As a member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) is looking for transparency concerning the federal government’s distribution of taxpayer funds to Ukraine and their defense efforts against Russia.
According to the Rep. Donalds press release, more than $113 billion has been sent to Ukraine in just a year. The reasoning for the request of transparency is to “ensure that these dollars are being protected from waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Rep. Donalds joined committee chairman James Comer (R-KY) as well as the other committee Republicans in this effort.
“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is conducting oversight of the federal government’s administration of U.S. taxpayer-funded assistance to Ukraine. Since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly a year ago, Congress has provided more than $113 billion for security, humanitarian, economic, and governance assistance,” wrote the Republican legislators.
They would go on to mention that “The Committee seeks documents and information to understand how the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of State (State), and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) are conducting oversight of these funds.”
The press release includes the notion that internal witnesses have come forth and revealed that during the pandemic, lack of proper supervision concerning government spending led to “rushing through trillions of dollars” and an improper and dishonest use of funds.
The committee is looking to avoid that scenario.
“As the United States continues to filter assistance through multilateral organizations with pressure to spend funds quickly, we must ensure proper protections are in place to prevent the misuse of funds,” the lawmakers concluded.
