[House Hearing, 116 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS FOR
2021
_______________________________________________________________________
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HEARINGS
BEFORE A
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
_____________
SUBCOMMITTEE ON STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS,
AND RELATED PROGRAMS
NITA M. LOWEY, New York, Chairwoman
BARBARA LEE, California
GRACE MENG, New York
DAVID E. PRICE, North Carolina
LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
NORMA J. TORRES, California
HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
MARTHA ROBY, Alabama
NOTE: Under committee rules, Mrs. Lowey, as chairwoman of the full
committee, and Ms. Granger, as ranking minority member of the full
committee, are authorized to sit as members of all subcommittees.
Steve Marchese, Craig Higgins, Erin Kolodjeski, Dean Koulouris,
Jason Wheelock, Jean Kwon, Marin Stein, and Clelia Alvarado
Subcommittee Staff
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PART 4
MEMBERS' DAY...................................................1
PUBLIC WITNESS DAY............................................83
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
43-524 WASHINGTON : 2021
COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
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NITA M. LOWEY, New York, Chairwoman
MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio
PETER J. VISCLOSKY, Indiana
JOSE E. SERRANO, New York
ROSA L. DeLAURO, Connecticut
DAVID E. PRICE, North Carolina
LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD, California
SANFORD D. BISHOP, Jr., Georgia
BARBARA LEE, California
BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota
TIM RYAN, Ohio
C. A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER, Maryland
DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Florida
HENRY CUELLAR, Texas
CHELLIE PINGREE, Maine
MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois
DEREK KILMER, Washington
MATT CARTWRIGHT, Pennsylvania
GRACE MENG, New York
MARK POCAN, Wisconsin
KATHERINE M. CLARK, Massachusetts
PETE AGUILAR, California
LOIS FRANKEL, Florida
CHERI BUSTOS, Illinois
BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN, New Jersey
BRENDA L. LAWRENCE, Michigan
NORMA J. TORRES, California
CHARLIE CRIST, Florida
ANN KIRKPATRICK, Arizona
ED CASE, Hawaii
KAY GRANGER, Texas
HAROLD ROGERS, Kentucky
ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama
MICHAEL K. SIMPSON, Idaho
JOHN R. CARTER, Texas
KEN CALVERT, California
TOM COLE, Oklahoma
MARIO DIAZ-BALART, Florida
TOM GRAVES, Georgia
STEVE WOMACK, Arkansas
JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
CHUCK FLEISCHMANN, Tennessee
JAIME HERRERA BEUTLER, Washington
DAVID P. JOYCE, Ohio
ANDY HARRIS, Maryland
MARTHA ROBY, Alabama
MARK E. AMODEI, Nevada
CHRIS STEWART, Utah
STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi
DAN NEWHOUSE, Washington
JOHN R. MOOLENAAR, Michigan
JOHN H. RUTHERFORD, Florida
WILL HURD, Texas
Shalanda Young, Clerk and Staff Director
(ii)
STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS FOR 2021
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Thursday, February 27, 2020
MEMBERS' DAY
OPENING STATEMENT BY CHAIRWOMAN LOWEY
The Chairwoman [presiding]. Good afternoon. The
Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
will come to order.
I welcome our distinguished colleagues. It is a pleasure to
have you join us for our first hearing of the year. We begin
crafting the fiscal year 2021 appropriations bill, your
testimony will be integral to our process. The democracy,
development, diplomacy, humanitarian, and security assistance
programs funding in this bill are critical to maintaining
United States' global leadership, protecting our national
security, and promoting economic growth. Yet since coming to
office, the President has repeatedly proposed cutting these
programs. Fortunately, Congress has consistently and
resoundingly rejected the administration's cuts.
For fiscal year 2021, the President's request included a 20
percent cut that would decimate United States diplomatic
development and humanitarian efforts. A bipartisan majority in
Congress has rejected shortsighted cuts to overseas programs,
and I am confident we will do again. That is why I appreciate
each of you who are, and those who are coming, making the time
to testify and draw our attention to these critical programs,
the very programs that protect our national security and uphold
our foreign policy priorities. So thank you for coming. I look
forward to hearing about your priorities in the State and
Foreign Operations bill.
And at this point, I would like to turn to my ranking
member, Mr. Rogers, for any comments he may have.
OPENING STATEMENT BY RANKING MEMBER ROGERS
Mr. Rogers. Thank you, Madam Chair, for convening this
hearing so we can hear from our colleagues on their fiscal year
2021 priorities in the State, Foreign Operations bill. In the
weeks ahead, we will hear from the administration's senior
leadership on the details of the President's budget request for
State, Foreign Operations, including the impact of the so-
called proposed 19 percent cut. Once we have heard from all the
witnesses, I look forward to working with you, Madam Chair, on
a bill that provides more realistic funding levels in support
of U.S. soft power that advances our national security.
Many important programs in the bill. I am pleased to get to
hear from members who have wishes to include in the bill. We
thank them for their participation, and we look forward to
hearing from them. I yield back.
The Chairwoman. Thank you very much, and I am very pleased
to welcome Representative Espaillat of New York. He is a member
of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Thank you for joining us
today, and we will be happy to place your full testimony into
the record. If you would be kind enough to summarize your
written statement. I want to be sure we have enough time to get
any questions. Please proceed.
STATEMENT BY HON. ADRIANO DE JESUS ESPAILLAT, A REPRESENTATIVE
IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK
Mr. Espaillat. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Madam
Chair and Ranking Member. Thank you for allowing me to testify
today in this hearing and lay out my priorities as they relate
to the State Department and related agencies.
As someone that was born in the Caribbean and as a member
of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs
Committee, I know that maintaining our foreign aid and
diplomatic commitments show that we are well positioned in that
region. That region happens to be our Third World. I would like
to begin by discussing our efforts to combat crime and illicit
trafficking in the Caribbean, and thank the committee for the
$2 million increase in the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative
received last year, but I am here to share why the need is even
greater.
The Caribbean is particularly susceptible to the drug trade
as a midway point for narcotics produced in South America on
their way to the United States, where unfortunately, the demand
is very high. Stopping narcotics from coming through the
Caribbean is important not only for combating the drug problem
in the U.S., but for promoting stability in Caribbean
countries. According to a status report of the State
Department's U.S. Strategy for Engagement in the Caribbean,
released in July 2019, that report states that the Caribbean
has some of the highest murder rates in the world. Rising crime
and endemic corruption threaten government's ability to provide
security and good governance.
With continued efforts to combat the drug trade in Central
America and Mexico, the lack of comparable investment in the
Caribbean makes the already susceptible region a flashpoint for
the smuggling of Colombian cocaine, which has quadrupled its
production since 2012. The CBSI has been instrumental in
providing needed help to combat the drug trade, work to lower
crime and violence rates, and stand against corruption.
However, CBSI's funding level is insufficient to meet the
continuing and growing need. As such, I urge this committee to
provide at least $80 million for the Caribbean Basin Security
Initiative for fiscal year 2021.
I would also like to discuss the global and substantial
challenge of our time, climate change. We see the effects every
day from pollution in the Harlem River that causes asthma, to
drought in the Northern Triangle that leads to insecurity and
migration. Developing countries, which contribute the least to
climate change, but often bear the greatest burden, need the
help to build capacity and mitigate and adapt to climate
change. Their share of the burden greatly outweighs their
contribution to the problem, whereas developed countries
contribute immensely to climate change, but bear less of a
burden. This is a global environmental injustice.
The Green Climate Fund is a means to help developing
countries reach their full mitigating potential and combat
climate change. The U.S. has committed $3 billion to the fund,
but has only contributed $1 billion. There is no greater need
than to combat climate change, and the committee at least begin
[Audio malfunction in hearing room] against America's
commitment to leadership goals in global climate change. As
such, I urge the committee to provide $750 million, the last
ask under the past administration, to the Green Climate Fund.
I thank you for hearing my concerns and priorities. I have
submitted additional testimony in writing to the committee,
which I hope you will also be able to take into consideration.
Thank you.
The Chairwoman. Well, thank you for your very thoughtful
testimony. Any questions?
[No response.]
The Chairwoman. Thank you.
Mr. Espaillat. Thank you so much.
The Chairwoman. Have a good rest of the day. Representative
McGovern of Massachusetts, the chairman of the Rules Committee,
I am happy you are able to join us. And, of course, you can put
your full testimony into the record, and if you would be kind
enough to summarize your written statement. I want to make sure
we have enough time to get to any questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Espaillat follows:]
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STATEMENT BY HON. JAMES P. MCGOVERN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS
Mr. McGovern. Madam Chair, Ranking Member Rogers. Thank you
to Norma Torres, my colleague on the Rules Committee as well.
Thanks for having me here.
I want to begin by touching on a couple of items included
in the fiscal year 2020 bill. I want to thank you for
designating $1 million to support CONABUSQUEDA, which is an
organization that I helped establish that is dedicated to the
search for the disappeared from the Salvadoran civil war. This
affects many Salvadoran American families as well the people of
El Salvador. It is an important effort to bring to closure
their suffering. They don't know the whereabouts of missing
family members, and to help heal the wounds of that war.
I also want to thank you for the strong language directing
the State Department to coordinate across all U.S. agencies the
release of all relevant files or documents related to the 1981
El Mozote massacre in El Salvador. I visited that site. Over
1,000 people were massacred, mostly women and children. Some
children were literally infants, and they were massacred by
Salvadoran soldiers and buried in shallow graves. The
Salvadoran presiding judge in the El Mozote case, Jorge Guzman,
sent a letter to Secretary Pompeo expressing gratitude for the
initiative that Congress put forward. That letter was hand
delivered to the Western Hemisphere Affairs Bureau the first
week of February. And in his letter, Judge Guzman noted what
types of documents and information would be most useful to his
review of the case, and the U.S. agencies where such files
might be located.
Now, I respectfully ask the committee to follow up and
ensure that the funds for CONABUSQUEDA to be allocated in a
timely manner as well. I also ask that the committee be
persistent and uncompromising in making sure that the State
Department complies fully and expeditiously with your directive
on the El Mozote case. Resolving this case would be a
tremendous step in breaking impunity and advancing justice in
El Salvador. I should just also say, I think we have a special
obligation on this case because the soldiers who are
responsible for this massacre, the battalion, the Atlacatl
battalion, was actually formed by the U.S., and we trained many
of these soldiers, and we certainly armed them.
I am also grateful for the one-time increase of $250,000 to
upgrade the Congressional Executive Commission on China
Prisoner Database, which hasn't been updated since 2004.
Currently, the CECC, which I am the chair of, is working with
contractors to create a new political prisoner database,
preserve and transfer existing data, and support and maintain
the system in both English and Chinese. For fiscal year 2021, I
am requesting the traditional level of $2 million for the CECC.
My priorities for fiscal year 2021 are similar to last
year: robust funding for the Global Food Security Programs,
including increasing to $200 million the nutrition account
under the Global Health Programs; maintaining current levels
for Colombia, and the final bill did a very fine job of
targeting and designating funds for Colombia last year. In
fiscal year 2021, we need to continue to focus on the full
implementation of the peace accords, promoting human rights,
protecting local social leaders, and advancing sustainable
community-based rural development, especially in those areas
most affected by nearly 60 years of war and violence.
In Central America, USAID needs to emphasize human rights,
rule of law, good governance, and any corruption and official
engagement in criminal activity. Madam Chair, I am deeply
concerned about the fate of human rights and democracy in
Central America. I travel there often. Young people and
families confront a violent landscape daily. They are
threatened with death to join gangs, intersexual slavery, and
to pay extortion. I hope that the committee would formally
recognize that these countries struggling to overcome
persistent violence, poverty, corruption, and institutional
weakness provide neither safety nor security for their own
people.
Last year, Ranking Member Rogers expressed frustration
about years of U.S. funding in the fight against drugs in South
America. I agree. In Colombia, drug and criminal violence
remains pervasive, yet over 99,000 small farmers have come
forward in support of the peace accord and declare that they
will stop growing illegal crops. They have literally put their
lives on the line for peace, but they can't succeed without the
full engagement of the Colombian government and real protection
by the Colombian Security Forces.
Regrettably, neither the Colombian government nor the U.S.
have stepped up to the plate and provided the necessary support
and resources for the rural development and counter drug
strategy detail in the peace accord. Lack of progress and even
setbacks to reducing illegal crops comes less from copa sino
farmers than the lack of political will by the civilian and
military authorities. We have seen that aerial fumigation does
not stop the cultivation of cocoa. What is needed is the full
and lasting presence of the state in these formerly-ungoverned
places.
These rural communities need to be able to count on
democratic governance, financing for alternative livelihood,
rule of law, schools and health clinics, and the protection of
their local social leaders. It requires a long-term commitment,
but should it work, the results will not only address drug
trafficking, but expand the benefits of democracy and
development through Colombia.
So I end here, Madam Chair and Ranking Member Rogers, and
thank you for your time, and welcome any questions or comments
or whatever.
The Chairwoman. Do you have any questions?
Mr. Rogers. Briefly if the chair would yield. Two things.
The current government in Colombia, I think, is having the
right policies in place, and they are beginning to bend the
curve on cocoa production through eradication and interdiction.
So they have got a long ways to go, but at least, I think we
are seeing the beginnings of the right kind of result.
Mr. McGovern. Yes. Well, I respectfully would disagree that
they are making the progress on the drug front that we all
hope. They seem to be going back to the same old policies that
were once used by the previous government under President
Uribe, where they are going back to aerial fumigation, which
didn't stop anything. These small farmers, what they need is
crop substitution. They need alternatives, because if not, they
are just going to end up finding other ways to be engaging in
illegal activity.
And we know what works. President Duque just canceled the
agreement with the United Nations to continue with a program
that has been actually very effective in getting small farmers
out of the business of growing illegal crops. I don't know why
he did that, but I think that is a step backwards. We know that
works. We have the statistics to show that it works. We ought
to embrace that. There is no shortcut to solving Colombia's
problems, but I will be honest with you. I am not as enamored
with the Colombian government as you just stated, so I am very
concerned about their moving backwards, and also the increase
in violence and the focus of attacks on social leaders. That is
not a good thing.
Mr. Rogers. Well, if you noticed, my words were faint
praise for Colombia. You asked for the regular $2 million for
the China commission. Since we started this, the role of China
in the world economically has changed quite dramatically. Has
that fact impacted the commission's work?
Mr. McGovern. Well, it has. The commission's focus is on
human rights. After we provided most favored nation status to
China, we wanted to make sure that we didn't forget about human
rights, and the commission has, I think, done a very, very good
job. And right now we are concerned about what is happening
China with regard to the treatment of Uyghurs. We have people
who are telling the camps in which Uyghurs are being forced
into, their treatment might constitute crimes against humanity.
We are concerned about China's role in trying to undercut
Hong Kong, which, by the way, would have a negative impact on
the global economy. We want China to keep its word when they
talked about one country, two systems. They are going in the
wrong direction. We are concerned about China's treatment of
Tibetans. They are trying to destroy Tibetan culture, and now
interjecting themselves in who will be the next Dalai Lama.
They are actually saying that the government, not the Tibetans,
should be responsible for who is the next Dalai Lama, and
certainly that is a violation of religious freedom, and it is
something that we should all condemn.
So, yes, we recognize that China is playing a bigger role
in global affairs economically and militarily, but our job is
to focus on human rights and make sure we don't forget that.
Mr. Rogers. We included a quarter of a million dollars in
the 2020 bill for an upgrade of the database on political
prisoners. How is that coming, and when can we get a----
Mr. McGovern. Well, as I mentioned, we are trying to get
that. We are asking for the money to do just that, update it,
because it is, quite frankly, not particularly usable. It is
there, but to get through it all is a challenge. We want to
make this user friendly so that people have access to this
relatively easily, not just those who are monitoring human
rights, but businesses, Members of Congress. So we have a plan
to go forward, but we need the money to upgrade, the quality of
the database so it is actually useful.
Mr. Rogers. Well, that is why we gave it to you in 2020, so
where are we?
Mr. McGovern. We are moving in the right direction, I can
assure you of that. I know we are interviewing firms to try to
get it upgraded, but we are getting there.
Mr. Rogers. That is really not much of an answer.
Mr. McGovern. My understanding is that we haven't access to
the money yet to do that, and that is one of the requests that
I am making here today is to make sure we have the adequate
resources to basically modernize the whole system. The staff is
working very hard at compiling information. We are trying to
make the commission more user friendly. For example, the
commission has been around for some time now. They issue yearly
reports that are actually very, very good. They are detailed,
but they are thick, and my guess is that most people up here
don't read them. We continue to issue the thick report. We are
now issuing executive summaries so that there is no excuse to
not read them.
On the database, which is quite extensive, we wanted it to
be user friendly and useful in a way where people can get
access to it without having to hire a research assistant to
spend a week going through it. The whole point of compiling a
list of political prisoners is to make sure that people know
the extent of China's brutality, and that they are imprisoning
people for everything from being a human rights defender, to
practicing their religion, to being a member of the LGBTQ
community, to you name it. And so I am very proud of the work
of the China Commission, and we are happy to sit down with your
staff to go over the details of the database, but I assure you,
we are doing everything we can to get it updated and upgraded.
The Chairwoman. Thank you. Representative Spanberger of
Virginia, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Thank you
for testifying.
Mr. McGovern. And before I leave, I just want to say to the
chairwoman, you will probably be before the Rules Committee,
but I am not sure I will be coming before you again in your
current capacity, and I just want to thank you for all the
incredible work that you have done on behalf of vulnerable
people all over the world. And, you have an incredible legacy
that you should be proud of, and we are certainly all proud to
serve with you. So thank you.
The Chairwoman. Thank you, and you have been invaluable
partner, and I appreciate your kind words.
Mr. McGovern. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. McGovern follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Good afternoon.
Ms. Spanberger. Good afternoon.
The Chairwoman. Thank you for coming here before us, and
you can summarize or read the whole testimony, whichever you
prefer.
STATEMENT BY HON. ABIGAIL DAVIS SPANBERGER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF VIRGINIA
Ms. Spanberger. Good afternoon. Thank you, Chairwoman
Lowey, for your leadership on this subcommittee, and thank you,
Ranking Member Rogers. I appreciate the opportunity to address
the subcommittee or to address the State, Foreign Operations,
and Related Programs Subcommittee today.
The mission of this subcommittee is very important to me.
As someone who has devoted my entire career to strengthening
national security, I am aware of the proven benefits of
strategic diplomacy and targeted foreign assistance. And as you
know, the success of these efforts is wholly dependent on the
capacity, equipment, and training of those who are going
overseas and representing U.S. interests abroad. Our diplomats
are public servants. These Americans have demonstrated time and
time again that they deserve our full support.
I was a former CIA case officer. As part of that training,
I went through intense training at what is known as the Farm
where we practiced event after event how to react to
challenging circumstances, how to keep ourselves safe, how to
keep others safe. And when I was overseas, I witnessed the
immense dedication of my State Department counterparts who
worked tirelessly in the pursuit of U.S. foreign policy
objectives. The work of our diplomats is vital, and the
dedication of our Nation's diplomatic security agents has
protected not just our Nation's diplomats and embassies, but
the very members of Congress in this room who have traveled
abroad on congressional delegation trips. State Department
officers and DSS agents around the world serve in challenging
locations under immense pressure and with one unifying
commitment to service.
As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I am
committed to advancing a smart national security strategy, and
part of this strategy is the need to ensure that we are
properly training our diplomatic professionals. And given the
range of risk that these public servants face while they are
serving abroad, that must include intense and regular training
to counter the threats to their personal security and U.S.
national security interests.
In my district, Virginia's 7th District, we are proud to be
home State Department's new Foreign Affairs Security Training
Center, or FASTC as we call it locally. It is located at Fort
Pickett near the town of Blackstone in Nottaway County,
Virginia. FASTC's mission is to be the premiere training center
for members of the U.S. foreign affairs community, who risk so
much to serve our Nation overseas. I encourage you all to visit
the facility. It is a remarkable new facility, and it has
impressive capacity to train its employees.
I would like to thank the appropriators as well as the many
members of Congress who advocated for the creation of FASTC
long before my arrival in Congress because following a 2008
report to Congress, lawmakers saw the pressing need for a
consolidated high-tech security training facility, and they
acted to fill this void. Through the process, Virginia
lawmakers and others put the work in to make FASTC a reality.
After opening on Fort Pickett in November 2019, FASTC is
now meeting the need of security and personnel training that
identified a decade ago. FASTC provides lifesaving security
training to thousands of thousands of diplomatic security
personnel and other members of the U.S. foreign affairs
community. With this training, they are more prepared to
identify, prevent, and respond to a wide range of security
risks to U.S. personnel and United States citizens, and we are
honored to be the home district of such a critical mission.
However, while this state-of-the-art facility is training
hundreds of government employees each week, FASTC still faces
several barriers in reaching its full potential, and that is
the subject of what I would like to discuss. The facility was
originally designed not only to serve a critical national
security function, one that has become even more necessary as
we have witnessed attacks on U.S. embassies and American
citizens, and heightened security risks, but also consolidated
training that would generate cost savings for the Federal
Government.
Previously, members of the Diplomatic Security Service were
training at multiple different facilities across the country.
This is a consolidated effort, but it not only was meant to be
beneficial from a fiscal standpoint, but also from an
experience of training. Those cost savings have really not yet
been realized, and FASTC has not yet achieved its maximum
potential in terms of a comprehensive training experience.
Right now, trainees are being bused in from hotels that are
more than an hour away. I represent a long, thin district in
central Virginia, and FASTC puts trainees in hotels in the
Richmond, Virginia suburbs, and then putting them on country
roads headed south for at least an hour's drive, sometimes
crossing through the City of Richmond if it is on the northern
side, sometimes avoiding the City of Richmond.
There are no hotels or eating establishments nearby that
can meet the needs of the hundreds of trainees at FASTC, and
that means that Diplomatic Security agents and other trainees,
they are bringing their own lunch. They are spending 3 hours on
buses, and it is impacting the training experience. These are
wasted hours and, frankly, wasted dollars chartering buses,
renting hotels.
We should all be concerned about the remaining deficiencies
and how they could impair the security of American personnel
around the world, but we don't have to accept these gaps. We
can fix them while improving cost effectiveness. So it is
imperative that we take affirmative next steps towards
fulfilling the subcommittee's original vision for FASTC, both
as a topnotch national security training facility and as an
engine of local economic development.
In the coming months, I look forward to working with the
subcommittee and my colleagues in Congress on this issue. There
is an opportunity to do better by both the American taxpayer
and to our diplomatic professionals, and it starts with
lawmakers delivering on the initial promise that was the idea
of FASTC. And as the appropriations process proceeds, I will be
working to address this challenge.
I am proud to have this critical diplomatic security
facility in Central Virginia, and I am committed to making it
more effective on behalf of the public servants who train there
and the American communities they serve. If we are not focused
on preparing the next generation of diplomats and diplomatic
security agents, it is not just an understatement to say we
will be putting all Americans in jeopardy. These investments
have real short-term implications for our ability to deal with
the threats of tomorrow, and they have real long-term impacts
on the investments we as a country are making.
State Department training is critical to all aspects of our
national security, and I hope the members of this subcommittee
recognize this. I believe very much in the work that happens in
Nottaway County at Fort Pickett and at FASTC. I have personally
taken an oath to defend this country three times and its
values, and I know that my colleagues in the Foreign Service
have done the same. I look forward to working with you all in
the future, and I thank you for paying attention to what is
happening in FASTC and some of the challenges that are being
created by the circumstances of the training facility.
The Chairwoman. Let me thank you for testifying before us,
and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your
expertise and your unique set of, shall we say, abilities that
are not shared by members in the Congress. So you are a
valuable asset, and I thank you, and I look forward to hearing
from you whenever it is convenient. Thank you for being here
today.
Ms. Spanberger. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Chairwoman. Mr. Rogers?
Mr. Rogers. No questions.
Ms. Spanberger. Thank you.
The Chairwoman. Thank you.
Ms. Spanberger. And thank you for your time.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Spanberger follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you. Representative Costa of
California, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Thank
you for joining us today, and we will be happy to place your
full testimony in the record. If you would be kind enough to
summarize your written statement, and if you have time for any
questions, we may just have some.
STATEMENT BY HON. JIM COSTA, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM
THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Mr. Costa. Thank you very much, Madam Chairwoman and
members of the Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations.
Clearly I must say, you and your staff have a great view and on
a good day. And so, but as a member of the Foreign Relations
Committee, I am going to share some thoughts with you on, I
believe, some appropriation funding issues that you are
familiar with already. But let me underline them, and as you
deal with the difficult task of attempting to put together the
Appropriations Committee's priorities for our spending in the
next fiscal year, I hope that you will consider these among
your list of priorities that I think are important, and, again,
that reflect, I think, America's needs in terms of our foreign
policy priorities that are important.
First, nutritional aid. Our foreign aid assistance effort
is a very small percentage our Nation's budget, but I think it
is critically important that we, in fact, show leadership
around the world. And it is a part of our, I think, under our
State Department's policy and efforts with our embassies around
the world, and our partnerships, and our alliance with the
European Union and others, an important part of smart power,
smart power that adds credibility and influence in the troubled
world that we live in where there are lots of challenges. The
fact is that the nutritional aid has for decades been an
important part of the smart power. It focuses on programs that
are related to the appropriations you are considering.
In the 2021 budget request, the President, I believe,
needlessly zeroed out the funding for critical programs that
include Food for Peace. This is a program that has existed for
decades that has had overwhelmingly bipartisan support, and has
had support of previous Republican and Democratic
administrations alike. It provides lifesaving food assistance
for some of the world's most vulnerable people in the Middle
East, in Africa, in Asia, southeast Asia.
So I think it is not only our moral obligation to provide
humanitarian assistance that we work in conjunction with our
partners in Europe and the European Union, but it is good
public policy because food security we know is fundamental to
national security in some of these countries that are so
challenged internally. It is part of our smart power. And so I
strongly urge this committee to robustly fund the nutritional
assistance programs in the fiscal year 2021, and Food for Peace
is a part of one of those programs. And you are familiar, I
know, with it.
Let me also separately talk about separate funding that I
know the chairman of the Rules Committee just spoke to you a
moment ago, and that is the demining operations that not only
affect Nagorno-Karabakh, but other areas where people are at
risk. This deals clearly with nonproliferation, antiterrorism,
and demining to related NADAR programs in the fiscal year 2020-
21 appropriations. This was another, I think, tremendous cut
that was made as a part of the President's 2021 budget request
that I disagree with.
Let me give you some examples that I think you are familiar
with. The conventional weapons destruction sub-account has
saved lives across the globe, and this funding has gone towards
addressing humanitarian impacts of landmines and explosive
remnants of war that ultimately combat proliferation of small
arms and larger weapon systems. Whether we are talking about
parts of the Middle East that we are very familiar with,
certainly we and the United Nations and others have attempted
to try to deal with this issue.
We have seen success with this account, especially towards
the legacy ordnances in places like Angola. I think this
funding can and has proven to save lives, and when we do our
part, I think it is reflected. Other places around the globe
are in desperate need of funding, spanning from Vietnam, to the
Republic, I said, of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is very important
to many of my constituents, who are of Armenian background. I
think it is our moral duty as a Nation to continue to lead this
humanitarian effort, and I strongly urge this committee to
robustly fund the nonproliferation, antiterrorism, demining,
and related programs in fiscal year 2021, as Congressman
McGovern and others have also supported.
These programs are critical across the globe as we try to
strive for peace and democracy, as we try to stabilize troubled
areas. That concludes my testimony.
The Chairwoman. Well, thank you very much. I remember my
trip to Nagorno-Karabakh. You have been there quite a few years
ago.
Mr. Costa. Yes.
The Chairwoman. It is an experience I will never forget.
Mr. Costa. Yes.
The Chairwoman. So I thank you for appearing before us. Mr.
Rogers?
Mr. Rogers. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Costa. Well, thank you, Congressman Rogers, and my
colleague and classmate, Mr. Fortenberry. And I don't know
where you want me to submit the testimony for the record.
Mr. Fortenberry. Madam Chair, could I interject one thing?
The Chairwoman. Of course.
Mr. Fortenberry. You noted the view. Do you know what is
straight that way? It is Nebraska, almost straight that way----
Mr. Costa. You keep going, you get to California.
[Laughter.]
Mr. Fortenberry. Yes.
Mr. Costa. And I think probably you all know the history,
but the front of the Capitol is the east steps, and this is
considered looking west. Obviously not the----
The Chairwoman. The Washington Monument, isn't that out
there?
Mr. Costa. Right, but up until President Reagan, and it is
the President's choice to have their inauguration, it has
traditionally been out on the east steps. And President Reagan
and Mike Deaver, who always had the eye for the photo-op,
thought this is a much better view. And he was a California
governor, and he thought it was appropriate to look west, and
he made that change. And since then, every President-elect has
chosen to have their inauguration looking west.
The Chairwoman. How do you like that? That is very
interesting.
Mr. Costa. Yes, but----
The Chairwoman. I got to write that down so I don't forget
because that is a long story. That is the view from the window
in my office.
Mr. Fortenberry. It is amazing Congressman Costa brought
this up because every time I walk in the room, too, I think not
of that particular story, but I think we are looking straight
west, straight at Nebraska.
Mr. Costa. Well, but this is not considered the front of
the Capitol interestingly. The front of the Capitol is
considered the steps.
The Chairwoman. And I didn't realize that every President
has --
Mr. Costa. Up until Reagan. So I think it is from Monroe
until Jimmy Carter.
The Chairwoman. And Reagan went to the east.
Mr. Costa. To the west steps. Every President from Monroe,
I believe, until Ronald Reagan had theirs. If you look at
Franklin Roosevelt, if you look at John F. Kennedy, in 1961 it
had snowed, and Robert Frost gave the poem, and there were
about 45,000 people out on the east steps. And that 1865
portrait of Lincoln in his second term, that incredible speech
that he gave, ``Now is the time to heal the wounds of a Nation,
with malice toward none and charity for all.'' And 60 feet down
below was an actor by the name of John Wilkes Booth that 30
days later would kill him.
But that is where all the inaugurations were until
President Reagan said, this is a better view. And, of course,
it is an amphitheater because of the way it is constructed with
the steps. And then, of course, you can have a lot more people
this way. I am not going into the photographs and the accounts
of how many people were in 2010 versus 2018. I think that is
well documented.
The Chairwoman. So I wasn't aware of that, that Reagan was
the first was the first who chose the west.
Mr. Costa. Yes.
The Chairwoman. Well, thank you very much.
Mr. Costa. All right. Well, thank you, and I appreciate the
good work you do always, OK?
Mr. Rogers. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Costa follows:]
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The Chairwoman. We welcome Representative Hill of Arkansas,
a member of the Financial Services Committee, and I thank you
very much for testifying. And I hope you were here for that
history lesson.
Mr. Hill. I was, and I enjoyed it. I have stood out there
on many a cold day since 1980.
The Chairwoman. Thank you.
STATEMENT BY HON. J. FRENCH HILL, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE STATE OF ARKANSAS
Mr. Hill. Well, Chairwoman Lowey, thank you for your years
of service to our Congress and to the American people. It is a
pleasure to be before you today. And my friend, Mr. Rogers,
good to be with both of you. I want to talk to you on the
subject of religious freedom and tolerance that Jim McGovern
broached a few minutes ago. I want to thank you for including
language in fiscal year 2020 in the committee report regarding
efforts to ensure religious freedom and tolerance for Christian
communities in Egypt, and for the opportunity to testify in
front of you today about this year's request regarding the
treatment of Christians in Egypt.
The report language I intend to request would require the
Department of State to report to Congress on the steps that the
Egyptian government is taking to ensure proper treatment and
justice for Christians communities in their country. The report
shall include information on church restoration, Christian
participation in government, the history of persecution against
Egyptian Christians, and the status of Egyptian Christians
being held in detention by the government.
My interest in making this request comes from our work on
House Resolution H. Res. 49, Supporting Coptic Christians in
Egypt, which has a diverse and bipartisan coalition of co-
sponsors. My Democrat lead on H.Res. 49 is my friend, David
Cicilline of Rhode Island. Co-sponsors include 25 from House
Foreign Affairs and Grace Meng from this subcommittee.
I introduced this resolution in the 115th Congress
following a 2017 visit to Egypt. While preparing for the trip,
visiting the country, and returned home, I heard repeatedly
about the plight of Coptic Christians in Egypt. Although the
Copts have been victims of numerous terrorist attacks by groups
like ISIS, what is more disturbing to me are the attacks
against Copts carried out by their fellow Egyptians. There is a
persistent narrative in Minya Province, located in upper Egypt,
that 2018 and 2019 State Department Reports on Religious
Freedom in Egypt mentioned Minya Province as an area of concern
more than many other province in the country. Also in late
November, Ramy Kamel, a Coptic Christian and founder of the
Coptic Christians Rights Organization, was arrested by the
Egyptian police, and has been accused of numerous terrorism
charges. He remains in detention.
Unfortunately, cases like this in Egypt are becoming more
numerous. Egypt is a key partner nation in the fight against
terrorism, and we are grateful for their commitment to Camp
David and their cooperation with Israel to defeat terrorists
operating in the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt, however, is the
second-highest receiver of annual military aid in the world,
and our government holds Egypt to a higher standard as it
relates to our sustained aid.
I believe we must ensure that we uphold and protect
religious freedom and liberty around the world as the
gatekeepers of Federal spending. I request that the
Appropriations Committee include this report language in the
fiscal year 2021 bill in order to support that objective. I
thank you, Madam Chair and Ranking Member Rogers. I appreciate
the opportunity to work with you on this, and thank you for the
opportunity to testify.
The Chairwoman. And thank you for appearing here today.
Mr. Hill. Indeed, on the west side of the Capitol.
[Laughter.]
The Chairwoman. I don't have any questions. Do you, Mr.
Rogers?
Mr. Rogers. Yes. I thank the gentleman for his testimony
and his urgent plea with us. I took a delegation to Egypt in
2017, and we were meeting that Sunday morning with President
al-Sisi in the palace when the first of two church bombings
took place, the Coptic church bombings. His advisers came in
and whispered into his ear what had happened, so we learned of
it at the same time.
Palm Sunday and these were Coptic churches. It had a deep
impact, I think, on the government, starting with the
president. I know there are challenges, and I thank you for
raising it, but there is also some progress, I think, being
made on religious freedom in Egypt. Just last month, our
ambassador, along with senior Egyptian government officials,
attended the opening of a historic synagogue that had just
completed a major restoration project, led and partially funded
by the government. On Christmas Eve last year, President al-
Sisi joined the Coptic pope for mass at a Coptic cathedral and
called for unity.
But I can assure you, we will continue to press the issue.
You are exactly right to urge that this language be included.
As I am sure you know, our relationship with Egypt and the role
Egypt plays in the region, critically important. That is why I
believe it is important to continue to press for improvement in
a respectful manner on a range of issues where there are still
challenges. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Hill. I appreciate that, Mr. Rogers. I want to say that
I agree with you. President al-Sisi has led from the top on
this issue, and he should be given credit for his strong speech
at Al-Azhar, the large Islamic well-known university, with the
grand imam about the need for religious tolerance, and changing
the policies. And his grief for the loss of Coptic Christians
and the brutality at St. Peter and St. Paul Church in Cairo is
genuine. He has built the largest Coptic cathedral in the world
now at the new administrative center outside Cairo.
So I think President el-Sisi is on the right track, but as
President Reagan said, human rights and religious tolerance is
not social work, it is a fundamental tenet of American foreign
policy. And so I agree with you that we should, in the most
diplomatic and professional tone, maintain this press that we
have in order to give President el-Sisi that deep commitment
that we have that he gets changes throughout Egypt. Egypt is
nearly 100 million now. Copts are 15 percent of the population.
And so while there have been really progress on church
reconstructions, synagogue reconstruction, and leadership from
the top, we want to make sure that we maintain our views with
Egypt in a firm manner in this regard to make sure that all
Christians in Egypt receive the tolerance and respect they
deserve. But thank you, sir. I appreciate that. I yield back.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hill follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you. Representative Jackson Lee of
Texas, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee. Thank you
for joining us today.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you for having me.
The Chairwoman. We will place your full testimony in the
record, and if you would be kind enough to summarize your
written statement, we would be appreciative. Thank you.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you very much.
STATEMENT BY HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS
Ms. Jackson Lee. Let me on the record thank the chairwoman,
Mrs. Lowey, and certainly the ranking member, Mr. Rogers, and
all of the staff. This is an important committee, as it has
always been, one of the major opportunities for America to
interact with the world. Thank you for the leadership you have
given.
I am going to start with the well-known issue of the day
that does have an international impact, and that is the
coronavirus. I am a member of the Homeland Security Committee.
I spoke in my district in the beginning of February on this
issue and concerns about whether this Nation was prepared. We
have seen now obviously a soldier that has been out of the
country who has been diagnosed. We see another individual in
the country diagnosed.
But my concern as it relates to the international arena is
the infrastructure in some of our developing nations, and, in
particular, the continent of Africa. I, for a long time,
advocated building an infrastructure of hospitals in Africa,
and so I am just generally going to speak to the question of
how imperative it is now that our allies and partners in the
developing world have diagnostic equipment, medical supplies,
doctors, workers, hospitals, and any other additional resources
as they might begin to address the coronavirus.
I know that there is the World Health Organization, but in
my interaction on the continent, one of the things most
noticeable in Africa, in the countries in Africa, is a lack of
a viable hospital system. I would hope that in the
appropriations process, we might consider seeding that as we
look to the amount of money that is coming from another
committee, but overlapping in this committee, dealing with the
coronavirus.
Let me also indicate my support, $70 billion for the
international affairs budget, and, I will summarize, that
really reinforces the three-pronged approach diplomacy to fight
terrorism, supporting our allies, building new markets for U.S.
goods and services, combating pandemics, and providing
lifesaving humanitarian assistance. And I think the
International Affairs budget is just 1 percent of the total of
the Federal budget, but the programs it funds are very
important and very strategic.
$3.3 billion for international security for Israel. I think
it speaks for itself, and I have always been supportive of
stabilizing the region. I continue to support a two-state
solution, but I believe that security assistance is crucial.
And I support the $110 million for the emergency refugee and
migration assistance. I take issue, and would look at the bar
that the administration has put on many States or suggesting
that they not take refugees. Let me be very clear that Texas
has taken refugees for as long as I have known. I have chaired
a nonprofit organization called Interfaith Ministries where one
of our key components was providing for refugees and helping
them to adjust to U.S. life.
I support the $875 million for child survival and maternal
health. That is one of the key elements that even was prominent
during the fight against HIV in developing nations in maternal-
to-child transfer, and these are important elements. I support
the $450 million for long-term drinking funding as well as
human trafficking dollars, $265 million, monies for the
Caribbean, monies in particular for Peace Corps. I think that
is one of the major components of our face to the world.
And let me indicate my support for several programs that I
have seen in action when I have traveled overseas: one, the
Charles R. Rangel International Affairs Program that I was here
when it was created and named after Congressman Charlie Rangel,
the general support of the USAID Donald M. Payne Fellowship.
And I have seen these recipients in our embassies around the
world. Forty million for the U.S. Institute of Peace, and I
support the Cultural Exchange Program. Again, I have seen that
at work, $640 million for educational and cultural diversity. I
support the continuation of funding for HIV/AIDS, $4.88
billion, and I am supporting the preservation of wildlife, $85
million combatting wildlife trafficking programs, hopefully in
tribute to the Cecil the lion, who lost his life.
I just want to conclude my remarks by saying I have the
privilege of being part of the Helsinki Commission, the Tom
Lantos Human Rights Commission, looking at issues of
development and human rights and the rule of law. I believe
that our foreign assistance is key to our position on
democracy, the rule of law, and engagement with allies where we
develop more friends through engagement than we do through the
acts of war. And I thank you for listening to me today.
The Chairwoman. Thank you very much, and I don't have any
questions. Mr. Rogers, do you have any questions?
Mr. Rogers. I thank the gentlelady.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you.
The Chairwoman. Thank you for appearing before us.
Ms. Jackson Lee. Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Jackson Lee follows
follows:]
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Ms. Chu. Hello.
The Chairwoman. Welcome, Representative Chu of California,
a member of the Ways and Means Committee. We thank you for
testifying, and we will be happy to place your full testimony
in the record. If you would be kind enough to summarize your
written statement. I want to make sure we have enough time to
answer questions. Thank you.
Ms. Chu. Yes.
STATEMENT BY HON. JUDY CHU, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM
THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Ms. Chu. Thank you so much, Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking
Member Rogers. Thank you for the opportunity to come before
this committee today as the representative of one of America's
oldest and largest Armenian communities. I come here today in
strong support of providing $10 million to continue America's
successful and lifesaving demining program in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Over 30 years ago, as the Soviet Union was collapsing, the
people of Nagorno-Karabakh, an overwhelmingly Armenian enclave,
were united in the goal of self-determination. But their
peaceful movement was followed by violence and government-
sponsored pogroms from Azerbaijan. And when the people of
Nagorno-Karabakh voted for independence, they were met with
war, the consequences of which are still being felt today.
Over the next 3 years, tens of thousands lost their lives,
hundreds of thousands became refugees, and Nagorno-Karabakh
became one of the land-mined areas of the former Soviet Union.
These landmines and unexploded ordnance UXOs remain today,
making it impossible or difficult to settle the land and lay
the foundation of a stable state, and killing at least 383
civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh since 1995.
Fortunately, America has the ability and the means to
safely identify and remove these threats. With the support of
USAID, the HALO Trust, a non-political and non-religious
organization, has operated in Nagorno-Karabakh since 2000,
clearing over 33,000 acres of former minefields. Thanks to
HALO, over 3,500 landmines, 3,100 cluster munitions, and 7,600
items of unexploded or abandoned ordnance have been destroyed.
But with at least 1.7 million square meters of contaminated
areas still remaining, USAID is trying to end support for this
program with little or no justification.
For instance, in a recent letter defending the decision to
shift away demining, USAID told me there have been no reported
civilian injuries or casualties from mines since 2017. But, in
fact, there have been 10 civilian casualties in that time from
landmines, and an additional two from cluster munitions. And in
just the past 12 months, there have been 12 near misses, like a
farmer digging in his field, only to trigger a mine, causing
great destruction. Thankfully, though, he survived. Another man
was riding his horse when they hit a mine. Fortunately, the man
survived, but the horse did not, demonstrating the ongoing
threat from these mines.
In that same letter, USAID justified their move away from
demining by saying they wanted to shift the focus to preparing
populations for peace, but landmines and UXO are literal
obstacles to that goal. Landmines exist to prevent peace and to
make it impossible for the populations to settle, use land, and
reduce tensions. That is why the U.S. has proudly been the
world's largest supporter of human demining. This is a
commitment we must not back away from, especially since we know
that there is work left undone.
This request of $10 million pales in comparison to the $100
million in security assistance given to Azerbaijan. So we can
be sure that financial constraints are not the obstacle here,
and it does not make sense to walk away from a program that
USAID acknowledges has been successful while there are so many
acres of land left to clear. If we are sincere in our
commitment to peace, then we must support this request of $10
million, which would allow HALO to finish their work and remove
the landmines and UXO that daily threaten the lives of
civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Thank you for your consideration of this important request.
The Chairwoman. Thank you very much. We appreciate your
appearing before us. Mr. Rogers?
Mr. Rogers. Thank you for being here. Thanks for your
statement.
Ms. Chu. Thank you.
The Chairwoman. Thank you. Have a good rest of the day.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Chu follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Well, did we all learn something about the
west view. I didn't know that. Did you know about that?
Mr. Rogers. I was sworn in at the same time. President
Reagan gets credit for moving it over here, but it was really
me that did it. [Laughter.]
The Chairwoman. The Subcommittee on State, Foreign
Operations and Related Programs is adjourned.
[Additional testimony for the record follows:]
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Thursday, March 12, 2020
TESTIMONY OF INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS
PUBLIC WITNESS DAY
WITNESSES
KATE O'BRIEN, REPRESENTATIVE, THE TB ROUNDTABLE
W. RON ALLEN, TRIBAL CHAIRMAN AND CEO, PACIFIC SALMON COMMISSION
DAVID ARNOLD, PRESIDENT AND CEO, THE ASIA FOUNDATION
OPENING STATEMENT BY CHAIRWOMAN LOWEY
The Chairwoman. Good morning. The Subcommittee on State,
Foreign Operations, and Related Programs will come to order.
To our distinguished witnesses, welcome. Thank you for
coming to our subcommittee to present your views on the
agencies and programs funded by the State Department, Foreign
Operations, and Related Programs appropriations. Our public
witnesses represent a wide array of perspectives and expertise
that help Congress better assess the impact and effectiveness
of foreign assistance. As we assess the President's budget
request for fiscal year 2021, your voices are critical to the
appropriations process.
Let me be clear. Our Nation's security cannot afford a
budget that does not adequately fund our diplomatic and
development programs or lifesaving humanitarian assistance.
Diplomacy and development programs are our best hope to tackle
the difficult issues facing the world, making the draconian
cuts proposed by this administration irresponsible. As long as
I have been part of this subcommittee, we have had bipartisan
agreement that foreign assistance is critical to our national
security and to maintaining America's leadership role in the
world. As chairwoman, I have every expectation that we will
produce a bill that maximizes each taxpayer dollar while
responding to today's many needs. We are eager to hear your
testimonies, and we look forward to working with your
organizations throughout the appropriations process.
Before we begin with our first witness, let me turn to my
distinguished ranking member, Mr. Rogers, for his opening
remarks.
OPENING STATEMENT BY RANKING MEMBER HAL ROGERS
Mr. Rogers. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for
convening this hearing so that we can hear from a variety of
organizations on their priorities for Fiscal 2021. We look
forward to hearing their testimony, and I yield. Thank you.
The Chairwoman. And welcome to all of you. Our first panel
is Ms. Kate O'Brien, the representative of The TB Roundtable;
Mr. Ron Allen, tribal chairman and CEO of the Pacific Salmon
Commission; and Mr. David Arnold, president and CEO of The Asia
Foundation. Thank you for joining us today. Your full testimony
will be placed into the record. You each will have 3 minutes,
starting with Ms. O'Brien, then Mr. Allen, and finally Mr.
Arnold. Feel free to summarize your statement, and we will
withhold any questions until after Mr. Arnold has finished. The
clock will flash yellow when you have 1 minute remaining. Ms.
O'Brien, please proceed.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. O'BRIEN
Ms. O'Brien. I really would like to thank Chairwoman Lowey,
Ranking Member Rogers, and the entire subcommittee for having
me here today. On behalf of tuberculosis patients across the
world, I am really very, very honored to be here today and to
provide this testimony. I am very proud of the steps that my
country has recently taken to combat tuberculosis as it has
become increasingly drug resistant across the world, and I ask
you to please consider increasing funding for USAID's
tuberculosis program to $400 million in the fiscal year 2021
for the safety and security of all of our families.
I wish to share with you the way that my own family was
impacted by TB. It is the No. 1 infectious disease killer in
the world, and what happened to me happens to 10 million people
around the world every year. I am going to cut it a little
short for time. The important thing for you to know is that I
was pregnant with my second child, and everything was going so
awesome. I was so excited to be pregnant. I was working a great
job, and I couldn't really enjoy it because I was just feeling
so terrible. Now, you guys all know why, but I was coughing. I
was had sweats, and just like tuberculosis patients everywhere,
it took a very long time for me to be diagnosed. It didn't
happen until I was in a hospital and I was very close to death
and losing my baby. It was terrible.
When they did find out I had tuberculosis, I had to be put
into immediate quarantine. I was there in isolation from
January until April 2015. I was eventually put on a regimen
that I could tolerate, and I was able to leave the hospital and
see my son, and then I took medication for another year. When I
took my medication, a State health worker had to come and watch
me take it and swallow it. This happens every day, and this is
how tuberculosis is treated around the world. So I am sure you
guys all can kind of imagine that that takes a lot for a State
health department, every single person you have having TB,
having that kind of treatment.
The medication doesn't make you feel good. It makes you
have nausea, diarrhea--sorry--liver problems, and those are the
decent side effects. Other side effects of other tuberculosis
treatment, especially for drug-resistant regimens, can include
deafness. It can include neuropathy, these really, really
strong antibiotics that we use to treat resistant strains. So
it is a lot. Like, you have to explain to a tuberculosis
patient why they have to take drugs for, you know, 9 months to
a year when they don't make them feel good, and that takes a
lot of work. So tuberculosis, even though it is curable, you
know, it can take a lot of time and effort to treat.
Also, you know people have to be quarantined. They have to
be put into isolation. It is a difficult illness to treat, and
that is why we are having problems with people not completing
their regimens and the illness becoming drug resistant. So
anyway, you know, we can all imagine what it would be like if
we had more tuberculosis cases in this country. We are very
lucky that we are able to do what we can to do now, but we are
not really reaching tuberculosis elimination. We are just kind
of keeping it where it is at, and elsewhere in the world, it is
growing.
OK. It is a tragedy and an injustice that 1\1/2\ million
people died in 2018 of a curable disease. USAID does incredible
work, and please consider funding them for $400 million. Thank
you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. O'Brien follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you very, very much for being here.
Mr. Allen?
OPENING STATEMENT BY MR. ALLEN
Mr. Allen. Thank you, Madam Chair, committee members. My
name is Ron Allen, and I appreciate the committee accepting our
testimony with regard to the Pacific Salmon Commission, and our
U.S. representatives in this International Fisheries
Commission.
The U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty was signed back in
1985. It is a very complicated treaty dealing with all of the
different species of Pacific salmon that migrate from Alaska
through Canada into the lower 48, Washington, Oregon, Idaho,
and it is represented by people like myself. I represent 24
Indian tribes, one in Alaska, and the others represent the
States of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, and we have
our colleagues on the Canadian side.
The salmon industry in the northwest is a multibillion
dollar industry. Tens of thousands of families are dependent on
this resource and the fisheries, and all the tertiary
businesses that surround the industry, and it is a huge issue
for us. We have an international fisheries commission, our
secretariat office. That secretariat office, the secretariat
actually is sitting in the audience with me. And its
responsibility is to facilitate the U.S. and Canadian folks
with regard to the meetings that we have.
We have been level funded now for 10 years with regard to
the secretariat office. The office's responsibility primarily
is to manage Fraser River sockeye and pink salmon. The Fraser
River system is one of the largest in the world. It is one of
the largest fisheries in the world, and it is very, very
challenging and very complicated. It is a small staff of about
30 people, and it has an extension responsibility for all of us
who are dependent on that particular species, and it is now
rolling over into other responsibilities with regard to Chinook
and other species.
So in 2020, we had asked for $5.9 million, and that is what
we received. We are asking for a $250,000 increase. The funding
for the secretariat function, as I said, hasn't changed in 10
years. And Canada has agreed with us that they would match the
United States in terms of that increase in those funding to
cover the cost of managing these fisheries, so it is a huge
issue. We are also asking for the second half of $3.5 million
for what is called a mass marketing selective fishery program.
We have both agreed to put $3.5 million in it, and so we are
asking for the other $1.75 for 2021.
We appreciate your consideration. Thank you, Madam Chair.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Allen follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you very much.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MR. ARNOLD
Mr. Arnold. Good morning, Madam Chair, Ranking Member
Rogers, members of the subcommittee. Thanks so much for the
opportunity to testify today. I have to say on behalf of all of
us, this is a bit of a bittersweet occasion as we acknowledge
and thank Chairwoman Lowey for her dedicated leadership and
service to our Nation and to the global community. So it is a
privilege to be here, to appear before you, Madam Chair.
As the members of this subcommittee know, The Asia
Foundation is a private nonprofit organization that is
dedicated to strengthening democratic institutions, promoting
peace and stability, and improving lives throughout developing
countries across Asia. Established in 1954 and headquartered in
San Francisco, we operate through 18 country offices across the
region. Our knowledgeable and expert staff build important and
enduring relationships with Asian governments and leaders, work
with civil society organization and private sector partners,
and maintain links to local communities in each of the
countries where we work.
Thanks to your ongoing support, the Foundation has been
able to advance American interests and values by strengthening
democratic institutions, promoting government transparency,
expanding women's rights and opportunities, and fostering
market-based economies in Asia. To build on Congress' historic
investment in the Foundation, this year we are asking you to
consider $20 million for fiscal year 2021, which is a modest
increase of $1 million over our current funding of $19 million.
Thanks to your support over the years, millions of people
in Indonesia, Afghanistan, Nepal, Laos, and Sri Lanka have
access to justice to protect their lives and property and
mediate disputes. Millions of women in Cambodia, India, Nepal,
Afghanistan have the ability to go to school, exercise their
rights to vote and hold office, to protect themselves and their
children from being trafficked and from gender-based violence.
And millions of students and children across Asia have access
to global information and knowledge thanks to the millions of
English-language books and local language materials distributed
through our longstanding Books for Asia Program.
Looking to the future, the Foundation is pursuing new
technology-driven programs to expand economic empowerment,
improve cybersecurity, and combat disinformation, and we are
ramping up our program activities in the Pacific Island nations
that are important to U.S. interests. As you know well,
appropriated funding is critical to the Foundation's ability to
maintain our regional presence and sustain our core programs.
We are asking you, therefore, to support the Foundation in
fiscal year 2021 at the level of $20 million for the coming
fiscal year. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Arnold follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you very much, and as you know, our
entire panel here would like to have long conversations with
each of you. But because we are limited by time, if there are
no questions, I am just going to thank you all, and we look
forward----
Ms. Frankel. Madam Chair, I just have----
The Chairwoman. Go ahead.
Ms. Frankel. Very, very quick. Thank you. I would just ask
that everybody who testifies to do what Mr. Arnold just did, is
just let me know or let us know whether you are being funded
now and at what level, and then what kind of increase that you
are asking for. That is for everybody. Thank you.
The Chairwoman. So thank you very much, and we look forward
to continuing to work together. Thank you.
WITNESSES
CHRIS COLLINS, PRESIDENT, FRIENDS OF THE GLOBAL FIGHT
JOAN ROSENHAUER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JESUIT REFUGEE SERVICE/USA
JEANNE BOURGAULT, PRESIDENT AND CEO, INTERNEWS
The Chairwoman. Good morning. Our second panel is Mr. Chris
Collins, president of Friends of the Global Fight, Ms. Joan
Rosenhauer, executive director of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA,
Ms. Jeanne Bourgault, president and CEO of Internews. Thank you
very much for joining us today. Your full testimony will be
placed into the record. You each will have 3 minutes starting
with Mr. Collins, then Ms. Rosenhauer, and finally Ms.
Bourgault. Feel free to summarize your statement, and we will
withhold any questions until after Ms. Bourgault has finished.
The clock will flash yellow when you have 1 minute remaining.
Mr. Collins, please proceed. And I want to just say in
advance, don't be insulted if we don't ask you questions. But
because of this very hectic day here, we are moving through the
process effectively and efficiently. So, Mr. Collins.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MR. COLLINS
Mr. Collins. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, Ranking Member
Rogers, and the full subcommittee for your steadfast support of
America's leadership in the fight against infectious disease,
and, in particular, for your generous support for the Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
Chairwoman Lowey, I want to take this opportunity to thank
you personally for your more than 3 decades of service. Your
leadership has been hugely consequential, and you are an
inspiration to all of us.
Last May, this subcommittee led the way in increasing the
U.S. commitment to the Global Fund, the first increase in 6
years. I know that wasn't easy to do, but the impact of that
investment has already been substantial. One month later, the
United Kingdom announced their own increased pledge, and
through the summer, other donors followed. In October, $14
billion was pledged at Global Fund Replenishment.
I want to applaud the members who took time out to travel
to Replenishment and represent the U.S. commitment to the
Global Fund there. Thank you, Representative Aguilar,
Representative Hurd, Representative Lawrence, and
Representative Roby. Thank you as well to subcommittee staff
who worked so hard on the bill and supported those members:
Susan Adams, Erin Kolodjeski, and Steve Marchese.
Last year, even as many countries turned inward and
criticism of globalization was on the rise, at Global Fund
Replenishment, the world was able to affirm the value of
collaborative efforts to tackle global infectious disease. How
did that happen? One reason is the Global Fund's consistent
delivery of results. Since its creation in 2002, the Global
Fund Partnership has saved over 32 million lives.
Countries supported by the Global Fund have seen remarkable
declines in mortality, 56 percent decline in HIV-related
deaths, 22 percent in TB, 46 percent in malaria. The Global
Fund is also transforming societies by promoting local
ownership, engaging civil society to the private sector and
faith communities, and incentivizing governments to invest more
in the health of their own people. For the United States, the
Global Fund remains an outstanding investment. It amplifies the
impact of our excellent bilateral global health programs, and
for the U.S., U.S. pandemic preparedness and response requires
all our global health investments.
The Global Fund invests in stronger health systems that are
better able to detect and respond to emerging infectious
diseases, including COVID-19, and already the Global Fund has
encouraged countries to reprogram savings to mitigate COVID-19
impacts in health system.
There remain critical challenges ahead in the effort to end
the epidemics of AIDS, TB, and malaria. Yet even with these
challenges, the success of Global Fund Replenishment means that
during the next 3-year cycle, the organization and its partners
will be able to save an additional 16 million lives and prevent
234 million infections. Continued U.S. funding at last year's
level sets the Global Fund up for success. I worry that reduced
U.S. funding would undermine confidence of donors, complicate
Global Fund country allocations, and diminish our investment in
effective healthcare systems.
Therefore, Friends of the Global Fight requests you
maintain U.S. funding to the Global Fund at the current $1.56
billion in fiscal year 2021. We also request that you again
reject the administration's proposal to reduce the U.S. share
of support for the Global Fund and keep it at the traditional
33 percent level. And, of course, we support the highest
possible allocation to international assistance overall.
Thank you for your commitment to maintaining bold U.S.
global leadership in the fight against the most deadly
infectious diseases in the world. With your support and the
support of partners, we are making significant progress and
saving many lives. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Collins follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you very much. Ms. Rosenhauer.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. ROSENHAUER
Ms. Rosenhauer. Well, thank you, Chairwoman Lowey and
Ranking Member Rogers, and to the entire committee. I
appreciate the opportunity to present Jesuit Refugee Service's
views on the importance of investing in refugee assistance
programs, including refugee education. Specifically, we urge
the subcommittee to approve $3.6 billion for migration and
refugee assistance. That is compared to $3.4 million in 2020,
and $975 million for basic education programs, compared to $875
million, including $50 million for Education Cannot Wait, which
has $25 million in the current appropriation.
U.S. engagement and support for refugee assistance programs
has a direct impact on the well-being and even the survival of
millions of the world's refugees. Given the range of crises
today, from the Venezuelan crisis in our own hemisphere, to the
Syrian conflict entering its 10th year, it is essential for the
U.S. to remain engaged in helping those who are most
vulnerable. In 2018, the United Nations high commissioner for
refugees estimated that nearly 71 million people were forcibly
displaced worldwide. If they were all in one place, it would
represent the 13th largest country out of 195 countries in the
world.
It is estimated that 37,000 people per day are forced to
flee their homes due to conflict and persecution, and more than
70 percent of all refugees find themselves in protracted or
long-term crisis situations. JRS is on the front lines of
working with refugees and other forcibly-displaced persons in
57 countries. With support from the State Department's Bureau
for Population, Refugees, and Migration, we are able to provide
lifesaving assistance and to help to improve their quality of
life by providing education, livelihoods, healthcare, and other
services for refugees who otherwise would have nowhere to turn.
So what do we need Congress to do? First, fund the
Migration and Refugee Assistance Account at the level I
suggested, which support lifesaving programs and plays a vital
role in asserting U.S. leadership and national interests around
the world. U.S. funding provides essentials, such as food,
water, shelter, healthcare, and education, and assists many
developing countries that are hosting more than 80 percent of
the world's refugees.
Second, prioritize refugee education. 3.7 million refugee
children are currently out of school. An even greater number,
75 million conflict-affected children, lack educational
opportunities, making them more vulnerable to violence, and
trafficking, and child labor, child marriage, and recruitment
by armed groups. Not only does education offer an important
form of protection for children, it also gives them hope as it
prepares them for a brighter future, and, frankly, it affects
the future for all of us and our children in a globalized
world. But the response has not kept pace with the need. In
2018, only 2.6 percent of human funding was allocated to
education.
We want to extend our sincere thanks to the subcommittee
for including $25 million for the first time in several years
for ECW, for Education Cannot Wait, in the fiscal year 2020
State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill. And we urge
you to continue support for this important initiative. So thank
you very much. As the world grapples with the millions of
people who have been forced to flee their homes, now is not the
time to cut back. And we urge you to provide the funding that I
suggested at the beginning.
And thank you for your support for those programs.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Rosenhauer follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you very much. Ms. Bourgault.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. BOURGAULT
Ms. Bourgault. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman and members of
the committee. I am honored to testify before you today.
Like me, I suspect everyone in this room is scanning the
news every waking moment for the latest on what is happening
with the coronavirus pandemic, a pandemic that has also been
called an infodemic. During times like these, we all experience
the urgency of access to trusted local relevant information,
and knowing that most of the world does not have access to such
information is what drives me to work and what drives my
organization, Internews.
We are not a news organization, but we build healthier
information environments in countries where they struggle to
exist. For over 40 years and over 100 countries, we have
trained hundreds of thousands of people on journalism, media
management, advocacy for better internet, and media policies.
To address your question directly, we don't have a direct
appropriation from the foreign assistance bill, but we do
manage about $70 million of funds from USAID and the State
Department in 2020 this year.
Today we want to urge Congress to consider two priorities.
First, to increase investment in democracy, human rights, and
governance programs broadly, with support for independent media
and internet freedom as a critical element of that support.
Second, to continue to support global health and humanitarian
programs that deliver high-quality and contextually-appropriate
information to vulnerable populations. We are very grateful to
the committee's support and leadership in these programs over
the years.
In our democracies today, it is more evident than ever that
disinformation is a persistent reality and a true threat. In
fact, many experts say there will not be an election in 2020
that is not impacted by active disinformation. Given this
threat, we need to mobilize solutions. At Internews, we have
learned that the most effective investment against
disinformation is to invest in good information, good,
accurate, local information. We also need to invest in critical
thinking. We also need to disincentive the market forces that
drive some of this disinformation. And finally, we need to hold
companies and governments to account for their role in what is
happening here.
Such trusted relevant local information is life changing in
places like South Sudan where this picture is from, where we
see women as journalists and reporters become more deeply
invested in their communities, become more deeply invested in
their democracies, when they can have their voices heard.
Quality news and information is not just essential to
democracy. It is also a root solution to solving health crises,
like the one we face today. In fact, today we have journalists
and support staff members training journalists all across Asia
on how to better cover the COVID-19 crisis in the Philippines,
in Thailand, in Indonesia today. We know that during a health
crisis, fostering trusted lines of communication can change
attitudes and save lives.
We seek the power and potential of a digitally-connected
world, and we appreciate your support to programs that can make
this a reality. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Bourgault follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you very much. As I said in the
beginning, I wish we had more time, you do important work.
Thank you very much for your work and for appearing before us
today. We look forward to continuing our important
relationship. Thank you.
WITNESSES
STAN SODERSTROM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, KIWANIS INTERNATIONAL
ANUCHA BROWNE, CHIEF ENGAGEMENT OFFICER, UNICEF USA
DANIELLE HEIBERG, ADVOCACY ADVISOR, GLOBAL WATER 2020
The Chairwoman. Welcome. Our third panel is Mr. Stan
Soderstrom, executive director of Kiwanis International; Ms.
Anucha Browne, chief engagement officer of UNICEF USA; and Ms.
Danielle Heiberg, advocacy advisor for Global Water 2020. Thank
you. Please proceed. And I thank you for joining us today, and
your full testimony, as you know, will be entered into the
record. You will each have 3 minutes, starting with Mr.
Soderburg. Thank you.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MR. SODERSTROM
Mr. Soderstrom. Thank you. Madam Chairwoman and
distinguished members of the committee, it is an honor to
testify before the committee today on behalf of the half a
million members of the Kiwanis family in the United States. We
appreciate the opportunity to testify in support of the
Kiwanis-UNICEF Program to eliminate maternal and neonatal
tetanus, or MNT. We are seeking the support of this committee
to recommend in fiscal year 2021 the modest sum of $2 million
for MNT. We also ask that you support the $900 million for
USAID Maternal and Child Health Account, and the $134 million
for UNICEF.
While we are all trying to find solutions to the
coronavirus at home and abroad, I ask that you keep in mind
another deadly disease: tetanus. Tetanus is a preventable
disease that kills one baby every 17 minutes. Once contracted,
a newborn usually dies within 7 days. Human contact exacerbates
the baby's pain. A mother's touch hurts, leaving the baby to
writhe in agony, unheld for days, until he or she dies. In
2011, Kiwanis launched the Eliminate Project to eliminate MNT
through a global campaign to save or protect more than 61
million mothers and their newborns.
In partnership with UNICEF, Kiwanis is targeting the
poorest, most underserved women and children on the planet with
proven and cost-effective interventions. The Kiwanis family is
committed to privately raising more than $110 million to
eliminate this disease. I would like to thank the committee for
your past support in eliminating MNT, which was funded by
Congress at $2 million fiscal year 2020. And I would like to
also thank you for your past and continued support for our
other global health initiative ending iodine deficiency
disorders.
I have witnessed firsthand the success of our public/
private partnership to eliminate MNT. In Madagascar, I was
present to see immunization day at several clinics and villages
seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and I was amazed to see how
many mothers and their young children showed up to receive a
tetanus immunization. In Madagascar, at that time, the
mortality rate for children under the age of 5 was slightly
more than 50 deaths for every 1,000 children. That meant for
the 100 or so children that I saw in a single day,
approximately 5 would not survive beyond their 5th birthday.
But because of the Kiwanis-UNICEF-USAID cooperation, these
children had a much better chance of surviving. Our investment
there has brought the death rate for neonatal tetanus down to
less than one death per 1,000 live births.
Today, 85 infants will die from MNT somewhere in the world.
Our commitment is to reduce that number to zero. So, Madam
Chairwoman, as you move forward to some happy years of
retirement, I ask you to join us in this final push. We
appreciate your leadership, and we ask you to help us to
eliminate this terrible disease, helping us to ensure that no
baby suffers this excruciating 7-day death ever again. Thank
you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Soderstrom follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you. Please proceed.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. BROWNE
Ms. Browne. Good morning. Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member
Rogers, and members of the subcommittee, on behalf of the more
than 10 million Americans who have support UNICEF's work, I
appreciate this opportunity to testify before the subcommittee.
I respectfully ask the subcommittee to provide $134 million as
the U.S. government's fiscal year 2021 voluntary contribution
to UNICEF's core resources, the same amount provided by
Congress for this fiscal year.
UNICEF is at the forefront of addressing crises threatening
the lives and safety of children. UNICEF is already working on
efforts related to the coronavirus and has been instrumental in
helping children and mothers combat Ebola in Africa. UNICEF is
there for the most vulnerable children in humanitarian crises
with therapeutic foods, emergency water, and sanitation,
critical health and interventions, child-friendly spaces,
education, and much more. UNICEF can only respond to these
lifesaving, and sometimes dangerous, situations if it has the
core resources to prepare for emergencies.
I can't express enough my appreciation for this
subcommittee's leadership in maintaining American support for
international development and humanitarian programs and for
UNICEF. Thanks to the strong support from the U.S. Congress for
UNICEF and for child survival, the world has seen remarkable
progress. The global under-5 mortality rate declined by 59
percent between 1990 and 2018, and during this time, 31 low- or
lower-middle income countries cut their under-5 mortality by at
least two-thirds, proving that we can make progress anywhere.
We still have a long ways to go. Today, 15,000 children still
die every day from mostly preventable causes.
Madam Chairwoman, I am still in denial about your planned
retirement, and one of your legacies that you will leave is
your passion and emphasis for basic education. Education is
what helps protect the future of each child, and it also brings
a sense of normalcy and safety that children need to recover
from traumatic situations. This is a picture of a young girl
named Rokiyatou, and she fled her home in Mali because of
violence, and she ended up in a camp in a sports stadium. And
UNICEF set up a tent to help displaced children continue their
education. Rokiyatou says she wants to be a school principal,
and we want to make sure that she is able to realize that
dream.
We are proud of UNICEF's partnership with Kiwanis to fight
maternal and neonatal tetanus and with Rotary International to
fight polio. We believe that it is possible to end preventable
child deaths globally in a generation. A commitment of $134
million as the U.S. contributions to UNICEF's core resources in
fiscal year 2021 will help that become a reality. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Browne follows:]
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The Chairwoman. By the way, I want to thank you all, if
each of you could inform us for over an hour, if not longer, of
the important work you are doing. So please be don't be
insulted if you hear a little tap-tap, but we are limited in
time, and I thank you again for proceeding. Please.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. HEIBERG
Ms. Heiberg. Thank you to the members of the committee for
inviting me to speak today. With coronavirus dominating the
news, the importance of handwashing is front and center as one
of the only effective ways of preventing infection. Both CDC
and the U.S. Surgeon General have touted the importance of
washing your hands. WASH, which is access to safe drinking
water, sanitation, and hygiene, including handwashing, is one
of the first lines of defense in slowing the spread of most
infectious disease outbreaks, such as the flu and Ebola, as
well as protecting communities, patients, and frontline health
workers over the long term.
During the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, the lack of
access to safe WASH and healthcare facilities and communities
was a factor in the inability to contain the disease. And lack
of WASH in many healthcare facilities put patients seeking
routine services, such as newborn care, at risk of infection.
USAID investments in WASH are pivotal to strengthening global
health security efforts by providing access to water,
sanitation, and hygiene services in communities, schools, and
healthcare facilities. WASH is a critical component of a strong
health system, and must be part of plans to prevent, detect,
and respond to outbreaks.
In addition, these investments help to promote handwashing
and proper disposal of waste. WASH also plays a role in
combating the rise of superbugs or drug-resistant diseases by
preventing infections and lowering the need to use antibiotics.
In addition, WASH programs advance other U.S. priorities,
including maternal and child health, neglected tropical
diseases, nutrition, and economic development. However, 2.2
billion people don't have access to safe drinking water, 4.5
billion people are without access to adequate sanitation, 1 in
4 healthcare facilities lack access to water, and over 30
percent of schools don't have clean water or a decent toilet.
We thank the Congress for its bipartisan support for these
WASH programs. Current funding in fiscal year 2020 is $450
million, and for fiscal year 2021, we are recommending an
overall topline amount of $57.4 billion for the State and
Foreign Operations bill, and $500 million for water in all
accounts at USAID. The funding could provide long-term safe
WASH services to an additional half a million people, help
prevent infectious disease outbreaks, and provide WASH in
healthcare facilities, communities, and schools, and amplify
the impact of USAID's cross-sectoral work related to WASH,
including global health, nutrition, livelihoods, economic
development, gender, and food security.
Making investments in WASH now is critical to strengthening
health systems as well as putting in place preventative
measures that can slow the spread of the next novel
coronavirus, Ebola outbreak, or the yet-to-be-identified
disease X. Former Senator Bob Corker said it best: ``We need to
make every dollar of our limited foreign aid resources count by
addressing problems where we can have a real impact on people's
lives.'' By focusing our efforts on clean water and sanitation,
we can save lives, improve public health, and provide stability
in vulnerable communities throughout the world. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Heiberg follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you to the entire panel. And, again,
please don't be insulted if we are not going to follow up with
many questions, but we appreciate your work. Thank you.
WITNESSES
HOWARD KOHR, CEO, AIPAC
LIZ SCHRAYER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, U.S. GLOBAL LEADERSHIP COALITION
NATASHA BILIMORIA, DIRECTOR OF U.S. STRATEGY, GAVI, THE VACCINE
ALLIANCE
The Chairwoman. Our fourth panel is Mr. Howard Kohr, CEO of
AIPAC; Ms. Liz Schrayer, president and CEO of the U.S. Global
Leadership Coalition; Ms. Natasha Bilimoria, director of U.S.
Strategy for GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance. Thank you all. Please
proceed.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MR. KOHR
Mr. Kohr. Good morning, Chairwoman Lowey. I am joined here
today by my colleagues, Ester Kurz, Doug Saxon, and Daniel
Gray. Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member Rogers, and members of
the subcommittee, I would like to first express my heartfelt
thanks for your steadfast support of the U.S.-Israel
relationship. I especially want to commend the chair and
ranking member for building such a committed bipartisan to
advance America's national interest. It is under your
leadership that U.S. aid to Israel continues to enjoy broad
support from Democrats and Republicans, a fact that we never
take for granted and we greatly appreciate. Chairwoman Lowey,
we will sorely miss your leadership in the coming years ahead.
As you well know, with growing instability, chaos, and
tension in the Middle East, one fact remains reliably true:
Israel remains America's closest and most capable ally, an
anchor of stability in a dangerous region. Today both Israel
and the United States face an unprecedented array of evolving
threats fueled by Iranian aggression. Tehran grew more
belligerent over the past year, attacking U.S. military
personnel and equipment, targeting Israel, and striking crucial
oil installations in Saudi Arabia. Hezbollah stepped up its
anti-Israel activities, digging attack tunnels and building
factories in Lebanon to produce precision-guided munitions. In
the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad carried out
about 1,500 rocket attacks in addition to launching what are
normally children's toys, kites and balloons. They laden them
with explosives targeting Israeli civilians.
Israel's unique efforts to counter Iranian aggression has
proven more important than ever, significantly advancing U.S.
interests in this critical region. However, confronting these
growing threats has forced Israel to spend significantly more
on its defense. To help our Israeli ally, AIPAC strongly urges
the subcommittee to approve the $3.3 billion in security
assistance to Israel envisioned by the 2016 U.S.-Israel
memorandum of understanding. Our security assistance helps
Israel preserve its qualitative military edge and limits the
chances for war.
I also urge you, as you have always previously done, to
reject the suggestions of some that America should use our
security assistance as leverage to force Israeli policy
changes. Jeopardizing our closest regional ally's capability to
defend itself would undermine U.S. interests and credibility.
Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama each
signed successive 10-year memorandums of understanding on
security assistance with Israel without imposing any political
conditions because they understood how important the perception
of our reliability was for promoting peace and deterring war.
Finally, I need to report to this subcommittee that Israel
continues to be unfairly singled out time and again in
international institutions like the United Nations and the
International Criminal Court. This year, a politicized
International Criminal Court has taken steps to advance cases
against American and Israeli nationals in moves that insult our
Nation and seek to delegitimize Israel. I urge your continued
steadfast opposition to such biased attacks with your
consistent efforts to encourage the Palestinians to return to
the negotiating table. Direct bilateral Israeli-Palestinian
talks remain the best way to achieve a durable two-state
solution.
Thank you again for your continued leadership and support
in these very difficult and uncertain times.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Kohr follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you. Ms. Schrayer.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. SCHRAYER
Ms. Schrayer. Thank you. Thank you, Congresswoman Lowey,
Chairman Lowey, Ranking Member Rogers. Thank you for the
opportunity to testify and for the extraordinary example the
two have led on bipartisan leadership. Our nationwide coalition
of businesses, farmers, veterans, faith, and NGO leaders were
truly grateful to this committee for your unwavering support
for America's development of diplomacy programs and opposing
dangerous cuts.
The USGLC was founded 25 years ago. The Cold War had ended.
Some citizens believed we could reap a peace dividend in
questioning America's role in the world, and a few members even
bragged that they didn't own a passport. And it was a stark
contrast from the Cold War when President Reagan, under his
leadership, international fair spending as a percentage of our
GDP reached an all-time high of .6 percent. I don't know if you
can read this, but today we live, as we know, in a far more
complex and dangerous world, and yet that percentage of
spending is down and cut in half.
Now, I want to argue that we have to seriously look at
reversing the trend of how we spend and protect America's
interests because I fear if we merely stay the course, we do it
at our own peril. And one need to only look at the current
coronavirus. It is no surprise that our military, our top
military leaders are speaking out. Recently, former chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, wrote to
Congress, and he said, ``The urgent and unpredictable threats
our Nation face have only grown.'' He concluded and continued:
``This is a moment when more investment in diplomacy and
development is needed, not less.'' Now, thanks to this
committee, that 1 percent of the Federal budget for our
civilian tools is one of the most effective investments that is
really delivering results for the American people. A recent
study was done that showed that for every 1 dollar invested in
prevention saves $16 in response costs.
President Reagan understood that peace through strength,
that it meant investing in development and diplomacy alongside
defense. I believe that Reagan was right then, and he certainly
is right today. So I want to urge you to support two things.
First, to restore the funding for the fiscal year 2021 State,
Foreign Operations bill to no less than the most recent
highwater mark, and that takes us to a fiscal year 2017 enacted
level of $57.4 billion. But I also want you to think of this,
second, to begin to restore that trend, reverse the trend so
that we can see the international affairs cut, not less, by
more than half as a percent of GDP. And I can pledge that our
coalition is prepared to work with you to help do that.
Thank you for the chance to testify.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Schrayer follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you. Good to see you again.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. BILIMOIRA
Ms. Bilimoria. Thank you. Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member
Rogers, and the subcommittee staff, thank you so much for your
leadership and the opportunity to appear today, and for your
strong support of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.
I respectfully request that the committee approve a U.S.
contribution of $290 million for fiscal year 2021 to GAVI. This
contribution is part of an initial 4-year, $1.16 billion
commitment for the years 2020 to 2023, which was announced by
USAID on February 10th. I also ask that you provide $900
million for USAID's Maternal-Child Health Account.
GAVI's mission is to save lives, reduce poverty, and
protect the world against threats of epidemics. GAVI turned 20
this year and has helped immunize an entire generation, over
760 million children, and prevent 13 million deaths. These
milestones have dramatically increased immunization rates in
low-income countries and helped cut child mortality by almost
50 percent. But these gains we have made are, in fact, fragile,
and as we prepare for our next strategic period from 2021 to
2025, our goals remain ambitious. And over the next 5 years, we
aim to immunize an additional 300 million children, saving up
to 8 million lives. We will expand the availability of
lifesaving vaccines to communities that systematically miss out
on the most basic vaccines and build better health systems to
deliver them.
Ultimately in this period, GAVI will provide the most
vulnerable in the world the most complete package of protection
ever. And to accomplish these goals, GAVI is seeking a total of
at least $7.4 billion of additional funding from all of its
donors as part of its third replenishment, which will occur in
June and is being hosted by the government of the United
Kingdom.
It is important to understand that sustainability and
country ownership are at the heart of our model. More than
ever, countries themselves are allocating an even greater
proportion of their domestic resources to immunization
programs. We expect their co-financing share to go up even
further in the next period to a total of $3.6 billion in 2025,
more than doubling the amount that they are giving now, and
making this the largest investment in immunization on their end
in history. Fifteen countries have already transitioned. We
expect three more to do so by the end of the year. And with
continued partnership with the U.S. and successful
replenishment in June, we will ensure another 10 will do so.
Vaccines are the most cost-effective and effective ways to
prevent epidemics on our crucial component of any effective
global health security strategy. COVID-19 serves as a very
important reminder that infectious diseases know no border, and
the world must be prepared for the inevitability of new
pathogens emerging. Investing in GAVI helps protect the world,
providing a global health insurance policy against fast-
traveling epidemics and other diseases where systems are weak.
These investments to strengthen immunization systems are the
first line of it defense, and strong routine immunizations
protect against the spread of infectious disease.
GAVI also supports vaccine stockpiles of cholera, yellow
fever, meningitis, and Ebola, and since 2006, we have protected
140 million. But we can't do it alone, and we hope that the
U.S. investment in global health and larger foreign assistance
is essential to keeping people healthy and protecting emerging
threats. The U.S. support ensures progress in GAVI-supported
countries and, in turn, makes sure that the world is safer
overall.
The Chairwoman. Thank you.
Ms. Bilimoria. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Bilimoria follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you very much. Again, all of our
panelists are sharing such important information, and I wish we
could sit here for many more hours. Thank you.
WITNESSES
JESSE YOUNG, CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY LEAD, OXFAM AMERICA
CONOR SAVOY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MODERNIZING FOREIGN ASSISTANCE NETWORK
KATE WALL, SENIOR LEGISLATIVE MANAGER, INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL
WELFARE (IFAW)
The Chairwoman. Welcome. Our fifth panel is Mr. Jesse
Young, the climate change policy lead for Oxfam America; Mr.
Conor Savoy, executive director of the Modernizing Foreign
Assessment Network; and Ms. Kate Wall, senior legislative
manager of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Thank you
all for joining us today. Your full testimony will be placed
into the record. You will each have 3 minutes, starting with
Mr. Young, then Mr. Savoy, and finally Ms. Wall, and don't
hesitate to summarize your statement. Thank you again for
appearing before us today.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MR. YOUNG
Mr. Young. Thank you, Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member
Rogers, Ms. Lee, Ms. Frankel. Thanks for taking the time here
to solicit public feedback. I would like to speak briefly about
appropriations for international environment and conservation.
For decades, members of both parties have supported both
bilateral and multilateral funding to help protect and better
preserve the environment. These programs enable developing
countries to care for our shared global ecosystem while
strengthening American alliances, preventing conflicts, and
bolstering national security. I should also note that the
American public is more attuned to the importance of these
issues than ever before. There is so much polling on this if
you would like to hear about it at a later date.
The omnibus appropriations package for the current fiscal
year provided robust and increased support for these important
programs. I would like to thank the committee for their hard
work in that effort and express real gratitude on behalf of our
committee, especially to Jean Kwon, Erin Kolodjeski, and Liz
Leibowitz on your staff, who have been great partners. In
particular, the fiscal year 2020 bill language supporting
adaptation, renewable energy, and sustainable landscapes is
very strong and will help save lives, build resilience, and
protect the vulnerable.
As members of the subcommittee know, American investments
in these programs help leverage substantial matching
commitments from other governments, meaning that our spending
has doubled many times over. Indeed, every American dollar
invested in the Global Environment Facility generates another
$40 from countries and other partners. In the energy arena,
investment in developing country energy infrastructure is
expected to exceed $30 trillion over the next 25 years. A small
investment of U.S. funds now can help shape that enormous
market for decades to come.
In fiscal year 2021, we hope you can find greater support
for all these accounts. In particular, we hope that the
subcommittee can increase the adaptation program line to $192
million and the renewable energy program line to $194 million,
an increase of $15 million for both. Full funding of $10
million for the voluntary U.S. contributions to the U.N.
Framework Convention on Climate Change and the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is also essential as
the U.S. remains an active and important contributor to both
bodies under the Trump administration.
Additionally, we hope that the subcommittee can provide
additional direction to State and USAID by instructing them to
fund both the Least Developed Countries Fund, one of the
premiere multilateral resilience funds which the U.S. has
previously supported, as well as the Climate and Clean Air
Coalition, a pioneering, voluntary effort to reduce pernicious
air pollutants. Finally, we believe it remains vital for the
U.S. to meet its existing pledge to the Green Climate Fund by
providing $500 million or more in this fiscal year. Forty-seven
countries have now pledged $18 million to the GCF, including
nine developing nations, like Indonesia, Chile, Mexico, and
Colombia. Additionally, the GCF is leveraging an additional $15
billion in non-GCF co-financing, over $2.67 for every $1 the
fund provides.
Thanks so much.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Young follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Well, thank you. Please proceed.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MR. SAVOY
Mr. Savoy. Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member Rogers, and
members of the subcommittee, on behalf of the Modernizing
Foreign Assistance Network, thank you for the opportunity to
testify on the fiscal year 2021 State, Foreign Operations, and
Related Programs appropriations bill. I also wish to commend
your steadfast leadership and support of a strong and effective
international affairs budget.
For 2 decades, Congress and, in particular, this
subcommittee has played a key role in advancing significant
reforms to make U.S. assistance more efficient, effective, and
transparent. MFAN has six recommendations that build on that
success. Our full request is included in the testimony we
submitted for the record, but I will summarize them here today.
We recommend that the committee once again consider a
modest increase of 5 percent in USAID's operating expenses. We
know that in a resource-constrained environment, it is
difficult to prioritize this, but we also know the consequences
of not investing in USAID's capabilities. In the 1990s, USAID
saw its operating expenses slashed while gaining new
responsibilities, and, in essence, we asked them to do more
with less. We saw the result in the struggles that USAID
experienced in ramping up operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
This committee has supported significant increases to the
operating expenses budget. Now is not the time to turn back on
these reforms.
Another challenge that has negatively impacted the
effectiveness of our foreign assistance is the uncertainty
caused by disruptions in the budget. This uncertainty distracts
from the important work of our foreign assistance programs. It
undermines the effectiveness of critical programs designed to
protect our national security and improve millions of lives
across the world. We respectfully urge the subcommittee to
again include language aimed at minimizing the threat of budget
delays and disruptions.
Finally, the United States International Development
Finance Corporation deserves our support as it stands up. The
DFC has powerful new tools and a mandate that will allow it to
achieve greater development impact while also supporting U.S.
strategic objectives. Focusing on less developed countries will
require additional investment in operating expenses and credit
subsidy. It does not, however, require the $700 million the
administration requested. If equity is scored on a fair market
basis and not for dollar for dollar, MFAN believes that $165
million is sufficient for the program account. Our
recommendations today would contribute to ensuring that the DFC
achieves the ambitious goals set by Congress, that USAID
transformation is successfully completed, and that foreign aid
is implemented efficiently with minimal disruption and in
accordance with congressional intent.
Thank you for the time today. I thank you for the vital
role you have all have played in modernizing foreign
assistance, and a special thank you to Chairman Lowey for your
leadership all these years. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Savoy follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you for your testimony. Ms. Wall.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. WALL
Ms. Wall. Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member Rogers, Ms. Lee,
Ms. Frankel, thank you so much for the opportunity to testify
here today on behalf of the International Fund for Animal
Welfare. IFAW has programs in more than 40 countries around the
world protecting animals and habitats, by responding to
disasters, working with communities to innovate solutions to
human wildlife conflicts, and partnering with USAID, the
Department of State, and community actors to combat illegal
wildlife trafficking.
This last year has brought ever-more disturbing news about
the state of our natural world. Trafficking in wildlife and
wildlife parts remained the fourth most lucrative criminal
enterprise globally, with an estimated annual revenue of $20
billion. And if you add in illegal logging and fishing, that
number skyrockets to $1 trillion or more.
2019 was the second hottest year on record. In May, the
Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Services, an international scientific body, released
a report warning that 1 million species are at risk of
extinction due to human activities. And that was before
changing climate conditions in Australia wreaked havoc in the
form of catastrophic wildfires, killing an estimated more than
1 billion animals in New South Wales alone. Ocean temperatures
rose at record-setting rates, and a novel coronavirus emerged
from wildlife markets in China to threaten global health. I
would note that that is not the first novel coronavirus to
emerge from wildlife markets. SARS emerged from the same
markets, which were temporarily closed in the wake of that
global pandemic.
So in the wake of these troubling trends, we are requesting
increases for USAID biodiversity programs to $330 million, up
from $315 million in fiscal year 2020; USAID's sustainable
landscape programs to $140 million, up from $135 million in
fiscal year 2020; continuing to fund the Global Environment
Facility at our promised $139.5 million a year; and increases
of $10 million to the U.S. State Department and USAID wildlife
trafficking programs at $110.6 million.
A healthy environment is the foundation of all the
important programs we have been hearing about here today, and
the conservation programs I named are critical to countering
troubling trends globally, and ensuring the healthy
biodiversity and ecosystems that, in turn, promote global
stability and protect human health, both around the world and
here at home. The requested funds are necessary to confirm and
expand their important work, and I thank you again for the
opportunity to testify here in their support today.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Wall follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you all do important work. If we had
additional time, we could have additional discussion. Thank you
all.
WITNESSES
JAMIE BAY NISHI, DIRECTOR, GLOBAL HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES COALITION
DAN WEST, SENIOR ADVOCATE, NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL
WILLIAM (BILL) O'KEEFE, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR MISSION,
MOBILIZATION, AND ADVOCACY, CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES
The Chairwoman. Welcome. Jamie Bay Nishi, director of the
Global Health Technology Coalition; Mr. Dan West, senior
advocate of the Natural Resources Defense Council; and Mr. Bill
O'Keefe, executive vice president of Catholic Relief. I want to
thank you all for joining us today. Your full testimony will be
placed in the record. You each will have 3 minutes, starting
with Ms. Nishi, then Mr. West, and finally Mr. O'Keefe. Please
feel free to summarize your statement, and we will withhold any
questions until all your statements are completed. Thank you
very much.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. NISHI
Ms. Nishi. Members of the committee, thank you for the
opportunity to testify on fiscal year 2021 appropriations for
global health programs at USAID and the State department, and
thank you for your committed leadership to global health. I
speak on behalf of the Global Health Technologies Coalition, a
group of 30 organizations advancing policies to accelerate the
creation of new drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, and other tools
to bring healthy lives within reach for all people.
To this end, we strongly encourage the committee to
continue its established support for global health research and
development by, first, sustaining U.S. investment in global
health research and product development, by rejecting fiscal
year 2021 cuts proposed by the administration, and supporting,
at minimum, level funding from fiscal year 2020 for each
disease or population-specific program under the USAID and
State department global health accounts; second, instructing
USAID to prioritize R&D within each of the disease and
condition areas under their global health programs account, and
requiring agency leaders to develop a whole-of-government
global health R&D strategy to ensure that U.S. investments are
efficient, coordinated, and streamlined; third, calling for the
expansion of the annual report on USAID's health-related
research and development strategy, and for the public release
of the annual report required by the Global Health Innovation
Act, both vital for transparency and oversight.
The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has demonstrated that, once
again, we do not have all the tools needed to prevent,
diagnose, and treat many neglected and emerging infectious
diseases, a reality we also saw during the Zika epidemic in
West Africa and Ebola epidemic just a few years ago. Yet the
impact of the ERVEBO Ebola vaccine on the now waning epidemic
in the DRC demonstrates the power that having the right tool at
the right time to respond to a global health emergency is
critical. This new vaccine, developed with critical U.S.
government funding, is 97.5 percent effective, a game changer
for this and future outbreaks.
As the only U.S. agency with a mandate to focus on global
health and development, USAID is uniquely positioned to support
end-to-end development of new global health technologies.
USAID's global presence and unique understanding of the needs
of patients in different contexts is key to developing health
innovations that are transformative on the ground. However,
there are few dedicated funding streams expressly supporting
global health R&D at USAID. Most investment decisions are made
at the program level based on overall funding allocations for
each disease or population-specific health area. Funding cuts
would further jeopardize the Agency's ability to balance
current programming demands with new drugs, vaccines,
diagnostics, and other tools.
Diseases know no borders, and, as we have seen with COVID-
19, health crises abroad can quickly become health crises at
home. It is imperative that we sustainably invest in R&D for a
broad range of neglected infectious diseases so we have tools
ready to go when we need them.
On behalf of members of the Global Health Technologies
Coalition, I would like to extend my gratitude to this
committee for the opportunity to testify and for your continued
support of these lifesaving investments.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Nishi follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you. Mr. West.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MR. WEST
Mr. West. Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member Rogers, and
representatives of the committee, thank you for providing this
time for public input on fiscal year 2021 appropriations. The
Natural Resources Defense Council, NRDC, supports robust
Federal funding for programs that further American leadership
abroad, and ensure real progress on addressing critical
international environmental challenges. Congressional
appropriators have a bipartisan record of supporting vital
international, environmental, and clean energy programs, so we
urge you to continue this tradition and step up the level of
commitment to these investments for next year.
We ask that Congress restore funding of at least $500
million to the Green Climate Fund. It is a smart investment
that creates opportunities for American companies and workers
to tap into the $60 trillion global clean energy market. Many
American companies export their technologies and innovations
around the world, including to projects that are enabled by the
Green Climate Fund. Honoring America's commitment to the Green
Climate Fund is critical to holding accountable other major
emitters, like China and India, for doing their part to address
the climate crisis.
We also request the following funding levels for these
bilateral assistance programs: $140 million for sustainable
landscapes, $194 million for renewable energy, and $192 million
for adaptation. They are all smart investments to strengthen
U.S. alliances and prevent instability overseas by helping
developing countries become more resilient. We were pleased to
see these programs receive strong fiscal year 2020 funding. For
the first time ever, the Renewable Energy and Adaptation
Accounts were included in the base bill.
NRDC asks Congress to build on that progress in fiscal year
2021 by maintaining robust funding for these accounts, as well
as providing additional funding where possible, including fully
funding the Global Environment Facility at $139.5 million to
continue our Nation's support for protecting forests and
endangered species around the world, protecting people from
harmful chemicals and waste, and promoting healthy
international waters; providing at least $10 million for
maintaining United States' financial commitments to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an
intergovernmental panel on climate change, to reassert American
leadership in international climate change forums; and boosting
the Montreal Protocol's Multilateral Fund to $37 million. It
helps developing countries meet their commitments to phase out
ozone-destroying and other chemicals, while helping develop
markets for American companies to export these technologies.
To unlock the full market potential for American innovation
and clean technologies, appropriators should remove the rider
blocking funding for U.S. international development
institutions to finance clean energy projects abroad, and
oppose any limitations that get in the way of driving climate
solutions. At the same time, appropriators should ensure that
all U.S. investments are helping to combat climate change,
biodiversity loss, and other environmental challenges. Scarce
U.S. investments should avoid digging us deeper into a hole on
these challenges.
We look forward to working with you to help ensure that
fiscal year 2021 appropriations provide expanded financing to
help address critical environmental challenges. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. West follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you. Mr. O'Keefe.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MR. O'KEEFE
Mr. O'Keefe. Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member Rogers, and
Ms. Lee, Catholic Relief Services is the international relief
and development agency of the Catholic community in the United
States. We operate in more than 100 countries, partner with
2,000 organizations, and serve more than 136 million people.
CRS respectfully urges Congress to increase the State and
Foreign Operations budget to $57.4 billion and protect poverty-
reducing humanitarian and development accounts. I will use my
time today, though, to talk about how the committee can remove
barriers along the journey to self-reliance.
CRS, most members of Congress, and the American people
share common goals: alleviating suffering, ending poverty,
hunger, and disease, and cultivating just and peaceful
societies. Too often, we lose sight of these long-term goals in
favor of short-term objectives. The central lesson of CRS' 75-
plus year history is that development is only sustainable and
effective when locally led. This hard-won lesson is consistent
with the Catholic principle of subsidiarity. Those closest to a
challenge best understand it and should play the central role
in solving it. Effective development assistance, therefore,
requires a steadfast commitment to enabling and building
sustainable local leadership.
I have five specific recommendations for U.S. assistance to
advance the kind of local leadership foundational for any
society to become more self-reliant. One, localization goes
beyond implementation to participation and actual leadership.
It is about who gets a seat at the table. Successful
localization requires investment in capacity, including the
boring systems of H.R., finance, and fundraising. Three,
multiyear flexible funding mechanisms are critical for success
in capacity building. Four, risk management must be shared, and
five, faith-based organizations and leaders are critical actors
in the localization process.
CRS' PEPFAR-funded Outcomes for Children and Youth Project
in Uganda demonstrates well how all these principles are able
to both graduate households out of the program support and
build the capacity of service providers. These organizations
are critical for sustaining long-term benefits, and thanks to
this partnership, one of our partners already receives direct
PEPFAR funding.
Finally, if we want to help societies become more self-
reliant, we need to avoid unforced errors. Budget delays,
budget uncertainty, bureaucratic blockages, and unjustified
termination of programs interrupt the journey to self-reliance
and undermine U.S. interests. Vulnerable communities across the
world are further away from our shared goals because of these
hindrances to U.S. foreign assistance.
Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member Rogers, thank you so much
for this opportunity and for your commitment to humanitarian
and development assistance. Your leadership cannot be
understated.
[The prepared statement of Mr. O'Keefe follows:]
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The Chairwoman. I want to thank the panel again. Sorry our
time is limited. I would like to have a much longer
conversation, but we appreciate your very good work. Thank you.
WITNESSES
DAFNA RAND, VICE PRESIDENT, MERCY CORPS
JORDIE HANNUM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BETTER WORLD CAMPAIGN
The Chairwoman. Our seventh panel is Ms. Dafna Rand, vice
president of Mercy Corps; Mr. Jordie Hannum, executive director
of the Better World Campaign. And we appreciate your joining us
today. Your full testimony will be placed in the record. You
each will have 3 minutes, starting with Ms. Rand, then Mr.
Hannum. Don't hesitate to summarize your statement. We
appreciate your being here today.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. RAND
Ms. Rand. Good morning. Thank you, Chairwoman Lowey and
Ranking Member Rogers, and members of this committee, and your
staff for all that you have done to build a safer, more
prosperous, and just world.
It is the beginning of the 3rd decade of this millennium,
and global trends present a paradox. Poverty alleviation
programs have brought tens of millions into the middle class,
out of poverty in the past 2 decades, and yet progress is
stalling in certain key geographic areas. In these hotspots,
local, national, and international conflicts converge.
Governance is weak, corrupt, or absent, and economic resources,
including the profits from natural resources, are inaccessible
or siphoned off by the elite. The poorest of the world's poor
now reside in these contexts, in these geographies, and these
are the areas that also tend to be critical to their pursuit of
U.S. national security objectives.
My team, nearly 6,000 teammates around the world in 43
countries, Mercy Corps' global team, work in these areas. On
behalf of these teammates, who are working in these really
tough spots around the world, I come here today and urge this
subcommittee to fully fund the State, Foreign Operations
appropriations bill at $57.4 billion.
U.S. foreign assistance, as well as the operating budgets
for USAID and the U.S. State Department, are more critical than
ever. The hollowing out of these institutions has directly
weakened U.S. influence. The budget that you oversee in this
subcommittee offers the foundations for diplomats and for aid
workers working in increasingly insecure environments. They are
responding and managing global challenges, like pandemics,
civil conflicts, terrorism, environmental degradation, and
cyber risks.
In light of the trends that I have described, I would like
to focus on two root causes that we see in that context and
then conclude with that. I would like to talk about the root
causes of poverty, displacement, and vulnerability, namely
persistent conflict and climate change. First, there are
550,000 civilians dying every year due to global conflict. In
2019, Congress passed the Global Fragility Act. The law
reorients U.S. foreign policy and assistance to address the
root causes of violence and conflict, and we now request report
language from this subcommittee to fully implement the law. In
particular, we request that this committee's report language
specify $50 million for the Complex Crises Fund, $200 million
for the Prevention and Stabilization fund, $25 million for the
Multi-Donor Global Fragility Fund, and legislative report text
to ensure that a substantial portion of the Complex Crises Fund
and the Prevention and Stabilization Fund is used for
implementation of the global fragility strategy.
And I am happy to talk with your staff afterwards about all
those recommendations, but for the sake of time, I will
conclude with the second request for your bill, climate
adaptation. According to the United Nations, the world will
require between $140 and $340 billion a year to adapt to global
climate change. Please ensure that your report language
specifies that not less than $200 million shall be used for
adaptation programs, and please request no less than $500
million dollars to be provided to the Green Climate Fund. Thank
you so much for your work.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Rand follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you. Please proceed.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MR. HANNUM
Mr. Hannum. Members of the subcommittee, thank you for the
opportunity to testify in support of the United Nations. Over
the organization's 75 years, with U.S. support, the U.N. has
procured vaccines for 860 million children, fed huge numbers of
people, and helped millions of women overcome pregnancy-related
risks. It remains the only forum where all countries gather to
tackle the globe's greatest challenges. In 2020, the U.N.'s
efforts will be more vital than ever.
In DR-Congo where great progress has been made in halting
Ebola, U.N. peacekeepers are protecting healthcare workers.
They are joined by U.N. World Health Organization staff. Of
course, WHO personnel are also responding to the coronavirus
where they are collecting data, sharing information and
diagnostic tests, and trying to prevent infections from taking
root in countries with weak health systems, which 82 percent of
Americans say is critical in a new poll. But one cannot mention
this important work without also mentioning how that work is
being undermined by funding shortfalls.
Since fiscal year 2017, Congress and the administration
have enforced a 25 percent cap on U.S. contributions to U.N.
peacekeeping, resulting in $1 billion arrears, much to the
dismay of many troop-contributing countries; thus, we call for
$2.6 billion in U.N. peacekeeping. In addition, there have been
unprecedented administration delays in funding already
appropriated by Congress. For example, core WHO funding was
delayed 6 months, impacting its ability to respond to
emergencies, or look at what is happening in East Africa. In a
region were 20 million are food insecure, there is a massive
locust outbreak right now. These pests could decimate the
entire year's harvest in certain countries. The nearly $70
million in aid meant for the U.N. Food and Agriculture
organization from 2018 and 2019 has been delayed. These funds
could have been repurposed, limiting the damage and long-term
cost. In fact, if action isn't taken, WFP director, David
Beasley, said the cost of responding to the impact would be at
least 15 times higher than the cost of preventing the spread
now.
On top of this, the administration is withholding funding
to the high commissioner for human rights, UNFPA, and have
started withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. While the United
States is withdrawing and withholding funding, China is
aggressively expanding its role. The Chinese now have four of
U.N.'s 15 specialized agencies. China has also sought to weaken
U.S.-supported norms on human rights and to reduce funding for
human rights observers and gender advisors. Beijing is using
our focus on budget cuts to further their goals.
The administration's approach is all the more puzzling
given the appointment of a new envoy to counter Chinese
influence at the U.N., but the overarching policies of the
administration are effectively forcing the envoy to fight with
one hand tied behind his back. If the U.S. continues to
downgrade its U.N. engagement, we can expect to see a
corresponding drop in our level of influence which China will
fill. Preventing such a scenario requires more U.S. engagement,
not less, and fully funding the U.N. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hannum follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you for your presentation.
WITNESSES
REV. DAVID BECKMANN, PRESIDENT, BREAD FOR THE WORLD
HELEN BOYLE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER, BASIC
EDUCATION COALITION
FILMONA HAILEMICHAEL, DIRECTOR OF U.S. POLICY, GLOBAL CITIZEN
The Chairwoman. Our eighth panel is Reverend David
Beckmann, president of Bread for the World; Ms. Helen Boyle,
vice president of the Education Development Center; and Ms.
Filmona Hailemichael, director of U.S. Policy at Global
Citizen. I want to thank you all for joining us today. Your
full testimony will be place into the record, and you each will
have 3 minutes, starting with Reverend Beckmann, then Ms.
Boyle, and finally Ms. Hailemichael. Please feel free to
summarize your statement. We will withhold any questions until
after your have completed your presentation. Please begin,
Reverend Beckmann.
OPENING STATEMENT BY REV. BECKMANN
Reverend Beckmann. Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member Rogers,
Ms. Lee, members of the committee, I am David Beckmann,
president of Bread for the World, and I am retiring from this
job this summer. So I have been doing it about 30 years, and I
mainly want to take this occasion to say thank you to this
really extraordinary committee.
When I became president of Bread for the World in 1991,
about 25 percent of the world's people were hungry. That is
down to about 10 percent, and a big reason for that is that
U.S. poverty-focused aid has quadrupled during that period, and
at the same time we have substantially improved the quality of
aid. You have kept it up over the last few years on a
bipartisan basis. There have been continued increases in needed
poverty-focused programs. And just this month, Congress passed
a coronavirus supplemental that includes a really strong global
response to the global pandemic. So thank you.
The main thing I want to ask of the committee this year is
an additional $50 million for the nutrition line of the Global
Health Account. Why? We are really focused on this because the
world knows better than we did 15 years ago just how much
damage child malnutrition does, and we also know better how to
respond to that problem in really-cost effective ways.
I have had a chance to visit evidence-based programs in
Ethiopia and Guatemala. You know, the moms come in. There are
health workers there. The kids are weighed and measured, so if
the kids are malnourished, they get supplemental food. And
while the moms wait, they learn things about good nutrition,
like it is important to wash your hands with soap. And programs
like that have helped to dramatically reduce child malnutrition
over the last 10 years. There are 22 million fewer stunted
children in the world today than 10 years ago.
This issue unites us. The Global Nutrition Resolution has
passed the Senate. It has passed the Foreign Affairs Committee,
the Agriculture Committee. It brings Republicans and Democrats
together, which we need. And then this year is especially
important because there will be a big nutrition summit in Tokyo
in December. And if you put an extra $50 million into this
account, you will leverage funds from other sources.
In my written testimony, there is a list of other programs
that deserve special attention from a hunger poverty
perspective, and I hope you and your staffs will look at those.
[The prepared statement of Reverend Beckman follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Reverend Beckman, I want to congratulate
you on your outstanding career and your retirement. I am going
to be retiring, too, after 32 years, so. I must say, working
together with so many of the other people who have testified
today just warms my heart because we know what really important
work we have done. So I thank you for appearing before us
today.
Mr. Rogers. Madam Chair, to you older people we are
thankful for both your service and yours, David. You have been
a great spokesman for this cause, and this morning's
presentation that you made with no notes is testimony to your
effectiveness. So Godspeed in your retirement.
The Chairwoman. Thank you. Please proceed.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. BOYLE
Ms. Boyle. Thank you, Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member
Rogers, and members of the subcommittee for inviting me here
today. My name is Helen Boyle, and I am a longstanding member
of the Basic Education Coalition, as well as the vice president
of the International Development Division at Education
Development Center.
Since joining EDC in 1991, I have managed many USAID-funded
programs in the Middle East, North and West Africa, and South
Sudan, and I also led the development process for EDC's
signature approach to improving the teaching and learning of
early grade reading in resource lean environments. Based on my
deep experience in international education, I can confidently
attest that the valuable resources provided by this
subcommittee help identify solutions to development challenges,
and yield positive results in the lives of program
beneficiaries, namely children and youth.
To enhance U.S. foreign assistance efforts and expand
education programs for children in need, we urge Congress to
provide $925 million for basic education in fiscal year 2021,
with at least $800 million provided as bilateral U.S.
government assistance. Funding for basic education enables
USAID and implementing partner organizations to work in some of
the most challenging contexts around the world to increase
access to education, provide early learners with foundational
skills, and prepare youth for successful careers. Last year,
USAID's investments in education reached more than 42 million
children and youth in over 50 countries. Very impressive.
Since Chairman Lowey led the passage of the READ Act in the
fall of 2017, our community has been striving to expand the
scope and scale of our work in education. Gains in access to
education and improvements in the teaching and learning of
early-grade reading skills need to be expanded to reach the
children who have been left behind, especially those affected
by crisis and conflict. We also need to ensure that children
develop the skills needed for the 21st century for the
workforce, including literacy and numeracy skills, resiliency,
and critical thinking skills. Likewise, great strides have been
made to improve gender equality, but we cannot rest until all
girls receive an equitable, quality education. Finally, in
extremely disadvantaged environments, our programs must start
earlier so children enter primary school ready to learn.
To achieve these ambitious and vital goals, it is
imperative that Congress fully resource the U.S. government's
strategy on international basic education, and equip staff at
USAID with the tools needed to achieve success. Thank you again
for inviting me to testify before the subcommittee today and
for your continued support for international basic education.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Boyle follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you very much. This is a matter near
and dear to me. I just expect that the important work we are
doing will continue. I particularly am concerned about
Afghanistan because we have reached a point where we are over 1
million girls that are in school, and this has made a huge
difference. So thank you.
Ms. Boyle. Thank you.
The Chairwoman. Please proceed.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. HAILEMICHAEL
Ms. Hailemichael. Madam Chairwoman, Ranking Member, and we
thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. I am
here on behalf of Global Citizen. We are an advocacy
organization with 1.5 million supporters in the U.S. We are the
world's largest movement of action takers and impact makers,
who are dedicated to ending extreme poverty by 2030. We believe
that ending poverty will be driven by investments in education,
nutrition, and health.
The Chairwoman. Can you speak into the microphone?
Ms. Hailemichael. Sure. I think it is on, yes. I will get
closer. We believe that ending poverty will be driven by
investments in education, nutrition, and health. And by
investing in these areas, we help ensure that every person has
the opportunity to learn, grow, survive, and even thrive.
So starting off with education, I want to, of course,
acknowledge all of your good work and support for global
education efforts, and thank you for that commitment. As you
know, worldwide, 258 million children are still missing out on
school with many more in class, yet failing to learn the basics
they need to succeed. From 75 million children forced out of
school by conflict or crisis, to 130 million girls not even in
school, there is a learning crisis, and its negative impact
only multiplies with the years of missed schooling. As such, we
urge you to fully invest in international basic education.
In addition to bilateral efforts, we support U.S.
contributions to the Global Partnership for Education, which
helps the most vulnerable children in the poorest countries,
and we also support and appreciate your renewed support for
Education Cannot Wait, a multi-donor fund that funds safe,
free, quality education to the millions of children worldwide
who are refugees, internally displaced, or affected by
conflict. We ask you to consider, therefore, $975 million for
basic education to include $125 for global Partnership for
Education and $50 million for Education Cannot Wait.
Secondly, I want to discuss nutrition. It is the second
fundamental building block of human development, yet hunger
nutrition is the only global development goal in which progress
has been going backwards. There are 821 million people
worldwide who go to bed hungry every night, and nearly half of
all child deaths are because of malnutrition or poor nutrition.
The silver lining is that rural farmers hold the key to
reversing this trend, and the International Fund for
Agricultural Development is investing in rural farmers by
providing training and resources to help them weather storms,
grow more food, and create more jobs. IFAD is increasing the
income and resilience of more than 100 million people through
effective agricultural development. So we ask you to consider a
$40 million allocation to IFAD so we can help ensure that the
poorest farmers are better equipped to help tackle malnutrition
and hunger.
And lastly, I just want to thank you for your support for
maternal and newborn child health programs. I think the world,
with the U.S.'s support, has made significant progress in
slowing the rate of preventable maternal and child deaths. Yet
every year, 5.4 million children under age 5 still die from
largely preventable deaths, and 300,000 women still die during
childbirth. As such, we ask you to consider further expanding
our maternal and child health work with a funding level of $900
million for fiscal year 2021. And lastly, to say by fully
funding these accounts, we believe the U.S. would be investing
in some of the most critical programs that would really help
break the cycle of poverty for millions of people around the
world.
So thank you again for your continued support for foreign
assistance and for allowing Global Citizen this opportunity to
testify before you today.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Hailemichael follows:]
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The Chairwoman. And thank you to the panel. On behalf of
all of us, good luck again, David. I am sure we will meet
again. Thank you.
Reverend Beckmann. I am sure you and I are both going to
keep working on this stuff.
WITNESSES
NIRANJALI AMERASINGHE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ACTIONAID USA
DOUG O'BRIEN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NATIONAL COOPERATIVE BUSINESS
ASSOCIATION CLUSA
The Chairwoman. Our ninth panel is Ms. Niranjali
Amerasinghe, executive director of ActionAid USA, and Mr. Doug
O'Brien, president and CEO of the National Cooperative Business
Association. We thank you for joining us today. Your full
testimony will be placed in the record, and you each have 3
minutes, starting with Ms. Amerasinghe, then Mr. O'Brien. And
please feel free to summarize your statement. Thank you.
OPENING STATEMENT BY MS. AMERASINGHE
Ms. Amerasinghe. Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member Rogers,
and members of the subcommittee, thank you so much for this
opportunity. I am the executive director of ActionAid USA, an
international development and human rights nonprofit with a
strong focus on how climate change is impacting everyday people
in poorer countries. I would like to speak about the critical
importance of U.S. support for international efforts on the
environment and climate change.
For the record, ActionAid USA does not receive any funding
from the accounts about which we are testifying. ActionAid
works directly with smallholder farmers and rural communities
in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, who are most vulnerable to
climate change, people who ironically are the least responsible
for causing the climate crisis. As a country that has
contributed significantly to the greenhouse gas emissions that
have caused climate change, and with the ability to mobilize
considerable resources quickly, we believe the United States
has a moral and legal responsibility to support people living
in poverty and dealing with a crisis not of their own making.
To do our fair share to address the root causes of climate
change, we must provide financial support for poorer countries
to shift their economies to cleaner pathways.
To this end, we strongly support prior U.S. appropriations
for climate mitigation and adaptation programs abroad, and for
multilateral institutions like the Global Environment Facility
and the Least Developed Countries Fund. We also strongly
support appropriations for the Green Climate Fund, or the GCF.
ActionAid has followed the GCF closely since its inception. It
has become nearly a $20 billion fund, disbursing resources to
developing countries around the world to transform economies
and support communities dealing with climate impacts. It is not
a perfect institution, none are, but it is the best channel we
have for ensuring support is flowing to countries that need it
most. It is independently governed, features strong
environmental human rights and gender safeguards, and attempts
to fund truly transformational projects.
The Obama administration made a $3 billion pledge to the
GCF, of which $2 billion remains outstanding. We believe the
U.S. should uphold its promises. More importantly, we believe
that significant U.S. contributions to the GCF are essential to
have any hope of keeping climate change to manageable levels.
We join others in seeking a contribution of at least $750
million to the GCF in the next fiscal year. This would send a
strong signal that the U.S. is committed to a global climate
solution.
Finally, climate change intersects with many issues that
are fundamental to the lives and livelihoods of everyone.
Climate change may have a significant impact on the spread of
infectious diseases. It also affects efforts to address world
hunger, which has been on the rise for the last 3 years. We
strongly support the Global Agriculture and Food Security
Program, GAFSP, an innovative initiative that delivers funding
for climate resilient and sustainable agriculture where it is
needed most. As 2021 is a replenishment year for the GAFSP, we
request that the U.S. support and appropriate $135 million
toward a goal of $675 million over 5 years. Thank you so much.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Amerasinghe follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you .
OPENING STATEMENT BY MR. O'BRIEN
Mr. O'Brien. Chairwoman Lowey, Ranking Member Rogers,
Congresswoman Lee, my name is Doug O'Brien. I am the president
and CEO of the National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA
International. We are the apex trade association for
cooperative businesses here in the United States, and we also
do significant international development work and have for
nearly 60 years. We use international cooperative principles to
empower people in developing regions. We request $17 million
dollars for USAID's Cooperative Development Program for fiscal
year 2021, and urge the committee to appropriate no less than
$57.4 billion dollars for international affairs and related
activities.
As you know, cooperatives are businesses that are owned,
controlled, and benefit those who use the business.
Approximately 1 in 3 Americans are a member of at least one
cooperative, ranging from small community-based to
multibillion-dollar businesses. As an international development
organization, NCBA CLUSA uses the cooperative principles to
provide technical assistance, education, business development
training, training that empowers people at the grassroots level
by creating economic opportunity, promoting trade, and building
more stable economies to tackle pressing issues that would be
impossible for a single individual to address effectively.
Cooperatives also provide individuals the tools to build
democratic institutions in their communities.
The Cooperative Development Program, the projects they are
in, have been extremely successful, and by their very nature,
these cooperatives stay in business long after that project
concludes. NCBA CLUSA was a critical partner to USDA in the
founding of CDP, and remains an enthusiastic implementer of the
program, providing legal and regulatory technical assistance,
business support, and governance strategies to cooperative
businesses.
For example, NCBA CLUSA has worked with local governments,
cooperative development organizations, and private sector
partners to identify ways to strengthen cooperatives through
regulatory environment in places like Peru, Kenya, Tanzania,
and Madagascar. For instance, by practicing one of the
cooperative principles, cooperation among cooperatives, coop
members leverage their strength to shift power back into the
hands of farmers. They also collectively gather purchasing
power so farmers and communities can better able and bring more
income back to their families.
CDP has a strong history of helping countries graduate from
international development assistance. Cooperative membership
has resulted in higher income levels, a greater sense of
financial security, and an improved capacity to support
families during a financial emergency. Moreover, cooperatives
demonstrate greater gender inclusion and are more inclusive of
all members' voices in business activities and decision making.
CDP also provides people on the ground the fundamentals for
individuals to build democratic institutions. With the support
of the Cooperative Development Program, cooperative businesses
continue to improve the economic mobility of millions of people
across the world.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and thank
you for your leadership on this subcommittee.
[The prepared statement of Mr. O'Brien follows:]
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The Chairwoman. Thank you so much for completing this very,
very important day. We appreciate your testimonies, and we look
forward to continuing to work with you. And thank you to my
outstanding ranking member and my colleague here.
I must say in conclusion that this is one of my favorite
days because you really get to interact and hear about some of
the programs that many of us don't really understand in depth.
So as you are closing out our hearings, I want to thank you and
thank my colleague again, especially you here from beginning to
end.
And we stand adjourned. Thank you.
[Material submitted for inclusion in the record follows:]
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W I T N E S S E S
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Page
Akhoundova, Irada................................................ 251
Albright, Alice.................................................. 25
Allen, W. Ron.................................................... 90
Amerasinghe, Niranjali........................................... 239
Arnold, David.................................................... 98
Beckmann, David.................................................. 218
Bilimoira, Natasha............................................... 162
Bourgault, Jeanne................................................ 120
Boyle, Helen..................................................... 226
Browne, Anucha................................................... 136
Carter, Joanne, D.V.M............................................ 261
Case, Hon. Ed.................................................... 43
Castro, Hon. Joaquin............................................. 48
Chu, Hon. Judy................................................... 38
Collins, Chris................................................... 105
Cors, Tom........................................................ 267
Costa, Hon. Jim.................................................. 21
Cowal, Hon. Sally................................................ 272
Cox, Hon. T.J.................................................... 52
Crow, Paula...................................................... 276
Espaillat, Hon. Adriano.......................................... 2
Feinberg, Mark, M.D.............................................. 281
Field, John...................................................... 285
Foster, Hon. Bill................................................ 53
Goodman, Allen E................................................. 288
Hailemichael, Filoma............................................. 233
Hannum, Jordie................................................... 210
Heiberg, Danielle................................................ 143
Hill, Hon. J. French............................................. 26
Ignatius, Heather................................................ 294
Kohr, Howard..................................................... 148
Kronenfeld, Mara................................................. 300
Kurose, Stephanie................................................ 305
Lee, Hon. Sheila Jackson......................................... 31
Lyons, Charles................................................... 308
Mammadova, Sevinj................................................ 314
Matthews, Anne L................................................. 320
McGovern, Hon. James P........................................... 9
McQueen, Mary C.................................................. 326
Nishi, Jaime Bay................................................. 184
O'Brien, Doug.................................................... 244
O'Brien, Kate.................................................... 84
O'Keefe, William................................................. 197
Owubah, Charles E................................................ 332
Pace, Loyce...................................................... 335
Pallone, Hon. Frank P. Jr........................................ 61
Patton, David.................................................... 338
Perry, Hon. Scott................................................ 64
Rand, Dafna...................................................... 204
Rigg, Jennifer................................................... 343
Roehm, Scott..................................................... 347
Rosenhauer, Joan................................................. 112
Rubin, Hon. Eric................................................. 343
Savoy, Conor..................................................... 175
Schiff, Hon. Adam................................................ 56
Schrayer, Liz.................................................... 156
Sherman, Hon. Brad............................................... 66
Soderstrom, Stan................................................. 128
Spanberger, Hon. Abigail......................................... 15
Speier, Hon. Jackie.............................................. 71
Unger, Noam...................................................... 358
Wagner, Hon. Ann................................................. 76
Wall, Kate....................................................... 180
West, Dan........................................................ 192
Whatley, Chris................................................... 364
Williams, Faith.................................................. 368
Yerimyan, Tereza................................................. 373
Yoho, Hon. Ted................................................... 78
Young, Jesse..................................................... 170
Zachritz, Robert................................................. 378
Zherka, Ilir..................................................... 384