Representative Howard Berman released draft legislation, the Global Partnerships Act, that would rewrite the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. As noted here earlier, the FAA has not been re-authorized by Congress since 1985. Berman, previously as chai
With the planned release this Thursday of a draft Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) from Ranking Minority Member Howard Berman, I began to reflect on how to explain the need for revisions to the current law. After all, some folks in the Administration would rather stick with what we have than expend time and effort in writing a more up-to-date act. So with the help of a former president, here’s my first attempt at an explanation.
Six months after the Haiti quake, many people are frustrated that the U.S.-led relief and reconstruction effort has not made more rapid progress. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and USAID Administrator Raj Shah are headed for Pakistan, where the strategic stakes are larger, development challenges even more complicated, and U.S. policy muddled at best. Eighteen months into the administration, the federal government remains abysmally organized to address Haiti, Pakistan and other development challenges.
I think almost everyone agrees that the existing legislation that governs U.S.
The development community is getting a sneak peek at the first sections of a new U.S. foreign assistance act. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) and his staff released the first 55 pages of a new Global Partnership Act of 2010 discussion draft, aiming to replace the outdated and unwieldy Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. It’s a first step towards clarifying the mission, mandate and structure of U.S.