Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, applauded the House of Representatives passage of H.R. 3509, the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act of 2013, authored by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), which seeks to provide for greater oversight of U.S. taxpayer funding for post-earthquake reconstruction and sustainable development in Haiti, and to provide greater transparency in USAID contracting and subcontracting.  The measure passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee in November with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Chairman Royce said:  “U.S. aid to Haiti or anywhere can’t be wasted on overhead or in bloated government bureaucracies.  There must be results.  The Foreign Affairs Committee has and will continue to provide strong oversight on programs in Haiti as it tries to recover from the devastating earthquake.  Today’s legislation helps us do just that.  I want to commend Representative Barbara Lee, Ranking Member Engel, Chairman Ros-Lehtinen, and Chairman Salmon for their focus on Haiti, and for working in a bipartisan fashion to craft this strong oversight legislation.” 

Note:  Earlier this year, a bipartisan delegation from the House Foreign Affairs Committee traveled to Haiti to investigate reports of unrealistic objectives, costly delays, and poor oversight that hampered USAID’s assistance efforts following Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, all of which were detailed in a report by the Government Accountability Office.  Following the trip to Haiti, Chairman Royce convened a hearing in October to examine USAID’s administration of Haiti reconstruction funding.

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