Morning Briefing

At an event on Thursday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, co-hosted by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Brookings Institute, House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) unveiled a discussion draft of the Global Partnerships Act of 2011, aimed at "reshap[ing] foreign assistance, making it more relevant 'by incorporating the best practices and lessons learned over the last half century,'" he said, the Malaria Policy Center's "Malaria Watch" blog reports (Todd, 9/9). Released as a draft instead of a numbered bill in order to spur discussion, the document covers "the full spectrum of foreign aid -- development, democracy promotion, arms transfers and nuclear nonproliferation -- but doesn't include spending levels," according to AEI's "The Enterprise Blog" (Johnson, 9/8).