Tester: More transparency needed for overseas aid

Senator backs bipartisan bill to shine light on taxpayer-funded assistance

(BIG SANDY, Mont.) – Senator Jon Tester is bringing more transparency to how Montanans’ tax dollars are spent overseas.

Tester is co-sponsoring a bipartisan bill to require all foreign assistance agencies to evaluate their activities and publicly report their findings. Currently, there is little oversight or transparency to determine the effectiveness of foreign aid and whether it is supporting national security interests.

“Montanans deserve to know that their hard-earned dollars are being used wisely and that every dollar spent is an investment in our future,” Tester said. “This bill adds needed transparency to ensure we are making smart investments overseas that improve lives and help keep Americans safe.”

Tester’s bill will force federal agencies to scrutinize security, development and humanitarian assistance. Program evaluations will be posted on a publicly available website four times a year.

Tester and a bipartisan group of senators recently voted to cut aid to Afghanistan if the country continued to charge the U.S. steep fees to ship American military equipment out of the country. Afghanistan dropped its demand later that day.

Tester also previously supported efforts to block all U.S. aid to Pakistan until the country released an informant who helped the United States locate Osama bin Laden.

Tester’s bipartisan Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act is cosponsored by Senators Marco Rubio (R- Fla.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Tester’s bipartisan Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act by les_braswell5524