ADS Chapter 554 – Congressional Witnesses

The Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs (LPA) is responsible for coordinating and preparing the testimony of USAID officials. This includes hearings on foreign assistance and P.L. 480 authorization and appropriations bills, as well as hearings on other legislation of interest to USAID. USAID Bureaus/Independent Offices (B/IOs) or officers are responsible for notifying LPA immediately of any request for an appearance before a congressional committee. They must also maintain the confidentiality of the proceedings of closed congressional committee hearings that they attend. LPA shall coordinate the selection of witnesses, schedule all witness appearances, and provide briefing support before and during testimony. The preparation of testimony involves advising on the form and content of all witness statements and informing the witness of submission deadlines and clearance requirements. Copies of the witness statement must be submitted to LPA in time to permit delivery to the appropriate committee no later than 48 hours before the scheduled hearing. Following the hearing, LPA shall coordinate with USAID bureaus and offices the editing of the hearing transcript and the preparation of required inserts and responses to questions for the record of the hearing. USAID employees who appear before or attend closed hearing sessions of a congressional committee must maintain all information which is the subject of discussion or consideration on a confidential basis. This includes information that is not related to national security. Under no circumstances shall any USAID employees discuss or act in such a way as to disclose inadvertently any matter that has been the subject of consideration before such congressional committee hearings. 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. The terms and definitions listed in this chapter have been incorporated into the ADS Glossary.