[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 15, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1634-E1635]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 FINDINGS OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS RELATING 
           TO EFFICIENCY AND REFORM PURSUANT TO H. RES. 1493

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 15, 2010

  Mr. BERMAN. Madam Speaker, pursuant to subsection (c)(2)(C) of House 
Resolution 1493, ``Sense of the House on Deficit Reduction,'' 
requesting Committees of the House of Representatives to submit 
findings which identify changes in law that would help achieve deficit 
reduction by reducing waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement and which 
promote efficiency and reform of government and control spending in 
programs under committee jurisdiction, I submit this report. It 
includes an accounting of Committee legislation that: (a) has been 
enacted into law; (b) has been passed by the House and/or considered by 
the Committee; or (c) is presently being drafted in Committee under my 
direction. In each case I have ensured that legislation accomplishes, 
or will accomplish, the objectives called for the Budget Enforcement 
Resolution.


                          Enacted Legislation

  The Committee reported out the Pakistan Enduring Assistance and 
Cooperation Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 1886), which streamlined and 
developed tighter benchmarks and accountability measures for the 
substantial American economic and military assistance being provided to 
the Government of Pakistan. In conference with the Senate, this bill 
was passed as the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009, which 
became Public Law 111-73.


                          Passed by the House

  On June 4, 2009, the Committee reported H.R. 2410, authorizing 
appropriations for the Department of State and the Peace Corps for 
fiscal years 2010 and 2011, and to modernize the Foreign Service and 
other international affairs-related programs and agencies.
  Title II, Section 211, of the legislation requires the Secretary of 
State to improve coordination among all the various efforts within the 
government to conduct public diplomacy.
  Section 216 reauthorizes an Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy 
charged with conducting an in-depth review of public diplomacy 
programs, policies, and activities to assess their effectiveness.
  Section 302 of the legislation directs the development of a national 
review of diplomacy and development every four years in order to make 
policies and programs more effective and efficient.
  Section 303 authorizes the establishment of a Lessons Learned Center 
in order to provide support for best practices in our diplomacy and 
development efforts.
  The legislation also contains such cost savings proposals as limiting 
compensatory time off for travel by Foreign Service Officers and 
providing for the suspension of Foreign Service Officers without pay.
  Title VIII of the legislation, entitled ``Export Control Reform And 
Security Assistance,'' includes:
  Section 828 which require the Secretary to present plans to make 
defense trade licensing self-financing.
  Section 807, permits the Secretary to use registration fees for 
licensing functions currently supported by appropriated funds.
  Section 826 grants the President the flexibility to remove satellites 
and related components from the munitions list, thus reducing licensing 
costs for these items.
  Title IX, ``Actions To Enhance the Merida Initiative,'' requires the 
President to establish and implement a program to assess the 
effectiveness of assistance provided under the Merida Initiative.


                         Legislation Introduced

  The Committee introduced the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act 
of 2009 (H.R. 2139) that requires the Administration to develop a 
National Strategy for Global Development which would define and 
streamline the roles of each department and agency engaged in 
development policies. It includes a provision that requires the 
development and implementation of a rigorous system to monitor and 
evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of United States foreign 
assistance.


                       Legislation Being Drafted

  The Committee has also begun work on two major legislative reforms:
  The first is an extensive effort to rewrite the Foreign Assistance 
Act of 1961. The purpose of the overhaul is to increase the 
accountability, transparency and effectiveness of foreign aid programs, 
which are currently fragmented across 12 departments, 25 different 
agencies, and nearly 60 government offices. In so doing, I hope to 
clear away many of the inefficiencies and program duplications which 
have developed since the last major re-write of the legislation in 
1985.

[[Page E1635]]

  The current system of unclear mandates, fragmented authorities, 
overlapping responsibilities, antiquated rules and tortuous procedures 
hampers our ability to deliver aid to the people who need it at the 
lowest possible cost. One lesson of the 1990s is that reductions in 
force at USAID did not result in improved efficiency. Instead, a 
specialized and experienced federal workforce was largely replaced by a 
contractor bureaucracy that operates at higher cost and with less 
accountability. Another lesson was that elimination of the USAID office 
that conducted program monitoring and evaluation seriously hindered our 
ability to assess the performance of our aid programs and share and 
replicate best practices. When resource allocations are made without 
the benefit of quantitative program indicators and rigorous impact 
evaluations, there is little basis for determining which activities and 
approaches are most effective and where the needs are greatest. Both 
H.R. 2139 and the foreign aid reform bill currently being drafted 
contain mandatory requirements for monitoring and evaluation of all 
foreign assistance programs.
  The second is a redraft of legislation under the Export 
Administration Act of 1979 to reauthorize, streamline and update the 
Act to ensure that it is responsive to both current security threats 
and the international commercial environment in which U.S. firms must 
compete.
  The staff draft of the export administration legislation includes two 
provisions requiring a periodic independent evaluation of the system. 
One provision would require evaluations of the effectiveness of export 
controls in protecting U.S. national security and would require the 
evaluations, with recommendations for improvements, to be sent directly 
to the President and Congress. The second provision would require an 
evaluation of the effectiveness of U.S. diplomacy in engaging with the 
four multilateral export control organizations. These would be the 
first systemic evaluations of U.S. export controls and our diplomacy 
regarding controls. They would contribute to modernization of the 
current system, which is widely judged to be falling behind in its 
mission.
  On a related point, the Committee staff is engaged in oversight of 
both the Export Administration Regulations (dual-use) and the 
International Traffic in Arms Regulations (munitions) to strengthen the 
effectiveness of regulations, licensing and enforcement. Such oversight 
led to enactment of a provision in the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, 
Accountability and Divestment Act (P.L. 111-195) to strengthen the 
enforcement authority of the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry 
and Security.
  Separate from the preceding, the Committee staff is drafting 
legislation that would provide the Trade Promotion Coordinating 
Committee with new authority over agencies' programs and budgets. The 
draft legislation would require coordination of the federal 
government's 17 export promotion programs, to more effectively deploy 
existing budgetary and staffing resources to increase U.S. exports. The 
bill also would require a reallocation of resources in the U.S. 
Commercial Service to overseas markets with potential for increased 
purchase of U.S. exports. The draft legislation is in response to 
Committee staff inquiries and a series of GAO reports that have 
identified significant overlap, gaps and inefficiencies in these 
programs.
  Finally, in terms of the Committee's oversight of ongoing agency 
activities, Committee staff conduct assiduous review of agencies' 
advance notifications of grants and contracts under programs under the 
Committee's jurisdiction. The goal is to ensure that proposed 
expenditures are in line with applicable statutes, federal policy and 
program goals. Proposed expenditures that raise questions are examined 
and then blocked if found to be inappropriate. As an example, in 
August, Committee staff urged the Trade and Development Agency to 
reconsider a proposed contract for technical services that could be 
provided more cost-effectively by federal employees. The agency did so 
and cancelled the proposed contract.

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