119-s2252

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2252 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 2252

 To require United States foreign assistance commodities to be made 
 available for their intended purposes before they expire.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 July 10, 2025

 Mrs. Shaheen (for herself and Mr. Schatz) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign 
 Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To require United States foreign assistance commodities to be made 
 available for their intended purposes before they expire.

 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 ``Saving Lives and Taxpayer Dollars 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) Foreign assistance commodities, including food, 
 medicine, family planning products, and vaccines, provide 
 critical support to people who are recovering from the 
 aftermath of natural disasters, fleeing conflict or war, 
 residing in refugee camps, or living in developing communities 
 with limited access to health care.

    (2) United States investments in global health bolster 
 economic growth for partner countries, produce returns on 
 investment for the United States economy, create an estimated 
 600,000 jobs in the United States, and generated an estimated 
 $104,000,000,000 in economic activity during the 15-year period 
 between 2007 and 2022.

    (3) Reliable access to vaccines and medications, including 
 pre-exposure prophylaxis and antiretroviral drugs to prevent 
 the spread of HIV and vaccines to prevent the transmission of 
 communicable diseases such as polio and drug-resistant 
 tuberculosis, make everyone safer.

    (4) United States food assistance benefits United States 
 farmers, ranchers, and agribusinesses, while addressing global 
 food insecurity. United States farmers annually supply an 
 estimated 40 percent of all international food assistance, 
 which is valued at approximately $2,000,000,000.

    (5) Greater access to family planning products and services 
 has the potential to prevent up to 30 percent of the 295,000 
 annual maternal deaths and save the lives of approximately 
 1,400,000 children who are younger than 5 years old.

    (6) The voluntary destruction of foreign assistance 
 commodities intended for beneficiaries at risk of food 
 insecurity and famine, sexual violence, maternal and infant 
 death and disease is unethical and contrary to United States 
 interests and moral obligations.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON THE DESTRUCTION OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE PRODUCTS 
 AND COMMODITIES.

 

Section 102 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151-
1) is amended--

    (1) in subsection

    (b) , by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (18) Perishable and nonperishable foreign assistance 
 commodities and products, including medicine, vaccines, medical 
 devices, food and food commodities that are procured, managed, 
 controlled, or held in warehouses, ships, shipping containers, 
 or any other storage facility, by the United States Government 
 or by a foreign assistance implementing partner of the United 
 States Government shall be made available to intended 
 beneficiaries, including through donation, for their intended 
 purpose and before the date on which such commodities and 
 products spoil or expire.''; and

    (2) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (d) (1) In this subsection--
 ``
        (A) the term `appropriate congressional committees' 
 means--
 ``
            (i) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
 Senate;
 ``
            (ii) the Committee on Appropriations of the 
 Senate;
 ``
            (iii) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
 House of Representatives; and
 ``
            (iv) the Committee on Appropriations of the House 
 of Representatives; and
 ``
        (B) the term `commodity' means a product or commodity 
 referred to in subsection

    (b)

    (18) .
 ``

    (2) If any commodity is in the possession or control of a foreign 
assistance implementing partner of the United States, the Secretary of 
State, the Secretary of Agriculture, or the Administrator of the United 
States Agency for International Development, as appropriate, shall 
release such funds as may be necessary, on an expedited basis, to 
ensure the delivery or donation of the commodity to intended 
beneficiaries before the applicable spoilage or expiration date.
 ``

    (3) No commodity may be destroyed unless every effort has been 
made to sell, donate, or otherwise make available the commodity, 
whichever is more likely to ensure the commodity will be received and 
utilized by its intended beneficiaries, before the applicable spoilage 
or expiration date.
 ``

    (4)
        (A) Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of 
the Saving Lives and Taxpayer Dollars Act, and annually thereafter, the 
Secretary of State, in coordination with the Administrator of the 
United States Agency for International Development and the Secretary of 
Agriculture, as appropriate, shall submit a report to the appropriate 
congressional committees that describes any commodity that expired, 
spoiled, or was destroyed without delivery to an intended beneficiary.
 ``
        (B) The report required under subparagraph
        (A) shall include, for 
each expired, spoiled, or destroyed commodity --
 ``
            (i) a description of all negotiations, planning, and 
 efforts to make the commodity available to intended 
 beneficiaries;
 ``
            (ii) the reason the commodity was not made available to 
 intended beneficiaries;
 ``
            (iii) the purpose of the commodity and the geographic 
 locations of all intended beneficiaries of such commodity;
 ``
            (iv) the procured and market value of the commodity; and
 ``
            (v) the cost incurred to destroy the commodity.''.
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