GAO INTERIM REPORT: “Preliminary Observations on the Use and Oversight of Coalition Support Funds (CSF) to Pakistan”

On May 6, 2008, National Security and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Chairman John F. Tierney (D-MA) made the following statement in response to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) interim report he co-commissioned, entitled, Preliminary Observations on the Use and Oversight of Coalition Support Funds (CSF) to Pakistan

“I appreciate the GAO’s continued evaluation of Coalition Support Funds and look forward to their final conclusions and recommendations. The more I learn about this program, the more convinced I become that Coalition Support Funds are the wrong approach. Originally envisioned as a short-term, stop-gap measure, Coalition Support Funds have become an incredibly expensive, unaccountable, and ineffective program that harbors substantial diplomatic baggage affecting the long-term strength of the United States-Pakistan relationship. Our Subcommittee will continue our comprehensive oversight of this program, and we should have much more to discuss on Coalition Support Funds in the near future.”