Mr. HOUGHTON. Mr. Chairman. Mr. HOUGHTON. Mr. Chairman, I would imagine that one of the big issues, unless something dramatic happens that we do not have any idea of now, will be the money crunch. And I do not know what sort of plans that you have on this, but it seems to me that more than any other time that we are going to be literally under the gun in terms of reallocating some of our programs throughout the world. And I do not know if there are any special sessions that are going to be generated on that or not, but I worry about this. Mr. GILMAN. That is certainly an appropriate comment. If you would note page one, section B, down at the bottom. It is evaluation of foreign assistance programs. The future of the Agency for International Development. I call your attention, too, to the column by Senator Helms, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who once again is advocating the reform of the organization of the State Department, and bringing within the State Department AID, the Arms Control Agency, and the USIA, which initially had been advocated by Secretary Christopher. But certainly, that is an important consideration, and it will be part of our oversight. Mr. HOUGHTON. Thank you. Mr. GILMAN. Are there any other comments by any other member? If there are no further comments or questions, without objection, the plan is considered adopted with additional proposals that were voiced today. The chair in consultation with the ranking minority member will revise the plan to reflect our discussions, and make any additional grammatical and conforming changes that may be required. And we will be forwarding the plan to the appropriate committees of the House. [The committee oversight plan appears in the appendix.] Mr. GILMAN. I note for the record that the quorum required for the purpose of reporting legislation or recommendations to the House is present. If there are no further comments, the committee stands adjourned, subject to the call of the Chair. [Whereupon, at 10:43 a.m., the committee adjourned, subject to the call of the chair.] APPENDIX COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION OF THE OVERSIGHT PLAN FOR THE 104TH CONGRESS February 14, 1995 The Chairman: The Committee will be in order. The Committee meets today in open session to consider its oversight plan for the 104th Congress. Oversight and Foreign Affairs Committees of the House have historically exercised "watchful oversight" over the functions of the Executive Branch, although specific Committees' interest and involvement has waxed and waned over time. In the area of international relations, oversight is especially important, since direct legislative control over the Executive is necessarily difficult. In addition, many details of our relations with foreign countries must remain confidential; but the Congress, as the public's representative, is responsible for insuring that the Executive's actions in the conduct of those sensitive relations reflects the public's will. Accordingly, oversight has historically been an important element of this Committee's functions. The House began overseeing matters relating to foreign affairs near the inception of the Republic; indeed, the first House Resolution of Inquiry, in 1796, dealt with foreign affairs. My view is that during my period of service on the Committee, we have done a good job of overseeing the Executive's conduct of foreign affairs, but of course there is always room for improvement, and with everyone's cooperation we can be a model for the rest of the House. The Need for an Oversight Plan The House rule mandating the adoption of an oversight plan was adopted on January 4. The new rule is intended to force all Committees to look ahead and consider their oversight responsibilities, and to allow the House leadership to consider the adequacy of our plans and suggest any appropriate coordination. Upon adopting a plan, we will send it forward to the Committees on Government Reform and Oversight and on House Oversight. The Committee on Government Reform and Oversight will consult with the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and the Minority leader, and will report to the House our oversight plan and the other oversight plans and any recommendations that it have make to ensure effective coordination of oversight. Several members of this Committee, including myself, serve on Government Reform and Oversight, and I will have our staff work with that staff to ensure a constructive review of our plan. The Oversight Effort This Congress This document obviously reflects an ambitious agenda. Our intention was to be as inclusive as possible within the broad limits of our jurisdiction and of the concept of "oversight". The Committee and its subcommittees are not precluded from undertaking additional oversight efforts. Nor are they limited to working in a hearing format. All kinds of oversight are permitted and encouraged, as far as I am concerned. In addition, the plan does not spell out which activities are to be undertaken by the full Committee and which by the subcommittees. This will be a matter for coordination between the full committee and subcommittee chairmen, in consultation with the appropriate ranking minority members. The Preparation of this Plan The staff of the full committee requested suggestions for this plan from the Subcommittee staff and from their colleagues on the full Committee, and compiled them into a single document, which was circulated to all the Members of the Committee on Thursday, with a request that comments be forwarded to the Committee staff. We were also in touch informally and formally with the Minority, from whom we received valuable input, which I very much appreciate. The Majority and Minority staffs negotiated a series of changes, and the document now before you reflects, in all essential respects, the agreement reached between the staffs. Our Consideration Today Members have before them the draft oversight plan for the upcoming Congress, which it is now in order to discuss. My intention would be to recognize the members, beginning with Mr. Hamilton, for comments. We have agreed that at the conclusion of this meeting, I will forward the plan, with any revisions necessary to reflect our discussion today, or additional technical or grammatical changes, to the appropriate committees. COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OVERSIGHT PLAN Rule X, clause 2 (d) of the Rules of the House of Representatives requires that each standing Committee adopt an oversight plan for the two-year period of the Congress and to submit the plan to the Committees on Government Reform and Oversight and House Oversight not later than February 15 of the first session of the Congress. This is the oversight plan of the Committee on International Relations for the 104th Congress. It includes the areas in which the Committee hopes to conduct oversight during this Congress. As the Committee's priorities change, the oversight work of the Committee may change. The fact that an issue is listed here does not mean that the Committee will necessarily hold a formal meeting devoted solely to that issue, but means that the Committee hopes to cover the issue during the course of its oversight work. GENERAL A. Ongoing Meetings with Administration and Foreign Leaders The Committee and its subcommittees, and individual members, especially the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, will continue to meet, informally and in formal sessions, with members of the President's Cabinet and officials at all levels within the Executive branch. These meetings allow the Committee and its members to raise issues relating to the conduct of foreign affairs and other matters within its oversight jurisdiction. Committee members meet, as an element of the oversight process, with heads of state and government, cabinet ministers, and parliamentarians from around the world. In the 103rd Congress, the Committee held over 200 meetings of this nature; in the 104th Congress, the Committee expects to maintain that pace. In addition, Committee staff meet with countless foreign visitors on an informal basis. These meetings, inter alia, allow the Committee to evaluate the effectiveness of U.S. diplomacy with respect to our relations with these visitors' countries and third countries. B. Evaluation of Foreign Assistance Programs; the Future of the Agency for International Development. Structure of Foreign Aid in the Post-Cold-War World: who, what and how? Including evaluation of foreign aid institutions. (Winter/Spring, 1995) Duplication/Overlap in Foreign Assistance. What foreign assistance (and technical cooperation) is being administered outside of AID/State Department? (Spring, 1995) Effectiveness of Development Assistance, including: Review of effectiveness of foreign assistance in influencing policy changes in developing countries; Current role of development foundations; Evaluation of the role of training in development assistance; what is the role of agriculture research in development; what are valid indicators of social and economic development? (Spring/Summer/Fall, 1995) Review of PL 480, Food aid, cargo preference. (Summer, 1995) Experimental quick-turn-around GAO pentagon-style "budget scrub" of selected aid program(s). (Spring/Summer 1995) Review of comparative effectiveness of bilateral and multilateral aid programs. (USAID DA vs. UNDP). (Fall, 1995) Review of microenterprise programs. (Fall 1995/Winter 1996) Evaluation of the effectiveness of population programs. 1996) (Spring, The effectiveness of Enterprise Funds as an alternative model for foreign assistance. (Winter/Spring, 1995) PVO/NGO role in delivering foreign assistance: Are PVOS contractors, partners or grantees? (Spring, 1995) Review of Democracy-building activities. One of the key activities of USIA, AID, and other agencies is the role they play in support of democracy development. A proliferation of democracy programs in various agencies, and non-governmental organizations raises questions as to overlap, efficiency, and effectiveness. (Summer, 1995) c. Security Assistance/Political-Military Issues/Arms Control/Non-Proliferation/Peacekeeping Review of military aid to Greece and Turkey. (Spring/Summer, 1995) Review of effectiveness of expanded International Military (Fall, 1996) "Rogue regimes." Review of the problem of security threats from so-called "rogue regimes" that have, or could gain, the power to create weapons of mass destruction. (Fall, 1996) |