Take Action

Substantively reforming U.S. foreign assistance programs will require the political commitment of the president and bipartisan support in Congress. There is growing evidence that key leaders in Congress — particularly the House of Representatives — consider foreign aid reform to be a top legislative priority. Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, has stated his intent to rewrite the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, the body of law governing foreign aid programs, which has not been comprehensively reauthorized. In a committee hearing on foreign aid reform Rep. Berman stated, “I strongly believe that America’s foreign assistance program is not in need of some minor changes, but, rather, it needs to be reinvented and retooled in order to respond to the significant challenges our country and the world faces in the twenty-first century.”

Take Action: Share our recommendations for foreign aid reform with your representative and senators and ask them to speak to House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee leadership about including them in foreign aid reform legislation.