Bread Applauds House Vote on Foreign Aid Transparency Act

The Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2012, scheduled for a vote in the House today, would require a standardized monitoring and evaluation of U.S. foreign assistance programs run by agencies such as USAID. Here, children in Indonesia drink clean water provided by activists helped by USAID's Environmental Services Program (Photo: USAID)

[UPDATE, 8:30 p.m. The bill passed this evening, in a 390-0 vote.]

By Alex Loken

Bread for the World is happy to announce that the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2012 (H.R. 3159), led by Reps. Ted Poe (R-Texas) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.), is scheduled to be voted on in the House today.

This bipartisan legislation is an important step toward better evaluation and transparency in U.S. foreign assistance programs.

United States foreign assistance has increasingly been acknowledged as complementary to diplomacy and military efforts—it not only saves millions of lives through vital humanitarian assistance and development programs, but also helps stabilize economies and countries contributing to U.S. national security and economic well-being. As the importance of foreign assistance has increased, so has the number of agencies and organizations that run foreign aid programs. They range from traditional sources, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department, to relatively new organizations and initiatives, such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)." The proliferation of entities implementing foreign assistance has created the need for more coordination and common standards to which all agencies carrying out foreign aid programs must comply.

The Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2012 requires a standardized monitoring and evaluation system with measurable goals for those agencies that administer U.S. foreign assistance programs. Additionally, this legislation ensures that U.S. foreign development assistance be made publicly available and consistently updated on the Foreign Assistance Dashboard, an online tool that provides U.S. taxpayers with information on how foreign aid dollars are being spent.

We are delighted that this landmark piece of aid transparency legislation will be heard in the House. Given its broad support in both the House and Senate, we hope that it moves forward so we can continue to improve the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance.

Alex Loken is the government relations research assistant at Bread for the World.