Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Blog

 

Posts Tagged: Congress

 

The 112th Congress: A Perfect Storm for Aid Cuts, or a Perfect Opportunity for Reform?

October 26, 2010

Posted by in Aid Effectiveness, Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Tags: ,

Connie Veillette

This post also appears on The Will and the Wallet.

It is exactly one week until the midterm elections that many pundits predict will change the political landscape for at least the next two years.  For those who track budget matters, the question has become, what do the elections mean for development and diplomacy—the two Ds that with defense are the professed pillars of U.S. national security?

I won’t engage in prognostications on the number of seats either party will hold in the 112th Congress.  Regardless of who wins, the international affairs—or 150—budget will be under enormous pressure. The foreign operations budget (the bulk of U.S. foreign assistance programs) is larger and likely more vulnerable to deeper cuts than the State operations portion.

The real question is whether an anemic economic recovery, a $1.3 trillion budget deficit and the House and Senate led by parties holding slim majorities will create the perfect storm to sink the momentum that has built up around development?  Or will the confluence of events force real reform, to ensure we are getting the biggest bang for our development bucks? Read More…

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Where Does Congress Fit in the New Development Policy?

October 5, 2010

Posted by in Aid Effectiveness, Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Tags: ,

Connie Veillette

At a recent USGLC roundtable discussion on the President’s new development policy, Secretary Clinton rediscovered a pearl of a quote –

For no objective supporter of foreign aid can be satisfied with the existing program – actually a multiplicity of programs.  Bureaucratically fragmented, awkward and slow, its administration is diffused over a haphazard and irrational structure covering at least four departments and several other agencies.  The program is based on a series of legislative measures and administrative procedures conceived at different times and for different purposes, many of them now obsolete, inconsistent and unduly rigid and thus unsuited for our present needs and purposes.  Its weaknesses have begun to undermine confidence in our effort both here and abroad.

For those in the audience unfamiliar with this quote, Secretary Clinton took great delight in revealing that these words came from President Kennedy in 1961.  From my perspective, the source of this quote makes it even more intriguing – it is part of a “Special Message to the Congress on Foreign Aid” submitted by the President justifying a new approach to aid. Read More…

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MCC Biggest Disagreement between House and Senate Appropriations Bills

July 15, 2009

Posted by in MCA/MCC, Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Tags: , , ,

Last Thursday the House passed a $48.8 billion FY10 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations bill (H.R. 3081), $3.2 billion below the President’s request (not including $1.9 billion in advanced FY09 supplemental funding).   The bill included $1.4 billion for the MCC, just a hair below the President’s $1.43 billion request.  The Senate Appropriations Committee delivered a slightly lower amount of overall  funding, $48.7 billion (again, not including  advanced supplemental  funding).  Read More…

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MCC Thrown a Lifeline in FY09 Omnibus Bill

February 25, 2009

Posted by in Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Tags: , , ,

Picture this. A guy falls off the deck of a cruise ship. The captain throws him a life saver but can’t stop the boat. Everyone on the deck is yelling at him to do this and do that. The poor guys swims for his life just to grab onto the life saver. And there he floats waiting to see if the captain will ever reel him him. That poor guy is the MCC in the FY09 State and Foreign Operations section of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill (page 49).
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