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US Global Health Policy Tracker > Congress - Actions > S. 1524

S. 1524 - Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009

• Date: Nov 17, 2009
• Recent Action:
  - Reported favorably (14-3) out of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on November 17, 2009.
• Sponsor: Senator John Kerry (D-MA)
• Cosponsors: As of November 18, 2009,
  Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD); Senator Bob Corker (R-TN); Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN); Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ); Senator James Risch (R-ID); Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC); Senator Robert Casey (D-PA); Senator Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY); Senator Edward Kaufman (D-DE); Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ); Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO); Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR); Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD); Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL); Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT); Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH); Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY); Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME); Senator Kit Bond (R-MO); Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE); and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME).
• Summary: The bill proposes "to strengthen the capacity, transparency, and accountability of United States foreign assistance programs to effectively adapt and respond to new challenges of the 21st century, and for other purposes."
  
  The bill focuses on the following areas:
  - Policy and strategic planning: Creates the “Bureau for Policy and Strategic Planning” within USAID;
  - Research, analysis and evaluation of development programs: Creates the “Office for Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis in Development" within USAID and an independent “Council on Research and Evaluation of Foreign Assistance”;
  - Personnel and human resources: Requires a “Comprehensive Workforce and Human Resources Strategy for the United States Agency for International Development” and establishes the “Workforce and Human Resources Task Force”; and
  - Coordination of development programs in the field: Establishes the USAID in-country mission director as the primary coordinator of all US development programs in that country.
  
  Timeline of the bill:
  - Introduced and referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on July 28, 2009.
  - Reported favorably (14-3) out of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on November 17, 2009.
  - The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a cost estimate of the bill on January 20, 2010.
  
• Additional Information:

  Learn more about the bill here.

  Access the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) cost estimate of the bill here. (PDF, January 20, 2010)

  Read Senator Kerry's press release on the announcement of the bill here. (July 28, 2009)

  Read Senator Lugar's press release on the announcement of the bill here. (July 28, 2009)

  Read Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew's letter to Senator Kerry expressing "the Department's concerns with certain aspects of the bill" here. (November 16, 2009)

  Read Senator Kerry's press release on approval of the bill by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations here. (November 17, 2009)

  Read Senator Lugar's press release on approval of the bill by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations here. (November 17, 2009)

  Read Senator Menendez's press release on approval of the bill by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations here. (November 17, 2009)

  Read Senator Corker's press release on approval of the bill by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations here. (November 18, 2009)

  Read Senator Webb's letter to Senator Kerry detailing his "concerns" with the bill here. (November 18, 2009)