▶ 0:27:04doing great. Call the meeting of the appropriations committee to order. I'd like to welcome everyone to today's meeting. Today we'll be marking up our National Security, Department of State, and related programs appropriations measure for fiscal year 2026. As with our previous markups, it's my intention to complete all of our work on this bill today.
▶ 0:27:28While we'll take a recess for floor votes as needed, we'll otherwise be here today until our work is completed. I know there are questions about the remaining schedule uh for the week given the change in the House calendar. At this time, there are no changes to our schedule. I will however convey any changes to you as soon as possible following consultation with the ranking member of Deloro. So, we're kind of on track, but honestly, I want to see how things go today.
▶ 0:27:58Want to have a chance to talk uh to all of you on both sides of the aisle. Honestly, individually, I know you got travel schedules and things of that nature. And we're still conferring with our leadership as well, but we will, you know, today we know what we're doing and we'll announce by the end of the day, uh, you know, if we're on schedule or not. So, thank you for bearing with us and we will get you information as quickly as we can. Oh, thank you.
▶ 0:28:25Uh, our only order of business again today is consideration of the National Security Department of State and Related Programs Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2026. I'll now recognize Chairman Diaz Bollard to present the bill. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Uh, I'm pleased to present the fiscal year 2026 National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill uh to the full committee for consideration and for approval.
▶ 0:28:55Let me start by thanking Chairman Cole for his essential essential leadership at the helms of this appropriations committee and for his what I believe is deep wisdom, Mr. chairman in refocusing this subcommittee starting by changing the name to a to to really better reflect the investments made on behalf of the American people that they are to advance US national security.
▶ 0:29:22I also want to thank ranking member Frankle uh and ranking member Deloro and all of the members of the subcommittee for your partnership in developing this important bill. The bill before us delivers on President Trump's America First agenda. First, we drastically reduce spending by cutting 22% from the enacted level. The greatest threat to our country's stability and security is our debt.
▶ 0:29:52And this bill decisively but responsibly reigns in spending. Now these cuts are in addition to the 6% cut achieved in the final enacted version of the fiscical year 24 state and foreign operations act which was carried as you all know in the CR in the continuing resolution within the remaining funds.
▶ 0:30:16This bill prioritizes our national especially I may add in the western hemisphere the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific. It provides unwavering support for Israel and fully funds the United States Israel Memorandum of Understanding by providing 3.3 billion dollars in security assistance to allow Israel to defend herself from existential threats.
▶ 0:30:44Other key partners, other key allies in the Middle East such as Egypt and Jordan are strongly supported as well. The bill includes funding and conditions to confront the national security threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party, including through a new provision.
▶ 0:31:04A new provision that prohibits support for academic institutions partnering in STEM programs with PRC or CCP CCP controlled colleges in communist China. and it continues to prohibit foreign assistance from being used to repay loans to the PRC and many other key limitations on funding regarding the PRC.
▶ 0:31:30We have 500 million in foreign military finance and up to two billion in loans and loan guarantees are provided for Taiwan to strengthen deterrence to strengthen deterrence across the Taiwan Straits. Strong support is also provided for other key partners in the Indo-Pacific such as the Philippines and Pacific Island countries. This bill continues important investments, Mr.
▶ 0:31:59Chairman, to combat the trafficking of fentinel and the transnational criminal organizations behind that scourge of drug addiction confronting every single community in the United States of America. The bill creates the America First Opportunity Fund, which will enhance our country's leverage abroad and enable a rapid response to any crisis.
▶ 0:32:25It also creates the National Security Investment Programs Account, a new account that facilitates efficient strategic deployment of programs that support the United States national security interest. Yes, that is the theme. That is the theme of this bill. Together, this realignment of resources ensures that our foreign policy is focused on on making Americans safer, stronger, and more prosperous.
▶ 0:32:56Critically important, Mr. chairman and members of this committee. The bill maintains all long-standing pro-life provisions alongside enhanced oversight and transparency measures to ensure that American taxpayer dollars do not fund abortions. A policy that Americans overwhelmingly This bill, my friends, makes very clear that the days of a weak American foreign those days are over.
▶ 0:33:27Funding is cut, conditioned, or withheld to countries that are no longer advancing shared interests, such as Colombia, due to the pro administration's object failures in preventing political violence, creating economic deterioration, and emboldening emboldening transnational criminals.
▶ 0:33:50South Africa unless it ceases cooperations with our adversaries and upholds the rule of law and Mexico until it meets the requirements on water deliveries to the United States in accordance with the terms of the 1944 water treaty.
▶ 0:34:11The bill also blocks assistance to anyone that supports, finances, facilitates the operations of the Cuban Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces or Ministry of Interior. By the way, I'm also really grateful to President Trump and Secretary Rubio because they use language that I included in the fiscal year 2024 bill to sanction anti-American thugs in the Cuban regime who work closely with America's adversaries.
▶ 0:34:39This bill demands unprecedented accountability of the United Nations and other international organizations. It brings greater scrutiny to the actions of member states, including their voting record at the United Nations in determining the allocation of funds.
▶ 0:35:03That frankly doesn't sound like it should be controversial, but it's about time that we that we do that. No funds are included for the United Nations regular budget and funds are prohibited to the World Health Organization, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry Against Israel, the United Nations Relief and Work Agency known as ENRA, the United Nations Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court, and the International Court of
▶ 0:35:33Justice. Furthermore, the bill includes a new provision, a new provision to demand justice for the victims murdered in the October 7th terrorist attack, including American citizens, including American citizens, by requiring full accountability for the unrest staff involved in this vicious, cowardly So, these are just, my friends, a few examples of how this bill strengthens
▶ 0:36:04strengthens our national security and supports an America first foreign But there's more. The bill prohibits funds for controversial or ineffective programs that Americans do not support and our allies and partners don't need.
▶ 0:36:21The bill supports full implementation full implementation of of of key Trump administration executive orders that reflect a clear commitment to national secure borders, limited government and American values, including those related to restoring free speech and ending censorship, ending DEI programs, and many, many I would
▶ 0:36:51note that many of these limitations by the way were carried in the last two house passed then called the the state foreign operations bills and for really good reasons. I was pleased to see that President Trump embraced a lot of those policies through executive orders in the early days of his administration.
▶ 0:37:13And let's face it, it was no secret that the Biden administration was funding controversial, wasteful programs and even programs that were actually harmful to our national security interests. And I sounded the alarm publicly and privately. And you all heard me do that. I raised it in every hearing. We debated extensively, frankly, during our markups, as I'm sure we will do so again today.
▶ 0:37:43But here's a sad reality is that these funds were being used to fund drag DEI hiring, and even labs of the Communist Chinese Party.
▶ 0:37:57I hope we can finally all agree now that these prohibitions are needed or we or we frankly risk losing the American people's support for these important You see, the American people must be reassured that funds in this bill will promote our national security and our Throughout this process, the goal is to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars, to represent
▶ 0:38:28our constituents priorities and foreign assistance, and above all to protect the United States national security. This bill would not would not be what it is today without the valuable input from each member of this panel. Your thoughtful recommendations have shaped the measures before us and I'm so so grateful for your contributions.
▶ 0:38:53But now before I close, I also want to thank the staff, the amazing staff on both sides of the aisle for their hard work. Let me just start ma by me by naming naming them by name. Subcommittee Clerk Susan Adams and her entire team Craig Higgins, Kaye Alvarado, Jamie McCormack, Troy Hicks, John Muscolini, Gabriella Zach, and Erin Mcmen. I Erin, I always butcher your name. Where are you?
▶ 0:39:23I always butcher your name, but I'm going to get it. I'm going to get it. Uh, from my personal office, I want to thank Caesar Gonzalez, Mr. Chairman. You know, he's kind of the memory of this committee. uh Jazelle Reynolds, uh Autumn Merurley, and and from the minority staff, I want to thank Erin uh Kajeski, Lori Mon, and Edorn. Mr. Chairman, thank you. Uh I look forward to the vigorous debate, and I yield back.
▶ 0:39:54I thank the gentleman and I would now like to recognize the ranking member of the subcommittee, Miss Frankle, for remarks on the bill. Oh, there there it is. Okay. Thank Thank you, uh, Mr. Chair. I'm I'm going to start by recognizing the collegiality of our chairman, Mr. Diaz Bolard, and the thoughtful members on both sides of the aisle. And of course, I want to thank our hardworking staff.
▶ 0:40:24But most of all, I want to start. I want to recognize the brave and committed Americans, our diplomats, our US ID workers, our humanitarian teams, the public health experts, and our partners around the world, and the public health experts who bring our country's values to the world's toughest places. They're the ones who delivered vaccines to remote villages in the Congo, who helped girls in Ethiopia escape forced marriage and find education and safety.
▶ 0:40:52I've seen their work up close. I know many of us have. And the impact of programs we funded. Children who escaped the brutality of Assad's Syria thriving in classrooms in Jordan. Mothers in Malawi learning skills to support their families. Pregnant women in Kenya staying healthy with support from HIV clinics. To all these workers, past and present, you are the patriots.
▶ 0:41:17You represent the best of America and those who are still serving deserve more than our thanks. They deserve the tools to get the job done. Mr. Chairman, I wish we had a bipartisan bipartisan bill in front of us that I could support that honored the service and reflected Americans leadership. If we had had a responsible allocation in a White House that understood diplomacy, development, and humanitarian aid, we could have gotten there.
▶ 0:41:47But instead, here we are questioning whether any of this really matters when the president just ignores the will of Congress and the laws we pass. So today, I strongly oppose the FY2026 Republican bill. It's not just a funding cut. It's a reckless blueprint for American retreat.
▶ 0:42:10Our president seems to think that relying on threats and bullying alone is smart strategy. But chaotic tariffs, cruel immigration crackdowns, and this tepid foreign aid plan uh before us today is not going to make us more safe, secure, or more prosperous. And attention, we are seeding the world to China.
▶ 0:42:33And let me make it clear, this bill does not lower costs for hardworking families and retirees on day one as promised by the pre by the president. Instead, it puts hard earned finances at risk by hurting global stability. Uh and and tax breaks for billionaires is not a tri tradeoff for millions of starving children around the world.
▶ 0:42:57And let me just say that this bill does not make one bit of difference in making up the $4 trillion addition to our debt when the Republicans pass what they call their big big bill, their big beautiful bill. I call it the big ugly bill. Uh and and this this bill adds to a list of troubling actions by the administration. Here's what's happened leading up. Foreign aid has been held up legally, then justified by an innane clawback known as a recision.
▶ 0:43:28US Aid, an agency backed by Congress that fights poverty and prevents conflict, gutted. Over 10,000 development humanitarian professionals dismissed by Elon Musk. 5,000 life saving programs abruptly terminated. 1300 State Department staff laid off. Offices shuted the decades of progress wiped out. And how disgusting.
▶ 0:43:53The richest man in the world was allowed to pull the plug on programs that save the world's poorest children. The infrastructure and staffing are no longer present to carry out the few programs that remain. And let me say this again with emphasis. The infrastructure and staffing are no longer present to carry out the few programs that remain.
▶ 0:44:17And while the world faces crisis after crisis, wars and armed conflict, extreme weather, hunger and famine, disease and outbreaks, mass migration, rising authoritarian regimes, these aren't distant problems, they land right at our door. Fragile states collapse and migration surges. Trade stops and US farmers and businesses lose buyers. Climate disasters destroy crops and homes.
▶ 0:44:45broken health systems allow deadly viruses to spread. And when we step back, China and Russia step in, not to help, but to expand their grip. Uh we're leaving behind a gap that they fill with money and weapons and propaganda, taking over the airwaves, uh reaching listeners who used to rely on Voice of America and our international broadcasting. They want to remake the world to fit their playbook.
▶ 0:45:14And meanwhile, sadly, our allies are also slashing foreign aid, pushed to spend more on weapons by Mr. Trump. As global needs explode, democracy's soft power is And this bill fails to meet the moment. Here's what it really does. It cuts 22% from the international affairs budget. That's $13 billion. Diminish diminishes funding for development and economic assistance. Kids kicked out of classrooms and cut off from clean water.
▶ 0:45:45Farmers looting se loing seeds and tools to make a living. Violence prevention programs vanishing. Local nonprofits shut down. The bill slashes humanitarian aid by 42%. In Nigeria, malnut malnourished sentence infants are dying without food. In Miramar, hospitals are going dark. In Gambia, support for thei survivors of female genital mutilation has ended.
▶ 0:46:09As the country debates debates making it legal again, in Ukraine, wounded soldiers go without care. And in Ecuador, women entrepreneurs are losing lifelines and heading to our border. This is a blow to our credibility, our moral standing, and our global influence. Soft power, interestingly enough, development and dipl diplomacy has been secret weapons abroad.
▶ 0:46:35Without them, we're losing Americans on the ground who know the terrain, see the trouble coming, and keep us one step ahead. And as always, my my my, here we go again. Republicans couldn't resist one more swipe at women, slashing family planning programs that save hundreds of thousands of lives each year and prevent millions of unplanned pregnancies.
▶ 0:47:00Reinstating the global gag rule, which blocks funding to foreign groups that even talk about abortion. You can't even say the word abortion, not do abortion. Say the word abortion, you lose your funding. a gutting the UNFPA which provides basic reproductive and maternal care in over 150 countries.
▶ 0:47:22And while this bill guts humanitarian programs and walks away from the world's most vulnerable, the administration is also on the road to destroying one of the smartest, most effective US foreign policies, the women peace and security agenda. It's not some French idea. It's law signed by guess who? Donald Trump. It passed with strong bipartisan support. Here's why.
▶ 0:47:49Women experience conflict differently than men, often bearing the brunt of sexual violence, displacement, and the burden of caring for families amid chaos. Yet, also, they are often excluded from life-changing decisions. The WPs agenda has trained diplomats, strengthen alliances, and put more women in the center of peace and security. When women are at the table for peace talks, recovery and crisis response, the results are better. Period. Peace lasts longer.
▶ 0:48:19Communities recover faster and missions succeed. And yet, this administration has shut down the State Department's office that leads that work right when we need women's leadership the most. And this is not just shortsighted. It makes the world less safe and works directly against our own interests. This bill also banners multilateral institutions and organizations.
▶ 0:48:42UNICEF, the UN Development Bank program, the African and Asian Development Banks, the World Bank, the World Health Organizations, undermining our ability to shape the global agenda and seeding the ground to autocracks. Guess who? Attention. Attention. China is going to take over this world. And so why uh you know why why should Americans care that these cuts and going to cost more than they save?
▶ 0:49:10Because the cuts hurt American families. When we walk away from the world, chaos spreads. Troops are put in harm's way. Our adversaries gain ground and we pay the price in dollars and in lives. And look, I I say this not just as a lawmaker, but but as a mother. My ser my son served in Maroon Marines. He was sent to two wars, Iraq and Afghanistan. I know what it means when diplomacy fails. The cost is not hypothetical.
▶ 0:49:40It hits our soldier soldiers and the family the hardest. Uh and and and and let let me remind you the international budget was already less than 1% of our federal funding, but it delivered huge returns. markets for American goods, stability abroad, protection, protection from pandemics, fewer troops sent into harm's way. Last week, and we passed a 832 billion dollar defense bill, that's hard power.
▶ 0:50:09But even our top generals warned, without soft power alongside, that number will only keep rising. So, Mr. Chair, this bill is a lost opportunity. It's a failure to lead. It hurts American families because when health systems collapse, people get sick. When trade stalls, jobs vanish, when diplomacy fails, our loved ones go to war. So, let me close with this. Democrats are not giving up.
▶ 0:50:38We're ready to work together with Republicans to reach a bill that reflects our values, keeps our promises, and protects American lives. Because we cannot bone bomb and drone away to peace and prosperity. A strong America does not hide. It does not bully. A strong America leads with vision, with courage and compassion. And that is the bill we should be fighting for. And thank you. I yield back.
▶ 0:51:08Thank you. Thank the gentle lady. And I now recognize myself for remarks on the bill. Thank you, Chairman Diaz Bollard, and thank you to Ranking Member Frankl, and certainly to my good friend, Ranking Member Delore, the full committee, and to all our committee members. Today's fiscal year 2026 National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs, Appropriations Bill marks a critical step toward advancing a sharpened approach to US foreign policy.
▶ 0:51:37We ensure that Americans are safer at home and abroad without compromising fiscal responsibility. and we made clear that we will not retreat from the cause of freedom. This bill prioritizes our national security through robust support for our allies and through upholding peace through strength. We support essential efforts to advance democracy, defend human rights, and confront the creep of authoritarian regimes.
▶ 0:52:04We champion American leadership in the face of bad actors, confronting communist China, cutting off terrorist financiers in Iran and standing firm against the evil of Putin. And we reaffirm our steadfast support for our great ally Israel as they fight for their existence amidst terror and evil. This measure realign our foreign assistance to prioritize high impact programs.
▶ 0:52:29Strong accountability and oversight ensure the elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse. Importantly, we uphold religious freedom programs and maintain our longstanding bipartisan pro-life protections. America first doesn't mean America retreats. It means we lead on our terms in defense of our interests, our values, and our way of life. The legislation reiterates just that.
▶ 0:52:56I thank Chairman Diaz Bolard, Ranking Member Frankle, and the majority and minority staff for their hard work. I look forward to consideration of the bill, which reflects a commitment to freedom and democracy. And with that, I yield back. I now would recognize my good friend, the ranking member of the full committee, Mr. Laura, for her opening remarks on the bill.
▶ 0:53:26Thank you to uh yes indeed my dear friend it's not said lightly the chairman of the full committee Mr. Cole. I also want to thank chairman Diaz Bolard and ranking member Frankl uh and yes the subcommittee staff on both sides of the aisle for their work and in particular I want to shout out Erin Keski, Lori Mcnon and Edorn. I must oppose the bill before us today which dismantles American diplomacy and soft power.
▶ 0:53:54It abdicates American leadership, yields the global stage to China and Russia, threatens women's health, and abandons people around the world. Since taking office, President Trump's administration has stolen resources appropriated by this committee passed by Democrats and Republicans in the House and in the Senate for programs and services across the federal government, including several in this bill that protect and promote American interests and security around
▶ 0:54:24the world. Instead of being laser focused on the cost of living crisis, President Trump and Republicans are making it worse. Their big ugly bill is handing massive tax breaks to the wealthy and to corporations while driving up the cost of living for hardworking Americans while the administration empowers billionaires and dismantles agencies and programs that save lives and protect our national security.
▶ 0:54:52President Trump is aggressively pursuing an America last agenda that will only see America become weaker, more isolated, and more ostracized. It is actively de devesting impoverish devastating impoverished regions causing tragic and preventable death around the world and hurting American farmers.
▶ 0:55:14They empowered Elon Musk, an unelected billionaire who orchestrated the evisceration of USID and a freeze on programs saving the lives of vulnerable people around the planet. Testing and monitoring of diseases have dwindled. Life-saving treatments have stopped. Partnerships nurtured over decades to improve people's well-being were severed.
▶ 0:55:40And just last week, the State Department destroyed 500 tons of taxpayer funded emergency food, which could have fed 1.5 million kids for a week. Earlier this month, there was a purge of our diplomatic corps at the Department of State, where career nonpartisan staff who dedicated their lives to advancing American interests and who hold a wealth of irreplaceable knowledge and relationships were fired.
▶ 0:56:10If you were China or Russia and you wanted to weaken America, what would you do differently? This self-destruction is inexplicable. It is unfathomable and it is It may be easy for some people to look the other way and assume that these cuts are only inflicting harm on the other side of the world, but this affects all of our constituents.
▶ 0:56:34New Haven, Connecticut's Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, or Iris, brings hope and builds community in my district. They selflessly help refugees and immigrants navigate their lawful presence and build their lives in America where they can be free from oppression, free from destitution, and free to become an important part of their country's fabric and economy. These are people who are lawfully in our country.
▶ 0:57:04They have been vetted. But President Trump's order freezing grants for refugee resettlement and agencies across America is throwing Iris and the lives of refugees into chaos. Iris's director said, and I quote, "I work along Afghans who supported US forces and came to the United States a few years ago, and they're still waiting for family to come.
▶ 0:57:30Some of them were expecting travel orders for their family at any time." all of that stopped." End quote. Snubbing our allies and turning our back to the world does not make us strong. It makes us weak. It makes us an unreliable ally and an untrustworthy partner. Unfortunately, this bill doubles down on this America last agenda. It slashes humanitarian assistance by more than a third and foreign assistance by over 20%.
▶ 0:58:00Creating a soft power vacuum that China is eager to exploit. When we are helping impoverished communities and nations treat diseases, when we are feeding starving children in conflict zones, and when we help ensure villages have drinkable water, we are using and gaining soft power. We do these things because of our generosity. My faith reminds me of our duty to care for the vulnerable and to feed the hungry.
▶ 0:58:26Matthew 25:35, for I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. We also do these things because they are in our own interest. They build influence our global standing and strengthen our national security. When we retreat from the global stage, China and Russia fill the gaps and the world becomes a more dangerous place. Whose name is on that sack of flower? Whose name is on the door of the clinic?
▶ 0:58:56Whose name is on the school book? The United States of America. It must remain that way. The bill scapegoats our international partners, UN agencies and nos that deliver life-saving aid to the most vulnerable people around the globe. Organizations like UNRA will be destroyed, leaving children and families in Gaza and other places around the world to starve and to die. Mr.
▶ 0:59:21Chairman, I ask for your commitment to work together on section 7067, which would place restrictions on funding to the office of the UN Secretary General until conditions purportedly on UNRA are met. While we support justice for all those murdered on October 7th, I do not believe the language matches the intent. The provision is overly broad, penalizes important UN entities until specific actions are taken by the United States government.
▶ 0:59:51This makes no sense. Moreover, UN immunity is already waved in cases where it would impede the course of justice or where someone has committed human rights violations or engaged in or supported acts of terrorism. We all want justice for the horrific attacks on both Americans and our friends in Israel. And indeed, the Justice Department has a task force already investigating this issue. We should work together to address this in a manner that achieves true justice.
▶ 1:00:21This bill puts women and children at risk by pro prohibiting funding for the United Nations Population Fund, slashing support for bilateral family planning, emergency obstetric services, and responses to gender-based violence. And it cuts over $300 million from programs that improve maternal and child health and fight infectious diseases.
▶ 1:00:44This bill surrenders our efforts to combat the climate crisis, eliminating support for climate adaptability and clean energy, ignoring the nexus between climate conflict and migration, and jeopardizing the safety and the security of our children, our grandchildren, and every generation to follow.
▶ 1:01:05I cannot support this bill and I will not stop fighting to protect America's interests and against this administration's dangerous dismantling of our diplomatic and humanitarian efforts across the world. I yield back. Thank the gentle lady uh and the gentleman from Kentucky. The distinguished chairman ameritus of the committee is recognized for remarks on the bill.
▶ 1:01:39Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Chairman Dez Bolard and Cole, ranking members Lee and Delaro. Congratulations on bringing forth this very well done bill funding state and foreign operations for fiscal 2026.
▶ 1:02:01As I know from my previous experience leading this subcommittee, it's a very important bill for our country for its national security and is standing on the world stage.
▶ 1:02:17I want to thank uh Chairman Diaz Balard for including strong funding and resources that the bill provides to combat the flow of fentinel and other illicit drugs into our We must wield every tool at our disposal to curb the influx of fentinel which is killing some 70,000 American young people
▶ 1:02:48every year. So, thank you for making this a big priority in the bill. The bill continues strong support for our great ally ensuring it has the resources to defend itself and its sovereignty against malign actors in the Middle East.
▶ 1:03:14Finally, I'm I'm pleased the bill ensures the are adequately countering Chinese including providing 500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to strengthen deterrence across the Taiwan Strait and fully funding the countering PRC influence fund.
▶ 1:03:42I appreciate this subcommittee's work and its special work to protect American values both at home and overseas while upholding our responsibility to the taxpayers to reign in spending. So, thank you for your work, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. Thank the gentleman. The gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Hoyer is recognized for remarks on the bill.
▶ 1:04:13Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. There are many ways to sound retreat. Silence is one of them. failure to articulate the principles of democracy and defense, failing to fund properly the
▶ 1:04:43defense of democracy here and around the world. The chairman of this subcommittee and I have voted almost exactly alike over a long period of time and ensuring that we communist dictatorship in a little island not too far from our shores.
▶ 1:05:14Some of you perhaps saw my statement the day after we bombed Iran's nuclear capacity in support of that action.
▶ 1:05:32I fully subscribe to the remarks of the subcommittee chairman uh in articulating the deficiencies of this bill in articulating in sounding a clear trumpet again here and around the world of America's willingness to stand against dictators. desperates and war criminals.
▶ 1:06:05I also will take no second spot in my defense of Israel. And I thank the gentleman for and the gentle lady for assuring that our to defend Israel and oppose those who want to kill Jews.
▶ 1:06:31A few months ago, when Doge eliminated Neareastern re regional democracy fund, which supported pro-democracy Iranian activists, the Ayatollah's regime celebrated an Iranian newspaper affiliated with Ham's government praised the decision, writing, and I quote, "Trump, who was expected to undermine Iran, has instead disrupted the opposition." I think perhaps
▶ 1:07:01they've changed their as a result of the administration's action in Iran just a few days ago. China was similarly elated when the Trump administration gutted Voice of America early this year.
▶ 1:07:17Reacting to that news, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper said, "How truly gratifying." He said that China was thrilled to see the program and I quote crumble from scattering like a flock of startled The the reaction was similar in Russia where the head of the one uh one of Vladimir
▶ 1:07:47Putin's state media agency said and again I quote, "Today is a holiday for me and my colleagues." These are Russian colleagues. This is an awesome decision by Trump. We couldn't shut them down, the spokesman continued, unfortunately, but America did so itself.
▶ 1:08:14The axis of aggression will have the same reaction to this bill. Russia, China, Iran, and others are already working to fill in the vacuuming that Bill would help create on the global stage. China, Russia, and other adversaries are pouring money into foreign initiatives to expand their influence around the world. They're training more diplomats and analysts.
▶ 1:08:42They are forging closer economic ties with developing nations. As chair lady said, investing in diplomacy and foreign aid is not simply the right thing to do. It is also the smart thing to do. It builds goodwill toward the United States. It helps stop humanitarian crisis that would otherwise put additional strain on our broken immigration system. It helps stop the spread of dangerous diseases from HIV to Ebola to COVID.
▶ 1:09:11Crucially, investing in these programs enhances our national security without endangering our military service members. I echo what Marco Rubio said in n in 2017. Foreign aid is not charity. We must make sure it is well spent, but it is less than 1% of our budget and critical to our national security.
▶ 1:09:40That was the secretary of state who said that 2017. How sad to see him rationalize contradicting his own words. In just the past few weeks, we've seen the administration purge over,300 employees from the State Department, allegedly to improve efficiency and perhaps because our foreign challenges have become less complicated.
▶ 1:10:09I had two separate constituents who were dismissed. They're concerned that the purge will undermine the State Department's ability to process Americans passport. I will yield and I would hope somebody could yield to me uh to continue my statement. Thank the gentleman. Uh gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Edwards is recognized for to for opening remarks on the bill.
▶ 1:10:40Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As the vice chair of this subcommittee, it is truly an honor for me to speak in strong support of the National Security Department of State and related program appropriations bill for fiscal year 2026. But before I speak on it, I'd like to commend Chairman Diaz Bolard for how hard you've worked on this bill. I know that you've toiled. I know that you've struggled with some really tough decisions.
▶ 1:11:09I've seen you uh so many times over the last several weeks, pacing in the hall, talking on the phone, uh in the corner of the rooms, breaking pencil lead way after everybody else was gone. Uh there's some tough decisions to make and I applaud uh how you've met those tough decisions. And any of us could find things we'd rather include in this bill if we had unlimited resources.
▶ 1:11:33We do not have unlimited resources and uh chairman desert I I think you've just done a remarkable job in being fiscally responsible to our taxpayers and helping make a difference in our deficit and to help meet our worldwide responsibility while still protecting the people here at home.
▶ 1:11:57Our bill represents a responsible and strategic approach to American foreign policy, delivering the 22% reduction in funding compared to fiscal year 2025 that was enacted while further strengthening the national security of the United States.
▶ 1:12:16In every meeting, hearing and factf finding mission, our focus has never wavered to create to craft the strongest possible bill that enhances America's security and advances prosperity at home and around the world. Let me highlight just a few of the critical provisions in this bill that I most favor.
▶ 1:12:38We fully fund countering PRC influence fund with $400 million, an essential tool in confronting and countering the Chinese Communist Party. We included language that demands greater burden sharing and defense spending from our NATO allies.
▶ 1:12:59We include robust assistance to key US partners like Jordan and Egypt, two nations that continue to play vital roles in promoting stability and counterterrorism efforts across the Middle East. We prioritize funding to combat the flow of fentanyl and other drugs in the United States. We fully fund US efforts to eradicate polio with $85 million. We offer greater protections for American businesses operating abroad.
▶ 1:13:28We fully fund Americanmade readytouse therapeutic food at 300 million to address the global crisis. And we support President Trump's executive orders to eliminate wasteful spending on DEI initiatives, radical climate mandates, and divisive gender ideology programs. I've heard Secretary Rubio's name mentioned a couple times.
▶ 1:13:54I'd like to uh to to call on a quote that he used with this very committee just a few weeks ago. Secretary Rubio said, "We are going to continue to be the world's most generous provider of humanitarian assistance, of food assistance, of development assistance, way more than any other country. I believe we delivered on his commitment to America through this bill.
▶ 1:14:22We already are and we're going to continue to be, but we're going to do it differently. He goes on to say, "Ladies and gentlemen, this bill fulfills that promise by directing critical assistance to those who need it the most while ensuring every tax dollar is spent with greater efficiency and accountability. I'm going to be happy.
▶ 1:14:42I'm going to be proud to go back to western North Carolina and assure the people that sent me here that their tax dollar is going to be spent far more efficiently than how they have seen their tax dollars spent in the past. So with that, I yield back. Thank gentlemen.
▶ 1:15:00The gentle lady from Ohio is recognized for remarks on the Chairman Cole and Ranking Member Deloro, Chair Diaz Bollard, it's on. Mr. Chairman, lean into it more and ranking member Franco.
▶ 1:15:28Uh first let me express my deep concerns about the impact of the complete restructuring of this legislation to codify the misinformed and malicious gutting of our nation's diplomatic core. The 22% cut compared to last year by this bill is irresponsible and I view it actually as dangerous.
▶ 1:15:50We face major threats and wars across places like the Middle East where our allies are impacted um and a part of the world there where the oil rich kingdoms have an outsized influence on global uh politics.
▶ 1:16:08In the European theater, Russia's war on Ukraine is weaving a new spiderweb of tyranny that faces our NATO allies now involving ground troops from Laos and North Korea equipped with Iranian Shahed rockets and drones.
▶ 1:16:24The majority's naive, some would say isolationist proposal reminds me of an adage shared with me by a high-ranking central European official who said, "If you turn your back on foreign affairs, foreign affairs will find you." That day is ahead. Our nation's security is not guaranteed. We must work for it every day.
▶ 1:16:48As our constitution places our primary duty as protecting and defending our nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That is why the first federal agency established by Congress and signed into law by President George Washington was the Department of Foreign Affairs. Our founders knew that if we did not prioritize engaging with and creating alliances in the global community, then we put our liberty and security at risk.
▶ 1:17:17We do not live on Earth alone. Every nation needs allies. So do we. We are not the most populous nation on Earth. To keep Americans safe and prosperous, we first must be secure. Without diplomatic support, many of our allies, partners, and millions who are living in liberty will be forced to face the rising threat of tyranny and the harm it is causing as global allies question America's resolve.
▶ 1:17:46Our nation shaped international relations through engagement, what has been called soft power, news media, educational and cultural exchanges, foreign assistance like food. I so disagree with the cuts that will not only impact people around the world who've already died because of shortages uh that that they haven't received the food in warehouses that we are destroying, but America's farmers who won't get that money.
▶ 1:18:12All programs significantly cut in this bill have formed the cornerstone of our engagement. We have entered a new area era of competition among great powers. China, Russia, the tyrants backfilling where our nation seeds the field, Latin America, Africa, the Pacific nations, the Middle East, and even now in Central Europe. These are evolving threats which demand new resources.
▶ 1:18:42In science and technology, the United States used to lead the world in all the top ones, but now unfortunately that lead is being passed to communist China. Leaders of our country must pay attention to the widening gaps in technological advancement. And never should our nation be placed in a position where aggressive foreign military power overwhelms our nation because their technology is superior. America in alliance is much stronger than America alone.
▶ 1:19:16Enacting misinformed and punitive budget cuts would be a significant setback for our country. For example, Canada is Ohio's largest trading partner, accounting for a h 100,000 jobs just in my state and 21 billion dollars of goods sent annually to our neighbor to the Other countries, the United States Department of State has sought to cultivate mutual exchange programs. Canada is a friend and ally and a fair trade partner.
▶ 1:19:45Why would we make fun of the Maple Leaf folks and make trade more All of these exchange programs, whether they're on our continent or around the world, have included the result of 75 more Nobel laureates, nearly 450 current and former heads of state government that believe in liberty and copy what we have done here.
▶ 1:20:08The United States has extended its global influence through radio and television news with efforts dating back to World War II with The Voice of America that countered Nazi That practice expanded amid the Cold War with Radio for Europe and Radio Liberty. And we need programs and media platforms such as Voice of America and the US Agency for Global Global Media.
▶ 1:20:30Um, I don't want to speak overtime except to say that President John Kennedy eloquently advised, "Let every nation know whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppo, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty." I think that General Omar Bradley in another era also had good advice.
▶ 1:20:58Wars can be prevented just as surely as they can be provoked. We who fail to prevent them must share in the guilt for the dead. This legislation hangs our allies out to dry. I cannot support it as drafted and urge my colleagues to oppose. Thank you and I yield back. Thank gentle lady. Uh the gentleman from Missouri, Mr. Alfred is recognized for remarks on the bill.
▶ 1:21:30Well, thank you, Mr. Chair. I will be brief because I know we have a long day today, but I want to point out some successes in this bill that I think are gerine and very important as we move forward. Uh, first of all, Mr. Chairman Dasard, I want to thank you uh for your hard work on that. And I'm not just trying to ingratiate myself or I I really mean this. Um, when I got on this subcommittee, I didn't even know what PEPAR was.
▶ 1:21:59And uh, I have learned uh, over the last couple of months exactly what it is and the 26 million lives that it has saved since 2003. You remember when we got in our subcommittee meeting a couple of months ago, there was a lot of consternation after the U testimony from our witnesses about the future of PEPAR. We were in danger of losing this program. the signature program for President George W. Bush.
▶ 1:22:30Our chairman went to bat for this He found the money for this program and this program will exist not forever but as it was intended to be a temporary program.
▶ 1:22:48We are directing the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to come up with a transition plan and report back to us under our oversight position to transition this allimportant program to African nations, to the global fund, and to other entities which can carry it forward. I think that is a significant win in this bill.
▶ 1:23:13It is a bipartisan win because I know that the members that I have talked including the ranking member of this full committee and the ranking member of the subcommittee, have a deep passion for this program, as we all should. So, I applaud you, Mr.
▶ 1:23:29DSAR, in saving I'm not going to go into all the the crazy programs that somehow got wrapped up over the years that we were paying the American taxpayers were paying for. You you sat here and you heard Secretary Marco Rubio enumerate some of these programs. I think the American taxpayers disgusted that we got to this level where we were paying this type of money for these programs.
▶ 1:23:59And yet I've seen some of these programs that actually work and I've enumerated those and spoken about them in the news media and to you some of you here in this That is the type of soft power although I don't like that term that we need to continue and some of those programs will continue thanks to our chairman DSARD under a new title under a new branding these programs will continue as national security investment programs
▶ 1:24:31mirroring the new name for our subcommittee because I think we all have to realize at one point we are 37 trillion dollar in debt We've got to put America first, but we also have to consider our influence in the rest of the world. And so by continuing with national security investment programs, we are putting down on paper and putting in our minds and our hearts that it doesn't have to do with national security.
▶ 1:25:00We should not be spending taxpayer dollars on it. Lastly, I'd like to say had an old preacher uh back in the 80s, a friend of mine, and he would had this familiar saying. He said, "It was always right to do right. It's always wrong to do wrong.
▶ 1:25:19It's never right to do wrong, and it's never wrong to do right." I will submit to you here today, my friends, on the appropriations we are doing the right thing. We are making the cuts necessary to move the ball forward to keep us afloat as a nation while securing our place on the world stage and our influence. Let's work together to make that happen.
▶ 1:25:45Let's continue to have conversations not just in this committee room but outside it so we can work together to make America first so we can be the strong power that we need to be for the rest of the nation. With that, I yield back. Thank Thank the gentleman. I want to thank him for staying within the time. Uh chair just wishes to advise members. Look, I'm always inclined to be generous with time.
▶ 1:26:12Uh but if we can stay within five minutes, we are going to have a long day today just given the sheer number of amendments. That would be helpful. Uh with that, the distinguished gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Clurn, is recognized for remarks on the bill. Thank you, Mr. chairman for yielding the time which I am pleased to yield uh to lead hoyer. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Alfred is one of my better friends on the Republican side. I respect him.
▶ 1:26:43I respect his remarks and we are pleased as the gentleman observed that PEPAR has been saved. It was saved from Doge. it was saved from uh the Trump administration. Uh and yes, we support that effort and we applaud the chairman of the subcommittee for doing that.
▶ 1:27:09when the gentleman talks about limited resources, there are limited resources and I care a great deal about the debt. We need to deal with $37 trillion of debt or my great grandchildren are going to be in real trouble. My grandchildren are going to be in trouble. Maybe my children won't be in so much but we need to do deal with that debt.
▶ 1:27:32But a Republican former vice president who was governor of our state once said, "The cost of failure far exceeds the price of progress." That was Spiro Agno. The cost of failure exceeds the price of progress. On your side, you made a determination. you were going to raise our debt by $5 trillion. Some people who had never voted to raise debt before voted to raise the debt by $5 trillion.
▶ 1:28:00And then you spent that additional debt uh giving $3.4 trillion to some of the wealthiest people in America. Now, there were some who were not so wealthy also got some small relief.
▶ 1:28:17So yes, this bill does some good things, but it is silent on I think one of the biggest challenges to which John Kennedy was speaking that we will pay any price, bear any burden to defend freedom here and around the world.
▶ 1:28:34And we have a dictator desperate anti-democrat with a small D attacking a democratic country, an ally of ours. We have had 12 votes on supporting There's not a single Democrat voted against Ukraine in those. And the overwhelming majority of Republicans voted for these 12 votes.
▶ 1:29:05An average of 79% of us in the Congress of the United States supported defending and helping Ukraine defend itself. Yet, as I understand it, there's not a single word in this national security bill about Ukraine.
▶ 1:29:24I think the gentleman uh from Illinois has an amendment that may deal tangentially with Ukraine, but this bill is essentially silent. That's what I mean about sounding Now, we won't know the full scope of the damage of this bill for a long time to come. I hope it's a long time. It may be sooner. We talk about China.
▶ 1:29:52We talk about Taiwan and supporting that 500 million. I guarantee you the message we send to China if Ukraine loses will be louder than anything this bill says. Many of those forced out of state were intelligent analysts specializing in Russia and China.
▶ 1:30:16Others focused on counterterrorism on stopping drug Some were tasked with ensuring America's energy dominance. Maintaining America's security and influence around the world is not a partisan issue. It has not been for me a single day I have been in this I supported almost all of Ronald Reagan's buildup and I think it led directly to the ability of Gorbachev to look his industrial complex in the eye and say we can't compete with America.
▶ 1:30:49We ought to put this legislation aside and act on the bipartisan consensus that I believe still exists on these priorities. I pray it still exists. If America retreats, our adversaries will inevitably Are there some good things in this bill? there are, but they are woefully inadequate in so many other ways.
▶ 1:31:19I urge the defeat of this bill and yield back the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, you back. Thank the gentleman. I thank both the gentlemen. Uh the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Bishop is recognized for remarks on the bill. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 1:31:38uh ranking member Delaro, uh Chair Diaz Bard, and Ranking Member Franco for all of the hard work that you have put into this bill. However, I must sadly uh stand in opposition uh to this FY 2026 National Security Department of State and Related Programs bill.
▶ 1:32:05Chairman Diaz Balard had said that this bill delivers on President Trump's America first agenda. In fact, it does the opposite. The bill will make America last.
▶ 1:32:20Last in global influence, last in international leadership, last in its capacity to respond to the most pressing challenges at home and All of us have borne witness to the havoc President Trump has wrought on the world stage since his second inauguration a little over six months President Trump has embarked on unilateral trade wars with our allies
▶ 1:32:52and our partners which has created market instability, increased consumer cost, has harmed American manufacturers and workers and damaged our economic President Trump also has announced that he wants to be a peacemaker and a but his erratic and aggressive foreign policy has only made the risk of war much more likely.
▶ 1:33:21In all of my years of public service, that's headed toward a half century, I've never imagined a president of the United States that would threaten to invade Greenland and annex Canada.
▶ 1:33:38And President Trump, with the help of this Congress, has sadly weakened vital American institutions that make our country safer and ensure the security, prosperity, and well-being of billions of people around the world. For example, President Trump has the US Agency for International Development.
▶ 1:34:04In so doing, he has defunded over 80% of all global health and development programs. This bill includes no funds for USAID. USAD has played a vital role in combating food insecurity around the globe, which is an issue that is very important to me as a ranking member of the House Appropriation Subcommittee on At home, the decision to shut a USID is taking
▶ 1:34:34a devastating million multi-billion dollar toll on America's As USAD has historically been of the largest buyers of US grown crops, USAD has sourced 41% of food aid directly from American farmers. everything from wheat from Kansas to soybean oil from our to peanut products from Georgia's second congressional district.
▶ 1:35:02As a result, the closure of USAD has hurt American farmers, too. Not to mention the millions of lives that will be lost by steep cuts to its global health and conflict prevention initiatives. President Trump has also effectively shut down the US Institute of Peace, which promotes conflict resolution mechanisms and advances peace around the world. The Peace Institute takes a 66% cut in this bill.
▶ 1:35:33The bill also slashes humanitarian assistance by 42% which only reinforces the administration's cruel and heartless attitude toward refugees and the suffering of those in If these cuts are what America First agenda is all about, I don't believe that they're in the best interest of our nation. More importantly, I don't believe that they are true representation of our values as who are among the most generous and charitable people in the world.
▶ 1:36:04Our sense of charity is often guided by our deep religious faith. This bill is a betrayal of everything for which America stands. And I urge my colleagues to oppose it in its present form and to use the next few weeks to make bipartisan changes that will reflect the values of America. From them to whom much is given, much is required. America has been given much.
▶ 1:36:34But this bill fails, falls far short of what is required. For the sake of a troubled world, for the sake of humanity, we can and we must do better. I yield back. Thank gentlemen. The gentle lady from Minnesota, Mr. McCullum's recognized for remarks on the bill. Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. uh and to uh the chair of the subcommittee and the ranking member.
▶ 1:37:05Uh this must have been a very at times challenging conversation to be having with one with with one another. I'm not offering an amendment and that's why I'm making opening remarks. I rise to share my opposition uh to this bill because it will codify the Trump administration's disastrous chaotic foreign policy actions. with his deep cuts to our country's development, diplomacy, and capacity.
▶ 1:37:29This bill, in my opinion, represents a total abdication of US global leadership and puts millions of lives at risk around the world. In my opinion, it makes America less safe. Last week, the House passed a recisions package which cut 8 billion dollars in foreign assistance programs that directly support children and families living in the most dire circumstances around the world.
▶ 1:37:53The funding had already been appropriated by Congress on a bipartisan basis just four months ago. When I look at this bill, in addition to the recisions in the elimination of US aid and the mass layoffs at the State Department, I fear the disastrous impact it will have on our country, our international partners, as we navigate global events together and as we attempt to be a global leader on all fronts.
▶ 1:38:22Our State Department is on life support when we chronically underfund our diplomacy and development and we must turn to the defense industry instead to make up the difference. As a ranking member of the defense subcommittee, I just find that The legislation before us today houses some of the most important programs regarding diplomacy, development, and defense initiatives of the United States and the world at large. The program funded from this subcommittee saves lives.
▶ 1:38:53Now, there are many cuts to this bill, and I'm not going to get into all of them, but I'm going to focus on one topic in particular, the fight to end global hunger and child malnutrition. Because when we help parents, they remember who helped them. When we speak today on this bill, as many as 319 million people are facing acute hunger. Over 36 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition.
▶ 1:39:22The United States has been a long leader in this, coordinating and executing efforts to lead the global food crisis and have it come to an end. Now, the United States bill that we're about to vote on cuts 42% of the humanitarian assistance, meaning millions of children will be dying of malnutrition and stop receiving food.
▶ 1:39:48This bill makes a $192 million cut to feed the future. I appreciate that it's still in the bill, but I worked with many others to help develop this in a bipartisan biccameal fa fashion. It helps 33 million people worldwide learn how to feed themselves so are not at risk of of of starvation or us having to come in and help.
▶ 1:40:15And just last week, the State Department incinerated nearly 5,000 tons of emergency food that was already purchased to feed starving children. The world watched as this administration deni decided not to even distribute the food but burn it instead. I ask you, how many lives could have been saved if we had just kept our commitments?
▶ 1:40:42If we had just honored a bill we had just passed four months ago. how truly this administration really plans on tackling fraud, waste, and abuse when we are burning food that this Congress had voted on to be distributed to children.
▶ 1:41:00This accumulated effect will make more children be at risk of dying, more mothers dying during childirth, just the total lack of health care or exposure to violence that these children and their families will be facing is horrifying. It's a waste. It leaves a vacuum of leadership in the most vulnerable places around the world.
▶ 1:41:27And that void, I guarantee it, China and well, Russia will look to fill in their own way. I've been fortunate enough to travel around this world as serving in Congress. And I've met adults and children who remember who helped them. The mothers who knew the plumpy net that they were giving their child was going to save their life. Who's going to remember us now and how will we be remembered is a determination that this bill is part of.
▶ 1:41:53With that, I yield Thank gentle lady. The gentle lady from Florida, Miss Wson Schultz, is recognized for remarks on the bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, I want to congratulate uh firsttime cardinal uh Lois Frankle on her first bill as ranking member for the uh state foreign operations appropriations subcommittee. Um and Mr.
▶ 1:42:19Chairman, I uh unfortunately rise in strong opposition to this funding bill. I mean, at least in name, Republicans have come around to the fact that our engagement in global affairs, our foreign assistance, and our diplomats are national security. They make us stronger because they deepen and broaden our relationships around the world. They make us safer by preventing the spread of deadly diseases, countering terrorism, and promoting democracy. and they make us more prosperous by creating markets for our goods and building partnerships for commerce and innovation.
▶ 1:42:50Foreign assistance is national security and I hope all of us can now agree on that. But it's unfortunate that this re revelation only came after Trump and Musk ripped us limb from limb, betrayed tens of thousands who served our country and shattered trust in our promises around the world. Every year in this markup, I and others emphasize this crucial point. If we give up our seat at the table, we will be on the menu. And based on the trajectory of this administration, that menu will be written in Mandarin.
▶ 1:43:19Since this administration makes it increasingly clear that quote promoting democracy is not a national security interest of the United States, unquote, my Cuban and Venezuelan constituents cry out betrayal. And they're right. The Republican foreign aid freeze left Venezuelan and Cuban freedom fighters helpless against regime repression. Republicans weren't satisfied overturning Roie Wade. They want to impose a global abortion ban that will result in even more women dying in childirth.
▶ 1:43:48They weren't satisfied cutting Medicaid for working Americans. They want to take away health assistance for people making less than $2 a day. And they weren't satisfied cutting school lunches for American kids. They want to take away emergency rations from kids in war zones with acute malnutrition. And while children starve and suffer as American crops destined to feed them expired in warehouses, the world's warloads and warlords and autocrats feasted on the spoils of corruption. And the president has certainly gotten his fill.
▶ 1:44:17After all, the primary focus of his foreign policy seems to be soliciting investors for his cryptocurrency and leveling tariffs based on whether countries offer him a golf course. And this bill fails to reverse the Trump administration's isolationist self-sabotage. It does nothing to repair the damage wrought by dismantling USA ID and purging policy experts in quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies from the State Department.
▶ 1:44:42It does nothing to inhibit Trump's illegal rendition of law-abiding immigrants to war torn failed states. It does nothing nothing to rein in Trump's tariffs, which are driving up prices for American families. And it does nothing to to restrain Trump's corrupt dealmaking with dictators like Boull, Putin, and Maduro. In fact, this bill shovels over $1.7 billion for a new mega mega slush fund. Where does that money even come from?
▶ 1:45:10Revoking security assistance to our allies, rescending anti-poverty funds, slashing humanitarian aid to war zones, and oh yeah, defunding the police. And where will that money go? to firing all the civil servants who are responsible for oversight of foreign spending and then ship over $1.7 billion in unmarked bills courtesy of the American people, no questions asked.
▶ 1:45:30To replacing career diplomats and experts with teenage muskavites and white supremacist demagogues to celebrating eliminating tiny cherrypicked grants while passing $3 trillion in in tax cuts, mostly for the rich and doing it in the dead of the night. to surrendering our power as appropriators and Republican appropriators, placing trust in Trump to manage money and follow the law. That's how the majority wants to end waste, fraud, and abuse. Sounds a little little ridiculous when you say it out loud, doesn't it?
▶ 1:46:01While President Trump abdicates our interests abroad, this committee abdicates its own responsibility to hold the administration accountable to the law. So, I have a few questions for those of you who don't want to wake up one day as nothing more than a blue ribbon advisory commission. Does it bother you that resources you designated for fighting fentanyl and strengthening the rule of law are being redirected to benefit Trump's family businesses?
▶ 1:46:22Is it fiscally responsible to scrap programs like the Interamerican Foundation, which reduces migration at a fraction of the cost of deportations and pump billions into ICE jails instead? Is it really limited government to give Trump more latitude over foreign affairs spending after he unilaterally impounds and terminates life-saving funds that this committee directed?
▶ 1:46:42Is it truly pro-life to sign death warrants for tens of millions, most of whom are children, by ignoring Trump's sabotage of global health and food assistance programs that this committee has long championed? This administration's foreign policy is not valuebased or interest based. It is vengeance-based, driven by political theatrics, cruelty, and disregard for America's former credibility. There is no ground strategy, grand strategy. There is no Trump doctrine.
▶ 1:47:06There are just those who were willing to swallow their pride, set aside their values, and shrug at long-standing US interests, and just go along with his rants and raves. And there are those who fight back, who refuse to surrender, who show their determination to keep the United States strong, safe, and free. I know why, which one I'd rather be. That's why, despite my great affection and respect for the chairman, and my appreciation for his efforts to mitigate this bill, I cannot in good conscience support it.
▶ 1:47:31I look forward to offering my amendments to address the Trump administration's failure to keep us safe and I yield Thank gentle lady. Gentle lady from New York. Miss Ming is recognized for general comments on the bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh and I too want to congratulate our ranking member Lois Franco on her first markup as well. Uh I rise in strong opposition to this bill. Republicans have promised to lower costs for working families across our country.
▶ 1:48:01Instead, costs are rising and Republicans are using their same old playbook. Cut programs that help vulnerable people in America and around the world to cut taxes for the rich. We have to zoom out to see the full picture. Two weeks ago, Republicans passed the big ugly bill, which threw millions of Americans off health care, including 1.5 million New Yorkers and thousands more off of food assistance.
▶ 1:48:29Last week, Republicans passed another ugly bill, clawing back funding both parties agreed to just earlier this year for programs that have been bipartisan for decades. That legislation will force 40 million children worldwide out of school, creating new recruitment prospects for terrorist organizations and hurting opportunities for millions of girls.
▶ 1:48:54It will strip 3.6 million people from access to clean water, including nurses helping moms deliver babies. It will prevent 218 women million women from deciding when, where, and how to start a family. And that's just the start. For months, Republicans made a big fuss, saying USAD went rogue, that unelected bureaucrats were subverting the will of the American people.
▶ 1:49:21And then they turned right around, closed their eyes, and give radical Russ vote an unelected bureaucrat the keys to the diplomacy and development car to drive straight off of a cliff, even though they just bought it from the dealership a few months ago. Now, this week, we have this bill, which will cut our 2026 national security budget by 22% from last year's levels, which were already 20 billion below the levels of the year before. This is not America first.
▶ 1:49:52It's America alone. A full retreat from the world that will lead to more war, more disease, and more migration, paving the way for our adversaries to fill the void we've left. At a time when sexual and reproductive health and rights are under attack, this bill hurts women and girls by banning funding to the UN population fund, slashing funds for life-saving international family planning programs and cottifying the Trump administration's expanded global gag rule.
▶ 1:50:23It cuts 20% from efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence. Cuts humanitarian assistance by over 42%. cuts hundreds of millions of dollars from international basic education programs which have supported 34 million learners and trained three million teachers since 2017 alone. I want to share just one story about the impact of these cuts.
▶ 1:50:47In Nepal, 12-year-old Rodica was attending school in a US funded program and was months away from graduating before her classes shut down due to the funding loss. After the funding was pulled, she said, "I was learning new things every day, and I was excited about going to school again, but now I feel lost.
▶ 1:51:08I'm scared that without the classes, I will not be able to continue my education and might be forced to get married soon." Her and millions of other children saw the United States as their salvation. Now, they know us as the country who took their future away. These cuts are bad enough, but more than that, this bill just doesn't make any sense. It's a mirage.
▶ 1:51:31Republicans seem to want credit for providing more funding than the president asked for, but at least 83% of the programs funded by this bill have been cancelled by unelected billionaire Elon Musk and Doge. Over 11,000 employees working for USAD and the State Department have been fired, including my constituents.
▶ 1:51:51They were the people who made American power The bill cuts $23 million from the Office of the Inspector General to oversee foreign assistance. Even though our colleagues have spent the last seven months saying we need more oversight of our foreign aid. These cuts hurt and this bill just shows how backwards my colleagues have it. Foreign aid isn't a corrupt bargain.
▶ 1:52:19It's not a handout, and it's not waste, fraud, and abuse. It's a vehicle for American ingenuity, generosity, and security. It's American workers making food products, which have saved the lives of over 5 million malnourished children. It's American farmers, including New Yorkers, creating more resilient crops that help lower prices for American consumers, our scientists, our Peace Corps volunteers, our foreign service officers.
▶ 1:52:46A vote for this bill isn't just a vote to make our world less safe. It's a vote to limit our country's reach and potential. Full retreat, America alone. I urge you to join me in voting no. I yield back. Thank gentle lady. Gentle lady from New Jersey, Miss Watson Coleman, is recognized for remarks on the bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to our ranking members as well.
▶ 1:53:16Thank you uh for giving me this opportunity to speak in opposition to this bill. I do rise in opposition to it because it will weaken American influence abroad, jeopardize national security at home, and create opportunities for our adversaries to expand their reach. Beyond being unwise, this bill is cruel. It makes severe cuts to international aid programs that have saved tens of millions of lives around the world.
▶ 1:53:46The net effect of this legislation is not only an American retreat on the world stage, but an intolerable increase in global human suffering. When the Trump administration dismantled U US aid, they did so under the pretense that the responsibility for administering foreign aid would fall to the State Department.
▶ 1:54:08But now, Republicans are proposing a bill that slashes funding for the State Department's administration of foreign assistance by 93%. Through US aid funding, the United States saved more than 90 million lives over the past 20 years, including 30 million children under the age of five. That is one child saved thanks to American intervention every 20 seconds.
▶ 1:54:34A report from late June in the Washington Post chronicled the human cost of these cuts. The Post reported the story of a three-year-old boy in Sudan who died of a chest infection. Doctors in the area could have easily saved his life if only they had access to basic antibiotics. As the boy was dying, his mother carried him in her arms walking miles to 11 different aid facilities.
▶ 1:55:02These facilities used to carry medicine that would have saved the child's life. But to due to US foreign aid cuts, their shelves were empty. The boy Omran has a twin brother, Marwan. At the time the article was published, Marwan's mother had not yet been able to bring herself to tell her surviving son that his twin brother was dead. His mother told the Post that one day I'll just tell him your brother went to paradise.
▶ 1:55:32I'm not I understand that the world can be a hard and forgiving unforgiving place. I understand that leadership involves difficult choices that must be made. But this this is not a difficult choice. These are human beings.
▶ 1:55:49Just because we cannot hear the whimpering of a child a world away does not mean that we are relieved of the moral responsibility to ease their suffering when we can and we most certainly can. Recent estimates put the death toll of continued defunding of US foreign aid at 14 million by 2030.
▶ 1:56:13I strongly encourage my colleagues to revisit the provisions in this bill which dismantle American foreign aid. Not only because it smart foreign policy, not only because it strengthens our hand internationally, not only because it reduces the influence of our adversaries, but because reducing human suffering is the right thing to do. And now, Mr.
▶ 1:56:42Chairman, I have one minute and 28 seconds left, and I'd be delighted to yield them to Mr. Hoyer if he so Thank you. That, Mr. Chairman, I yield I thank gentle lady.
▶ 1:57:08Uh the uh chair now recognizes the gentleman from New York, Mr. Espayat for comments on the bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to thank the uh chairman of the subcommittee and the ranking member of the subcommittee for their efforts to try to work in a bipartisan constructive way.
▶ 1:57:33Uh I must uh stand and and express uh my concerns uh regarding uh the green the mission of the green climate fund. Uh as we all know, climate change is a reality and uh of course the Caribbean stands uh in the pathway of hurricanes that uh every year and destroy
▶ 1:58:03those uh island nations. Um, and both the the chairman and the the ranking member of the subcommittee must know this really well because Florida also stands in the pathway of uh hurricanes and strong winds and of course uh we've seen how um devastating events, flash floodings just hit Washington DC a couple of days ago.
▶ 1:58:34uh flash floodings uh flooded the New York City uh subway system uh a couple of weeks ago and and we've all remember Superstorm Sandy and we're still in some way recovering from Superstorm Sandy in New York City. Uh North Carolina has seen devastating effects. Uh the wildfires in California. Um all of this is happening.
▶ 1:59:02We remember uh the impact on New Orleans and and uh we've seen time and time again how climate change uh impacts in disproportionate and severe ways many of our communities, forcing us to really uh make fiscal to uh uh remediate the harm uh caused by these uh events.
▶ 1:59:33And I believe very strongly that we should um en encounter this and address this uh by exerting our leadership in the hemisphere and no best way to start doing that by our commitment to a green climate fund.
▶ 1:59:51Now, we seen migration and we know for a fact that droughts in Central America have contributed seven-year droughts in some cases uh to food insecurity in those uh regions and have generated a a massive exodus of families including women with children to our border.
▶ 2:00:16So environmental are joined at the hip to migration patterns and so we must exert our leadership and we start by committing funding to a green climate fund so that we are the leaders of this hemisphere and we won't um yield that space to China who could otherwise come in and bring in predatory dollars.
▶ 2:00:46to build structures that will resist these environmental challenges. We must lead by example and that starts by uh committing some level of funding to a green climate fund.
▶ 2:01:04uh that will again reaffirm our leadership in the world but particularly in this uh hemisphere and uh that's uh omitted not included in the bill I think is something that's so important because what we're facing not just in the hemisphere but right here at home that we must begin to address it and I I must express my concern about it uh as we debate this bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 2:01:34I yield back. I thank the gentleman. The gentleman from California, Mr. Lean, is recognized for remarks on the bill. Mr. Chairman, I thank the uh chair of the subcommittee. I think our ranking members as well, and I appreciate all the hard work uh that has gone into this bill, but I unfortunately cannot support it in its current form. It's been uh discussed that it cuts roughly a fifth of the foreign aid budget. Doesn't make America stronger in my view. makes us more vulnerable.
▶ 2:02:03I proudly represent tens of thousands of Marines and sailors back home. They are the best of the best. I will always have their back. One of the best ways that I know to support the men and women that I represent in uniform is to keep them out of unnecessary conflict. War must always be a last resort. That means leading with diplomacy and leading with smart global engagement. This bill, in my view, moves us in the opposite direction.
▶ 2:02:31It slashes some of the very tools that prevent conflict before it begins. Peacekeeping operations, humanitarian aid, and global development. When we invest in stability abroad, we protect American lives, American jobs, and American leadership. But don't take it from me.
▶ 2:02:51Hear the words of President Ronald Reagan, and I quote, "We must remain vigilant in providing the moral and material support to those who are struggling to resist tyranny and secure a more democratic future." End quote. President Reagan understood that foreign assistance isn't It's not charity. It's a down payment on a safer, freer. Those are his words, not mine.
▶ 2:03:21Foreign assistance isn't charity. It's a down payment on a safer, freer. Every dollar we spend preventing conflict is a dollar we don't have to spend cleaning up after a foreign conflict. This bill also underfunds our diplomatic core and chips away at America's leadership on the world stage. And when we step back, our adversaries step in. Russia, China, they're more than happy to fill the void.
▶ 2:03:52Strong nations don't just project power. They project purpose. Our diplomacy, our leadership on global health, our leadership on innovation. These have been just some of the American strengths that the world has respected. This bill weakens all of them. It cuts global health programs that stop pandemics before they reach our shores.
▶ 2:04:19It undercuts the worldclass research that is happening all across the United States, including in my district, including in my region in San Diego on everything from malaria to malnutrition to fentanyl trafficking. Those are American jobs being impacted. The same goes for clean energy. I don't mean to be a broken record, but we should be leading the global race, not handing it over to China.
▶ 2:04:45And I'm deeply concerned by the creation of a vague slush fund in this bill. Billions of dollars with little oversight handed over to the executive branch. That's not responsible. It's not conservative, and it's not what we in Congress were elected to do. Just hand over a slush This bill leaves us more alone. And alone is not how we win.
▶ 2:05:10If we want to keep America strong, we have to, yes, lead with strength, but we also must lead with strategy. That means supporting our great military, but it also means doing everything we can to prevent the next war before it begins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield Thank the gentleman. gentle lady from Pennsylvania, Miss Dean, is recognized for remarks on the bill. Thank you, Mr. Uh, and I thank the chairman and, uh, ranking member.
▶ 2:05:41Uh, sadly, I rise in opposition to this bill. Foreign assistance is critical for our country's foreign policy and our standing in the world as the indispensable nation. Why would we give that up? Yet, this administration not only clawed back $9 billion in congressionally appropriated funds just last week, but they have also presented an FY26 budget that does not reflect safety, security, and prosperity as they claim.
▶ 2:06:10The cornerstone of United States foreign policy, an approach to foreign aid, has always been the 3D approach, defense, diplomacy, and development. Unfortunately, we have seen the shuttering of USID, the scandalous destruction uh and incineration of food and aid.
▶ 2:06:28Uh USAD, an agency that built goodwill for America and according to the Lancet, prevented deaths of more than 90 million people between 2020 2001 and 2021. I want to repeat that 20 years prevented the deaths of more than 90 million people.
▶ 2:06:48The same study forecasts that the defunding of USAID could lead to 14 million deaths by 2030, including 4.5 million children and babies under five. Let me repeat that fact. We are risking the deaths of 14 million people between now and 2030. 4.5 million infants and children.
▶ 2:07:16The destruction by this administration continued two weeks ago with the termination of 1,300 State Department experts which will hobble our diplomatic strength and create a void that our adversaries will undoubtedly fill will undoubtedly fill.
▶ 2:07:33Do we not see the service of those 1300 experts public service selflessly uh accumulating information expertise and they are let go without any warning or cause in his capacity as Senator Marco Rubio often supported praised foreign assistance. He emphasized that foreign aid is not charity as President Reagan said but it is critical to our national security.
▶ 2:08:00And yet now as Secretary of State, he has abandoned these articles of faith. The State Department's budget is not a reflection of our leadership, and it is not who we are as a nation. Our diplomats, development workers, and aid professionals embody our values. Working in crisis zones to promote peace, health, and human rights. Senator Rubio has repeatedly said that slashing foreign aid will not bring us to balance. Yet, Secretary Rubio supports the cuts presented in this bill.
▶ 2:08:2922% cuts, $13 billion. Programs that supported stability and conflict uh prevention have been cut, which increases the risks that conflicts can spill over into global threats like terrorism and mass migration. It is estimated that more than 360,000 people, most of them children, 250,000 children have already died due to the closure of US ID.
▶ 2:08:586 months, 360,000 people, a quarter million of them children. This bill proposes to further cut life-saving humanitarian assistance that could have saved these lives. And for those in the future who will be affected by natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and conflicts, this is not a measure of America's humanity and moral responsibility. Lastly, we have heard members of this administration call for greater self-reliance by foreign partners.
▶ 2:09:28This can only be achieved through development since assistance initiatives. And yet, in this bill, it cuts development and economic assistance by 21%. Foreign assistance funding accounts for approximately 1% of our total spending on on our budgets. It is not charity. It is a key arm, an indispensable arm of our foreign policy toolkit that contributes to our safety, security, and economic prosperity.
▶ 2:09:57As appropriators, we must stand up and recognize the values of these investments. And I will say, do we not feel an obligation to lead? Do we not see the suffering of others? No. In this bill, we retreat and we ignore the suffering of others. I'm sad to say that. I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing these drastic draconian cuts that will will cost lives around the world. I yield back.
▶ 2:10:28Thank gentle lady. Gentleman from Indiana, Mr. Mane is recognized for remarks on the bill. Chairman Cole, Ranking Member Deloro, uh Chairman Diaz Bolard, and Ranking Member Frankle. I rise today in opposition to this bill which woefully underfunds and undermines US leadership in the world at a time when our adversaries are increasingly competing for influence. Historically, the National Security Department of State and related programs appropriations has accounted for less than 1% of our annual budget.
▶ 2:10:58Yet, the impact of these programs were incredible. The programs built good will with local communities. They also helped secure supply chains and force countries that wanted to do business with the United States to reconsider their labor practices. They helped detect infectious outbreaks and prevent them from spreading worldwide. The programs worked. They made the United States safer, stronger, and more prosperous by building relationships of trust. Diplomacy and development worked.
▶ 2:11:29The foreign freeze that began in January had a ripple effects globally and at home. I've heard from constituents in Monster, Indiana, who are concerned about the US efforts to counter authoritarian influence with the dismantling of the US Agency for Global Media, whose journalists worldwide have faced credible threats, wrongful imprisonment, and death. All in service of bringing unbiased news and information to people under the authoritan regimes.
▶ 2:11:55I spoke with constituents from Chesterton, Indiana, whose family was impacted by the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development. The administration's closing of the US aid left my constituents, like many of yours, without jobs. These are people who dedicated themselves to making the world a better place, who just want to make a difference. The specifics of this bill paint a grim picture.
▶ 2:12:18It codifies the dismantling of US aid, which provides on the ground infrastructure to respond quickly and effectively to evolving crisis. This removes the monitoring mechanisms the US had in place to keep our country safer. Further, the development of economic assistance will be cut by 20 21% and this bill becomes law. These programs do not throw money at other countries, hoping it will be spent wisely.
▶ 2:12:45It helps farmers have better access to tools to cultivate their land responsibly. It helps local organizations establish systems of accountability and combat corruption. It helps educate the next generation by ensuring there are safe classrooms for kids to learn in. I will close with this. Senator Luger of Indiana believe that when properly administered, development assistance is the is the bargain for US national security and for our own economic and moral standing in the world.
▶ 2:13:14Indiana itself benefits from the world create the world created when US leads 68 billion in goods and services are exported to overseas markets creating jobs here at home by reducing the foreign affairs budget by reducing our diplomatic force posture and by reducing our ability to combat our adversaries. This bill does not make America safer, stronger, more prosperous.
▶ 2:13:42It leaves us more vulnerable to the changing tides of Chinese and Russia investment. For these reasons, I cannot support this bill in current form. With that, I yield back. I thank gentlemen. Are there any other members wishing to make general comments about the bill? Seeing none, the chair recognizes gentle lady from Florida, Miss Frankle, for the purpose of an amendment.
▶ 2:14:23I do not think the gentle lady's mic is Got it. Thank you, sir. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk and I I move uh that the reading be dispensed with. Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentle lady's recognized for remarks on her amendment. Uh Mr. Chair, imagine putting half a baseball team on the field and expecting them to win the World Series.
▶ 2:14:50No outfield fielder, no catcher, no relief pitcher, just a handful of players scrambling to cover it all. That's exactly what this administration has done with our foreign aid They stripped away the season. Professionals dump new responsibilities on the State Department without backup and somehow expect a win. It's not just unre unrealistic. It's it's reckless.
▶ 2:15:16So, I'm offering an amendment that speaks to the heart of what it means to lead on the world stage with competence, compassion, and commitment. And my amendment would ensure that the State Department has the staffing it needs to properly manage and overseas a vital foreign aid and humanitarian relief for pro programs that were abruptly yanked from USID.
▶ 2:15:39And let's be clear uh that these are important efforts uh that keep us keep us safe, secure, and prosperous. They are lifesaving programs. programs that feed hungry children, deliver medicine to war zones, and rebuild communities shattered by disaster. They don't run on autopilot. They need experienced hands. They need oversight. They need people who know what they're doing.
▶ 2:16:07And that's why this amendment that prioritizes the rehiring of US A professionals who were arbitrarily fired, experts with decades of institutional knowledge, who were tossed aside in a political purge. These are the very people who know how to get aid to the front lines. And we need them back. To cut staff and then expect success is not just foolish, it's dangerous.
▶ 2:16:36People lives are on the line. I'm talking about lives all over the world. And this is not just amen about stabbing. It's about restoring the integrity of Americans, America's global leadership. Since the start of the Trump administration, we've heard a lot about eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, often without a shred of evidence.
▶ 2:16:58But here's the bitter irony that they've now created the very conditions that invite waste, fraud, and abuse. In January, the Trump administration demolished USAD and shifted responsibility of the American foreign aid and humanitarian relief to the State Department without consultation, without a plan, without any input from Congress. And what was the result?
▶ 2:17:24a department forced to absorb a massive new respons responsibility with neither the workforce nor the institutional capacity to carry it out. Thousands of seasoned development professionals, people who knew how to get food to famine zones, medicine to rural clinics and support to vulnerable communities were fired overnight. Their programs were cancelled.
▶ 2:17:51the expertise disregard disregarded and what's in their place chaos. I'll just give you one example. In Nigeria, a once thriving program to detect and treat tuberculosis, a disease that kills more people globally than any infectious disease, had increased detection. This program had increased detection from 25% to 80% just a few years. It was a public health triumph.
▶ 2:18:21But now that progress stalled. The USA the USAD staff tied to those grants were fired. Really? I mean can what is wrong with these people? The funding just vanish. The program stopped. The medicine life saving supplies now sits on shelves unused and expiring while TB spreads like wire fire. wildfire. And it gets worse.
▶ 2:18:51Efforts to track data on HIV, TB, and other infectious disease has collapsed. The people responsible for monitoring, for reporting, for saving lives, they're gone. They're fired without cause. And you know, we had all the all this halaloo last week about saving PEPAR. Guess what's happening to Peter, folks? I had Bill Gates in my office yesterday. Bill Gates, his foundation has put millions and millions of dollars into HIV.
▶ 2:19:22You know what he's told me is happening with PEPAR right now? Nothing. Nothing is happening. Clinics are shuttered. The HIV testing has ground to a halt. Patients are being turned away. They don't have the supplies that they need. Pregnant women are being denied care. Babies are being born with HIV. babies who months ago could have been protected. Now they're dying. Dying because the infrou infrastructure we built was torn down on a whim.
▶ 2:19:51I a whim really on extreme political ideology. That's what it was torn down on. And let me say this again. Babies are dying not because we lack the science or the resources, but but because the Trump administration has chose to dismantle the very programs that could have saved these little children. The systems that once monitor health outcomes are shutting down and the well, let's just say uh Mr.
▶ 2:20:20Chair, you should pass this very good amendment. We're here. I appreciate the gentle lady's summary. Uh, gentleman from Florida, Mr. Diaz Bolard is recognized to respond to the Thank you very much. Uh, Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment. Well, I appreciate the goal of this amendment, which is to ensure sufficient oversight of programs.
▶ 2:20:46It unfortunately would create significant and costly in program management. The Department of State needs to have the discretion determine to determine staffing levels based on program needs rather than just than just an arbitrary ratio set by To be clear, program oversight is vitally important, which is why the bill in front of you provides significant resources to the inspector
▶ 2:21:16general and requires the Department of State to increase impact The report also includes a new requirement for the State Department to analyze and justify its staffing levels for fiscal year 2025. In short, while I share the general lady's goals, I can't support this amendment, which really undermines the efficiencies of the Secretary of State in trying to implement implement what he's trying to implement.
▶ 2:21:46and and the the distinguished uh ranking member used a baseball analogy. Let me just respond with another baseball analogy. You all imagine if Congress was going to decide what a baseball coach, who they pick, where they pick, how many, you know what I can guarantee you? They'll lose every game. So again, well-intentioned amendment. It's gonna it's actually uh unfortunately something that I cannot support at this time.
▶ 2:22:16And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank the gentlemen. Uh are there other members wishing to address the Seeing none, the gentle lady is recognized for one minute to close. Thank Thank you. And Mr. Chair, and I know, Mr. Chair, you wouldn't put less than nine people back on that baseball field, but moving right on. Listen, excuse me. Yes, that was a good point, said Mr. Hoyer.
▶ 2:22:47Quite frankly, I'm really don't like to watch baseball myself, but I thought it was a good analogy, right? Go Yankees. you know, in ser seriousness, listen, we're never going to be able to fully undo the catastrophic damage done by the Trump administration. It's do his Doge acolytes that Mr.
▶ 2:23:09that so-called friend not friend is he your friend Elon Musk I don't know uh but listen we can start to put things right and that's what this amendment does it ensures that the state department isn't set up for fail it brings back the ex experts it restores some measure of accountability and gives us some eyes and ears on the ground we need to ensure that our humanitarian investments are effective and transparent and actually reaching the people who need it the most bureaucratic fix.
▶ 2:23:39It's a moral imperative. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. Let's correct the real waste, fraud, and abuse happening right now. And let's look reclaim our role as a global leader with integrity, capability, and the humanity that the world expects from the United States of America. And I yield back and mass for roll call.
▶ 2:24:07Well, you want to give me just a second. I I can assure the gentle lady will get there and we'll do what she requests. The question is now on the amendment offered by the gentle lady from Florida. All those in favor say I. All those opposed say no. The chairman and the opinion of the chair. The nos have it. Roll call has previously been requested. I'm sure there's going to be this guy's a stickler. Few more hands, please. Thank you very much.
▶ 2:24:37Uh in the opinion of the chair again uh oh excuse me sufficient number of u hands having been raised in support the uh recorded vote is ordered and the clerk will call the Mr. Adder Holt Mr. Adderhalt no Mr. Mr. Alford Mr. Alford no Mr. Ammeday Mrs. Bice Mrs. Bice no Mr. Bishop Mr.
▶ 2:25:06Calbertt Mr. Carter Mr. Casease Mr. Casease I Mr. Sisammani Mr. Sisammani No Mr. Klene Mr. Klene no Mr. Cloud Mr. Cloud no Mr. Klyurn Mr. Klyurn I Mr. Clyde Mr. Clyde no Mr. Cole Mr. Cole no Mr.
▶ 2:25:32Quar Mr. Loro I Mr. Diaz Bolard Mr. Diaz Bolard No Mr. Edwards Mr. Edwards no Mr. Elzie Miss Escobar Mr. Espayette Mr. Fleshman Mr. Fleshman. No. Miss Frankle. I Miss Frankle. I Mr.
▶ 2:26:02Franklin. Mr. Franklin. No. Mr. Gonzalez. Mr. Gonzalez. No. Mr. Guest. Mr. Guest. No. Mr. Harter. Mr. Harter. I. Dr. Harris. Dr. Harris. No. Mrs. Henson. Mrs. Henson. No. Mr. Hoyer. Mr. Hoyer. I. Mr. Ivy. Mr. Ivy. I. Mr. Mr. Joyce. Mr. Joyce. No. Miss Captor. Miss Captor.
▶ 2:26:32I Mr. Loa. Miss Lee. Miss Latlo. Miss Latlo. No. Mr. Levan. Miss Mallaloy. Miss Mallaloy. No. Miss Miss McCullum. I. Miss. Ming. Miss Ming. I. Mr. Molinar. Mr. Molinar. No, Mr. Moore. Mr. Moore. No, Mr. Morelli.
▶ 2:27:03Mr. Morvan. Mr. Morvan. I Mr. New House. Mr. New House. No, Miss Perez. Miss Perez. I Miss Pingri. Miss Pingri. I Mr. Pokean. Mr. Pokean. I Mr. Quigley. Mr. Quigley. I Mr. Rashenthaler. Mr. Rashenthaler. No. Mr. Rogers. Mr. Rogers. No. Mr. Rutherford. Mr. Rutherford. No. Mr. Simpson. Mr. Simpson. No. Mr. Strong. Mr. Strong.
▶ 2:27:34No. Mrs. Torres. Mrs. Torres. I. Miss. Miss Underwood. I. Mr. Valido. Miss Wasserman Schultz. Miss Wasserman Schultz. I Mrs. Watson Mrs. Watson. Coleman. I Mr. Wac. Mr. Wac. No. Mr. Zinci. Mr. Zinci, Mr. Zinci, no.
▶ 2:28:05Must be a great lunch because there's a lot of members here that uh Anyway, are there any membershing to record their vote or change their vote? Gentleman from Texas. Mr. Carter, no. Gentleman from Nevada. Mr. Ammeday, no. Gentle lady from Miss Lee I. Gentle lady from Pennsylvania. Miss Dean. I gentleman from California. Mr. Calbertt. No.
▶ 2:28:35Gentleman from other gentleman from Mr. Lean. I gentleman from New York. A gentleman is not recorded. Mr. Morelli. I gentleman from Georgia. Mr. Bishop. I gentleman from New York. I Mr. Aspot I think gentleman from California. Mr. Valado. No. Okay.
▶ 2:29:02Are there other members wishing to record their vote or change their vote? Gentleman from California. Mr. Aguular. I There are others. If not, the clerk will tally.
▶ 2:29:45the bills? Yes. Certain. General lady from Texas. Miss Escobar votes I
▶ 2:30:16on this vote. The eyes are 27, the nose are 33, and the amendment is not Gentle lady from Florida, Miss Frankle, is recognized for amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have an amendment at the desk and I ask unanimous consent that the reading be dispensed with. Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentle lady is recognized for remarks on her amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 2:30:41I rise today to offer an amendment that would ensure that no less than 15% of the economic development funds in this bill are made available for programs in Africa. By 2050, Africa will become home to a quarter of the world's population, nearly half of the glo global youth. That's quite amazing. Some of the cities in Africa are booming.
▶ 2:31:05Startups are thriving and across the continent, countries are leapfrogging traditional development paths through mobile banking, financial technology, and energy innovation. By 2030, Africa's consumer market is expected to top $2.5 trillion. This trans transformation is already visible. In Nigeria, financial technology startups are reshaping the economy and growing the middle class is driving consumer demand.
▶ 2:31:33In Kenya, mobile banking plat platforms have that brought millions of dollars into formal financial system. South Africa and Egypt are home to some of the continent's most advanced tech hubs and industrial centers. While while Ghana's stability and entrepreneurial energy are drawing investors from around the world, these countries and many others are building, innovating, and com and competing. The question is, will the United States be at the table or will we let others like China steer the ship?
▶ 2:32:03I don't think that's at the table. It's at the I don't know what that's called. The big front of the boat. Anyway, at the same time, we must be cleareyed. Uh disease still ravage vulnerable communities. Young people need access to quality education, job training, and opportunity so that success is not reserved for elites alone. And while we weigh our options, China is not waiting.
▶ 2:32:28It's investing billions in African infrastructure, digital networks, mining operations, and military influence. China is writing the rules of the road, and we're at the real risk of being left behind. And we cannot afford to seed ground because this is more than development assistance. It's about protecting our shared future. pandemics, violent extremism, extreme weather events. They don't just stay contained within borders.
▶ 2:32:59Strategic sustained US engagement in Africa makes the world safer, more stable, more prosperous. And that means for us Americans, too. And if we care about resil resilient supply chains, if we care about the future democracy, if we want American business to thrive at a competitive global economy, we must be present in Africa and committed to helping our African partners seize the opportunities ahead. Mr.
▶ 2:33:29Chairman, of course, I'm not really bragging, but I want to say this. This amendment is about vision. Vision. vision. Correct. Oh, she said brag. The vision of American leadership that is bold, forwardlooking, and grounded in real partnership, not transactional deals or one-time handouts. We can be Africa's partner of choice, or we can watch others fill the void.
▶ 2:33:58Let's make the smart choices. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield I thank the gentle lady for uh for explanation of her amendment. I and I'll yield to myself on the amendment. Again, I thank her for her amendment. Africa remains a key focus for our national security interests.
▶ 2:34:20Our strategic competitors in whether it's China, the PRC, Russia, including by the way the rebranded Wagner Group are aggressively expanding influence across the continent, undermining democracies, destabilizing markets, and also cutting uh United States access to critical mineral supplies. Funding from the National Security Investment Program accounts help ensure that America remains economically and politically competitive. on the continent.
▶ 2:34:50It helps deter our adversaries and it keeps us secure. Power Africa really is the backbone of sustainable growth, creating reliable power solutions that foster economic self-sufficiency and open new uh markets for the United States. Supporting faith-based organizations and trusted local partners creates stability. It counters extremism.
▶ 2:35:16uh recruitment of of of for extremist groups and builds goodwill towards the United States. Targeted assistance for Nigeria addresses growing Christian persecution, Christian persecution and strengthens the rule of law in Africa's most populous nation and a key regional ally of the United States, a security ally in Africa's uh critical minerals, cobalt, lithium, and rare earths are essential for
▶ 2:35:47our the United States defense and technology. Securing those resources is a direct national security And this funding supports Global Fragility Act initiatives in West Africa, advancing stability in fragile states while reducing future costs to the United States and helping our national security. Which is why I commend uh the ranking member for her amendment. Uh and I would urge my colleagues to support this fine amendment.
▶ 2:36:18Okay. Is there further debate u on this Seeing no further debate, um the question well no. Yeah. Yeah. Seeing no further debate, uh the ranking member of the subcommittee is recognized to close for one minute. I'll just say one for two. Not bad. Well, no.
▶ 2:36:48Thank fact thank listen thank you you know what Mr. Chair I think a lot of us in this uh room we have some very common thoughts that we agree on. I'm glad this is one of them and I yield Thank you gentlemen. Uh the question is on the amendment offered by the gentle lady from Florida. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. All those opposed no. Okay. The opinion of the chair the eyes have it and the amendment is adopted.
▶ 2:37:34like turning the keys over to your kid and finding out he drives better than you do. I now uh recognize Chairman Diaz Bolard to offer a Republican onblock amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have an amendment on the desk and I would ask unanimous consent that the clerk dispense with the reading of the without without objection. The reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentleman is recognized to explain his amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 2:38:04This onblock amendment includes several changes to the bill and report. The onblock adds bill language withholding a portion of funds from the UN and other international organizations if they deny Taiwan observer status. This is a long-standing and inexcusable problem at the UN among so many others and this amendment begins to address it.
▶ 2:38:26It adds language to the bill prohibiting the use of funds in in controvention of Executive Order 14127 relating to restoring names that honor American greatness, including to create, procure, or display any map that inaccurately depicts the Gulf of America. It adds language preventing discrimin discrimination based on a person's religious belief around marriage.
▶ 2:38:50It increases funds for the American sections international commission account with a corresponding offset for unobligated balances from the economic support fund account. The onblock also includes additional report language increasing the funding directive for the North American Development Bank encouraging the state department's bureau of medical services to support tele medicine platforms to increase cost efficiencies and timely healthcare
▶ 2:39:20to chief of mission personnel directing the secretary of state to use funds to counter the threats posed by PRC linked scam centers and to implement the visa restriction policy announced by the secretary on May 28th, 2025 related to targeting of foreign n foreign uh those again who censor Americans.
▶ 2:39:46Directing $2 million above the prior year for the State Department to implement enforce and renew sanctions against Iran. directing a report describing the policies the State Department is implementing to address the threat posed by the Muslim Brotherhood and directing the State Department to provide to members of Congress information regarding grants by non United States donors to organizations funded uh by the United States in the European Union
▶ 2:40:17and encouraging the Secretary of State to re-examine the potentiality potentially negative impacts that altering, suspending or eliminating established income tax treaties has on NATO allies. Uh, Mr. Chairman, that is the explanation. I would support I would urge for a a yes vote on the amendment, and I yield back. Thank gentlemen. The gentle lady from Florida, Miss Frankle, is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
▶ 2:40:45And I strongly oppose this amendment, and uh there's an additional extreme provision in it. Yeah, the the world faces serious challenges from great power competition uh diseases which have no respect for international borders and the climate crisis. But instead of discussing these critical issues, we're talking about policies that have no place in the bill, dictating names on maps and the definition of marriage. I mean really, don't we have other things to talk about? I think so.
▶ 2:41:15Uh so we should be focused on global problems that affect our con constituents not extreme provisions that we know will go nowhere although who knows with this group. Uh I with that said I urge I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment and and just uh let me just I I want to add one more thing. I there was more one more thing added to this uh which is striking the additional availability in case of a pocket recision.
▶ 2:41:43And I just say this is shameful. We have to if we don't stand up for our constitutional responsibility and the power of the purse I don't know who's going to stand up for us. So with that reject it, I yield back. Thank the general lady. The gentle lady uh from Connecticut uh of the the ranking member is recognized for her response to the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 2:42:10I rise in opposition to this amendment which among other things strikes section 7065 which concerns unlawful empoundment and as well as a matter of accountability. I must speak out today against the pattern of unlawment unlawful empowerment is being led by the OM director Russ vote.
▶ 2:42:28He insists that there is somehow a loophole in the empowerment control act that permits the executive branch to unilaterally cancel appropriations that otherwise expire under current law at the end of the fiscal year by transmitting a special message proposing recisions late in the fiscal year and withholding the amounts until they can no longer be used. I'm going to quote the late Justice Scalia. Uh, the Congress, quote, does not, one might say, hide elephants in mouse holes end quote.
▶ 2:42:56Indeed, unilateral actions by executive branch that would empower congressionally passed duly enacted appropriations is the very thing the empowerment controlled act prohibits. And director vote refers to this unlawful maneuver as a pocket recision, quote, which is another name for an unlawful empoundment.
▶ 2:43:13December 2018 Government Accountability Office uh legal opinion which was requested jointly by my friend House Budget Committee Chair that at the time uh Chairman WAC ranking member Yarmath exact uh is exactly right though and and and confirms that the Empowerment Control Act bars this maneuver. It bars freezing the money until it expires.
▶ 2:43:38The GAO stated unequivocally that the interpretation would in fact give the president power to amend repeal previously enacted appropriations merely by calibrating the timing of the submission of a special message. Uh and that withholding of this nature would be an aversion to both the constitutional process for enacting federal law uh uh and to Congress's constitutional power of the purse. End quote. These are quotes.
▶ 2:44:05um Senator Lindsey Graham uh and uh and our dean of our house uh my friend uh Representative Rogers, they wrote in 2019 to President Trump about their concerns with the reports of a plan to pursue pocket recisions of foreign assistant funds. Um uh and and you know they were very clear in what they stated. Preventing agencies from obligating such large sums seems an abdication of this bipartisan agreement.
▶ 2:44:31and Congress thus expressed strong opposition to this uh exercise um last year. Um so we're at it again. Uh Russ vote is at it again. Uh, look, Republicans and Democrats alike should reject the ploy for what it is, which is a direct assault to Congress's Article One power.
▶ 2:44:53Allowing the administration to erase duly enacted funding through procedural delays that amount to unlawful empowerment would destabilize the appropriations process, corrode the separation of powers that the Empowerment Control Act was enacted to defend.
▶ 2:45:12And section 7065 of this bill drafted by my friend Chair Diaz Bolard is a clear check on agency overreach and accountability and is intended to ensure that this committee that the Congress remains at the center of appropriations decisions and is intended to deter unlawful empowerment through socalled quote pocket recisions.
▶ 2:45:36Striking this section as this amendment would do, as the intended amendment would do, undermines the clear message we need to send that we will defend the critical and important role of this committee of the Congress of the separation of powers enshrined in our constitution. And for that reason, I ask my colleagues to oppose this amendment. And I yield back.
▶ 2:46:07Thank the gentle lady. The gentle lady from Minnesota, Miss McCullum, is recognized to address the amendment. It's a problem that I have that I read the amendments and I read the bill. Um, folks, the bill's on our desk. If you want ch uh open up to page 230 to the the chair of the subcommittee.
▶ 2:46:34There weren't a lot of things in this bill that I liked, but I applauded and I uh section 7065 and now it's gone. If we vote for this amendment, it's gone. And as uh ranking member Delora pointed out, this was our check, our balance, our reasserting to the executive branch, hey, we have a role here. I hear all the time, the president has a mandate.
▶ 2:47:04Well, guess what? Each one of us with our voting card, we have a mandate. Our mandate is to protect and to honor the Constitution, article one of the Constitution. That's our mandate. And you know, there's supposed to be tension between the executive branch and the congressional branch. And you know, then things go to the judicial branch. And sometimes we like the way they rule, sometimes we don't like the way that they rule. But this is our job. And we have up here.
▶ 2:47:33No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in the consequence of appropriations made by law. I just talked earlier about four months ago, we all voted to have um some money go to the State Department to do things that we all agreed on that were good. And then the administration just said, "Nope, we're not going to distribute the food. No, we're not going to distribute the river blindness. We're just going to let those things be destroyed that could have saved lives." So, I'm here to take a stand.
▶ 2:48:03And um I did not come here to as a social studies teacher in particular to turn my back on what my mandate is with my election certificate with my voting card to stand up for the House of Representatives. And then I just have to mention two other things. You're probably all tired of hearing I you probably wouldn't have I wouldn't have been your favorite teacher of had I been your social studies teacher.
▶ 2:48:32Um, let me just let me just say something about the maps. Here we go again. You know, it's been called the Gulf of Mexico for how long? I didn't know when you ran for president, you were running for naming rights, changing uh what uh what we call things unilaterally, not asking Congress to come change them, unilaterally, you know, changing uh a room at the Kennedy Center.
▶ 2:49:00Now, uh, the president, uh, deciding what he wants the Gulf of Mexico to be called, the Gulf of America. I mean, what's next? Is the president going to tell the state of New Mexico that they have to change their name now, too? This is this is beyond comprehension for me that we're getting into what maps need to look like, what they don't need to look like, and naming rights.
▶ 2:49:23And then the last comment I'm going to make really you missed a few things in the tax bill, so you're going to put them in in this bill. Um to to the subcommittee chairman, I realize that you have some challenges on your side and we're going to go to conference and do some other things, but I cannot idally stand back and not speak um the fine provision that you put in the bill that for whatever reason,
▶ 2:49:53and you'll explain it to me later, I know with great passion, that that that that you've changed. You had a great idea. I wish you would have stuck with it. I yield back. Thanks, gentle lady. Are there others wishing to address the amendment? Gentleman from Maryland's recognized to address the amendment.
▶ 2:50:13In opposition, I won't go into it at great length, but I want to say something uh and follow up on what M. McCullum America is a great country and those who are great don't have to go around telling people I'm great, I'm powerful, I'm big.
▶ 2:50:45It's the weak and small who have to do And America is neither weak nor small. And in my view, while not perfect, one of the best nations on earth in terms of what it has done through the last century. The president wants to rename the football team as well.
▶ 2:51:15He really is ending names. Do we have no selfrespect that we have to tell the rest of the world that we need the Gulf, which has been for 400 plus years called the Gulf of Mexico? Do you think anybody looks at the map and says Gulf of Mexico, Gwiz, Mexico must be more important than the United States? If you think that, you lack a lot of self-confidence.
▶ 2:51:47just name stuff big beautiful bill could have been called the make America greater bill I would have understood that but the big beautiful bill that's a child's name and why do you perpetuate it not to mention the fact you do want to give up the authority of this committee to be not a committee that passes uh
▶ 2:52:17laws but passes suggestions to Mr. The chairman got up and argued about the 15% to Africa. What if vote says tomorrow I don't like Africa?
▶ 2:52:32You know, you got a lot of those countries that uh the Trump referred to as uh I'm not going to repeat it and say, "No, I'm not going to do that." We just passed an amendment in a bipartisan way that said we ought to do that. Why? For the best interest of the United States of America.
▶ 2:52:55And then we pass an amendment says the Gulf of Mexico shall be the Gulf of How lacking in competence, self-respect and integrity do we have? Stand up for America. Stand up for the committee. Stand up for the Congress.
▶ 2:53:21Stand up for the Do any other members seek recognition speak on the amendment? Seeing none, the gentleman is recognized for one minute to close. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much.
▶ 2:53:47I want to thank the members uh for their input and recommendations for strengthening the elements of this bill and the report. I do have one observation however that um it would seem like uh no administration has ever changed the name before. This is a novel concept. It's everybody's so offended by it. Just uh it's amazing how short our memories can be in this place. Uh but uh Mr. Chairman, again, I think it's a good amendment.
▶ 2:54:15I would urge a yes vote and I yield back. He didn't mention an example. question is now on the amendment proposed by the gentleman from Florida. All those in favor say I. All those opposed say no. The opinion of the chair. The eyes have Recorded vote has been requested. Sufficient number of hands have been raised. The clerk will call the role. Mr. Mr. Adder Halt.
▶ 2:54:46Mr. Aderhalt I Mr. Aguilar Mr. Aguilar No Mr. Alford Mr. Alford I Mr. Amday Mr. Amday I Mrs. Bice Mrs. Bice I Mr. Mr. Bishop No Mr. Calbertt Mr. Calbertt I Mr. Carter Mr. Carter I Mr. Casease Mr. Casease no Mr. Sisammani Mr. Sisamani I Mr.
▶ 2:55:14Klein Mr. Cloud Mr. Cloud I Mr. Klyurn Mr. Klyurn No Mr. Clyde Mr. Clyde I Mr. Cole Mr. Cole I Mr. Quayar Miss Dean Mr. Lauro Mr. Loro no Mr. Diaz Bolard Mr. Diaz Bolard I Mr. Edwards Mr.
▶ 2:55:41LZ Miss Escobar Miss Escobar No Mr. Aspayat Mr. Espayat No Mr. Fleshman Mr. Fleshman I Miss Frankle Miss Frankle no Mr. Franklin Mr. Franklin I Mr. Gonzalez Mr. Gonzalez I Mr. Guest Mr. Guest I Mr. Harter Mr. Harter no Dr. Harris Dr. Harris I Mrs. Henson Mrs. Henson. I Mr.
▶ 2:56:11Hoyer. Mr. Hoyer. No. Mr. Ivy. Mr. Ivy. No. Mr. Joyce. Mr. Joyce. Mr. Joyce. Mr. Joyce. I Miss Captor. Miss Captor. No. Mr. Loa. Miss Lee. Miss Lee.
▶ 2:56:39I Miss Latlo Miss Latlo I Mr. Mr. Levven No Miss Malloy Miss Malloy I Miss McCullum Miss McCullum no Miss Ming Miss Ming no Mr. Molinar Mr. Molinar I Mr. Moore Mr. Morelli Mr. Morelli no Mr. Mvan Mr. Moran no Mr. New House Mr. Mr. New House. I Miss Perez.
▶ 2:57:10Miss Perez. No. Miss Pingri. Miss Pingri. No. Mr. Pokean. Mr. Pokean. No. Mr. Quigley. Mr. Quigley. No. Mr. Rashenthaler. Mr. Rashenthaler. I. Mr. Rogers. Mr. Rogers. I. Mr. Rutherford. Mr. Rutherford. I. Mr. Simpson. Mr. Simpson. I. Mr. Strong. Mr. Strong. Mr. Strong. Hi, Mr. Strong. I Mrs.
▶ 2:57:39Torres, Mrs. Torres, no. Miss Underwood. Miss Underwood. No. Mr. Valido. Mr. Valido. I Miss Wasserman Schultz. Miss Wasserman Schultz. No. Mrs. Watson Coleman. Mrs. Watson Coleman. No. Mr. Wac. Mr. Wac. I. Mr. Zinci. Mr. Zinci. I. Does any member wish to record their vote or change their vote? Uh, gentleman from Virginia.
▶ 2:58:10Mr. Klene. I Gentleman from Texas. Mr. Elsie. I gentleman from North Carolina. Mr. Edwards. I. Gentle lady from Pennsylvania. Mr. Miss Dean. No. Gentleman from West Virginia. Mr. Moore. I. Are there other members wishing to record or change their vote? Gentle lady from Nevada. Recorded as an I. Gentle ladies record as an I. Aaya. No.
▶ 2:58:40Miss Lee. Are there others wishing to record or change their vote? clerk will tally.
▶ 2:59:38On this vote, the eyes are 34 and the nose are 27. The amendment is adopted. gentle lady from Florida, Miss Wasserman Schultz, is recognized for the purpose of an amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have amendment at the desk and I ask unanimous consent that it be considered as read. It's Wasserman Schultz number I thank gentle lady.
▶ 3:00:08Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentle lady is recognized for remarks on her amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer an amendment that will provide some small measure of justice and perhaps even save taxpayers some money. The foreign aid freeze and termination of life-saving programs like emergency food and nutrition assistance have already resulted in hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths.
▶ 3:00:342.4 million malnourished children are at risk of missing critical nut nutritional support due to shrinking supplies of therapeutic foods. Cuts in readytouse therapeutic foods risk 14 million additional deaths largely among children before 2030 and some 350,000 have already died.
▶ 3:00:53I know that number might seem shocking that it could have happened that quickly but there are so many children living on the precipice of death from starvation that when we deprive them of these vital nutri this vital nutritional assistance death is swift. Was it worth it? Was it worth the savings? Actually, we didn't save a dime. That money was already appropriated.
▶ 3:01:18Instead, the Trump administration is letting emergency food rot in warehouses or simply incinerating it. As Miss McCullum referenced a little while ago, just last week, they destroyed 500 tons of high energy biscuits that could have fed 1 and a half million children. Sounds like waste to me. And some of those millions of children are in fact wasting away.
▶ 3:01:44And by the end of this markup, several thousand more children who this committee directed the president to feed will succumb to starvation. In South Sudan alone, a child dies every 11 seconds from malnutrition. And there's nothing that we can do in fiscal year 2026 to reverse those avoidable deaths which were inflicted by this administration. done all in their rush to fund tax cuts for billionaires.
▶ 3:02:11But what we can do is teach this administration what it means to be hungry. So my amendment is simple. When political appointees in this administration travel to countries where children are starving and dying as a result of their cruel, wasteful cuts to food aid, they can buy their own damn meals. If we can't afford emergency nutrition paste for malnutourished children on the brink of death at 30 cents per unit, then we certainly can't afford to whine and dine millionaires and billionaires.
▶ 3:02:41And this administration, by the way, is littered with them. Trump has appointed more of them than any president in history. Now, a few of you might actually be thinking, "So what? Starving children? They're just not my problem." Well, here's what the last moments look like for these children. I want you to listen. Babies who are too weak to cry. Kids who can't stand up or speak because their muscles have dissolved away.
▶ 3:03:10Four-year-olds who will never grow tall with failing organs and sunken eyes. If not treated immediately with therapeutic feuds, foods, clean water, antibiotics, and clinical supervision. Severe malnutrition can quickly lead to organ failure, coma, and death. And it has times because of this administration's cruel cuts. Children under the age of five are especially vulnerable.
▶ 3:03:39If they happen to get a regular meal, they may not even be able to digest it to digest it. That's why American companies developed readytouse therapeutic foods. They're grown in America, manufactured in America, purchased from Americans, and you can feed them to a starving child without making them sicker. When they're traveling around the world on the taxpayer dime instead of a taste of the local fair, this administration should get a taste of their own medicine.
▶ 3:04:09Secretary Rubio has four jobs. He can buy his own lunch. But perhaps he will have a moment to reflect on what it means to be hungry without knowing where your next meal will come from or if it will ever come. And perhaps Secretary Rubio will remember why he used to be a champion of USAD. Thank you. I yield back the balance of my time and I urge adoption of my amendment. Thank gentle lady. The gentleman from Florida, Mr. Diaz Bolard is recognized to respond to the amendment. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 3:04:43Look, let's let's get serious here, right? Nothing in this amendment, nothing in this amendment will help one, not even one hungry child or anybody Nothing in this amendment will do that. Look, I understand that the challenges that either have occurred and may still remain in terms of ensuring programs that receive life-saving waiverss get continued support in a timely fashion.
▶ 3:05:11But whatever one's views on foreign assistant on the foreign assistant review and any review or this for foreign assistant review, why why punish suffering populations abroad by hampering the ability of our political appointees including the secretary of state to address a conflict, shelter, child protection, hunger anywhere in the world.
▶ 3:05:34Again, this amendment will not help one child, one human being, nobody, nothing anywhere in the world. Uh, and I look, I think these are serious issues. Uh, so again, I would urge a no vote on this Thank the gentleman. The gentle lady from Florida, Miss Frankle, is recognized to respond to the amendment. Thank you. Of course, I support this very good amendment.
▶ 3:06:02And listen, what this amendment does, what this amendment does, it gives us an opportunity, an opportunity to say there is no greater shame than to let children die of starvation when we have the ability to help. And I hope everybody's going to support this very fine amendment. Are there other members wishing to speak on the amendment?
▶ 3:06:28Gentleman from Maryland is recognized to address the Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I um hadn't planned to speak on this one, but I I um I'm really struggling with what's going on here this morning. I the chairman for the subcommittee said, you know, let's be serious. And this is right after we do a vote to change the name for of, you know, to the Gulf of America.
▶ 3:06:56Um, it's hard for me to figure this out. And we've got the food, as the gentle lady from Florida said. It's already been paid for, but we're going to let it rot or spend more money to destroy it. That's insane. I I just I don't understand what's going on here with this. I really don't. But I I do hope that we can try and find a way to move beyond whatever this is.
▶ 3:07:22uh because this this is shocking to me. I I I'm I'm astonished by what I'm witnessing today. Um now, I know that there are ways for us to address these kinds of concerns. Um I would think much of this could have been addressed prior to today so we wouldn't have to go through this process of of amendments. And yeah, it's a symbolic amendment, but uh apparently my colleagues are voting almost everything down on the Republican side anyway.
▶ 3:07:50But I I I would say this if um I you know I don't know I'm letting people starve to death when we have the ability to address it is we've got to be better than this. We really do. And and so I I I urge my colleagues, can't do it on this amendment, I'm sure, but we've got to be able to find a way to address this issue at a minimum. Food that's already been paid for.
▶ 3:08:21Let's let it go so it can feed people that uh so these kids can stay alive. I we ought to be able to do that. So I I'll yield unless somebody else wants the rest of my time. I'll yield back the balance. Thank the gentleman. The gentleman from Missouri, Mr. Alfred is recognized to respond to the amendment. Thank you, chair. I know this topic stirs a lot of interest, a lot of emotion, but let's deal in the facts.
▶ 3:08:49I'd like to submit for the record a CNN article, not Fox News, not OEN, not Real America's Voice, but CNN, uh, dated July 16th of 2025, entitled US set to destroy 500 tons of US taxpayer emergency food. Without objection, I'd like to quote from this the other side of the story.
▶ 3:09:11The rest of the story is Paul Harvey once said, "A State Department spokesperson confirmed that emergency food will be destroyed because they were unable to use it before its expiration." Quote, "The expired lot was acquired under the last administration and purchased as a contingency for need beyond projections, resulting the in the inability to deplete before expiration.
▶ 3:09:33Unfortunately, this risk is part of always being ready to respond to life-saving humanitarian needs with consumable commodities in remote locations around the world. USID, the quote continues, has had to destroy commodities under previous administrations with similar circumstances.
▶ 3:09:50This issue not not They said in a statement that the biscuits are specifically meant for populations that are moving from one place to another, such as in the wake of a natural disaster fleeing from conflict. We currently have high energy biscuits and warehouses around the world for those most in need. We always want to avoid destroying any commodities and do our best to find alternative uses for them. That's the fact.
▶ 3:10:20That's the quote. That's CNN. I submit it for the record. I yield back. Thank you, gentlemen. Are there other members wishing to address the A gentle lady from Ohio is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you, uh, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to add two cents here because of the gentleman's statement.
▶ 3:10:41Uh, you know, the reason it was late is because of the lack of people with the shredding of wonderful people that work for the government of the United States all over the world and they couldn't expedite the shipments. So, I heard what the gentleman said, but there is a yield when you tell people leave these agencies all over the world.
▶ 3:11:05And the thing is whether there's dying children in Gaza or there's dying children in Africa or hungry kids in our country, those biscuits could have been repurposed because those had they were nutritional bistics. They kept people alive. So my friends, take responsibility for what you are doing and recognize that your decisions and what happens over at the other end of Pennsylvania has consequences and they are serious and lives have been lost and are being lost as we sit here today and debate this.
▶ 3:11:33But I'm sorry the gentleman left the room, but uh there's a reason that those products weren't delivered and it is morally wrong. Wrong. I yield back. Thank you, gentle lady. Are there others wishing to comment on amendment? The gentleman from Maryland's recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 3:11:57I absolutely support the gentle lady's effort to bring to our attention what we're doing. The amendment is too narrow. Do not sit there and think you can avoid It is us not just about
▶ 3:12:28the incident and I agree 100% with the gentle lady from Ohio as to why it was not delivered. Now I must say however in all honesty I have a reservation about this because too often what we do is we avoid responsibility by saying that some official who is carrying out policy ought to be punished our federal employees.
▶ 3:12:56Clint, the fault is ours. Not just Rubio, not just employees of the State Department or former employees of USID.
▶ 3:13:19The policies that have been pursued are exactly resulting in what the gentle lady from Florida had to say. And if Secretary Rubio ought not to be fed, nor should we.
▶ 3:13:42There are people hungry in America that we're not feeding and other places in the world. So take to heart what gentle lady said in terms of those children who are going to die because we do not act.
▶ 3:14:07And we have constrained ourselves in our ability to act in the most egregious of so that we can t cut taxes deeply on those who have the most. Thank the gentleman. Are there others wishing to comment on amendment? Gentle lady from New Jersey is recognized to address the amendment.
▶ 3:14:40I'm I'm a little upset. So, I apologize if my voice is quivering, but I've never experienced this kind of cruelty from government ever in my life, and I've been around a long time. I served in the executive branch of state government in the in the legislative branch of state government and now I get the uh blessing of serving in Congress.
▶ 3:15:05But what I've experienced with this administration, with this bill, and with every bill that's come before us is an intentionality to be cruel to those who are most vulnerable of us in this world. to stand by and watch suffering that we as the richest country in the world can do something to make life a little bit better.
▶ 3:15:33We can't solve all the problems, but we are walking away from participating in the solution of any problems. And I just don't I don't understand the dimension of that cruelty.
▶ 3:15:48I don't understand how anyone could think that it is okay to see children die from either not having enough food or not having enough medicine or whatever. We are human beings. We are all created by God. We're equal in his eyes.
▶ 3:16:15And I don't understand why we don't understand our responsibility to those among us who are in need. And so I support this amendment. I know that this is a discussion. This is an elevation of uh an issue to bring to our attention.
▶ 3:16:34is the opportunity to speak again about the cruelty but the changes that we can make right here as a co-equal branch of government acknowledging our responsibility to humanity and so with that I support this amendment and I would yield back unless there is a person sitting on one of these two tables that has a need for some of my time I Two minutes
▶ 3:17:04left. So I yield to the U creator of this amendment if I might. Mr. Chairman, are there others that Oh, gentle lady can still speak and others will be able to speak and the gentle lady will be able to close with Thank you. And I thank the gentle lady for for yielding. Um, you know, I'm not a terribly religious person.
▶ 3:17:31uh but I have found over my years in public repeatedly thinking about the expression there but for the grace of God go I it it is so apppropo so apt so applicable to each of us who had the good fortune of the accident of our birth as Americans as American citizen
▶ 3:18:02as people who in most cases in this country or certainly people who are situated classwise like we are that we would never have to face the kind of despicable unspeakable hunger and death that I described in the presentation of my amendment because we happened to be born here a And I I I
▶ 3:18:32just am so overcome by the contained in this bill that reflected in the in the venom from this to children and the desperately poor around the world who we are literally throwing into the ashes.
▶ 3:18:58And you know, we often say, our side of the aisle often says, I don't hear it as much from the other side of the aisle, um, that we are better than this. The gentleman from Mer Maryland referenced that expression. I'm I'm starting to wonder. I'm starting to wonder. I know there are some that are better than this.
▶ 3:19:23I can't find anyone in this administration or those who are have are supporting this legislation that would allow this to to be described as better than what we know that reference means. We have a choice.
▶ 3:19:41We can let ch children starve to death or we can stand up and we can and we can take a stand and make sure that we say no to the cruelty, no to discarding people who we have just decided are I know when I gave birth to my children, they were my greatest blessing.
▶ 3:20:07And we need to be thinking about children across the world like in the way that we think of our own children. They matter just as much. Let's treat them that way. I urge adoption of my amendment so we can hold ourselves accountable so we can make sure Mr. Chairman, if I'm the last speaker, I have another minute. You will. You're not yet the last speaker. You have the I will come back to myself, but you're 50 seconds over time. No problem. I'll yield back and I appreciate the general lady.
▶ 3:20:36Uh the gentle lady from Pennsylvania is then gentle lady from uh Pennsylvania is recognized to address the amendment. Uh I I share some of my colleagues absolute bafflement. I don't even know if that's a word. I'm puzzled. I'm baffled. I am so confused.
▶ 3:21:02Um this amendment is symbolic to say let's us or let's those in the who have sat silently by as USAID has been shuttered and taken down to about I think 70 folks to administer uh in maybe the entire Middle East region. it is the cruelty I kept saying that the cruelty was just an offshoot. It was an unintended offshoot.
▶ 3:21:32No, this is the Watching children starve, watching adults die of diseases that are something we can handle. We're telling you the numbers. But as Miss Wasserman Schultz described and that the beginning of the painful death that is starvation in the end the child doesn't move at all.
▶ 3:22:02And I read that the child's eyes are the last thing to move. They follow looking for help because they have no energy. They have no ability to move because they're starving. This is not dying from an incurable disease. They're starving. And the tons of aid that we destroyed, it expired and/or rotted because this administration shut off distribution.
▶ 3:22:33Let's be really clear about that. That's waste. That is fraud. Defrauding the global planet. We had food here. We had nutrition here. We had biscuits here. We had paste here. And yet we're going to let it rot and then we're going to incinerate it.
▶ 3:22:56I don't understand why you're not all screaming that we have to restore aid, foreign aid to save starving children just as we have done for decades under both types of administrations, and Republican. I don't know why you're not screaming, but the cruelty is the point. and the silent support for the most incompetent, corrupt, and cruel administration is something I will never understand.
▶ 3:23:26I yield back. Thank gentle lady. Gentle lady from Texas is recognized to address the Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 3:23:39And I'd like to thank the sponsor of this amendment for bringing this forward and for being the conscience of this committee on this issue in a moment where it's clear we desperately need to be more compassionate and to understand the consequences of what we're doing here.
▶ 3:24:06And I echo the same concerns and disbelief that my colleagues have You know, I I am a very sensitive person. It's hard for me to see photographs of starving children or any helpless creature suffering.
▶ 3:24:32And even as a as a kid, I could never watch something on television without just weeping and bursting into tears and thinking, why don't people do something about this if they can? And here's the irony. We are the people. Everyone in this room has the unique ability to do something because we can.
▶ 3:25:02You know, just a couple of weeks ago on the House floor, there was a bill that allocated tens of billions of dollars for immigrant detention. There was a a bill, the reconciliation bill, $80 billion for ICE alone. 40 billion of that for detention.
▶ 3:25:28Much of that will go to private corporations that will be enriching themselves and their shareholders with this money. And at the same time, this Congress is taking money away from starving kids because that is literally what is happening. These are all choices that we make and this is a really devastating choice.
▶ 3:25:59Obviously, we don't support this choice. We are we believe there's another path. There are alternatives. There are ways to fund this. We could make the wealthiest Americans and corporations pay their fair share. And we could provide health care for Americans.
▶ 3:26:18We could pro provide for nutrition programs for Americans and also help some of the most vulnerable beings on the planet at the same time. It doesn't have to be an eitheror.
▶ 3:26:34either we help US citizens or we help people abroad because frankly this is how this is normally framed as as though this is some kind of zero sum game. It really isn't.
▶ 3:26:53When we look at our tax code and when we look at the decisions made in the recent reconciliation bill to transfer wealth from some of the poorest Americans to some of the wealthiest Americans. And here we go again. This Congress in a really dark moment. But we, those of us in this room, when we think about people who have the power to make a difference, we do.
▶ 3:27:23We do. We're the appropriations committee of the United States House of Representatives. There's the in this room are the people who can make that choice, who can make that difference, who can save those babies. The question before us right now is what choice will we make? And to my colleague from Florida, I am with you and I am ready to make that choice. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 3:27:52I yield Thank the gentle lady. The gentleman from Texas, Mr. Carter, is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Mr. Chairman. And um I've been pondering this issue from the from the CNN report. We found out that the expiration date had expired on the food.
▶ 3:28:23my wife probably wouldn't want me to tell you this. I've been married to this beautiful young lady for 57 years. But she was born, she's Dutch. The Canadians liberated Holland. And when the when we came up with our plan to feed Europe, somehow the Dutch got left out of it.
▶ 3:28:50And so from 1946 to 48, the Dutch got no food, plus the fact that the um the harbors all froze up. They had the worst winter in ever. And so the Dutch starved.
▶ 3:29:15So my wife lived with starvation as did as a child. All the children in Holland lived with We figured out our mistake and we rec we we we corrected it with literally dropping food into those people who who were not under fire and the war was Now, I tell you that story because there's another thing that I I learned
▶ 3:29:45as a young lawyer when I was with the A committee at in in that California had a something called marketing orders and when they grew fresh fruit or vegetables, they wanted only the best to be there.
▶ 3:30:13So, they destroyed the mediocre. It made their market stronger. It made more people want to buy California fruit and vegetables because the marketing orders had had destroyed the mediocre or not so perfect fruit and vegetables. Texas was going to try marketing orders. And to me it sounded crazy, but it I think we finally did. I don't remember that.
▶ 3:30:43It's really But the question we have to ask ourself, who's who decides when a piece of is bad and put the label on it that says you can't eat this because my wife would have eaten it.
▶ 3:31:06And I believe we started that program of putting those things on there, the American public. It may have been international. I don't know. But the question is, my children believe that and they won't touch anything that is one day past that that that schedule. But I we will. My wife and I will and my wife surely will.
▶ 3:31:33But she will say it's still good food and we're going to eat Now the the real issue here is that the of a date on a piece of dried food made them have feel like they had to destroy it because someone might get So we're talking about something that we
▶ 3:32:04that if in a in a in a world where we were not dealing with starving people, we would say, "Oh, you can't eat that. You expect expiration to pass, but they would have eaten it." So it's really lies on our view of the world, not theirs. And the truth is, we ought to get more food over there that did not expire. But that expiration date was ridiculous to starving people.
▶ 3:32:34And that's the real issue. A date on a piece of dried food that says it's it's not good. They probably would have eaten it anyway if they're really starving. I yield back. Are there other members wishing to address the amendment? Seeing none, gentle lady is recognized for one minute to close. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 3:32:59Chairman, and I appreciate all my colleagues who uh who stood um and stood up and lent your voice to help make sure that we shine the whitest, hottest spotlight on what we are about to do and have been doing since the beginning of this administration. that has caused the starvation and death of millions of And I have tremendous respect for Judge Carter and we can have a conversation about exploration of food another day.
▶ 3:33:30But um this food expired because the richest man in the world ordered instructed our government to lock it up and not give it out. He was rewarded with a massive tax cut and the children starved to death. That's why this food Thanks Mr.
▶ 3:33:49Alfred for sharing both sides of the story though because the reason that that food was not available is because our government kept it off limits and were and instructed that it not be distributed. That's the real story. I know a lot of us are better than this.
▶ 3:34:06I hope someone finds a conscience in here somewhere and decides when we get to the end of this process that we're not going to abandon our a and and not and not step back from what the United States has always been. I know I won't. We each have to answer that on that that question ourselves. I yield back the balance of my time and urge the support of my amendment because someone has to be held accountable. Thank the general lady.
▶ 3:34:35Questions now on the amendment offered by the gentle lady from Florida. All those in favor say I. All those opposed say no. And you're the chair of the nose have And the amendment is not agreed to. Thank you very much.
▶ 3:35:07Gentle lady from Florida, Miss Wasserman Schultz, is recognized for an amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I ask unanimous consent that the amendment that I'm offering be considered as read. Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentle lady's recognized for remarks on her amendment. Thank you. This is uh Wasserman Schultz number two. I rise to offer an amendment in pursuit of the bipartisan objectives that this bill is designed to address.
▶ 3:35:35Preventing migration, countering crime, and reducing unaccountable wasteful spending. According to this bill, the quote America First Opportunity Fund will quote furnish assistance that makes America safer, stronger, and more prosperous unquote. It's more than a little vague. And if I was born yesterday, that would probably sound pretty good. But I'm old enough to remember when Republicans called themselves the party of fiscal responsibility.
▶ 3:36:02That is before they passed a bill that increased the deficit by $3 trillion to to give tax cuts for the rich in the dead of night. So here's what this account really is. An unmonitored billion dollar slush fund for President Trump and his cronies to buy favors for their rich friends. This MAGA slush fund sucks $1.7 billion dollar out of programs that disrupt drug trafficking and stop wars from breaking out.
▶ 3:36:29It takes money from accounts that arm our allies with Americanmade weapons, train law enforcement to go after terrorists, and help freedom fighters push back against dictators. In other words, it's only an opportunity fund if you're seeking opportunities to smuggle fentanyl, run guns for Hamas, or buy yourself a pardon with Trump's meme coins. This slush fund has no oversight, no authorization, no transparency.
▶ 3:36:53I'm talking about a slush fund in this bill that we are voting on and no mandate beyond platit platitudes. So why is it in the bill? Well, because Donald Trump asked for it. He wants less expert-driven foreign assistance that supports our interests. Instead, Trump wants $1.7 billion in taxpayer funds under his direct control, not our control.
▶ 3:37:17his direct control because he believes he knows better than the experts and because his personal interests take precedence over the national entrance. Let's be clear, we should not be cutting a blank check for the lawless authoritarian who has usurped this committee's constitutional authority to appropriate funding and who has violated the law repeatedly by withholding funding that is law. But of course, I want to make I want America to be strong and safe and prosperous and I know everyone in this room agrees.
▶ 3:37:44So I thought to myself, which agency best represents those principles with the best bang for every buck? And the answer was clear, the Interamerican Foundation or the IIAF. For decades, the IIAF has been on the front lines of countering criminal activity, illegal migration, and malign foreign influence in the Western Hemisphere. They deliver funds directly to grant recipients across the Americas with a focus on areas with high levels of out migration and criminal presence.
▶ 3:38:09It's 100% localized with less than 9% of their budget supporting administrative costs, most of which is used to carefully screen and audit grant recipients. IIAF makes us safer by stabilizing at risk communities. Whether it's by keeping young men out of gangs or helping farmers switch from growing cocoa for cartels over to growing coffee and fruit for American consumers. IIAF makes America stronger by serving as a counterweight to the Chinese Communist Party. in rural areas the traditional diplomacy just doesn't reach.
▶ 3:38:39They build community resistance to illegal mining and fishing by Chinese companies. And they improve the overall perception of the US in Latin American countries. And the IIAF makes us more prosperous by reducing the drive to migrate illegally, which protects our workforce and helps connect grant recipients with US companies to diversify away from China and create more American jobs. They do all that with a budget of less than, wait for it, $50 million.
▶ 3:39:06For every dollar Americans invest, grant recipients commit a $136. It creates true sustainable development and local ownership. The Interamerican Foundation is a model of how foreign aid could work and should work. That's why they've impacted millions of lives despite their small footprint. Despite this historic proven success, Trump and Doge tried to shut IIAF down anyway, but they lost in court.
▶ 3:39:31This bill only includes $10 million for IIAF, the same amount that the White House has designated for shutdown costs. In other words, they want Congress to do their dirty work by shutting down this lowcost, high impact independent agency. But I would submit that $20 million in IIAF's hands would do a lot more good than 1.7 billion in Trump's slush fund. I hope my colleagues will agree to this amendment that will ensure this so-called opportunity fund doesn't miss out on an opportunity to protect the IIAF and protect our interests across the Western Hemisphere. Thank you.
▶ 3:40:01I yield back the balance in my time and urge the adoption of the Thank gentleman from Florida, Mr. Diaz Bolard is recognized to respond to the Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the gentle lady's amendment. While I I greatly appreciate the intent to support the Interamerican Foundation, the America First Opportunity Fund should remain unrestricted.
▶ 3:40:22This amendment is at odds with the intent and purpose of this fund, which was established to provide the secretary the ability to respond to emerging crises uh opportunities that are in America's best national security interests around the world. So again, I cannot support this amendment which changes the nature of the fund. we created in the bill to be flexible and to be a strategic tool for the secretary. So again, respectfully, I urge a no vote on this amendment. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 3:40:53I thank gentlemen. Gentle lady from Florida, Miss Frankle's recognized to respond to the amendment. Thank you. I rise in strong support of very very good strong amendment uh because I support the funding for the Interamerican Foundation, an agency that plays a quiet but powerful role in addressing one of the most pressing challenges we face, irregular migration to the United States.
▶ 3:41:16Folks, last month we passed at a not we, the Republicans I should say, in their big big beautiful ugly whatever it was called bill. They spent $170 billion dollar on immigration enforcement, including 46 billion on on this wall.
▶ 3:41:38And let's be clear, people don't leave their homes, their families, their communities, unless they they feel they have to, unless there's if there's no food on the table, no job to go to, no school for their children, no safety on their streets. And that's why this IIAF uh organization is so important because it tackles those root causes of headon before people forced to make the dangerous journey north. And IF's if's model is unique.
▶ 3:42:08It cuts through the red tape and goes straight into the source community-based organizations on the ground. It supports farmer cooperatives, women's groups, youth associations, and indigenous communities with the tools they need to build opportunity and stability at home. And over 70% of IF grantees work in high migration areas, including the Northern Triangle, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Let me give you an example what it looks like in practice.
▶ 3:42:37In western highlands of Guatemala, where an environmental erosion and economic despair had driven thousands to migrate migrate, the IF funded a local indigenous organization to scale up mushroom and pea production. Sales rose by 2800%.
▶ 3:42:58Unemployment jumped 1,000% and with the addition of youth program, migration from the region dropped from 15% of junior high students per year to just 1%. So listen, that's to me that's smart policy. Uh in Honduras, a young man named Wilmer once deported from Mexico used backed scholarship to finish law school. He's now staying in Honduras to build a future there.
▶ 3:43:25Multiply that by thousands of stories and you begin to see IAF's real power, giving people a reason to stay, to hope, to thrive at home. And let me say this again, the IIAF reduces the drivers of migration not by building walls but by will by building futures. Uh I uh urge my colleagues who support this very critical funding and I yield back.
▶ 3:43:57Thank gentle lady. The gentle lady from Pennsylvania, Miss Dean, is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the uh ranking member and the chairman. Uh I rise in support of this amendment and I commend uh Representative Wasserman Schultz in seeking transparency uh for the use of American first opportunity fund uh and uh in support of IAF resources.
▶ 3:44:24Section 7049 appropriates $1.7 billion dollars for the America First Opportunity Fund with no clear mandate. Other funding accounts make the mission of their appropriations very clear. Food security, counter drug trafficking, non-prololiferation, health security, water security, you name it, specific and clear.
▶ 3:44:44Yet, the language for the American First Opportunity Fund states, "It will quote make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous by responding to crisis, engaging proactively with strategic partners, and countering threats from adversaries." End quote. This statement is not a mission statement of a single funding account. All funding accounts are required to align with our national security interest and make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous. that is for every single account.
▶ 3:45:14Instead, what we have here is a slush fund with no established congressional oversight mechanism. It only begs more questions. How will the administration or even Congress prioritize the range of humanitarian, global health, education, and peacekeeping efforts that could be possible with these funds? How will a discretionary fund without discernable priorities allow appropriate monitoring and evaluation? measurement of impact and ensure accountability.
▶ 3:45:44What controls will be in place to ensure this funding account will not be used for personal or political benefit of anyone in the administration? We've already seen numerous deals that directly benefit the president, President Trump and his family members. We cannot support a vague open-ended funding account that contributes to this type of highlevel in-your-face out in the open corruption.
▶ 3:46:12I encourage all to support Representative Wasserman Schultz's amendment that brings the needed transparency, direction, and oversight to this funding account. And I yield Thank you, gentle lady. Are there other members wishing to address the Seeing none, the gentle lady is recognized for one minute to close. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I thank my colleagues who stood in support of the amendment.
▶ 3:46:39Um, if you have ever had a chance to travel on a congressional delegation trip to uh Latin American countries, you have seen the benefit of the resources and programming from the IIAF, the Interamerican Fund.
▶ 3:46:56It is a major major deterrent to people who are in other countries struggling with major difficulties and we help through our resources not only transform life in Latin American countries but also having the added benefit of making it unlikely because most these immigrants, these potential immigrants want to remain in their own home country and not have to trek across
▶ 3:47:26the continent to come here for a better life. If we make their life better and help make their life better, then we are less likely to deal with the impact of their migration. So that is the value of ensuring that we have $20 million available to the Interamerican Fund. It's a no-brainer and I urge your adoption of the amendment. Thank gentle lady. The questions now on the amendment offered by the gentle lady from Florida. All those in favor say I. I. I. All those opposed say no.
▶ 3:47:56The opinion of the chair of the nose have it and the amendment is not adopted. Gentle lady from Florida, Miss Wasserman Schultz is recognized for an amendment. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have an amendment at the desk, Wasserman Schultz number three, and I ask unanimous consent that it be considered as read. Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentle lady's recognized for remarks on her amendment.
▶ 3:48:26Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I rise today to offer an amendment to restore funding for family planning services for the world's most vulnerable women, and strike harmful anti-woman riders that prevent them from getting necessary medical care. My amendment would restore funding to the United Nations Population Fund to provide contraception, prevent maternal deaths, and counter gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation and sexual abuse of children around the world.
▶ 3:48:50Republicans want to cut this funding under the false and malicious justification that these funds have been used for quote forced abortions. But we know that the organization itself rightfully characterizes reproductive coercion of any kind, including forced pregnancy, as an act of violence. I'm appalled by the majority's attempt to hide behind culture war buzzwords to deliberately endanger women and girls at home and abroad.
▶ 3:49:13Because as written, this bill would cut global health assistance for reproductive health care services like contraceptives, prenatal and post-natal health care and STD screenings. And that would have devastating consequences. Experts estimate tens of thousands of unsafe abortions and maternal deaths will result from this policy. It would leave young women and girls even more vulnerable to gender-based violence, including reproductive coercion and intimate partner violence.
▶ 3:49:39This cut would especially hurt the nearly one in three women in developing countries who become mothers while they are still children themselves. And it would do all of this when we know complications from giving birth remains the leing leading cause of death and injury for these adolescent girls. There is nothing pro-life about that. But these poisonous riders aren't surprising. It's just the ongoing Republican crusade against women's reproductive freedom. The same attacks that the American people have time and time again rejected here at home.
▶ 3:50:08And we will not stand for spreading this assault on women around the world. Every woman here or abroad should have access to the resources they need to make that choice of when, whether, and how to start a family. When women have those opportunities, it can stabilize developing countries and promote economic growth. It's repulsive that after years of ramming far-right bills like this down the throats of Americans, Republicans would now risk throwing away America's global leadership on an issue as important as women's health.
▶ 3:50:38So, let's scrap these poison pills and pass a budget that invests in reproductive health, supports strong families, and curbs gender-based and sexual violence everywhere. This amendment would move us in that direction. It would eliminate the partisan, dangerous, and frankly anti-women provisions of this bill that would endanger the health and safety of millions of women and children. And I'm sure none of my colleagues here want the preventable deaths of women across the globe on their conscience. I urge you all to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time. Thanks, gentle lady.
▶ 3:51:07Gentleman from Florida, Mr. Diaz Bolard, is recognized to respond to the amendment. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to this amendment. This amendment strikes language that would ensure that no taxpayer funds are provided to any foreign non-governmental organization implementing global health assistance that performs or promotes abortions and strikes a funding cap for family planning programs in the bill. The amendment also strikes a prohibition on funds on the UNFPA.
▶ 3:51:37This organization is a unaccountable bure bureaucracy that has track record of funding well to say the least controversial programs notably in communist China. Let me repeat that. Notably in communist China that do not align with core American values and which uh actively undermine US Now look, there's no secret that the Biden administration demonstrated repeatedly its propensity to find and fund organizations
▶ 3:52:07abroad with radical and extreme agendas, resulting even in a helm's violation. No, see, it's it's I believe it is our duty to strengthen, not weaken, pro-life protections in our bill. And you've all heard me say this before. Uh, US foreign assistance dollars must be used in common sense priorities.
▶ 3:52:31Americans do not support using foreign assistance to fund abortions or other controversial programs overseas and this bill reflects that. So again, I urge a no vote on the amendment and Mr. Chairman, I yield Thank gentlemen. Gentle lady from Florida, Miss Frankle is recognized to address the amendment.
▶ 3:52:52Well, you know, my my my here we go You know, once more, we're forced to defend a woman's health healthc care from political ideology that has no place in a federal funding bill. I rise in strong support of this amendment because it makes a commitment to improving women's health and expanding access to reproductive care around the world.
▶ 3:53:18Instead of using this bill to play politics with women's bodies, we should be using it to save lives, to ensure that women, no matter where they live, have access to the information, the services, and support they need to make decisions about their health, their families, and their futures. You know, it it's bad that year after year we are compelled to swallow. We called the Helms amendment. We federal government does not pay for abortions. Some of us would like to change that.
▶ 3:53:48That's not what this discussion is about. Uh but this is about something more than that. Because the Republicans this year have gone even further with their radical anti-woman agenda. Slashing funding for family planning programs. Programs that save lives, prevent millions of unplanned pregnancies, and offer women a chance a better future.
▶ 3:54:17stopping unplanned pregnancies with contraception. I do think that also prevents abortion. Am I correct about that? Yes, I think so. Uh zeroing out funding for the UNFPA, a trusted global partner working in more than 150 countries to provide reproductive care, combat gender-based violence, and support maternal care. And they do not fund abortions in China. Let's get That's an old talking point. That's not true.
▶ 3:54:46And Republicans now reimposing the global global gag rule. I'm gagging because that's what it does. It's basically it the policy is so extreme it bars providers from even discussing abortion, forcing clinics that choose between desperately needing funding and honest conversations with their patients. You cannot say the word abortion. Don't say the word abortion or you're going to lose your federal funding. Okay. Well, I'm going to say it loud and clear.
▶ 3:55:13Women, not politicians in Washington, should have the freedom to decide whether and when to start to grow their families. This freedom is essential. It's non-negotiable. And yet, Republicans year in year out seem to determine to strip it away. Uh and again, this is not about restricting abortion in this. They're making it harder for women to avoid an unplanned pregnancy in the first place. This is crazy. It's confusing. I don't understand it.
▶ 3:55:41taking away funding for contraception, sexual health, health health education, economic empowerment. What sense does that make? It doesn't make any sense at all. And it's just going to hurt uh people all over the world. I'm not going to keep going on and on other than to say this again. No matter where they live, women deserve control over their own bodies, the right to make their own decision about when or whether to grow or start a family. That's whether they're here or there or any place.
▶ 3:56:10pass this amendment and I yield back. Thank the gentle lady. The gentleman from Alabama who is 60 years old in one day today one day. Yes. Is recognized to address the amendment. I'm able to stand up here. I will I will speak to the to this u u amendment. Um and of course I rise in opposition. Uh, first I'd like to thank Chairman Diaz Bard for his work on the bill and uh for producing some strong legislation.
▶ 3:56:40Um, and all due respect to my colleagues from Florida. I uh, you know, we have heard a lot about from our colleagues this afternoon and this morning about standing up for the committee and standing up for our article one Uh, I would say here's a chance to rectify the previous administr administration's disregard for the will of Congress on this important issue. I'd like to highlight the history of the policy which this amendment seeks to strike.
▶ 3:57:09The Mexico City policy, as many of you know, was introduced by pres President Ronald Reagan at the 1984 UN International Conference on Population Development in Mexico City. This policy requires that foreign NOS's must agree as a condition of receiving US funds that they would neither perform nor actively promote abortions as a method of family planning with any source of funding including non
▶ 3:57:40US However, under President Biden, the State Department not only rescended the global protect life rule, but also ignored the long-standing Helms amendment by allowing tax dollars to pay for abortions abroad. This action by the former president uh and also the amendment before us is out of step with the will of the American people.
▶ 3:58:04According to a Marxist poll, 78% of Americans, and that's including 61% of Democrats, oppose the use of tax dollars to support abortion Thankfully, at the beginning of this term, President Trump reinstated the Mexico City policy through protecting life and global health assistance with updated and significant expansions.
▶ 3:58:28We must protect the polic this policy and stand in line with the will of the American people. I once again thank the subcommittee chairman for setting this right. Uh and I yield back. Thank gentlemen. Are there other members wishing to address the amendment? Seeing none, the gentle lady is recognized for one minute to close. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 3:58:51Um, you know, poll after poll in the United States has shown that the American people support women being able to make their own reproductive choices, including the decision to uh to terminate a pregnancy. Um, let's be clear here. I can assure you that we don't need to poll whether Americans support female genital mutilation or domestic violence or defunding contraception.
▶ 3:59:19All of which defunding the the population fund that this bill does um would zero out. And if you think that women across the globe not having access to those resources isn't going to cause us problems, then you really haven't been paying attention.
▶ 3:59:38So this is about human rights and human rights being applicable to men and women and us not having only one gender free from having their healthcare legislated into oblivion. Um and one gender having every nearly every decision that we have that we make about our bodies regulated by law. It's unacceptable and this amendment would correct that. I urge your adoption and yield back. Thank gentle lady.
▶ 4:00:07The question is now uh on the amendment offered by the gentle lady from Florida. Those in favor say I. Those opposed say no. The opinion of the chair of the nose have it. Roll call has been requested. Sufficient number of hands have been raised. The clerk will call the role. Mr. Adder Holt. Mr. Adder Halt. No. Mr. Aguilar. Mr. Aguilar. I. Mr. Alford. Mr. Ammedday. Mr. Ammeday. No.
▶ 4:00:38Mrs. Bice. Mr. Bishop. Mr. Bishop. I Mr. Calbertt. Mr. Calbertt. No. Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter. No. Mr. Casease. Mr. Casease. I Mr. Sisammani. Mr. Sisammani. No. Mr. Klene. Mr. Klene. No. Mr. Cloud. Mr. Klyber. Mr. Clyurn I Mr.
▶ 4:01:07Clyde Mr. Clyde No Mr. Cole Mr. Cole no Mr. Quayar Miss Dean Miss Dean I Mr. Deloro Mr. Lauro I Mr. Diaz Balard Mr. Diaz Balard no Mr. Edwards Mr. Edwards no Mr. Elzie Mr. Mr. Elie. No. Miss Escobar. Miss Escobar. I Mr. Espayat. Mr. Espayat.
▶ 4:01:37I Mr. Fleshman. Miss Frankle. Miss Frankle. I Mr. Franklin. Mr. Franklin. No. Mr. Gonzalez. Mr. Guest. Mr. Harter. Mr. Harter. I. Dr. Harris. Dr. Harris. No. Mrs. Henson. Mrs. Henson. No. Mr. Mr. Hoyer. I Mr. Ivy. Mr. Ivy.
▶ 4:02:08I Mr. Joyce. Miss Captor. Miss Captor. I Mr. Loa. Miss Lee. Miss Latlo. Miss Lello. No. Mr. Leven. Mr. Levan. I. Miss Mallaloy. Miss Malloy. No. Miss McCullum. Miss McCullum. I Miss Ming. Miss Ming. I.
▶ 4:02:38Mr. Molinar. Mr. Molinar. No. Mr. Moore. Mr. Moore. No. Mr. Morelli. Mr. Morelli. I. Mr. Morvan. Mr. New House. Mr. New House. No. Miss. Perez. Miss Pingri Miss Pingri I Mr. Pokean Mr. Pokean I Mr. Quigley Mr.
▶ 4:03:08Quigley I Mr. Mr. Rogers Mr. Rogers no Mr. Rutherford Mr. Rutherford no Mr. Simpson Mr. Simpson no Mr. Strong Mr. Strong. No. Mrs. Torres. Mrs. Torres. I Miss Underwood. Miss Underwood. I Mr. Valido. Mr. Valido. No.
▶ 4:03:37Miss Wasserman Schultz. Miss Wasserman Schultz. I Mrs. Watson Mrs. Watson Coleman. I. Mr. Wac. Mr. Wac. No. Mr. Zinci. Mr. Zinci. No. Does any member wish to record their vote or change our vote? Gentleman from Tennessee. Thank you, Mr. Mr. Fleshman. No. Gentleman from Ohio. Mr. Joyce, no.
▶ 4:04:08Gentle lady from Oklahoma. Mrs. Bice. No. Gentleman from Missouri. Mr. Alford. No. Gentleman from Mississippi. Mr. Guest. No. Gentleman from Texas. Mr. Cloud, no. Gentleman from New York, Mr. Loa, no. Gentle lady from Nevada. Miss Lee, I gentleman from Indiana. Mr.
▶ 4:04:33Murvan, I Are there other members wishing to vote or change their vote? Seeing none, the clerk will tally.
▶ 4:05:19On this vote, the eyes are 26, the nose are 33. The amendment is not adopted. A gentle lady from Connecticut, the ranking member of the committee, Miss Deloro, is recognized for an amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, I have an amendment at the desk and I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed. Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with.
▶ 4:05:42The gentle lady's recognized for remarks on her I rise to offer this amendment because US-based organizations stand to lose nearly $30 billion from cuts to international assistance contracts and programs. And nearly 20,000 American jobs have been lost as of June, affecting 46 states. And that's according to the US Global Leadership Coalition. Americans are in a cost of living crisis.
▶ 4:06:09And these job losses are only the beginning of the impact that the near complete withdrawal of American foreign aid will have on farmers, contractors, small businesses, and communities in all of our states. In 2024, more than1 billion dollars of US aid funding went to small businesses in the United States. Many of these businesses will suffer due to cuts to international aid.
▶ 4:06:37We already know that American le international aid and development programs create major economic benefits at home. A 2022 Kansas State University study on the value of USAID agricultural research showed a return of more than $8.50 for every dollar invested. That is research that benefits American farmers and brings revenue to American ports and transportation companies.
▶ 4:07:06In my state of Connecticut, the University of Connecticut has received funding to examine alternative uses for low value fish and improving the livelihoods of peanut farmers, both of which have commercial applications in our own country. A major Connecticut farm also fulfills direct orders for humanitarian food assistance. This is not a partisan issue.
▶ 4:07:31Republican and Democratic states alike benefit from USAID and international development funding. In my colleagues home state of Oklahoma, five major farmers have contracts to fulfill humanitarian food assistance.
▶ 4:07:44And Oklahoma State University is a leading collaborator with the USAID's innovation lab, which focuses on reducing posth harvest loss and improving pest management strategies that can benefit American farmers as well as those abroad.
▶ 4:08:02And in Florida, 23 farmers partner with USAID to strengthen agricultural systems and connect with new markets around the world with the University of Florida hosting a $ 38 million USID innovation lab for livestock systems. These systemic investments benefit American farmers, researchers, and communities, but they also lay the groundwork for future growth.
▶ 4:08:29As foreign countries develop economically, they become larger trading partners and provide more business opportunities for American companies. According to a comprehensive US aid study of foreign aid impact on economic growth, US goods exports, things we make here in the US with American labor and products too low to go to too low and middle inome countries that grew by 40% from 2008 to 2017
▶ 4:08:59driven by growth in East Asia and the Pacific 62% Latin America and the Caribbean 50%. % subsaharan Africa 23% and eastern and central Asia 20%. Even US exports to USID graduate company countries countries which have successfully built stronger economy as a result of aid and which no longer receive US aid assistance have expanded.
▶ 4:09:27US goods and services exports to 11 Europe and Eurasia graduates. Uh they have increas increased substantially over the last few decades from roughly $2 billion in 1995 to more than $10 billion in 2015. International aid and development funding is not just something we do out of the kindness of our hearts. Though that's an important reason to do it. It benefits our economy now and in the long run.
▶ 4:09:57Creates stronger trading partners that can buy more American goods and services. President Trump has taken a hatchet to these trading relationships and the current and future jobs that they support. We deserve to know exactly how far back these losses will put us. I am prop proud to propose this amendment. Urge my colleagues to support it as well. Thank you and I yield back. Thank gentle lady. The gentleman from Florida, Mr. Diaz Bard is recognized to respond to the amendment. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 4:10:26I rise in opposition to the amendment offered by the distinguished ranking While I agree with the ranking member that Americans should be should be need to be at the forefront of every foreign policy decision, this reporting requirement is simply just too burdensome.
▶ 4:10:42So mandating a detailed analysis of domestic e economic impact of virtually every program change places obviously places an excessive bureaucratic workload on the secretary of state and diverts precious time and resources away from critical diplomatic And while obviously domestic e economic interests are vital, they cannot be the sole the sole overriding factor in decisions about program cancellations
▶ 4:11:14especially when doing so may advance US national security interest such as reducing the debt just to mention one. So while the intent behind the amendment the amendment is clearly understandable, the implementation unfortunately will hamstring the administration's ability to do what the American people elected President Trump to do. So accordingly, I respectfully urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment. And Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank you, gentlemen.
▶ 4:11:43The gentle lady from Florida, Miss Frankle, is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you. Well, I'm rising in support of the amendment. I I want to recap. I'm going to recap. Mr. Donald Trump brought his then friend, it was his friend Elon Musk into town to reduce the deficit and he thereby fired thousands of people with no rhyme or reason. They canceled all kinds of grants.
▶ 4:12:14But we know that was a joke. Why do we know that's a joke? within a short period of time, Mr. Donald Trump and the Republicans decided that instead of reducing the deficit, they were going to give tax breaks to the very, very wealthy and to big corporations and add about four plus trillion dollars to the deficit. So then Mr. Trump, no, Mr. Musk is no longer the friend of Mr. Trump.
▶ 4:12:42Now he's his off office off his off off friend and he attacked Mr. I know it's crazy is it he attacked Mr. Trump for raising the deficit but in the meantime Mr. Musk had fired all these people. And what happened? It was chaos, folks. you know I'm going to cry soon because this chaos is bad.
▶ 4:13:10But listen, what's happened is so many good people for no rhyme and reason who were public servants, they've been fired. Contracts are gone. People around the world are starving. People are not getting their medicine. We're we're losing our credibility. We're becoming the ugly Americans. So, I'm supporting this amendment because I really think it's time for us to know what we're doing. And I yield back. Thank the gentle lady.
▶ 4:13:40Are there other members wishing to address the Seeing none, the gentle lady is recognized for one minute. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I I I just would say, isn't it wouldn't it be interesting to have a report on knowing um uh the domestic economic impact of a foreign aid cancellation? We might ultimately agree with all of that. But to not know what the effect of all of this is doing is really a little bit mindless. If you want to just keep your head in the sand, well, that's up to you.
▶ 4:14:09Let me close by reminding everyone that American people are demanding help with the cost of living. the issue that we hear about over and over again. The last thing the administration should do is cancel contracts for American farmers, contractors, drive up the cost of trade, close off future economic growth. We all deserve to know exactly how the Trump administration is hurting communities, undercutting American companies. That's what this amendment gives them the knowledge. It's knowledge.
▶ 4:14:35It's good to have knowledge and details before you make a decision about where you want to go. Urge your Thank the gentle lady. the gentle lady. Oh, excuse me. The question is now on the amendment offered by the gentle lady from Connecticut. All those in favor say All those opposed say no. Chair the nose have it and the amendment is not agreed to.
▶ 4:15:05Gentleman or gentle lady from Connecticut. Mr. Lor is recognized for an amendment. Again, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have an amendment at the desk and I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentle lady is recognized for remarks on her amendment.
▶ 4:15:27I rise to offer this amendment so that this body can understand the cost in dollars, in projects, and in influence of President Trump's decision to dismantle our foreign aid uh and our our soft power. We know that we are in a competition for global leadership with China, which will seize every opportunity to fill the gaps that we leave behind.
▶ 4:15:51Just a recent example, barely a week after the US canled two projects in Cambodia, one to encourage child literacy and another to improve nutrition for children under five, China's international aid agency announced funding for programs to achieve near identical goals.
▶ 4:16:11Both the American and Chinese programs provided school supplies, offered handwashing materials, and aimed to improve outcomes for vulnerable families and households, including newborns and children with disabilities.
▶ 4:16:25My amendment would require a report that reveals the extent of situations like this where China is expanding its power and influence in critical regions, countries, and sectors where America previously had deep and productive relationships before they were uprooted by President Trump. The chaos of President Trump's foreign aid freeze has been a gift to China.
▶ 4:16:52mere months after USID launched a strategic mission in the Pacific bringing together nine sovereign nations Fiji, Kiraabati, Nau, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palao to combat China's expanding influence. The draw down of US aid personnel and the foreign assistance freeze has now given Beijing a free hand to operate in this crucial region.
▶ 4:17:22China has been significantly escalating its commercial and development activities for years, putting itself in a position to capitalize on any vacuum the United States leaves behind. To pick just one more example, over 40 Chinese state-owned enterprises currently operate in the country of Papua New Guinea with more than 1,800 foreign companies controlled by Chinese nationals or entities as the US draws down its presence in the region.
▶ 4:17:52This is not just a competition in the Pacific. China's ambitions are global as their belt and road initiative demonstrates and they are making significant headway in Africa. While African leaders and citizens still prefer engagement with the United States over China, recent gaps in American engagement are leading even American allies to reassess their partnerships with us.
▶ 4:18:13After USAD was withdrawn to Mosamb beek, China quickly offered to build a surgical center at Maputu Central Hospital, the largest health unit in the country and a highway in the Capitol region.
▶ 4:18:29Compare the Trump administration's about face on inter international development partnerships with China's 2024 announcement of 51 billion dollars in new foreign aid to Africa targeting infrastructure projects and massive job creation. Who appears to be the more stable, more productive partner now? And while the effects of losing these programs may be felt first abroad, the losses are ultimately felt at home.
▶ 4:18:57American-based organizations and companies will lose nearly $30 billion dollar due to foreign aid cuts and canceled international assistance contracts such as Celine LLC, an information technology company that lost over $100 million in contracts from USAID and nearly 20,000 jobs have already been lost. The American people deserve to know what they are losing.
▶ 4:19:25They deserve to know how completely the Trump administration is paving the way for China's rise to global dominance. That is what this amendment would give them. Proud to propose the amendment and I urge my colleagues to support it as well. Thank you and I yield back. Thank gentle lady. The gentleman from Florida, Mr. Diaz Bolard is recognized to respond to the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition um to the amendment by the distinguished ranking member.
▶ 4:19:54First of all, I would I want to reiterate that a key priority in this bill is providing the funding and the related directives necessary to counter the malign influence of the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party.
▶ 4:20:10Um, our memories sometimes here can be short, but I recall during the debate in fiscal year 24 that the ranking member actually criticized these same counter China provisions for allegedly somehow jeopardizing the United States national security.
▶ 4:20:27I have here uh the press release criticizing criticizing the prohibition of funds for the Wuhan Institute of Urology for uh gain of function research and any lab controlled by China, Russia, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela.
▶ 4:20:45We were also criticized then in writing uh because we prohibited funding for the government of the people's republic of China or the Chinese Communist Party and yes and for preventing lending through the international financial institutions to the people's republic of China.
▶ 4:21:01Now, I'm grateful and I'm glad that it looks like that attitude might be changing because now I hear concern that we may not be doing enough to confront the PRC despite being criticized for doing too much. In fact, despite the topline cuts, the bill designates $1.8 billion in support for the Indopacific strategy. It prohibits funding to the PRC or the CCP.
▶ 4:21:28It provides funds to support critical allies and partners like the Philippines and Taiwan. It supports funding above the request for the Pacific Island countries and includes support necessary for the United States to compete with the PRC in Southeast Asia and Western Hemisphere and elsewhere as required by our national interests. More broadly, in my judgment, Secretary Rubio's realignment of the United States foreign assistance with our national security interest was long overdue.
▶ 4:21:56Again, it's worth repeating that the previous administration was funding controversial, wasteful programs and even programs that were harmful to US national security interest. And I put provisions in this bill. We put provisions in this bill to address these disgraceful activities and to try to reassure taxpayers that their money would be spent to defend our national security interest. Will there be hiccups and vigorous debate in the process of realigning and streamlining our foreign assistance?
▶ 4:22:27Absolutely. But change had to happen. And I'm going to work with each and every one of you and every member of this committee to help ensure that the United States foreign assistant programs enhance American security, expand economic opportunities that benefit American workers, American workers, strengthen allies, and confront the malign dangerous influence of the PRC and other strategic competitors.
▶ 4:22:53So therefore, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. Mr. Chairman, thank you and I yield back. want to see the impact. Thank the gentleman. The gentle lady from Florida is recognized to address the amendment. I I don't know whether we're agreeing to disagree or we're disagreeing to agree because I think everybody in this room uh understands that we do not want China to take over the world and take over the voids that we are leaving.
▶ 4:23:21So I I'm rising in strong support of ranking member Dellores amendment which calls for a muchneeded report from the secretary of state on how recent changes to US foreign policy are opening the door for China to expl expand its global influence uh at the direct expense of American interests. now.
▶ 4:23:40And after, you know, after I'm I've been listening to all this, I now understand why my six-year-old grandson is actually learning Mandarin in first grade. In first grade, uh, and let's be blunt, when the United States retreats from the world stage, we create a vacuum. And that's what we've been doing since uh, Mr. Trump came back into office. And the People's Republic of China is more than eager to fill it.
▶ 4:24:10They're not just filling gaps. They're e executing a calculated long-term strategy to replace US leadership with an authoritarian model. And they're doing it on every front, economic, political, diplomatic, technological, and military. And I'm going to break it down economically through its belt and road initiative. China has spent over a trillion dollars funding infrastructure, roads, ports, railways, power plants in more than 140 countries.
▶ 4:24:40These projects come with operryic terms. And when nations can't repay, China demands strategic concessions like long-term port leases or control of natural resources. That that's debt trap diplomacy, plain and simple. Politically, China is buying influence at the United Nations, building voter blocks, voting blocks that align with its views on Taiwan and Hong Kong and human rights.
▶ 4:25:07And on the information front, as the voice of America goes dark in places like Myiramar, Vietnam, and now even Ukraine, China is flooding the airwaves with state-run media, adding over 80 new frequencies in just the past few months. Their message, autocracy works. Technologically, China offers cheap 5G infrastructure, embedding surveillance, and cyber vulnerabilities in allied in in our in our allied nations.
▶ 4:25:34And via this digital silk road, they export facial recognition, AI surveillance, and censorship tools to fragile democracies. They also dominate the supply chain for rare earth minerals, which are essential for everything from smartphones to military equipment to renewable energy. and military chi militarily China expanding its footprint all over the place and and in terms of global health.
▶ 4:25:59Uh they they distributed vaccines and supplies around the world not only not always safe or effectively but to win loyalty. And now as the United States slashes programs, China is is is stepping in with alternatives that are opaque, that are authoritarian, aligned in a dim of human rights and civil society and the very pillars of our model of development. This is not about development assistance.
▶ 4:26:26This is a high stakes contest between democracy and autotocracy, between openness and coercion, between partnership and control. And I'm going to give you if I have time one example in Cambodia, the United States recently cancelled two foreign aid programs. One focus on child literacy, the other on nutrition. And within days, within days, China's aid agency announced it would fund nearly the identical projects. That's not generosity.
▶ 4:26:56That is strategic replacement. And when we pull back our support for institutions like the World Bank, the Interamerican Development Bank, the International Fund for Agriculture Development, China is increasing at stake steering development to serve its own political and economic agenda.
▶ 4:27:12And it is critical and it is critical that United States stay at the table with our resources, our values, and our leadership to influence critical decisions like where resources should go because when we're not at the table, China is. And this amendment demands a cleareyed assessment. We cannot fix what we refuse to face. And if we don't act now, we're seing generations ground for generations.
▶ 4:27:37I guess my grandson is going to need to know that that Mandarin language, but I hope it's for better purposes. And let's do our job. Let's shine the light and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment. Thank the gentle lady. The gentleman from Hawaii, Mr. case is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
▶ 4:28:02I rise in strong support of the ranking members You know, we're all fond of catchy names for our bills, and I believe that despite the chair's impassionate defense of his measure, and with some laudable exceptions which the chair outlined and for which he deserves credit, this bill is on track to be named the gift to the Chinese Communist Party Act because that is certainly how the CCP
▶ 4:28:33views this version of the bill. And let's just focus on some specific areas as microcosms. Microcosms of where this bill fails are national security. Yes, this is a national security bill in my part of the world, the Indo-acific, and more specifically the Pacific Islands.
▶ 4:28:51where the PRC seeks to split our alliances, partnerships, and friendships, to cast our country as the most unreliable of partners, and to figuratively and literally outflank our national Let's take some examples. Pacific Island leaders themselves cite climate change and the results of climate change as their top threat. We can argue all we want about it. That's what they think their top threat is.
▶ 4:29:20And under this and other measures, anything that even recognizes climate related challenges is Well, the PRC just announced an expansion of assistance with mitigating climate change to the Pacific Islands. Pacific Island leaders cite digital connectivity, so internet access, cyber security, things we take for granted as one of their top economic challenges.
▶ 4:29:45But this administration and this bill halt US aid funding of submarine cable projects and other connectivity efforts while the PRC is stepping up its Huawei and fiber optic and other other interconnectivity offerings. USID offered Pacific Island nations critical assistance in disaster preparedness, another key challenge in especially in low-lying countries. But that assistance has been halted.
▶ 4:30:15Well, the PRC just established the China Pacific Island Country Center for Disaster Risk Reduction and Cooperation and funded it. USAID offered the Pacific Island nations small local development assistance, which is what they need. another Pacific Islands priority that has been halted. But the PRC just announced 200 small and beautiful economic development efforts throughout the Pacific Islands.
▶ 4:30:42In fact, in a whole range of other Pacific Island priorities, humanitarian assistance, good government, biodivers, biodiversity, conservation, HIV, AIDS, electrification, infrastructure. The US is stepping out and the PRC is stepping in.
▶ 4:30:59And this is all before we confront the real world results of one of this administration's and majority's great vendettas because it cannot be now characterized as anything else than that against the United Nations with so many programs critical to the Pacific Islands. But let's just take one, UNESCO, which promotes international cooperation and education, science, culture, and communications worldwide.
▶ 4:31:26When the first Trump administration pulled out of UNESCO, as it appears poised to do again, the PRC was left to run UNESCO and the show to dictate to the Pacific Islands and to the world what the norms of education, culture, science, and um cultural interchange would be. And that that is not a show that the Pacific Islands nor any other nations can sustain.
▶ 4:31:54In fact, if you take a look at the Indopacific and the Pacific Islands overall and even worldwide, it is actually the ultimate irony and tragedy that we built the United Nations to counter countries like the PRC. And now we're abandoning it in this bill and otherwise to countries like the PRC. The bottom line is very clear and stark. whether you want to take the Pacific Islands or anywhere else. As we walk out, the PRC walks in.
▶ 4:32:24And that is not a result any subcommittee that renamed itself the National Security Subcommittee should sanction. But let's not debate this endlessly or deny that. Let's systematically evaluate it across the board because that's what this amendment asks us to do.
▶ 4:32:44It asked the Secretary of State to report back to this committee what the result of the administration's policies and priorities are on the advancement of the PRC's interests in the world. Pretty straightforward. Part of our oversight and unless you are afraid of the answer to that or unless you believe that the Secretary of State is not omnipotent in that department, we should have that report.
▶ 4:33:10I urge adoption of the Thank the gentleman. The gentle lady from Ohio, Miss Captor, is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you, uh, Mr. chairman, and I thank uh Congresswoman Deloro, our ranking member, for offering this amendment.
▶ 4:33:26Um whose purpose is to take 180 days to have the administration take a look at tracking Chinese efforts to expand its global influence uh on every level, politically, technologically, and militarily. I think 180 days is a reasonable amount of time for the administration to report back to us. That's all we're asking for.
▶ 4:33:53And it's clear what Communist China is doing in the developing world and the developed world already. She's expanding their belt and road initiative. And isn't that an interesting phrase? Belt belt and road. Think about it. Um and it's stadium diplomacy.
▶ 4:34:14They're investing untold tens of billions of dollars because Chinese, the Chinese economy essentially makes more than the world needs and then strategically dumps whether it's steel, whether it's automotive, I mean you take it, whether it's critical minerals and they begin to gain greater and greater control. Uh their interest is not being done out of the goodness of their heart, but they obviously have strategic interests uh in this hemisphere.
▶ 4:34:44but also in Asia, Africa, Latin America. Um, and they're voting with some of the worst tyrannies in the world. So, they seek to increase their influence. Uh, so that foreign nations are more inclined to support them. Uh, whether that impacts us in terms of trade disputes, look at the trouble the president's having with them right now. Access to critical minerals, very important.
▶ 4:35:10access to space, even deep sea mining or big balloons that fly over our country. We have to recognize we're living in a different moment. We've also uh seen this whole uh Chinese uh initiative play out at the United Nations and in other forums where they never vote on liberty's side. Freedom is not something on their mind.
▶ 4:35:36China's economy is growing and they have a vast population four times larger or more than our own and their technological lead is breathtaking. One of the most recent cars they've actually manufactured will go 1900 miles with a battery that you can recharge in five minutes. Believe me, in my part of America where we manufacture, we hear that loud and clearly.
▶ 4:36:04They also have a real edge in artificial intelligence. I mentioned critical minerals and also Our country must maintain its global leadership in every form of diplomacy we can muster for liberty's sake, not for our own sake, but for the sake of the society in which we live.
▶ 4:36:28And we can use humanitarian and development assistance as a tool to advance our national and our interests against China and other tyrannies. We need to be serious about that to continue to advance liberty's cause in our foreign relations and our national security interests around the globe. I think a 180day study is extremely reasonable and I would think that the new secretary of state would want to do that.
▶ 4:36:56Um, we would welcome the administration's perspective on China and its activities globally. I ask for support of the amendment and congratulate the gentle lady for offering it. I yield back. Thank the gentle lady. Are there other members wishing to address the amendment? Seeing none, the gentle lady is recognized for one minute to close. I want to thank my colleagues for speaking up. And at the core of this is what are we afraid of?
▶ 4:37:25What are you afraid of with regard to a report and report that just tells us where we are where we have some difficulty? If you just put up the map and see where we were and now where we're not and who is there, vacuums get filled. And that is what China is is doing. Um, and the American people are demanding help with cost of living. It's an issue we hear about all over all over and over again.
▶ 4:37:51But you have an administration with a war on food, on education, on health around the world and with major economic impacts at home. And we have given China more and more opportunities to replace us. And we need to ensure the benefits from future trade and economic investment. We're allowing it to flow to Beijing instead of to the United States.
▶ 4:38:16And wouldn't it be a very good idea for us to know where we might be able to move in a direction or step back or we're all right here, we're not all right there. What is wrong with a report? There's a fear factor here which is unexplainable. Um if we do not if we do not understand the extent of the damage that President Trump has done to America's global influence, we cannot hope to restore it. Again, I thank my colleagues.
▶ 4:38:46You've laid out the uh uh the details of this uh amendment and wanting to have information. You can't close your eyes, put your head in the stand, and say it's going to be all right. I urge support for the amendment and I yield back. Thank the gentle lady. The question is now on the amendment offered by the gentle lady from Connecticut. All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say no. No. The opinion chair the nose have it.
▶ 4:39:16A roll call has been requested. Sufficient number of hands having been raised. Uh the role will be called. Clerk will call the role. Mr. Adhalt. Mr. Adhalt. No. Mr. Aguilar. Mr. Aguilar. I Mr. Alford. Mr. Alford. No. Mr. Ammedday. Mr. Amade. No. Mrs. Bice. Mrs. Miss Bice. No. Mr. Bishop. Mr.
▶ 4:39:46Bishop. I Mr. Calbertt. Mr. Calbertt. No. Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter. No. Mr. Casease. Mr. Casease. I. Mr. Sisammani. Mr. Klein. Mr. Klene. No. Mr. Cloud. Mr. Cloud. No. Mr. Klyber. Mr. Klyber. I. Mr. Clyde. Mr. Clyde. No. Mr. Cole, Mr. Cole, no. Mr.
▶ 4:40:16Quayar, Mr. Quayar, I Miss Dean, Mr. Loro, Mr. Loro, I Mr. Diaz Balard, Mr. Diaz Bolard, no. Mr. Edwards, Mr. Elzie, Mr. Elzie, no. Miss Escobar, Miss Escobar, I. Mr. Espayat, Mr. Espayat, I. Mr. Fleshman. Miss Frankle. Miss Frankle.
▶ 4:40:46I Mr. Franklin. Mr. Franklin. No. Mr. Gonzalez. Mr. Guest. Mr. Guest. No. Mr. Harter. Mr. Harter. I. Dr. Harris. Dr. Harris. No. Mrs. Henson. Mrs. Henson. No. Mr. Hoyer. Mr. Warrior. I Mr. Ivy Mr. Ivy I Mr. Joyce Mr.
▶ 4:41:16Joyce no Miss Captor Miss Captor I Mr. Loa Mr. Loa no Miss Lee Miss Lello Mr. Levan Mr. 11. I Miss Mallaloy. Miss Mallaloy. No, Miss McCullum. Miss McCullum. I Miss Ming. Miss Ming. I Mr. Mr. Molinar. No. Mr. Moore. Mr.
▶ 4:41:47Moore. No. Mr. Morelli. Mr. Morelli. I Mr. Morvan. Mr. Morvan. I. Mr. New House. Mr. New House. No. Miss. Perez. Miss Perez. I Miss Pingri. Miss Pingri I Mr. Pokean Mr. Pokean I Mr. Quigley Mr. Quigley I Mr. Rashenthaler Mr. Rogers Mr. Rogers no Mr. Rutherford Mr. Rutherford no Mr.
▶ 4:42:17Simpson Mr. Simpson no Mr. Strong Mr. Strong no Mrs. Torres Mrs. Torres I miss Underwood I Miss Underwood I Mr. Valado Mr. Mr. Valido. No. Miss. Washerman Schultz. Miss Wasserman Schultz. I Mrs. Watson Coleman. Mrs. Watson Coleman. I Mr. WAC. Mr. WAC. No. Mr. Zinci. Mr. Zinci. No.
▶ 4:42:46Does any member wish to record their vote or change their vote? Gentleman from Tennessee. Yes, sir. Mr. Fleshman. No. Gentleman from Arizona. Mr. Sisammani. No. No. Gentleman from North Carolina. Mr. Edwards. No. Gentleman from Pennsylvania. Mr. Rashenthaler. No. Gentle lady from Nevada. Miss Lee. I. Gentle lady from Pennsylvania. Miss Dean. I.
▶ 4:43:13Are there any others wishing to change or record your vote? Seeing none, the clerk will tally.
▶ 4:44:02U gentle gentleman from uh Texas. How's the gentleman recorded? Thank the gentleman. Mr. Gonzalez votes no. Are there others who have not recorded their votes or wish to change? No. Go ahead. On this vote, the eyes are 28, the nose are 34.
▶ 4:44:31The amendment is not adopted. Gentle lady from Connecticut, Mr. Loris, recognized for an amendment. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk and I ask unanimous consent.
▶ 4:45:01Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentle lady's recognized for remarks on her amendment. This amendment restores funding to the International Humanitarian Assistance Account, which is a vital tool of American soft power and a life-saving source of humanitarian aid for people around the world. The bill before us is already cut by 22%. And this program has been cut nearly in half by 42%.
▶ 4:45:30American global leadership is indispensable for addressing the numerous humanitarian crises around the world. From Haiti, where nearly 5.4 million people are struggling to feed themselves and their families every day, to Sudan, where nearly two million children face malnutrition due to the ongoing civil war with famines declared in some refugee camps.
▶ 4:45:56Already in Ethiopia 40% of population is suffering from extreme lack of food. In Myanmar nearly 1 million Rohingya people have been displaced due to ethnic violence. In Yemen more than four and a half people have been four and a half million people have been displaced and nearly 18 million are in dire need of assistance. An ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has displaced 7 million people into neighboring countries.
▶ 4:46:27And throughout Central America, over a million people have been uprooted from their homes due to criminal organizations and political instability. And the crisis in Gaza grows worse by the day. With attacks continuing on tent camps, hospitals, churches, and aid trucks, and nearly the entire population of Gaza, more than two million men, women, and children are starving, and the entire population has been squeezed into barely 14% of the geographic areas, resulting in overcrowding
▶ 4:46:57and unsanitary conditions. Yet instead of allowing experienced international aid organizations and NOS's to continue safely and reliably providing aid to all parts of Gaza facing family, Israeli government and the Trump administration have devised a new aid distribution system that is wholly inadequate to deliver any meaningful assist food assistance and completely ignores the other urgent needs of the population of Gaza.
▶ 4:47:25Fuel, water, sanitation, shelter and healthcare. Last Wednesday, at least 20 Palestinians died in a stampede for aid at a distribution site. This weekend, at least 32 Palestinians seek seeking aid at another site were killed by Israeli troops whom witnesses reported fired indiscriminately into the crowd.
▶ 4:47:46Palestinian woman who was at the site following the incident asked a reporter, and I quote, "Is this food or death?" The total number of trucks available to bring food into Gaza has been limited to under 100 per day. When more than 500 are needed, we need desperately need to find a way to get assistance to Gaza. Not just food, but fuel, medical supplies, shelter, clean water. The global community has failed Gaza. People are being forced to put their lives on the line for a box of provisions.
▶ 4:48:16Risk dying in line or risk dying without food. Those are the choices being forced on the people of Gaza. I've been leading been a leading voice in calling for surging humanitarian assistance into Gaza since the early days of this conflict, calling for at least 500 trucks per day of humanitarian aid since February of last year.
▶ 4:48:37When people are desperate, starving, and do not know where they can find food, find a meal, that's a recipe for further instability and violence. and by aiding the ongoing dismantling of UNRA, the only international agency that is dedicated and capable of carrying out major humanitarian aid distribution inside Gaza. This bill is making it all impossible for any ceasefire to last more than a few weeks.
▶ 4:49:04Without reliable, safe, and trusted systems to distribute humanitarian aid and rebuild Gaza, there will be no hope for long-term peace. We do not just have a moral obligation to act in these circumstances. We have an imperative to preserve regional stability and prevent these conflicts from growing. My amendment restores the funding to an account that has helped save millions of lives. An account this bill cuts by 42%.
▶ 4:49:30And that is only the beginning of what this committee should be prepared to do to address the many dire humanitarian crises around the world. Proud to propose this amendment and I urge my colleagues to support it as well. Thank you and I yield back. Thank gentle lady. Gentleman from Florida, Mr. Diaz Bolard is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you very much, Mr. uh chairman. I rise in opposition to the amendment from the distinguished ranking member of our full committee.
▶ 4:50:00The amendment would increase the appropriation for the international humanitarian assistance account from 5 billion in the actual in the bill in the bill underlying bill to 8.707 billion. Here's one big problem. It has no offset. The amendment has no offset and would put the bill well over our 302b allocation, which in essence would just uh kill the bill.
▶ 4:50:23Um, you know, I've heard other folks out there, not appropriators, talk about how maybe a continuing resolution is a good idea, but they're horrific for our country, for our committee. uh they would not fulfill CRS would not fulfill our national security commitment to our allies and friends while putting America's interests first and again while protecting US taxpayers and again so this has no offset uh we know that what that would mean so I I respectfully urge a no vote on the amendment and I yield back Mr.
▶ 4:50:52Chairman, thank the gentleman. The gentle lady from Ford, Miss Frankle's recognized to address the amendment. Thank you. I rise in support and representative Delloro just articulated did an excellent job in terms of the need. There's no question about that.
▶ 4:51:10I just want to remind everybody that when we provide food and med medicine and education and safety from sexual violence uh domestic abuse abuse to people in impoverished uh countries or communities that means for them less migration, less conflict there uh and more stable and healthy lives. And what does that mean for us?
▶ 4:51:37That means more markets for American goods, protection from pandemics, and less troops in harm's way. A very good reason to support this very good amendment. And I yield back. I thank the gentle lady. Are there other members wishing to address the Seeing none, oh, I'm sorry. Gentle lady from New Jersey is recognized.
▶ 4:52:08recognize me. And thank you uh Congresswoman Dellora for this excellent amendment. Thank you for the humanitarian you you always display in your service to our country and to your Both my ranking member and uh the assem the congresswoman articulated the need for this aid.
▶ 4:52:35I simply want to say that we were once one of the most beloved countries in the world because people could count on us to stick up for them and to provide for them whatever it was needed to keep them healthy and safe. And now we have departed so far from that and we're continuing to move in that direction. And my friends on the other side of the aisle whenever one of us raises spending money in one way says well you know it's outside of this 302bs.
▶ 4:53:05Well it shouldn't have been outside the 302bs. It should have been fundamentally part of what we move forward with in the original bill. Where we stand in relationship to others needs speaks volumes about who we are, what we are, and we're much better than we're displaying ourselves to be in this bill, in this moment, and in opposition to this amendment.
▶ 4:53:35I most assuredly support it. And I pray that the God in you will help you to understand how important it is to stand up for those whose needs are so desperate that what we do for them could mean life or death for the innocent. Thank you. I yield back. Thank gentle lady. Are there other members wishing to address the amendment? The gentleman from Georgia is Thank you Mr. Chairman.
▶ 4:54:03You know, if we pass this amendment, we will add $3.7 billion, and I mean billion dollars, to the spending of Congress. That's approximately $12 for every man, woman, and child in the entire United States. I think we can uh keep our $12. But this is a perfect example of Congress's massive addiction to opium. That's right. It's what I said, OPM, other people's money. We have an addiction to other people's money.
▶ 4:54:34Would we would we take that money out of our own pocket? Nope. I don't think so. But really, it's not other people's money. It's our people's money. It's our taxpayers money. So, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. And Thank the gentleman. Are there other members wishing to address the amendment? Gentleman from Maryland is recognized to address the amendment.
▶ 4:55:03You voted for I think I'm checking it but the overwhelming majority the enough to pass it voted for a $5 trillion increase in the national debt. So don't lecture us about $3.5 billion dollars to feed, clothe, house uh people who are uh in desperate straits.
▶ 4:55:28with all due respect, simple, straightforward, gentleman from Maryland is recognized to address the amendment. I'll be brief. I won't associate my remarks with the remarks of the gentleman from Georgia. I go home to my district and I have yet to some someone come up to me and say, I I want you to spend my $12 sending money to Yemen. My constituent aren't from Yemen.
▶ 4:55:58They're not from Sudan. They're not from Gaza. They're from the beautiful Eastern Shore of Maryland. And people look at our budget and our spending and they don't want their money spent in that way. Now, they may be making the wrong decision, but we're supposed to represent our and our constituents send a clear signal that we are have to control the federal government spending and that we should spend money not in Yemen, not in Sudan,
▶ 4:56:30not in Gaza, but we should spend it here in a country. So the gentleman from Georgia is absolutely right. We have a spending addiction. We have it and with the sooner we realize it, the sooner we will correct it.
▶ 4:56:46but to borrow money from our grandchildren and greatgrandchildren to assuage our conscience in some way that we have to feed and clothe the entire world is not only unrealistic I suggest it's an immoral treatment to future generations yield back no sir gentleman has already yielded back uh gentleman from New York Mr. Mr.
▶ 4:57:14Espion is recognized to address the Uh yes uh Mr. Chairman, we are the United States of America, the greatest country in the world. The rest of the world looks at us as a beacon of hope and opportunity. And we often pound our chest and say that we are even greater than that.
▶ 4:57:40But the fact of the matter is that only less than 1% of our the less than 1% of our budget goes to foreign aid. Less than 1% of our budget goes to feed hungry kids to help destitute people across the world that look up to us as a beacon of hope and opportunity. and we pound our chest and want to say that we're even greater than that.
▶ 4:58:11Yet, we're able to engage in fiscal practices that put us at a $3 trillion deficit over a period of time and extend an unprecedented handsome tax cut to the very rich, the ones that throw away food and disregard the need of hungry people. not just in other countries but in our country as well.
▶ 4:58:40And so here we have folks talking about less than 1% of the budget and how we are irresponsible in our budgetary practices when all we want to do is say to the rest of the world, you know, we are great nation. You should all aspire to be like the United States of America.
▶ 4:59:03And part of the mystique of America is to lift those that are coming behind us, the neediest among us. That's part of the mystique of America. And that's why people all over the world want to come to America, because we have a willingness to help the neediest among us.
▶ 4:59:26Not to be and bullish and say that we should not spend to help hungry kids when we really only spend half of 1% of our budget. Those are crumbs. We should be doing better. And that's why China is eating our lunch. Not just because they're engaging predatory practices by giving money to other countries.
▶ 4:59:53Not just because they may be behind fentanil or other illegal things, but because they go and they invest in other countries and they're eating our lunch and people here whine and complain. Mr. Chairman, oh, please grow up. I yield Thank gentlemen. The gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Quigley's recognized to address the amendment. I at least have talk about this one time.
▶ 5:00:22Um, I've told the story about Hopton Sinclair when he wrote The Jungle, uh, was dismayed at America's reaction afterwards. Uh, he was talking about the inhumane treatment of workers. Um, but as Teddy Roosevelt read the book, he said, "I've been pisened." Uh, Sinclair said, "I aim for America's heart.
▶ 5:00:45I hit a little lower." So, if we can't appeal to someone's heart in these matters, we can maybe appeal to their brain in common sense because it was that shrinking violet, that left-wing radical, General Mattis, who said, uh, if you cut foreign aid, you better buy me more bullets. It is the common sense of recognizing the essence of soft power and what it means. You got to have friends in this world.
▶ 5:01:12Uh if we don't have those who are going to stand with us, uh we're going to be in trouble when the chips are down. Thank you. I yield Thank gentlemen. The gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Ivy's recognized to address the amendment. I yield to uh my colleague from Yielding.
▶ 5:01:34Uh you know I tell people uh that I believe strongly in the separation of church and What I don't believe in is the separation of the values that my faith teaches me and the policies I pursue.
▶ 5:01:58My Bible does not tell me that I should be my brother's keeper on the Eastern or my brother's keeper in St. Mary's County where I live or my brother's keeper uh in Maryland or my brother's keeper in America tells me I should be my brother's And we talk about a spending
▶ 5:02:29problem. When you talk about a spending problem, uh uh it relates to a debt problem that you're talking about. If you pay your bills, you don't have I believe that personally. I don't have any debt. I pay every bill I get within the month. And luckily, I'm old enough that I've paid off my house.
▶ 5:03:03And as a result of my paying my bills every month, I don't have any debts. And do we spend beyond our means? We do. Do both sides do it? Absolutely. You think if you spend $150 billion additional on defense this year that doesn't cause a deficit? That's absurd. And you don't pay for it. Now, let me give you a perfect example. I came here in 1981.
▶ 5:03:35Ronald Reagan was elected president the same year that u well he took office the same year I was elected. The debt increased with every spending being signed by Ronald Reagan from 985 billion to 1.8 trillion. Hear me. That's more than the debt has been increased at any time since I've been here.
▶ 5:04:01Now, there were smaller numbers, but as a percentage of our GDP, that was the largest increase ever, except in World War II. So, we ought to stop preaching about one another spending tax cutting. And we ought to spend more time talking about paying for things, what value we give to things that we ought to pay for.
▶ 5:04:33Now, as some of you know, I'm a big supporter of national security. I have been. Every day I've been in the Congress of the United States. I supported a lot of what Ronald Reagan did, which Carter began by the way. So when you talk about debt and you want to spend three and a half $3.4 trillion on a tax cut, we don't have three 4.4 trillion dollars to cut somebody's taxes
▶ 5:05:03and then stay even. We don't have that. There's nobody in this room that's rational that believes you can cut $3.4 trillion in spending this year to account for the tax cut or over the 10 years. let's understand we have a debt because we don't pay our bills and both sides do it.
▶ 5:05:34We may do it for different reasons, but we do it. So, uh, on this particular issue, yes, I believe I'm my brother's keeper wherever that brother or sister might live. Thank you. Thank both the gentlemen. Gentle lady from Pennsylvania, Miss Dean's recognized to address the amendment.
▶ 5:06:06Thank you very much. Um, I rise in support of the Deloro amendment and I thank uh the ranking member for bringing it forward and bringing forward the issue of humanitarian assistance and and Judge Carter, I was really moved by uh what you had to say, the history of your wife's family uh in the Netherlands uh following World War II and the hunger uh that I'm sure she remembers to this day.
▶ 5:06:34Uh, and the common sense thing that you say about expiration dates of nutritional biscuits, that's a worthy conversation. We're the greatest nation on the planet. Why didn't we have that conversation before destroying something that was simply marked expired?
▶ 5:06:51I'm certain your family's experience, your wife's family's experience would have said, "I'll eat it any day of the I'll take the risk." But we didn't have that conversation because we had an administration that just cut it off, put it in a warehouse, don't access it, not to mention uh let go of most of the folks who would have been able to do the distribution of it, told them to stop. That's not what we do anymore. And then without a single conversation, just destroyed it.
▶ 5:07:19The greatest nation destroyed, you talk about waste, destroyed uh millions of dollars worth of life-saving aid. Um, so I I I think you ask a very important question. I want to go back to the other piece of this though, however, on humanitarian aid, whether we're talking about Gaza or other places in the world, uh, South Sudan and other places.
▶ 5:07:43I think there is some misconception uh, that just get some food there uh, and everything's going to be all right. Well, we got the first layer of the food's not going there. Uh we have trucks lined up outside of Gaza, hundreds and hundreds of trucks for weeks on end not getting in. They're getting in now possibly at a point of a 100 trucks a day. I don't even think that can be confirmed.
▶ 5:08:08Uh and then what happens as a result once they do get in under uh Israeli control becomes a bit of a black hole. Whereas others who have been there doing this support for a very long time and who have the relationships, the partnerships on the ground are waiting for these trucks that is UNRA. There are thousands of folks who have worked for UNRA very honorably and I am in favor of making sure that it is not Hamas infiltrated.
▶ 5:08:39But World Food Program, I've met directly with Cindy McCain who heroically heads the World Food Program and is on the ground there doing what they can. It was their trucks uh when the folks came to try to receive aid. It was their trucks over the weekend where these uh people, desperate people were shot. We have so many folks there, but finally to the point of let's just get them food. That misses the point.
▶ 5:09:09So many of the people who are at this level of malnutrition cannot accept food. It will not help them. They have to have medical support for the nutritional paste and other nutrients to bring them back from this desperate level of starvation. So it's not like just get them some cookies, get them a bucket of fruit. It isn't that. It's so much more desperate than that.
▶ 5:09:36I met with a team of pediatricians who worked in Gaza and in other places around the world and they begged me to tell that story. It is not as simple as get the food in. And by the way, I wish we had the will here to get that first layer which is let's get some food in there. It is different. It is deep. It is a difficult set of circumstances when people particularly children are starving to death. You need skilled pediatricians. You need nutritionists.
▶ 5:10:05you need other specialists to address acute malnutrition. I hope we will pay attention to uh what the ranking member has done here with this amendment. I hope we will call upon our better angels and say uh that of course this is worthy of our spending. Of course, this is our role around the planet. Whether you are a person of faith or not, we have an important role to play. And the financial argument uh makes no sense.
▶ 5:10:34and my constituents know that and I yield back. Thank you, gentle lady. Are there other members wishing to address the amendment? Gentle lady from Ohio's recognized to address it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh I just wanted to send a friendly message to my dear friend, Congressman Harris from Maryland. Um I'm going to share a chart with him because I know he cares about the US debt as much as I do.
▶ 5:10:58And uh there's no question that in since the 1980s there's only one president who ever sent a balanced budget for Cong Congress to consider and that was Bill Clinton at the end of the 1980s. But if one looks at where the US debt has come from, it is abundantly clear, abundantly clear that those at the very top of the income scale earning millions of dollars a year and indeed billions of dollars a year do not pay their
▶ 5:11:28fair share. They do not. And so if one looks back at several Republican administrations, you will see tax breaks. The mo the latest bill that was just passed will give to those who have so much $340,000 annually permanently going forward that will add to the US debt. The Wall Street Journal agrees with that. Every major economist agrees with that.
▶ 5:11:55those who earn under $50,000 a year and I represent many of those folks uh they will several of them hundreds and hundreds will lose Medicaid coverage and the cost of everything going up means that they're going to end up net negative but the folks at the top will most of the debt is due to tax breaks to the wealthiest people in our country and you can guess which political party was in charge of the administration that
▶ 5:12:25did In addition, the costs of wars that were not paid. And again, if one looks at who declared those wars, it's abundantly clear. About 25% of the debt is that. And then there was the pandemic and that added a couple trillion more. But if one really looks at where the debt came from, it's very clear.
▶ 5:12:53And I will say to my friends on the other side of the aisle, it was interesting to me because I believe in paying taxes. I believe every American should pay taxes. If you're at the bottom of the income scale, a dollar, nobody should be free from patriotism to this country, but we took that away several years ago. I didn't agree with it, but it happened. Uh the um uh and there was a reason, you know, accountants don't like to deal with $1 bills, but there was a message that went with it, and that's that we all in this together. We're all in this together.
▶ 5:13:23And um I I really I really would ask my colleagues, I'll give you the numbers. We'll bring them over. We'll show you them on a chart. How do we dig ourselves out of this hole? How do we do this? We have to have economic growth here at home. We have to reshore jobs. I agree with the president on that. We got a long way to go to make that successful.
▶ 5:13:43Uh, but it was your party that when we tried to get 20,000 additional accountants at the IRS in order to go after the people that have the most complex returns in the country, you repeatedly turned that proposal down in this committee over and over and over again. I come from a family where we had a little store and when dad earned his first dollar bill, he framed it and we put it on the wall.
▶ 5:14:11He understood what it was to compete and it was hard. It was hard for a family grocery to do that, but he respected the bottom line. And I just say to my friends, including the gentleman who I'm responding to, uh, we can solve this, but not with that kind of intrigence. We have to be able to put a group of people together who respect the bottom line and who know what's fair to all of the American people, not just the not just the elite privileged few.
▶ 5:14:39I thank you for listening and I yield back. Good question. Thank gentle lady. Are there other members wishing to address the There's no further uh debate. Then the gentle lady is recognized for one minute to close. Thank you very much, Mr. Mr. Chairman.
▶ 5:15:03you know, the United States has a history of providing assistance and expert assistance in times of disasters. That's that's that's US history. That's where our values lie. Times of disaster and times of famine.
▶ 5:15:27And that is why that is because when you provide humanitarian assistance, it is one of the most it it's one of the most effective investments that we can make. It's one of the and the issue is here. We do what we have done in the past because we have a moral compass. We have a moral compass that says people are starving.
▶ 5:15:59People are in the wake of a hurricane or tsunami of whatever it is. And the US has been first in line. First in line except for now when we do not want to participate. How do we stand by and watch people starve?
▶ 5:16:24I think what's important in this debate and what's here today is to finding where our moral compass is and if we can't vote for humanitarianis humanitarian assistance to people then we have lost it as a nation. And my god, what a disaster that would be for the United States of America. I yield back.
▶ 5:16:54Thank the gentle lady. The questions now on the amendment offered by the gentle lady from Connecticut. All those in favor say I. All those opposed say no. Opinion of the chair. The nose have it. No. No. Let it go. Let it go. And the amendment is uh not accepted. Uh, I believe that the bell has rung, but the gentleman from Texas is next. He's usually pretty fast.
▶ 5:17:21And so what we'll do is is go to the gentleman from Texas to make offer his amendment. And then at that point, when we're finished disposing with that, I'll recess. Uh, as soon as the votes are over, I would ask that you come back. We'll get started as quickly as we can. We still have a long way to go. Uh, my friend, gentleman from Texas is recognized for an amendment. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I have an amendment at the desk and ask that we dispense with the reading.
▶ 5:17:48Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentleman's recognized for remarks on his amendment. Thank you uh Mr. Chairman. um uh to our chairman as you know if you recall uh last year if you remembered uh last year you don't remember but uh but as you remember we talked about uh this particular amendment or something similar uh both you and I worked at the state level where the state of Florida state of uh Texas
▶ 5:18:18worked on similar type of language that is one part dealing with performance measures so if we spend $1 we know that we spent $1 on it. Uh talked about getting rid of any unnecessary rules and regulations that were duplicative or were unnecessary and therefore save it as money. Uh if you recall, Mr. Chairman, we also talked about uh having uh reviews of different programs. Uh and if you recall also, Mr.
▶ 5:18:48Chairman, that we also talked about the performance measures. The performance measures as you know under the law that we passed in 2010 uh the agencies are doing their own performance measures and they put them somewhere in a website but none of that work product is ever provided to the appropriations committee. If we are going to be doing our work under the constitution and provide oversight we have to see those measures. We have to see uh some of those suggestions.
▶ 5:19:18So I would ask that uh that we sit down as the year goes on and I've asked every chairman and I withdrew this uh for us to consider this because again uh this language is very straightforward. It follows the law that we passed in 2010 and it just calls for performance measures, reviews of rules and regulations find cost savings and to be provided to the appropriations committee where we will have the final say so.
▶ 5:19:46So uh at this time uh if I can just have a conversation with the chairman. If you recall our conversation uh very vividly uh we had talked about uh doing this and I would love to work with you and the ranking member uh and the committee staff on this uh language. Thank you chairman. Thank you Mr. Quarter. Look you you never let us forget this issue and I thank you for it.
▶ 5:20:14Um, and I know you've been a leader on this issue. By the way, you were in the state. You continue to be there. I look forward to working with you on this. I think it's an important matter. Uh, it's accountability. It's making sure the money is well spent. So, uh, not only do I commit to doing, I look forward to working with you. And again, thank you for, uh, your long memory and making sure that we do not forget this very important issue. Thank you. I yield Thank you. The chair. It was actually an error. That was a 15minute bell we heard. So, we actually have a little extra time.
▶ 5:20:42And I understand the uh Oh, gentleman is recognized for one minute to close. Sorry. Thank you. U Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I look forward working with you and the other members and the ranking and the staff also. And with that, I will withdraw my amendment. Thank you so much. Thank you, gentlemen. I thank the gentleman. And as I was suggesting, we have a little more time, so we're going to keep moving while we can. Gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Quigley's recognized for an amendment. Mr. Chairman, thank you. I have an amendment at the desk and I ask unanimous consent to dispense.
▶ 5:21:11Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentleman is recognized for remarks on his amendment. Mr. Chairman, I too plan to offer and withdraw an amendment. This would fund the European Bank for reconstruction and development at the president's request of 87.5 million.
▶ 5:21:30Uh, I understand there is a language in the report that acknowledges that the committee quote looks forward to working with authorizers on the European Bank for Reconstruction Development's uh, capital increase. But I want to highlight the critical role the EBRD plays in the global economic sector.
▶ 5:21:50As a multi- multilateral development bank owned by 75 countries, EBRD promotes private sector-driven economic growth in countries that are often trying to reduce their dependence on Russia and China. The bank the bank has also supported the international expansion of many US companies. The US currently holds a 10% stake in the bank.
▶ 5:22:15But if the US fails to participate in the capital increase, that would open the door for other countries such as China to increase their shares and expand their influence in the institution. The capital increase the US provides will enhance EBRD's capacity, allowing it to expand its role as the largest international investor in Ukraine's economy with a particular focus on its reconstruction.
▶ 5:22:40The EBRD is the most efficient way to burden share investment in the bank's reconstruction efforts in For every dollar the US invests, other shareholders invest an additional $9. The bank has also been critical in reducing dependence on Russian gas in the wake of Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
▶ 5:23:03While this Congress and European leaders debate the legal and political path forward towards transferring frozen Russian so sovereign assets to Ukraine, EBRD provides an immediate and practical pathway to deliver financial support. Once the repo for Ukrainians act, which authorized the seizure and repurposing of billions of dollars in Russian assets to support Ukraine's reconstruction, is fully implemented.
▶ 5:23:29EBRD will be well positioned to assist in funding reconstruction efforts. Ebrd is implementing an implementing entity for the trust fund that the World Bank has set up to use the extraordinary revenues coming from the frozen assets. EBRD is uniquely positioned to lead Ukraine's reconstruction through targeted investments in agriculture, critical minerals and infrastructure while supporting reform and anti-corruption efforts.
▶ 5:23:56remains the only institution that has consistently invested in Ukraine's economy since the war began. It indeed has knowledge, expertise, experience, and relationships to bolster the country through reconstruction and support the prosperity that will guarantee security. If the chairman wishes to respond, that's great. Uh but I would be closing withdrawal when he's A uh chair recognizes a gentleman from Florida, Mr. Diaz Bolard to respond to the amendment. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 5:24:26Chairman. Let me thank the the sponsor of the amendment for bringing bringing this important issue up. Um I I if I can add something uh to what you said. You know, I would note that European Bank of Reconstruction Development is unique among uh multilateral development banks and that it's focused entirely entirely on the private sector and operates on commercial principles.
▶ 5:24:48But as the gentleman said, the uh the bank's uh despite its many important investments in a in a multitude of different places, the proposed capital increase remains unauthorized. I would like to continue to work with the with the gentleman. Uh and we're going to work with the authorizers of the relevant uh committees on this matter as we move forward with the legislative process. And I'm again I look forward to working with the gentleman. And I understand he uh he is going to withdraw.
▶ 5:25:16But again, I thank him uh and I I look forward to working with you, sir, uh very directly as we work with the authorizers uh to uh to move this forward. And I and I thank you for bringing this up. I appreciate that and I yield back, Mr. Chairman. The gentleman is recognized for one minute to close. Uh, thank you and I appreciate the chairman's remarks and I do look forward to working with all of you in this matter and I withdraw the amendment at this time. Thank you.
▶ 5:25:48Thank you, gentlemen. We think we are now very close to vote. So rather than get into another and have to interrupt somebody in the middle, I'd prefer that we recess subject to the call the chair again immediately after the last vote. I'll be headed back here. As soon as we have a quorum, we'll start. So please act accordingly. And with that committee stands recess call the chair.
▶ 5:26:21I know on yours. Yeah, right.
▶ 6:33:37committee will reconvene and a gentle lady from New York, Miss Ming. Gentle lady is recognized for an Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk and I ask that it reading be dispensed with. Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentle ladies recognized for remarks on her amendment.
▶ 6:34:01Page six of the report we're voting on today says waste, fraud, and abuse in the programs funded in this act will not be tolerated. If that's true, my amendment should be easy to support it. It tackles the waste, fraud, and abuse this administration has created through its destruction of USID and the dismantling of our foreign aid infrastructure.
▶ 6:34:26Because of this administration's stopwork order, 800,000 doses of a vaccine for EMPOX, an infectious disease, are sitting in warehouses about to expire. Empox outbreaks are ongoing through multiple continents. Here in the US, cases have been reported in California, Georgia, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and in my home state of New York. These vaccines could have been helping to prevent the spread of this disease.
▶ 6:34:56Instead, they're being wasted. And that's not all. 500 tons of emergency food assistance grown by American farmers is stuck in warehouses when it could be saving the lives of people fleeing famine. Up to 40 million in life-saving international family planning commodities stuck in the supply chain instead of helping save the lives of an estimated 34,000 moms a year.
▶ 6:35:24Whether it's attacking the Title 10 domestic family planning program, defunding Planned Parenthood, or burning a warehouse full of life-saving contraception, this administration has shown it's willing to deprive millions of people of health care in order to further its extreme agenda. This sounds exactly like the kind of waste, fraud, and abuse that Doge was created to fight. And those are just the supplies that we know about.
▶ 6:35:53So, what is the plan? For some commodities, the State Department has decided to incinerate them. As we talked about earlier, 500 tons of emergency food assistance and over 9 million in The family planning supplies are not expired or damaged. They could be distributed today to people in need. Instead, the administration is willfully and wastefully lighting taxpayer dollars on fire.
▶ 6:36:23Even for supplies that are expired, that should never have happened in the first place. Their expiration date is the result of wasteful and ineffective policies that froze global supply chains without any consideration for the consequences. The administration has known about this problem for months. It intentionally sat on its hands watching it unfold rather than solving it.
▶ 6:36:48The idea that it couldn't be redirected to the people who need it the most is wrong. The destruction of these supplies isn't just wasteful, it's cruel, unethical, and immoral. My amendment would prohibit funds from being used for the destruction of these supplies and any others subject to the provision of this bill unless every effort has been made to sell, donate, or otherwise make them available before their expiration date.
▶ 6:37:17It includes an exception for commodities that are verifiably damaged, defective, or expired. Please vote for my amendment to save lives, protect taxpayer dollars, and end this waste, fraud, and abuse so Americans and our constituents don't have to watch their investments in our national security and global health go up in flames. Thank you. And I yield Thank the gentle lady. The gentleman from Florida, Mr.
▶ 6:37:46Diaz Bolard, is recognized to respond to the amendment. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I rise in opposition to the amendment offered by our colleague from New York. I I do appreciate the concern over the destruction of of expired commodities, especially those involved in emergency food assistance. Um and so I appreciate that this is an issue that the gentleman cares a lot about.
▶ 6:38:11U the language proposed by the amendment, however, is too broad, too directive, and includes no waiverss. And and so just some of the problems, no one really knows or can predict its full implications. For example, what does a phrase unless every effort has been made to sell, donate, or otherwise make the commodity available mean? How will the state department interpret that standard?
▶ 6:38:34Uh what are the implications of requiring that quote any commodities or supplies procured to carry out this act shall be transferred to a foreign government public international organization or non-governmental organization when necessary to prevent spoilage or wastage of such commodities.
▶ 6:38:51I'm not sure who determines that process, the the safeguards, any possible safeguards, the rules for disposal of such commodities, particularly since the language, and this is key, overrides provisions of the law governing the disposal of federal property. Uh these are really really important questions u without answers. We don't have answers. uh and more appropriately these are things that need to be carefully considered by the authorizing committees of jurisdiction.
▶ 6:39:22I would also note and again this is key that section 7015J of our bill requires that our committee be informed of each instance in which funds appropriated by the act for assistance have been diverted or destroyed. This provides needed accountability and transparency in the event of diversions or destructions of assistance including destruction of commodities due to the expiration of a commodity prior to the delivery to the intended beneficiary.
▶ 6:39:50Again, I understand and I appreciate I really do the importance of this issue and the gentleoman's commitment to the continued delivery of lifesaving assistance to those needs. Uh, I I am obviously more than willing and anxious to work with her and anybody else because I I do believe that you are generally concerned and I know that you're on the subcommittee and I appreciate that. So, I I unfortunately cannot support the amendment right now as written. Uh, and I would urge a no vote.
▶ 6:40:21Excuse me. The gentle lady from Florida, Frankle is recognized to respond to the Thank you, Mr. Chair. I rise in urgent support of Congresswoman Mang's amendment because we we must put an end to one of the most disgraceful abuses of taxpayer dollars and humanitarian values in recent memory. The willful destruction of life saving aid funded by the American people.
▶ 6:40:47From the moment Donald Trump returned to office, his on again, off again, on again, off again partner Elon Musk and the project 2025 loyalists embedded in what used to be USAD launched an allout assault on America's humanitarian infrastructure. They fired thousands of experienced workers. They canled hundreds of critical programs.
▶ 6:41:12They dismantled the global lifelines that deliver food, vaccines, and medicine to those clinging to life in the world's hardest places. And what is left? I'll tell you what's left. Chaos, and cruelty.
▶ 6:41:31In May, reports show showed that more than 60,000 metric tons of US food, enough to feed 3.5 million people for a month, had has been left to rot in warehouses and ports across Djibouti, South Africa, Dubai, and Houston. And nearly 500 million in humanitarian aid paid for by American tax payers is at the risk of spoiling. And some shipments have already been diverted for animal feed.
▶ 6:42:01Well, I guess that's I don't know what that means. Are we feeding the animals or Okay, well, that's good, too. But the other the others being destroyed outright. And what happened? What happened to the government watchdog who tried to sound the alarm? Guess what happened? He was fired. Meanwhile, in Dubai, nearly 500 more metric tons of fortified food desperately needed by malnourished children was intentionally Hm.
▶ 6:42:30That's not good. And we paid an extra $100,000 just to burn the food. Doesn't stop there. Uh now the White House is planning to incinerate over $9 million worth of family planning supplies, IUDs, implants, health tools that could pre have prevent 1 million unintended pregnancies and save the lives of more than 3,000 women.
▶ 6:43:00This isn't waste This isn't about accountability. This is a bonfire of our humanity. I think that's a good analysis. A bonfire. They're incinerated. You get it? We listen. We can debate whether She got it. We can debate whether this is incompetence or deliberate ideologically driven campaign to America's global leadership and to punish the most vulnerable people on the planet in the process.
▶ 6:43:29But either way, it's indefensible. And Representative Mang's amendment says enough. If we buy food to feed the hungry, we don't let it rot. If we fund vaccines and HIV medicines, we deliver them. We don't burn them. We don't dump them. We don't abandon people to die while warehouses overflow with unused supplies. This amendment is not about politics. It's about basic decency.
▶ 6:43:57It's about restoring the values we say say we stand for because right now those values are going up in smoke. So I urge my colleagues vote yes on the main amendment. Stop this destruction. Let's honor the compassion of the American people and let's make sure that when America reaches out to hand to help the world that the help actually arrives and I yield back. Thank you gentle lady. The gentle lady from Maine, Miss Bingry is recognized to address the amendment.
▶ 6:44:29Very much uh Mr. chair and I wholeheartedly support this amendment and thank the gentle lady from New York from for submitting it. Um I just happen to be the co-chair of the food waste caucus. So uh I have a particular interest in this and this is when food waste meets humanity and morality. Um so we spent a lot of time trying to think about the food waste in our system. We have a fairly inefficient food system. We move food all over the country instead of buying enough food locally and we waste about a third of food in this country.
▶ 6:45:00But this adds to the food waste in this country in a colossal way. And it does so while shamefully taking the food out of the mouths of starving people around the world. Let's just let's just call this what it is. This is a really stupid mistake of government and it is misguided. Uh it's a misguided act on the on the part of this administration by Doge and Elon Musk and this administration that came in and said, "Oh, we're going to save you all kinds of money.
▶ 6:45:28we're going to go through waste in government and we're going to clean it all up and it's going to be all better when we're done with it. And the first thing they went after was USA ID in a ham-handed kind of way, pointing out maybe a couple of things that they found that were high-profile that might have been wasting money or wasn't something that everybody agreed on.
▶ 6:45:46But they never admitted to you that when they shut down USID, they were also taking the way that food that our farmers have worked hard to provide, distributed around the world, and then they destroyed the system that made sure that food got to the people who were hungry. And they never want to tell you about that. And now it is going up in smoke. This month they will incinerate 500 metric tons of food. Food for hungry people. Food that farmers grew.
▶ 6:46:15food that people worked hard to get to the distribution sites. They have destroyed the distribution networks because they said, "Oh, we're going to save you all this money." I don't think anybody in America said, "As Americans, let's start stop feeding hungry people around the world." I I don't think that anybody thought that's what they were doing when they said they were going to save you money and save taxpayers money. And clearly, this isn't saving taxpayers money. They've still got the food. They're burning it up.
▶ 6:46:43This is uh this this first 500 mill metric tonses that they're going to destroy cost $800,000 to procure. Thank goodness the farmers got paid for that. It's also going to cost $130,000 just to burn it. Uh and probably add pollution to the atmosphere and increase global warming. Although I don't I know we don't all agree on that one. But the truth is nobody thinks we should waste food. Everybody's grandmother said, "Clean your plate. There are starving children around the world.
▶ 6:47:10Make sure you clean up your food." So, where in the world did anybody think it was a good idea to collect this food, to pay the farmers for it, to distribute it around the world into warehouses, and then decide you weren't going to distribute it? It's shameful. It's a waste of money. It's a slap in the face of the farmers who worked hard to grow this.
▶ 6:47:31Reports are that 600,000 tons, metric tons, are now undelivered, while 319 million people are acute levels of food insecurity. And this is going to continue going on because they're not rebuilding USAD. We're not putting it all back together in this bill. We're not redistributing this food. And these are true national security issues.
▶ 6:47:53You've heard other people say today that the generals tell us, you know, if you're not doing soft aid, if you're not distributing food around the world, you're going to have to buy more bullets. And that's just what we're doing here. We're wasting the taxpayer dollars. We're not distributing it to hungry people. And we are now destroying this food.
▶ 6:48:10So, uh, I I I wholeheartedly support, um, this amendment, and I just want people to say, "Come on, this is a dumb thing to do." Destroying USCID, destroying our food distribution networks, pulling the United States out of the important role we've had of feeding hungry children is a dumb idea, and we should get back into it, and we should restore this, and we should stop destroying food that should go to hungry people. And I yield back. Thank the gentle lady.
▶ 6:48:41The gentle lady from Pennsylvania, Miss Dean, is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, I rise in support of Representative Mang's amendment, which would ensure there is no waste, fraud, and abuse of US taxpayer dollars. Last week, the Committee on Foreign Affairs questioned State Department Deputy Secretary of Management and Resources, Secretary Regis, about the destruction of the 500 tons of food. He claimed that we are required due to the expiration of this food. How unimaginative.
▶ 6:49:11He failed to mention that this food could have easily been distributed over the past 7 months had the Trump administration not placed a hold and then cuts to foreign assistance. I want to bring to light an additional waste as a direct result of this administration's reckless cuts to foreign assistance funds that were appropriated by you and me and Congress and signed into law.
▶ 6:49:36Over the course of the past six months, we have seen the dismantling of life-saving water, sanitation, and hygiene programs. Water towers for schools and health clinics in Mali abandoned. Construction for more than 100 drinking systems in Nepal were halted, leaving plumbing supplies and about 6,500 bags of cement unused. Irrigation canals in Kenya have been left unfinished, which will threaten crops.
▶ 6:50:03Baby formula provided by the United States that requires clean water will go to waste. All of these initiatives that our country supported will go unfinished and will jeopardize our relationships with foreign part partners. Over the many years that the United States has supported water projects, the lives of millions of people around the world have been improved.
▶ 6:50:26Importantly, many of these projects were led by American businesses, positively contributing to the global water security and our own United States economy. Children were less likely to die of waterbornne diseases like diarrhea. Girls were more likely to stay in school. And young men were less likely to be recruited by extremist groups. What we are witnessing here is waste, fraud, and abuse by our own administration.
▶ 6:50:56Let's not be complicit. I encourage all of us to support Representative Mang's wise amendment uh to prevent the wasteful and unnecessary destruction of commodities procured with taxpayer dollars and I yield back. Thank gentle lady. Are there others wishing to address the amendment? Seeing none, the gentle lady from New York is recognized for one minute to Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 6:51:22I don't think any of our constituents, Republican, Democrat, and everyone in between, wants to see this country and our administration light millions of dollars of taxpayers money on fire. Uh millions of dollars of taxpayers money wasted. Uh hundreds of tons of food. Uh so many ways that we could tackle this issue of waste, fraud, and abuse. This is only making the problem worse.
▶ 6:51:52and this is not being uh a good uh steward of our American taxpayer dollars. Uh I ask for a yay vote. Thank you. Thanks gentle lady. The questions now on the amendment offered by the gentle lady from New York. All those in favor say I. All those opposed say no. Opinion chair the nose have it. Roll call has been requested. Sufficient number of hands have been raised.
▶ 6:52:21The clerk will call the role. Mr. Adder Holt, Mr. Aguular. Mr. Alford. Mr. Alford. No. Mr. Mrs. Bice. Mrs. Bice. No. Mr. Bishop. Mr. Bishop. I. Mr. Calbertt. Mr. Calbertt. No. Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter. No. Mr. Casease. Mr. Sisammani. Mr.
▶ 6:52:51Klene, Mr. Cloud, Mr. Klyurn, Mr. Klyber I Mr. Clyde Mr. Clyde No Mr. Cole no Mr. Cole no Mr. Quayar Mr. Quayar I miss Dean Miss Dean I Mr. Mr. Lauro I Mr. Diaz Bolard Mr. Diaz Bolard No Mr. Edwards Mr. Mr. Edwards. No. Mr. Elsie. Mr. Elzie.
▶ 6:53:22No. Miss Escobar. Miss Escobar. I. Mr. Espayat. Mr. Espayat. I. Mr. Fleshman. Mr. Fleshman. No. Miss. Frankle. Miss. Frankle. I. Mr. Franklin. Mr. Franklin. No. Mr. Gonzalez. Mr. Gonzalez. No. Mr. Guest. Mr. Guest. No. Mr. Harter. I. Mr. Harter. I. Dr. Harris. Dr. Harris. No. Mrs. Henson. Mrs. Henson. No. Mr. Mr.
▶ 6:53:52I Mr. Hoyer. I Mr. Ivy. Mr. Ivy. I Mr. Joyce. Mr. Joyce. No. Miss Captor. Miss Captor. I. Mr. Loa. Mr. Loa. No. Miss Lee. Miss Lee. I. Miss Llo. Miss Llo. No. Mr. Leven. Mr. Levven. I. Miss. Mallaloy. Miss Mallaloy. No. Miss McCullum. Miss McCullum. I Miss Ming. Miss Ming.
▶ 6:54:22I Mr. Molinar. Mr. Molinar. No. Mr. Moore. Mr. Moore. No. Mr. Morelli. Mr. Morelli. I Mr. Mvan. Mr. New House. Mr. New House. No. Miss Miss Perez. I Miss Pingri. Hi. Miss. Pingri. I. Mr. Pokean. Mr. Pokean. I Mr. Quigley. Mr. Quigley. I Mr. Mr. Rogers. Mr. Rogers. No. Mr. Rutherford. Mr. Rutherford. No.
▶ 6:54:52Mr. Simpson. Mr. Simpson. No. Mr. Strong. Mr. Strong. No. Mrs. Torres. Mrs. Torres. I. Miss. Underwood. Miss. Underwood. I. Mr. Valido. Miss Wasserman Schultz. Miss. Wasserman Schultz. I Mrs. Watson. Coleman. Mrs. Watson. Coleman. I. Mr. WAC. Mr. WAC. No. Mr. Zinci. Mr. Zinci. No.
▶ 6:55:20Does any member wish to record their vote or change their vote? Gentleman from Texas. Mr. Cloud. No. Gentleman from Virginia. Mr. Klene. No. Gentleman from Hawaii. Mr. Casease. I. Gentleman from California. Mr. Aguilar. I. Gentleman from Indiana. Mr. Moran. I. Gentleman from Pennsylvania. Mr. Russianthaler. No.
▶ 6:55:49Are there other members wishing to record or change their vote? If not, the clerk will tally.
▶ 6:56:43On this vote, the eyes are 28. The nose are 31. The amendment is not adopted. A gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr. Pokean is recognized for the purpose of an Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, I have an amendment at the desk and I ask that it be considered read. Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentleman is recognized for remarks on his amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 6:57:11Um, this is an amendment that's about ethics and the scrupulous use of taxpayer dollars and making sure that we don't have any unethical behavior of those taxpayer dollars. as you know, um, some poorly run third world countries and dictatorships, whoever's in charge finds a way to make money while they're in charge. And being the president of the United States should not be a get-richquick scheme.
▶ 6:57:35Uh, this amendment would simply say that it would prohibit any funding from being used to support programs that would financially benefit any organization owned by the president, a partner of an organization owned by the president, or any commercial entity that the president or the president's immediate family have a financial interest in. It also prevents funding from being used for any state department of state sponsored events that would be held at a property owned by the president.
▶ 6:58:00Now, it may seem that uh that shouldn't be even necessary, but unfortunately um it is necessary and this would be good to have in place for any president uh to make sure that we're using taxpayer dollars wisely. But there's three major areas that we have some problems with right now. one when we have foreign uh government officials visit.
▶ 6:58:24Uh back in 2017 when Xiinping visited uh the State Department was charged $30,000 for just 4 days at a Trump uh property. Uh and that was for the sec then Secretary Rex Tillerson and other VIPs that were put up in luxury suites. Just in the first 10 months of this term, uh, foreign government officials from 10 countries have made 19 visits to Trump properties.
▶ 6:58:52Uh, and those foreign officials, they came, it often seems to ingratiate themselves with the president, but then were also paying for the extra security and other folks that have to be at these properties. four presidents of countries came to Trump properties so far this year and they often come with a a delegation and all those rooms then are something that we're paying.
▶ 6:59:15So the the first really argument is that you know these foreign government visits we shouldn't as taxpayers then be paying to a Trump entity. Second, the commercial real estate dealings of whoever is president. Uh during Donald Trump's first term, he pledged not to engage in any real estate development projects in foreign countries, but he didn't do that uh in this presidency.
▶ 6:59:38And right now, he is pursuing 21 foreign real estate development projects, including in Oman, Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey, Vietnam, and the UAE. In Vietnam, the real estate project is a billion and a half dollar golf course uh deal that is struck about a month before a trade deal was struck.
▶ 6:59:58And again, not saying that there's a correlation to the two dots and the very straight path that goes between them, but certainly that could be a potential abuse by any president of being able to do that. And third, uh, events. You may remember in 2019, uh, Donald Trump announced that he planned to host the 2020 G7 at his Dural or Dural uh, golf resort in Florida. He got a lot of, uh, backlash for that and ultimately didn't do it.
▶ 7:00:29But, uh, he, we are scheduled to host the G20 next year and the G7 in 2027. And given how uh we've seen some things different in this presidency than the the last presidency, uh it wouldn't be wise to have something at a facility where the president's going to directly profit. Look, we all have there's a reason why we can't have federal contracts as members of Congress, etc.
▶ 7:00:53But it also should apply when it comes to these sorts of things to make sure that people know that we are running the most ethical government possible. Uh so um I I think it just makes sense to make sure that we're protecting the taxpayers from any potential abuse. Uh this amendment would do that and I would uh urge uh your support and I thank you for your attention to this matter. I yield Thank the gentleman. The gentleman from Florida, Mr.
▶ 7:01:23Diaz Bolard, is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to the gentleman's amendment. Look, I don't I don't really think this is a serious attempt uh to do anything other but to score political points. I I do agree with some of the things he said about we should be running the most ethical government. Yeah, I'll tell you what, we haven't had cocaine in the White House uh in this administration.
▶ 7:01:46I'll tell you what, there hasn't been pardon of his son uh for uh for for acts that were committed uh either, you know, during the presidency or before. So, I can tell you right now it's a hell of a lot more more ethical than than it was in the last four years. But let me get to the subject at hand. No, I know. I know. I know. I guess it's okay to have cocaine in the White House, but I don't agree with that. So, uh let let me just uh tell you why. Uh I agree that obviously, and I think all of us agree that no public office should be abused for personal gain.
▶ 7:02:16Now, that is consistent, by the way, with the United States Constitution, current law, and this bill. And this bill. Now, do I think that we should tie the hands of those in the procurement or planning process who are tasked who are tasked with determining the most efficient, approximate and cost-effective venues and itineraries with a blanket prohibition that might not make any sense under under those circumstances. Look, I get it.
▶ 7:02:42Some folks, doesn't matter what the president will do, it will impugn his his his intentions no matter what. U but let's apply some common sense here. Uh and let's allow some flexibility here. Now that said, this amendment does just does not achieve what the gentleman claims it does. Instead, this amendment ensures that we return to a weak and defunct foreign policy that leaves Americans behind.
▶ 7:03:08Now, you might be wondering what I mean, but just read the text. If you believe that rising tides raise all boats, then all Americans, all Americans, by the way, including the president and others, will benefit from programs funded in this bill. So again, uh I don't think that that's what the gentleman's intention was, uh but the intent was.
▶ 7:03:36But again, I I just have to strongly uh oppose this amendment. And Mr. Chairman, with that, I yield back. Thank gentlemen. The gentle lady from Florida, Miss Frankle, is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I I I rise in support of this amendment. Uh and I thank my colleague um Mark Pokehands from Wisconsin for offering it. Now, don't get me started on the pardons, okay?
▶ 7:04:03Because someone who's the president now pardoned 1,400 people who attacked uh those of us in this capital. But anyway, I diverge. Um, presidents typically divest from their businesses or uh to put them in blind trust to avoid conflicts. And President Trump has not followed the norm in so many ways, including some financial benefit.
▶ 7:04:31And listen, the country is running at a deficit. We heard that many times today. But I can tell you this, the president's not running at a deficit. There were reports that he has earned over $600 million since coming into office. Uh media rights, merchandise, real estate, he's got the crypto to tokens, the watches, uh the real estate deals you talked about, uh around the country, around the world.
▶ 7:05:02Uh so if the president doesn't want to protect himself from conflicts of interest, we must protect the taxpayer funds. So I thank you Mr. Pokean. I support this amendment and I yield back. Thank gentle lady. Are there other members wishing to address the amendment? Gentleman from Maryland is recognized to address the amendment. Plan on getting on this one either but um the chairman's comments I I couldn't pass it up.
▶ 7:05:31I mean, just the past few weeks, we saw um I think his name is Justin Sun, and this is a crypto guy from China, no less, who has um or had um the SEC pursuing fraud charges against him. He gave, I think it was $40 million right after Trump was elected and then $35 million in crypto right at the inaugural.
▶ 7:06:00Uh, and miraculously the SEC fraud charges were frozen. So, they're not moving forward anymore. By the way, shortly after that, um, President Trump had an auction essentially to see who could who would go, uh, spend enough to meet him for dinner. And Mr. Sun won that one too, I believe. They haven't disclosed that amount, but the the understanding is it was around $22 million in crypto. And that's just for the ones that we know about.
▶ 7:06:30And I, you know, so I I I take your point about cocaine in the White House, although Biden, President Biden didn't have anything to do with that, but I guess you got to go after him for something, so maybe that's the one to go after. But if we're talking about money that's going to a president, there's been nothing like Trump. Even Nixon didn't hold a candle to what Trump's done just in the first six months.
▶ 7:06:54And that's not even going through WLFI and and all the additional funds that are coming through using crypto in that way too. And then just from Trump one, we recall, you know, all of a sudden everybody's having these events at Trump Tower hotels. The Secret Service is going um because he's having them use his hotels. Guess what?
▶ 7:07:15instead of just paying a regular government rate, the money goes to the Trump family uh as opposed to just letting him go to Holiday in or whatever else that would be. Now, uh we'll assume that this isn't direct corruption, but the appearance is a problem.
▶ 7:07:34The optics are horrific and this isn't a great time for the American people to be seeing this sort of thing where the president is making money faster than I don't know 99% of of most of the private sector. I certainly don't recall getting $75 million for really having done nothing uh that uh in the way that he did.
▶ 7:07:55And I I won't even go too far on the settlement issues too with respect to the $16 million from the media companies he's been going after and wrestling these uh these settlements amounts in part leveraging the power of regulatory agencies like the FCC to pressure for that. So, you know, look, let's not act like Mr. Trump is purer than Caesar's wife.
▶ 7:08:22Um I I you know didn't really need to go too far on this, but this is pretty obvious stuff. So the amendment that's been offered I think is not unreasonable by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, this is the kind of stuff that presidents used to do just as a matter of course. You know, u you had stocks, you got a blind trust. I mean, this is just it was just routine stuff. You're running for office, you put up your uh your personal income taxes so the public can review it.
▶ 7:08:51That's all changed now in the Trump era. I get it. So, if we want to have any kind of of responsibility and public transparency, the only way to do it, apparently, is going to have to be through legislation. So, I support this amendment and I'll urge my colleagues to do the same. Thank the gentleman. Are there other members wishing to comment on the amendment? Gentle lady from Ohio is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you, u Mr.
▶ 7:09:18chairman and I appreciate Congressman Pokean offering this amendment which I support. And just to remind everyone and the people who might be listening, the Pokean amendment prohibits funds from financially benefiting the president and president's family and events being held at Trump properties.
▶ 7:09:38This amendment is needed to ensure no events sponsored by the Department of State can be held at a property owned by the president and none of the funds made available by this act or prior acts may be made available to support a program that would financially benefit an organization owned by the president or partner of an organization owned by the president or any commercial entity in which the president or the president's immediate family has a finan financial interest,
▶ 7:10:08right? This isn't everyone's interest, the American people's interest. They work hard. They pay their taxes. They expect that their money will go toward making our country better, not being used to pivot or pad the pockets of any president or his family. They already own golden encrusted objects including hotels. Uh beachfront golf resorts, crypto coins, tennis shoes, that was a new one. Uh franchising his last name into a brand.
▶ 7:10:37Okay, so there's a lot going on there uh that should have nothing to do with the presidency of our country. Uh, this bill gives the president sweeping authority, the underlying bill, to spend public money however he sees that to do it, including at his own properties because it creates a $1.7 billion account called the America First Opportunity Fund. Wonder if it's even legal to use the term America First.
▶ 7:11:06Anyway, allowing the president to call the shots without meaningful guard rails or clear oversight. We've seen how that power can be abused. When President Trump was last in office, he hosted foreign leaders at Mara Lago and charged the Secret Service to stay there. He charged them a lot. He held official events at his Washington DC hotel, which he's now sold, where foreign governments paid premium rates while pushing their agendas.
▶ 7:11:34And he even tried to host the G7 summit at his own resort in Durell. That wasn't diplomacy. That was a billionaire abusing public office to boost and promote his own business interests. Now we're staring down another presidential account with vague goals and broad reach. The fund can be used, and I quote, to promote or, I quote, counter threats. What does that mean? It could mean anything.
▶ 7:12:04It could mean booking a diplomatic summit at a golf course the president profits from or it could mean a crypto conference and the funding it quietly pulled from other programs even as the bill claims those programs are being increased. For example, money meant for narcotics control is being diverted into this new slush fund. That's not transparent. That's not honest and it's certainly not trustworthy. Public service requires personal restraint.
▶ 7:12:31You know, some of our compadres have trouble with that, but it comes with the territory. If you want to make money, go in the private sector. There's plenty of opportunity. George Washington refused to use his role for personal gain. When first elected, he declined a salary until Congress insisted. He often paid government expenses out of his own pocket, setting a precedent that public office is about service, not profit.
▶ 7:12:58Jimmy Carter placed his peanut farm into a fully independent blind trust to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. He chose principle over profit. He will go down as a great president. George HW Bush turned down lucrative speaking offers and foreign board seats while still in office. And Harry Truman said it best. Quote, "The presidency is not for sale." This bill enables the wealthy and well-connected to profit off public office while working families foot the bill.
▶ 7:13:29That's not public service. It's private enrichment disguised as diplomacy. The State Department should serve the people, not promote the president's brand. And I urge my colleagues to protect taxpayer, uphold the constitution, and reject any attempt to turn government into a playground for billionaires. I yield back. Thank you. Thank Lady. Are there other members wishing to address the amendment? Seeing none, the gentleman is recognized for one minute to close. Great. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 7:13:59Chairman. Um, you know, I appreciate what Mr. Ivy said. He's right. I mean, this used to be pro-forma, right? We didn't have to worry about someone doing this. I would support this for a Democratic president, Republican president, whatever future political party because it's in our best interest not to have that conflict of interest. And, you know, when we have the SF FSG, we'll probably have an amendment on the cryptocurrency.
▶ 7:14:20I I thought um Miss Perez's uh uh questions at a subcommittee about that was particularly interesting when they said they're regulated like a collectible and she replied like beanie babies. Uh and that that was the reality. Uh so we'll deal with that amendment later. Like tomorrow we'll deal with the Epstein amendments, but today this is the amendment to make sure that we're having integrity by not having any president profit from their own properties. And again, it always was just done. We wouldn't have to even have an amendment.
▶ 7:14:49I guess for the future we should have this so that regardless of who's president, we're doing the right thing. I yield back. I urge a a yes vote and I yield back. Mr. Chair, thank the gentleman. The question is now on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin. All those in favor say I. All those opposed say no. The opinion of the chair of the nose have it. Roll call has been requested. Sufficient number of hands have been raised. Clerk will call the role. Mr. Mr. Adder Halt. Mr.
▶ 7:15:19Adder Halt. No. Mr. Aguilar. Mr. Alford. Mr. Amade. Mr. Amade. No. Mrs. Bice. Mrs. Bice. No. Mr. Bishop. Mr. Bishop. I. Mr. Calbertt. Mr. Calbert. No. Mr. Carter. Mr. Casease. Mr. Casease. I. Mr. Mr. Klene. Mr. Cloud. Mr. Cloud.
▶ 7:15:49No. Mr. Klyurn. Mr. Klyurn. I. Mr. Clyde. Mr. Clyde. No. Mr. Cole. No. Mr. Cole. No. Mr. Quayar. Miss Dean. Miss Dean. I. Mr. Deloro. Mr. Diaz Bolard. Mr. Diaz Bolard. No. Mr. Edwards. Mr. Edwards. No. Mr. Elzie. Mr. Elie. No. Miss Escobar. Miss Escobar. I Mr. Espayot.
▶ 7:16:20Mr. Espayot. I Mr. Fleshman. Miss Frankle. Miss. Frankle. I Mr. Franklin. Mr. Franklin. No. Mr. Gonzalez. Mr. Gonzalez. No. Mr. Guest. Mr. Guest. No. Mr. Harter. Mr. Harter. I. Dr. Harris. Dr. Harris. No. Mrs. Henson. Mrs. Henson. No. Mr. Mr. Hoyer. I. Mr. Ivy. Mr. Ivy. I Mr. Joyce. Mr.
▶ 7:16:50Joyce. No. Miss Captor. Miss Captor. I Mr. Loa. Mr. Loa. No. Miss Lee. Miss Lee. I. Miss Llo. Miss Llo. No. Mr. Levan. Mr. Levan. I. Miss. Malloy. Miss Mallaloy. No. Miss. McCullum. Miss. McCullum. I. Miss. Ming. Miss. Ming. I. Mr. Molin. Mr. Molinar. No. Mr. Moore. Mr.
▶ 7:17:20Morelli. Mr. Morelli. I. Mr. Murvan. Mr. Mvan. I. Mr. New House. Mr. New House. No. Miss. Perez. Miss. Perez. I Miss Pingri. Miss Pingri. I. Mr. Pokean. Mr. Pokean. I. Mr. Quigley. Mr. Quigley. I. Mr. Russianthaler. Mr. Rogers. Mr. Rogers. No. No. Mr. Rutherford. Mr. Rutherford. No. Mr. Simpson. Mr. Simpson. No. Mr. Strong.
▶ 7:17:50Mr. Strong. No. Mrs. Torres. Mrs. Torres. I. Miss. Underwood. Miss Underwood. I. Mr. Valido. Miss Wasserman Schultz. Mrs. Watson. Coleman. Mrs. Watson. Coleman. I. Mr. Wac. Mr. Wac. No. Mr. Mr. Zinci. No. Any member wishing to record their vote or change their vote?
▶ 7:18:20Gentleman from Mr. Sisammani. No. Gentleman from Virginia. Mr. Klene. No. Gentleman from Tennessee. Mr. Flechman. No. Gentleman from Texas. Mr. Carter. No. Gentleman from California. Mr. Aguilar. Iman. I. Gentle lady from Connecticut. Mr. Loro.
▶ 7:18:44I Are there any others wishing to record or change our M? Gentleman from West Mr. Moore. No. Gentle lady from Florida. A gentle lady is not recorded. Miss Wasserman Schultz. I Are there any other members wishing to record or change their vote? Seeing none, the clerk will tally.
▶ 7:19:48On this vote, the eyes are 27, the nose are 32. The amendment is not ac adopted. The gentle lady from New Jersey, Miss Watson Coleman, is recognized for the purpose of an amendment.
▶ 7:20:13Gentle lady from New Jersey is recognized for the purpose of an Chairman, I do have an amendment at the desk and I request unanimous consent to dispense with the reading of this amendment. Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with. The gentle lady's recognized for remarks on her amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 7:20:35My amendment would transfer $250 million from the United States Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund, Irma, to the International Humanitarian Assistance Account. Now, I understand that this may seem like a distinction without a difference, but there's a very big difference between these two accounts. We're just not moving from our checking account to our savings account here. The Irma account is controlled directly by the president.
▶ 7:21:04It's been this way for years. Presidents from both parties have had control over it with a $100,000 price tag since 2021, which hasn't increased since. But this bill, this bill does increase the funding for the Irma account under the direct control of their president by $500 million.
▶ 7:21:27In fact, at the same time, it consolidates several other funding uh foreign aid accounts under the IHA, that's the international humanitarian assistance account, and then slashes their aid by 42%. The key difference between the Irma and the IHA is that the latter is not directly controlled by the president. It's a nonpartisan fund for humanitarian foreign aid.
▶ 7:21:54My amendment takes half of the funding increase for the president's direct control account and puts it into the nonpartisan aid fund to offset some of the dramatic cuts that are included in this bill for humanitarian assistance. I'd like to point out for my Republican colleagues that this amendment does not add a penny to the topline of this bill. I know you all have been really concerned about this this week, but rest assured, this amendment is paid for.
▶ 7:22:25My main concern with such a large increase in the funding for an account that this president has immediate discretion over is that it's ripe for abuse. It's not hard to imagine a situation in which this president would be making decisions based on his own personal interests, which we've already seen take place since he's been in office since The only interest that
▶ 7:22:56should be considered when distributing aid is the interest of the recipient, not the distributor. The Irma Fund politicizes humanitarian aid while the IHA takes politics out of the equation. Aid assistance must be distributed on a non-partisan basis by State Department experts who can identify people in countries in need independent of personal influence.
▶ 7:23:23So I ask my colleagues to support this amendment and to ensure that foreign aid is distributed based on objective need and not on based on personal preference. I thank you for your consideration and I yield back. Thank the gentle lady. The gentleman from Florida, Mr. Diaz Bolard, is recognized to respond to the amendment. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Um I rise in opposition of the gentleoman's uh amendment.
▶ 7:23:50And as she described, it simply moves $250 million from one humanitarian account to another. The International Humanitarian Assistance Account has sufficient funds to provide Secretary Rubio with the resources to continue the long-standing leadership of the United States in delivering life-saving assistance to individuals and families who are displaced or in in need of help due to natural disasters, conflict, religious and ethnic uh persecution.
▶ 7:24:16The Irma account is already below the amount requested in the fiscal year 2026 budget. Additionally, the bill includes authority for the administration to transfer funds from the United States emergency uh refugee and and migration fund account to the international humanitarian assistance account if it chooses to do so again. So again, for those reasons, I respectfully urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment. I yield back. I thank the gentleman.
▶ 7:24:46The gentle lady from Florida, Miss Frankle, is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you. I don't know what I support this amendment. I don't know whether to be serious or sarcastic because really, let's get serious here. I don't think Donald Trump is going to be known as a great humanitarian and quite frankly, we'll be doing him a favor.
▶ 7:25:07give him a little more time to sell the crypto and the real estate deals and so forth and let serious people do the serious business of humanitarian support for people who need it and I yield back. I thank gentle lady. Are there other members wishing to address the Seeing none, the gentle lady is recognized for one minute to close. Thank you very much.
▶ 7:25:35Can't improve upon uh my ranking members comments. No one's going to ever believe that Donald Trump will ever be humanitarian unless the humanitarian recipient is Donald Trump and his family.
▶ 7:25:49And so I very much would appreciate my colleagues to see that this is an opportunity to ensure that humanitarian aid gets to the areas of this country where it is needed and not in the pockets of the president, his family and his friends. Amen. Thank you. I yield back. Thank the gentle lady. The gentle lady or the question is now on the amendment offered by the gentle lady from New Jersey. All those in favor say I.
▶ 7:26:20All those opposed say no. Opinion of the chair the nose have it. Roll call has been requested. Sufficient number of hands have been raised. The clerk will call the role. Mr. Adder Holt. Mr. Aguilar. Mr. Aguilar. I. Mr. Alford. Mr. Alford. No. Mr. Ammedday. Mrs. Bice. Mrs. Bice. No. Mr. Bishop.
▶ 7:26:50Mr. Bishop. I Mr. Calbertt. Mr. Calbert. No. Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter. No. Mr. Casease. Mr. Casease. I. Mr. Sisammani. Mr. Sisammani. No. Mr. Klene. Mr. Cloud. Mr. Cloud. No. Mr. Klyber. Mr. Klyber. I. Mr. Clyde. Mr. Clyde. No. Mr. Cole. No Mr. Cole. No, Mr. Quay.
▶ 7:27:20Mr. Quayrar. I Miss Dean. Miss Dean. I Mr. Loro. Mr. Loro. I Mr. Diaz Bolard. Mr. Diaz Bolard. No. Mr. Edwards. Mr. Edwards. No. Mr. Elie. Miss Escobar. Miss Escobar. I. Mr. Mr. Espayott. I. Mr. Fleshman. Mr. Fleshman. No. Miss Frankle. Hi. Miss. Frank. I. Mr. Franklin. Mr. Franklin. No. Mr. Gonzalez. Mr. Guest.
▶ 7:27:51Mr. Guest. No. Mr. Harter. Mr. Harter. I. Dr. Harris. Dr. Harris. No. Mrs. Henson. Mrs. Henson. No. Mr. Mr. Hoyer. I. Mr. Ivy. Mr. Ivy. I. Mr. Joyce. Mr. Joyce. No. Miss Captor. Miss Captor. I Mr. Loa. Mr. Loa, no. Miss Lee, Miss Lee, I Miss Llo, Miss Lello, no. Mr.
▶ 7:28:21Lean, Mr. Leven, I Miss Mallaloy. Miss Malloy, no. Miss Miss McCullum, I Miss Ming, Miss Ming, I, Mr. Molinar. Mr. Molinar, no. Mr. Moore, Mr. Moore, no. Mr. Morelli, Mr. Morelli, I Mr. Morvan, Mr. Morvan, I, Mr. New House. Mr. New House, no. Miss Perez Miss Perez I Miss Pingri Miss Pingri I Mr. Pokean Mr.
▶ 7:28:49Pokean I MrWigley Mr. Quigley I Mr. Russianthaler Mr. Russianthaler no Mr. Rogers Mr. Rogers no Mr. Rutherford Mr. Rutherford no Mr. Simpson Mr. Simpson no Mr. Strong Mr. Strong no Mrs. Torres Mrs. Torres I miss Underwood Miss Underwood I Mr. Valido Miss Wasserman Schultz Miss Wasserman Schultz I Mrs. Watson Coleman Mrs. Watson Coleman I Mr. WAC Mr. Wac No Mr.
▶ 7:29:19Zinci Mr. Zinci no Do any members wish to record or change their votes? Gentleman from Alabama. Mr. Adhold no. Gentleman from Texas. Mr. Elzie no. The other gentleman from Texas. Mr. Gonzalez, no gentleman from Virginia. Mr. Klene, no. Gentleman from California, Mr. Valado, no.
▶ 7:29:50Are there others wishing to record or change their votes? Seeing none, the clerk will tally.
▶ 7:30:32on this vote. The eyes are 28, the nose are 34. The amendment is not adopted. Gentle lady from California, Miss Torres is recognized for the purpose of an Mr. Chairman, I ask that the reading be Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentle lady's recognized for remarks on her amendment. Mr. Chairman, my amendment is based on a simple American promise.
▶ 7:31:01America does not send people to die in failed states that they have never been to, don't speak the language, or have no way to survive in. This bill would allow us to negotiate third-party deportation agreements with countries so dangerous that our own State Department tells Americans, "Do not travel." State Department's highest warning level for advisories.
▶ 7:31:29The highest danger level we issue are reserved for nations where kidnapping, murder, and state sponsored violence are daily realities. who is going to tell Miss Susie Q from Dublin that we are sending her to South Sudan, a country in active civil war where mass atrocities are ongoing and our own State Department evacuated all non-essential
▶ 7:32:00personnel who is going to tell her American citizen children that their mom is being deported to a country where ethnic cleansing and mass rape are documented by the UN. A country she has never been to and where she does not speak the language. Countries where our own diplomatic personnel cannot safely operate.
▶ 7:32:28Countries where American tourists are warned they may never come home from. And this administration wants to send vulnerable people there. Afghanistan, Haiti, Cuba. Which country will Trump send people to next? I ask And we are allowing hardearned taxpayers dollars to fund these negotiations and transfers.
▶ 7:32:58This isn't border security. It's a death sentence with a diplomatic stamp. My amendment is straightforward. No federal funds can be used to negotiate third-party country deportation deals with any country that has earned our government's highest do not travel warning.
▶ 7:33:21So, it doesn't stop normal deportations, only third-party country transfers where you are sending someone to a place they are not from, they have never been to, and they have no ties to. If it's the highest level do not travel warning, then we shouldn't be using taxpayers dollars to send people there. This amendment protects both our values and our security.
▶ 7:33:50When we send people to failed states, we don't solve immigration. We create victims of human trafficking. We strengthen entire um we strengthen criminal networks. We destabilize entire regions and turn the world against us. I urge my colleagues to support my amendment.
▶ 7:34:10Let's not use American hard-earned taxpayer dollars to send human beings into war zones they've never been to and call it immigration policy. And I yel back. I thank the gentle lady. The gentleman from Florida, Mr. Diaz Bolard, is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 7:34:31I I know that the gentle lady is sincere in what she's trying to do, but we have to be careful not to be tying the hands of the administration when it comes to deporting dangerous dangerous criminals and terrorists. And we have to remember that tribal advisories are for American terrorists, not for foreign nationals for obvious reasons. Look, if a Hoodi terrorist is apprehensive, apprehended and uh and there's an agreement to deport them, why should we require the Secretary of State to keep that terrorist here?
▶ 7:35:01Again, I know that she's well meeting. It's something I'm very sensitive to. Uh but but I I have to urge a no vote on this amendment. And with that, Mr. uh Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank gentlemen. The gentle lady from Florida, Miss Frankle, is recognized to address the amendment. You know, first of all, thank you uh Mr. Torres, Representative Torres for this amendment. I do support it. You know, this this is one of these issues.
▶ 7:35:29You know, I'd like to open the window and put my head out and out of the window, just scream, who what are we becoming? What are we becoming here? Uh, listen, I agree. We should have rules, law of order, how people come in. We should have rules. We should have laws. If someone is a violent criminal, lock them up. I'm for that. But folks, here's the fact.
▶ 7:35:59There's probably 11 million or more undocumented immigrants in this country. And guess what? Everybody here knows someone. Maybe you think you don't know someone, but you do know someone. And most of these people are peaceful. And most of these people, the only crime they committed is they wanted to have a better life, and they're here. And most of these people are hardworking. And they're in jobs that we need. They're in the fields. They're in the nursing homes.
▶ 7:36:28Uh and uh they have families, and they're paying taxes, and they're paying to Social Security, which you're not going to get back. Um, so to me it is so cruel. It is so cruel to pick one of these people up on the street, throw them, take handcuff, a mass person with throws them into a truck and then all of a sudden we're going to send them to South Sudan or Libya.
▶ 7:36:57What is going on? It's a great amendment. I support it. Uh we should not be deporting people to countries that are not their home, that they don't know the language or the laws, where they're directly in harm's way, where they're facing war, torture, cruel, and inhumane imprisonment and possibly death because their only crime was have wanted to have a better life and this is a amendment is a common sense minimum standard.
▶ 7:37:26The United States should not spend taxpayer dollars to forcibly send immigrants to some of the most dangerous countries on earth. I cannot even believe we need this amendment and I'm just urging everyone to stand up for basic human rights and to support this amendment. Thank you for it. I yield back. Thank the gentle lady. Are there other members wishing to address the Seeing none, the gentle lady is recognized for one minute to close.
▶ 7:37:55Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have a choice. We can continue down this path selling out our principles for the illusion of security or we can remember who we are. This amendment is not requiring our government to keep terrorists here. This amendment is not saying do not um send terrorists back to their country.
▶ 7:38:21We are simply saying don't make agreements with countries with level four advisories. America does not fund death sentences and call it diplomacy. I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, an amendment that does not stop any regular deportation. It simply stops us sending Mr. Joe Schmo from England to Afghanistan. Thank you, Mr.
▶ 7:38:50chairman and I yield back. Thank the gentle lady and the question is now on the amendment offered by the gentle lady from California. All those in favor say I. All those opposed say no. The opinion of the chair the nos have it and the amendment is not agreed to. gentle lady from California, Miss Taus is recognized for an amendment.
▶ 7:39:22Uh, thank you, chairman. I ask unanimous consent to dispense with the reading of the amendment. Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with. The gentle lady's recognized for remarks on her Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer an amendment that release the MS13 files amendment.
▶ 7:39:40For months, this administration has been cutting deals in the shadows with El Salvador and President Bugle, a man our own Justice Department alleges has partnerships with MS-13 gang leaders, secret agreements, backroom taxpayer funded arrangements we are not allowed to see. What exactly are we buying with hardearned American taxpayers dollars?
▶ 7:40:11My amendment demands transparency before we hand over another dime. It requires the State Department to disclose to this committee all diplomatic agreements with El Salvador involving the imprisonment of US citizens, the transfer of MS-13 prisoners, and any other secret deals this administration has been making so that this committee can conduct appropriate oversight.
▶ 7:40:40We also demand an inspector general investigation into Bouquet's alleged MS-13 connections and how they impact American security. We are secretly releasing the MS-13 gang members who terrorize American communities, committed crimes in the US, and we are funding regimes that shelter the very criminals we're supposed to be fighting and holding accountable.
▶ 7:41:11This isn't just about accountability. It is about safety. When we make deals with leaders who our own Department of Justice has alleged partner with terrorists, when we hide those agreements from Congress and the American people, we are not conducting diplomacy, we are enabling our enemies. Mr. Chairman, if these deals are legitimate, release the files.
▶ 7:41:38If they serve an American interest, show us the agreements. But if this administration is too ashamed to defend these agreements in the light of day, then we have no business funding them with hardearned taxpayer dollars. Support my amendment. No more secret deals with alleged terrorist partners. No more blank checks to authoritarian regimes. Release the secret files.
▶ 7:42:07And I yield Thank the gentle lady. The gentleman from Florida, Mr. Diaz Bollard, is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have to admit I was a little bit confused when I started hearing the debate about secret deals with terrorists. I thought we were talking about maybe this secret deal with terrorists.
▶ 7:42:32The picture of the picture is of President Obama doing the wave with Raul Castro having a jolly good time or here holding hands. But but I realize that that's not what we're talking about. Mr. and Mr. Chairman, I raise rise in opposition to this amendment. Look, as the secretary of state has said, if if Salvador wants to be helpful to the United States and our national security by accepting dangerous criminals, uh great.
▶ 7:43:00Uh I don't support making it more difficult to deport dangerous dangerous uh whether it's gang members by the way who should have never been allowed to come into the United States in the first place or members of Tindarawa who should have never been allowed to come into the United States in the first place. Uh making it more difficult to deport those folks I don't think is good for our national security and for our communities.
▶ 7:43:25And therefore, uh, for that reason and many others, I urge a no vote on this amendment and I yield back. Mr. I thank the gentleman. The gentle lady from Florida, Miss Frankle, is recognized to address the amendment. Mr. Chair, if if this amendment is about releasing files, I'm all for that. And I yield back.
▶ 7:43:52That was a very effective set of remarks by the gentle lady. Gentle lady from Florida, Miss Washington Schultz is recognized to address the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And you know, with tremendous respect for my friend, the the chairman of the subcommittee um that comparison is in no way uh and I opposed that relationship. uh that that that I oppose that relationship as you know.
▶ 7:44:21But that comparison is in no way what this president in this moment has done. Sending masked unidentifiable thugs into communities, rounding up who are not criminals.
▶ 7:44:43It is very clear, it was very clear that all the people who were rounded up and sent to a goolog in El Salvador, tortured and left there with no ability to be able to get out and uh and and clearly um were were not gang members despite what the administration claimed.
▶ 7:45:09And instead, what happened is this administration cut a deal after having these people rounded up, thrown in in a gulag, tortured in another country they were not from, then sent back to Maduro to to be tortured, subject to oppression, and and sent to a lawless I guess I Two peas
▶ 7:45:39in two peas in a pod makes sense. Sent to a lawless regime in I I don't I don't know how anyone who actually says that they oppose the Maduro regime could not be for the gentle lady's amendment and I yield Thank gentle lady. The gentleman from Maryland is recognized to address the Thank you Mr. chairman and and I thank the uh subcommittee chair for for his comments.
▶ 7:46:10Um just a couple quick things on this. One is that um there's some sort of agreement between the United States and El Salvador that the United States is receiving some amount of money in exchange for uh imprisoning people down there. I think we have a constitutional obligation to know exactly what the terms of that agreement is because you know u oversight with respect to the power of the purse is in our purview.
▶ 7:46:38So we should at least know how much money is being spent and in particular we should know exactly what it's being spent for. The Trump um Kilmar uh Albrego Garcia was um from my district. Apparently, he's coming home to my district soon based on what just happened with the federal district court in Tennessee. Uh but you know, the Trump administration was saying they can't send him back.
▶ 7:47:05And so part of what I was thinking was if we've got a contractual arrangement with a foreign country where we're sending people down there, how can we have an agreement where we can't bring them back if we want to or need to have them come back? And and this sort of spins out for me uh when I was a local prosecutor called it's called states attorney in Maryland.
▶ 7:47:24Uh we had MS-13 prosecutions that we did quite a few of in fact so many of them we ended up working with the local the the Maryland US attorney to put a RICO case together. And that US attorney at the time was Rod Rosenstein who later became the Trump attorney general. And we prosecuted 23 MS-13 gang members. Now, a couple things to pay attention to here. We didn't deport these guys before we prosecuted them. We prosecuted them first.
▶ 7:47:54You indict them, you try them, you convict them, you sentence them. You don't deport them until after they serve their sentence. So, the guys that we convicted 20 plus years ago are still in jail in the United States. Now, the Trump administration keeps telling us there's all these uh MS-13 guys running around. and they charge him like Kilmar, the guy who was just sent back to the state of Maryland by the federal district court in Tennessee.
▶ 7:48:20Um, apparently that judge or the two judges that looked at it didn't really think he was some kind of top ranking MS-13 official because if they had, they would have held him until trial. So, we keep hearing this from the Trump administration, but the guys they keep bringing and identifying in this way, and I think you just tapped in a little of that with respect to the terrorist stuff. Judges don't seem to agree with that. The flip side of that's kind of interesting.
▶ 7:48:48I've got an article here, New York Times, Trump vowed to dismantle MS-13. His deal with Buchali threatens that effort. Buchalli is the president of El Salvador. The interesting thing about this article is there's a RICO case moving forward in New York City against MS-13 and they're getting ready. They're ready to go to trial. This was a task force that was put together during the first Trump administration. They indicted these guys. Some of them they had to extradite from Mexico and o other countries.
▶ 7:49:18These are people who have bodies on their resume. They committed murder and the like, naroterrorism and the like. For some reason, Buchali called Trump and said, "I want two of these guys back." And Trump agreed to send one of them back to drop all of the charges against this guy and send him back to El Salvador.
▶ 7:49:45There's another one that where it's penning, they're trying to litigate it out. But the question that arose was why in the world would Trump want to drop RICO charges against one of the legitimately top officials in MS-13 to send him back to Bical. Apparently there's connections between Bali and MS-13 that these guys can identify and explain and Bali doesn't want that to come out so he's having them sent back.
▶ 7:50:11So at the end of the day we should support this amendment because we ought to know what's going on with this right now. Our best shot at figuring it out is reading the New York Times. I had a chance when I went to El Salvador two months ago. I met with some of the uh reporters down there before they were one got arrested three days before I got there just coincidentally I suppose and a couple of others are now in exile. But at the end of the day, shouldn't we know what they're doing with the money we're sending down there?
▶ 7:50:41Because part of the allegation is using this money with respect to MS-13. Shouldn't we know if we're going to rail about MS-13 and talk about how terrible they are and all the people they've got here in the United States that are undermining our country? Shouldn't we know if the money that's being sent down there to pay for us to jail people, as was just mentioned a minute ago, who hadn't committed any offenses, shouldn't we know what the money's going to?
▶ 7:51:08And when we send them down there, shouldn't we know what the conditions are? Because 50 of the people, I'll stop after this, the Venezuelans, the Ko Institute said there's 50 people that we sent down there, there were no charges pending against them in the United States, in El Salvador or Venezuela, but we sent them down to one of the worst jails in the world indefinitely, even though there were no criminal or even civil charges against them. And by the way, they were in the United States legally at the time they were apprehended.
▶ 7:51:38So, I'll stop there, but I do think we should support this amendment because we have a job to do and make sure we see and understand what's our money is going to. And with that, I yield back. Thank the gentlemen. Uh, are there other members wishing to address the Seeing none, the gentle lady is recognized for one minute to close. Thank you, uh, chairman, and thank you to the subcommittee.
▶ 7:52:05Chairman, I thought um thank you for clarifying what those pictures um were because I didn't have my glasses on and for a minute there I thought you were holding up pictures of sexual predators as named on the Epstein files who prayed on vulnerable little So um yeah, it's not um Trump um it's it's Obama unfortunately. Yes. Um Mr.
▶ 7:52:34Chairman, once again, the American people are being sold out for backroom political deals while families of victims are told to sit down and shut up. Sort of what's happening here. Public reports have said that we are releasing MS-13 leaders into the waning hands of a government who makes deals with these same gangs.
▶ 7:52:59You see, while the murder rate might have gone down in El Salvador, the disappearance rate has doubled. Why? Because people are being mutilated and put it into graves. People are being put into barrels with acid in them to melt down their bodies. That is what is happening down there.
▶ 7:53:22When uh when I last spoke against this I ended up having to have Capitol police at my home for 5 days. And after they left, MS-13 gang members came back and graffiti the entire front of my home. A shot was fired while I was talking to my husband, watching him through a Ring That is what they do.
▶ 7:53:51They try to silence members of Congress. And here we are making deals with the devil to cover what? To send hardworking immigrants to a country where they don't belong. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment and I yield back. Thank gentle lady. The questions now on the amendment offered by the gentle lady from California. All those in favor say I. I. All oppose say no.
▶ 7:54:19No opinion of the chair of the nose have it. Roll call's been requested. Sufficient number of hands having been raised. The clerk will call the role. Mr. Adder Halt. Mr. Aderhalt. No. Mr. Aguilar. Mr. Aguilar. I. Mr. Alford. Mr. Amade. Mr. Amade. No. Mrs. Bice. Mr. Bishop. Mr. Bishop. I. Mr. Calvert. Mr. Calbertt. No. Mr. Carter.
▶ 7:54:50Mr. Mr. Carter. No. Mr. Casease. Mr. Casease. I Mr. Siskamani. Mr. Sisammani. No. Mr. Klein. Mr. Klene. No. Mr. Cloud. Mr. Cloud. No. Mr. Klyurn. Mr. Klyber. I. Mr. Clyde. Mr. Clyde. No. Mr. Cole. No. Mr. Cole. No. Mr. Quayar. Miss Dean. Miss Dean. I. Mr. Loro. Mr. Loro. I. Mr. Diaz Bolard. No. Mr. Diaz Bolard. No. Mr.
▶ 7:55:20Edwards. Mr. Edwards. No. Mr. Elzie. Mr. Elie. No. Miss Escobar. Miss Escobar. I. Mr. Espayat. Mr. Espayat. I. Mr. Fleshman. Mr. Fleshman. No. Miss Miss. Frankle. I. Mr. Franklin. Mr. Franklin. No. Mr. Gonzalez. Mr. Guest. Mr. Guest. No. Mr. Harter. Mr. Harter. I. Dr. Harris. Dr. Harris. No. Mrs. Henson. Mrs. Henson. No. Mr.
▶ 7:55:50Mr. Hoyer. I. Mr. Ivy. Mr. Ivy. I. Mr. Joyce. Mr. Joyce. No. Miss Captor. Mr. Loa. Mr. Loa. No. Miss Lee. Miss Lee. I. Miss Llo. Miss Llo. No. Mr. Leven. Mr. Levan. I. Miss Mallaloy. Miss Malloy. No. Miss. McCullum. Miss. McCullum. I. Miss Ming. Miss Ming. I Mr. Molinar. Mr. Molinar.
▶ 7:56:20No. Mr. Moore. Mr. Moore. No. Mr. Morelli. Mr. Morelli. I Mr. Mvan. Mr. Murvan. I Mr. New House. Mr. New House. No. Miss. Miss. Pingri. Miss. Pingri. I. Mr. Pokean. Mr. Pokean. I. Mr. Quigley. Mr. Rashenthaler. Mr. Rashenthaler. No. Mr. Rogers. Mr. Rogers. No. Mr. Mr. Rutherford. Mr. Rutherford. No. Mr. Simpson. Mr. Simpson. No. Mr. Strong.
▶ 7:56:51Mr. Strong. No. Mrs. Torres. Mrs. Torres. I Miss Underwood. Miss Underwood. I Mr. Valido. Mr. Valido. No. Miss Wasserman Schultz. Miss Wasserman Schultz. I Mrs. Watson Coleman. Mrs. Watson. Coleman. I. Mr. Wac. Mr. Wac. No. Mr. Zinci. No. Mr. Zinci. No. Are there any members wishing to record or to change their vote? Gentle lady from Oklahoma. Mrs. Bice. No.
▶ 7:57:21Gentleman from Missouri. Mr. Alford. No. Are there any others wishing to record or change their vote? Seeing none, the clerk will tally.
▶ 7:58:05On this vote, the eyes are 24, the nose are 34. The amendment is not adopted. Gentleman from New York, Mr. Espion is recognized for the purpose of an You uh Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk. Ask unanimous consent to wave the reading of such.
▶ 7:58:30Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentleman is recognized for remarks on his amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh this amendment uh would encourage the secretary to curb the flow of US e-ways to foreign nations, which is on track to reach over 80 million tons by 2030.
▶ 7:58:53Uh many may not know that US e-waste is frequently discarded in ways that are environmentally destructive and are and unlawfully turned into counterfeit electronics. Concerningly, this counterfeit and unsafe electronics are often then resold to buyers right here in the United States where the faulty materials can make their way even into uh critical US military equipment.
▶ 7:59:22In fact, an investigation conducted on in 20 uh 2009 and 2010 uncover 1,800 cases of counterfeit electronic parts in national defense systems. Leaving our electronics without proper recycling, a proper recycling plan clearly undermines our national security. Um and I believe that adopting this language will be a step in the right direction.
▶ 7:59:51We must continue to make efforts to increase our national security. I urge my colleagues to support support this amendment. Thank you and I yield back. Thank gentlemen, the uh gentleman from Florida, Mr. Diaz Delard, is recognized to address the amendment. Mr. Chairman, actually I I actually want to thank the gentleman for not only bringing this amendment for his leadership on this issue. This is one of those issues that's kind of like wonky. It's not sexy. Uh but I will tell you that our colleague uh has been uh has been focused on this issue.
▶ 8:00:20Uh, I think this is a really important issue and I would gladly uh ask for your support on this amendment. I yield back. Not going to ask the gentleman if he likes being referred to as wonky, not sexy, but that's okay. Uh, gentle lady from Florida's recognized comment on the amendment. Did you say you're accepting the amendment, Mr. I'm with you.
▶ 8:00:51Yield back. Uh the amendment is accepted. If there's Oh, excuse me. If there's no further debate, gentleman's recognized for one minute to close, chair.
▶ 8:01:07Uh, this is a a wonky amendment and is uh an important one and I hope that we could uh recycle uh uh these babies right here at home and we really don't know what's happening to our data by the way and of course as I said before uh it lands uh in wrong places at the wrong time. So I ask all of you for your support and thank you.
▶ 8:01:36Questions now on the amendment offered by the gentleman from New York. All those in favor say I. All oppose say no. The opinion of the chair of the eyes have it and the amendment is adopted. Gentle lady from Pennsylvania, Miss Dean is recognized for the purpose of an Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk and I ask unanimous consent to dispense with its reading. Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with. The gentle lady is recognized for remarks on her amendment. I thank you, Mr.
▶ 8:02:06Chairman. Uh, and and the gentleoman from New Jersey, Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, joins me in offering the two amendments that I am going to offer right now. And I thank the gentle woman for joining me. This amendment, my amendment number one, seeks to encourage the State Department to allot funding to the East Jerusalem Hospital System. uh and provide Congress with a report of their plans to do so.
▶ 8:02:32For those of uh us in the room, just to let you know, I think you already know, the East Jerusalem Hospital Network is comprised of six hospitals in East Jerusalem that underpins the entire Palestinian health care system across the Holy Land. All six hospitals were either founded by or are currently operated and funded by both Christian and Muslim faith-based institutions.
▶ 8:02:59For example, the August Victoria Hospital run by the Lutheran World Federation is a part of this network and has been in operation in its current form since providing critical life-saving health care needs to the entire Palestinian community. Like all hospitals, anyone, regardless of faith, backgrounds or ethnicity, who enters these hospitals are served.
▶ 8:03:25It is the first and only hospital in Jerusalem that serves patients living in the West Bank in Gaza to provide comprehensive cancer care, including radiation therapy and paliotative care, and the only medical facility in the West Bank offering pediatric kidney dialysis. Last year alone, Augusta Victoria Hospital conducted nearly 7,000 mammogram screenings, detecting and following up on 50 early breast cancer cases.
▶ 8:03:55They also provided medical services to more than 6,500 patients, mostly women, and included 251 children. I'll tell you the story of just one. One of those little children was little Basil who was just two years old when he was diagnosed with leukemia. His care took more than one year and it saved his life thanks to the provision of care by Augusta Victoria Hospital.
▶ 8:04:23Ba Basile was able to get that treatment in the Holy Land and to My amendment simply is to encourage continued support for this lifesaving work across the network that has received our bipartisan support under Democratic and Republican administrations. Mr. Chairman, I ask for a favorable vote on my amendment and I yield back. Thank the gentle lady. The gentleman from Florida, Mr. Diaz Bolard, is recognized to respond to the amendment.
▶ 8:04:53Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I rise in opposition to this amendment. Assistance to the East uh Jerusalem Hospital Network is permitted under the Taylor Force Act. There's no provision on funding uh if the secretary decides that it benefits the American people to do so.
▶ 8:05:09But given the dynamic conflict scenario in the Middle East and our uh constrained resources uh to respond to crisis and opportunities all over the world, I don't support this amendment and instead I think that the secretary should decide if this is the best use of our resources. For those reasons, I urge a no vote on the amendment and I yield back. Mr. Gentle lady from Florida, Miss Franklin is recognized to comment on the amendment. That Thank you. I I know it's getting late.
▶ 8:05:39I rise in support of the amendment and uh even though we're getting tired, I want to thank you for this because you you've talked about a hospital that does absolutely amazing work and you were very articulate and and I yelled back and thank you uh Bonnie Watson. Gentle lady from New Jersey, Miss Watson Coleman is recognized to comment on the Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
▶ 8:06:08I just want to take this opportunity to thank um my colleague Miss Dean allowing me to uh co-sponsor this important legislation. I think it speaks to her humanity. It speaks to humanity. It speaks to saving children and saving people wherever they need to be saved and it speaks to our capacity to be helpful in that way. And so I ask my colleagues to consider supporting this great amendment that Miss Dean has offered.
▶ 8:06:39I am going to yield a time to my Thank you, Miss Watson Coleman, and thank you, Miss Dean. I should have co-sponsored this amendment and the next amendment and want to thank you for bringing them forward. Um, I'm proud to support you in this effort. I yield back to Miss Watson Coleman. Thank you. I yield. Sorry. Thank the gentle lady.
▶ 8:07:07Um, are there other members wishing to comment? Gentle lady from Connecticut is recognized comment on the Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I I just asked the staff to to help me understand why we would not support a that is engaged in trying to save What what could possibly
▶ 8:07:38be a negative symbol? We in case anyone knows it, the hospital in Jordan, the Hussein hospital in Jordan is accepting pediatric cancer patients from Gaza to save their lives. We're talking about saving lives.
▶ 8:08:03Despite whatever political intrigue there is in a region or what political concerns there may be, the humanitarian aspect of taking patients and children to a hospital to save their life. My word.
▶ 8:08:33What is help? Just help and helping me to understand why this is not something that we can What is the fear? This is East East Jerusalem is recognized. It's not in contention.
▶ 8:09:04It's engaged with religious organizations. And there are a whole lot of people here who stand tall on religion and their faith.
▶ 8:09:20people of faith would be standing here today and saying, please support the work of the East Jerusalem Hospital or any And what are they for? What do hospitals do? Any hospital in the United States? Maybe we should not support some hospitals in the United States because we don't like where they're located.
▶ 8:09:48My Again, I said earlier today, a moral compass. It appears to be gone in some parts of this committee. Thank you, Miss Thank gentle lady. Are there other members wishing to address the amendment?
▶ 8:10:07Gentleman from Maryland's I am a strong supporter to say the least of I've been to Israel over 20 times every decade since the 70s. I don't know how many of you have visited a Hadasha hospital.
▶ 8:10:36It's a hospital in Jerus Jerusalem. And if there's a terrorist who shoots an and then is injured in return by return flight fight fire and you take them to Hadasa Hospital, they treat both patients.
▶ 8:11:11I see everybody looking down. See you on your iPads or your phones. Unless you have some blood oath to vote no on everything.
▶ 8:11:35I cannot as as the ranking member of our committee has said understand why you would oppose this amendment. This is about doing what our doctors and our medical personnel say they have a duty to do because they do the same thing.
▶ 8:11:59If a policeman is injured and in turn injured the asalent, the hospital will treat There has got to come a time when partisanship stops and principle takes over. This is not about whether you're for Israel or against Israel. This is about whether you're for saving lives.
▶ 8:12:28and all too often young lives, infants. I just can't understand why this would be a partisan issue and the chairman would oppose it. it is a totally partisan perspective, surely Surely
▶ 8:13:00none of you would say to a child because they happen to be a Palestinian child or a child of some other denomination other than your own or nationality other than that you would say to a child of two or three or four or five or six or seven or eight or nine will not
▶ 8:13:30serve you. I see blank faces and I really don't understand it. We're all human beings. We all love our children. I love my grandchildren.
▶ 8:13:51I love my greatg And I wouldn't want them rejected in any hospital in this world if they needed. Come on, guys and gals. Let's show the world that we still have a heart. I I don't get it. Maybe somebody will explain it to me.
▶ 8:14:24I'll yield. There are other members wishing to address the amendment.
▶ 8:14:55Seeing none, the gentle lady is recognized to close for one minute. Perhaps, Mr. Chairman, I made a mistake when I asked for the waving of the Let me read to you what this amendment actually does. It is suggested report language in the appropriate place. Hospital networks.
▶ 8:15:18The committee encourages the state department to continue support to the East Jerusalem hospital network and on the committee encourages. That's all I'm asking for, Mr. Chairman. I'm not asking for a dollar.
▶ 8:15:36I'm encouraging or we as appropriators would say we encourage the continued support which has been bipartisan the saving of lives whether Arab, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Palestinian, Israeli. I I can't understand a no vote on this.
▶ 8:16:01We've been baffled by you don't want to feed or offer humanitarian aid to these places that are so stricken, but now you don't want hospital networks to continue to do the work of saving lives, particularly the lives of Palestinian children. Is there something special about Palestinian children, that you have a problem with encouraging resources to that hospital network?
▶ 8:16:24I ask, humbly ask for your I I I don't know how many of you watch at night and you see the St. Jude's Children's Hospital commercials. Doesn't it touch your heart every time? Don't you put yourself in the shoes of those parents and grandparents? Please open your heart. Please vote yes on this amendment. Questions now on the amendment offered by the gentle lady from Pennsylvania.
▶ 8:16:54All those in favor say I. I. All post say no. Opinion of the chair of the nose have it. Roll call has been requested. Sufficient numbers of hands have been raised. The clerk will call the role. Mr. Adder Holt. Mr. Aguilar. Mr. Aguilar. I. Mr. Alford. Mr. Alford. No. Mr. Ammeday. Mr. Ammedday. No. Mr. Mr. Bishop. Mr. Bishop. I. Mr.
▶ 8:17:24Calbertt. Mr. Calbertt. No. No. Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter. No. Mr. Casease. Mr. Case. I. Mr. Sisammani. Mr. Sisammani. No. Mr. Klein. Mr. Klene. No. Mr. Cloud. Mr. Cloud. No. Mr. Klyber. Mr. Klyber. I. Mr. Clyde. Mr. Clyde. No. Mr. Cole. No. Mr. Cole. No. Mr. Quayar. Mr. Quayar. I. Miss Dean. I. Miss Dean. I. Miss.
▶ 8:17:54Deloro. Mr. Loro I Mr. Diaz Bolard Mr. Diaz Bolard No Mr. Edwards Mr. Edwards No Mr. Elie Mr. Elzie no Miss Escobar Miss Escobar I Mr. Espayat Mr. Espayat I Mr. Fleshman Mr. Fleshman no Miss Frankle I Miss Frankle I Mr. Franklin Mr. Franklin no Mr. Gonzalez Mr. Gonzalez no Mr. Guest Mr. Guest no Mr. Harter Mr.
▶ 8:18:24Harter I Dr. Dr. Harris. Dr. Harris. No. Mrs. Henson. Mrs. Henson. No. Mr. Hoyer. Mr. Hoyer. I. Mr. Ivy. Mr. Ivy. I. Mr. Joyce. Mr. Joyce. No. Miss Captor. Mr. Loa. Mr. Loa. No. Miss Lee. Miss Lee. I. Miss Llo. Miss Llo. No. Mr. Levan. Mr. Levan. I.
▶ 8:18:54I Miss Mallaloy Miss McCullum I Miss McCullum I Miss Ming Miss Ming I Mr. Molinar Mr. Molinar No Mr. Moore Mr. Moore No Mr. Morelli Mr. Morelli I Mr. Mvani Mr. Murvan I Mr. New House Mr. New House no Miss Perez Miss Perez I miss Pingri Miss Pingri I Mr. Pokean Mr. Pokean I Mr. Quigley.
▶ 8:19:25Mr. Rashenthaler. Mr. Rashenthaler. No. Mr. Rogers. Mr. Rogers. No. Mr. Rutherford. Mr. Rutherford. No. Mr. Simpson. Mr. Simpson. No. Mr. Strong. Mr. Strong. No. Mrs. Torres. Mrs. Torres. I Miss Underwood. Hi. Miss Underwood. I Mr. Valido. Mr. Valado. No. Miss Wasserman Schultz. Miss Wasserman Schultz. I Mrs. Watson Coleman. Mrs. Watson. Coleman. I Mr. WAC. Mr. Wac, no. Mr. Zinci, Mr.
▶ 8:19:54Zinci, Uh, do any members wish to record their vote or change their vote? Gentleman from Alabama, Mr. Adder Hold, no. Gentle lady from Oklahoma. Mrs. Vice, no. Gentle lady from Utah. Miss Malloy, no. Are there other members wishing to record or change their votes? Seeing none, the clerk will tally.
▶ 8:20:58This vote the eyes 26 and no are 35. The amendment is not adopted. Gentle lady from Pennsylvania, Miss Dean is recognized for an amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have an amendment at the desk and I ask that the reading be dispensed with. Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentle lady's recognized for remarks on her amendment. Uh and I want to again thank uh Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman for joining me on this.
▶ 8:21:25And now uh Representative Veronica Escobar uh for joining me on this also. Mr. Chairman, I'm grateful for the chance to offer this amendment and to lift uh the tragedy, the catastrophe, the human suffering that is happening before our very eyes in Gaza. We all recognize the horror that Hamas inflicted on Israel October the 7th, 2023, nearly 2 years ago.
▶ 8:21:51None of us will ever forget where we were as we watched in horror uh the slaughter, the kidnapping, the sexual violence, the horror. I've met with many hostages families. I've met with hostages who had been released. I wear this tag, this dog tag every single day. It is for the release of the hostages. Still 50, approximately 50 living and deceased being held by Hamas in Gaza.
▶ 8:22:21I put it on as a prayer every single day for the return of the remains and for the return, please God, of those who are living. And we can also recognize the suffering of innocents and ensure the clear use of funds and the efficiency of humanitarian aid distribution which we see has been such a challenge. Here's what my amendment aims to do.
▶ 8:22:45To enforce one of the greatest responsibilities of Congress, that of appropriations and ensuring transparency, accountability, and oversight of our taxpayer dollars. The Foreign Assistance Act demands the prevention of fraud, corruption, and demands good governance, transparency, and accountability.
▶ 8:23:03Last week in Foreign Affairs Committee, I questioned Deputy Secretary Rigus of the State Department support uh of the Gaza the newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an organization that is violating core humanitarian principles. I asked the State Department, and I don't know if this got past you because it did uh for some period of time get past me.
▶ 8:23:26Why did the State Department wave nine mandatory counterterrorism and anti-fraud safeguards to rush in five days time a $30 million award to the newly formed Gaza Humanitarian uh foundation under ENRA and other UN agencies including Cindy McCain's World Food Program with whom I have met multiple times.
▶ 8:23:51Gaza has 400 had, excuse me, 400 distribution sites and delivered medicines, services, and food aid to each person in Gaza. The newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has only four sites for a population of 2 million people. Prior to this time, not a single refugee was gunned down as they attempted desperately to retrieve aid for their family with UNRA or World Food or other UN programs.
▶ 8:24:21Yet, as of July more than 1,000 Gazins have been killed, shot and killed by IDF by trying to simply get food. Mr. Netanyahu's uh as well the Trump and Netanyahu administrations under section 7067 of this bill claim aid diversion by Hamas.
▶ 8:24:47I've had conversations with the prime minister himself to say show us that they have provided no proof of that. And don't get me wrong, I believe Hamas could be stealing some of this support, but it is certainly not the right reason, and there's been no proof to shut down all aid, punish the vi the victims, the innocent. I asked the Department of State for classified or unclassified evidence of these claims. I have yet to receive a response.
▶ 8:25:16Even President Biden's special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues said Israel never proved that Hamas was stealing a majority of the UN or NGO aid. Mrs. Cindy McCain in conversations with her that I have had also confirmed that World Food Program was not seeing that. So why are we tearing down established systems uh to replace them with is what has become a death trap for starving Palestinians?
▶ 8:25:44I strongly support the opening remarks made by ranking member Delaro. We need to restore all funding the agencies that were providing food, medicine services such as ENRA, World Food Program, and International Medical Corps. My amendment focuses on fiscally relevant congressional requirements for oversight, transparency, accountability.
▶ 8:26:08Simply, it seeks a report with compliance of the mandatory safeguards and disclosure of plans that prevent civilian harm and death around distribution sites. That's all. We cannot allow taxpayer dollars to contribute to the ongoing death of innocent people. I have repeatedly made my priorities clear, and you've seen these priorities from world leaders, including Pope Leo.
▶ 8:26:36What should happen is a ceasefire now, return of the hostages, living and deceased, so that they will have their dignity, an immediate rush of full humanitarian aid and services into Gaza as the region and the world works toward a two-state solution where all people can live in dignity. Mr. Chairman, I do appreciate the chance to offer this amendment to raise this issue of this ongoing catastrophe of human making.
▶ 8:27:06These issues are about our common humanity. And it is with that, Mr. Chairman, that I withdraw my amendment. Gentle lady from Texas, uh, Miss Escobar is recognized for an amendment. Mr.
▶ 8:27:31Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk and I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with and the gentle lady's recognized for remarks on her amendment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To all of my colleagues in this room, I hope this is an easy one, and it really should be. This amendment is fundamentally about good governance.
▶ 8:27:57It's about saving taxpayer dollars, and it's about This amendment actually also builds on language already included in the bill that encourages congressional notification and consultation with Congress by the executive branch as it relates to the reorganization or redesign of agencies and organizations funded in this bill. So what does the amendment do?
▶ 8:28:26It requires a report to be shared with Congress 30 days before any reductions in force are to be implemented and explicitly requires four pieces of information. Number one, the justification for the reductions in force. Number two, an outline of the impacts by office and staffing functions. Three, the length of severance and benefits made available to the employees who would be impacted.
▶ 8:28:57And four, the total cost of the proposed reduction in force and where that money would come from. What we saw earlier this year with the massive reductions in force that frankly caught many of us offguard. Many members of Congress were not aware of the massive reductions in force. Those reductions in force, some of some of those were overturned by a court.
▶ 8:29:27We later learned that some of the folks who were rifted essentially were paid to stay home. When those reductions in force had to be we had to pay severance. I was taught you measure twice and you cut once.
▶ 8:29:49And Congress has a very important role in measuring twice and cutting once in being good stewards of our taxpayer dollars in ensuring that we are aware of what any administration is doing. This does not limit the This does not provide any ownorous um responsibilities on the administration.
▶ 8:30:18Truly, it is simply an amendment that provides transparency and allows Congress to get some insight into any riffs that might be coming. I will tell you I am I I I I I have been heartbroken by the mass layoffs by many of our dedicated public servants.
▶ 8:30:43And this again does not prevent those layoffs. It simply gives us advanced notice. So pretty simple. I hope we can all agree that we deserve that notification. We deserve that it it's a very minimal requirement. I think it's an easy yes. Mr. Chairman, I yield back. Thank the gentle lady and the gentleman from Florida, Mr.
▶ 8:31:12Diaz Bolard is recognized to address the amendment. I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's almost a easy an easy yes, but not quite. And I will tell you respectfully, I will tell you why. Um the provision is duplicative and of a longstanding provision contained in section uh 7063 of the bill.
▶ 8:31:31Uh a provision provides that the funds in this bill or prior acts may not be used to implement a reorganization including any that eliminates, consolidates or downsize uh cover departments, agencies or organizations without prior consultation with the appropriate congressional committees. And in addition, uh, it further provides that such reorganization be notified to the appropriations committee to include a detailed justification. So again, uh, I I I I understand where where the sponsor is trying to go.
▶ 8:32:00I just think that this uh is unnecessary and redundant of existing law and therefore respectfully, I would urge a no vote. And with that, Mr. Chairman, I will yield back. Thank the gentleman. The gentle lady from Florida, Miss Frankle, is recognized to respond to the amendment. Thank Thank you. And I I as this I think this is our last amendment. So I want to thank everyone for hanging in there and thank you for this very very fine amendment. Listen, you know, uh why do we need to do this?
▶ 8:32:28Because we have a lawless white house that ignores the laws and ignores the Congress. And it's about time that we have some spine and we say, "Hey, uh, we need the reports, we need the information, we need the transparency, and we need to pass this very good amendment." And I yield back. Thank gentle lady, gentleman from California, Mr. Levens, recognized to address the amendment. Mr.
▶ 8:32:57Chairman, and I rise in support of the amendment. I thank my colleague and friend from Texas for offering it. And Mr. chairman uh and to the chairman of the subcommittee respectfully. I appreciate what you said, but the administration is not following the statute that you reference. I wish I were wrong about that. I I wish that it weren't the case, but I can tell you that we are not getting uh the notice that is required by that statute. If we were, we would have no need for this amendment.
▶ 8:33:27But I would hope that we would all agree that there is something really different going on with this administration than we've seen in the past to administrations of either party including the first Trump administration. Uh the role of our committee, the role of our institution has been discussed a lot in the last few weeks and I'm so glad that that plaque Mr. Chairman is still up on the dis article 1 section 9 clause 7. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law.
▶ 8:33:57That same article 1 section 9 clause 7 that's in the logo of this committee, Mr. Chairman, appropriately and rightfully. That clause means Congress controls the power of the purse, not the OM. And it means we have a duty, a constitutional duty, a responsibility to ensure that the funds we appropriate are used wisely and lawfully. That's part of why we're here.
▶ 8:34:21So, if an agency is about to lay off employees or close offices, we should be told before it happens, not after the fact, not as a courtesy. This is our responsibility. There's clear and long-standing precedent for this kind of requirement.
▶ 8:34:37The chairman raised that statute, but Congress routinely requires agencies to submit detailed reports or justifications at least 30 days before taking significant actions, whether closing VA facilities or transferring funds, reorganizing programs, carrying out a rift. Certainly, that's been my experience as an authorizer for six years, and I hope that's the case here, too.
▶ 8:34:58Advanced notice provisions appear regularly in past appropriations bills and oversight statutes because they preserve Congress's constitutional role in deciding how taxpayer dollars are used and ensure that major decisions affecting public services and federal employees are made with transparency and accountability to us, not to one party or another, to all of us. But there is a pattern of behavior by the current OM that goes well beyond what we've seen before.
▶ 8:35:26And we have seen funds frozen. We've seen congressionally appropriated funds not released. We've seen funds potentially being held back without going through proper legal channels. And these actions have raised serious alarm. And they have raised alarm, including members of both parties. Both parties. Senate Republicans have expressed frustration with OM's approach. One GOPA told Politico that OM is the problem, quote unquote.
▶ 8:35:57Mitch McConnell, saying they'd like a blank check. I agree with Senator McConnell. Another report described how the White House is pushing to expand executive power by reserving the ability to freeze or resend agency spending at will. That's what's still to come, even when we've already appropriated the money. It's really about a larger effort to strip Congress of its oversight role altogether. That's something that should concern each and every one of you.
▶ 8:36:25And even if this process is so partisan where you can't support this amendment, I hope you speak out about this. This is important to all of us. So all this says is if you're going to lay people off or shut down offices, explain the plan. Tell Congress what it costs. Tell us how services will be maintained. That's not partisan at all. That's just responsible governance. And if we're going to preserve the balance of powers that our founders envisioned, we can't just let one branch make all the decisions.
▶ 8:36:55We've got to reaffirm our role. And I do think this amendment can help bring some much needed daylight to this process. So, I urge my colleagues to support it. And I yield back. I thank the gentleman. Uh are there other members wishing to address the Gentleman from Maryland's recognized.
▶ 8:37:27Power was great and no confidence that this amendment which should pass will Are there other members wishing to address the amendment? Seeing no, the gentle lady is recognized for one minute to close. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Chairman, I want to address your concern headon. Your concern that this is duplicative.
▶ 8:37:57Here's why it's not. It's not duplicative because the administration, if it did not follow the 30-day rule in this amendment for some very simple information that Congress should have, if the administration doesn't follow the rule laid out in this amendment, then they're prohibited from riffing I don't know about you, but I don't like reading
▶ 8:38:27about things like riffs in the newspaper or seeing them on the news. As a member of the appropriations committee, we should have the right and the obligation to this information and I would encourage everyone of my colleagues to vote in favor of this very simple amendment that calls for transparency. Thank you. I yield back. Thank the gentle lady.
▶ 8:38:55The question now is on the amendment offered by the gentle lady from Texas. All those in favor say I. I. All those oppose say no. Opinion of the chair of the nose have Roll call has been requested. Sufficient number of hands have been raised. Clerk will call the role. Mr. Adder Halt. Mr. Adhalt. No. Mr. Aguilar. Mr. Aguular. I. Mr. Alford. Mr. Alford. No. Mr. Ammedday. Mr. Amade. No. Mrs. Spice. Mrs. Spice. No. Mr. Bishop. Mr.
▶ 8:39:25Bishop. I Mr. Calbertt. Mr. Calbert. No. Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter. No. Mr. Casease. Mr. Casease. I Mr. Sisammani. Mr. Sisammani. No. Mr. Klene. Mr. Klein. No. Mr. Cloud. Mr. Cloud. No. Mr. Klyurn. Mr. Klyburn. I. Mr. Clyde. Mr. Clyde. No. Mr. Cole. Mr. Cole. No. Mr. Quayar. Mr. Quayrar. I. Miss Dean. Miss Dean. I Mr.
▶ 8:39:52Luro Mr. Mr. Loro I Mr. Diaz Bolard Mr. Diaz Bolard No Mr. Edwards Mr. Edwards No Mr. Mr. Elsie No Miss Escobar Miss Escobar I Mr. Espayot Mr. Espay I Mr. Fleshman Mr. Fleshman no Miss Frankle Miss Frankle I Mr. Franklin Mr. Gonzalez no Mr. Gonzalez no Mr. Guest Mr. Guest. No. Mr. Harter. Mr.
▶ 8:40:22Harter. I. Dr. Harris. Dr. Harris. No. Mrs. Henson. Mrs. Henson. No. Mr. Hoyer. Mr. Hoyer. I. Mr. Ivy. Mr. Ivy. I. Mr. Miss Captor. Mr. Loa. Mr. Loa. No. Miss Lee. Miss Lee. I. Miss. Let Miss Lelo. No. Mr. Leven. Mr. Leven. I. Miss Mallaloy. Miss Mallaloy, no.
▶ 8:40:50Miss McCullum, Miss McCullum, I Miss Ming, Miss Ming, I. Mr. Molinar, Mr. Molinar, no. Mr. Moore, Mr. Moore, no. Mr. Melli, Mr. Morelli, I Mr. Mvan, Mr. Murvan, I, Mr. New House. Mr. New House, no. Miss Perez, Miss Perez, I, Miss Pingri, Miss Pingri, I, Mr. Pokean, Mr. Pokean, I, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Russianthaler. Mr. Russianthaler, no. Mr. Rogers, Mr. Rogers, no. No, Mr. Rutherford. Mr. Rutherford.
▶ 8:41:20No, Mr. Simpson. Mr. Simpson. No, Mr. Strong. Mr. Strong. No, Mrs. Torres. Mrs. Torres. I Miss Underwood. Miss Underwood. I Mr. Valido. Mr. Valado. No. Miss Wasimman Schultz. Miss Watson Schultz. I Mrs. Watson Coleman. Mrs. Watson Coleman. I M Mr. Wac. Mr. WAC. No. Mr. Zinci. Mr. Zinci. Are there any members wishing to record their vote or change their vote? Gentleman from Florida. Mr.
▶ 8:41:50Franklin, no. Gentleman from Ohio. Mr. Joyce, no. Are there other members wishing to record or change their vote? Don't want to miss anybody. Not the clerk will tally. Oh, gentleman from Georgia.
▶ 8:42:20Is he recording? I'm sorry, gentleman's recorded. I I was on I was didn't want to miss you. On this vote,
▶ 8:42:50the eyes are 26, the nose are 35. The amendment is not adopted. Before I turn to our last item, I just wanted to note for the record that our secretary of state is a Floridaian. Our chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee is a Fidian. The ranking or the chairman of this committee is a Fidian. The ranking member is a Fidian.
▶ 8:43:21I just want on behalf of the committee thank all you Flidians for allowing us to participate uh in funding the foreign policy of the United States. Seeing no further amendments, I now recognize Mr. Rogers for a motion. Mr. Mr.
▶ 8:43:39Chair, I move to favorably report to the House the fiscal year 2026 National Security Department of State and Related Programs Appropriations Questions now in the motion to favorably report to the House the fiscal year 2026 National Security Department of State and Related Programs Appropriations Bill. All those in favor say I. I. All those post say no. No. The opinion of the chair of the eyes have it.
▶ 8:44:10Recorded vote has been requested. Sufficient number of hands have been raised. Clerk will call the role. Mr. Aderhalt. Mr. Adder Holt. I Mr. Agular. Mr. Aguilar. No. Mr. Alford. Mr. Alford. I. Mr. Ammedday. Mr. Ammedday. I Mrs. Bice. Mrs. Bice. I Mr. Mr. Bishop. No. Mr. Calbertt. Mr. Calbert. I Mr. Carter. Mr. Carter. I Mr. Case Mr. Casease No Mr. Sisammani Mr. Sisammani I Mr.
▶ 8:44:39Klene Mr. Klene I Mr. Cloud Mr. Cloud I Mr. Mr. Klyurn no Mr. Clyde Mr. Clyde I Mr. Mr. Cole I Mr. Quayar Mr. Quayart no Miss Dean Miss Dean no Mr. Loro Mr. Loro no Mr. Diaz Bolard Mr. Diaz Bolard I Mr. Edwards Mr. Mr. Edwards. I Mr. Elzie. Mr. Elz. I Miss Escobar. Miss Escobar. No. Mr. Espayot.
▶ 8:45:10Mr. Espay. No. Mr. Fleshman. Mr. Fleshman. I. Miss. Frankle. Miss. Frank. No. Mr. Franklin. Mr. Franklin. I. Mr. Gonzalez. Mr. Gonzalez. I. Mr. Guest. Mr. Guest. I. Mr. Harter. Mr. Harter. No. Dr. Harris. Dr. Harris. I. Mrs. Henson. Mrs. Henson. I. Mr. Hoyer. No. Mr. Hoyer. No. Mr. Ivy. Mr. Ivy. No. Mr. Joyce. Mr. Joyce. I Miss Captor. Miss Captor. No. Mr. Loa. Mr. Loa. I Miss Lee.
▶ 8:45:40Miss Lee. No. Miss Llo. Miss Llo. I. Mr. Levan. Mr. Lean. No. Miss Malloy. Miss Mallaloy. I Miss McCullum. Miss McCullum. No. Miss Ming. Miss Ming. No. Mr. Molinar. Mr. Molinar. I. Mr. Moore. Mr. Moore. I. Mr. Morelli. Mr. Morelli. No. Mr. Morvan. Mr. Morvan. No. Mr. Mr. New House. Mr. New House. I Miss Miss Perez. No. Miss Pingri. Miss Pingri. No. Mr. Pokean. Mr. Pokean.
▶ 8:46:10No. Mr. Quigley. Mr. Rashenthaler. Mr. Rashenthaler. I. Mr. Rogers. Mr. Rogers. I. Mr. Rutherford. Mr. Rutherford. I. Mr. Simpson. Mr. Simpson. I. Mr. Strong. Mr. Strong. I. Mrs. Torres. Mrs. Torres. No. Miss. Underwood. Miss. Underwood. No. Mr. Valido. Mr. Mr. Valado I Miss Wasserman Schultz Miss Wasserman Schultz No Mrs. Watson Coleman Mrs. Watson Coleman no Mr. Wack Mr. Wack I Mr.
▶ 8:46:40Zinci Mr. Zinci I Does any member wish to change or record their vote? Seeing none, the clerk will tally.
▶ 8:47:23On this vote, the eyes are 35, the nose are 27, and the motion is agreed to. Uh, I ask unanimous consent that staff be permitted to make technical and conforming changes to the bill and report uh just approved. Three days. Three days. Other than that seeing no objection without object uh objection so ordered there being no further business this committee stands adjourned.