Sen. Chuck Grassley has received a response from the American Red Cross related to his inquiry on spending on earthquake relief in Haiti. He made the following comment on the response.
“I still have a lot more questions for the Red Cross. It’s unclear why the Red Cross enters into contracts with other organizations stipulating that details of grants can’t be disclosed to the media or donors. Who’s driving the lack of disclosure, the Red Cross or the grant recipients? What’s the rationale for it? It’s hard to see how disclosing the dollar amounts given from the Red Cross to the individual organizations and how those organizations spent the money would harm anyone. I look forward to an explanation. I have other questions about the spending numbers and how they add up and the overhead costs for both the Red Cross and the grantee organizations. Also, I’d like to see more details of the results achieved from each of the partner organizations. Transparency and accountability are important for any spending in the public interest. With that in mind, I’ll continue to ask questions on behalf of the donating, taxpaying public.”
The Red Cross’ responses to Grassley’s questions are available here, excluding the details of partner organizations.
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