Hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee - Foreign Assistance Reform in the Next Administration: Challenges and Solutions

Hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee - Foreign Assistance Reform in the Next Administration: Challenges and Solutions

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REP. JIM COSTA (D-CA): Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for holding this important hearing as we set the table for the next administration and the next Congress.

I think I agree probably with the last comment you made Mr. Kolbe in terms of the level of stature and certainly the importance here as we've talked about objection of soft power and doing the right thing for the right reasons. I'm not so sure a cabinet position necessarily guarantees that.

Mr. Radelet, I heard you and Mr. Offenheiser talk about the need to reorganize and combine under one umbrella I think is, those are my words, not quite your words. And certainly it's clear to me that when you look at this kind of a graft that something needs to be done. But you know, that was the purpose I think in part why the Congress attempted to convince the administration on why we needed to reorganize Homeland Security and I think that while the verdict may still be out on that one, certainly a lot of folks don't think FEMA's doing a better job now because they're under Homeland Security.

So I think we need to be cautious about potential pitfalls when we talk about how we reorganize into one area. Quickly because my time and I want to get to a couple of other questions, how would you prioritize reorganizing? Just couple quick bullets.

MR. RADELET: Well I think --

REP. COSTA: You can't do everything at once.

MR. RADELET: You can't do everything, it, I would try to bring together as many of the major --

REP. COSTA: Quickly.

MR. RADELET: -- as possible to try to reduce some of the overlap. We've got over 20 agencies that are doing all of this, we need to bring them together to reduce the overlap. The difference with Homeland, a key difference with Homeland Security is that many of those agencies were actually doing very different things with an overall objective of security, but really quite different. FEMA is really different from Immigration and Naturalization Services for example. All of these agencies are actually providing foreign assistance, they're actually providing very similar things.

So I think bringing them together under one umbrella would actually make --

REP. COSTA: All right. You're making the case again that you made before, you didn't prioritize.

Mr. Offenheiser, can you give me quick thoughts on prioritization?

MR. OFFENHEISER: I'm going to go back to the emphasis on the issue of planning. I mean, I think at the end of the day, the key thing is --

REP. COSTA: We have to plan before you prioritize?

MR. OFFENHEISER: I think form has to follow function, that's the key message --

REP. COSTA: Mr. Kolbe?

MR. KOLBE: Previous to Mr. Radelet I think we need the first priority needs to be reduce the number of agencies that we have and make lines of control and operation very clear, who has the responsibility for what.

That alone would make the aid picture a lot clearer and I think help to --

REP. COSTA: Don't you think that also it depends upon who the next secretary of state is, in terms of what attention they spend frankly on --

MR. KOLBE: I, I --

REP. COSTA: -- on, on looking at, you know, how to make sure that the trains run on time, for lack of a better time, for lack of a better term?

MR. KOLBE: Precisely. I think that there's, the big question --

REP. COSTA: I mean, you can fly all around the world --

MR. KOLBE: Makes no difference whether we're talking about a Republican or Democrat administration, the real question is is this going to be a priority in the next administration and I think there's a huge question mark about that.

REP. COSTA: Anecdotally you mentioned I think Mr. Offenheiser you did and in Afghanistan, having been there a couple of times most recently in March and seeing a lot of good initiatives are taking place, at the same time being just frustrated by the lack of coordination. I mean, I'll give you a anecdotal example. I've got a family and a group in my area that's involved with an organization that has put over $2 million to build a 120 bed hospital. I mean, they have built a beautiful, you know, by Afghan standards wonderful, ready to be staffed now. Trying to get our embassy and trying to get our folks focused on helping assist surplus medical equipment that we've gotten donated and surplus drugs that U.S. customs has a problems with because they don't have more than a 12 month shelf life, they're not allowed to come in, I mean, as if they would sit around in this hospital for more than a month, is just, you know, mind numbing. And you try to get these folks to visit and there's no coordination. How do we improve on that?

MR. OFFENHEISER: Well as I said in my remarks I believe we have, I think, eight different agencies in Afghanistan at the present time. And --

REP. COSTA: With no focus on what American's are willing to do through the private goodness of their hearts.

When you have private donations like that.

MR. OFFENHEISER: I guess I'm not sure in terms of coordinating the delivery of private donations, is that --

REP. COSTA: Yeah, though I mean there's a lot of other stuff that is not taxpayer dollars, but just groups that are willing to give their own personal support, organizations.

MR. OFFENHEISER: Well there's a large presence of not for profits on the --

REP. COSTA: Right.

MR. OFEENHEISER: -- that I think --

REP. COSTA: NGOs.

MR. OFFENHEISER: Right, NGOs are on the ground there as well, but I think you could certainly collaborating with them. And there's a national coordination body of NGOs that would be probably the place to start in terms of, you know, coordination and outreach to that particular community.

REP. COSTA: Yeah, but I mean the eight organizations that you spoke of it was apparent to me that there was certainly a lack of coordination.

MR. OFFENHEISER: Yeah, well I mean this is a problem I not only, you know, amongst the U.S. agencies but even between the U.S. and other, you know, other bilateral aid agencies. I mean, I think a larger question we're all dealing with on the ground in many of these countries is how do we get stronger, better coordination and better relationships with government that are part of a holistic package. And I think the MCC is obviously moving in that direction and creating greater accountability and ownership on the part of government. But when you've got eight agencies, each with their own interest, each with their own funding base, and each with their own sectoral responsibility, it's very often hard to get them together to collaborate unless there is some higher power that's going to, you know, basically have the authority to do that. And that's I think why we're all here talking about this today.

REP. COSTA: Thank you. Mine time's expired. I have some other questions I'll submit in written form.

Mr. Chairman?

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