Report to the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee On the Use of Covered Funds

Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have jointly submitted a report to the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee on the use of covered funds. The report is in compliance with Section 15011(b)(1)(B) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (P.L. 116-136). The covered funds are appropriated by the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-123) and the CARES Act. The Department of State and USAID will utilize resources from the COVID-19 Supplemental and the CARES Act to accomplish four key objectives. These objectives are outlined in the joint Strategy for Supplemental Funding to Prevent, Prepare for, and Respond to Coronavirus Abroad. The objectives are: Pillar I, which focuses on protecting American citizens and the U.S. Government community overseas; Pillar II, which aims to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and bolster health institutions to address the pandemic of COVID-19; Pillar III, which seeks to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19 in existing complex emergency responses; and Pillar IV, which prepares for, mitigates, and addresses possible second-order economic, civilian-security, stabilization, and governance impacts of COVID-19. The Department of State is utilizing $264.0 million in Diplomatic Programs (DP) funds appropriated by the COVID-19 Supplemental and $324.0 million appropriated by the CARES Act to support various activities. These activities include the extension of online language class offerings for students whose in-person training has been cancelled due to COVID-19, the continued enhancements to a highly mobile training environment supporting tele-learning training platforms and content delivery, and the procurement of Enterprise Managed Device (EMD) laptops to facilitate increased remote telework in response to COVID-19. The Bureau of Global Talent Management (GTM) is receiving $0.4 million to provide increased emergency back-up childcare for Civil Service and Foreign Service employees. The Global Engagement Center (GEC) is receiving $4.7 million to track and respond to adversarial narratives related to COVID-19, and $6.6 million to counter coronavirus-related disinformation and propaganda that poses a threat to the stability of the U.S. and U.S. allies. The Bureau of Medical Services (MED) is receiving $70.4 million to increase worldwide laboratory specialist capabilities, including the procurement of FilmArray machines for patient testing, and $2.8 million to operate two round-the-clock Task Force elements responsible for tracking suspected COVID-19 Chief of Mission patients. The Department has also exercised the authority provided in the CARES Act to enter into contracts with 16 individuals for the provision of personal services, including approximately eight PSCs to support the Operational Medicine Global Response Task Force.