Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB491 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 491
5	5	To establish the position of Director of Foreign Assistance in the Department
6	6	of State, and for other purposes
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	FEBRUARY6 (legislative day, FEBRUARY5), 2025
9	9	Mr. K
10	10	AINE(for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. COONS, Mr.
11	11	M
12	12	ERKLEY, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. VANHOLLEN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. WELCH,
13	13	Mr. M
14	14	ARKEY, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. BENNET, Mr.
15	15	W
16	16	HITEHOUSE, and Mr. SCHIFF) introduced the following bill; which was
17	17	read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
18	18	A BILL
19	19	To establish the position of Director of Foreign Assistance
20	20	in the Department of State, and for other purposes
21	21	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
22	22	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
23	23	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
24	24	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Assistance Ac-4
25	25	countability and Oversight Act’’. 5
26	26	SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6
27	27	It is the sense of Congress that— 7
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31	31	(1) the strategic delivery of foreign assistance is 1
32	32	critical to supporting the United States’ interests 2
33	33	around the world; 3
34	34	(2) foreign assistance furthers United States’ 4
35	35	national security priorities, advances United States’ 5
36	36	values, and ensures the United States is the partner 6
37	37	of choice for areas such as defense procurement and 7
38	38	economic investment in cutting edge scientific re-8
39	39	search; 9
40	40	(3) the administration of foreign assistance pro-10
41	41	gramming should be— 11
42	42	(A) managed by a qualified, competent De-12
43	43	partment of State official; and 13
44	44	(B) subject to strict congressional over-14
45	45	sight pursuant to its constitutionally authorized 15
46	46	power of the purse; and 16
47	47	(4) section 1413 of the Foreign Affairs Reform 17
48	48	and Restructuring Act of 1998 (Division G of Public 18
49	49	Law 105–277; 22 U.S.C. 6563) codified into law the 19
50	50	status of the United States Agency for International 20
51	51	Development as an ‘‘independent establishment’’ 21
52	52	outside of the Department of State. 22
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55	55	•S 491 IS
56	56	SEC. 3. DIRECTOR OF FOREIGN ASSISTANCE AT THE DE-1
57	57	PARTMENT OF STATE. 2
58	58	Section 1 of the State Department Basic Authorities 3
59	59	Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a) is amended by adding at 4
60	60	the end the following: 5
61	61	‘‘(p) D
62	62	IRECTOR OFFOREIGNASSISTANCE.— 6
63	63	‘‘(1) D
64	64	EFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 7
65	65	‘‘(A) A
66	66	PPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COM -8
67	67	MITTEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional 9
68	68	committees’ means— 10
69	69	‘‘(i) the Committee on Foreign Rela-11
70	70	tions of the Senate; 12
71	71	‘‘(ii) the Committee on Appropriations 13
72	72	of the Senate; 14
73	73	‘‘(iii) the Committee on Foreign Af-15
74	74	fairs of the House of Representatives; and 16
75	75	‘‘(iv) the Committee on Appropria-17
76	76	tions of the House of Representatives. 18
77	77	‘‘(B) P
78	78	ERSONNEL DECISION .—The term 19
79	79	‘personnel decision’ means any decision relating 20
80	80	to promotions, transfers, demotions, or dismis-21
81	81	sals. 22
82	82	‘‘(2) E
83	83	STABLISHMENT.—There is established in 23
84	84	the Department of State, a Director of Foreign As-24
85	85	sistance (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Direc-25
86	86	tor’), who— 26
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89	89	•S 491 IS
90	90	‘‘(A) shall report directly to the Deputy 1
91	91	Secretary of State for Management and Re-2
92	92	sources; and 3
93	93	‘‘(B) should not hold another position in 4
94	94	the United States Government while holding the 5
95	95	position of Director. 6
96	96	‘‘(3) D
97	97	UTIES.—The Director shall— 7
98	98	‘‘(A) optimize the impact of foreign assist-8
99	99	ance by— 9
100	100	‘‘(i) strategically aligning foreign as-10
101	101	sistance resources to the Secretary of 11
102	102	State’s overarching foreign policy goals; 12
103	103	‘‘(ii) measuring effectiveness; and 13
104	104	‘‘(iii) promoting evidence-based poli-14
105	105	cies, including budget formulation, jus-15
106	106	tification, and execution mechanisms; 16
107	107	‘‘(B) serve as a resource for the Secretary 17
108	108	of State, the Deputy Secretary of State, the 18
109	109	Under Secretaries of State, the Administrator 19
110	110	of the United States Agency for International 20
111	111	Development, and the heads of other Federal 21
112	112	departments and agencies that implement 22
113	113	United States foreign assistance programs to 23
114	114	support the development of policies, plans, and 24
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117	117	•S 491 IS
118	118	programs to achieve national security, foreign 1
119	119	policy, and development goals; 2
120	120	‘‘(C) perform results-oriented functions re-3
121	121	lated to United States foreign assistance, in-4
122	122	cluding— 5
123	123	‘‘(i) leading an integrated budget, 6
124	124	strategic planning, and performance proc-7
125	125	ess as part of integrated interagency pro-8
126	126	gram planning to amplify foreign assist-9
127	127	ance; 10
128	128	‘‘(ii) promoting monitoring and eval-11
129	129	uation; 12
130	130	‘‘(iii) increasing transparency; 13
131	131	‘‘(iv) facilitating data analysis, infor-14
132	132	mation management, and reporting; and 15
133	133	‘‘(v) developing foreign assistance 16
134	134	policies through research and partnerships; 17
135	135	‘‘(D) support interagency collaboration on 18
136	136	foreign assistance programs and policies of 19
137	137	other Federal agencies and entities, including 20
138	138	the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the 21
139	139	United States International Development Fi-22
140	140	nance Corporation, the Department of the 23
141	141	Treasury, the United States Trade and Devel-24
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144	144	•S 491 IS
145	145	opment Agency, the Export-Import Bank of the 1
146	146	United States, and the Peace Corps; 2
147	147	‘‘(E) create and direct, as part of inte-3
148	148	grated interagency program planning to amplify 4
149	149	foreign assistance, consolidated policy, strategic, 5
150	150	and program plans, the operational budget, pro-6
151	151	gram evaluation and results reporting from bu-7
152	152	reaus and offices within the Department of 8
153	153	State and the United States Agency for Inter-9
154	154	national Development. 10
155	155	‘‘(4) A
156	156	PPOINTMENT; CONFIRMATION.— 11
157	157	‘‘(A) A
158	158	PPOINTMENT.—The Director shall 12
159	159	be appointed by the President, by and with the 13
160	160	advice and consent of the Senate. 14
161	161	‘‘(B) A
162	162	CTING DIRECTOR.—No individual 15
163	163	may serve as Director in an acting capacity or 16
164	164	otherwise assume the responsibilities of the Di-17
165	165	rector for more than 90 days without being con-18
166	166	firmed to such position by the Senate. 19
167	167	‘‘(5) P
168	168	ERSONNEL DECISIONS .—Any adverse 20
169	169	personnel decision made by the Director, or affecting 21
170	170	the Director or any staff member reporting to the 22
171	171	Director, including demotions, suspensions, fur-23
172	172	loughs and reductions in force, shall require the ap-24
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175	175	•S 491 IS
176	176	proval of the Deputy Secretary of State for Manage-1
177	177	ment and Resources.’’. 2
178	178	SEC. 4. TIMELY OBLIGATION OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS. 3
179	179	All funds appropriated by Congress to the Depart-4
180	180	ment of State or to the United States Agency for Inter-5
181	181	national Development, or that are otherwise under the di-6
182	182	rection of the Director of Foreign Assistance, shall be 7
183	183	made available to be obligated not later than 90 days after 8
184	184	the date of the enactment of the related appropriations 9
185	185	Act. 10
186	186	Æ
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