Several actions occurred throughout the past year related to foreign aid reform, including: On December 15, 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released the Obama Administration's Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), outlining the direction for foreign aid reform and elevating as well as integrating diplomacy and development to be more effective and more on par with defense as foreign policy tools. On September 22, 2010, President Obama signed a Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) on Global Development emanating from the Presidential Study Directive on Global Development (PSD-7) to improve agency coordination and identify foreign aid with foreign investment. The directive places a premium on economic growth and democratic governance, uses a new business model to be a more effective development partner, and creates a new government architecture that elevates development as a key pillar of U.S. foreign policy. On June 29, 2010, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Berman released a discussion draft, "Global Partnerships Act of 2010," which provided a preamble and first title of the House bill to revamp the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The discussion draft established a new framework for U.S. foreign aid; stated seven purposes of foreign assistance, placing "Reducing Global Poverty and Alleviating Human Suffering" as the number one purpose; and required the President to develop and implement rigorous monitoring and evaluation systems. It also provided authorization language to create a Development Support Fund to encourage long-term, sustainable development activities in developing countries. The President released the National Security Strategy in May 2010, providing a glimpse of some foreign aid priorities within the Administration's national security agenda. Among other things, the strategy included a "whole-of-government" approach to integrate all tools, including those in defense, diplomacy, and development, and to improve coordination of foreign assistance programs, as well as activities advancing democracy and human rights. It emphasized improved working relationships with allies and partners, expanding multilateral development institutions, engaging others to share the burden, and investing in long-term development activities. For years, many foreign aid experts have expressed concern about ongoing inefficiencies associated with the overall organization, effectiveness, and management of U.S. foreign aid. Specific problems most commonly cited include the lack of a national foreign assistance strategy; failure to elevate the importance and funding of foreign aid to be on par with diplomacy and defense as a foreign policy tool; lack of coordination among the large number of Cabinet-level departments and agencies involved in foreign aid, as well as fragmented foreign aid funding; a need to better leverage U.S. multilateral aid to influence country or program directions; and a lack of visibility at the Cabinet level for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)—the primary administrator of aid programs. Also related is the debate among some lawmakers and policymakers about how to strengthen USAID's role in aid planning, decision making, and implementation, as well as whether to designate it as the lead coordinator of all entities involved with U.S. development and humanitarian assistance programs in Washington and in aid-recipient countries. Regarding aid programs, some cite a lack of flexibility and responsiveness of aid programs to react quickly to events and needs on the ground. Another criticism is a perceived lack of progress in some countries that have been aid recipients for decades. And a growing concern, especially on the part of the nongovernmental organization (NGO) community, is the increasing involvement of the Department of Defense (DOD) in disbursing foreign aid, rising from 29% in 2001 to 60% in 2007 (including aid to Iraq and Afghanistan). The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA), as amended (P.L. 87-195; 22 U.S.C. 2151 and following, the main statutory basis for aid programs), is viewed by most development experts as being outdated and not reflecting current international conditions. It contains an emphasis on the Cold War and communism with a multitude of goals and outdated priorities and directives, many of which have been appended piecemeal to the original act. In addition, Congress has enacted over 20 other pieces of legislation establishing foreign aid authorities outside the FAA, adding to the diffusion of aid responsibility and initiatives within U.S. foreign policy overall. Many claim that the FAA needs to be rewritten in order to streamline and add coherence to a piece of legislation that has been amended frequently since its enactment nearly 50 years ago. Recommendations on rewriting the FAA include stripping foreign aid legislation of fragmentary earmarks, aid restrictions, and aid procurement rules; refocusing aid on the core mission of poverty reduction; and restructuring aid legislation to set development goals based not on outdated Cold War-era policy, but rather on the realities facing the United States in a post-9/11 environment. A number of nongovernmental organizations, development experts, and policy makers have pressed Congress and the Administration to take steps to reform the U.S. foreign aid program. Several actions occurred in 2009 and 2010, including introduction of legislation to reform certain aspects of foreign aid, a State Department announcement of a quadrennial review, and a Presidential Study Directive (PSD) on U.S. Global Development Policy. Over the years, interest in diplomacy and development as foreign policy tools has crossed the political spectrum. The terrorist attacks in 2001, however, highlighted a renewed interest in the benefits of diplomacy and development working more effectively along with defense toward U.S. national security goals. Both the Bush and the Obama Administrations, as well as Republican and Democratic Members of Congress, have expressed support for strengthening these tools. Soon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the George W. Bush Administration directly linked diplomacy and development to national security interests of the United States and stated the importance of elevating diplomacy and development to be more on par with defense. In its 2002 National Security Strategy the Bush Administration stated, "We will actively work to bring hope of democracy, development, free markets, and free trade to every corner of the world." Continuing that theme in the 2006 National Security Strategy, the Administration said, "Development reinforces diplomacy and defense, reducing long-term threats to our national security by helping to build stable, prosperous, and peaceful societies. Improving the way we use foreign assistance will make it more effective in strengthening responsible governments, responding to suffering, and improving people's lives." In the FY2007 foreign affairs budget request, the Bush Administration stated, "There are no hard lines between our security interests, our development interests, and our democratic goals." Many observers, however, have questioned whether the rhetoric has been matched by related policies. By the first term of the George W. Bush Administration, after years of declining aid funding, there was widespread agreement that foreign aid was an important U.S. foreign policy tool and reform of it would be necessary for aid to achieve optimal effectiveness in its contribution toward U.S. foreign policy and national security goals. In August 2003, then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios released their Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2004-2009, Aligning Diplomacy and Development Assistance . Its mission statement said, "In the coming years, the principal aims of the Department of State and USAID are clear. These aims are anchored in the President's National Security Strategy and its three underlying and interdependent components—diplomacy, development, and defense." The Bush Administration made several changes to the foreign aid structure, in addition to significantly increasing its overall budget. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the largest program targeting a single disease, was announced in 2003. In 2004, the Administration established the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an independent government entity that provides aid to countries that demonstrate good governance practices, economic reforms, and the capability to use aid effectively. In 2005, then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the concept of transformational diplomacy and development to "enhance the accountability, effectiveness, efficiency, and credibility of foreign assistance by introducing a system of coordinated planning, budgeting, and evaluation." Transformational development resulted in what was commonly referred to as the F process . In 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice created the Foreign Assistance (F) Bureau and a new position—Director of Foreign Assistance (DFA)—within the Department of State to more closely align the USAID budget and activities with the State Department's foreign policy objectives. The F process was to develop a coherent, coordinated foreign assistance strategy; provide multiyear country-specific assistance strategies; consolidate policy planning, budget, and implementation mechanisms to improve leadership in aid activities; and provide guidance for other government agencies involved in aid activities. The F Bureau developed a Strategic Framework for Foreign Assistance to align U.S. aid programs with strategic objectives. The Framework guided the writing of the FY2008 and FY2009 budgets under President Bush. During the Bush Administration an increasing portion of total aid was being delivered by DOD, largely due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan involving emergency humanitarian assistance, as well as reconstruction and stabilization activities. DOD's role in disbursing foreign aid has its advocates and detractors in State, DOD, and the NGO community. NGOs increasingly have voiced their concern about people in military uniforms handing out American aid. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has stated in the past that DOD personnel do not have expertise or the mission for delivering aid. The Barack Obama Administration acknowledges the need to elevate diplomacy and development and, at the same time, acquire the right balance with defense. Transitioning into the Obama Administration, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a carryover member of the Bush Administration, stated in early 2009 that there needs to be a balance with development supporting diplomacy and working together with defense to achieve national security goals.