Rep. Jack Bergman reintroduced his legislation to require an audit of U.S. contributions to multilateral and international organizations. This legislation is based on recommendations from the Republican Study Committee’s Task Force on National Security and Foreign Affairs report released in 2020.
Rep. Bergman was joined by former RSC Chairman, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), and fellow Task Force members Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) as original cosponsors.
“Our government lacks any real analysis of how U.S. taxpayer dollars are being spent by international organizations and whether or not those funds are being used to advance U.S. interests. Billions of dollars each year go to entities like the United Nations but we have no reporting on what happens to that money and where it ultimately ends up. It’s time for a transparent, independent audit of these funds to ensure better oversight of the money our constituents are ultimately paying for,” said Rep. Bergman.
The International Spending Transparency Act would direct the State Department to conduct an annual audit of United States contributions to multilateral and international organizations.
The audit will include information related to:
- The total amount of U.S. contributions to recipient multilateral and international organizations and the purpose for each contribution;
- An analysis of whether the receiving entity achieved the purpose of the contribution;
- An analysis of waste, fraud or abuse by receiving entity; and
- Whether any receiving entity in turn provided funds either directly or indirectly to:
- The People’s Republic of China
- The Russian Federation
- The Islamic Republic of Iran
- The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
- The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
- The Syrian Arab Republic
- Any organization designated as a foreign terrorist organization
The Daily Signal released an article in December outlining the importance of this legislation. In the 116th Congress, this bill was introduced as H.R. 8907.
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