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| Rice restructures aid operations: USAID now under State Dept. control |
| 2006-01-20 |
| EFL Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday announced plans to bring the U.S. Agency for International Development under the direct control of the State Department to streamline the more than $19 billion worth of foreign aid programs. She named Randall L. Tobias, the administration's global AIDS coordinator and a former pharmaceutical company executive, to direct U.S. foreign aid, a new position that is equivalent to deputy secretary of state and entails reporting directly to Miss Rice. Mr. Tobias also will serve as USAID administrator and "will have authority over all State Department and USAID foreign assistance," Miss Rice said. Mr. Tobias, who will have to be confirmed by the Senate, said after Miss Rice's announcement that the administration would promote its freedom and democracy agenda around the world "by better leveraging the strengths and the contributions of our foreign assistance institutions." Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R,Indiana), chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, endorsed the nomination of Mr. Tobias, who is a former chairman and CEO of AT&T International and former chairman, president and CEO of Eli Lilly & Co., a pharmaceutical firm. Miss Rice said the status quo of how foreign aid is administered is not acceptable. "The current structure of America's foreign assistance risks incoherent policies and ineffective programs and perhaps even wasted resources," she said. Miss Rice said she would create advanced training courses on the subject at the Foreign Service Institute. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |