ADS Chapter 553 - Congressional Inquiries

The Assistant Administrator for Legislative and Public Affairs (AA/LPA) oversees the processing of congressional inquiries and approves all correspondence with Members of Congress or congressional staff. USAID Bureaus/Independent Offices (B/IOs) and officers are responsible for informing LPA of all congressional inquiries and the Executive Secretariat (ES) of all congressional correspondence they receive. The ES assigns action on all congressional communications received by USAID personnel. The policy of USAID is to make information concerning its objectives and operations freely available to Members of Congress and their staff. The Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs shall respond promptly to all requests for information from Congress. LPA shall stimulate, program, and coordinate efforts to produce and disseminate timely, accurate information, relying on the active participation of all major offices and officers in USAID. When a USAID office or bureau other than LPA receives a telephone inquiry directly from a Member of Congress or the Member's staff, the officer contacted by the Member of Congress or congressional staff shall designate LPA as the proper place to call for information pertaining to USAID and provide the caller with the telephone number (202-712-4340) for future reference. If the USAID officer does not consider directing the Member of Congress or congressional staff to LPA appropriate during the conversation, the officer shall report the conversation to LPA after its conclusion. All conversations or meetings between USAID officials and Members of the Congress or members of their staff concerning matters of interest to USAID shall be reported by memorandum, telephone, or e-mail, in advance of the event when possible, to the Office of the Assistant Administrator for LPA (AA/LPA). If deemed appropriate by the AA/LPA, a designated LPA representative shall accompany the USAID official to the meeting or event. LPA shall transmit to Congress the USAID Congressional Presentation, periodic reports required by law, special reports requested by the Congress or offered by USAID, and correspondence with committee members and their staff. When an office receives a direct congressional request for publications, documents, or other USAID printed materials, the office shall forward the requested materials to LPA in an unsealed envelope addressed to the Member of Congress or the Member's staff that LPA shall then forward upon approval of the AA/LPA. All congressional correspondence received directly by USAID officials must be forwarded to the Executive Secretariat (ES) for appropriate action assignment. Response to congressional mail must be made within five working days. If this time limit cannot be met, an interim reply to the Member of Congress must be prepared immediately and forwarded to LPA. Clearance of congressional correspondence is required, with all correspondence signed by the Administrator or other designated individual cleared, in final, by LPA. LPA delivers to the Member of Congress or their staff correspondence signed by the AA/LPA or designated individual and sends a copy to ES. Correspondence signed by the Administrator or Deputy is returned to ES. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, and the International Security Assistance Act of 1978 are external mandatory references for this chapter. There are no internal mandatory references for this chapter.