Foreign Assistance Act

The Foreign Assistance Act (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 87–195, 75 Stat. 424-2, enacted September 4, 1961, 22 U.S.C. § 2151 et seq.) is a United States law governing foreign aid policy.[1] It outlined the political and ideological principles of U.S. foreign aid, significantly overhauled and reorganized the structure U.S. foreign assistance programs, legally distinguished military from nonmilitary aid, and created a new agency, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to administer nonmilitary economic assistance programs. Following its enactment by Congress on September 4, 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed the Act into law on November 3, 1961, issuing Executive Order 10973 detailing the reorganization.[2]

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

USAID 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.

The Act provides that no assistance is to 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."[3]

The Act also provides that no assistance is to be provided to any Communist country. However, the President may waive this prohibition if he determines that such assistance is vital to the national security of the United States, that the country is not controlled by the international Communist conspiracy, and that the assistance will promote the country's independence from international Communism. The President may also remove a country from the application of this provision for a certain time which the President determines. In order to remove a country from the application of this provision, the President must determine and report to Congress that such action is important to the national security of the United States.

The 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.[4][5]

Under the authority of this Act on March 16, 2022, President Biden authorized $800 million in new security assistance to Ukraine.[6][7]