text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Assistance for Orphans and Other 
  Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2004''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      Congress makes the following findings:
              (1) More than 110,000,000 orphans live in sub-Saharan 
          Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. These children 
          often are disadvantaged in numerous and devastating ways and 
          most households with orphans cannot meet the basic needs of 
          health care, food, clothing, and educational expenses.
              (2) It is estimated that 121,000,000 children worldwide do 
          not attend school and that the majority of such children are 
          young girls. According to the United Nations Children's Fund 
          (UNICEF), orphans are less likely to be in school and more 
          likely to be working full time.
              (3) School food programs, including take-home rations, in 
          developing countries provide strong incentives for children to 
          remain in school and continue their education. School food 
          programs can reduce short-term hunger, improve cognitive 
          functions, and enhance learning, behavior, and achievement.
              (4) Financial barriers, such as school fees and other costs 
          of education, prevent many orphans and other vulnerable 
          children in developing countries from attending school. 
          Providing children with free primary school education, while 
          simultaneously ensuring that adequate resources exist for 
          teacher training and infrastructure, would help more orphans 
          and other vulnerable children obtain a quality education.
              (5) The trauma that results from the loss of a parent can 
          trigger behavior problems of aggression or emotional withdrawal 
          and negatively affect a child's performance in school and the 
          child's social relations. Children living in families affected 
          by HIV/AIDS or who have been orphaned by AIDS often face 
          stigmatization and discrimination. Providing culturally 
          appropriate psychosocial support to such children can assist 
          them in successfully accepting and adjusting to their 
          circumstances.
              (6) Orphans and other vulnerable children in developing 
          countries routinely are denied their inheritance or encounter 
          difficulties in claiming the land and other property which they 
          have inherited. Even when the inheritance rights of women and 
          children are spelled out in law, such rights are difficult to 
          claim and are seldom enforced. In many countries it is 
          difficult or impossible for a widow, even if she has young 
          children, to claim property after the death of her husband.
              (7) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has had a devastating affect on 
          children and is deepening poverty in entire communities and 
          jeopardizing the health, safety, and survival of all children 
          in affected areas.
              (8) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has increased the number of 
          orphans worldwide and has exacerbated the poor living 
          conditions of the world's poorest and most vulnerable children. 
          AIDS has created an unprecedented orphan crisis, especially in 
          sub-Saharan Africa, where children have been hardest hit. An 
          estimated 14,000,000 orphans have lost 1 or both parents to 
          AIDS. By 2010, it is estimated that over 25,000,000 children 
          will have been orphaned by AIDS.
              (9) Approximately 2,500,000 children under the age of 15 
          worldwide have HIV/AIDS. Every day another 2,000 children under 
          the age of 15 are infected with HIV. Without treatment, most 
          children born with HIV can expect to die by age two, but with 
          sustained drug treatment through childhood, the chances of 
          long-term survival and a productive adulthood improve 
          dramatically.
              (10) Few international development programs specifically 
          target the treatment of children with HIV/AIDS in developing 
          countries. Reasons for this include the perceived low priority 
          of pediatric treatment, a lack of pediatric health care 
          professionals, lack of expertise and experience in pediatric 
  drug dosing and monitoring, the perceived complexity of pediatric 
  treatment, and mistaken beliefs regarding the risks and benefits of 
  pediatric treatment.
              (11) Although a number of organizations seek to meet the 
          needs of orphans or other vulnerable children, extended 
          families and local communities continue to be the primary 
          providers of support for such children.
              (12) The HIV/AIDS pandemic is placing huge burdens on 
          communities and is leaving many orphans with little support. 
          Alternatives to traditional orphanages, such as community-based 
          resource centers, continue to evolve in response to the massive 
          number of orphans that has resulted from the pandemic.
              (13) The AIDS orphans crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has 
          implications for political stability, human welfare, and 
          development that extend far beyond the region, affecting 
          governments and people worldwide, and this crisis requires an 
          accelerated response from the international community.
              (14) Although section 403(b) of the United States 
          Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 
          2003 (22 U.S.C. 7673(b)) establishes the requirement that not 
          less than 10 percent of amounts appropriated for HIV/AIDS 
          assistance for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2008 shall be 
          expended for assistance for orphans and other vulnerable 
          children affected by HIV/AIDS, there is an urgent need to 
          provide assistance to such children prior to 2006.
              (15) Numerous United States and indigenous private 
          voluntary organizations, including faith-based organizations, 
          provide assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children in 
          developing countries. Many of these organizations have 
          submitted applications for grants to the Administrator of the 
          United States Agency for International Development to provide 
          increased levels of assistance for orphans and other vulnerable 
          children in developing countries.
              (16) Increasing the amount of assistance that is provided 
          by the Administrator of the United States Agency for 
          International Development through United States and indigenous 
          private voluntary organizations, including faith-based 
          organizations, will provide greater protection for orphans and 
          other vulnerable children in developing countries.
              (17) It is essential that the United States Government 
          adopt a comprehensive approach for the provision of assistance 
          to orphans and other vulnerable children in developing 
          countries. A comprehensive approach would ensure that important 
          services, such as basic care, psychosocial support, school food 
          programs, increased educational opportunities and employment 
          training and related services, the protection and promotion of 
          inheritance rights for such children, and the treatment of 
          orphans and other vulnerable children with HIV/AIDS, are made 
          more accessible.
              (18) Assistance for orphans and other vulnerable children 
          can best be provided by a comprehensive approach of the United 
          States Government that--
                      (A) ensures that Federal agencies and the private 
                  sector coordinate efforts to prevent and eliminate 
                  duplication of efforts and waste in the provision of 
                  such assistance; and
                      (B) to the maximum extent possible, focuses on 
                  community-based programs that allow orphans and other 
                  vulnerable children to remain connected to the 
                  traditions and rituals of their families and 
                  communities.
  
  SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN 
                DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.
  
      Chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
  U.S.C. 2151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 
  section:
  
  ``SEC. 135. ASSISTANCE FOR ORPHANS AND OTHER VULNERABLE CHILDREN.
  
      ``(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
              ``(1) There are more than 110,000,000 orphans living in 
          sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
              ``(2) The HIV/AIDS pandemic has created an unprecedented 
          orphan crisis, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where children 
          have been hardest hit. The pandemic is deepening poverty in 
          entire communities, and is jeopardizing the health, safety, and 
          survival of all children in affected countries. It is estimated 
          that 14,000,000 children have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
              ``(3) The orphans crisis in sub-Saharan Africa has 
          implications for human welfare, development, and political 
          stability that extend far beyond the region, affecting 
          governments and people worldwide.
              ``(4) Extended families and local communities are 
          struggling to meet the basic needs of orphans and vulnerable 
          children by providing food, health care including treatment of 
          children living with HIV/AIDS, education expenses, and 
          clothing.
              ``(5) Providing assistance to such children is an important 
          expression of the humanitarian concern and tradition of the 
          people of the United States.
      ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
              ``(1) AIDS.--The term `AIDS' has the meaning given the term 
          in section 104A(g)(1) of this Act.
              ``(2) Children.--The term `children' means persons who have 
          not attained the age of 18.
              ``(3) HIV/AIDS.--The term `HIV/AIDS' has the meaning given 
          the term in section 104A(g)(3) of this Act.
              ``(4) Orphan.--The term `orphan' means a child deprived by 
          death of one or both parents.
              ``(5) Psychosocial support.--The term `psychosocial 
          support' includes care that addresses the ongoing psychological 
          and social problems that affect individuals, their partners, 
          families, and caregivers in order to alleviate suffering, 
          strengthen social ties and integration, provide emotional 
          support, and promote coping strategies.
      ``(c) Assistance.--The President is authorized to provide 
  assistance, including providing such assistance through international 
  or nongovernmental organizations, for programs in developing countries 
  to provide basic care and services for orphans and other vulnerable 
  children. Such programs should provide assistance--
              ``(1) to support families and communities to mobilize their 
          own resources through the establishment of community-based 
          organizations to provide basic care for orphans and other 
          vulnerable children;
              ``(2) for school food programs, including the purchase of 
          local or regional foodstuffs where appropriate;
              ``(3) to increase primary school enrollment through the 
          elimination of school fees, where appropriate, or other 
          barriers to education while ensuring that adequate resources 
          exist for teacher training and infrastructure;
              ``(4) to provide employment training and related services 
          for orphans and other vulnerable children who are of legal 
          working age;
              ``(5) to protect and promote the inheritance rights of 
          orphans, other vulnerable children, and widows;
              ``(6) to provide culturally appropriate psychosocial 
          support to orphans and other vulnerable children; and
              ``(7) to treat orphans and other vulnerable children with 
          HIV/AIDS through the provision of pharmaceuticals, the 
          recruitment and training of individuals to provide pediatric 
          treatment, and the purchase of pediatric-specific technologies.
      ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
              ``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated 
          to the President to carry out this section such sums as may be 
          necessary for each of the fiscal years 2005 and 2006.
              ``(2) Availability of funds.--Amounts made available under 
          paragraph (1) are authorized to remain available until expended 
          and are in addition to amounts otherwise available for such 
          purposes.
              ``(3) Relationship to other laws.--Amounts made available 
          for assistance pursuant to this subsection, and amounts made 
          available for such assistance pursuant to any other provision 
          of law, may be used to provide such assistance notwithstanding 
          any other provision of law.''.
  
  SEC. 4. STRATEGY OF THE UNITED STATES.
  
      (a) Requirement for Strategy.--Not later than 180 days after the 
  date of enactment of this Act, the President shall develop, and submit 
  to the appropriate congressional committees, a strategy for 
  coordinating, implementing, and monitoring assistance programs for 
  orphans and vulnerable children.
      (b) Consultation.--The President should consult with employees of 
  the field missions of the United States Agency for International 
  Development in developing the strategy required by subsection (a) to 
  ensure that such strategy--
              (1) will not impede the efficiency of implementing 
          assistance programs for orphans and vulnerable children; and
              (2) addresses the specific needs of indigenous populations.
      (c) Content.--The strategy required by subsection (a) shall 
  include--
              (1) the identity of each agency or department of the 
          Federal Government that is providing assistance for orphans and 
          vulnerable children in foreign countries;
              (2) a description of the efforts of the head of each such 
          agency or department to coordinate the provision of such 
          assistance with other agencies or departments of the Federal 
          Government or nongovernmental entities;
              (3) a description of a coordinated strategy, including 
          coordination with other bilateral and multilateral donors, to 
          provide the assistance authorized in section 135 of the Foreign 
          Assistance Act of 1961, as added by section 3 of this Act;
              (4) an analysis of additional coordination mechanisms or 
          procedures that could be implemented to carry out the purposes 
          of such section;
              (5) a description of a monitoring system that establishes 
          performance goals for the provision of such assistance and 
          expresses such goals in an objective and quantifiable form, to 
          the extent feasible; and
              (6) a description of performance indicators to be used in 
          measuring or assessing the achievement of the performance goals 
          described in paragraph (5).
  
  SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT.
  
      Not later than one year after the date on which the President 
  submits the strategy required by section 4(a) to the appropriate 
  congressional committees, and annually thereafter, the President shall 
  submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees on the 
  implementation of this Act.
  
  SEC. 6. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED.
  
      In this Act, 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.
target: Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2004 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to provide assistance, including through nongovernmental or international organizations, for basic care for orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries, including assistance for: (1) community-based care; (2) school food programs; (3) education and employment training; (4) mental health care; (5) protection of inheritance rights; and (6) HIV/AIDS care.
  
  Directs the President to develop a coordinating strategy for such assistance.
feat_title: A bill to amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to provide assistance for orphans and other vulnerable children in developing countries, and for other purposes.