Yoho, McCaul, Sires Introduce Multilateral Aid Review Act

Press Release

Today, Congressmen Ted S. Yoho (R-FL), Michael McCaul (R-TX), and Albio Sires (D-NJ), members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced the Multilateral Aid Review Act of 2017 to ensure a credible and rigorous analysis of the effectiveness of United States investments in multilateral entities.

Congressman Yoho: "Billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent funding multilateral agencies such as the United Nations. It is imperative that the United States begins assessing the multilateral system and its effectiveness to guarantee that the United States' priorities and goals are being best served. The multilateral system has the potential to be great and to be more than the sum of its parts. However, years of inept leadership and corruption have diminished the effectiveness of certain parts of the multilateral system. The Multilateral Aid Review Act of 2017 will give the necessary tools to the United States to help right the multilateral system and make it more effective."

Congressman McCaul: "United States government agencies collectively spent over $10 billion on funding multilateral entities in fiscal year 2016. While this assistance is vital, it is in the best interest of the U.S. to assess the value of these investments. That is why I am proud to work with Congressmen Sires and Yoho to introduce this bill that will help maximize the impact of our limited foreign assistance dollars."

Congressman Sires: "U.S. foreign assistance is critical, but with increasingly limited diplomatic resources, it is essential to ensure that this assistance is being used effectively. This bill would provide greater oversight by assessing the efficacy of U.S. investments in multilateral entities, which will provide an important tool to guide U.S. funding decisions. Consequently, this bill would also create incentives for performance improvements, greater transparency, and accountability amongst multilateral entities."

Multilateral Aid Review Act of 2017:

Provides a tool to guide the United States Government's decision-making and prioritization with regard to funding multilateral organizations, and to provide a methodological basis for allocating scarce budgetary resources to those that advance relevant United States foreign policy objectives;
Incentivizes improvements in the performance of multilateral entities to achieve better on-the-ground outcomes in developing, fragile, and crisis-afflicted regions;
Protects United States taxpayer investments in foreign assistance by improving transparency with regard to the funding of multilateral bodies.

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