Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) wrote to U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power on Wednesday, accusing the administration of overseeing the “misuse” of over $1 billion in aid to Gaza , which were probably seized by Hamas terrorists.
In his letter he writes USAID struck due to “insufficient verification”:
“While Congress stopped funding UNRWA earlier this year, USAID continues to work with UN agencies and other local partners in Gaza, despite documented concerns about inadequate vetting and possible terrorist links. In July, the USAID inspector general found several “deficiencies and vulnerabilities in its overnight mechanisms” for Gaza assistance, such as: E.g., inadequate vetting of local partners, reliance on self-reporting of terrorist links by partners, reliance on inadequate vetting by UN partners, etc. Challenges in third-party monitoring.”
Cotton specifically pointed out that the United Nations Emergency Relief Agency (UNRWA) often appears to be working hand in hand with the terrorists:
On September 30, your agency announced approximately $336 million in additional humanitarian funding for Gaza, Judea and Samaria. On the same day, the United Nations confirmed that Fateh al-Sharif, a Hamas leader in Lebanon who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, was employed by the United Nations Disaster Relief Agency. UNRWA, a key USAID partner before October 7, remains a key facilitator of United Nations humanitarian assistance in Gaza despite ample evidence of its ties to Hamas.
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How do you plan to ensure that American aid does not end up in the hands of terrorists in the future? Cotton wanted to know:
These flawed “monitoring mechanisms” are the very procedures that led USAID to ignore or tolerate UNRWA personnel who were affiliated with Hamas. Since nothing has changed, how can Congress trust that any aid sent to Gaza will not end up in Hamas’ hands?
When American aid flows to Israel’s enemies – who are also our enemies – USAID is guilty of moral failure, strategic disaster, and betrayal of the American taxpayer. They should immediately suspend all aid until credible and grave steps are taken to prevent American taxpayer dollars from funding terrorists.
Many people are upset about the “strongly worded” letters coming out of the Senate and House GOP committees. However, Republicans do not currently control the White House or the Senate, so investigations and letters are all they can do.
That could well change after the November election, and then these strongly worded letters could be backed up by something stronger: concrete action.
