S.1524, the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act, first introduced by Senators Kerry, Lugar, Menendez, and Corker has gained another Republican cosponsor. Susan Collins, the Republican Senator from Maine, signed on yesterday–bringing the total number of cosponsors up to 23, with 7 Republican Senators.
See below for a complete list of cosponsors of the bill:
Test your skills on foreign aid reform and match the below quote with the Senator who gave it after yesterday’s 14-3 vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in favor of initial passage of the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009 (S.1524). Leave your answers in the comments section of the blog (and we’ll provide the real answers soon):
The Quotes:
“This bill arises from the conviction that our investments in foreign assistance require much more effective coordination and much more thorough evaluation. In the absence of reform, we will continue to spend billions each year without confidence that these funds are achieving the greatest development impact possible.”
“This legislation demonstrates Congress’s commitment to strengthening the capacity, accountability and effectiveness of our foreign aid programs. With the U.S. facing critical foreign policy and development priorities worldwide, it is vital that we update our foreign aid programs to reflect the new challenges of the 21st century. I look forward to working with the Administration to advance our shared goal of strengthening foreign aid.”
“I’ve been able to see our foreign assistance dollars in action and am proud of the role we are playing in producing positive change in the lives of millions around the world, but at the same time, I share the frustration of many Americans that our foreign assistance efforts have often lacked transparency, coordination, monitoring and evaluation. This bill begins to reinvigorate USAID to improve the coordination, execution and efficiency of U.S. assistance so we can make each dollar go farther. The bill also establishes a body capable of evaluating the impact of our investments to make sure we are truly meeting our foreign policy objectives.”
“Reducing global poverty through development assistance is a moral imperative that also contributes to our national and economic security. By providing greater resources to increase transparency and efficiency, the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act puts us on a glide path toward restoring this vital pillar of our foreign policy.”
“This legislation will position the State Department to make better programming and funding decisions by establishing more rigorous transparency mechanisms and authorizing an independent counsel to examine all of our foreign aid programs. Accountability is critical to ensure our foreign aid programs are accomplishing the intended purposes for the benefit of the recipient country and U.S. taxpayers.”
“This is one of the most significant pieces of foreign assistance legislation that has passed out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in decades. I am proud that this is truly a bi-partisan bill, developed in a collaborative manner and that it includes input from a wide range of voices. These programs are critical to millions of people around the world, they contribute to our mutual economic health, and are in the direct national security interests of the United States. Furthermore, this legislation implements strong, new accountability and oversight provisions to ensure that foreign assistance is being used as intended and delivering a return on our investment. Today marks an important step, but it is just the beginning. I am committed to continue working with the Committee members and Administration to build up our foreign assistance programs, not just to where they used to be, but to where they need to be.”
The Senators:
1. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA)
2. SFRC Ranking Minority Member Dick Lugar (R-IN)
3. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
4. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN)
5. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD)
6. Senator Jim Risch (R-ID)
Tell us your answers in the comments section. The winner will receive undying affection from supporters of foreign assistance reform.
November 17, 2009 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs David Beckmann and George Ingram:
Today, Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), Ranking Minority Member Richard Lugar (R-IN), and a bipartisan group of Senators took a concrete step towards making U.S. foreign assistance more effective by passing the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009 (S.1524) out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Following last week’s nomination of Dr. Raj Shah to be Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the bill proposes important changes that would give the new administrator the necessary tools to lead U.S. development efforts by implementing and coordinating the pieces of President Obama’s ambitious agenda. Among other things, S.1524 would establish the promotion of global development, good governance, and the reduction of poverty and hunger as U.S. policy; rebuild the policy, strategic planning, and human resources capacity at USAID; and create an independent Council on Research and Evaluation of Foreign Assistance (CORE) to evaluate the impact of all U.S. foreign aid programs.
Building on the visionary leadership they have shown in the movement to reform U.S. foreign assistance, Chairman Kerry and Senator Lugar made a strong statement today about Congress’ firm commitment to elevating development as a core pillar of U.S. foreign policy, distinct from diplomacy and defense. We hope that leaders in the Obama Administration will take note and work with both the Senate and the House of Representatives on their reform efforts.
CONTACT: Sam Hiersteiner at 202-295-0171 or shiersteiner@gpgdc.com.
President Obama has called for an interagency review of all U.S. global development policy, a major declaration that the White House is thinking seriously about how the U.S. engages with poor countries to promote development, including foreign aid.
This effort comes on the heels of the State Department’s announcement earlier this summer that it will undertake a Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, the first of its kind. State is already leading on the Global Food Security Initiative, and senior reviews are underway for the White House’s Global Health Initiative.
Not to be outdone, Congress has also weighed in from both sides of the Capitol. In the House, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) introduced the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act (H.R. 2139) in the spring alongside Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), a bill calling for the President to craft a National Strategy for Global Development. The legislation has garnered over 100 bipartisan cosponsors so far.
Moreover, Berman has begun putting together a blueprint for a wholesale rewrite of the onerous and outdated Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the legislation governing most U.S. foreign aid that has not been revisited since 1985.
In the Senate, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), Ranking Member Dick Lugar (R-IN), along with committee members Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Bob Corker (R-TN), have introduced their own bill, the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act (S.1524), to rebuild the U.S. Agency for International Development and strengthen evaluation of foreign aid programs.
Now if an invitation could go out to the next USAID Administrator to come to the party…
Here’s a sampling of what leading development voices had to say in response to news about the Presidential Study Directive on global development:
“Our nation does not now have a clear statement of goals related to world hunger, poverty and disease,” said Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World and co-chair of MFAN. “Currently our nation’s global development programs and policies are scattered across 12 departments, 25 different agencies, and nearly 60 government offices.”
“This is a tremendous step in the right direction,” said Dr. Reuben Brigety, director of the Sustainable Security Program at the Center for American Progress. “It will fulfill a campaign promise of President Obama’s to change our approach to developing countries, and will help to reassert our moral leadership in the world.”
“The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition applauds President Obama for his Presidential Study Directive on U.S. Global Development Policy as another step toward making our civilian-led tools of development and diplomacy stronger and more effective,” said USGLC Executive Director Liz Schrayer.
“White House leadership of the exercise is important given the convening power necessary to secure high-level participation by the more than two dozen government entities currently responsible for portions of U.S. development policy,” said Sheila Herrling, senior policy analyst at the Center for Global Development.
July 28, 2009 (WASHINGTON) – This statement is delivered on behalf of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) by Co-Chairs David Beckmann and George Ingram:
MFAN commends Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA), Ranking Minority Member Dick Lugar (R-IN), and Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Bob Corker (R-TN), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Jim Risch (R-ID) for introducing the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009 (S.1524). The bill aims to start the process of foreign assistance reform, and we urge Members of both parties to support its final passage.
There is clear, bipartisan momentum behind efforts to modernize the U.S. foreign assistance system to meet the diverse geopolitical and economic challenges we face. While there are many issues to be resolved, we are optimistic about success because both houses of Congress and the Obama Administration are making dynamic progress:
Chairman Kerry, Ranking Minority Member Lugar, and the other supporters of S.1524 deserve praise for proposing a basic goal to which all of these reform efforts can generally ascribe: making our foreign assistance more effective at promoting global development and good governance, as well as reducing poverty and hunger. The Senate legislation would strengthen USAID and introduce new transparency measures for foreign assistance, both of which would help reach these broader goals.
There has been a long delay in the appointment of a USAID Administrator. This position needs to be filled to provide leadership for the agency, help guide the reform process, and voice a global-development perspective in the councils of government. The new USAID Administrator will co-chair the QDDR and should also be given a seat on the National Security Council.
Contact: Sam Hiersteiner at 202-337-0808 or shiersteiner@gpgdc.com
For more information, please visit www.modernizingforeignassistance.net.
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