AID is bound by law to submit a report to Congress on the level of economic freedom in recipient countries. This law is intended both to impress upon AID the importance of economic freedom in achieving economic development and to ensure that development aid does not reward countries that refuse to initiate the steps that will help them pursue economic freedom. The only report submitted by AID 9 so far, however, is embarrassingly inadequate. AID should be held accountable for failing to comply with the law and be required to submit a report that fulfills this congressional mandate. U.S. interests are not given due consideration in aid distribution.
Development aid has a poor record of promoting U.S. interests.
On the contrary, many recipients of U.S. aid routinely act against U.S. interests. The original version of H.R. 1486 included a provision to deny aid to countries that oppose U.S. interests, but this was stripped from the bill in committee. Lobbying by the domestic foreign aid industry remains unrestricted. Seventy to 80 cents of every dollar designated for aid to developing countries remains in the United States. 11 Instead of helping developing countries, in other words, this process has created a powerful, Washington-based foreign aid industry that obstructs efforts to reform or cut foreign aid programs.