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108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2862
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for
developing countries to promote quality basic education and to
establish the achievement of universal basic education in all
developing countries as an objective of United States foreign
assistance policy, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 29, 2004
Mrs. Clinton introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for
developing countries to promote quality basic education and to
establish the achievement of universal basic education in all
developing countries as an objective of United States foreign
assistance policy, 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 ``Education for All Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Throughout the world, an alarming number of children
are not receiving primary education. At least 104,000,000
children ages 6 through 11 are not in school, and 57 percent of
such children are girls. Another 150,000,000 children are at
risk of dropping out before completing primary school, and at
least 66 percent of such children are girls. At least 86
countries are unlikely to achieve the goal of 100 percent of
children completing primary school by 2015.
(2) The final report of the National Commission on
Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (hereafter in this
section referred to as the ``Report'') concluded that education
that teaches tolerance, the dignity and value of each
individual, and respect for different beliefs must be a key
element in any global strategy to eliminate terrorism.
(3) Extending the vision of educational opportunity
described in the Report to all developing countries is critical
to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and
prevent the rise of violent extremism worldwide.
(4) The Report concluded that the United States Government
must offer an example of moral leadership in the world and
offer parents and their children a vision of the future that
emphasizes individual educational and economic opportunity.
(5) At the World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal in
2000, the United States joined more than 180 other nations in
committing to the goal of universal basic education by 2015.
Universal completion of primary school and eliminating gender
disparity in all levels of education not later than 2015 are
part of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
(6) According to the 2002 United Nations Development
Programme Arab Human Development Report, 10,000,000 children
between the ages of 6 through 15 in the Arab world do not
attend school, and \2/3\ of the 65,000,000 illiterate adults in
the Arab world are women. At all educational stages, the most
important challenge facing education in the Arab world is the
declining quality of such education.
(7) The Report noted that the United Nations has rightly
equated ``literacy as freedom'' and that the international
community is moving toward setting a goal of reducing by half
the illiteracy rate in the Middle East by 2010, through the
implementation of education programs targeting women and girls
and supporting programs for adult literacy.
(8) Basic education has been demonstrated to be fundamental
to development. No country has reached sustained economic
growth without achieving near universal primary education.
Education reduces poverty and inequality, and lays the
foundation for sound governance, civic participation, and
strong institutions.
(9) Investing in girls' education delivers substantial
returns not only in educational attainment but also in
increasing women's incomes, delaying the start of sexual
activity, reducing infant mortality, increasing women's
political participation, and spurring economic growth.
(10) The Report concluded that ensuring educational
opportunity is essential to the efforts of the United States to
defeat global terrorism and recommended that the United States
Government ``should offer to join with other nations in
generously supporting [spending funds] . . . directly on
building and operating primary and secondary schools in those
Muslim states that commit to sensibly investing financial
resources in public education.''.
(11) Credible estimates indicate that at least an
additional $7,000,000,000 to $10,000,000,000 per year of
external development assistance is necessary for developing
countries to achieve universal basic education by 2015.
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION.
The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is
amended by inserting after section 105 the following new section:
``SEC. 105A. UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION.
``(a) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this section to ensure that
the United States provides the resources and leadership to ensure a
successful international effort to provide all children with a quality
basic education in order to achieve the goal of universal basic
education by 2015 agreed to at the World Education Forum held in Dakar,
Senegal in 2000.
``(b) Policy.--It is the policy of the United States to work with
foreign countries and international organizations to increase the
global commitment to achieving universal basic education to--
``(1) assist developing countries committed to serious
reforms to provide all children with a quality elementary
education and secondary education; and
``(2) provide incentives to encourage reform of the
education system and improve educational services in countries
that lack such commitment.
``(c) Principles.--In developing the global commitment referred to
in subsection (b), the policy of the United States shall be guided by
the following principles:
``(1) United states resources.--To lead a global commitment
to achieving universal basic education, the United States shall
commit substantial new resources for education in developing
countries to inspire confidence in such countries that efforts
to reform education in such countries will receive adequate
resources.
``(2) Other major donors.--The United States Government
shall encourage other donors to contribute commensurate amounts
to support such a global commitment.
``(3) Private sector and nongovernmental participation and
contributions.--United States efforts in leading such a global
commitment shall include explicit strategies to encourage and
integrate contributions of strategic direction and financial
resources from indigenous and international private sector and
civil society organizations interested in supporting quality
universal basic education efforts.
``(4) School access, quality, and completion.--United
States assistance for basic education in developing countries
shall seek to expand access to school for all children and to
improve the quality of education in order to increase the
number of children completing a basic education.
``(5) Coordination within the united states government.--A
comprehensive strategy shall improve coordination and
collaboration among all departments and agencies of the United
States Government involved in education assistance to ensure
efficient and effective use of the resources of the United
States.
``(6) Coordination between education and aids prevention
efforts.--United States assistance shall support efforts to
improve coordination between global health and education
initiatives in United States Government programs and
internationally to reduce the adverse impact of HIV/AIDS on
education systems, teaching forces, and vulnerable children in
developing countries.
``(7) Integration of education plans within overall
national economic strategies.--United States policies and
programs shall encourage poor countries to ensure that efforts
are developed within an overall strategy of economic and market
reforms to reduce poverty and spur sustained economic growth.
``(8) High standards of accountability and transparency in
budgeting.--The United States shall develop procedures to
monitor the expenditure of funds allocated for the purposes
described in this section, and shall only provide funds to the
government of a foreign country only if such government has
developed high standards of budget transparency, independent
monitoring, and accountability.
``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) AIDS.--The term `AIDS' has the meaning given that
term in section 104A(g).
``(2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
`appropriate congressional committees' means the Committee on
Appropriations and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate and the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on
International Relations of the House of Representatives.
``(3) Basic education.--The term `basic education' means an
education, generally consisting of completion of 9-10 years of
schooling, including early childhood development, primary
education, some secondary education, teacher training, literacy
training, and life skills training.
``(4) HIV/AIDS.--The term `HIV/AIDS' has the meaning given
that term in section 104A(g).
``(5) Education for all fast track initiative.--The term
`Education for All Fast Track Initiative' means the Fast Track
Initiative launched in 2002 to mobilize donor resources to
support Education for All, an international commitment launched
in 1990 to bring the benefits of education to every individual.
``(6) Member states of the group of eight.--The term
`member states of the Group of Eight' means the countries of
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United
Kingdom, and the United States.
``(e) Development and Implementation of a Comprehensive United
States Strategy on Education for All.--
``(1) Education for all task force.--The President shall
establish an Education for All Task Force as described in this
subsection.
``(2) Purposes.--The purposes of the Task Force are--
``(A) to carry out the policy set out in subsection
(b); and
``(B) to develop a unified strategy of the United
States to promote universal basic education.
``(3) Membership.--The Task Force shall include the
following members:
``(A) The Administrator of the United States Agency
for International Development.
``(B) The Secretary of the Treasury.
``(C) The Secretary of Labor.
``(D) The Secretary of Education.
``(E) The Secretary of Health and Human Services.
``(F) The Secretary of Agriculture.
``(G) The Secretary of State.
``(H) The Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium
Challenge Corporation.
``(I) The Coordinator of United States Government
Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally.
``(J) The National Security Advisor.
``(K) The National Economic Advisor.
``(4) Co-chairs and headquarters.--The Task Force shall be
co-chaired by the National Security Advisor and the National
Economic Advisor, and the headquarters of the Task Force shall
be located at both the National Security Council and the
National Economic Council.
``(f) Unified Strategy.--
``(1) Content.--The unified strategy developed by the Task
Force should include a detailed description of the United
States plan to promote universal basic education, including a
description of the following elements:
``(A) The manner in which the resources of the
United States shall be used to achieve universal basic
education, including--
``(i) the efforts of the United States to
coordinate an international effort to achieve
universal basic education by 2015;
``(ii) the activities of the United States
to leverage contributions from member states of
the Group of Eight and other donors to provide
universal basic education by 2015; and
``(iii) the assistance provided by the
United States to leverage contributions from
the private sector and civil society
organizations to achieve universal basic
education.
``(B) The efforts of the United States to
coordinate with other donors to reduce duplication and
waste at the global and country levels and ensure
efficient coordination among all relevant departments
and agencies of the United States Government.
``(C) The strategy of the United States to support
efforts to overcome challenges to achieving universal
basic education, including strategies to target hard-
to-reach populations to promote education as a
fundamental means to preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS,
and to support efforts to reduce the adverse impact of
HIV/AIDS on education systems.
``(2) Requirement to consult.--The Task Force shall consult
with nongovernmental organizations and individuals involved in
the promotion and implementation of education assistance
programs in developing countries to give such organizations and
individuals an opportunity to contribute to, and comment on,
the unified strategy to promote universal basic education
developed by the Task Force.
``(3) Schedule for completion of strategy.--Not later than
180 days after the date of enactment of the Education for All
Act of 2004, the Task Force shall submit the unified strategy
to the President and to appropriate congressional committees.
``(g) National Education Plans.--
``(1) Authority.--The President is authorized to provide
funds and other assistance to an eligible entity to assist a
foreign country to create the policies, processes, or
infrastructure to develop and implement a comprehensive
national education plan as described in this subsection to
allow all citizens of such country to access and complete basic
education.
``(2) Eligible entity.--In this subsection, the term
`eligible entity' means--
``(A) the government of a foreign country; or
``(B) a person that the President determines is
appropriate to receive assistance under this
subsection.
``(3) Criteria for national education plans.--Assistance
may be provided under this subsection to an eligible entity to
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