International Development Assistance Act

(Measure indefinitely postponed in Senate, H.R. 12222 passed in lieu)

International Development Assistance Act - =Title I: Development Assistance= - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to declare that a principal objective of U.S. Foreign Policy is the encouragement and sustained support of the development efforts of people in developing countries.

States that U.S. Development Policy should emphasize four principal goals: (1) alleviation of poverty; (2) promotion of self-sustaining growth; (3) encouragement of societies in which individual civil and economic rights are respected; and (4) integration of developing countries into an open international economic system.

Stipulates that pursuit of these goals requires that development concerns be fully reflected in U.S. Foreign Policy.

Sets forth a development assistance policy which recognizes that developing countries have a long-term need for external assistance. Directs that provision of development resources be adapted to the needs and capabilities of specific developing countries with low per capita incomes and limited access to private external capital being made on concessional terms and that such provision be adapted for other developing countries consisting of programs which facilitate access to private capital markets, investment and technical skills.

Amends such Act to consolidate the President's existing authorities to furnish assistance.

Repeals certain conditions pertaining to development loans and provides that the President shall determine the terms and conditions of development loans. Requires the President to consider the economic circumstances of the borrowing country and other relevant factors.

States as a Congressional finding that participation of the rural and urban poor in their countries' development can be facilitated through increased activities by private and voluntary organizations and cooperatives.

Encourages a greater utilization of such organizations in planning projects and development activities using U.S. funds.

Revises provisions of such Act authorizing use of development assistance funds to pay transportation charges from U.S. ports to foreign countries of relief and rehabilitation shipments made by the American National Red Cross and by certain U.S. voluntary nonprofit relief agencies.

Repeals various provisions pertaining to: (1) the development loan fund; (2) the purposes of development assistance and self-help criteria; (3) technical cooperation and development grants; (4) loans to small farmers; (5) programs for peaceful communication; (6) assistance for reopening the Suez Canal; (7) assistance for the alliance of of progress; and (8) Southeast Asia Multilateral and Regional Programs.

Authorizes the appropriation of $665,231,000 for fiscal year 1979 to alleviate starvation, hunger and malnutrition and to provide basic services to poor people by increasing their capacity for self-help. States that where the development of major infrastructures are necessary, such as farm-to-market roads and water management systems, assistance should be furnished in association with other countries working together in a multilateral framework. Specifies that such infrastructure projects should be complemented by other measures to insure that the benefits of the infrastructure projects reach the poor. Directs increased emphasis on rural development and expanded food production in the poorest nations as a matter of social justice and principal element contributing to broadly based economic growth, as well as an important faactor in alleviating inflation in the industrialized countries. Requires that, in allocating agriculture and rural development funds, special attention be given to increasing agricultural production in countries which have been designated as least developed by the United Nations General Assembly.

Encourages the President to devise and carry out in partnership with developing nations a strategy for programs of nutrition and health improvement for mothers and children, including breast feeding, and to provide technical, financial and materials support to individuals or groups at the local level for such programs.

Authorizes the appropriation of $224,745,000 for population planning, $4,500,000 of which is earmarked for the World Health Organization's (WHO) Special Program of Research, Development, and Research Training in Human Reproduction.

Declares that uncontrolled population growth can vitiate successful development efforts and that effective population programs depend upon economic and social changes as well as the delivery of population planning services.

Authorizes the President to provide assistance for voluntary population planning programs. States that such programs shall emphasize motivation for small families, be coordinated with other development programs, and provide family planning information and services, plus include directly relevant demographic research.

Empowers the President to furnish assistance for disease prevention and control, improved sanitation and water facilities, basic health education, and the extension of primary health care facilities. Specifies that such assistance shall support research into primary health care services which may best enhance such services' capacity for self-help.

Authorizes the appropriation for fiscal year 1979 of $143,972,000 for purposes of health and disease prevention.

Encourages the President to carry out partnerships with developing countries and international organizations to carry out programs of preventive medicine and basic health care and population planning.

Requires health research under this Act to: (1) be undertaken to the maximum extent practicable in developing countries by such countries' personnel; (2) recognize the special needs of the poor in determination of research priorities; (3) make use of field testing; and (4) emphasize the dissemination of research results to local health units.

Authorizes the appropriation for fiscal year 1979 of: (1) $98,162,000 for activities in the fields of education, human resources development and public administration; and (2) $126,244,000 for the Selected Development Problems Account.

Allows the President to expend from funds authorized in Title I of this Act up to $2,000,000, for assistance to certain disadvantaged children and orphans in Asian countries where there has been or continues to be a heavy presence of United States military and related personnel in recent years.

Directs that up to $10,000,000 be made available each fiscal year to encourage and promote the participation and integration of women as equal partners in the development process.

Requires the President to take into consideration the environmental consequences of development actions in carrying out development assistance programs and to furnish assistance to increase the capacity of less developed countries to protect and manage their natural resources and to develop and use renewable and unconventional energy technologies.

Encourages the President to make development assistance available on a grant basis to the relatively least developed countries to the maximum extent that is consistent with United States development objectives.

Authorizes the President to: (1) permit a relatively least developed country to place amounts due as principal and interest on official debts to the United States into local currency accounts to be used for development projects; (2) waive certain interest payments from such a country; and (3) exempt such a country from specified cost-sharing and maximum grant program duration requirements.

Directs the Administrator of the Agency for International Development to improve the assessment and evaluation of development programs and projects carried out under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.

Requires the President to report on actions taken by international financial institutions and the United Nations Development Program to improve the evaluation of projects and programs conducted by those institutions.

Authorizes the appropriation of funds for the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad Program for fiscal year 1979.

Revises the general policy statement and authorizing language for the Housing Guarantee program.

Establishes a single authorization for the worldwide houing guarantee program and a new list of the types of programs which should be emphasized: (1) improved home sites on which poor families can build shelters; (2) expandable core shelter units on serviced sites; (3) slum upgrading; (4) shelter projects for low income people designed for demonstration or institution building purposes; and (5) community facilities and services in support of such projects.

Requires consideration of the use of solar energy in housing projects which are assisted by Housing Guarantees program.

Extends authority for Agricultural and Productive Credit and Self-Help Community Development Programs to September 30, 1979.

Authorizes appropriations of $290,150,000 for international organizations and programs for fiscal year 1979, non of which shall be expended for contributions to the United Nations University.

Stipulates that of the $52,000,000 authorized to be appropriated for voluntary contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, not more than $42,500,000 of this amount shall be available unless the President certifies to the Congress that any contribution above this level has been matched by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Authorizes the appropriation of $1,000,000 for a voluntary contribution to a World Assembly on Aging.

Makes $5,000,000 available without fiscal year limitation for contribution to a Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Trust Fund to be administered by the United Nations Development program.

Establishes an International Disaster Assistance Fund from which the President is authorized to furnish assistance to any foreign country, international organization, or private voluntary agency for international disaster relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction as a result of natural and manmade disaster, and for disaster preparedness.

Authorizes for appropriation $2,000,000 to assist in the attempts to control locust plagues in Africa.

States that disaster assistance to Turkey may be used for the purchase of scientific equipment designed to minimize the effects of future disasters.

Requires the Chairman of the Development Coordination Committee to transmit to the Congress not later than February 1, of each year a report on foreign assistance for the fiscal year ending the previous September 30 and a report on programs and estimates for the succeeding fiscal years.

Repeals certain existing reporting requirements.

Establishes an Office of the Auditor General of the Agency for International Development.

Authorizes appropriations of funds for: (1) stimulating reimbursable development programs; and (2) Agency for International Development operating expenses.

Proposes that the President instruct United States representatives to the United Nations to encourage the transfer of funding for technical assistance for developing countries to the United Nations Development Program.

Requires the Secretary of State to report to the appropriate committees of the House and the Senate on any proposed changes not provided for by law in loans owed to the United States by any foreign government.

Repeals various sections of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 which largely deal with budget authority for previous fiscal years, completed programs, and activities that are subsumed under revised programs established under this Act.

Prohibits funds authorized for appropriation in this Act to be used for aid to any nation which allows, supports, or encourages acts of terrorism.

Directs the Secretary to give full consideration to the extent to which a loan, grant, credit, or other utilization of funds authorized for appropriation in this Act is likely to have adverse effects on the United States economy.

Requires the President to report to the Congress on steps taken to establish an African Development Foundation.

Prohibits aid to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Cambodia, Uganda, or Cuba which ar declared to be gross violators of human rights.

=Title II: Food for Peace= - Requires the President to submit to the Congress not later than February 1, 1979, a report (1) explaining why food assistance provided to developing countries under title I of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 is not more successful in meeting the food needs of those suffering from hunger and malnutrition, and (2) recommending steps which could be taken to increase the effectiveness of food assistance under that Act in meeting those needs.

Amends the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 to allow the Commodity Credit Corporation to pay freight charges from United States ports to designated ports and points of entry abroad when shipping commodities to a country on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development list of least developed countries.

Permits countries receiving funds under Title III of such Act to defer obligations covered by Title I agreements under certain conditions.

Makes the amendments of this Act effective on October 1, 1978.