Description:
H.R. 2744 would authorize the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to use the U.S. flag to identify products provided through its foreign assistance programs. Current law directs USAID to brand such assistance as "American Aid." H.R. 2744 would explicitly authorize the agency to mark foreign assistance with a depiction of the U.S. flag. The agency indicates that changing its labeling to include the U.S. flag would not change the branding costs for foreign assistance programs. In addition, the bill would require the Inspector General of USAID to conduct an audit of the agency's branding practices. Using information about the costs of audits of similar size and scope, CBO estimates that satisfying the audit requirement in H.R. 2744 would cost less than $500,000 over the 2020-2024 period; such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. On May 30, 2019, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 2744, USAID Branding Modernization Act, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on May 22, 2019. The two bills are similar and CBO's estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.
