Sec. 7031.
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Funds appropriated by this Act may be made available for direct government-to-government assistance only if— each implementing agency or ministry to receive assistance has been assessed and is considered to have the systems required to manage such assistance and any identified vulnerabilities or weaknesses of such agency or ministry have been addressed; the recipient agency or ministry employs and utilizes staff with the necessary technical, financial, and management capabilities; the recipient agency or ministry has adopted competitive procurement policies and systems; effective monitoring and evaluation systems are in place to ensure that such assistance is used for its intended purposes; no level of acceptable fraud is assumed; and the government of the recipient country is taking steps to publicly disclose on an annual basis its national budget, to include income and expenditures, that are in addition to steps taken in the previous calendar year; the recipient government is in compliance with the principles set forth in section 7013 of this Act; the recipient agency or ministry is not headed or controlled by an organization designated as a foreign terrorist organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1189 ); the Government of the United States and the government of the recipient country have agreed, in writing, on clear and achievable objectives for the use of such assistance, which should be made available on a cost-reimbursable basis; and the recipient government is taking steps to protect the rights of civil society, including freedoms of expression, association, and assembly.
In addition to the requirements in paragraph (1), no funds may be made available for direct government-to-government assistance without prior consultation with, and notification of, the Committees on Appropriations: , That such notification shall contain an explanation of how the proposed activity meets the requirements of paragraph (1): Provided , That the requirements of this paragraph shall only apply to direct government-to-government assistance in excess of $10,000,000 and all funds available for cash transfer, budget support, and cash payments to individuals.
Provided further The Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development or the Secretary of State, as appropriate, shall suspend any direct government-to-government assistance if the Administrator or the Secretary has credible information of material misuse of such assistance, unless the Administrator or the Secretary reports to the Committees on Appropriations that it is in the national interest of the United States to continue such assistance, including a justification, or that such misuse has been appropriately addressed.
The Secretary of State shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations, concurrent with the fiscal year 2020 congressional budget justification materials, amounts planned for assistance described in paragraph
(1)by country, proposed funding amount, source of funds, and type of assistance. Not later than 90 days after enactment of this Act and every 6 months thereafter until September 30, 2020, the USAID Administrator shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations a report that— details all assistance described in paragraph
(1)provided during the previous 6-month period by country, funding amount, source of funds, and type of such assistance; and the type of procurement instrument or mechanism utilized and whether the assistance was provided on a reimbursable basis. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used by the government of any foreign country for debt service payments owed by any country to any international financial institution. The Secretary of State shall continue to update and strengthen the minimum requirements of fiscal transparency for each government receiving assistance appropriated by this Act, as identified in the report required by section 7031(b) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2014 (division K of Public Law 113–76 ). For purposes of paragraph (1), minimum requirements of fiscal transparency are requirements consistent with those in subsection (a)(1), and the public disclosure of national budget documentation (to include receipts and expenditures by ministry) and government contracts and licenses for natural resource extraction (to include bidding and concession allocation practices). For each government identified pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary of State, not later than 180 days after enactment of this Act, shall make or update any determination of significant progress or no significant progress in meeting the minimum requirements of fiscal transparency, and make such determinations publicly available in an annual Fiscal Transparency Report to be posted on the Department of State website: , That the Secretary shall identify the significant progress made by each such government to publicly disclose national budget documentation, contracts, and licenses which are additional to such information disclosed in previous fiscal years, and include specific recommendations of short- and long-term steps such government should take to improve fiscal transparency: Provided , That the annual report shall include a detailed description of how funds appropriated by this Act are being used to improve fiscal transparency, and identify benchmarks for measuring progress. Provided further Funds appropriated under title III of this Act shall be made available for programs and activities to assist governments identified pursuant to paragraph
(1)to improve budget transparency and to support civil society organizations in such countries that promote budget transparency: , That such sums shall be in addition to funds otherwise available for such purposes: Provided , That a description of the uses of such funds shall be included in the annual Provided further Fiscal Transparency Report required by paragraph (3). Officials of foreign governments and their immediate family members about whom the Secretary of State has credible information have been involved in significant corruption, including corruption related to the extraction of natural resources, or a gross violation of human rights shall be ineligible for entry into the United States. The Secretary shall also publicly or privately designate or identify officials of foreign governments and their immediate family members about whom the Secretary has such credible information without regard to whether the individual has applied for a visa. Individuals shall not be ineligible if entry into the United States would further important United States law enforcement objectives or is necessary to permit the United States to fulfill its obligations under the United Nations Headquarters Agreement: , That nothing in paragraph
(1)shall be construed to derogate from United States Government obligations under applicable international agreements. Provided The Secretary may waive the application of paragraph
(1)with respect to an individual, and only if the Secretary determines that the waiver would serve a compelling national interest or that the circumstances which caused the individual to be ineligible have changed sufficiently. Not later than 6 months after enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report, including a classified annex if necessary, to the Committees on Appropriations and the Committees on the Judiciary describing the information related to corruption or violation of human rights concerning each of the individuals found ineligible in the previous 12 months pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) as well as the individuals who the Secretary designated or identified pursuant to paragraph (1)(B), or who would be ineligible but for the application of paragraph (2), a list of any waivers provided under paragraph (3), and the justification for each waiver. Any unclassified portion of the report required under paragraph
(4)shall be posted on the Department of State website. For purposes of paragraphs (1)(B), (4), and (5), the records of the Department of State and of diplomatic and consular offices of the United States pertaining to the issuance or refusal of visas or permits to enter the United States shall not be considered confidential. Funds appropriated by this Act shall be made available to promote and support transparency and accountability of expenditures and revenues related to the extraction of natural resources, including by strengthening implementation and monitoring of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, implementing and enforcing section 8204 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 ( Public Law 110–246 ; 122 Stat. 2052) and the amendments made by such section, and to prevent the sale of conflict diamonds, and provide technical assistance to promote independent audit mechanisms and support civil society participation in natural resource management. The Secretary of the Treasury shall inform the management of the international financial institutions, and post on the Department of the Treasury website, that it is the policy of the United States to vote against any assistance by such institutions (including any loan, credit, grant, or guarantee) to any country for the extraction and export of a natural resource if the government of such country has in place laws, regulations, or procedures to prevent or limit the public disclosure of company payments as required by United States law, and unless such government has adopted laws, regulations, or procedures in the sector in which assistance is being considered for— accurately accounting for and public disclosure of payments to the host government by companies involved in the extraction and export of natural resources; the independent auditing of accounts receiving such payments and public disclosure of the findings of such audits; and public disclosure of such documents as Host Government Agreements, Concession Agreements, and bidding documents, allowing in any such dissemination or disclosure for the redaction of, or exceptions for, information that is commercially proprietary or that would create competitive disadvantage. The requirements of subparagraph
(A)shall not apply to assistance for the purpose of building the capacity of such government to meet the requirements of this subparagraph. Funds appropriated by this Act under titles I and II, and funds made available for any independent agency in title III, as appropriate, shall be made available to support the provision of additional information on United States Government foreign assistance on the Department of State foreign assistance website: , That all Federal agencies funded under this Act shall provide such information on foreign assistance, upon request, to the Department of State. Provided
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- Pub. L. 110-246
- 122 Stat. 2052
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