[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9719 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9719
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to modify requirements
regarding management of the United States Agency for International
Development, and for other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 20, 2024
Mr. Meeks introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on
Oversight and Accountability, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
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A BILL
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to modify requirements
regarding management of the United States Agency for International
Development, and for other purposes.
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 ``Strengthening USAID Management
Act''.
SEC. 2. STAFFING TO PREVENT OR RESPOND TO CRISIS.
Section 625 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2384)
is amended by adding after subsection (f) the following:
``(g) The Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development is authorized to appoint and employ personnel
in the excepted service using funds appropriated or otherwise made
available to carry out the provisions of part I of this Act, chapter 4
of part II of this Act, and section 509(b) of the Global Fragility Act
of 2019 (22 U.S.C. 9808(b)) to prevent or respond to foreign crises and
contexts with increasing instability. Such funds are authorized to be
made available for the operating expenses and administrative costs of
such personnel. The Administrator shall coordinate with the Director of
the Office of Personnel Management to implement this provision.''.
SEC. 3. UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PAY RATE
ADJUSTMENT.
Chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in section 5314, by inserting ``and 1 other official of
the Agency for International Development to be appointed by the
President'' after ``Deputy Administrator, Agency for
International Development''; and
(2) in section 5315, by striking ``Development (6)'' and
inserting ``Development (5)''.
SEC. 4. PAYMENT FOR SERVICES PERFORMED ABROAD PURSUANT TO CONTRACT.
Section 636(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C.
2396(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(17) employing individuals or organizations, by contract,
for services performed abroad pursuant to this Act or title II
of the Food for Peace Act (7 U.S.C. 1721 et seq.), and
individuals employed by contract to perform such services,
provided that--
``(A) such individuals shall not by virtue of such
payment be considered to be employees of the United
States Government for purposes of any law administered
by the Office of Personnel Management (except that the
Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development may determine the
applicability to such individuals of section 5 of the
State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22
U.S.C. 2672) regarding tort claims when such claims
arise in a foreign country in connection with United
States operations abroad and of any other law
administered by the Administrator concerning such
individuals); and
``(B) such contracts are authorized to be
negotiated, the terms of such contracts to be
prescribed, and the work to be performed, where
necessary, without regard to such statutory provisions
as relate to the negotiation, making, and performance
of contracts and performance of work in the United
States.''.
SEC. 5. FOREIGN SERVICE REPORT.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate a report that includes--
(1) a description of any effort by the Administrator in the
3 years prior to the submission of the report to empower and
integrate cooperating country nationals throughout the agency,
including an increase in the number of--
(A) warranted contracting officers and agreement
officers who are cooperating country nationals; and
(B) cooperating country national advisor positions;
and
(2) a breakdown of Foreign Service National fellowships in
the 5 years prior to the submission of the report that includes
anonymized information regarding--
(A) participant demographics;
(B) the assigned mission associated with each
fellowship;
(C) operating unit in which each fellowship
occurred; and
(D) duration of each fellowship.
SEC. 6. ANTI-TERRORISM CERTIFICATION.
Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development shall initiate rulemaking procedures to require bidders for
programs in high-risk areas to certify that they do not provide
material support or resources to individuals or entities involved in
terrorism.
SEC. 7. OVERSEAS PAY COMPARABILITY.
(a) In General.--Subject to such regulations as the Secretary of
State may prescribe, including with respect to phase-in schedule and
treatment as basic pay, and notwithstanding any other provision of law,
any eligible member may be paid a locality-based comparability payment
(stated as a percentage) that is not more than two-thirds of the amount
of the locality-based comparability payment (stated as a percentage)
that would be payable to such member under section 5304 of title 5,
United States Code, if the official duty station of such member were in
the District of Columbia.
(b) Limitation.--The amount of any locality-based comparability
payment that is paid to an eligible member under this section shall be
subject to any limitation on pay applicable to locality-based
comparability payments under section 5304 of title 5, United States
Code.
(c) Eligible Member Defined.--In this section, the term ``eligible
member'' means a member of the Foreign Service if--
(1) such member is designated class 1 or below for purposes
of section 403 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C.
3963); and
(2) the official duty station of such member is not in the
continental United States or a nonforeign area, as defined in
section 591.205 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations.
(d) Sunset.--The authority under this section shall terminate on
the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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