Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee continued its review of U.S. international food aid programs by holding a hearing on oversight and accountability of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the agencies responsible for administering U.S. international food assistance programs.  The Committee heard from both the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) as well as the respective Offices of Inspector General from both USAID and USDA. 

“The United States has long led global efforts to alleviate hunger and malnutrition with U.S. agriculture playing a central role. Last Congress, several important reforms were made in the Agricultural Act of 2014 to add a great deal of flexibility within Title II of the Food for Peace Act, and today’s hearing was an important step in monitoring the implementation of these reforms. While the 2014 farm bill struck a balance between in-kind and cash-based assistance, I am very concerned about reported efforts to further undermine in-kind food aid by shifting to additional cash-based assistance. Initial work by GAO has raised several red flags on USAID’s controls over cash-based assistance. In preparation for the next farm bill, I look forward to working with my colleagues to identify ways to make these programs function more efficiently for both the U.S. taxpayer and for the people around the world that they are designed to help while also continuing to help protect the proud legacy of food aid,” said Subcommittee Chairman Rouzer.

“The witnesses at today’s hearing highlighted the significant amount of work that has been done to evaluate the efficiency and efficacy of U.S. in-kind aid.  While we still have improvements to make on the delivery of in-kind aid, I am concerned about calls to shift to even more cash-based assistance, particularly given several of the issues raised by GAO. If we are going to maximize the reach of these programs while maintaining broad domestic support, calls for further changes should only occur after proper monitoring of the flexibilities already allowed, and should take place in an open and transparent manner in the context of the next farm bill.  I am committed to ensuring that these programs, whether in-kind or cash-based, work for those who they are intended to help,”said Chairman K. Michael Conaway.