H.R. 4455

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4455 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4455

To provide for reform of the Department of State with respect to 
security assistance.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 16, 2025

Ms. Jacobs (for herself and Mr. Moylan) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition 
to the Committee on Armed Services, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To provide for reform of the Department of State with respect to 
security assistance.

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 ``United States Security Assistance 
Effectiveness Act''.

SECTION 2. ORGANIZATIONAL REFORM.

(a) Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security.--
The duties of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International 
Security relating to security assistance shall include--
(1) within the Department and across United States 
diplomatic posts--
(A) providing strategic policy guidance on 
objectives, metrics, and priorities for security 
assistance; and
(B) ensuring strategic integration of budgets and 
planning for security assistance; and
(2) overseeing Department coordination with the Secretary 
of Defense and the heads of other relevant Federal departments 
and agencies on all matters relating to security assistance, 
including by leading or delegating Secretary concurrence for 
all security assistance and security cooperation authorities 
under title 10, United States Code.
(b) Office of Security Assistance.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall designate an existing 
office or establish a new office to be the Office of Security 
Assistance, which--
(A) shall be located in the Office of the Under 
Secretary for Arms Control and International Security; 
and
(B) shall report to Office of the Under Secretary 
for Arms Control and International Security.
(2) Coordinator.--The head of the Office shall be the 
Coordinator for Security Assistance, who shall be an individual 
who is a member of the Senior Executive Service and of 
demonstrated competency in the fields of security assistance 
and international diplomacy.
(3) Duties.--The duties of the Coordinator shall include 
within the Department and across United States diplomatic 
posts--
(A) guiding and supporting security assistance;
(B) maintaining the common database described in 
section 5;
(C) coordinating the assessment, monitoring, and 
evaluation program established under section 6; and
(D) establishing the framework described in section 
7.
(c) Coordination Within the Department.--
(1) Designation.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, and subject to paragraph (2), the 
head of each bureau of the Department that is involved in 
directing or implementing security assistance shall designate 
an officer of such bureau to be responsible for coordinating 
the responsibilities of such bureau with respect to security 
assistance.
(2) Non-eligibility.--An officer of a bureau of the 
Department shall not be eligible to be designated pursuant to 
paragraph (1) if the officer is responsible for conducting 
human rights vetting pursuant to 620M of the Foreign Assistance 
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d).
(3) Training.--Each individual designated pursuant to 
paragraph (1) shall successfully complete the training 
described in section 3.
(d) Coordination Within United States Diplomatic Posts.--
(1) Designation.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the chief of mission of the United 
States in a foreign country that receives security assistance 
shall designate a senior diplomatic officer at the embassy or 
highest ranking diplomatic post if no embassy exists in the 
foreign country to be responsible for coordinating security 
assistance for the foreign country.
(2) Duties.--The senior diplomatic officer designated 
pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be responsible for--
(A) overseeing personnel and activities of Federal 
departments and agencies at the relevant embassy or 
diplomatic post with respect to the provision of 
security assistance for the country; and
(B) ensuring implementation of section 620M of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d), 
section 362 of title 10, United States Code, and other 
relevant authorities relating to the end-use of United 
States-transferred defense articles with respect to the 
country.
(3) Training.--Each individual designated pursuant to 
paragraph (1) shall successfully complete the training 
described in section 3.
(e) Plan for Coordination.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a plan for the 
implementation of this section, including on the coordination 
within and outside of the Department relating to security 
assistance programs.
(2) Matters to be included.--The plan required under 
paragraph (1) shall include the following:
(A) A plan for how the Department will effectively 
coordinate internally, with diplomatic posts, and with 
the Department of Defense with respect to security 
assistance programs.
(B) A description of the process by which the 
requirement for training described in section 3 will be 
fulfilled.
(C) The benefits, feasibility, and steps necessary 
to detail personnel--
(i) on a reimbursable basis from the 
relevant bureaus and offices of the Department 
to provide staff to the Office; and
(ii) from the Department of Defense and 
other relevant Federal departments and agencies 
to provide staff to the Office.
(D) A list of recommendations for any additional 
legislative measures necessary to improve the capacity 
and capabilities of the Department to plan and 
implement security assistance programs and activities.
(3) Form.--The plan required under paragraph (1) shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified 
annex if necessary.
(4) Appropriate congressional committees defined.--In this 
subsection, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 
Senate.

SEC. 3. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.

(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish curriculum at the 
Department's Foreign Service Institute to provide employees of the 
Department with specialized training with respect to security 
assistance.
(b) Matters To Be Included.--The training required by subsection 
(a) should be aligned with the Security Cooperation Workforce 
Development Program and developed in coordination with the Defense 
Security Cooperation Agency, including through an agreement under 
section 1535(a) of title 31, United States Code (commonly referred to 
as the ``Economy Act''), or any other appropriate agency-specific 
authority. The training shall include the following:
(1) Awareness of the full range of agencies, offices, 
personnel, statutory authorities, funds, and programs involved 
in security assistance and transfers and the respective 
decision-making timelines.
(2) Familiarity with relevant military and police security 
force systems and structures and institutions at the time such 
training is occurring.
(3) Familiarity with security assistance reform, research 
regarding options for improvement, and United States 
interagency and external resources and experts.
(4) Familiarity with planning, implementation, and 
monitoring and evaluation for programmatic activities.
(5) Familiarity with the requirements to coordinate and 
consult with the Department of Defense on certain security 
cooperation programs, to include any programs that require 
Secretary concurrence or joint formulation.
(6) Familiarity with implementation of--
(A) section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d) and section 362 of title 10, 
United States Code;
(B) arms transfer requirements under the Arms 
Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.);
(C) end-use monitoring and other relevant 
authorities pertaining to the end-use of United States-
transferred defense articles; and
(D) best practices related to human rights and 
civilian protection.
(7) Awareness of common risks to effectiveness of security 
assistance, including corruption, political instability, and 
challenges relating to absorptive capacity, partner commitment, 
and transparency.

SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION OF SECURITY ASSISTANCE, TRANSFERS, AND 
SECURITY COOPERATION.

(a) Comptroller General Report.--Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 
United States shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 
a report that assesses the effectiveness of existing mechanisms that 
require the concurrence and coordination of the Secretary of State with 
respect to security assistance and security cooperation programs, and 
other applicable provisions of law that provide for coordination 
between security assistance programs, projects, and activities of the 
Department and security cooperation programs, projects, and activities 
of the Department of Defense that includes the following:
(1) An identification of relevant security assistance and 
security cooperation programs, authorities, and resources that 
require Secretary of State coordination or concurrence, and 
their mandated coordination and concurrence mechanisms and 
processes between the Secretary and Secretary of Defense, 
including the definitions and guidance for such mechanisms and 
processes to include--
(A) joint coordination;
(B) Chief of Mission and Secretary concurrence; and
(C) joint formulation.
(2) An assessment of such processes and mechanisms in 
practice.
(3) An identification of measures to improve such processes 
and mechanisms and the coordination between Department bureaus 
and offices involved in planning, executing, or overseeing 
security assistance programs and activities and the United 
States combatant command or commands relevant to such bureaus 
and offices.
(b) Joint Process for Section 333 Projects.--Consistent with 
recommendations made by the Comptroller General of the United States 
pursuant to the report of the Government Accountability Office 
identified as the 23-105842 report, the Secretary, in coordination with 
the Secretary of Defense, shall establish a process that specifies how 
and when the Department should be involved in the planning of projects 
pursuant to section 333 of title 10, United States Code, including 
timelines for the Department's review of concurrence packages.

SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMON DATABASE OF SECURITY ASSISTANCE AND 
SECURITY COOPERATION PROGRAMS.

(a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordination with the 
Secretary of Defense, the Director of the Defense Security Cooperation 
Agency, and the heads of other appropriate Federal departments and 
agencies, shall maintain a common database of information of all 
security assistance and security cooperation programs and activities, 
funding, and transfers by recipient country.
(b) Plan.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordination with 
the Secretary of Defense, Director of the Defense Security 
Cooperation Agency and the heads of other appropriate Federal 
departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report that contains a plan to meet 
the requirements of subsection (a).
(2) Elements.--The plan required by this subsection shall 
include each of the following elements:
(A) A plan to ensure a standardized method of 
capturing country-level data of security assistance and 
security cooperation programs and activities 
administered by the Department and the Department of 
Defense since fiscal year 2017, to include--
(i) the identification of authorities and 
costs, by fiscal year, of each such program or 
activity;
(ii) the primary recipients by unit of each 
such program or activity within the relevant 
foreign partner government or organization;
(iii) the purpose of each such program or 
activity, to include how each program advances 
United States regional and country strategies 
and objectives and advances mutually beneficial 
security goals, including addressing shared 
threats;
(iv) narrative descriptions of all capacity 
building activities and any lethal assistance, 
including the training, equipment, and 
sustainment plan associated with each such 
program or activity; and
(v) assessments of the recipient 
capabilities, absorptive capacity, and 
political will to achieve program or activity 
objectives.
(B) A description of potential logistical and 
methodological challenges to implementation, including 
the necessary resources, staffing, and authorities to 
address such challenges and complete the requirements 
of subsection (a).
(C) A plan to update, as needed, existing systems 
that assess, monitor, and evaluate the execution of 
security assistance and security cooperation programs 
and activities, on a country-by-country basis, that are 
carried out by the Department and the Department of 
Defense.
(D) Options to enable visibility for the 
appropriate congressional committees of all country-
level data required by subparagraph (A).
(E) Options to promote increased transparency and 
visibility of security assistance and security 
cooperation programs and activities for researchers 
engaged in research and development projects on 
security cooperation pursuant to section 384(g)(3) of 
title 10, United States Code, as well as evaluators 
contractors pursuant to section 383 of such title that 
promote security cooperation lessons learned.
(3) Appropriate congressional committees defined.--In this 
subsection, the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 
on Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations 
of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on 
Appropriations of the Senate.

SEC. 6. ASSESSMENT, MONITORING, AND EVALUATION.

(a) In General.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Coordinator shall develop and maintain an 
assessment, monitoring, and evaluation program to be conducted for any 
country receiving significant security assistance.
(b) Elements.--The program described in paragraph (1) shall include 
each of the following elements:
(1) Baseline assessments that include the following 
factors:
(A) The quality of security sector governance of 
such country, based on the measurements of the 
following, and the manner in which the country's 
performance on such measurements are likely to be 
influenced by the provision of security assistance:
(i) The level of state corruption, as 
defined under the Combating Global Corruption 
Act (22 U.S.C. 10501), in the country's 
security sector.
(ii) The level of civilian oversight of the 
security forces.
(iii) The level of the security forces'--
(I) involvement in politics;
(II) commercial holdings; and
(III) merit-based promotions.
(iv) The record of violations of 
international human rights law, international 
humanitarian law, and civilian harm by security 
force actors or their affiliates and subsequent 
meaningful investigations and accountability 
processes.
(v) Other factors relevant to assessing the 
level of security sector governance.
(B) The commitment and political will of the 
recipient to use such assistance in a manner that 
achieves mutual objectives.
(C) Recipient country threat perceptions and the 
manner in which such perceptions may inform the use of 
security assistance.
(D) The recipient's capacity to absorb the security 
assistance given and to achieve the objectives of such 
assistance.
(E) Country- or region-specific opportunities and 
risks that could enhance or impair the outcomes 
associated with providing security assistance.
(2) Identification of the short- and long-term desired 
outcomes or goals of the bilateral security partnership with 
the country and whether such assistance is achieving those 
outcomes or goals.
(3) Monitoring implementation of security assistance 
programs, projects, and activities to measure progress toward 
achieving specific targets, metrics, or indicators.
(4) Identification of lessons learned in carrying out 
security assistance and recommendations for improving future 
assistance.
(c) Oversight and Framework.--The Coordinator shall guide and 
support, in coordination with relevant regional and functional bureaus, 
the assessment and monitoring described in subsection (a) and shall 
create a common evaluation framework.
(d) Availability of Funds.--Funds available to the Political-
Military Affairs Bureau, and other funds available to the Department of 
State for security assistance programs and activities of the Department 
of State, may be used to carry out the program required by this 
section.

SEC. 7. SECURITY ASSISTANCE FRAMEWORK AND PLANNING.

(a) Framework for Security Assistance.--Not later than 18 months 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Coordinator shall 
create and submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a 
framework to be used by relevant bureaus and diplomatic posts to guide 
regional and country-specific planning, such as joint regional 
strategies or integrated country strategies or their equivalents, with 
respect to security assistance based on the following:
(1) Identification and prioritization of overall goals and 
objectives for security assistance, in accordance with the 
relevant National Security Strategy.
(2) Criteria for--
(A) identifying opportunities and risks created by 
the provision of security assistance; and
(B) tailoring and sequencing such assistance 
accordingly.
(3) Guidance for--
(A) incorporating the assessment, monitoring, and 
evaluation program described in section 6 into the 
strategic planning cycle pursuant to GPRA Modernization 
Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-352), and the amendments 
made by that Act, and any other relevant law; and
(B) increasing coordination, as appropriate, with 
other major international donors to maximize resources 
and unity of efforts.
(4) Metrics for assessing the effectiveness of security 
assistance in--
(A) increasing the operational access and influence 
of the United States when there is a demonstrated, 
strategic need for such access and influence;
(B) improving partner capacity and commitment to 
countering shared threats and increased burden sharing, 
including in ways that enable reallocation of United 
States military deployments to other high priority 
missions; and
(C) contributing to the maintenance of existing 
peace treaties between recipients of assistance.
(5) A process to ensure that transfers regulated by the 
Department that are outside the scope of security assistance, 
such as certain direct commercial sales, are factored into--
(A) the implementation of the assessment, 
monitoring, and evaluation program described in 
subsection (a); and
(B) the planning process described in subsection 
(c).
(b) Security Assistance Planning.--
(1) Country prioritization.--Not later than 2 years after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 
the Coordinator shall develop and submit in accordance with 
subsection (c) a list, including justifications, of priority 
recipient countries to receive security assistance, on the 
basis of--
(A) policy objectives determined by the Secretary; 
and
(B) the political conditions present in such 
recipient countries to achieve such policy objectives.
(2) Inclusion in regional and country strategies.--Any 
comprehensive regional strategy, such as a joint regional 
strategy or its equivalent, and any country strategy, such as 
an integrated country strategy or its equivalent, that is 
produced by the Department of State on or after the date that 
is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
each successor strategy to such strategy, shall integrate 
security assistance planning in a manner that incorporates the 
elements of the framework created pursuant to subsection (a) 
and include an annex relating to security assistance, which 
shall include--
(A) the assessment, monitoring, and evaluation 
baseline assessments described in section 6;
(B) requests to allocate security assistance with 
respect to the area covered by the strategy; and
(C) a description of the manner in which such 
resources will be used.
(3) Coordination of resources.--In developing annexes 
relating to security assistance for inclusion in comprehensive 
regional strategies or country strategies in accordance with 
paragraph (2), the relevant bureau, office, or diplomatic post 
shall coordinate with--
(A) the Office;
(B) the Office of Foreign Assistance Resources, or 
an equivalent entity in the Department, regarding the 
allocation of resources in line with priorities of the 
Department of State for security assistance; and
(C) the Department of Defense and other relevant 
Federal departments and agencies that provide security 
assistance, security cooperation, or other forms of 
foreign assistance.
(c) Reporting Requirements.--Beginning 3 years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall 
include with any materials submitted in support of the budget for that 
fiscal year that is submitted to Congress by the President under 
section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, an unclassified report, 
that may include a classified annex, with the following:
(1) A list of priority security assistance recipients, 
along with descriptions of the policy objectives that the 
Secretary seeks to achieve by providing such assistance to such 
recipients, developed pursuant to subsection (b)(1).
(2) A description of the results of the evaluations 
conducted pursuant to section 6(c).
(3) A description of the manner in which the Department 
will allocate, monitor, and evaluate all security assistance 
pursuant to the program described in section 7 and the planning 
process described in subsection (b).

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act--
(1) except as otherwise provided, the term ``appropriate 
congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
Committee on Armed Services of the House of 
Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
Committee on Armed Services of the Senate;
(2) the term ``Coordinator'' means the Coordinator for 
Security Assistance established under section 2(b)(2);
(3) the term ``Department'' means the Department of State;
(4) except as otherwise provided, the term ``Office'' means 
the Office of Security Assistance designated under section 
2(b);
(5) except as otherwise provided, the term ``Secretary'' 
means the Secretary of State; and
(6) the term ``security assistance'' means assistance 
provided under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
2151 et seq.), the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et 
seq.) (other than Foreign Military Sales or direct commercial 
sales), or any other provision of law.
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