[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1268 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1268

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that United States 
foreign assistance is a critical instrument for achieving our national 
 security goals and that modernizing United States foreign assistance 
                   should become a national priority.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 11, 2008

  Ms. McCollum of Minnesota (for herself, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Shays, Mr. 
  Wolf, Mr. Platts, Mr. Farr, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Honda, Mr. 
Lynch, Mr. LaHood, and Mr. Carson) submitted the following resolution; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that United States 
foreign assistance is a critical instrument for achieving our national 
 security goals and that modernizing United States foreign assistance 
                   should become a national priority.

Whereas foreign assistance has been an essential component of United States 
        national security strategy and a powerful demonstration of America's 
        national values since the end of World War II;
Whereas 60 years ago, in April of 1948, Congress committed resources in support 
        of the Marshall Plan, channeling $115,000,000,000 in economic aid and 
        technical assistance to 16 European countries and initiating America's 
        first major international foreign assistance initiative, yielding one of 
        the greatest achievements of the 20th century;
Whereas over the last three generations, the commitment of the United States to 
        humanitarian crisis interventions, long-term development activities, 
        postconflict reconstruction, and military and economic support has saved 
        millions of lives, built a bulwark against the spread of communism, and 
        defined America's global leadership through its commitment to democracy, 
        good governance, economic growth, and the global fight against disease, 
        hunger, and poverty;
Whereas United States foreign assistance is an investment in global security, 
        stability, and prosperity, and is a critical instrument of American 
        power, prestige, and influence in the world, which confers tangible, 
        long-term benefits to American citizens in the form of reduced national 
        security threats, expanded economic opportunities, and the fulfillment 
        of America's moral obligations to ``champion aspirations for human 
        dignity'', as stated in the 2006 National Security Strategy;
Whereas according to the 2007/2008 United Nations Human Development Report, 
        2,600,000,000 people, or 40 percent of the world's population, live on 
        less than two dollars a day, and often confront hunger, disease, and 
        misery;
Whereas the 9/11 Commission Report states, ``In the post-
        9/11 world, threats are defined more by the fault lines within societies 
        than by the territorial boundaries between them [and] [f]rom terrorism 
        to global disease or environmental degradation, the challenges have 
        become transnational rather than international'';
Whereas the Administration asserted in the 2006 National Security Strategy that 
        ``development reinforces diplomacy and defense, reducing long-term 
        threats to our national security by helping to build stable, prosperous, 
        and peaceful societies'';
Whereas the 2006 National Security Strategy declared, ``Helping the world's poor 
        is a strategic priority and a moral imperative'', and the United States 
        must ``assist the world's poor citizens and least developed nations and 
        help integrate them into the global economy'';
Whereas the Commission on Weak States and United States National Security, a 
        bipartisan panel of 30 former government officials, senior business 
        leaders, academics, and nongovernmental organization representatives, 
        recognized in 2004 that ``[W]eak and failed states matter to American 
        security, American values, and the prospects for global economic growth 
        upon which the American economy depends'';
Whereas the Commission on Weak States and United States National Security also 
        found that ``the security challenge [weak and failed states] present 
        cannot be met through security means alone, [and] the roots of this 
        challenge--the long-term hope for its resolution--lie in development, 
        broadly understood as progress toward stable, accountable national 
        institutions that can meet citizens' needs and take full part in the 
        workings of the international community'';
Whereas the bipartisan Commission on Smart Power, convened by the Center for 
        Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), concluded in 2007 that 
        ``American leaders ought to commit to global development because it 
        reinforces basic American values, contributes to peace, justice, and 
        prosperity, and improves the way we are viewed around the world'';
Whereas the Commission on Smart Power further found that ``Investing in 
        development contributes to American security at home by promoting 
        stability abroad'';
Whereas the current United States foreign assistance programs, structures, and 
        assumptions, which were developed during the Cold War and evolved over 
        six decades, are in need of modernization to effectively confront 
        current and future foreign policy and national security challenges;
Whereas Congress mandated the bipartisan HELP Commission, which spent nearly 2 
        years conducting extensive overseas travel to interview aid recipients 
        and assess aid programs in the field and interviewing the world's 
        foremost experts on United States foreign assistance, including current 
        and former Secretaries of State, leaders of United States Government 
        agencies involved with foreign assistance, international experts, 
        scholars, contractors, nongovernmental organization officials, and 
        businesses, and studied previous reform efforts and reports, which 
        tellingly found ``not one person appeared before [the] Commission to 
        defend the status quo'';
Whereas the bipartisan Brookings-CSIS Task Force for Transforming Foreign 
        Assistance in the 21st Century analyzed the fragmented state of the 
        United States foreign assistance infrastructure, noting there are ``more 
        than 50 separate United States Government units involved in aid 
        delivery, [resulting in] duplication and disarray'', and further cited 
        that this ``current cacophony of actors within the United States 
        Government undermines American leadership internationally'';
Whereas the Brookings-CSIS Task Force called for the United States Government to 
        ``rationalize agencies and clarify [agency] missions'';
Whereas the Commission on Smart Power called upon the next President to 
        ``address three vital development issues in the brief window of 
        opportunity that exists at the beginning of any new administration: 
        elevating the development mission within the United States Government; 
        developing a more unified approach to our aid; and developing locally-
        supported and measurable delivery systems'';
Whereas the 2006 National Security Strategy declares, ``Improving the way we use 
        foreign assistance will make it more effective in strengthening 
        responsible governments, responding to suffering, and improving people's 
        lives'';
Whereas Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recognized the urgent need to 
        modernize United States foreign assistance by introducing the ``F 
        process'' reforms as part of the Department's ``transformational 
        diplomacy'' initiative in January 2006;
Whereas Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated on November 26, 2007, ``One of 
        the most important lessons of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is that 
        military success is not sufficient to win: economic development, 
        institution-building and the rule of law, promoting internal 
        reconciliation, good governance, providing basic services to people, 
        training and equipping indigenous military and police forces, strategic 
        communications, and more--these, along with security, are essential 
        ingredients for long-term success'';
Whereas Secretary Gates also noted the ``need for a dramatic increase in 
        spending on the civilian instruments of national security--diplomacy, 
        strategic communications, foreign assistance, civic action, and economic 
        reconstruction and development'';
Whereas the need to modernize United States foreign assistance is reinforced by 
        the efforts of rising global powers, such as China, to utilize foreign 
        aid to advance their own national interests in strategic areas of the 
        world; and
Whereas the comprehensive modernization of United States foreign assistance will 
        require a renewed partnership between Congress and the executive branch 
        to meet the challenges of the 21st century: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports the comprehensive modernization of the United 
        States foreign assistance apparatus to effectively meet 21st 
        century global challenges, such as terrorism, poverty, pandemic 
        disease, climate change, energy security, failed or failing 
        states, food insecurity, a lack of or slow economic growth, and 
        population and migration issues;
            (2) affirms defense, diplomacy, and development are the 
        three essential components to ensure United States national 
        security, as stated in the President's 2002 National Security 
        Strategy, and that each component is an essential, independent, 
        and mutually reinforcing element of a comprehensive, effective, 
        and long-term United States national security strategy;
            (3) affirms that foreign assistance in the form of long-
        term development activities, humanitarian crisis response, 
        postconflict reconstruction, and economic and military support 
        is an indispensable instrument of United States power, and a 
        key determinant of our standing in the world that should be 
        used to translate our moral beliefs and national interests into 
        practical actions by--
                    (A) mitigating threats to national and global 
                security;
                    (B) supporting the efforts of citizens of any 
                country to pursue political freedom while building 
                capable, effective, and democratic states; and
                    (C) reducing global poverty by increasing economic 
                opportunity and improving quality of life;
            (4) affirms that a modernization of United States foreign 
        assistance should embody the consensus recommendations of the 
        United States national security community, congressionally 
        mandated commissions, development experts, and independent 
        research organizations, which include--
                    (A) aligning foreign assistance policies, 
                operations, budgets, and statutory authorities;
                    (B) matching sufficient resources to a clear set of 
                objectives shared by the executive branch and Congress;
                    (C) strengthening civilian operational capabilities 
                and expanding the cadre of skilled and trained 
                international development professionals inside the 
                Government;
                    (D) reducing the number of agencies responsible for 
                development and restructuring foreign assistance 
                activities to--
                            (i) elevate global development to a 
                        standing alongside defense and diplomacy to 
                        emphasize its importance;
                            (ii) enable the United States to articulate 
                        and promote a strategic and coherent approach 
                        to global development and the utilization of 
                        our foreign assistance tools;
                            (iii) provide Congress with the means for 
                        ensuring accountability; and
                            (iv) facilitate strong partnerships with 
                        the many American private, faith-based, and 
                        nongovernmental organizations that are 
                        increasingly engaged in addressing development 
                        challenges;
                    (E) measuring results through strengthened 
                monitoring and evaluation systems and by publicly 
                reporting the impact of our investments against their 
                intended objectives;
                    (F) strengthening the commitment of recipient 
                governments and other partners to policies that ensure 
                fiscal accountability, establish monitoring and 
                benchmarks for aid, reduce corruption, increase local 
                capacity, respect human rights, and promote political 
                and economic freedom; and
                    (G) applying internationally recognized principles 
                of aid effectiveness, which include--
                            (i) the harmonization of policies and 
                        practices with other donors and leveraging 
                        investments through collaboration with other 
                        countries;
                            (ii) the alignment with national priorities 
                        of host governments in well-governed countries;
                            (iii) the lowering of transaction costs for 
                        both the United States and recipient 
                        governments; and
                            (iv) policy and programmatic transparency 
                        to benefit both the American public and the 
                        intended beneficiaries;
            (5) supports the creation of a strategy to modernize 
        foreign assistance in accordance with the widely recognized 
        principles enumerated in this resolution and affirms 
        modernization should be a priority for both Congress and the 
        Administration; and
            (6) calls for a renewed partnership between Congress and 
        the Administration to define a common vision of the role and 
        management of United States foreign assistance that provides 
        the President with the flexibility needed to act in a quickly 
        changing world, while ensuring input and oversight by Congress.
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