Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016
PL 114-191 (H.R.3766), enacted 07/15/2016

130 STAT. 666 
PUBLIC LAW 114–191—JULY 15, 2016 
Public Law 114–191 
114th Congress 
An Act 
To direct the President to establish guidelines for covered 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 ‘‘Foreign Aid Transparency and 
Accountability Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—The term 
‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means— 
(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 regarding the 
program; 
(B) improving program effectiveness; and 
(C) informing decisions about current and future 
programming. 
(3) COVERED
UNITED
STATES
FOREIGN
ASSISTANCE.—The 
term ‘‘covered United States foreign assistance’’ means assist-
ance authorized under— 
(A) part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), except for— 
(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 Programs); 
(B) chapter 4 of part II of the Foreign Assistance 
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2346 et seq.; relating 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.). 
Foreign Aid 
Transparency 
and 
Accountability 
Act of 2016. 
22 USC 2151 
note. 
22 USC 2394c 
note. 
July 15, 2016 
[H.R. 3766] 
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130 STAT. 667 
PUBLIC LAW 114–191—JULY 15, 2016 
SEC. 3. GUIDELINES FOR COVERED UNITED STATES FOREIGN ASSIST-
ANCE PROGRAMS. 
(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are to— 
(1) evaluate the performance of covered United States for-
eign assistance and its contribution to the policies, strategies, 
projects, program goals, and priorities undertaken by the Fed-
eral 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. 
(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 practices of monitoring and 
evaluation studies and analyses, for the establishment of measur-
able 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 program 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— 
(A) establish annual monitoring and evaluation objec-
tives and timetables to plan and manage the process of 
monitoring, evaluating, analyzing progress, and applying 
learning toward achieving results; 
(B) develop specific project monitoring and evaluation 
plans, including measurable goals and performance metrics, 
and to identify the resources necessary to conduct such 
evaluations, which should be covered by program costs; 
(C) apply rigorous monitoring and evaluation meth-
odologies to such programs, including through the use of 
impact evaluations, ex-post evaluations, or other methods, 
as appropriate, that clearly define program logic, inputs, 
outputs, intermediate outcomes, and end outcomes; 
(D) disseminate guidelines for the development 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 reference point against 
which progress can be measured; 
(F) evaluate, at least once in their lifetime, all pro-
grams whose dollar value equals or exceeds the median 
Applicability. 
Plans. 
Deadline. 
Evaluation. 
Coordination. 
22 USC 2394c 
note. 
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130 STAT. 668 
PUBLIC LAW 114–191—JULY 15, 2016 
program size for the relevant office or bureau or an equiva-
lent calculation to ensure the majority of program resources 
are evaluated; 
(G) conduct impact evaluations on all pilot programs 
before replicating, or conduct performance evaluations and 
provide a justification for not conducting an impact evalua-
tion when such an evaluation is deemed inappropriate or 
impracticable; 
(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, including an execu-
tive summary, a description of the evaluation methodology, 
key findings, appropriate context, including quantitative 
and qualitative data when available, and recommendations 
made in the evaluation within 90 days after the completion 
of the evaluation; 
(K) undertake collaborative partnerships and coordi-
nate efforts with the academic community, implementing 
partners, and national and international institutions, as 
appropriate, that have expertise in program monitoring, 
evaluation, and analysis when such partnerships provide 
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 evaluation of the effectiveness of covered 
United States foreign assistance programs, including an 
assessment of assumptions and limitations in such evalua-
tions; and 
(M) ensure that standards of professional evaluation 
organizations for monitoring and evaluation efforts are 
employed, including ensuring the integrity and independ-
ence of evaluations, permitting and encouraging the exer-
cise of professional judgment, and providing for quality 
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 committees 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 classified annex. 
(e) COMPTROLLER GENERAL’S REPORT.—The Comptroller Gen-
eral of the United States shall, not later than 18 months after 
the report required by subsection (d) is submitted to Congress, 
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that— 
(1) analyzes the guidelines established pursuant to sub-
section (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. 
Assessments. 
Analysis. 
Public 
information. 
Recommenda- 
tions. 
Deadline. 
Reports. 
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130 STAT. 669 
PUBLIC LAW 114–191—JULY 15, 2016 
SEC. 4. INFORMATION ON COVERED UNITED STATES FOREIGN ASSIST-
ANCE PROGRAMS. 
(a) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.— 
(1) UPDATE OF EXISTING WEBSITE.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of State shall update the Department of State’s website, 
‘‘ForeignAssistance.gov’’, to make publicly available comprehen-
sive, timely, and comparable information on covered United 
States foreign 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 department or agency that administers 
covered United States foreign assistance shall provide the Sec-
retary of State with comprehensive information about the cov-
ered 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 
publish, 
on 
the 
‘‘ForeignAssistance.gov’’ website or through a successor online 
publication, the information provided under subsection (b). 
(b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The information described in subsection 
(a)— 
(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 transparency, account-
ability, and effectiveness of covered United States foreign 
assistance programs, the information described in sub-
section (a) shall include— 
(i) links to all regional, country, and sector assist-
ance strategies, annual budget documents, congres-
sional budget justifications, and evaluations in accord-
ance 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 information described 
in subparagraph (A) shall be published or updated on the 
appropriate website not later than 90 days after the date 
on which the information is issued. 
(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this para-
graph may be construed to require a Federal department 
or agency that administers covered United States foreign 
assistance to provide 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.— 
Determinations. 
Deadline. 
Web posting. 
Public 
information. 
Deadlines. 
22 USC 2394c. 
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130 STAT. 670 
PUBLIC LAW 114–191—JULY 15, 2016 
(A) HEALTH
OR
SECURITY
OF
IMPLEMENTING
PART-
NERS.—If the head of a Federal department or agency, 
in consultation with the Secretary of State, makes a deter-
mination that the inclusion of a required item of informa-
tion online would jeopardize the health or security of an 
implementing partner or program beneficiary or would 
require the release of proprietary information of an imple-
menting partner or program beneficiary, the head of the 
Federal department or agency shall provide such deter-
mination in writing to the appropriate congressional 
committees, including the basis for such determination. 
(B) NATIONAL INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES.—If 
the Secretary of State makes a determination 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 committees. 
(C) FORM.—Information provided under this paragraph 
may be provided in classified form, as appropriate. 
(4) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—If a Federal department 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 subpara-
graph (A) or (B) of paragraph (3) not to make the information 
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 enact-
ment of this Act, shall submit a consolidated report to the 
appropriate congressional committees that includes, with 
respect to 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 pub-
licly 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 coordinate the consoli-
dation 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, 
Deadline. 
Time period. 
Public 
information. 
Consultation. 
Deadline. 
Reports. 
Consultation. 
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130 STAT. 671 
PUBLIC LAW 114–191—JULY 15, 2016 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 3766 (S. 2184): 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: 
Vol. 161 (2015): Dec. 8, considered and passed House. 
Vol. 162 (2016): June 28, considered and passed Senate, amended. 
July 5, House concurred in Senate amendments. 
‘‘Explorer.USAID.gov’’, to the extent that is possible to maximize 
efficiencies, no later than the end of fiscal year 2018. 
Approved July 15, 2016. 
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