Senators Coons, Ricketts to introduce bill to modernize and strengthen U.S. development assistance

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) released the following statement today regarding their plans to soon introduce legislation to modernize and strengthen U.S. development assistance:

"The United States needs a better, more modern approach to global development that can address the challenges we face today and better promote U.S. security and stability abroad. In the coming weeks, we will introduce bipartisan legislation to reform and modernize the way the U.S. Agency for International Development coordinates and implements its development assistance. These reforms will prioritize effectiveness, foster long-term and sustainable economic growth, integrate innovation, and leverage private-sector partnerships to promote catalytic investment for development. They will transform the way development assistance is delivered to ensure long-term, sustainable development results that promote stability and better meet today's complex challenges. We owe this to U.S. taxpayers and our partners around the world."

Specifically, the bill would:

1. Transform how the United States partners with countries and communities globally by creating joint country- and community-led funds and compacts that enable co-investments between the United States and its partners. This will improve the effectiveness and long-term sustainability of U.S. investments.
2. Make innovation a centerpiece of the U.S. development strategy by scaling funding for innovations that are already proven to work, increasing the use of innovative financial tools like advanced market commitments to stimulate outside R&D for global challenges - especially in fields like drug discovery - and target investments in critical 21st-century sectors such as digital infrastructure.
3. Increase the focus on results by creating new ways for the United States to blend finance and co-invest in pay-for-outcomes funds with philanthropy, impact investors, the private sector, development finance institutions, and other bilateral, multilateral, and allied partners.

Senators Coons and Ricketts plan to introduce the forthcoming legislation in the November Senate work period. Senator Coons is Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator Ricketts is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.