U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) introduced legislation to give a congressional watchdog arm complete access to American Red Cross (ARC) records for oversight purposes.
The bipartisan, bicameral American Red Cross Transparency Act of 2019, was written because of concerns that the ARC tried to quash a review by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of its practices, successfully limiting the scope of the review, and has failed to be as transparrent as it should be, according to pressreleases from the offices of Grassley and Thompson.
“The American people rely on the Red Cross to respond when tragedy strikes. It is congressionally-chartered and is a federal instrumentality. It receives federal tax dollars for some of its disaster responses, and it receives the financial benefits of tax exemption and tax-deductible donations. For those reasons, Congress has a responsibility to make sure the Red Cross answers questions asked on the public’s behalf and is operating up to the standards required of it during national disasters,” Grassley said via the release. “The Red Cross has shown an unwillingness to answer questions in the past. This legislation strengthens transparency to help make the Red Cross more accountable to the public.”
A message to the American Red Cross for reaction was not returned.
“The Red Cross has been a component of disaster response for decades, but that does not put them above Congressional oversight. The public should know how the Red Cross spends both taxpayer dollars and the funds Americans generously donate. With Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy and Harvey and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, we have seen the Red Cross struggle to fulfill its disaster response mission,” Thompson said via the release. “As the demands on our disaster response systems have intensified, and with the frequency and intensity of natural disasters having increased, it is critical that the Red Cross is able to fulfill its mission and that Congress and the American public have a window of transparency into the organization. Our legislation will ensure that the Red Cross’ past attempts to scuttle necessary oversight won’t work again.”
The American Red Cross Transparency Act would give the GAO complete access to the ARC’s records when needed to conduct oversight. If the Red Cross refuses to comply, the legislation provides the GAO with the authority to bring an action in court to force compliance.
Congress gave the GAO the broad authority to “review [Red Cross’] involvement in any federal program or activity the government carries out under law.
