Foreign Assistance Act

Foreign Assistance Act (1961)
Other short titles	Act for International Development of 1961; Foreign Aid Authorization Act of 1961;
Long title	An Act to promote the foreign policy, security, and general welfare of the United States by assisting peoples of the world in their efforts toward economic and social development and internal and external security, and for other purposes.
Nicknames	Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
Enacted by	the 87th United States Congress
Effective	September 4, 1961
Citations
Public law	87-195
Statutes at Large	75 Stat. 424-2
Codification
Titles amended	22 U.S.C.: Foreign Relations and Intercourse
U.S.C. sections created	22 U.S.C. ch. 32 § 2151
Legislative history
	Introduced in the Senate as S. 1983 by James W. Fulbright (D-AR) on May 26, 1961; Committee consideration by Senate Foreign Relations, House Foreign Affairs; Passed the Senate on August 18, 1961 (66–24); Passed the House on August 18, 1961 (287-140, in lieu of H.R. 8400); Reported by the joint conference committee on August 31, 1961; agreed to by the Senate on August 31, 1961 (69–24) and by the House on August 31, 1961 (260–132); Signed into law by President John F. Kennedy on September 4, 1961;
Major amendments
	Foreign Assistance Act of 1974

The Foreign Assistance Act (Pub. L. 87–195, 75 Stat. 424-2, enacted September 4, 1961, 22 U.S.C. § 2151 et seq.) is a United States Act of Congress. The Act reorganized the structure of existing U.S. foreign assistance programs, separated military from non-military aid, and created a new agency, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to administer those non-military, economic assistance programs. On November 3, 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed the Act and issued Executive Order 10973, detailing the reorganization.^[1]

The agency unified already existing U.S. aid efforts, combining the economic and technical assistance operations of the International Cooperation Administration, the loan activities of the Development Loan Fund, the local currency functions of the Export-Import Bank, and the agricultural surplus distribution activities of the Food for Peace program of the Department of Agriculture.

This act states that no assistance will be provided to a government which "engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, including torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges, causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction and clandestine detention of those persons, or other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, and the security of person, unless such assistance will directly benefit the needy people in such country."^[2]

This Act was amended in 2004 specific to the treatment of orphans and other vulnerable children. This amendment allows the president to provide aid to the peoples of other countries to look after children in cases of HIV/AIDS and to set up schools and other programs for the advancement of child treatment.^[3]^[4]

Amendments to 1961 Act

Chronological timeline of amendments and revisions to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.

Date of Enactment	Public Law Number	U.S. Statute Citation	U.S. Legislative Bill	U.S. Presidential Administration
August 1, 1962	P.L. 87-565	76 Stat. 255	S. 2996	John F. Kennedy
December 16, 1963	P.L. 88-205	77 Stat. 379	H.R. 7885	Lyndon B. Johnson
October 7, 1964	P.L. 88-633	78 Stat. 1009	H.R. 11380	Lyndon B. Johnson
September 6, 1965	P.L. 89-171	79 Stat. 653	H.R. 7750	Lyndon B. Johnson
March 18, 1966	P.L. 89-371	80 Stat. 74	H.R. 12169	Lyndon B. Johnson
September 19, 1966	P.L. 89-583	80 Stat. 795-3	H.R. 15750	Lyndon B. Johnson
November 14, 1967	P.L. 90-137	81 Stat. 445	S. 1872	Lyndon B. Johnson
October 8, 1968	P.L. 90-554	82 Stat. 960	H.R. 15263	Lyndon B. Johnson
January 5, 1971	P.L. 91-652	84 Stat. 1942	H.R. 19911	Richard M. Nixon
December 30, 1974	P.L. 93-559	88 Stat. 1795	S. 3394	Gerald R. Ford
June 30, 1976	P.L. 94-329	90 Stat. 729	H.R. 13680	Gerald R. Ford

Notes

^ Executive Order 10973, 3 November 1961, Administration of Foreign Assistance and Related Functions
^ "22 U.S. Code § 8422 - Authorization of assistance". Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
^ H.R. 1298 at Congress.gov
^ "United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 ~ P.L. 108-25" (PDF). 117 Stat. 711 ~ House Bill 1298. U.S. Government Printing Office. May 27, 2003.

External links

The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended
Information from USAID
Foreign Operations Appropriations: General Provisions
FAA-related documents and publications available through USAID's Development Experience Clearinghouse
Peters,Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "John F. Kennedy: "Statement by the President Upon Signing the Foreign Assistance Act.," September 4, 1961". The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
"Bill signing - S. 2996 Public Law 87-565, Foreign Assistance Act, 10:29AM". John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

[1] Executive Order 10973, 3 November 1961, Administration of Foreign Assistance and Related Functions

[2] "22 U.S. Code § 8422 - Authorization of assistance". Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 12 March 2015.

[3] H.R. 1298 at Congress.gov

[4] "United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 ~ P.L. 108-25" (PDF). 117 Stat. 711 ~ House Bill 1298. U.S. Government Printing Office. May 27, 2003.

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Amendments to 1961 Act

See also

Notes

External links