designate an officer of such bureau to be responsible for coordinating the responsibilities of such bureau with respect to security assistance. (2) Non-eligibility An officer of a bureau of the Department shall not be eligible to be designated pursuant to paragraph (1) if the officer is responsible for conducting human rights vetting pursuant to 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2378d ). (3) Training Each individual designated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall successfully complete the training described in section 3. (d) Coordination within united states diplomatic posts (1) Designation Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the chief of mission of the United States in a foreign country that receives security assistance shall designate a senior diplomatic officer at the embassy or highest ranking diplomatic post if no embassy exists in the foreign country to be responsible for coordinating security assistance for the foreign country. (2) Duties The senior diplomatic officer designated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be responsible for— (A) overseeing personnel and activities of Federal departments and agencies at the relevant embassy or diplomatic post with respect to the provision of security assistance for the country; and (B) ensuring implementation of section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2378d ), section 362 of title 10, United States Code, and other relevant authorities relating to the end-use of United States-transferred defense articles with respect to the country. (3) Training Each individual designated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall successfully complete the training described in section 3. (e) Plan for coordination (1) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a plan for the implementation of this section, including on the coordination within and outside of the Department relating to security assistance programs. (2) Matters to be included The plan required under paragraph (1) shall include the following: (A) A plan for how the Department will effectively coordinate internally, with diplomatic posts, and with the Department of Defense with respect to security assistance programs. (B) A description of the process by which the requirement for training described in section 3 will be fulfilled. (C) The benefits, feasibility, and steps necessary to detail personnel— (i) on a reimbursable basis from the relevant bureaus and offices of the Department to provide staff to the Office; and (ii) from the Department of Defense and other relevant Federal departments and agencies to provide staff to the Office. (D) A list of recommendations for any additional legislative measures necessary to improve the capacity and capabilities of the Department to plan and implement security assistance programs and activities. (3) Form The plan required under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex if necessary. (4) Appropriate congressional committees defined In this subsection, the term appropriate congressional committees means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 3. Workforce development (a) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish curriculum at the Department’s Foreign Service Institute to provide employees of the Department with specialized training with respect to security assistance. (b) Matters To be included The training required by subsection (a) should be aligned with the Security Cooperation Workforce Development Program and developed in coordination with the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, including through an agreement under section 1535(a) of title 31, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Economy Act ), or any other appropriate agency-specific authority. The training shall include the following: (1) Awareness of the full range of agencies, offices, personnel, statutory authorities, funds, and programs involved in security assistance and transfers and the respective decision-making timelines. (2) Familiarity with relevant military and police security force systems and structures and institutions at the time such training is occurring. (3) Familiarity with security assistance reform, research regarding options for improvement, and United States interagency and external resources and experts. (4) Familiarity with planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation for programmatic activities. (5) Familiarity with the requirements to coordinate and consult with the Department of Defense on certain security cooperation programs, to include any programs that require Secretary concurrence or joint formulation. (6) Familiarity with implementation of— (A) section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2378d ) and section 362 of title 10, United States Code; (B) arms transfer requirements under the Arms Export Control Act ( 22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq. ); (C) end-use monitoring and other relevant authorities pertaining to the end-use of United States-transferred defense articles; and (D) best practices related to human rights and civilian protection. (7) Awareness of common risks to effectiveness of security assistance, including corruption, political instability, and challenges relating to absorptive capacity, partner commitment, and transparency. 4. Interagency coordination of security assistance, transfers, and security cooperation (a) Comptroller general report Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that assesses the effectiveness of existing mechanisms that require the concurrence and coordination of the Secretary of State with respect to security assistance and security cooperation programs, and other applicable provisions of law that provide for coordination between security assistance programs, projects, and activities of the Department and security cooperation programs, projects, and activities of the Department of Defense that includes the following: (1) An identification of relevant security assistance and security cooperation programs, authorities, and resources that require Secretary of State coordination or concurrence, and their mandated coordination and concurrence mechanisms and processes between the Secretary and Secretary of Defense, including the definitions and guidance for such mechanisms and processes to include— (A) joint coordination; (B) Chief of Mission and Secretary concurrence; and (C) joint formulation. (2) An assessment of such processes and mechanisms in practice. (3) An identification of measures to improve such processes and mechanisms and the coordination between Department bureaus and offices involved in planning, executing, or overseeing security assistance programs and activities and the United States combatant command or commands relevant to such bureaus and offices. (b) Joint process for section 333 projects Consistent with recommendations made by the Comptroller General of the United States pursuant to the report of the Government Accountability Office identified as the 23–105842 report, the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall establish a process that specifies how and when the Department should be involved in the planning of projects pursuant to section 333 of title 10, United States Code, including timelines for the Department’s review of concurrence packages. 5. Establishment of a common database of security assistance and security cooperation programs (a) In general Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, the Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, and the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall maintain a common database of information of all security assistance and security cooperation programs and activities, funding, and transfers by recipient country. (b) Plan (1) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that contains a plan to meet the requirements of subsection (a). (2) Elements The plan required by this subsection shall include each of the following elements: (A) A plan to ensure a standardized method of capturing country-level data of security assistance and security cooperation programs and activities administered by the Department and the Department of Defense since fiscal year 2017, to include— (i) the identification of authorities and costs, by fiscal year, of each such program or activity; (ii) the primary recipients by unit of each such program or activity within the relevant foreign partner government or organization; (iii) the purpose of each such program or activity, to include how each program advances United States regional and country strategies and objectives and advances mutually beneficial security goals, including addressing shared threats; (iv) narrative descriptions of all capacity building activities and any lethal assistance, including the training, equipment, and sustainment plan associated with each such program or activity; and (v) assessments of the recipient capabilities, absorptive capacity, and political will to achieve program or activity objectives. (B) A description of potential logistical and methodological challenges to implementation, including the necessary resources, staffing, and authorities to address such challenges and complete the requirements of subsection (a). (C) A plan to update, as needed, existing systems that assess, monitor, and evaluate the execution of security assistance and security cooperation programs and activities, on a country-by-country basis, that are carried out by the Department and the Department of Defense. (D) Options to enable visibility for the appropriate congressional committees of all country-level data required by subparagraph (A). (E) Options to promote increased transparency and visibility of security assistance and security cooperation programs and activities for researchers engaged in research and development projects on security cooperation pursuant to section 384(g)(3) of title 10, United States Code, as well as evaluators contractors pursuant to section 383 of such title that promote security cooperation lessons learned. (3) Appropriate congressional committees defined In this subsection, the term appropriate congressional committees means— (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 6. Assessment, monitoring, and evaluation (a) In general Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Coordinator shall develop and maintain an assessment, monitoring, and evaluation program to be conducted for any country receiving significant security assistance. (b) Elements The program described in paragraph (1) shall include each of the following elements: (1) Baseline assessments that include the following factors: (A) The quality of security sector governance of such country, based on the measurements of the following, and the manner in which the country’s performance on such measurements are likely to be influenced by the provision of security assistance: (i) The level of state corruption, as defined under the Combating Global Corruption Act ( 22 U.S.C. 10501 ), in the country’s security sector. (ii) The level of civilian oversight of the security forces. (iii) The level of the security forces’— (I) involvement in politics; (II) commercial holdings; and (III) merit-based promotions. (iv) The record of violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and civilian harm by security force actors or their affiliates and subsequent meaningful investigations and accountability processes. (v) Other factors relevant to assessing the level of security sector governance. (B) The commitment and political will of the recipient to use such assistance in a manner that achieves mutual objectives. (C) Recipient country threat perceptions and the manner in which such perceptions may inform the use of security assistance. (D) The recipient’s capacity to absorb the security assistance given and to achieve the objectives of such assistance. (E) Country- or region-specific opportunities and risks that could enhance or impair the outcomes associated with providing security assistance. (2) Identification of the short- and long-term desired outcomes or goals of the bilateral security partnership with the country and whether such assistance is achieving those outcomes or goals. (3) Monitoring implementation of security assistance programs, projects, and activities to measure progress toward achieving specific targets, metrics, or indicators. (4) Identification of lessons learned in carrying out security assistance and recommendations for improving future assistance. (c) Oversight and framework The Coordinator shall guide and support, in coordination with relevant regional and functional bureaus, the assessment and monitoring described in subsection (a) and shall create a common evaluation framework. (d) Availability of funds Funds available to the Political-Military Affairs Bureau, and other funds available to the Department of State for security assistance programs and activities of the Department of State, may be used to carry out the program required by this section. 7. Security assistance framework and planning (a) Framework for security assistance Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Coordinator shall create and submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a framework to be used by relevant bureaus and diplomatic posts to guide regional and country-specific planning, such as joint regional strategies or integrated country strategies or their equivalents, with respect to security assistance based on the following: (1) Identification and prioritization of overall goals and objectives for security assistance, in accordance with the relevant National Security Strategy. (2) Criteria for— (A) identifying opportunities and risks created by the provision of security assistance; and (B) tailoring and sequencing such assistance accordingly. (3) Guidance for— (A) incorporating the assessment, monitoring, and evaluation program described in section 6 into the strategic planning cycle pursuant to GPRA Modernization Act of 2010 ( Public Law 111–352 ), and the amendments made by that Act, and any other relevant law; and (B) increasing coordination, as appropriate, with other major international donors to maximize resources and unity of efforts. (4) Metrics for assessing the effectiveness of security assistance in— (A) increasing the operational access and influence of the United States when there is a demonstrated, strategic need for such access and influence; (B) improving partner capacity and commitment to countering shared threats and increased burden sharing, including in ways that enable reallocation of United States military deployments to other high priority missions; and (C) contributing to the maintenance of existing peace treaties between recipients of assistance. (5) A process to ensure that transfers regulated by the Department that are outside the scope of security assistance, such as certain direct commercial sales, are factored into— (A) the implementation of the assessment, monitoring, and evaluation program described in subsection (a); and (B) the planning process described in subsection (c). (b) Security assistance planning (1) Country prioritization Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Coordinator shall develop and submit in accordance with subsection (c) a list, including justifications, of priority recipient countries to receive security assistance, on the basis of— (A) policy objectives determined by the Secretary; and (B) the political conditions present in such recipient countries to achieve such policy objectives. (2) Inclusion in regional and country strategies Any comprehensive regional strategy, such as a joint regional strategy or its equivalent, and any country strategy, such as an integrated country strategy or its equivalent, that is produced by the Department of State on or after the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and each successor strategy to such strategy, shall integrate security assistance planning in a manner that incorporates the elements of the framework created pursuant to subsection (a) and include an annex relating to security assistance, which shall include— (A) the assessment, monitoring, and evaluation baseline assessments described in section 6; (B) requests to allocate security assistance with respect to the area covered by the strategy; and (C) a description of the manner in which such resources will be used. (3) Coordination of resources In developing annexes relating to security assistance for inclusion in comprehensive regional strategies or country strategies in accordance with paragraph (2), the relevant bureau, office, or diplomatic post shall coordinate with— (A) the Office; (B) the Office of Foreign Assistance Resources, or an equivalent entity in the Department, regarding the allocation of resources in line with priorities of the Department of State for security assistance; and (C) the Department of Defense and other relevant Federal departments and agencies that provide security assistance, security cooperation, or other forms of foreign assistance. (c) Reporting requirements Beginning 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall include with any materials submitted in support of the budget for that fiscal year that is submitted to Congress by the President under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, an unclassified report, that may include a classified annex, with the following: (1) A list of priority security assistance recipients, along with descriptions of the policy objectives that the Secretary seeks to achieve by providing such assistance to such recipients, developed pursuant to subsection (b)(1). (2) A description of the results of the evaluations conducted pursuant to section 6(c). (3) A description of the manner in which the Department will allocate, monitor, and evaluate all security assistance pursuant to the program described in section 7 and the planning process described in subsection (b). 8. Definitions In this Act— (1) except as otherwise provided, the term appropriate congressional committees means— (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives; and (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate; (2) the term Coordinator means the Coordinator for Security Assistance established under section 2(b)(2); (3) the term Department means the Department of State; (4) except as otherwise provided, the term Office means the Office of Security Assistance designated under section 2(b); (5) except as otherwise provided, the term Secretary means the Secretary of State; and (6) the term security assistance means assistance provided under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq. ), the Arms Export Control Act ( 22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq. ) (other than Foreign Military Sales or direct commercial sales), or any other provision of law.