Pursuant to Rule X, Clause 2(d) of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Foreign Affairs (hereinafter referred to as “the Committee”), has adopted this oversight plan for the two-year period of the 112th Congress, which is being submitted to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and to the Committee on House Administration not later than February 15, 2011. It describes areas in which the Committee intends to conduct oversight during this Congress, subject to the understanding that new developments will undoubtedly affect the Committee’s priorities and may change the oversight work of the Committee in the months ahead.
In the course of the Committee’s work regarding United States relations with foreign nations, the Committee’s oversight activities will emphasize: the elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse; institutional reform, efficiency, and fiscal discipline; effective implementation of U.S. law (particularly provisions relating to international terrorism and nonproliferation); and the promotion of core U.S. interests and values abroad, including the empowering and strengthening of our allies. These activities will include effective use and review of reports by the Government Accountability Office and by statutory Inspectors General, as well as Congressional Notifications submitted by executive branch agencies. Pursuant to House Rule X(2)(b)(2), the Committee is expanding its commitment to regular oversight by its subcommittees, both by changes to Committee Rule 14 (establishing a Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations) and by additions to Committee Rule 15 (requiring its regional Subcommittees to hold hearings on priority topics, including program oversight, at least twice a year). These changes will help the Committee to more than fulfill the triannual oversight hearing requirements of House Rule XI(n)(1).
Cognizant of the recently expanded requirements of House Rule X(2)(d)(1), the Committee has developed the plan detailed below as part of its commitment to:
Topics listed below may be the subject of any of the full range of Committee oversight activities, including Member or staff-level meetings, briefings, investigations, correspondence, fact-finding travel, hearings, markups, and legislation.
The Committee intends to exercise its oversight jurisdiction concerning the relations of the United States with foreign nations to the fullest extent allowed by House Rule X(1)(h). This means taking cognizance of events and circumstances in every region of the world outside of U.S. national borders, as well as U.S. foreign policy responses thereto, as developments warrant.
According to Committee Rules those responsibilities will be divided among the Full Committee, its five regional subcommittees, and its two functional subcommittees as follows:
In addition to those highlighted above: