Top Democrat Berman Says U.s. Development Aid Has Become Mess
“If our national security strategy is a defense, diplomacy and development strategy, the development area has really become a mess,” Howard Berman, the California Democrat who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said today in an interview.
Berman, who is leading a push on Capitol Hill to revamp how U.S. foreign assistance is determined and distributed, lamented restrictions in the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, which regulates much of U.S. aid, and the myriad of agencies in Washington with a hand in funding decisions.
He expressed particular frustration with the bureaucratic woes afflicting the U.S. Agency for International Development, the State Department arm that directs much foreign assistance and humanitarian relief.
In perhaps the clearest sign of those challenges, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today said she was having trouble finding someone willing to take the top job of USAID administrator. None of the proposed candidates has wanted the job, she said. Clinton also bemoaned the bureaucratic hurdles.
“The clearance and vetting process is a nightmare,” she said during a meeting with USAID employees. “It takes far longer than any of us would want to see. It is frustrating beyond words.”
In 2007, USAID got unwanted attention when Randall Tobias, the organizations chief, resigned after disclosure that he had used an escort service in Washington. Former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice had appointed Tobias to coordinate all U.S. foreign assistance.
Push for Legislation
Berman, 68, aims to lead a push to rewrite the Foreign Assistance Act in a way that there will be “a little less earmarking” for specific projects and “a little more discretion” for people working in the field to determine what the needs are.
“Twelve Cabinet departments, 25 agencies and 60 government offices all have some role to play in development assistance,” he said.
At the same time, Berman said, we have “eviscerated the capacity of USAID in terms of people who are specialists in agricultural, economics, in terms of just engineers, water experts.”
President Barack Obamas 2010 foreign operations budget for the State Department, USAID and other foreign affairs agencies totals $53.9 billion, an increase of 9 percent over the 2009 total.
In a nod to some of Bermans concerns, Clinton announced last week the creation of a quadrennial diplomacy and development review for the State Department. The review will enable the State Department to determine how to use aid more effectively toward achieving U.S. foreign policy objectives.