Rep. Berman Unveils Foreign Assistance Reform Bill

On Thursday, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Howard Berman (D-CA), unveiled a foreign assistance reform bill. The aim of the bill is reform and shape the obsolete Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Sarah Trister, advocacy officer at Freedom House, noted that, ”in a political climate where savings and efficiency are keywords for both political parties, reforming the decades-old foreign assistance framework should be a top priority in Congress.”

Some of the key reforms include “a new comprehensive system for evaluating and monitoring the success of foreign assistance programs, a rule that would peg USAID operating expenses to a percentage of program funds in order to limit dependence on contractors, and a requirement that comprehensive country strategies are developed with Congress’s participation and funded on a multi-year basis.”

The reform is necessary, as the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 was passed in an era where the Soviet Union posed the gravest threat to the U.S. Yet, the challenges and threats presented to the U.S. have changed dramatically since then. Trister characterizes the bill as “the first serious, comprehensive attempt at rewriting the foreign assistance act to make it appropriate for the 21st century.” While the bill is not perfect, Mr. Berman noted that this is just the first step in drafting a “moving” piece of legislation.