Congressional Action on Foreign Aid Policy 1945-2003

This paper provides a legal and policy history of United States foreign aid, viewed through the lens of major Congressional enactments on foreign aid policy from the immediate post-World War II era through the immediate post-9/11 era. The paper traces landmark foreign aid enactments in an effort to examine what factors are the most important in shaping the development of foreign aid policy over time and in influencing Congressional action on foreign aid. The paper argues that the three factors that have shaped Congressional action on foreign aid most prominently are external events and crises, inter-institutional tensions between Congress and the Executive, and Congressional pursuit of broad, overarching (foreign and domestic) objectives over time.