Evaluation Mechanisms Need Improvement, but Funds Moving at More Rapid Pace

Washington, D.C.--Today, Congressman Eliot Engel, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, is releasing a report he commissioned from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the Merida Initiative. Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Ranking Member Connie Mack joined Chairman Engel’s request for the report which argues that current evaluation mechanisms for the Merida Initiative need improvement. The report also notes that previously slow Merida funding is now moving at a much more rapid pace. A copy of the report is attached.

Rep. Engel will chair a hearing on the report at 2:30 p.m. today in Room 2172 of the Rayburn Building. Jess Ford, Director of the International Affairs and Trade Team at the GAO, will testify. A webcast of the hearing can be viewed at http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/

According to Chairman Engel, “Nearly three years and $1.6 billion after the announcement of the Merida Initiative, our counternarcotics assistance to Mexico and Central America lacks fundamental measurements of success. While I strongly support our efforts to combat narco-violence in Mexico and Central America, our long history of counternarcotics spending in the Western Hemisphere demands that we better define our goals.”

In December, the GAO issued a report on the slow speed of Merida Initiative assistance to Mexico and Central America. In the study released today, the GAO explains that the Obama Administration has picked up the pace significantly in getting essential equipment and training to our partners in these countries.

Rep. Engel lauded this progress. He said, “I commend President Obama and Secretary Clinton for cutting through our government’s red tape to get the Merida Initiative moving. We must continue to expedite Merida assistance to Mexico and Central America.”

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is known as "the investigative arm of Congress" and "the congressional watchdog." It is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress to examine how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars.

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