22 U.S.C. § 2394c — Information on covered United States foreign assistance programs
submitted 10 years ago by Pub. L. 114-191 to r/title-22-FOREIGN-RELATIONS-AND-INTERCOURSE · 838 words · no verdicts yet
The Secretary of State must publish comprehensive, timely, and comparable information about covered United States foreign-assistance programs. Agencies must share information, and the section provides exceptions, congressional reporting for noncompliance, and searchability requirements.
(a) (1) Within 90 days after July 15, 2016, the Secretary of State must update ForeignAssistance.gov to publish available comprehensive, timely, comparable information required by subsection (b). (2) Within two years after that date and quarterly afterward, each agency administering covered assistance must give the Secretary comprehensive program information. (3) Within two years and quarterly afterward, the Secretary must publish the subsection (b) information on that website or a successor.
(b) (1) Information must be detailed for each country, such as award by award, or for each region when assistance is regional. (2)(A) To promote transparency, accountability, and effectiveness, it must include links to regional, country, and sector strategies, annual budgets, congressional budget justifications, and evaluations; basic descriptions of programs and awards; and obligations and expenditures. (B) Each type must be published or updated within 90 days after issuance. (C) This does not require an agency to provide information unrelated to or not required by its covered programs. (3)(A) If an agency head, consulting the Secretary, decides online publication would endanger an implementing partner or beneficiary or release proprietary information, the head must give the appropriate congressional committees a written determination and reasons. (B) If the Secretary decides publication would harm United States national interests, the Secretary must give those committees a written determination and reasons. (C) The information may be classified when appropriate. (4) If an agency fails to comply with subsection (a)(1), (2), or (3), or subsection (c), and no paragraph (3)(A) or (B) determination applies, the OMB Director, consulting the agency head, must within one year after July 15, 2016 report to the appropriate committees for each missing item: (A) a detailed reason it was not published; and (B) the agency plan and timeline for publishing it and ensuring publication in later years.
(c) For fiscal years 2016–2019, the online publication must include subsection (b) information for fiscal years 2015 through the current year. For fiscal year 2020 and later, it must provide the prior five fiscal years in fully searchable form.
(d) Congress states that the Secretary and USAID Administrator should coordinate and consolidate the processes and data for ForeignAssistance.gov and Explorer.USAID.gov as much as possible to improve efficiency, by the end of fiscal year 2018.
Not later than 90 days after July 15, 2016, the Secretary of State shall update the Department of State’s website, “ForeignAssistance.gov”, to make publicly available comprehensive, timely, and comparable information on covered United States foreign assistance programs, including all information required under subsection (b) that is available to the Secretary of State.
Not later than 2 years after July 15, 2016, and quarterly thereafter, the head of each Federal department or agency that administers covered United States foreign assistance shall provide the Secretary of State with comprehensive information about the covered United States foreign assistance programs carried out by such department or agency.
Not later than 2 years after July 15, 2016, and quarterly thereafter, the Secretary of State shall publish, on the “ForeignAssistance.gov” website or through a successor online publication, the information provided under subsection (b).
The information described in subsection (a)—
shall be published for each country on a detailed basis, such as award-by-award; or
if assistance is provided on a regional level, shall be published for each such region on a detailed basis, such as award-by-award.
To ensure the transparency, accountability, and effectiveness of covered United States foreign assistance programs, the information described in subsection (a) shall include—
links to all regional, country, and sector assistance strategies, annual budget documents, congressional budget justifications, and evaluations in accordance with section 3(c)(2)(J);
basic descriptive summaries for covered United States foreign assistance programs and awards under such programs; and
obligations and expenditures.
Each type of information described in subparagraph (A) shall be published or updated on the appropriate website not later than 90 days after the date on which the information is issued.
Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to require a Federal department or agency that administers covered United States foreign assistance to provide any information that does not relate to, or is not otherwise required by, the covered United States foreign assistance programs carried out by such department or agency.
If the head of a Federal department or agency, in consultation with the Secretary of State, makes a determination that the inclusion of a required item of information online would jeopardize the health or security of an implementing partner or program beneficiary or would require the release of proprietary information of an implementing partner or program beneficiary, the head of the Federal department or agency shall provide such determination in writing to the appropriate congressional committees, including the basis for such determination.
If the Secretary of State makes a determination that the inclusion of a required item of information online would be detrimental to the national interests of the United States, the Secretary of State shall provide such determination, including the basis for such determination, in writing to the appropriate congressional committees.
Information provided under this paragraph may be provided in classified form, as appropriate.
If a Federal department or agency fails to comply with the requirements under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a), or subsection (c), with respect to providing information described in subsection (a), and the information is not subject to a determination under subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (3) not to make the information publicly available, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the head of such department or agency, not later than one year after July 15, 2016, shall submit a consolidated report to the appropriate congressional committees that includes, with respect to each required item of information not made publicly available—
a detailed explanation of the reason for not making such information publicly available; and
a description of the department’s or agency’s plan and timeline for—
making such information publicly available; and
ensuring that such information is made publicly available in subsequent years.
The online publication required under subsection (a) shall, at a minimum—
in each of the fiscal years 2016 through 2019, provide the information required under subsection (b) for fiscal years 2015 through the current fiscal year; and
for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter, provide the information required under subsection (b) for the immediately preceding 5 fiscal years in a fully searchable form.
It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development should coordinate the consolidation of processes and data collection and presentation for the Department of State’s website, “ForeignAssistance.gov”, and the United States Agency for International Development’s website, “Explorer.USAID.gov”, to the extent that is possible to maximize efficiencies, no later than the end of fiscal year 2018.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 114–191, § 4, July 15, 2016, 130 Stat. 669.)
- 2016Enacted · Pub. L. 114-191 · 130 Stat. 669
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 114-191 on 2016-07-15.
all 0 arguments · sorted by: best
no arguments yet — make the first case