SEC. 616.18 ASSISTANCE TO CERTAIN CANDIDATE COUNTRIES.

(a) AUTHORIZATION.-The Board, acting through the Chief Executive Officer, is authorized to provide assistance to a candidate country described in subsection (b) for the purpose of assisting such country to become an eligible country.

(b) CANDIDATE COUNTRY DESCRIBED.-A candidate country referred to in subsection (a) is a candidate country that—

(1) satisfies the requirements contained in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 606(a)(1); and

(2) demonstrates a significant commitment to meet the requirements of section 607(b) but fails to meet such requirements (including by reason of the absence or unreliability of data).

(c) ADMINISTRATION.-Assistance under this section may be provided through the United States Agency for International Develop

ment.

(d) FUNDING.-Not more than 10 percent of the amount appropriated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under section 619(a) for fiscal year 2004 is authorized to be made available to carry out this section.

SEC. 617.19 GENERAL PERSONNEL AUTHORITIES.

(a) DETAIL OF PERSONNEL.-Upon request of the Chief Executive Officer, the head of an agency may detail any employee of such agency to the Corporation on a reimbursable basis. Any employee so detailed remains, for the purpose of preserving such employee's allowances, privileges, rights, seniority, and other benefits, an employee of the agency from which detailed.

(b) REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS.

(1) IN GENERAL.-An employee of an agency who is serving under a career or career conditional appointment (or the equivalent), and who, with the consent of the head of such agency, transfers to the Corporation, is entitled to be reemployed in such employee's former position or a position of like seniority, status, and pay in such agency, if such employee

(A) is separated from the Corporation for any reason, other than misconduct, neglect of duty, or malfeasance; and

(B) applies for reemployment not later than 90 days after the date of separation from the Corporation.

(2) SPECIFIC RIGHTS.—An employee who satisfies paragraph (1) is entitled to be reemployed (in accordance with such paragraph) within 30 days after applying for reemployment and, on reemployment, is entitled to at least the rate of basic pay to which such employee would have been entitled had such employee never transferred.

(c) HIRING AUTHORITY.-Of persons employed by the Corporation, not to exceed 30 persons may be appointed, compensated, or removed without regard to the civil service laws and regulations.

(d) BASIC PAY.-The Chief Executive Officer may fix the rate of basic pay of employees of the Corporation without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 of title 5, United States Code (relating to

18 22 U.S.C. 7715. 19 22 U.S.C. 7716.

the classification of positions), subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title (relating to General Schedule pay rates), except that no employee of the Corporation may receive a rate of basic pay that exceeds the rate for level II of the Executive Schedule under section 5313 of such title.20

(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—

(1) the term "agency" means an executive agency, as defined by section 105 of title 5, United States Code; and

(2) the term "detail" means the assignment or loan of an employee, without a change of position, from the agency by which such employee is employed to the Corporation.

SEC. 618.21 PERSONNEL OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.

(a) ASSIGNMENT TO UNITED STATES EMBASSIES.-An employee of the Corporation, including an individual detailed to or contracted by the Corporation, may be assigned to a United States diplomatic mission or consular post or a United States Agency for International Development field mission.

(b) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.-The Secretary of State shall seek to ensure that an employee of the Corporation, including an individual detailed to or contracted by the Corporation, and the members of the family of such employee, while the employee is performing duties in any country or place outside the United States, enjoy the privileges and immunities that are enjoyed by a member of the Foreign Service, or the family of a member of the Foreign Service, as appropriate, of comparable rank and salary of such employee, if such employee or a member of the family of such employee is not a national of or permanently resident in such country or place.

(c) RESPONSIBILITY OF CHIEF OF MISSION.-An employee of the Corporation, including an individual detailed to or contracted by the Corporation, and a member of the family of such employee, shall be subject to section 207 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3927) in the same manner as United States Government employees while the employee is performing duties in any country or place outside the United States if such employee or member of the family of such employee is not a national of or permanently resident in such country or place.

SEC. 619.22 AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.-There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this title such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2004 and 2005.

20 The current rate of compensation at level II of the Executive Schedule is $162,100 per annum (Executive Order 13368; 70 F.R. 1147; December 30, 2004).

21 22 U.S.C. 7717.

22 22 U.S.C. 7718.

Title II of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2005 (division D of Public Law 108-447; 118 Stat. 2809) provided the following:

"MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION

"For necessary expenses for the Millennium Challenge Corporation', $1,500,000,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, That of the funds appropriated under this heading, up to $50,000,000 may be available for administrative expenses of the Millennium Challenge Corporation: Provided further, That none of the funds appropriated under this heading may be

Continued

(b) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS. —

(1) IN GENERAL.-The Corporation may allocate or transfer to any agency of the United States Government any of the funds available for carrying out this title. Such funds shall be available for obligation and expenditure for the purposes for which the funds were authorized, in accordance with authority granted in this title or under authority governing the activities of the United States Government agency to which such funds are allocated or transferred.

(2) NOTIFICATION.-The Corporation shall notify the appropriate congressional committees not less than 15 days prior to an allocation or transfer of funds pursuant to paragraph (1).

made available for the provision of assistance until the Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation provides a written budget justification to the Committees on Appropriations: Provided further, That up to 10 percent of the funds appropriated under this heading may be made available to carry out the purposes of section 616 of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003: Provided further, That none of the funds available to carry out section 616 of such Act may be made available until the Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation provides a report to the Committees on Appropriations listing the candidate countries that will be receiving assistance under section 616 of such Act, the level of assistance proposed for each such country, a description of the proposed programs, projects and activities, and the implementing agency or agencies of the United States Government: Provided further, That section 605(e)(4) of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 shall apply to funds appropriated under this heading: Provided further, That funds appropriated under this heading, and funds appropriated under this heading in division D of Public Law 108-199, may be made available for a Millennium Challenge Compact entered into pursuant to section 609 of the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 only if such Compact obligates, or contains a commitment to obligate subject to the availability of funds and the mutual agreement of the parties to the Compact to proceed, the entire amount of the United States Government funding anticipated for the duration of the Compact: Provided further, That the previous proviso shall be effective on the date of enactment of this Act.".

e. HELP Commission Act

Section 637 of Division B of Public Law 108-199 [Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004; H.R. 2673], 118 Stat. 3 at 101, approved January 23, 2004 SEC. 637.1 (a) This section may be cited as the "HELP Commission Act".

(b)(1) The Congress finds that, despite the long-standing efforts and resources of the United States dedicated to helping needy people around the world, despair remains and in many areas is growing.

(2) Therefore, a commission should be established to bring together the best minds associated with development and humanitarian assistance to make a comprehensive review of—

(A) policy decisions, including why certain development projects are funded and others are not, successes, and best practices, including their applicability to other existing programs and projects;

(B) delivery obstacles, including the roles of United States agencies and other governmental and nongovernmental organizations;

(C) methodology, including whether the delivery of United States development assistance always represents best practices and whether it can be improved; and

(D) results, including measuring improvements in human capacity instead of in purely economic terms.

(3) An examination of these issues should present new approaches and ideas to ensure that United States development assistance reaches and benefits its intended recipients.

(c)(1)2 There is established the Helping to Enhance the Livelihood of People (HELP) Around the Globe Commission (in this section referred to as the "Commission").

(2) The Commission shall

(A) identify the past and present objectives of United States development assistance, identify cases in which those objectives have been met, identify the beneficiaries of such assistance, and what percentage of the funds provided actually reached the intended beneficiaries;

(B) identify cases in which United States development assistance has been most successful, and analyze how such successes may be transferable to other countries or areas;

(C) study ways to expand educational opportunities and investments in people, and assess infrastructure needs;

122 U.S.C. 2394b.

2 Title V of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004 (division B of Public Law 108-199; 118 Stat. 89) provided $3,000,000, to remain available until expended, for necessary expenses of the HELP Commission. Title V of the Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005 (division B of Public Law 108-447; 118 Stat. 2809) provided $1,000,000, to remain available until expended.

(D) analyze how the United States could place conditions on governments in countries receiving United States development assistance, in light of and notwithstanding the objectives of the Millennium Challenge Account;

(E) analyze ways in which the United States can coordinate its development assistance programs with those of other donor countries and international organizations;

(F) analyze ways in which the safety of development assistance workers can be ensured, particularly in the midst of conflicts;

(G) compare the effectiveness of increased and open trade with development assistance, and analyze the advantages and disadvantages of such trade and whether such trade could be a more effective alternative to United States development assistance;

(H) analyze ways in which the United States can strengthen the capacity of indigenous nongovernmental organizations to be more effective in grassroots development;

(I) analyze ways in which decisions on providing development assistance can involve more of the people of the recipient countries;

(J) analyze ways in which results can be measured if United States development assistance is targeted to the least developed countries;

(K) recommend standards that should be set for "graduating" recipient countries from United States development assistance;

(L) analyze whether United States development assistance should be used as a means to achieve United States foreign policy objectives;

(M) analyze how the United States can evaluate the performance of its development assistance programs not only against economic indicators, but in other ways, including how to measure the success of United States development assistance in democratization efforts; and evaluate the existing foreign assistance framework to ascertain the degree of coordination or lack thereof, of the disparate foreign development programs as administered by the various Federal agencies, to identify and assess the redundancies of programs and organizational structures engaged in foreign assistance, and to recommend revisions to authorizing legislation for foreign assistance that would seek to reconcile competing foreign policy and foreign aid goals; and

(N) study any other areas that the Commission considers necessary relating to United States development assistance. (d)(1) The Commission shall be composed of 21 members as follows:

(A) Six members shall be appointed by the President, of whom at least two shall be representatives of nongovernmental organizations.

(B) Four members shall be appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, and three members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate.