SFRC Chairman Menendez Opening Remarks at Full Committee Hearing: Review of the FY2024 USAID Budget Request
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered the following opening statement at this morning’s full Committee hearing to review the FY2024 budget request for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Testifying before the Committee was Administrator Samantha Power.
“While your budget request is an improvement compared to past years, given the challenges and risks we face right now—and the shocks and stressors we will face in the future—I am concerned that this budget is not ambitious enough,” Chairman Menendez said. “We can build the world’s best hospitals, the smoothest roads, or the most efficient power grids, but when the United States invests in local infrastructure, we must also make sure the host communities know what we are doing. That they know the United States’ model of development and investment brings needed, trusted, and sustainable partnerships for growth.”
“International development … has to be about making strategic investments that address the needs of people on the ground. About strengthening the systems and institutions countries need to be resilient in the future. About creating good-paying, local jobs. And about supporting the peace and prosperity people need to raise a family rather than being forced to flee their homeland,” Chairman Menendez added.
Find a copy of the Chairman’s remarks as delivered below.
“This hearing will come to order.
Administrator Power, thank you for joining us.
As we meet today, horrific violence continues to unfold in Khartoum.
Hundreds are dead and thousands have been wounded.
The staff of humanitarian aid organizations have been assaulted and killed—a reminder of the dangers our diplomats, humanitarian and development workers at USAID face as they carry out their mission every day.
I am sure I speak for all of us when I say how relieved I was to hear about the successful evacuation of our officials from Sudan.
But I agree with Administration officials—we cannot, must not abandon the Sudanese people.
Nor will insecurity deter us from our work in other parts of the continent, and other places in the world.
Russia’s war in Ukraine is driving up food, fertilizer, and energy costs all over the globe.
Forty-eight million people in West Africa are experiencing food insecurity.
Climate change is fueling record floods around the world from Pakistan to Nigeria and extreme droughts in Brazil and Central Asia.
Additionally, the threat of state-sponsored death squads, criminal gangs, and sexual violence is driving millions and millions of people to flee their homes,
creating a growing migration crisis across continents and hemispheres.
Administrator Power, do you think we are prepared?
Because while your budget request is an improvement compared to past years, given the challenges and risks we face right now—and the shocks and stressors we will face in the future—I am concerned that this budget is not ambitious enough.
Successful U.S. foreign policy requires a balance between the three Ds of Defense, Diplomacy and Development.
Development is effectively the ounce of prevention for the pound of cure we see in places like Sudan right now.
It cannot be an afterthought for the United States.
And it certainly is not an afterthought in Beijing.
China is outspending us and outflanking us when it comes to international development and development diplomacy.
I would argue that American international development is driven by a desire to support people seeking to improve their own lives—to help build strong societal and governance structures that facilitate sustainable economic growth.
That stands in stark contrast to China’s development approach, which amounts to foreign infrastructure investments, which—I think it is fair to say—do not come from the goodness of Xi Jinping’s heart.
Rather, it is a tool Beijing uses effectively to influence and shape the direction of nations around the globe.
Their efforts ignore workers’ rights, destroy the environment, and saddle local communities seeking critical infrastructure projects with faulty bridges and roads.
We need to up our game to be responsive to the types of infrastructure projects so many nations need.
We can build the world’s best hospitals, the smoothest roads, or the most efficient power grids, but when the United States invests in local infrastructure, we must also make sure the host communities know what we are doing.
That they know the United States’ model of development and investment brings needed, trusted, and sustainable partnerships for growth.
I also think that when democratic nations try to do the right thing, USAID needs to be able to move quickly.
We must be agile and ready to support those democracies facing economic hardship.
So I’d like to hear your thoughts on whether USAID has what it needs to show that democracies can deliver for their people.
Because often times, USAID moves slower than molasses.
Case in point: the humanitarian crisis for Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh is only getting worse.
Where are we?
Why aren’t we airlifting humanitarian supplies to those Armenians facing Baku’s blockade?
We need to respond to events quickly, and we also need to address root causes.
I think you’d agree with me that international development must be about more than sending tents to people impacted by an earthquake or hurricane.
It has to be about making strategic investments that address the needs of people on the ground.
About strengthening the systems and institutions countries need to be resilient in the future.
About creating good-paying, local jobs.
And about supporting the peace and prosperity people need to raise a family rather than being forced to flee their homeland.
Administrator Power, I look forward to hearing your testimony updating us on your progress since last year.
With that I’ll turn to the Ranking Member for his opening statement.”
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