,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #abga  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,july #aj1     
#bjac ,mr4 ,rubio 7for himself and ,mr4 
,cardin7 introduced the following bill2 
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,foreign ,relations  ,a  
,,bill  ,to direct the ,president to    
establish guidelines for ,united ,states
 foreign assistance programs1 and for   
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,foreign ,aid  
,transparency and ,accountability ,act  
of #bjac4  #b4 ,guidelines for ,united  
,states foreign assistance programs  7a7
 ,purpose ,the purpose of this section  
is to evaluate the performance of       
,united ,states foreign assistance and  
its contribution to policy1 strategies1 
projects1 program goals1 and priorities 
undertaken by the ,federal ,government1 
to foster and promote innovative        
programs to improve effectiveness1 and  
to coordinate the monitoring and        
evaluation processes of ,federal        

departments and agencies that administer
 foreign assistance4  7b7 ,establishment
 of guidelines ,not later than #ah      
months after the date of the enactment  
of this ,act1 the ,president shall      
establish guidelines regarding the      
establishment of measurable goals1      
performance metrics1 and monitoring and 
evaluation plans that can be applied    
with reasonable consistency to ,united  
,states foreign assistance4 ,such       
guidelines shall be established         
according to best practices of          
monitoring and evaluation studies and   
analyses4  7c7 ,objectives of guidelines
  7#a7 ,in general ,the guidelines      
established under subsection 7b7 shall  
provide direction to ,federal           
departments and agencies that administer
 ,united ,states foreign assistance on  
how to develop the complete range of    
activities relating to the monitoring of
 resources1 the evaluation of projects1 
the evaluation of program impacts1 and  
analysis that is necessary for the      

identification of findings1             
generalizations that can be derived from
 those findings1 and their applicability
 to proposed project and program design4
  7#b7 ,objectives ,specifically1 the   
guidelines shall provide direction on   
how to achieve the following objectives 
for monitoring and evaluation programs3 
7,a7 ,building measurable goals1        
performance metrics and monitoring and  
evaluation into program design1 to be   
tracked against an established baseline 
at the outset1 including the provision  
of sufficient program resources to      
conduct monitoring and evaluation4  7,b7
 ,disseminating guidelines for the      
development and implementation of       
monitoring and evaluation programs to   
all personnel1 especially in the field1 
who are responsible for the design1     
implementation1 and management of       
foreign assistance programs4  7,c7      
,developing a clearinghouse capacity for
 the collection and dissemination of    
knowledge and lessons learned that serve

 as benchmarks to guide future programs 
for ,united ,states development         
professionals1 implementing partners1   
the international aid community1 and aid
 recipient governments1 and as a        
repository of knowledge on lessons      
learned4  7,d7 ,distributing evaluation 
reports internally and making this      
material available online to the public4
 ,furthermore1 providing a summary of   
each evaluation1 including a description
 of the evaluation methodology1 and key 
findings and recommendations made in the
 evaluation1 to the public online in a  
fully searchable form within #ij days   
after the completion of the evaluation4 
,any material made available online     
pursuant to this subparagraph may not   
include any classified or proprietary   
information of nongovernmental          
organizations1 contractors1 or private  
sector clients4  7,e7 ,establishing     
annual monitoring and evaluation agendas
 and objectives4  7,f7 ,applying        
rigorous monitoring and evaluation      

methodologies to focus on learning1     
accountability1 and policymaking1       
choosing from among a wide variety of   
qualitative1 quantitative1 summative1   
and formative methods common in the     
field of social scientific inquiry1     
including impact evaluations1 a simple  
grading system providing a clear        
evaluation of outcomes1 and analysis of 
project logic that includes inputs1     
activities1 outputs1 intermediate       
outcomes1 and end outcomes4  7,g7       
,partnering with the academic community1
 implementing partners1 and national and
 international institutions that have   
expertise in monitoring and evaluation  
and analysis when such partnerships will
 provide needed expertise or will       
significantly improve the evaluation and
 analysis4  7,h7 ,developing and        
implementing a training plan for aid    
personnel on the proper conduct of      
monitoring and evaluation programs4     
7,i7 ,providing relevant and useful     
evaluation questions that meet the needs

 of decisionmakers1 an appropriate and  
feasible design for the evaluation      
questions1 and criteria that permit     
objective assessment and valid          
conclusions on the evaluation questions4
  7,j7 ,ensuring sufficient1 credible1  
and reliable measures and data in the   
evaluation of the effectiveness of      
foreign assistance programs1 including  
an assessment of assumptions and        
limitations in such evaluations4  7,k7  
,ensuring that generally accepted       
standards such as independence1         
professional judgment1 competence1 and  
quality control and assurance are       
followed in the monitoring and          
evaluation of programs4  7d7            
,implementation of guidelines ,beginning
 not later than one year after the date 
on which the ,president establishes the 
guidelines under subsection 7b71 the    
head of each ,federal department or     
agency that administers ,united ,states 
foreign assistance shall administer the 
foreign assistance in accordance with   

the guidelines4  7e7 ,presidential      
report ,not later than #ah months after 
the date of the enactment of this ,act1 
the ,president shall submit to the      
appropriate congressional committees a  
report that contains a detailed         
description of the guidelines that have 
been developed on measurable goals1     
performance metrics1 and monitoring and 
evaluation plans for ,united ,states    
foreign assistance programs established 
under this section4 ,the report shall be
 submitted in unclassified form to the  
maximum extent possible1 but may contain
 a classified annex4  7f7               
,implementation not required for certain
 security sector assistance  7#a7 ,in   
general ,the ,secretary of ,state shall 
not be required to administer any       
,united ,states foreign assistance      
program relating to ,united ,states     
security sector assistance in accordance
 with the guidelines established under  
this section if the ,secretary of ,state
 makes a determination that the         

administration of such program in       
accordance with the guidelines would be 
detrimental to the national interests of
 the ,united ,states4  7#b7 ,briefings  
or report ,the ,secretary of ,state     
shall provide briefings or submit a     
written report to the appropriate       
congressional committees explaining any 
determination made under paragraph 7#a74
 ,any such report may be submitted to   
the appropriate congressional committees
 in classified form4  7g7 ,comptroller  
,general reports ,the ,comptroller      
,general of the ,united ,states shall-- 
7#a7 not later than one year after the  
date of the enactment of this ,act1     
submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report that contains an    
analysis of the actions that the major  
,federal departments and agencies that  
administer ,united ,states foreign      
assistance have taken to ensure that    
,united ,states foreign assistance      
program evaluation is planned1          
conducted1 and utilized effectively2    

7#b7 not later than three years after   
the date of the enactment of this ,act1 
submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report that contains an    
analysis of--  7,a7 the guidelines      
established pursuant to subsection 7b72 
and  7,b7 the implementation of the     
guidelines by the major ,federal        
departments and agencies that administer
 ,united ,states foreign assistance2 and
  7#c7 not later than #e years after the
 date of the enactment of this ,act1 and
 biennially thereafter for #h years1    
submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report that contains an    
analysis of the implementation of the   
guidelines by the major ,federal        
departments and agencies that administer
 ,united ,states foreign assistance4    
7h7 ,evaluation defined ,in this        
section1 the term evaluation means1 with
 respect to a ,united ,states foreign   
assistance program1 the systematic      
collection and analysis of information  
about the characteristics and outcomes  

of the program and projects under the   
program as a basis for judgments1 to    
improve effectiveness1 and to inform    
decisions about current and future      
programming4  #c4 ,internet website to  
make publicly available comprehensive1  
timely1 comparable1 and accessible      
information on ,united ,states foreign  
assistance programs  7a7 ,publication of
 information  7#a7 ,establishment of    
website ,not later than #cj days after  
the date of the enactment of this ,act1 
the ,president shall direct the         
,secretary of ,state to revise the      
,department of ,state's ,internet       
website1 ,foreign,assistance4gov1 to    
make publicly available comprehensive1  
timely1 comparable1 and accessible      
information on ,united ,states foreign  
assistance programs4  7#b7 ,information 
sharing ,the head of each ,federal      
department or agency that administers   
,united ,states foreign assistance      
shall1 not later than two years after   
the date of the enactment of this ,act1 

and every #ij days thereafter1 provide  
to the ,secretary of ,state information 
about the foreign assistance programs   
carried out by such department or       
agency4  7#c7 ,updates to website ,the  
,secretary of ,state shall publish not  
later than #b years after the date of   
the enactment of this ,act and update on
 a quarterly basis on the               
,foreign,assistance4gov website the     
information provided under paragraph    
7#b74  7b7 ,matters ,to be included     
7#a7 ,in general ,the information       
described in subsection 7a7 shall be    
published on a detailed                 
program-by-program basis and            
country-by-country basis4  7#b7 ,types  
of information ,to ensure transparency1 
accountability1 and effectiveness of    
,united ,states foreign assistance      
programs1 the information described in  
subsection 7a7 shall include country    
assistance strategies1 annual budget    
documents1 congressional budget         
justifications1 obligations1            

expenditures1 and reports and           
evaluations for ,united ,states foreign 
assistance programs and projects under  
such programs4 ,each type of information
 described in this paragraph shall be   
published or updated on the ,internet   
website not later than #ij days after   
the date of issuance of the information4
  7#c7 ,report in lieu of inclusion     
7,a7 ,health or security of implementing
 partners ,if the head of a ,federal    
department or agency makes a            
determination that the inclusion of a   
required item of information on the     
,internet website would jeopardize the  
health or security of an implementing   
partner or program beneficiary1 the head
 of the ,federal department or agency   
may provide briefings to the appropriate
 congressional committees on the item of
 information or submit to the           
appropriate congressional committees the
 item of information in a written report
 in lieu of including it on the         
,internet website1 along with the       

reasons for not including it in the     
database required under this section4   
7,b7 ,national interests of the ,united 
,states ,if the ,secretary of ,state    
makes a determination that the inclusion
 of a required item of information on   
the ,internet website would be          
detrimental to the national interests of
 the ,united ,states1 the ,secretary of 
,state shall provide briefings to the   
appropriate congressional committees on 
the item of information or submit to the
 appropriate congressional committees   
the item of information in a written    
report in lieu of including it on the   
,internet website1 along with the       
reasons for not including it in the     
database required under this section4   
7,c7 ,form ,any briefing or item of     
information provided under this         
paragraph may be provided in classified 
form4  7#d7 ,failure to comply ,if the  
head of the department or agency fails  
to comply with the requirements under   
paragraph 7#b71 the head shall indicate 

for each required item--  7,a7          
identification of the reason for not    
including the information during that   
quarter2  7,b7 a detailed explanation of
 the reason2 and  7,c7 the department's 
or agency's plan and timeline for       
including the omitted information for   
the current fiscal year and the         
following two fiscal years1 including   
milestones1 deadlines1 prerequisites1   
and other explanatory information4  7c7 
,scope of information  7#a7 ,in general 
,the ,internet website shall contain the
 information described in subsection 7b7
 as follows3  7,a7 ,for fiscal year     
#bjac1 the information relating to such 
fiscal year and each of the immediately 
preceding #b fiscal years4  7,b7 ,for   
fiscal year #bjad1 the information      
relating to such fiscal year and each of
 the immediately preceding #c fiscal    
years4  7,c7 ,for fiscal year #bjae1 the
 information relating to such fiscal    
year and each of the immediately        
preceding #d fiscal years4  7,d7 ,for   

fiscal year #bjaf1 the information      
relating to such fiscal year and each of
 the immediately preceding #e fiscal    
years4  7#b7 ,older information ,for    
fiscal year #bjag and each fiscal year  
thereafter1 the ,internet website shall 
also contain a link to a searchable     
database available to the public        
containing information described in     
subsection 7b7 relating to fiscal years 
prior to the immediately preceding #e   
fiscal years but subsequent to fiscal   
year #bjaj4  #d4 ,sense of ,congress on 
implementation ,it is the sense of      
,congress that ,congress shall take into
 account the ,comptroller ,general's    
reports under section #b7;f77#b7 when   
making decisions regarding the          
appropriation of funds for each         
department or agency that administers   
,united ,states foreign assistance4  #e4
 ,availability of funds ,up to #e       
percent of the amounts authorized to be 
appropriated for a fiscal year for each 
,federal department or agency for       

,united ,states foreign assistance      
programs is authorized to be            
appropriated to carry out this ,act with
 respect to such programs for such      
fiscal year4  #f4 ,definitions ,in this 
,act3  7#a7 ,appropriate congressional  
committees ,the term appropriate        
congressional committees means--  7,a7  
the ,committee on ,foreign ,relations   
and the ,committee on ,appropriations of
 the ,senate2 and  7,b7 the ,committee  
on ,foreign ,affairs and the ,committee 
on ,appropriations of the ,house of     
,representatives4  7#b7 ,united ,states 
foreign assistance ,the term ,united    
,states foreign assistance means any    
tangible or intangible item provided by 
any agency of the ,united ,states       
,government to a foreign country1       
including any training1 service1 or     
technical advice1 any item of real1     
personal1 or mixed property1 any        
agricultural commodity1 ,united ,states 
dollars1 and any currencies of any      
foreign country which are owned by the  

,united ,states ,government1 and        
includes foreign assistance provided by 
means of gift1 loan1 sale1 credit1 or   
guaranty4  7#c7 ,united ,states security
 sector assistance ,the term ,united    
,states security sector assistance means
 the policies1 programs1 and activities 
the ,united ,states ,government employs 
to engage with foreign partners in the  
use of force to protect both the foreign
 state and its citizens at home or      
abroad1 to maintain international peace 
and security1 to contribute to efforts  
that address common security challenges1
 and to enforce the law and provide     
oversight of security institutions and  
forces1 including through helping       
foreign partners build and sustain the  
capacity and effectiveness of           
institutions to provide security1       
safety1 and justice for their people4