Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2017

Mr. President, today I am pleased to be joined by my friend and colleague from Delaware, Senator Chris Coons, in introducing the Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2017. Our legislation would make it the policy of the United States to lead an effort to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns, and young children in the developing world by 2030.

Due in part to American leadership and generosity, many lives have already been saved. Since 1990, the annual number of deaths of children under the age of five has been cut in half. Nevertheless, far too many mothers, newborns, and young children under the age of five still succumb to disease and malnutrition that could easily be prevented, if only we could reach the mothers and children with simple, proven, cost- effective interventions that we know will help them survive.

Every day approximately 800 women will die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. In addition, more than 16,000 children under the age of five will die each day of treatable conditions such as prematurity, pneumonia, and diarrhea--with malnutrition being the underlying cause in nearly half those deaths.

According to USAID, a concentrated effort could end preventable maternal and child deaths worldwide by the year 2030; however, U.S. leadership and support of the international community are critical to success.

To achieve this ambitious goal, our bill would require the implementation of a strategy to scale up the most effective interventions to save as many lives as possible. This idea is central to our bill. We do not have to guess at what interventions will work-- the reality is that more than 16,000 children under 5 years old die each day of conditions we know today how to treat.

These life-saving interventions include clean birthing practices, vaccines, nutritional supplements, hand-washing with soap, and other basic needs that remain elusive for far too many women and children in developing countries. This must change.

In addition, our bill would establish a Maternal and Child Survival Coordinator at USAID who would focus on implementing the ten-year strategy and verifying that the most effective interventions are being scaled up in target countries.

The bill would also establish an interagency working group to assist the Coordinator in promoting greater collaboration among all the federal agencies involved in this effort.

To promote transparency and greater accountability, our bill requires that detailed reporting be published on the Foreign Assistance Dashboard, where it can be assessed by the public, Congress, and non- governmental organizations to track the implementation of the strategy and the progress being made.

Finally, our bill would encourage USAID to pay for successful programs run by non-governmental entities. The message we want to send to all our partners in the private sector, the non-profit sector, the faith community, and in local and international civil society groups is this: if you can figure out a way to increase the likelihood that mothers and their children will survive childbirth and the first five years of life, we want to reward you for your contribution.

Improving the health and well-being of mothers and children around the world has far-reaching social and economic benefits as well. An independent group of economists and global health experts from around the world, known as the Lancet Commission, found that for every $1 invested in health initiatives in the developing world, there is a return of $9 to $20 in growing the gross domestic product of the country receiving the investment.

Other bipartisan initiatives, such as the successful President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which was started by President George W. Bush, demonstrate that results-driven interventions can turn the tide for global health challenges. Applying lessons learned from past initiatives, our bill would provide the focus and the tools necessary to accelerate progress toward ending preventable maternal and child deaths.

I urge my colleagues to join Senator Coons and me in supporting this bill to save the lives of mothers and children around the world.

Mr. President, today I am pleased to be joined by my friend and colleague from Delaware, Senator Chris Coons, in introducing the Reach Every Mother and Child Act of 2017. Our legislation would make it the policy of the United States to lead an effort to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns, and young children in the developing world by 2030.

Due in part to American leadership and generosity, many lives have already been saved. Since 1990, the annual number of deaths of children under the age of five has been cut in half. Nevertheless, far too many mothers, newborns, and young children under the age of five still succumb to disease and malnutrition that could easily be prevented, if only we could reach the mothers and children with simple, proven, cost- effective interventions that we know will help them survive.

Every day approximately 800 women will die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. In addition, more than 16,000 children under the age of five will die each day of treatable conditions such as prematurity, pneumonia, and diarrhea--with malnutrition being the underlying cause in nearly half those deaths.

According to USAID, a concentrated effort could end preventable maternal and child deaths worldwide by the year 2030; however, U.S. leadership and support of the international community are critical to success.

To achieve this ambitious goal, our bill would require the implementation of a strategy to scale up the most effective interventions to save as many lives as possible. This idea is central to our bill. We do not have to guess at what interventions will work-- the reality is that more than 16,000 children under 5 years old die each day of conditions we know today how to treat.

These life-saving interventions include clean birthing practices, vaccines, nutritional supplements, hand-washing with soap, and other basic needs that remain elusive for far too many women and children in developing countries. This must change.

In addition, our bill would establish a Maternal and Child Survival Coordinator at USAID who would focus on implementing the ten-year strategy and verifying that the most effective interventions are being scaled up in target countries.

The bill would also establish an interagency working group to assist the Coordinator in promoting greater collaboration among all the federal agencies involved in this effort.

To promote transparency and greater accountability, our bill requires that detailed reporting be published on the Foreign Assistance Dashboard, where it can be assessed by the public, Congress, and non- governmental organizations to track the implementation of the strategy and the progress being made.

Finally, our bill would encourage USAID to pay for successful programs run by non-governmental entities. The message we want to send to all our partners in the private sector, the non-profit sector, the faith community, and in local and international civil society groups is this: if you can figure out a way to increase the likelihood that mothers and their children will survive childbirth and the first five years of life, we want to reward you for your contribution.

Improving the health and well-being of mothers and children around the world has far-reaching social and economic benefits as well. An independent group of economists and global health experts from around the world, known as the Lancet Commission, found that for every $1 invested in health initiatives in the developing world, there is a return of $9 to $20 in growing the gross domestic product of the country receiving the investment.

Other bipartisan initiatives, such as the successful President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which was started by President George W. Bush, demonstrate that results-driven interventions can turn the tide for global health challenges. Applying lessons learned from past initiatives, our bill would provide the focus and the tools necessary to accelerate progress toward ending preventable maternal and child deaths.

I urge my colleagues to join Senator Coons and me in supporting this bill to save the lives of mothers and children around the world.

Mr. President, today I am, along with Senator Rubio, introducing the Corporate Transparency Act of 2017. This bill will help us end the abuse of anonymous shell companies by criminals who use these entities to launder money, finance terrorism, promote sex trafficking, and evade taxes.

Each year criminals use anonymous shell companies to carry out their elicit schemes. Viktor Bout, the so-called ``merchant of death,'' utilized a vast network of shell corporations, several of which were in the United States, including one suspected of having provided weapons to the Taliban. Another anonymous U.S. company owned a large share of a Manhattan skyscraper and used its anonymity to facilitate $4.5 million in payments to an Iranian bank that was designated by OFAC as a key financier to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missiles program. Anonymous shell companies have been used to rip off taxpayers as well. In 2010, Michel Huarte was sentenced to 22 years in prison after using a network of 29 shell companies in several States to defraud Medicare, using the entities to submit claims of more than $50 million.

Last year, the release of documents known as the Panama Papers leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca highlighted the use of American shell companies to carry out potential crimes. Shell company abuse is not just in occurring in offshore tax havens, but right here in the United States, and this bill seeks to put a stop to that.

In the United States, company registrations take place at the State- level. The Corporate Transparency Act of 2017 directs the Treasury Department to issue regulations requiring entities formed in the United States to declare their beneficial owners--the real, natural persons who control each company and benefit from it financially. The bill would do this by setting minimum disclosure standards for States to follow. If individual States choose to collect this information on behalf of businesses formed there, then that's all that a new business would need to do to comply. Participation by the States is completely voluntary. If companies are formed in States that do not collect this information consistent with the new minimum standards, they will need to disclose their beneficial owners directly to the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Collecting beneficial ownership information at the time a company is formed will offer the transparency law enforcement needs to investigate these kinds of financial crimes. Under the bill, the new beneficial ownership information would not be available to the public, but available only to appropriate state and federal authorities. Finally, the bill provides civil and criminal penalties for improper disclosure.

The bill is constructed to exempt many legitimate businesses, and the information requested is already provided by most companies in the normal course of business. Collecting beneficial ownership information at the time of incorporation relieves later compliance burdens for legitimate businesses, while at the same time prevents illegitimate businesses from operating in secrecy.

The House companion to this bill, H.R. 3089, was introduced with bipartisan support and efforts to identify the true owners of shell companies have the support of business groups like the Clearing House Association and the B-Team, law enforcement groups like the Fraternal Order of Police, and anti-corruption advocacy groups like the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition and Global Witness.

The Corporate Transparency Act of 2017 is a much needed step in stopping financial crimes and the abuse of anonymous shell companies. I thank Senator Rubio for joining me in introducing this bill, and I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this bipartisan bill.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.