119-s491

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 491 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 491

 To establish the position of Director of Foreign Assistance in the 
 Department of State, and for other purposes

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 February 6 (legislative day, February 5), 2025

 Mr. Kaine (for himself, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Coons, Mr. 
Merkley, Mr. Booker, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Welch, Mr. Markey, 
Mr. Sanders, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. Schiff) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
 Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To establish the position of Director of Foreign Assistance in the 
 Department of State, 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 Assistance Accountability 
and Oversight Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

 It is the sense of Congress that--

    (1) the strategic delivery of foreign assistance is 
 critical to supporting the United States' interests around the 
 world;

    (2) foreign assistance furthers United States' national 
 security priorities, advances United States' values, and 
 ensures the United States is the partner of choice for areas 
 such as defense procurement and economic investment in cutting 
 edge scientific research;

    (3) the administration of foreign assistance programming 
 should be--
        (A) managed by a qualified, competent Department of 
 State official; and
        (B) subject to strict congressional oversight 
 pursuant to its constitutionally authorized power of 
 the purse; and

    (4) section 1413 of the Foreign Affairs Reform and 
 Restructuring Act of 1998 (Division G of Public Law 105-277; 22 
 U.S.C. 6563) codified into law the status of the United States 
 Agency for International Development as an ``independent 
 establishment'' outside of the Department of State.

SEC. 3. DIRECTOR OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE AT THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

 

Section 1 of the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 
U.S.C. 2651a) is amended by adding at the end the following:
 ``

    (p) Director of Foreign Assistance.--
 ``

    (1) === Definitions. ===
-In this subsection:
 ``
        (A) Appropriate congressional committees.--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.
 ``
        (B) Personnel decision.--The term `personnel 
 decision' means any decision relating to promotions, 
 transfers, demotions, or dismissals.
 ``

    (2) Establishment.--There is established in the 
 Department of State, a Director of Foreign Assistance (referred 
 to in this subsection as the `Director'), who--
 ``
        (A) shall report directly to the Deputy Secretary 
 of State for Management and Resources; and
 ``
        (B) should not hold another position in the 
 United States Government while holding the position of 
 Director.
 ``

    (3) Duties.--The Director shall--
 ``
        (A) optimize the impact of foreign assistance 
 by--
 ``
            (i) strategically aligning foreign 
 assistance resources to the Secretary of 
 State's overarching foreign policy goals;
 ``
            (ii) measuring effectiveness; and
 ``
            (iii) promoting evidence-based policies, 
 including budget formulation, justification, 
 and execution mechanisms;
 ``
        (B) serve as a resource for the Secretary of 
 State, the Deputy Secretary of State, the Under 
 Secretaries of State, the Administrator of the United 
 States Agency for International Development, and the 
 heads of other Federal departments and agencies that 
 implement United States foreign assistance programs to 
 support the development of policies, plans, and 
 programs to achieve national security, foreign policy, 
 and development goals;
 ``
            (C) perform results-oriented functions related to 
 United States foreign assistance, including--
 ``
            (i) leading an integrated budget, 
 strategic planning, and performance process as 
 part of integrated interagency program planning 
 to amplify foreign assistance;
 ``
            (ii) promoting monitoring and evaluation;
 ``
            (iii) increasing transparency;
 ``
            (iv) facilitating data analysis, 
 information management, and reporting; and
 ``
            (v) developing foreign assistance 
 policies through research and partnerships;
 ``
            (D) support interagency collaboration on foreign 
 assistance programs and policies of other Federal 
 agencies and entities, including the Millennium 
 Challenge Corporation, the United States International 
 Development Finance Corporation, the Department of the 
 Treasury, the United States Trade and Development 
 Agency, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, 
 and the Peace Corps;
 ``
        (E) create and direct, as part of integrated 
 interagency program planning to amplify foreign 
 assistance, consolidated policy, strategic, and program 
 plans, the operational budget, program evaluation and 
 results reporting from bureaus and offices within the 
 Department of State and the United States Agency for 
 International Development.
 ``

    (4) Appointment; confirmation.--
 ``
        (A) Appointment.--The Director shall be appointed 
 by the President, by and with the advice and consent of 
 the Senate.
 ``
        (B) Acting director.--No individual may serve as 
 Director in an acting capacity or otherwise assume the 
 responsibilities of the Director for more than 90 days 
 without being confirmed to such position by the Senate.
 ``

    (5) Personnel decisions.--Any adverse personnel decision 
 made by the Director, or affecting the Director or any staff 
 member reporting to the Director, including demotions, 
 suspensions, furloughs and reductions in force, shall require 
 the approval of the Deputy Secretary of State for Management 
 and Resources.''.

SEC. 4. TIMELY OBLIGATION OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS.

 All funds appropriated by Congress to the Department of State or to 
the United States Agency for International Development, or that are 
otherwise under the direction of the Director of Foreign Assistance, 
shall be made available to be obligated not later than 90 days after 
the date of the enactment of the related appropriations Act.
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