WASHINGTON, D.C., November 14, 2013—The ONE Campaign welcomes the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s passage of the bipartisan Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2013 (S. 1271) introduced by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ben Cardin (D-MD). The bill will ensure U.S. foreign assistance programs are more transparent, accountable, and most importantly: effective.

“This legislation goes a long way to strengthen U.S. development programs despite recent efforts to cut spending and reduce the overall budget,” said ONE’s U.S. Executive Director Tom Hart. “Directing U.S. foreign assistance agencies to develop better and more transparent monitoring and evaluation systems will lead to better use of taxpayer dollars and ensure that we are getting the most return on our investments.”

Specifically, the legislation passed today would improve accountability, transparency, and overall effectiveness, by requiring the President to establish uniform interagency guidelines that include measurable goals, performance standards, and monitoring and evaluation plans—across all U.S. foreign assistance programs.  The bill would also require that information pertaining to U.S. foreign assistance be made publicly available on the “Foreign Assistance Dashboard,” a website created for this purpose in 2010 by USAID.

An earlier version of the legislation was introduced in the 112^th Congress and was unanimously passed in the House and by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but did not receive floor consideration before the session came to a close.

Hart concluded, “We commend Senators Rubio and Cardin for their leadership on this important issue and look forward to working towards final passage and ultimately, enactment.”