Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) led a letter asking congressional watchdogs to investigate whether Israel and other countries receiving U.S. aid are following laws that require them to respect human rights and allow aid to be delivered into areas of conflict.
“We write to request that the U.S. Government Accountability Office conduct a thorough investigation of the U.S. government’s implementation of certain U.S. laws regarding the delivery of humanitarian assistance and assistance to foreign security forces,” the group of six senators wrote on Tuesday.
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) also signed the letter. All six supported the effort last month, in which Sanders sought to cut off some military aid to the Jewish state.
“It is essential to ensure that U.S.-provided assistance is used in accordance with U.S. law,” the senators wrote to Gene Dodaro, the U.S. comptroller general and head of the Government Accountability Office. “We are therefore asking for a nonpartisan and fact-based assessment.”
“Around the world, we have seen how restrictions on humanitarian assistance have devastating consequences, exacerbating the harms faced by millions of innocent civilians living in conflict zones,” the senators wrote.
The laws in question prevent U.S. aid from going to foreign forces involved in a “gross violation of human rights,” the lawmakers wrote. But “there have been multiple reports outlining the inconsistent application of these laws in the case of some U.S. security partners, including Israel, which undermines the original intent, and statutory requirements, of these laws,” they added.
The senators named not only Gaza but Ethiopia, Sudan, Ukraine, Burma, Syria and Nagorno-Karabakh, where, they said, deliveries of “vital humanitarian assistance such as food, medical equipment, water purification systems and other lifesaving goods have been blocked or restricted.”
They asked the Government Accountability Office to report on how the U.S. State Department determines whether aid should be held up due to violations of humanitarian laws, and what Foggy Bottom uses.
“We are concerned that there have been repeated failures to implement these laws due to divergent and, at times, contradictory interpretations,” the senators wrote.
