WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the statement below on the Senate’s passage of the rescission package.
“I, alongside Senate Republicans, took decisive action to uphold President Trump’s foreign policy and ensure American taxpayer dollars are not being used irresponsibly abroad. The President is right to pull back funds from programs that run counter to our core values and make Americans less safe, less secure, and less prosperous.
"There is a lot in this package to support, including President Trump’s efforts to leverage U.S. funding and demand reform at unaccountable UN agencies and institutions. I also strongly support the elimination of funding for corrupt institutions that are beyond saving, like the U.S.-African Development Foundation. I am happy to see USAID has been erased and folded into a reorganized State Department.
"I look forward to working with the President to make targeted reductions to global health funds, while ensuring accountability in critical programs such as PEPFAR, the President’s Malaria Initiative, and polio interventions, which save the lives of babies and mothers and protect Americans from outbreaks of deadly diseases. This is what an America First foreign policy looks like, and I am proud to support it.”