[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8057 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8057
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to implement policies to
end preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths globally.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 14, 2022
Ms. Jacobs of California (for herself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Bass, Mrs.
Kim of California, Ms. Salazar, and Ms. McCollum) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to implement policies to
end preventable maternal, newborn, and child deaths globally.
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 ``Reach Every Mother and Child Act of
2022''.
SEC. 2. ASSISTANCE TO END PREVENTABLE MATERNAL, NEWBORN, AND CHILD
DEATHS GLOBALLY.
The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is
amended by adding at the end of chapter I of part I the following new
section:
``SEC. 138. ASSISTANCE TO END PREVENTABLE MATERNAL, NEWBORN, AND CHILD
DEATHS GLOBALLY.
``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to implement a
strategic approach for providing foreign assistance in order to end
preventable child and maternal deaths globally by 2030.
``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' means the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development.
``(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
`appropriate congressional committees' means--
``(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
``(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
``(3) Coordinator.--The term `Coordinator' means the Child
and Maternal Survival Coordinator designated under subsection
(e).
``(4) International maternal and child health and nutrition
programs.--The term `international maternal and child health
and nutrition programs' means all programs carried out using
funds appropriated or otherwise made available for
international maternal and child health and nutrition that are
managed by the Bureau for Global Health, missions, or other
operating units of the United States Agency for International
Development.
``(5) Most vulnerable populations.--The term `most
vulnerable populations' includes adolescents, populations in
conflict-affected or fragile areas, indigenous populations,
religious minorities, individuals with disabilities, and the
poorest quintile in urban and remote locations.
``(6) Priority countries.--The term `priority countries'
means countries that have the greatest need and highest burden
of child and maternal deaths, taking into consideration
countries that--
``(A) have high-need communities in fragile states
or conflict-affected states;
``(B) are low- or middle-income countries; or
``(C) are located in regions with weak health
systems.
``(7) Relevant partner entities.--The term `relevant
partner entities' means each of the following:
``(A) The governments of other donor countries.
``(B) International financial institutions.
``(C) Nongovernmental organizations.
``(D) Faith-based organizations.
``(E) Professional organizations.
``(F) The private sector.
``(G) Multilateral organizations.
``(H) Local and international civil society groups.
``(I) Local health workers.
``(J) International organizations.
``(c) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United States,
in partnership with priority countries and relevant partner entities,
to establish and implement a coordinated, integrated, and comprehensive
strategy to end preventable child and maternal deaths and ensure
healthy and productive lives by--
``(1) focusing on bringing to scale the highest-impact,
evidence-based interventions that address the leading causes of
maternal, newborn, and child mortality in each priority
country;
``(2) ensuring equitable access to essential health
services for the most vulnerable populations, with a focus on
country and community ownership;
``(3) designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating
programs in a manner that enhances transparency and
accountability, increases sustainability, and improves outcomes
in priority countries; and
``(4) supporting the research, development, and
introduction of innovative tools and approaches to accelerate
progress toward ending preventable child and maternal deaths.
``(d) Strategy.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of the Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2022,
the President should establish and implement a comprehensive 5-
year strategy (in this subsection referred to as the
`strategy') to contribute toward the global goal of ending
preventable child and maternal deaths by 2030 as a foundation
for ensuring healthy and productive lives.
``(2) Leadership.--The Administrator, in coordination with
priority countries and relevant partner entities, shall lead
the establishment and implementation of the strategy.
``(3) Elements.--The strategy should--
``(A) identify priority countries in which the
United States Agency for International Development will
implement international maternal and child health and
nutrition programs to reduce maternal, newborn, and
child mortality and improve health outcomes;
``(B) with respect to each priority country,
identify the most significant barriers to maternal,
newborn, and child survival and establish outcome-based
targets from which progress toward addressing those
barriers through international maternal and child
health and nutrition programs can be tracked;
``(C) in coordination with relevant partner
entities, outline how the United States Agency for
International Development will implement the highest-
impact, evidence-based interventions for reducing
maternal, newborn, and child mortality and expand
access to quality services through community-based
approaches to achieve the outcome-based targets
established under subparagraph (B);
``(D) promote investments in community-based
activities that empower women, support voluntarism, and
provide respectful maternity care;
``(E) describe how the most vulnerable populations
in each priority country will be targeted and reached
with highest-impact, evidence-based interventions to
reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality;
``(F) use United States Government strategies and
frameworks relevant to improving maternal, newborn, and
child health;
``(G) address backsliding on access to and demand
for essential health services and other key challenges
affecting maternal, newborn, and child survival caused
by the COVID-19 pandemic;
``(H) include development and scale-up of new
technologies and approaches, including those supported
by public-private partnerships, for research and
innovation;
``(I) promote coordination and efficiency within
and among the relevant executive branch agencies and
initiatives, including the United States Agency for
International Development, the Department of State, the
Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, the National
Institutes of Health, the Millennium Challenge
Corporation, the Peace Corps, the Department of the
Treasury, the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator,
the President's Malaria Initiative, and the United
States International Development Finance Corporation;
``(J) project general levels of resources needed to
achieve the objectives stated in the strategy; and
``(K) support the transition to domestic
sustainably financed health systems, emphasizing
partnerships that seek to ensure affordability,
accessibility, quality, and delivery of health services
in an equitable and sustainable manner.
``(4) Development of strategy.--
``(A) Consultation by administrator.--The
Administrator shall consult with missions of the United
States Agency for International Development in priority
countries, civil society, and implementing partner
organizations to inform the development of the
strategy.
``(B) Local consultation; summary.--The missions of
the United States Agency for International Development
in priority countries shall consult with relevant
partner entities and submit to the Coordinator a
summary of such consultations to inform the development
of the strategy.
``(e) Establishment of Child and Maternal Survival Coordinator.--
``(1) In general.--The President should designate an
individual, selected from among employees of the United States
Agency for International Development serving in career or
noncareer positions in the Senior Executive Service or at the
level of a Deputy Assistant Administrator or higher, to serve
concurrently as the Child and Maternal Survival Coordinator.
``(2) Duties.--The Coordinator should--
``(A) oversee--
``(i) the strategy established under
subsection (d)(1); and
``(ii) international maternal and child
health and nutrition programs, including by
representing the United States at international
and multilateral maternal and child health and
nutrition organizations;
``(B) have primary responsibility for the oversight
and coordination of all resources and international
activities of the United States Government appropriated
or used for international maternal and child health and
nutrition programs, as determined appropriate by the
Administrator;
``(C) direct the budget, planning, and staffing to
implement international maternal and child health and
nutrition programs for the purpose of ending
preventable child and maternal deaths;
``(D) lead implementation and revision of the
strategy established under subsection (d)(1) beginning
5 years after the date on which the strategy is
released;
``(E) coordinate with relevant executive branch
agencies, priority countries, and relevant partner
entities as appropriate, to carry out the strategy
established under subsection (d)(1) and to align
current and future investments with high-impact,
evidence-based interventions to save lives;
``(F) provide guidance on the design and oversight
of grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements with
nongovernmental organizations (including community,
faith-based, and civil society organizations) and
private sector entities for the purpose of carrying out
the strategy established under subsection (d)(1); and
``(G) report directly to the Administrator
regarding implementation of the strategy established
under subsection (d)(1).
``(3) Restriction on additional or supplemental
compensation.--The Coordinator shall receive no additional or
supplemental compensation for carrying out responsibilities and
duties under this section.
``(f) Authority To Assist in Implementation of the Strategy.--
``(1) In general.--The President may provide assistance to
implement the strategy established under subsection (d)(1).
``(2) Focus on impact.--
``(A) Targets for implementation required.--
Consistent with the guidelines established under
section 3 of the Foreign Aid Transparency and
Accountability Act of 2016 (22 U.S.C. 2394c note;
Public Law 114-191), the Administrator shall require
United States Agency for International Development
grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements, for the
purposes of the strategy established under subsection
(d)(1), to include targets for implementation of high-
impact, evidence-based interventions and strengthening
health systems, as appropriate, including baseline
measurements from which to quantify progress.
``(B) Exception.--In exceptional circumstances for
which the Administrator determines that the inclusion
of targets described in subparagraph (A) is not
reasonable or practicable for a grant, contract, or
cooperative agreement, the grant, contract, or
cooperative agreement, as the case may be, should
include an explanation of the omission and explicitly
state how measurable impact will be targeted and
tracked.
``(g) Annual Reports.--
``(1) Reports required.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of the enactment of the Reach Every Mother and Child Act
of 2022, and annually thereafter until December 31, 2030, the
President shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report on progress made to achieve the goals set
forth in the strategy established under subsection (d)(1).
``(2) Information included in reports.--Each report
required by paragraph (1) should include the following:
``(A) Indicators used by the United States Agency
for International Development to monitor and evaluate
progress of international maternal and child health and
nutrition programs toward ending preventable child and
maternal deaths in each priority county, such as the
standard foreign assistance indicators of the
Department of State and such other indicators as the
Coordinator considers relevant.
``(B) Estimates of maternal, newborn, and child
deaths averted as a result of international maternal
and child health and nutrition programs.
``(C) Data pertaining to populations served by
international maternal and child health and nutrition
programs, disaggregated by gender, age, and wealth
quintile.
``(D) A description of targets for coverage of
interventions and services in international maternal
and child health and nutrition programs and progress
toward meeting those targets.
``(E) Reporting on each aspect of the strategy
established under subsection (d)(1).
``(F) Information on funding for international
maternal and child health and nutrition programs
overall and for each priority country, including
funding that has been planned, appropriated, obligated,
or expended for the fiscal year in which the briefing
is conducted and the previous 5 fiscal years.
``(3) Public availability.--The President shall make each
report required by paragraph (1) publicly available.
``(h) Use of Funds.--Funds appropriated or otherwise made available
to carry out activities under this section shall be subject to all
applicable restrictions under Federal law.''.
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