    [Senate Hearing 118-603]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                            S. Hrg. 118-603

                        STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, AND RELATED
                         PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISCAL
                         YEAR 2025

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARINGS

                                    BEFORE A

                              SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE

                           COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                               UNITED STATES SENATE

                        ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 SECOND SESSION

                                       on

                               H.R. 8771/S. 4797

               AN ACT MAKING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
                FOREIGN OPERATIONS, AND RELATED PROGRAMS FOR THE FISCAL
                YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 30, 2025, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

                                   __________

                           Nondepartmental Witnesses
    Strengthening American Competitiveness: Examining the Roles of the U.S.
     International Development Finance Corporation, Export-Import Bank of
            the United States, and Millennium Challenge Corporation
               United States Agency For International Development
                       United States Department of State

                                   __________

             Printed for the use of the Committee on Appropriations

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

            Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov

                                   __________

                       U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    55-317 PDF                  WASHINGTON : 2025

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                          COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

                        PATTY MURRAY, Washington, Chair
    DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California \1\     SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine, Vice
    RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois              Chair
    JACK REED, Rhode Island              MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky
    JON TESTER, Montana                  LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska
    JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire        LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina
    JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon                 JERRY MORAN, Kansas
    CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware       JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota
    BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii                 JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
    TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin             SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West
    CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut          Virginia
    JOE MANCHIN, III, West Virginia      JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana
    CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland           CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi
    MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico          BILL HAGERTY, Tennessee
    GARY PETERS, Michigan                KATIE BRITT, Alabama
    KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona \2\          MARCO RUBIO, Florida
                                         DEB FISCHER, Nebraska

                          Evan Schatz, Staff Director
                  Elizabeth McDonnell, Minority Staff Director

                                     ------

        Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs

                    CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware, Chairman

    RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois          LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina,
    JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire            Ranking Member
    JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon                 MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky
    CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut      JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
    CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland           JERRY MORAN, Kansas
    BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii                 MARCO RUBIO, Florida
                                         BILL HAGERTY, Tennessee

                               Professional Staff

                                  Alex Carnes
                                 Kali Farahmand
                                  Sarita Vanka
                                   Drew Platt

                             Paul Grove (Minority)
                          Katherine Bowles (Minority)
                            Adam Yezerski (Minority)

                             Administrative Support
                           LaShawnda Smith (Minority)

        \1\ Died September 29, 2023.
        \2\ Appointed to Committee October 18, 2023.
        \3\ Appointed to Subcommittee November 2, 2023.

                               C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------

                                    hearings

                             Tuesday, April 9, 2024

                                                                       Page

    United States Agency for International Development...............     1

                            Wednesday, May 15, 2024

    Strengthening American Competitiveness: Examining the Roles of
      the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, Export-
      Import Bank of the United States, and Millennium Challenge
      Corporation....................................................    43

                             Tuesday, May 21, 2024

    United States Department of State................................   101

                                  ----------

                                  back matter

    List of Witnesses, Communications, and Prepared Statements.......   287

    Nondepartmental Witnesses........................................   151

    Subject Index:

        Strengthening American Competitiveness: Examining the Roles
          of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation,
          Export-Import Bank of the United States, and Millennium
          Challenge Corporation......................................   289

        United States Agency for International Development...........   289

        U.S. Department of State.....................................   289

      STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS FOR
                                FISCAL YEAR 2025

                                  ----------

                             TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2024

                                           U.S. Senate,
               Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
                                                        Washington, DC.

        The subcommittee met at 2:31 p.m., in room SD-138, Dirksen
    Senate Office Building, Hon. Christopher A. Coons (Chairman),
    presiding.
        Present: Senators Coons, Murray, Durbin, Merkley, Murphy,
    Van Hollen, Graham, and Moran.

               UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

               opening statement of senator christopher a. coons

        Senator Coons. I would like to call the State and Foreign
    Operations and Related Programs
    Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee of the United
                                        States Senate to order.
        We meet today to review the fiscal year 2025 budget request
    for the United States Agency for International Development.
        I am delighted to welcome back Administrator Samantha
    Power. You are a few short weeks away from your third
    anniversary as USAID Administrator, making you the longest-
    serving AID Administrator since Raj Shah in the past decade,
    and I just, upfront, wanted to thank you and all the people of
    USAID around the world.
        You have been tireless. You have traveled the world. You
    have advocated for change. You have been someone who has
    applied your values, your capabilities, and your leadership to
    an exceptionally difficult time, and I am grateful for your
    service. We look forward to hearing your perspectives on the
    challenges facing AID as well, as the opportunities.
        I also solicited testimony from the Inspector General, Paul
    Martin, given his critical role. And each Senator has in front
    of them his submission which is part of the formal record.
        This is this subcommittee's first fiscal year 2025 hearing
    for funding, and we have a great deal to cover. I first briefly
    want to reflect on fiscal year 2024. Our fiscal year 2024 bill
    for State, USAID, MCC, DFC, and other related agencies, was
    ultimately $58.3 billion, a 5.5 percent cut from the fiscal
    year 2023 appropriated level.
        In managing that cut, we made some hard decisions, limiting
    the impact on workforce, trying to make sure that the people
    who are at the very core of what you do were prioritized,
    meeting our treaty dues and multilateral commitments to
    demonstrate that we are a reliable global partner, and
    protecting funding for life-saving health programs and
    humanitarian assistance. That meant that funding had to be cut
    from other critical efforts. Those cuts will have real impacts,
    and we had to make hard choices.
        I have just returned from a CODEL led by Chair Murray to
    Angola, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Malawi, and Zambia, and we got to
    see firsthand the increasing needs due to food insecurity, the
    importance of investing in women and girls, the challenges and
    opportunities associated with strategic competition on the
    continent. It is critical that while we pursue new
    opportunities to promote our national security like investing
    in diversified and secure supply chains and competing for
    critical minerals, that we also ensure that those efforts
    actually benefit local communities and our national partners.
    This is what makes our development model different from some of
    our principal competitors.
        African countries also offer growing export markets for
    American companies. This is not principally about charity but
    about helping our partner countries address the challenges they
    face in a way that also presents opportunities for Americans.
    Now, that means we have to maintain our investments in economic
    growth and development, not just emergency responses, and to
    strategically build resilient systems including in agriculture
    to address food security.
        So while we can't do more with less, we have to continue
    refining our priorities and making the most of every
    appropriated dollar. That is why in the fiscal year 2024 Bill,
    we increased investments in agricultural R&D, we required more
    Feed the Future funds to be focused in target countries, and
    added a new directive for leveraging Feed the Future to
    catalyze private sector investment.
        Senator Graham and I are also working hard to authorize a
    new Food Security Foundation to leverage public sector funding
    in a way that would complement ongoing U.S. investments.
        This is also why we worked to enact the Economic Resilience
    Initiative that will provide $265 million in resources, across
    the interagency to support economic growth and stability in
    partner countries, including funding for strategic
    infrastructure projects through EXIM and DFC, enhancing
    critical supply chains and digital infrastructure, supporting
    the Economic Resilience Programs of USAID, and supporting new
    grants and loans to international financial institutions that
    provide access to capital for countries that, otherwise, would
    have to rely on the PRC's coercive model of lending.
        I am proud those efforts have moved forward as we seek to
    better leverage the private sector and to use our limited
    dollars. It is important we pursue these efforts while not
    undercutting traditional development. I want to discuss reforms
    that we can and should make to development, and we have to
    recognize the critical role that our development has played in
    our global leadership.
        That brings us to this year, to fiscal year 2025. The
    request for staff and programs across State, AID, MCC, DFC, and
    others, is $62.4 billion, that is 7 percent above the 2024
    enacted but only a 1 percent increase if you refer back to the
    2023 level. Last year we spoke in your hearing about the
    challenges AID faces, historic levels of food insecurity, a
    record number of refugees and displaced people, Democratic
    backsliding, Chinese economic coercion, Russian aggression in
    Ukraine, these and many other challenges persist and in some
    places have worsened. But you will have less to work with than
    you did even last year.
        Many of my colleagues and I are deeply concerned about the
    humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza where many who are surviving
    the violence are facing famine, and tonight as Eid al-Fitr is
    celebrated in Muslim families, again, that celebration it is a
    particularly painful reality that they are on the verge of
    famine.
        In Sudan, there is another devastating conflict which is
    inflicting an inconceivable toll on civilians, millions of
    dislocated civilians. In our own hemisphere, the people of
    Haiti are being terrorized by armed gangs and a lack of
    governance.
        All of this in combination, and more, is why the House
    needs to enact the Supplemental that we passed in the Senate
    that includes $9 billion for humanitarian assistance, and
    additional funds for Taiwan, for Ukraine, and other partners.
        Today is the start of a conversation about how we build a
    2025 Appropriations Bill that accounts for the reduced funding
    you received and the new challenges you face. I am proud of the
    work we have done on this subcommittee on a bipartisan basis to
    help you grow and better equip your workforce, apply lessons
    learned from your predecessors, adapt to locally led
    development and cooperation with the private sector. But we
    have more work to do.
        I look forward to hearing from you about your proposals
    about how we can best leverage our development tools, how we
    define our interests, where USAID fits in, and what you are
    doing to tell the story globally and to the American people
    about your leadership.
        Thank you, Madam Administrator, and I look forward to your
    testimony.
        Senator Graham.

                  opening statement of senator lindsey graham

        Senator Graham. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really enjoy
    working with you and my Democratic and Republican colleagues on
    the Committee.
        I have never seen this many problems in the world at the
    same time. Now, I wasn't around in World War II, I can only
    imagine how it must have been then, but everywhere you look,
    Mr. Chairman, it is just people moving around, war, famine,
    rumors of war. So it seems to me that America needs to
    understand not only the role we play in the world, but the role
    this Committee and this budget plays in making us safe.
        I am a pretty hawkish guy, but you are not going to kill
    your way out of all these problems. You are not going to fight
    your way out all these problems. Like food security, I am
    working with you on conservation programs to protect land and
    help communities. Protecting nature is good economic
    investment. It is actually good for the people, and creates
    jobs.
        On food security, the World Food Program is under siege.
    The number of people needing assistance on the food front has
    doubled in 2 years with no end in sight, so starving people,
    people with no hope left unattended are the terrorists'
    recruiting opportunity. And pay now or pay later is the way I
    look at it.
        We are having our budget cut at a time of the greatest need
    that I have seen. That is why I voted against this budget deal.
    On the Military side, everybody talks about we need a bigger
    Navy. Well, the budget we just agreed to is going to give us
    fewer ships in the next decade, not more, as China is building
    through the roof in this account.
        You know, the ability for USAID under your leadership, Ms.
    Power, is going to be more challenging. I do appreciate what
    you do, and to the people under you that work throughout the
    world, you are in danger every day. We rightly praise our
    Military and other groups, but USAID workers, State Department
    folks out on the tip of the spear, they deserve our respect,
    and support, and admiration. So I don't know how this gets
    better until we come up with some kind of strategy with our
    partners to get ahead of it.
        I will end where I began: You either pay now or you will
    pay later.
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator Graham. And thank you and
    your staff for your great partnership. We have genuinely
    enjoyed working together on this subcommittee, and it is an
    island of productivity and positivity in an otherwise
    challenging institution. And that applies across the
    subcommittee, but you, in particular, have been a great
    partner.
        Madam Administrator.
    STATEMENT OF HON. SAMANTHA POWER, ADMINISTRATOR, UNITED
                STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
        Ms. Power. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member
    Graham, and thanks to the other distinguished Members of the
    Committee, grateful for your comments, but above all, grateful
    for your leadership.
        And you are right in crediting USAID's teams for the
    sacrifices, and the work that they do all around the world. I
    would also just thank your teams. This budget process is not
    easy, because so many of us here believe in everything we do
    and recognize that everything is connected to everything else.
    It is very hard in an environment of cuts to find places to
    cut, and the collaboration that we have in thinking these
    problems through together has been absolutely pivotal. So,
    thanks really to the people, to you here, and to those who sit
    behind you.
        I want to start just by reflecting, and really speaking to,
    I think, Senator Graham's comments, by reflecting on the lobby
    of the Republic of Korea's Development Agency, which is their
    equivalent of USAID. They actually display an old bag of flour
    from the 1940s, which is marked with the words ``From the
    American People'', which of course is USAID's motto today. But
    this is a reminder of how the United States showed up,
    supported them when they were one of the poorest countries on
    the planet, to fight hunger, and disease, and to kick-start a
    journey of remarkable economic growth.
        Today, of course, South Korea is one of the world's richest
    countries, and last year spent nearly $4 billion--and this is
    the critical point- providing assistance to other countries.
    And while a lot of countries are experiencing cuts at a time
    when we can least afford it, I will say this coming year, Korea
    plans to go up from $4 billion to $5 billion in assistance to
    other countries.
        The decades that the United States has invested in
    supporting countries chart their own paths of development has,
    in fact, notwithstanding today's problems, brought
    extraordinary results, and not only for our partners, but also
    for our own people. We have helped stop the spread of diseases
    that threaten us all, and developed more resilient and high-
    yield crops that can feed growing populations.
        We have helped people and nations rise up from poverty and
    in doing so invested billions in American small businesses and
    opened up new markets for American products. And this is the
    really important fact: eight of our top ten trading partners
    today were once recipients of U.S. assistance.
        Under President Biden's leadership, and in partnership with
    this Committee, we are building on this legacy. In Ukraine,
    such a vivid example, USAID has helped Ukrainian farmers
    withstand Putin's attempts to destroy the agricultural sector.
    We have done this, thanks to you all, by getting them the
    seeds, the equipment, and initially the alternative export
    routes that they needed. This has remarkably helped Ukraine
    rebound their grain exports to very close to pre-war export
    levels. That is just extraordinary when you think of the
    systematic bombardment of the agricultural infrastructure by
    Putin's Forces.
        This, in turn, because everything is connected to
    everything else, has helped bring global food prices down 26
    percent from their 2022 peak.
        In Nigeria, we are providing community health workers with
    technologies to spot diseases like tuberculosis early, which
    helped increase TB diagnoses by a third in a single year. This
    allows patients to get treatment so that outbreaks don't spread
    across the planet. Across Africa, we are working to connect
    African and American companies and reduce barriers to trade
    through the Prosper Africa initiative. Efforts that since 2019
    have generated some $86 billion in trade and investment, that
    builds prosperity again both for our African partners and for
    businesses here at home.
        Bipartisan support for these efforts make Americans safer
    and more prosperous and provides a critical foundation for U.S.
    leadership and influence in a world where other global powers
    are working aggressively to erode U.S. alliances, undermine
    democracy, and diminish basic rights and freedoms.
        For example, the PRC's global lending spree has made it the
    world's largest debt collector. For every dollar of aid that
    the PRC provides to low-income and middle-income countries,
    China has provided $9 of debt, so $1 of aid, $9 of debt. The
    opposite is true here in the United States, for every dollar of
    debt we provide, we provide at least $9 of aid.
        The PRC's assistance tends to be negotiated behind closed
    doors, fueling corruption, and can demonstrate a flagrant
    disregard for human rights. One chilling example, of course, is
    the PRC's Safe Cities Initiative, which provides surveillance
    and facial recognition technology that can monitor critics,
    journalists, and activists. And that technology has been given
    to 80 countries so far, at least.
        We need U.S. leadership to advance models of development
    and governance that honor freedom, transparency, human dignity,
    and opportunity for all, which in turn will be more
    stabilizing.
        The Biden-Harris Administration's fiscal year 2025 request
    of $28.3 billion for USAID's fully and partially managed
    accounts would give us the resources to continue that
    leadership. With these funds, we will help nations around the
    world strengthen food security, improve health, and drive
    economic growth.
        We will respond to what have already been described as
    historic levels of humanitarian need. USAID teams have been
    working day and night to address the catastrophic humanitarian
    crisis in Gaza, where nearly the entire population is living
    under the threat of famine.
        Add to that, ongoing crisis in Ukraine, Sudan, and beyond,
    and continued battering from a growing number of natural
    disasters, and the number of people requiring humanitarian
    assistance has increased by nearly a third, from 274 million in
    2022 to 363 million at the end of 2023. I mean, if you think
    about that time margin, and the number of people with new
    needs, it is breathtaking.
        To meet these needs, and this is really something that I
    think we all must stress, we will need both the $10 billion in
    humanitarian assistance in this budget request, as well as the
    $10 billion in emergency humanitarian assistance in the pending
    National Security Supplemental request. Otherwise, we will be
    forced to make draconian cuts to rations in support all around
    the world.
        I want to be clear that the fiscal year 2025 request
    recognizes the need for tradeoffs. Crucially, this budget gives
    us specific resources to help us deliver even better value for
    money. We inaugurated, as many of you know, a new Office of the
    Chief Economist just last July, and the team is already
    expanding our use of rigorous analysis across the Agency to
    identify best buys, the programs with the highest impact per
    dollar invested, so that they can be scaled.
        They identified, for example, a poverty reduction program
    in our Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, which is being
    piloted in Uganda, which is offering a sequence set of supports
    like trainings and financial services that help refugees move
    from requiring humanitarian assistance to earning livelihoods
    for themselves.
        For every dollar we invest there, households are seeing
    over four times the return in economic benefits. And we are now
    taking that program on the road to other nations.
        I am going to wrap up here just in a minute.
        Beyond maximizing our own resources through efforts like
    that of the Chief Economist, we are drawing in new partners
    through tools like the new EDGE Fund. And here I just want to
    thank you for supporting that fund. It is an innovation, it
    meets this moment, and we need to scale it. This is an
    incentive fund designed to apply the private sector's unique
    comparative advantages to some of the largest global
    development challenges.
        We are working with companies like Citibank, Walmart, and
    Johnson & Johnson to boost our impact. And I want to be clear
    that from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2023, private sector
    partner contributions to USAID activities jumped by over 60
    percent. And this is something we need to make more broadly
    known so people understand how we are trying to leverage
    taxpayer dollars so that they go further. We also recognize
    that the future of development in so many countries is going to
    be driven by the private sector.
        If we make these investments, we really can catalyze
    change. And I have no doubt that we can continue America's
    extraordinary legacy of leadership in building a more secure,
    prosperous, and stable world for us all.
        Thank you.

        [The statement follows:]
      Prepared Statement of Administrator Samantha Power, Administrator,
               United States Agency for International Development
        Thank you Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and other
    distinguished members of the Committee.
        In the lobby of the Republic of Korea's development agency--their
    equivalent of USAID--they display an old bag of flour from the 1940s,
    marked with the words: ``From the American People.'' It's a reminder of
    how the U.S. supported them when they were one of the poorest countries
    on the planet to fight hunger and disease and kickstart economic
    growth. Today, of course, South Korea is one of the world's richest
    nations--and last year spent nearly four billion dollars providing aid
    to other nations. This year they plan to spend nearly five billion.
        The decades that the United States has supported countries in
    charting their own paths of development have brought extraordinary
    results--for our partners and for our own people. We've helped stop the
    spread of diseases that threaten us all and develop more resilient,
    high-yield crops that can feed growing populations. We've helped people
    and nations rise from poverty, and in doing so invested billions in
    American small businesses and opened up new markets for American
    products; eight of our top ten trading partners were once recipients of
    U.S. assistance.
        Under President Biden's leadership and in partnership with this
    Committee, we are building on that remarkable legacy. In Ukraine, for
    example, USAID has helped farmers withstand Putin's attempts to destroy
    the agricultural sector by getting them the seeds, equipment, and
    alternative export routes they need--efforts that have helped Ukraine
    rebound their grain exports to near pre-war levels and helped bring
    global food prices down 26 percent from their 2022 peak. In Nigeria,
    we're providing community health workers with technologies to spot
    diseases like tuberculosis early, which helped increase TB diagnoses by
    a third in a single year--so patients can get treatment and outbreaks
    won't spread across the planet. Across the African Continent, we are
    working to connect African and American companies and reduce barriers
    to trade through the Prosper Africa Initiative--efforts that since 2019
    have generated some $86 billion in trade and investment that builds
    prosperity for both our African partners and businesses here at home.
        Bipartisan support for these efforts makes Americans safer and more
    prosperous--and provides a critical foundation for American influence
    and leadership in a world where other global powers are working
    aggressively to erode U.S. alliances, undermine democracy, and diminish
    basic rights and freedoms.
        For example, the PRC's global lending spree has made it the world's
    largest debt collector. For every dollar of aid it provides to low-
    income and middle-income countries, China has provided $9 of debt,
    while the opposite is true of the U.S.: for every dollar of debt we
    provide, we provide at least $9 of aid. The PRC's assistance tends to
    be negotiated behind closed doors, fueling corruption, and can
    demonstrate a flagrant disregard for human rights. To offer one
    chilling example, through the PRC's efforts to help countries build so-
    called ``Safe Cities,'' they have provided surveillance and facial
    recognition technology that can monitor critics, journalists, and
    activists to at least 80 countries.
        We need American leadership to advance models of development and
    governance that honor freedom, transparency, human dignity, and
    opportunity for all.
        The Biden-Harris Administration's FY 2025 request of $28.3 billion
    for USAID's fully- and partially-managed accounts give us the resources
    to continue that leadership.
        With these funds, we will help nations around the world strengthen
    food security, improve health, and drive economic growth. And we will
    respond to historic levels of humanitarian need. USAID teams have been
    working day and night to address the catastrophic humanitarian crisis
    in Gaza, where nearly the entire population is living under the threat
    of famine. Add to that ongoing crises in Ukraine, Sudan, and beyond,
    and continued battering from a growing number of natural disasters
    during this particularly strong El Nino, and the number of people
    requiring humanitarian assistance has increased by nearly a third--from
    274 million in 2022 to 363 million at the end of 2023. To meet these
    needs, we will need both the $10 billion in this budget as well as the
    $10 billion in emergency humanitarian assistance in the pending
    national security supplemental request. Otherwise, we will be forced to
    make draconian cuts to rations all around the world.
        The FY 2025 Request recognizes the need for tradeoffs even as
    global needs are escalating. And crucially, this budget gives us
    specific resources to help us deliver even better value for money.
    Since we inaugurated our new Office of the Chief Economist last July,
    the team is already expanding our use of rigorous data analysis across
    the agency to identify the programs with the highest impact per dollar
    invested so they can be scaled. For instance, they identified a poverty
    reduction program our Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance is piloting in
    Uganda, which is offering a sequenced set of supports like trainings
    and financial services that help refugees move from requiring
    humanitarian assistance to earning sustainable livelihoods for
    themselves. For every dollar we invest, households are seeing over four
    times the return in economic benefits. We are now expanding the program
    to other nations.
        And beyond maximizing our own resources, we are drawing in new
    partners through tools like our EDGE Fund--an incentive fund designed
    to apply the private sector's unique edge to some of the largest global
    development challenges. We're working with companies like Citibank,
    Walmart, and Johnson & Johnson to boost our impact and drive progress
    beyond our programs. From FY 2021 to FY 2022 alone, private-sector
    partner contributions to USAID activities jumped by 31 percent. To
    continue to drive this progress, we need to keep investing in a
    workforce that's nimble and empowered to pursue truly catalytic change.
        If we do make these investments, I have no doubt that we can
    continue America's extraordinary legacy of leadership in building a
    more secure, prosperous, and stable world for all.

        Senator Coons. Thank you, Madame Administrator.
        To my colleagues, we are going to do seven-minute rounds. I
    am expecting that there is a lot to dig into here. Anyone who
    uses less than their 7 minutes gets a prize.
        Let me start by just asking about what you were just
    describing. The importance of leveraging private sector
    partnerships, and making our dollars go farther, in last year's
    budget hearing, we talked about the need to increase locally
    led development efforts and engaging with the private sector.
        Senator Ernst and I just introduced the locally led
    Development and Humanitarian Response Act, which aims to
    advance those same goals. Senator Graham and I are making
    progress advancing bills to create public-private foundations
    focused not on supplanting USAID's work but on complementing
    it, leveraging philanthropic and private sector dollars.
        With the limited time we have, even with 7 minutes, what
    have you found to be the biggest challenge in increasing
    locally led development; how are you addressing it? And how are
    you best working to leverage funds from the private sector?
    Where are you seeing your biggest success?
        Ms. Power. Thank you so much. In brief, I would say doing
    smaller grants, contracts, requires more people. Fundamentally,
    it can be the same amount of work to do a $100 million contract
    as to do, you know, a small grant to an organization combating
    sexual trafficking, or doing job training that will--that local
    organization will have a better chance probably of seeing those
    gains sustained over time because fundamentally they are of the
    community, they will remain in the community, even when the
    grant dries up.
        So we have tried to expand the number of contracting
    officers at USAID. We are appreciative of you trying to protect
    our operational expenses in this recent budget process. To give
    some sense of how much we are spending, and how our program
    budget has gone up because of the messiness of the world that
    you both described, we basically have programmatic dollars that
    have gone up 68 percent over recent years and operational
    expenses that have gone up 27 percent.
        So even with you protecting our operational expenses, we
    are still seeing a 3 percent cut in the fiscal year 2024, which
    is better compared to the other cuts that we will be seeing.
    But that is a big issue as we seek, again, to invest the staff
    time in working with local organizations and smaller
    organizations.
        We again seek to address the issue of growing our
    contracting officer workforce, including by empowering our
    local staff who can do a lot of work in that domain. It's also
    just famously hard to work with USAID. We have a lot of
    compliance requirements, many of which are imposed by folks up
    here, but many of which we would embrace ourselves in order to
    be sure that we are faithful stewards of the resources invested
    in the Agency. And so we have tried to simplify the application
    process so it doesn't crowd out, by definition, those who don't
    have the lawyers, the accountants, you know, the armies of
    people to be able to comply.
        Senator Coons. I am deeply concerned about the crisis in
    Gaza, as well as many other places, but that is one that seized
    a lot of our attention. The prohibition on funding UNRWA is
    going to make this harder and worse, and I think too little has
    been done to address the impediments to delivering aid, to aid
    distribution.
        It has also consumed a fair amount of media attention. I
    would be interested in both what USAID is doing to get other
    donors to increase their contributions because many of our
    partner countries have not stepped up to this challenge, and
    what are you doing to address the challenges of distribution of
    aid in difficult and contested spaces?
        Gaza is probably at the foremost of news coverage, but
    frankly Sudan is also incredibly difficult and dangerous, so is
    Haiti, so is Somalia, so is Afghanistan.
        Ms. Power. Thank you. So just a quick word on UNRWA, which
    as you know is funded by the State Department, and not by
    USAID, but is the humanitarian backbone for the work that all
    of our partners are doing on the ground in Gaza. The
    allegations against UNRWA staff are outrageous, horrific, and
    we, like everyone, are awaiting the results of the
    investigation including the independent investigation about
    reviewing procedures and processes so that something like that
    could never happen again where staff, potentially involved in
    horrors like October 7, would be able to work for humanitarian
    agencies.
        So at the same time that goes forward UNRWA hasn't stopped
    doing the work, and as you know many, many UNRWA staff members
    who had been, before October 7, involved in providing
    education, or health care, or food distribution to people
    living in Gaza now have just turned to doing humanitarian
    delivery full-time. And there is tremendous risk, as the
    killing of more than 228 workers in IDF military operations
    attest.
        So you have seen countries, after initial pauses as they
    waited to make sure that credible investigations were going to
    be underway, unpause their funding. We are not one of them,
    obviously, but we do believe that this is another reason to
    press for the passage of the National Security Supplemental,
    because just--and this gets to your second question too about
    all the other places that are broken and in need of
    humanitarian assistance, you know we are looking at a situation
    now if all we have to rely on, which is our current situation,
    is the fiscal year 2024 base humanitarian assistance that you
    provided to us, and again you made a special effort to protect
    as much of that as you could despite the cuts overall.
        But you are looking at an increase of about close to 40
    percent in humanitarian needs from last year to this year, and
    a drop in resources of about 40 percent, between 35 and 40
    percent. So that delta is staggering, and will be staggering in
    its effects, and horrifying in its effects on the ground.
        I mentioned that in the context of Gaza, because access is
    key, access has improved in the last few days in fairly
    substantial ways, it needs to improve much more, but we also
    need to have the resources to fund those other organizations
    even as other countries step up to continue to support the
    backbone.
        Senator Coons. I have more questions, but I will stop early
    and defer to my colleague.
        Senator Graham. Thank you. Let us just continue to talk
    about Gaza, and the future. Let us assume for a moment we can
    find some conclusion to this war, and somebody will take over
    the Palestinian file, maybe Saudi Arabia or the UAE. I don't
    know. But somebody needs to come in, and try to clean things up
    a bit. Is there a plan to replace UNRWA in the West Bank and
    Gaza?
        Ms. Power. Not to my knowledge.
        Senator Graham. Okay. So I think Israel is going to be
    pretty hard over on trusting this organization after all the
    abuses that we discovered. So I would encourage you, and I know
    you got a lot to do, to think about: How could we do this?
        So when it comes to providing assistance to folks in Gaza,
    how do the Gulf Arab states, are they contributing anything?
        Ms. Power. Yes. And absolutely I think you have seen,
    particularly, Emirati leadership, they have been critical in
    leading also for alternative routes into Gaza, helping
    spearhead the effort to do maritime deliveries, indeed
    partnering with the World Central Kitchen, which suffered the
    horrific attack last week.
        So, I think the Emiratis have definitely stepped up. I
    think they and other Arab nations, and you know this far better
    than I, so I won't speak to it for too long but, you know, are
    very adamant about linking their longer term investments to a
    viable path to a two state solution----
        Senator Graham. Let us assume for a moment, that Hamas will
    be destroyed, which I hope and pray it does, who is going to
    take over Gaza, do we have any idea?
        Ms. Power. As USAID Administrator, again my focus is on the
    humanitarian operations----
        Senator Graham. The only reason I mention is----
        Ms. Power [continuing]. And feeding people.
        Senator Graham [continuing]. Before you invest a lot money
    we need a whole lot of things, like who is going to be on the
    ground when the Hamas is gone? Can we trust them? What kind of
    partners we will have? So that is important to me. I would like
    to be an investor but I want to know what I am investing in.
    How would you describe the situation in Gaza? Is it--you are
    saying near famine? How would you describe that?
        Ms. Power. Well, I think, as you know well, the IPC Report
    indicates that famine conditions are already present in
    Northern Gaza and looming for----
        Senator Graham. How many trucks----
        Ms. Power [continuing]. For much of the south.
        Senator Graham. Do you know how many trucks are allowed in
    to Gaza in terms of food delivery?
        Ms. Power. Well, we have had sort of our best 48 hours
    since the beginning of the war, so I think more than 400 trucks
    today, more than 300 yesterday, that is after a very----
        Senator Graham. And before that around 200, I think, right?
        Ms. Power. Pardon me.
        Senator Graham. Before this, it was around 200.
        Ms. Power. Yes, and some days, yes, under 100. And to be
    clear, when we talk about trucks, sometimes we blur a lot of
    things together. Before the war, as you well know, there were
    500 trucks getting in.
        Senator Graham. Right.
        Ms. Power. When we talk about trucks, that is not all food.
        Senator Graham. Right.
        Ms. Power. In fact, a very small percentage of what goes
    in, relatively speaking, is food. And if you think about all of
    the destruction of farmland, and granaries, and marketplaces,
    and people's own stockpiles in their homes, we need to go way
    beyond even, the 500 trucks that I hope we can approach here in
    the coming days.
        Senator Graham. Based on what you hear and what your people
    see, do you think Israel has been using food as a weapon of
    war?
        Ms. Power. I think that Israel has not done enough to
    facilitate the kind of humanitarian access we need to avert the
    kind of food conditions that we are seeing to avert famine.
        Senator Graham. And that, I guess they could always do
    more. I get what you are saying. But do you think it has been
    the policy, the Israeli government to use starvation as a tool
    of war?
        Ms. Power. Again, what we see is that there was a series,
    have been a series of restrictions over many, many months where
    we, as trusted partners, have tried to describe what the
    effects of those restrictions are. And again, fortunately, in
    over the course of the last several days, really to a week, we
    are seeing being a sea change, which we hope is sustained and
    expanded upon the provision of access----
        Senator Graham. The State Department say they did not find
    any evidence of genocide.
        Ms. Power. Pardon me.
        Senator Graham. Did not find any evidence of genocide on
    the behalf of the Israeli Government toward the Palestinian
    people, are you familiar with that?
        Ms. Power. Did you mention--did you say the ICJ?
        Senator Graham. The State Department.
        Ms. Power. Oh. The State Department, I am not tracking
    determinations of that nature.
        Senator Graham. All right. So you are the head of the USAID
    program we have, I just want to make sure that I understand
    exactly what you are saying here. Are you uncertain as to what
    the Israeli policy is toward allowing food in?
        Ms. Power. Well, what I can describe is engagements with
    different parts of the Israeli government that have over these
    months, yielded different answers and different results. And
    what is very important in the last week is that now it appears,
    again, we are not in the cabinet, but it appears that there is
    a consolidation of decisionmaking authority. Again, we have
    famine-like conditions in Gaza and supermarkets filled with
    food, you know, within a few kilometers away.
        So, it is incredibly important that the food that is
    available get to the people who, especially in the case of very
    young children, we are getting a growing number of reports of
    death by malnutrition, or diseases induced by malnutrition.
        Senator Graham. So death by malnutrition. Let us know what
    you find. I want to--I am very curious about that. How many
    deaths do you attribute to malnutrition? Can you report to us
    your findings?
        Ms. Power. Well, what I can report you back to is the IPC
    report, which is the gold standard. But what is very, very
    challenging, in addition--which has in it, again, the
    measurement of the circumference of the children in order to
    show severe acute malnutrition. And then we have the reports
    from our partners, and I don't have the statistic, as of today.
        Senator Graham. Okay. I will check. I will check that out.
        Ms. Power. Can I just make one tiny point?
        Senator Graham. Yes. Real quick.
        Ms. Power. Which is just that, even your question about,
    can we have better data, or real data, depends on access. Again
    it is allowing our partners to move around, to be not at risk
    of being targeted so that they can answer questions of the
    nature you are describing.
        Senator Graham. I would imagine that is a pretty difficult
    thing to accommodate for Israel, while they are fighting this
    war. But we will try to get them to do better.
        Sudan, real quickly, what is the top line on Sudan; what
    should this Committee know about what is going on in Sudan?
        Ms. Power. Well, I am pleased that we have--the U.S. has
    appointed an envoy that is engaging with the stakeholders in
    Africa and the Arab world to try to create a meaningful peace
    process. But basically, you have two factions that are much
    more interested in power for themselves than in ensuring that
    their people have access to food. Blockage of convoys that we
    are funding that could be feeding people who themselves, too,
    are facing near famine conditions, particularly in the Darfur
    area.
        So it is a horrific situation and a place where we do not
    have the resources, we don't have the access, as I have
    described, but even in the places where we have access, because
    of the drop in our humanitarian budget, we are going to be
    funding the needs there are far less this year than we did
    last.
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator Graham. Thank you,
    Administrator.
        I am going to turn to Senator Murphy.
        Senator Murphy. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Let me
    just make one addendum to this discussion about what is
    happening in Gaza today. Last week, I visited Connecticut-based
    emergency relief organization, Americares. They deliver mainly
    emergency medicines into conflict areas. They are amongst a
    number of organizations that have suspended operations in Gaza.
        They are suspending those operations not because of a lack
    of access, not because of overly bureaucratic process of the
    ports. They are suspending their programming there because they
    don't think they can keep their people safe, because of our
    inability to do deconfliction in a meaningful way.
        And so they are not likely to resume operations until there
    is a cessation of hostilities. And so we just have to be pretty
    clear-eyed about the fact that until the bombs stop dropping,
    until the shooting stops, it is going to be very, very hard to
    be able to do what we need to do inside Gaza, and save the kind
    of lives we want to save.
        Administrative Power, I wanted to turn your attention to
    Haiti for a moment. We have been the biggest humanitarian
    contributor to a country that continues to spiral out of
    control, as gangs now control the majority of the capital. $171
    million since October 2022. I think we should be proud of that
    fact, but I think we all worry that Haiti is lurching into what
    may be a permanent state of emergency, that is going to be a
    significant drain on what we have heard today are dwindling
    resources, with lots of suitors and competitors.
        This is a really critical moment, and I know there is a
    deep skepticism about the role that the United States has
    played and should play when it comes to restoring security in
    Haiti. I convened a meeting of Haitian-American leaders in my
    State, and they had a variety of opinions as to what role the
    United States should play.
        So I want to ask you a question, not about whether we
    should be a humanitarian partner and saving lives in Haiti,
    but, you know, what is the proper role for the United States to
    play right now in restoring security in Haiti; because this
    seems to be a moment to double down on our work in that
    endeavor, rather than just to sit back and let others lead
    while we continue to provide the bulk of humanitarian
    assistance.
        Ms. Power. Well, just to embrace the premise of your
    question that you can't--there is no humanitarian fix to a
    complete breakdown in security as is happening in so many
    neighborhoods in the capital. Look, I think the U.S. role has
    been on display in several years, going around the world and
    trying to find a willing partner who was willing to put
    security forces, in this case police forces, on the ground in
    Haiti, securing the commitment.
        And huge thanks to the Kenyans and to President Ruto for
    being willing to step forward. And that was, of course, in an
    environment that was already unstable, already very, very
    difficult, and now all the more. So, these conversations are
    ongoing, but you know, mobilizing the resources that we have in
    order to provide--to be in a position to support the payment of
    salaries, because this is, of course, not a traditional UN
    peacekeeping mission. It is blessed by the UN, but not funded
    by the UN.
        I think that is an important role for the United States. So
    is the diplomacy, we have done to get other countries, like the
    Canadians, and many of the Europeans as well, to step up and
    fund and equip that force.
        But the diplomacy around the three legs of the stool,
    right: security, humanitarian welfare, and then governance, and
    the fact that there hasn't been a legitimately elected
    government in Haiti is something that has surely contributed to
    the breakdown in security as well, as gangs and others use
    that, at least as a pretext for their vigilantism.
        So, the efforts to pull together a transition, USAID stands
    ready with a lot of election support when we are in a position
    to provide it, and when there is a roadmap to elections. But
    you won't get security without governance, and of course you
    can't get that roadmap to elections until we get a baseline of
    security.
        Senator Murphy. Yes, I think we have got a really short
    window in which to figure out the path forward and find those
    international partners.
        Let me pull back and ask you one additional question about
    China competition. You know, really excited about the work that
    you are doing to better evaluate the impact of programs on the
    ground. You know, but there is an asymmetry between how we view
    our aid, and how China views its aid, right? We are looking at
    the impact of our aid largely through a policy lens, trying to
    impact the largest number of people possible.
        China is really looking at their aid more so through a
    political lens. You know, an example is, you know, often there
    are pet projects that dictators or quasi-dictators have around
    the world that we don't see as a, you know, have as a real ROI
    for the citizens of that country, and we aren't willing to put
    our dollars behind it, but China will.
        And so, you know, do you see it as an exposure to the
    United States that you know, our aid is more focused on how
    many people we can help, and China's aid is focused more on how
    many officials they can influence? How do we--how do we balance
    that asymmetry?
        Ms. Power. I think our budget request is, and particularly
    the investments as well in the global infrastructure efforts,
    are a reflection of our desire to be more competitive in terms
    of the kinds of resources that we are investing. So that is
    quantity.
        We should be showing up. They are actually receding from,
    you know, having become the world's largest debt collector.
    Their investments are way down. In fact, over the last 2 or 3
    years, having become overextended, not getting maybe the return
    on investment that they had sought, being in that position of
    being a debt collector, they are rethinking what they are
    doing.
        There is an opening, there is a real opening. But I do
    think our comparative advantage is quality, fundamentally, and
    that involves not only quality of infrastructure, transparent
    procurement, you know, not having the investments we make
    benefit the few rather than the many, but it is also the
    quality of what, for example, an Agency like USAID can come in
    with to align with infrastructure that is being built.
        So you have heard a lot about the Lobito Corridor is the
    flagship, initial major investment associated with the PGI, you
    know, we are looking at mobile money, you know, so that small-
    scale farmers can, you know, better access resources in order
    to take that loan out, in order to be able to get the access to
    capital they need to grow their business for when that rail
    exists, and there will be--we will actually support them in
    getting their goods to market, but getting them digitized is a
    prerequisite for the kind of growth that they envisage for
    themselves.
        USAID is funding a public-private partnership with the
    Department of Transportation in Angola to help them do other
    concessions for their infrastructure, but again in a manner
    that is transparent, that changes the enabling environment,
    hopefully over time, see civil society also empowered to
    scrutinize what is being done in governmental circles.
        It is an entirely different model. But it reflects that my
    response at least tries to reflect the toolkit that we need to
    bring to bear, which is both about the hard infrastructure
    which people are craving, but also aligning development, human
    development along with those investments.
        You know, we can build a railroad, but if we aren't
    actually investing in nutrition, and education, and you know
    small medium-sized enterprises in route at the same time the
    return on that investment, it is going to be much more limited.
        The last thing I would say just, is the polling is very
    striking about public reactions in the countries that have
    taken that alternate development approach, and a real souring
    on, you know, seeing those big infrastructure projects that
    either, you know, aren't actually of the quality that citizens
    need in terms of their infrastructure. Some of them are, but
    many of them are not, that are saddling publics with debt in
    the longer term, but also that are bringing in workers from
    outside the country rather than actually using infrastructure
    as a source of employment in the countries themselves.
        And so I think the polls are actually the best diagnostic
    about whether we need to change, or whether we just need to
    scale what we are trying to do.
        Senator Murphy. Good. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Senator Coons. Senator Merkley.
        Senator Merkley. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And
    welcome, Administrator Power.
        In response to Lindsey Graham's question, you noted that
    there was a series of restrictions by Israel on aid entering
    into Gaza.
        As you are, I know, very aware of Foreign Assistance Act
    Provision 620I says no assistance shall be furnished under that
    Act, if a country restricts directly or indirectly the
    transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance. Did the
    administration start considering back in December and January
    implementing 620I as a way to persuade Israel to let more aid
    in?
        Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator. My understanding, this is of
    course, being administered and adjudicated at the State
    Department, but is that 620I has been incorporated in the
    National Security Memorandum 20, and as the assurances have
    come in from the seven countries, including Israel, on the
    provisions of NSM-20, encompassing 620I, that the State
    Department is in the process of reviewing the credibility of
    those issuances.
        Senator Merkley. So just directly to my question, did you
    advocate back in January, or others, that 620I be used by the
    President?
        Ms. Power. I am not going to speak about internal advocacy,
    but I know that there is a report that will be forthcoming in
    early May I think that assesses the credibility of the
    issuance, but I certainly believe we should use our leverage.
        Senator Merkley. Well, what we saw this last week, was the
    President, for the first time, said to ``Bibi'' Netanyahu that
    there will be consequences for our relationship and for the
    delivery of assistance if we don't get more humanitarian
    access; and many folks have asked why didn't the President and
    Presidential team not use that same strategy, that same power,
    months ago?
        Ms. Power. First of all, it is very important, President
    Biden's message and, you know, so much of the content of what
    we are asking for is, you know, that a lot of those things are
    the things that we have been asking for, as you know, for many,
    many months.
        Very specific and measurable steps, and again we are
    hopeful that finally those steps will be taken. I think the
    President's view over this period of time has been that the
    combination of sustained private diplomacy, and public
    diplomacy, you know, has been the best way to move Israel. If
    you think again about where they were at the beginning, where
    Kerem Shalom wasn't even open, Rafah wasn't even open, it has
    been a too gradual process of seeing the access we need.
        Senator Merkley. Let me progress to some other questions
    here. Lindsey asked about children starving. WHO said that 28
    children have now died of complications related to nutrition,
    and that is the way people die from malnutrition. They don't
    die from the lack of food, they die from infections, they die
    from many medical complications. So that is the beginning of
    this wave. But we also know that a tremendous number of people
    have died because of lack of medical aid. We are down to 10
    hospitals out of out of 34.
        One of the things that many of us advocated for was for the
    U.S. to directly provide assistance to these hospitals through
    airdrops, which Jordan has done, the U.S. has not. Why not?
        Ms. Power. On that specific question, I don't know the
    answer. USAID does fund the International Medical Corps, which
    treats 600 patients a day. I think it has treated more than
    40,000 since the conflict began. They have done an incredible
    job, but that is in the southern part of Gaza. I think the
    military has been providing food, of course, MREs through its
    airdrops, but perhaps it is a feasibility. You know, a belief
    that it would not be a practical way to deliver the kind of
    medical assistance that is needed. But I can look into it.
        Senator Merkley. Well, I will tell you, that the fact that
    Jordan can do it, means it can be done. The fact that you are
    down to 10 hospitals that do not have antibiotics, often don't
    have insulin, don't have many of the other basic supplies,
    these are not the kind of the heavier things that are more
    difficult to deliver by air.
        Let me turn to the lens through pregnant women, and what we
    have heard reports from Gaza is that there is been a
    significant increase in miscarriages, and in stillbirths, and
    that many women when they deliver, because there is not
    communications, or power, or safe passage, can't get to a
    hospital to deliver. That many women are malnourished and
    therefore cannot breastfeed after a child is born, and that
    there is not access, often, to clean water and formula as an
    alternative. Are you familiar with those general descriptions?
        Ms. Power. It is very consistent with what we hear from our
    partners. Yes.
        Senator Merkley. It really emphasized through that one
    lens, the level of catastrophe, the cascading humanitarian
    catastrophe. When Chris Van Hollen and I went to Rafah, and
    talked to the hardened--experienced, hardened aid workers who
    said they had served in the most difficult places in the world,
    places like Somalia, and Sudan, and Yemen, and the frontlines
    of Ukraine. They said the combination of factors, and by that
    they were referring to lack of power, lack of communications,
    lack of housing, continued military hostilities, lack of food,
    lack of clean water, in combination, they said this is the
    worst humanitarian catastrophe they have seen in their careers.
    Does that generally fit your understanding the situation in
    Gaza?
        Ms. Power. I would just add, it is also the deconfliction
    system that doesn't provide any assurance, that even if you can
    get access to these supplies, that you can deliver them in
    safety, or reliably. I traveled as well to Israel and the West
    Bank last month and met with aid workers that I have worked
    with all over the world, in past lives of theirs and mine, and
    that is very consistent with their description,
    ``unprecedented'' it was a word that was used. Yes.
        Senator Merkley. Thank you. After the death of the seven
    World Central kitchen workers, the President, our President,
    President Biden, did convey the challenge of U.S. continuing to
    provide its normal relationship, unless Israel acted. And
    within hours Israel was talking about opening Erez Crossing,
    the use of the Ashdod Port, more trucks getting in.
        Why did it take seven World Central Kitchen workers to make
    that happen? 220 aid workers had died, 489 health care workers
    had died, why did it take those seven from World Central
    Kitchen for President Biden to make the pivot?
        Ms. Power. I would distinguish what President Biden has
    been pushing privately from the beginning, he has been the lead
    humanitarian voice engaging every time he talks to ``Bibi'' to
    Prime Minister Netanyahu, this is basically the number one
    topic, number one, two, three, four, five topic. I think what
    is different is the public nature of this, and again the system
    that gave rise to the killing of these innocent aid workers, is
    the same system that has made it so hard to bring about the
    kind of civilian protection that is needed as well for
    Palestinians.
        And it has to be said that, these deaths, horrific and
    tragic as they are, come on the heels of more than 200 deaths
    of Palestinian aid workers, and then of course more than 30,000
    Palestinian civilians. So, the system for so-called
    ``deconfliction'' where civilian sites, and civilian
    gatherings, and the welfare of civilians, and including aid
    workers, you know, that those are prioritized, that system is
    really in need of this improvement.
        Senator Merkley. Thank you.
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator Merkley.
        Senator Durbin.
        Senator Durbin. Thank you. Administrator, it is good to see
    you again. So if people in Illinois ask me whether USAID is
    providing any help in Gaza today, what would be your shorthand
    answer?
        Ms. Power. Absolutely. I mean the World Food Program is
    doing the bulk of the food assistance that is funded by U.S.
    taxpayer, Illinois taxpayers, and if we can get more access we
    will get more food, and we will prevent the worst effects of
    this acute food crisis.
        Senator Durbin. The Inspector General's Report we are given
    for this hearing suggested a concern that when they--after the
    October 7 attack, the OIG issued an alert identifying Gaza as a
    high risk for potential diversion and misuse of U.S. funded
    assistance. What has been our experience?
        Ms. Power. First of all, I think an alert like that is
    important. This is an incredibly complex operating environment,
    and we are grateful for the OIG's work and--I think they are
    probably surging staff and inquiries.
        Our partners know that they have to report diversion as
    soon as it happens, we will suspend or terminate our work with
    partners if we find, again, that the food is not getting to its
    desired beneficiaries, targets, in this case that need is even
    greater because the food needs are so great. We have not
    received reports of Hamas systematically diverting food. We
    have seen, as you know, so-called ``self-distribution'', where
    communities gather around trucks and the kind of organized
    distributions that we are accustomed to doing give way to
    desperate families, you know, lunging and trying to get access
    to boxes.
        With food so scarce, prices went up and that increased the
    influence and the role of gangs, and other more criminal
    elements. So, you know, we really look forward to flooding the
    zone with resources to be in a position to do what we are
    able--our partners have been able to do in other really complex
    operating environments, which is organize distributions in a
    manner that can be safe and dignified for civilians.
        But again we think the systems that we have in place, the
    trusted partners that we are working with, World Food Program,
    UNICEF, International Medical Corps, these are partners we work
    with all around the world, and we expect them to report, again,
    anything that they are finding on the ground that is
    interfering with their ability to pursue their mandates.
        Senator Durbin. So I am trying to compare your answer,
    which basically says nothing extraordinary has been noted in
    terms of diversion and misuse of U.S.-funded goods, with the
    stated policy of the Israelis, that they are slowing the flow
    of goods to a trickle to verify whether or not they are being
    diverted to Hamas or any other purposes.
        Ms. Power. Just to step back, I think that what happened on
    October 7 caused the Israeli public, and the whole world, to
    look and say, ``okay, well, how did that happen? How did it
    happen?'' And that led to, certainly, a level of
    restrictiveness in the early days with really no checkpoints
    open to be able to get food in, and a gradual building of an
    infrastructure, some of the infrastructure had been destroyed
    also in the attack itself.
        But it was also policy, you know, real concern that
    anything went in would go to Hamas. For a long time, we
    couldn't get fuel in to power the trucks in order to be able to
    get the food to people who needed it, because of the concern,
    again, that Hamas would get the fuel.
        I think that, understanding the history and how it was that
    Hamas acquired the capabilities that they exhibited on October
    7, that is part of, again, something that we hear a lot about
    from our government of Israel interlocutors, understandably in
    light of what happened October 7. But we still have to get food
    in to feed a population that has no means of feeding itself, in
    light of the conflict, and in the light of all that has been
    destroyed.
        I am not sure if I am responding exactly to your question.
        Senator Durbin. Thank you for that. I am not an expert on
    this, but I can recall a time when I was introduced to
    something called Plumpy'Nut----
        Ms. Power. Yes.
        Senator Durbin [continuing]. Which is a food supplement for
    starving children.
        Ms. Power. It's extraordinary, yes.
        Senator Durbin. There may be some new product that evolved
    over time. But is that part of what we are doing in Gaza?
        Ms. Power. Right now, the inability to get to the north in
    a sustained way, has limited our ability to provide ready-to-
    use therapeutic food, but that is absolutely part of what we
    are trying to flow into Gaza to address severe acute
    malnutrition that is being diagnosed.
        I want to be clear about, again, if we can have a
    humanitarian system whereby goods are flowing in regularly in
    convoys, humanitarian aid workers are in a position to know
    that they can move out without fear for their lives as well as
    fear, you know, for the people to whom they are trying to get
    assistance, and where we can get to the north, which has been
    largely off-limits, with only a very limited supply, we are
    going to want to see Plumpy'Nut, or ready-to-use therapeutic
    food in those pipelines. But I could not advertise now that we
    are reliably getting those resources to the very vulnerable
    kids who need it.
        Senator Durbin. I think that is a stunning statement. We
    know children are starving to death, in the numbers, and the
    most fundamental life-saving substance that we can sell--that
    we can transmit or transport to this country, we can't get to
    the most serious areas is what I understand you are saying.
        Ms. Power. Well, we hope that is changing, with today 433
    trucks, or yesterday, 433 trucks finally getting in. I will get
    back to you precisely about the contents those trucks.
        Senator Durbin. And can I ask you, who on the ground is
    supposed to receive those, and for example if that----
        Ms. Power. UNICEF is traditionally our partner as we move
    ready--if that is what you are talking about, be ready-to-use
    therapeutic food. We work with UNICEF, and then UNICEF would,
    in turn, be relying on the UNRWA humanitarian infrastructure
    that, you know, provides the trucks, and assembles the convoys.
    We also work with WFP as well in providing those
        But I will get back to you as to which partners
    specifically we are looking to provide those resources to. Bear
    in mind also though the point that was made earlier about
    hospitals and clinics, again this is an operating environment
    where, many of the most severely malnutrition children aren't
    in a proper facility, you know, where in one stop, you can go
    and again provide a flow of these resources, so it is extremely
    dangerous and I can't even imagine being a parent in that
    circumstance.
        Senator Durbin. Nor can I. Thank you.
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator.
        Chair Murray.
        Senator Murray. Thank you very much, Chair Coons. Thank
    you, Administrator Power. Good to see you. Thank you for being
    with us today, as we kick off our first subcommittee hearing
    for the fiscal year 2025. And I hope my colleagues will indulge
    me for just a moment to go over some of my thinking about this
    as we start this process.
        First of all I do want to acknowledge to everyone the
    success we had, as a Committee, in passing all 12 of our annual
    funding bills for fiscal year 2024. It was not easy by any
    stretch, but we accomplished what many believed we could not do
    in this Congress. We worked together in an open bipartisan
    process and passed all of our funding bills.
        And it was the approach that we took here in the Senate,
    listening to each other, finding common ground, setting aside
    extreme partisan proposals, that finally allowed us to complete
    full-year bipartisan bills with the House after so many months
    wasted by Republicans.
        But while we have now passed all of our annual funding
    bills, we are not close to being done yet with 2024, and we
    won't be until we pass the National Security Supplemental and
    provide desperately needed aid for Ukraine. The Senate passed
    that National Security Supplemental in an overwhelming 70 to 29
    vote nearly 2 months ago. There is no reason for further drama,
    delay, or partisanship; it is time the Speaker put this up for
    a vote.
        We cannot afford to give up on Ukraine and throw in the
    towel to dictators, like Putin. Not when we know that our
    assistance is so consequential and has overwhelming bipartisan
    support. I will not stop pushing until we finish this job and
    get that bill to the President's desk.
        I am also going to continue talking with my colleagues to
    make sure we address other needs, including working to ensure
    we reopen the Port of Baltimore, and rebuild the Francis Scott
    Key Bridge, and at the same time we are getting moving right
    away on fiscal year 2025, and it is no secret we have our work
    cut out for us. Fiscal year 2024 was hard, 2025 will be harder.
        Spending caps from the FRA increased by just 1 percent for
    both defense and non-defense funding, that is an increase that
    is not nearly enough to tackle the challenges we face here at
    home and abroad. And we head into fiscal year 2025 without many
    of the non-defense resources that were so important to passing
    workable bipartisan bills just a few weeks ago.
        So this Committee will again need to come together, on a
    bipartisan basis, to provide adequate resources for both
    defense and non-defense programs, and to make sure there is no
    confusion about where I stand here, I will insist that any
    agreement take care of both non-defense and defense, and I look
    forward to talking with all of our Committee Members in the
    coming weeks, about how we are going to do that.
        Now, turning to the issue of today, our investments in
    USAID, Chair Coons, several colleagues and I just returned from
    a CODEL that I led to Southern Africa, where we met with
    officials and leaders in a handful of countries, and saw first-
    hand how U.S. investments are strengthening our political,
    economic, and security partnerships, and I am very eager to
    talk about how we build on that progress especially when it
    comes to economic and development assistance.
        At this critical moment with a severe humanitarian crisis
    in Gaza, civilians in Ukraine suffering from Putin's brutal
    invasion, and so many other challenges like the truly dire
    crisis in Sudan where a staggering 8 million people have been
    displaced. It is clear that we cannot abandon our role as a
    global leader in delivering humanitarian aid. Across all of
    these programs, we need to continue to do better, incorporating
    women and girls, who are often the most at risk in times of
    conflict, into emergency response, development programming, and
    peace-building work.
        And we need to keep building on our Global Health
    infrastructure. Let us be clear: helping our partners around
    the world overcome hardships, increase their security and
    stability, and improve their economies and the lives of their
    people, is not just the right thing to do; it is the smart
    thing to do. These are investments that pay off for our
    country.
        We are helping our partners address threats across the
    world, like conflict, chaos, and contagion, before they fester
    and jeopardize folks here at home.
        So with that in mind, I will turn to my questions. And you
    have been asked several times about Gaza, so I won't reiterate
    that, but just to say, I share the concerns of my colleagues
    that you heard, about how we are not doing enough to get more
    aid into Gaza. Airdrops and sea routes are not going to solve
    this. So we have got to see consistent access across the Gaza
    Strip, including the North, at a scale necessary to address the
    serious threat of famine. So I appreciate your responses to my
    colleagues. And it is something of concern we will all
    consider--continue to push on.
        Now, on my recent trip to Southern Africa, I was very glad
    to see the progress we have made improving the lives of women
    and girls, but we have got to do a lot more to be responsive to
    their needs in every aspect of foreign assistance, as you well
    know, women and girls often eat last, and eat the least, while
    sacrificing for their families. The majority of community
    health workers are actually women, who are frequently underpaid
    or unpaid. We are still seeing a lot of barriers that prevent
    girls from staying in school and getting a quality education
    like early enforced marriage.
        Building on our efforts in this space is essential because
    we know women's empowerment and inclusion is critical for
    resilient democracies and strong economies.
        So Administrative Power, how can we continue to make sure
    the needs of women and girls are accounted for in humanitarian
    responses and development programs?
        Ms. Power. Thank you so much. Well, I think, for start, to
    sustain the resources invested in programs that are dedicated
    to girls' education, support for female SMEs, and so forth, all
    of these, again, we have sprinkled throughout the world,
    including to the countries you visited. And thank you, our
    teams, we are so grateful that you all took the time, to not
    only to visit those countries but to actually see the programs
    up close.
        One example which I think needs to be a growth area is,
    even in the budget-constraint environment, is on global health
    workers. As the vast majority of global health workers are
    women, as you know, they are underpaid. In some cases, they are
    unpaid. And so even though this recent budget cycle, as you
    mentioned, it is going to be very difficult for us, the fiscal
    year 2024 budget, we were grateful to you for finding $10
    million for the Global Health Worker Initiative. And we would
    like to grow that over time. We think this is an example of the
    kind of foundational investment that is needed for primary
    health systems, not just for the disease-based programming that
    you saw on HIV, or TB, or malaria, but really getting at
    foundational health while also advancing the rights and the
    welfare of women.
        But in addition to these dedicated programs, you know,
    really, I think women's and girls' empowerment needs to be a
    design feature, and a filter through which we look at all of
    our programming: agriculture, economic growth, global health,
    as I mentioned, education. And I think the teams have made a
    ton of progress in the last 3 years in doing that.
        Senator Murray. Yes. We were able to visit health care
    facilities, and a school that touched my heart with, you know,
    a couple of girls that were able to go to school, and we just
    have to really expand that. So I will--I want you to know I am
    going to stay focused on that.
        And Mr. Chairman, if you wouldn't mind, I just want to ask
    one more question.
        Senator Coons. Sure.
        Senator Murray. We were in Zambia and Malawi, and the
    Governments each made disaster declarations because of the
    recent droughts. Not only are we facing, clearly, the
    challenges of climate change, they are seeing it in their lost
    crops, in famine, disease outbreaks, and it is really worsening
    with water insecurity. That can cause a lot of tensions in
    those communities and across the borders.
        Water is necessary for survival. Not just for human
    consumption, and cooking, and all of that, but for the farmers
    and ranchers and the food production. And I want to ask you,
    how is USAID investing in water rights and sustainable resource
    managed to reduce the threat and the risk of conflict?
        Ms. Power. Well, let me embrace the premise and the
    connection you are making between water and drought, and
    scarcity on the one hand, and conflict on the other. I don't
    think it is a coincidence by any stretch, that we have more
    conflict happening in the world today than at any time since
    World War II. We also have more drought and more extreme
    weather events, generally, than at any time in our lifetimes.
        I am grateful for Senator Durbin, and others who have led
    on water and water rights. We are shifting our focus a little
    bit to focusing on governance, and working with water
    ministries, municipalities, national utilities, that is on top
    of the work that we have been doing building taps and toilets,
    maybe you saw some of those. And that those are really
    important Legacy Investments that we have made.
        But in order for water to be dealt with systemically, that
    is fundamentally going to require working with state
    institutions, again, whether subnational or national. I think
    by 2027 we are aiming to strengthen 1,000 water security and
    sanitation institutions in some fashion, and last year we
    supported 500-1,000 sounds like a big number, it is not that
    big a number when you think about, again, how great the needs
    are.
        But this underscores, given our resource challenges, the
    importance as well before you got here, I talked a lot about
    leveraging taxpayer money to get more private sector
    investment, and I am struck in the water domain that USAID's
    investments in water over the last 5 years have mobilized an
    additional $1.4 billion in private sector resources. So that is
    more than 60 cents for every taxpayer dollar, and we are going
    to have to do more of that across the board.
        Senator Murray. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. And
    thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Senator Coons. Senator Van Hollen.
        Senator Van Hollen. Thank you Mr. Chairman.
        Let me start by thanking Chair Murray for navigating us
    through the last fiscal--long fiscal year, and for your
    commitment to moving forward in a constructive way, including
    mentioning replacing the Key Bridge in Baltimore. Thank you.
        And to Chairman Coons, thank you for your leadership on
    this subcommittee, and your commitment to humanitarian aid, and
    to both of you for mentioning the need to pass the
    Supplemental, which includes many elements, including
    humanitarian assistance.
        Madam Administrator, it is great to see you. And thank you
    and your team at AID for what you do, worldwide, every day.
    Many of us have had the opportunity to witness your good work
    on behalf of our country, and it is ongoing, and also
    responding to emergencies, including in Sudan. Haiti has been
    mentioned, other places have been mentioned. And I am grateful
    for all the work you are doing there.
        I do want to turn to Gaza because it is a humanitarian
    disaster, a man-made humanitarian disaster, a crisis that the
    UN, as well as multiple international NGOs have called the
    worst humanitarian disaster they have seen in 50 years, given
    all the factors that are at play there.
        On Sunday, we marked the 6-month anniversary of the
    horrific Hamas attacks on Israel. About 1,200 people murdered,
    over 250 hostages taken, and we have all said, as the President
    has said, that Israel not only has the right to defend itself,
    but I would argue, the duty to defend itself against Hamas.
        But as you know, you have been our Ambassador to the UN,
    you have written about international law, the right to self-
    defense does not include the right to arbitrarily restrict
    desperately needed humanitarian assistance from getting to
    innocent people, including now over 2 million Palestinians in
    Gaza, who have nothing to do with Hamas.
        And it should not have taken the death of foreign aid
    workers to get the world to really say, enough is enough here,
    and to galvanize action. As you said, over 200 Palestinian aid
    workers have been killed already since the beginning of this
    war.
        And I am glad to see the Netanyahu Government say it is
    going to open the Erez Crossing. This is something those of us
    on this Committee, who are here right now, have been calling
    for, for months, as has the President. I am glad to see over
    400 trucks crossed into Gaza yesterday. To my mind, that just
    shows what has been possible all along, and every day we should
    have at least 400 trucks crossing.
        But as you know, in addition to getting trucks into Gaza,
    we have to be able to safely distribute assistance within Gaza,
    and that, of course, is why we have been calling for
    deconfliction, and why the killing of the aid workers with
    World Central Kitchen was, unfortunately, just another example
    of a failed deconfliction process.
        So getting aid distributed in Gaza since the beginning of
    this war has required, as you indicated, the major UN Agency
    responsible for Distributing aid, which is UNRWA. And at least,
    the last I heard, the Netanyahu Government was still not
    allowing UNRWA to distribute aid into northern Gaza. I am
    hoping today maybe you will tell me that it has changed. Is
    there any update on that?
        Ms. Power. My understanding is that there has been
    progress, whether it is sufficient, I think we are waiting to
    see. I think it has been about a month in which that policy was
    in place, and it dramatically limited what could be done given
    that the transportation infrastructure is by and large, UNRWA.
    So that policy carried with it the consequence of being able to
    move even less to the north. But my understanding from today is
    that that position is changing.
        Senator Van Hollen. Well, I am glad to hear that, because
    that policy, in my view, resulted in, you know, more people
    suffering dramatically, and we have seen over 20 people, not
    just on the verge of starvation, but die of starvation. So it
    is essential that that policy that was imposed by the Netanyahu
    Government change in order to make sure that we can get food to
    people in Northern Gaza.
        I was pleased to see the readout from the President's most
    recent phone call with Prime Minister Netanyahu, where he
    indicated that U.S. policy on a forward-going basis would be
    determined; I think ``determined'' was his word, by whether or
    not we see results in terms of preventing and stopping this
    humanitarian catastrophe. And I saw Secretary Blinken
    underscored the fact that we need to see results.
        I just want to make sure I understand what we mean by
    results, because from my perspective results means that we stop
    what many say is an imminent famine, results means that we
    don't have any more people dying of starvation, results means
    we don't have hundreds of thousands of people on the verge of
    starvation, results means that kids who are getting amputations
    because of wounds they suffered can at least have anesthesia.
    Is that how you would define results?
        Ms. Power. I would add also that civilian protection be a
    priority, and something recognizing, again, the despicable
    tactics of Hamas insinuating itself in civilian populations
    that doesn't lessen the responsibility to look out for
    civilians in one's targeting, and be extremely mindful of the
    risks in a manner that, yes, this creation of a new structure
    whereby humanitarians, and officers operating in Gaza are more
    closely latched up. It is something again that we have been
    appealing for some time.
        But you know, fundamentally as well, a view on the part of
    those choosing targets that, you know, civilian harm is
    something to seek to avoid in every possible circumstance. And
    you know, military necessity alone, you know, cannot dictate
    the targeting. Fundamentally, the military necessity, the
    proportionality analysis around military necessity is very,
    very important.
        So again, we have laid out a series of steps that yes,
    include the Erez Crossing, and the port, and a new--and a much
    beefed-up corridor from Jordan. I mean, I think on the trucks
    we can see a path to, you know, addressing the food crisis or
    at least to flooding the zone with food. But you know, getting
    food into Gaza is the first step, and that food then has to get
    to people where they are.
        And this underscores the importance of maintaining the
    humanitarian hub such as it is in Rafah, which is something as
    well the President not just in the last couple of weeks but for
    months has been alert to the risk of jeopardizing what
    humanitarian infrastructure does exist. And so again, our view
    is that the kind of ground operation that the IDF has
    undertaken in Khan Yunis in Gaza City, that it would be a
    mistake to carry something like that out, given that the
    provisions for the welfare of the civilians, and the
    humanitarians who work there have not evidently been made.
        Senator Van Hollen. Well, thank you. And you anticipated my
    other questions, as is often the case, and I agree that results
    have to include reducing civilian harm, results have to include
    a recognition of President of the United States' position, that
    an invasion of Rafah, would be a red line. In my view, all of
    this has to be part of results.
        And if I may, Mr. Chairman, I just want to say to the
    Administrator, I want to thank her. I know that AID has played
    a role with respect to the interpretation and provided input on
    NSM-20, and I think it is essential that those who were
    responsible in the Department for the delivery of humanitarian
    aid, have a strong voice within that process since one of the
    key factors of NSM-20, as you know, is whether a recipient of
    U.S. Military assistance is facilitating, and not arbitrarily
    restricting the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
        So I hope AID will have a strong voice at the table. I
    don't know if you have any comment on that.
        Ms. Power. I am always for USAID having a strong voice.
        Senator Van Hollen. All right. Well, please keep us posted.
    Thank you.
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator Van Hollen. We are in the
    middle of a vote. I have three more brief questions if I might
    which you are welcome to speak to briefly or at length, as you
    wish.
        Almost every Senator raised the urgency of the
    Supplemental, Chair Murray, in particular, it is the unfinished
    business of fiscal year 2024, what are the consequences if the
    $9 billion in humanitarian aid that was passed by the Senate on
    a big bipartisan margin, and the funding for Ukraine, and the
    other funding, but what are the consequences both for the
    humanitarian circumstances of the world, and for your 2025
    budget, which is the topic of this hearing? What happens if the
    House simply doesn't pass the Supplemental?
        Ms. Power. The House has to pass the Supplemental, there is
    so much riding on it, for starters, we have been talking about
    the importance of access, and the importance of all players
    doing everything they can to facilitate resources flowing into
    Gaza. Imagine the United States not being in a position to even
    fund food or, you know, ready-to-use therapeutic food for
    infants, or for kids under five who have severe acute
    malnutrition.
        Maybe we would be able to do something small, again,
    growing out of the fiscal year 2024. With new wars in Sudan and
    Gaza that have come onto the books--in 20--between April of
    2023 and now, and for us to cut or have 40 percent less
    humanitarian funding to work with, it will again mean cutting
    people off rations who are in desperate need of it, and not
    being able to meet the needs that have arisen over the course
    of the last year, except for a short period of time.
        Senator Coons. As I think you know, I was in Dadaab, in
    August, I think we spoke about this, and got to hear from a
    whole series of parents about what it meant for them and their
    children that World Food Program had cut their rations again.
        Senator Booker spoke today at our Caucus Lunch about his
    visit to Chad, and with refugees coming from Sudan, and the
    impact of the cuts that have already been imposed before that
    possible cut. So if I hear you right, it would take a tragic
    situation and make it catastrophic.
        Ms. Power. I mean life and death. Millions of lives depend
    on the passage of the Supplemental, tens of millions. Just, I
    can't go this whole hearing without talking about Ukraine and,
    you know, the fact that there are men and women in the trenches
    trying to defend their communities from a Russian onslaught,
    and that the thing that could be holding them back is not their
    courage, not their ingenuity, but simply the question of
    whether the United States of America is standing with them in
    providing military support. That is something we will not wish
    to live with ourselves, years from now, as we look back on this
    moment.
        But addition the part that USAID is responsible for, is to
    bear in mind that Putin is trying to do two things: conquer
    Ukraine militarily, and having failed that, destroy its
    economy. The resources that Congress has given USAID to work in
    partnership with those same courageous and ingenious
    Ukrainians, this time in the economic sector, the agricultural
    sector, the energy sector, I can't think of a better return on
    an investment.
        Not only because the economy has not collapsed, and indeed
    will grow by 5 percent this year, not only because Ukraine is
    now back to feeding the world despite Putin's attempts to
    destroy Black Sea Port exports, and agricultural land, and
    agricultural equipment, and that that has brought down global
    food prices, including food prices here in the United States,
    surely, you know, not only for all of those reasons but because
    this country is so much further along, economically now, in
    terms of its integration with Europe, its ability, once this
    war is over, to wean itself quickly, you know, from
    international assistance once it has, of course, had the
    initial recovery from the war.
        Its tech sector grew by 5 percent in the first year after
    Putin invaded Ukraine, its young people determined again to
    invent, and USAID facilitating those partnerships, trade fairs,
    job fairs, making those export linkages, that is what the
    Supplemental also funds.
        Yes, it is humanitarian assistance, yes, it is ammunition
    for Ukraine, but it is development, it is economic development
    that is going to put Ukraine in an incredibly strong position
    to be a member of Europe, and a member of democratic
    civilization that contributes and gives back.
        And maybe I will just use this occasion to close where I
    started because I gave the Republic of Korea example.
        Senator Coons. That is where I was going to take you.
        Ms. Power. You know, Republic of Korea goes from, you know,
    taking flour and assistance, you know, from the United States
    and other democracies, to now being an absolutely pivotal
    development partner and humanitarian partner to the United
    States, the Republic of Korea, while we are under you know
    significant budget pressure increasing its own development and
    humanitarian assistance by nearly 30 percent next year.
        That is the path Ukraine is on, honestly, but if we pull
    the plug on the resources needed to help thwart Putin's
    ambitions to destroy the economy we will--it is something that
    we will live to regret, and it is something that will be a
    great gift to Putin, and it is something that will impede the
    kind of contribution that Ukrainians are so desperate to make.
        Senator Coons. As a friend of ours often says: From your
    lips to God's ears. I think it is urgent that Speaker Johnson
    have the courage to put this on the floor in the House and that
    we avoid what will be--I have almost never seen in my brief 14
    years here such a clear difference in outcome, allowing Russia
    to roll over Ukraine, threaten the rest of NATO, destabilize
    all of Europe, the wave of refugees that would come from that,
    the significant loss in American standing in the world.
        Or staying in the fight sustaining them, dramatically
    growing their economy, rewarding their innovation, their
    patience, their determination, their patriotism and their
    sacrifice, and showing that a former Soviet satellite really
    can choose whether to be free or subjugated, and if they are
    willing to fight, can fight for freedom successfully.
        You have done amazing work in dealing with the attacks on
    the power infrastructure, on restarting the agricultural sector
    on economic growth. Secretary Pritzker met with a whole group
    of us in Munich about the impact--just in Odessa and in the
    agriculture sector, and was genuinely inspiring.
        I will submit some questions for the record, about economic
    growth. You are doing great work there. We, when we were in
    Zambia had long conversations with President Hichilema about
    debt burden, and the difference between predatory lending, and
    the possibility of--the DFC being a real tool and other
    initiatives by different agencies to be a tool. I would love to
    hear your thoughts on the interagency, and what tools we need
    to sharpen.
        And then Global Health, look I have been a strong supporter
    of PEPFAR. It was striking that the life expectancy of the
    average Zambian has increased by 50 percent, simply because of
    our investment there. Botswana really has achieved pandemic
    control, and there really is transition to country ownership
    and a number of key Southern African countries.
        I would be interested in hearing from you: Where we go
    next? What is the trajectory forward? We were only able to get
    a 1 year extension, something Senator Graham and I both worked
    hard on trying to figure out sort of where are we going in
    global public health.
        But let me also run to the floor to cast a vote, and
    reflect on what you said in the outset about the Arc of South
    Korea, Ukraine will someday, if we are wise, if we do what we
    must join that list of our top trading partners, of those who
    give back to the rest of the world, of those who are a model of
    development.
        South Korea, for critics of development, is the single
    strongest case of a country that was a basket case and is today
    a basket of opportunity and growth for the rest of the world.
    Our investment, our partnership, and your leadership at AID can
    help make that possible.

                         ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS

        [The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but
    were submitted to the agencies for response subsequent to the
    hearing:]
              Questions Submitted to Administrator Samantha Power
                  Questions Submitted by Senator Brian Schatz
        Question. The Administration suspended U.S. funding for UNRWA
    months ago following reports from the Israeli government that a dozen
    UNRWA employees assisted Hamas on October 7. Since these reports, many
    allied nations have subsequently resumed their funding, due to a lack
    of evidence of the claims. Without this funding, the agency will
    experience a significant budget shortfall.

          1a.  How will the suspension of UNRWA funding impact USAID
    operations going forward?
          1b.  How will the suspension of UNRWA funding to UNRWA impact
    work to scale up the humanitarian and medical response capabilities and
    capacity?

        Answer. UNRWA plays a critical role in providing lifesaving
    assistance in Gaza and countries in the region. Although UNRWA was
    funded by the Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and
    Migration (PRM), not USAID, UNRWA is central to the entire humanitarian
    response in Gaza and cannot be easily or rapidly replaced.
        Humanitarian organizations rely on UNRWA infrastructure in Gaza to
    deliver assistance, including by supporting fuel provision, trucking,
    distribution sites, storage facilities, and community trust and
    support. Suspension of UNRWA funding will likely increase the pressure
    on USAID partners to fill gaps. USAID will continue to provide funding
    to other international organizations, including other UN and NGO
    partners, to deliver assistance in Gaza. However, even under the best
    case scenario with a coherent transition plan and sufficient funds made
    available to other UN agencies and NGOs, our teams assess the
    likelihood of significant gaps in aid delivery if UNRWA has a shortfall
    of funding and has to scale back operations in Gaza.
        Humanitarian programs in Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria are also likely
    to be affected by shortfalls of funding for UNRWA, but we are still
    assessing potential impacts.

        Question. Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 states
    that ``No assistance shall be furnished under this chapter or the Arms
    Export Control Act to any country when it is made known to the
    President that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise
    restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United
    States humanitarian assistance.''

          2a.  Are you aware of any instances where U.S.-provided
    humanitarian assistance, through USAID or other aid programs, was
    restricted by the Israeli government?
          2b.  Has Sec. 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act been violated,
    which would require the prohibition of military assistance to Israel?
          2c.  Is the Israeli government doing everything in its capacity
    to ensure adequate and timely delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians
    in Gaza?

        Answer. USAID has provided information to support the analysis of
    the determination under section 620I, which rests with the Department
    of State. Analysis of section 620I is an aspect of National Security
    Memorandum 20, and the issue will be addressed in the Department of
    State's May 8, 2024 report.

        Question. USAID has been significantly expanding its footprint in
    the Pacific Islands over the past year. How has the opening of the new
    USAID mission in Fiji and the Country Representative Office in Papua
    New Guinea changed USAID's ability to work in the region?

        Answer. USAID's new Pacific Islands Mission in Fiji and Country
    Representative Office in Papua New Guinea directly responds to requests
    from Pacific Island leaders for a more consistent in-region presence.
    They tangibly demonstrate how the U.S. is listening to the region as
    well as partnering and delivering on Pacific priorities, including the
    2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. USAID's increased
    presence will strengthen our relationships with individual Pacific
    Island countries and regional organizations like the Pacific Islands
    Forum and the Pacific Community (SPC) as well as enhance our ability to
    deliver more tailored and Pacific-informed programs.
        Now that there is a new USAID footprint in the region, are there
    any changes to USAID's understanding of the region's top development
    challenges? Does USAID have a comprehensive needs assessment for the
    region? Which countries and unmet needs in the Pacific Islands are
    highest priorities going forward?

        Answer. In May 2022, USAID released its first-ever, 5-year
    Strategic Framework for the Pacific Islands, which aims to advance a
    more democratic, prosperous, and resilient Pacific Island region. A key
    guiding principle of the Strategic Framework is resilience, defined as
    bolstering the ability of the Pacific Islands to sustainably adapt to
    and recover from various natural disasters and climate shocks and
    stresses. As part of a comprehensive needs assessment of the region,
    USAID consulted Pacific Island governments, regional organizations, and
    communities to ensure the Strategic Framework aligns with Pacific
    development priorities, including the region's development vision in
    the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. Pacific Island
    leaders identified as their top priorities climate adaptation and
    economic development. Therefore, these areas are the highest priorities
    for USAID's Strategic Framework for the region.
        On climate, USAID is partnering with Pacific Island countries to
    support their climate adaptation goals, including by helping countries
    navigate the complex and lengthy application process to secure climate
    finance from various multinational institutions. In Papua New Guinea
    (PNG), USAID is partnering with Australia, Japan, and New Zealand to
    help PNG work towards its goal of 70 percent electrification of its
    population. USAID is also working with SPC to coalesce and align
    development partners and philanthropies on the Pacific-led Unlocking
    Blue Pacific Prosperity (UBPP) initiative, which was endorsed by
    Pacific Island leaders at the November 2023 Pacific Island Forum (PIF)
    Leaders Meeting in Cook Islands. The goals include conserving the ocean
    and its marine resources, increasing food security and livelihoods for
    Pacific Islander communities, and scaling sustainable finance
    solutions.
        USAID is also working with Pacific Island countries to foster
    sustainable and inclusive economic growth as well as to protect Pacific
    livelihoods and the critical natural resources upon which communities
    depend. This includes working with development partners like Australia
    and Japan to pool resources to promote resilient and secure digital
    connectivity across the Pacific Islands. USAID is supporting the
    development of two separate undersea cables that will expand
    connectivity and spark economic growth in Palau as well as the
    Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, and Nauru. USAID is also
    partnering with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation
    to launch an up to $50 million Pacific Microfinance Facility, which
    will help micro, small, and medium enterprises access the credit they
    need to expand their businesses. In the Marshall Islands (RMI), USAID
    is working with a private sector company to potentially secure
    investment and financing to expand its current dock infrastructure,
    which will allow RMI to participate in and benefit from a sustainable
    and transparent tuna industry in the region. As tuna is among the
    Pacific Islands' most valuable natural resources, USAID is assessing
    the opportunities to replicate this project in other Pacific Island
    countries.

        Question. How is USAID working with the Pacific Islands Forum to
    support the 2050 Strategy for a Blue Pacific Continent?

        Answer. USAID's work is designed to address what the region itself
    has defined as its most pressing challenges, including the priorities
    laid out in the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
    Specifically, USAID is listening and partnering with the region to
    solve urgent climate challenges; strengthen global health security;
    strengthen democracy and counter rising autocracy; expand secure and
    environmentally-sustainable digital infrastructure; and develop
    stronger, inclusive economies. USAID's re-established Pacific Islands
    Mission in Fiji enhances our ability to partner with the PIF on
    discrete priorities, including building long-term economic resilience.

        Question. How is USAID leveraging digital health to support Pacific
    Island countries' delivery of primary and specialty care?

        Answer. As reliable and secure digital access expands across the
    Pacific Islands, it provides additional opportunity for Pacific
    communities to access digital healthcare services. USAID is
    strengthening global health security in PNG and Fiji as well as
    additional Pacific Island countries by partnering with Pacific health
    ministries to build their capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to
    threats posed by emerging infectious diseases. In Fiji, USAID is
    working to finalize a partnership with the Taiwan International
    Cooperation and Development Fund to strengthen digital healthcare for
    noncommunicable diseases and COVID-19 in Fiji. USAID is also offering
    digital health training opportunities for public and private sector
    stakeholders from the Pacific Island countries, demonstrating our
    commitment to advancing digital health.

        Question. It was your testimony last year that investing in
    telehealth is challenging given that USAID Global Health is heavily
    ``earmarked.'' However, most countries offer some telehealth to deliver
    essential services, and its value was proven during the pandemic. It is
    critical to not regress on global digital health transformation gains
    as the pandemic recedes and priorities shift.

        How is USAID integrating telehealth across its global health
    programs?

        Answer. USAID strategically integrates telemedicine into its global
    health programming to help increase access to quality healthcare in
    partner countries. For example, in Ukraine, where over 1,400 health
    facilities have been damaged by Russian forces, and over 2,500 medical
    personnel have sought safety abroad, USAID funded telemedicine services
    to ensure care for populations in need. These telemedicine services
    provide care to patients injured by explosions and gunfire, support
    vital surgery, and facilitate routine care delivery, including for
    pregnant women living beyond the reach of a functioning health system.
    As of late last year, the USAID-funded telemedicine program had
    facilitated close to 10,000 teleconsultations, providing critical care
    in medical deserts created by Russia's aggression.
        Telemedicine can help address barriers to accessing quality care
    for people who live in remote areas or areas without enough
    professional medical personnel. USAID recognizes that effective
    telemedicine services require investment in countries' digital
    ecosystems. To that end, USAID actively collaborates with partner
    countries to strengthen the foundational building blocks that are
    essential to providing telemedicine services. This includes investing
    in electrification first to ensure reliable digital connectivity,
    through Power Africa's Health Electrification and Telecommunications
    Alliance (HETA), a $47 million cooperative agreement funded through
    integrated funding from USAID/Global Health and Power Africa. HETA is a
    public private partnership that crowds in resources from the private
    sector along with facilitating business models to help scale up models
    for electrification and connectivity of health facilities for long-
    term sustainability and operations that are critical for supporting
    telemedicine solutions.
        USAID's Vision for Action in Digital Health 2020-2024 outlines the
    agency's strategic approach to ensure digital health investments
    contribute toward strengthening the digital health enabling environment
    that is crucial for impactful telemedicine services. We are currently
    working on a successor policy which we anticipate launching before the
    end of 2024. The updated policy recommits to the four programmatic and
    10 operational priorities identified in the Digital Health Vision and
    will incorporate insights from implementation and changes in global
    health and digital technology since the initial policy's publication.
    These policies advance USAID's commitment to the strategic digital
    transformation of country health systems and programs, while supporting
    the coordination of care delivery and specific digital health
    interventions such as telemedicine.

        Question. How is USAID working with country partners to determine
    stages of telehealth implementation and needs for U.S. assistance?

        Answer. The USAID Digital Health Vision encourages the assessment
    of country digital enabling environments and capacity as part of health
    programming. These assessments can help investments align to and grow
    country digital health governance, workforce, and other capacity as
    needed to effectively deliver health programs.
        Since the Digital Health Vision launched, and propelled by the
    COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen tremendous growth in the use of digital
    health, including telemedicine, to deliver health information and
    services. For example, in India, USAID has supported a variety of
    aspects of the Government of India's eSanjeevani cloud-based telehealth
    platform that today is in 87 percent of districts (706 of 806),
    reaching over 222 million people, more than half of whom are women.
    eSanjeevani is part of India's broader national digital health strategy
    and architectural blueprint that leverages standards-based and open-
    source digital building blocks, sometimes referred to as digital public
    infrastructure. USAID has also partnered with the Government of India
    to share eSanjeevani with other countries such as Fiji and Philippines.
    Through a blended finance facility, USAID also supports private
    telemedicine options, such as Karma Primary Healthcare and Critical
    Care Hope, to extend service coverage to areas government systems do
    not reach, creating a menu of options for users.
        To further support country partners, USAID is developing a
    telemedicine technical brief that identifies the technological, policy,
    and regulatory prerequisites necessary for successful telehealth
    delivery. The brief will help USAID Missions support partner
    governments in developing scalable telemedicine programs and identify
    key opportunities for investment. The technical brief will have cross-
    cutting relevance but is targeted for the Asia and Western Pacific
    region.

        Question. How is USAID collaborating with other global health
    funders and the private sector to expand the use of telehealth?

        Answer. USAID has a number of collaborations with other key global
    health stakeholders, including funders and the private sector, that
    help harness the potential of digital health, including telemedicine.
        During the COVID-19 pandemic, USAID supported a Digital Health
    Center of Excellence (DICE) facility, which was hosted by UNICEF and
    delivered in coordination with WHO. DICE, in partnership with the
    private sector, including Twilio, provided expert technical assistance
    to countries regarding their use of digital tools to support vaccine
    delivery and other critical aspects of care.
        To understand bottlenecks that local private sector actors face
    when developing digital health solutions, including for telemedicine
    providers in Africa, USAID funded an analysis that identified critical
    challenges African entrepreneurs face in the digital health space. This
    analysis included two entrepreneurs that ran telemedicine companies in
    Cameroon and Rwanda, respectively. This formative research contributed
    to efforts by USAID and other actors to address challenges and promote
    successful businesses and localization in the digital health space.
        Digital Square, an initiative focused on digital health global
    goods which is funded by USAID, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
    (BMGF), and others, hosted a request for applications designed to
    support digital innovators working in telemedicine. This application
    call resulted in the identification and selection of two open source
    telemedicine platforms, one in the Latin American region and another
    working primarily in India and Bangladesh, for further funding provided
    by the BMGF. This funding will help make these platforms interoperable
    with larger health systems to enable scale and continuity of care.
        Finally, USAID is also a key contributor toward developing the
    capacity needed to plan and manage national digital health systems,
    including for telemedicine. USAID continues to refine and deliver the
    Digital Health: Planning National Systems course, which it created in
    collaboration with the WHO, the International Telecommunications Union,
    and Digital Square. The course is designed to provide Ministry of
    Health officials with the knowledge and skills they need to proactively
    manage health sector digital transformation. As a secondary audience,
    the course also targets other health sector stakeholders, including
    USAID and other donor staff. To date, almost 700 health leaders from
    more than 90 countries have been trained through the existing course.
    This includes 309 Ministry of Health or government leaders and 80 USAID
    staff from 29 USAID Missions as well as Washington, DC based staff.
        USAID is currently funding the creation of a new module for the
    course focused on telemedicine. The module guides participants in
    developing functioning telemedicine services as part of their broader
    national digital health architecture and also introduces them to key
    resources, such as maturity models, that help identify focus areas for
    advancing country readiness for telemedicine implementation. Both new
    students and course alumni will have access to the new telemedicine
    module, and the initial delivery of the module will be piloted for a
    cohort of course participants from Cambodia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru,
    Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated
    States of Micronesia, Palau, Laos, and Mongolia.

        Question. What countries has USAID prioritized and why?

        Answer. Most investment decisions for health funds are made by
    USAID's Missions, as they are best positioned to understand the context
    and needs of the countries they serve. Broadly, however, USAID tends to
    prioritize telemedicine investments in countries with higher digital
    health maturity levels. This is because to effectively and safely
    extend the reach and convenience of the healthcare system, telemedicine
    requires certain foundational building blocks, which include things
    like mobile connectivity, regulatory frameworks, a digitally literate
    health workforce, and access to mobile devices. As countries continue
    to undergo rapid digital transformation, USAID anticipates seeing
    continued growth in demand for telemedicine services, which is why
    USAID's Africa and Asia Bureaus are both co-financing the Digital
    Health: Planning National Systems module. This module is focused on
    helping leaders planning their national system recognize opportunities
    to integrate telemedicine with the other core digital services.

        Question. How do you envision telehealth fitting into the primary
    healthcare and health worker initiative?

        Answer. Expanding the use of digital technologies by health workers
    is a key area of focus of the Global Health Workforce Initiative
    (GHWI). The use of digital technologies, including telemedicine, by
    health workers can help expand specific access and reach of services,
    critically at the frontline of primary healthcare, by making it more
    likely that the right person has the right information at the right
    time to make important health decisions. For example, provider-to-
    provider telemedicine consultations can help address some of the
    challenges presented in geographies that do not have many highly
    specialized health professionals. Health workers in primary care
    settings can consult with remote specialists to access advice, read
    diagnostics, and tailor care. This can also help triage and
    appropriately route referrals to higher levels of care, reducing
    burdens on the healthcare system and addressing some of the challenges
    that health workforce shortages create. USAID's Primary Impact effort,
    which aims to accelerate primary healthcare outcomes across Africa and
    Asia, aligns well with GHWI priorities as it recognizes health workers
    as foundational to advancing primary healthcare and achievement of
    health goals. Telemedicine is part of the suite of interventions the
    Agency is exploring to meet context specific country needs.

        Question. What funding could support USAID to execute on your
    Vision for Action in Digital Health?

        Answer. The Agency funds digital health activities as an integrated
    component of all our health programs (e.g., TB, MCH, HIV). Digital
    health is of critical importance to USAID's global health efforts and
    is essential for USAID to achieve our global health sector goals and
    impact.

        Question. A well-organized, anti-rights movement threatens to
    undermine global progress, particularly reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights.
    Earlier this month, Uganda's constitutional court cited the U.S.
    Supreme Court's Dobbs decision overturning Roe in its upholding of a
    sweeping anti- LGBTQ+ law that criminalizes homosexuality and same-sex
    marriage.

        How does the budget facilitate USAID's efforts to prevent
    backsliding globally and seek to expand access to sexual and
    reproductive rights?

        Answer. Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are not
    only women's issues--they affect everyone. Advancing SRHR is
    fundamental to achieving gender equality and promoting and protecting
    human rights.
        The United States, through USAID, is the largest bilateral donor to
    global voluntary family planning assistance, a commitment spanning more
    than five decades, and is committed to investing in high-quality,
    client-centered reproductive health and family planning services that
    improve women's well-being, promote gender equality, and give
    individuals greater control over their bodies and lives. USAID, through
    PEPFAR, is also committed to the important work of delivering
    comprehensive, client-centered services for key populations (including
    LGBTQI+ people) that include prevention, testing, and treatment of HIV
    and other sexually transmitted infections, mental health and
    psychosocial support, and related health services to reduce stigma and
    discrimination.

        Question. It has now been more than 2 years since the Biden
    Administration launched PREPARE, the ``whole of government''
    international climate adaptation and resilience initiative.

        Where has this initiative been deployed?

        Answer. According to fiscal year 2023 data, the U.S. government has
    climate adaptation activities active in 115 countries in South America,
    Central America, the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and
    North Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Fiscal year 2022 was the first
    partial programmatic cycle after PREPARE was launched in November 2021.

        Question. What are the indicators you have set to define its
    success?

        Answer. PREPARE developed a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
    plan to articulate how all participating departments and agencies can
    collect and communicate the outputs and outcomes of U.S. government
    international climate adaptation work and investments. This plan is
    helping to transparently communicate to Congress and other stakeholders
    the collective results from PREPARE and will allow departments and
    agencies to share best practices for adaptation programming, compacts,
    transactions, and activities. This Plan includes five standard
    indicators for the performance of U.S. government actions on
    adaptation. USAID and State Department are supporting adoption of these
    indicators across the implementing agencies. The use of these
    indicators is required as relevant for the types of work that agencies
    conduct. The indicators include:

      --Number of people trained in climate change adaptation supported by
            USG assistance
      --Number of institutions with improved capacity to assess or address
            climate change risks supported by USG assistance
      --Number of laws, policies, regulations, or standards addressing
            climate change adaptation formally proposed, adopted, or
            implemented as supported by USG assistance
      --Amount of investment mobilized (in USD) for climate change
            adaptation as supported by USG assistance
      --Number of people supported by the USG to adapt to the impacts of
            climate change
          -- This indicator includes in fiscal year 2024, for the first
                time, a disaggregate to allow USAID and State to account
                for the number of people supported to adapt to climate
                impacts using climate information services, including early
                warning systems.

        Question. Has PREPARE met any of those benchmarks already?

        Answer. PREPARE has seen positive results under all three of its
    pillars. For example, in Pillar 1, PREPARE has spurred interagency
    collaboration between USAID, State, NOAA, NASA, and increasingly with
    U.S. finance agencies MCC, DFC, and Department of Commerce on expanding
    climate information services, including early warning systems to close
    the gaps in access to critical, life- saving information. Under Pillar
    2, USAID and State have collectively supported 75 partner governments
    on their adaptation planning in critical sectors, including food and
    agriculture, water, infrastructure, and health. Under Pillar 3, PREPARE
    has made progress on uniting the unique financing options that USAID,
    State, DFC, EX/IM, USTDA, and Commerce offer to address the challenge
    of driving greater private investment into climate adaptation. This has
    included the development, launch, and initial funding rounds of the
    PREPARE Adaptation Window led by USAID in partnership with State and
    the DFC and crowding in partner capital from Nordic governments.
    PREPARE has also made significant progress with U.S. and global
    companies through the PREPARE Call to Action. USAID and the State
    Department will publish the second annual progress snapshot later in
    2024, which will share progress against objectives.

        Question. USAID's Climate Strategy rightly recognizes the
    compounding relationship between violent conflict and climate change.

        How is USAID prioritizing and implementing conflict prevention and
    climate action, particularly in sensitive regions like the Indo-
    Pacific?

        Answer. USAID works in many places experiencing conflict and
    climate impacts in some form--including in the Indo-Pacific. It is
    critical that USAID integrates conflict mitigation and conflict
    sensitivity into our climate change strategy and programming. In
    practice, this requires identifying where conflicts are precipitated or
    worsened by acute climate shocks and implementing measures tailored to
    that specific context.
        As it pertains to the Indo-Pacific, USAID is working to advance
    climate resilience for communities that are in conflict-prone areas or
    have experienced conflict in the past. For example, in the western
    Indo-Pacific, USAID is currently working to advance climate adaptation
    in both Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The Agency is helping build the
    capacity of the private sector, civil society, and partner governments
    to respond and adapt to climate change in ways that contribute to
    sustained, inclusive, market-based growth. In the Maldives in
    particular, work is focused on how to increase the amount of climate
    finance available to meet the impacts of the lowest lying country on
    Earth, and ultimately help communities overcome the impacts of sea
    level rise and other climate impacts.
        Through our commitment outlined in the Global Fragility Act in
    Papua New Guinea, we recognized that drivers of conflict, such as land
    ownership, access to natural resources, and the power and economic
    benefits derived from both, will be exacerbated by climate change. Our
    interagency 10-year strategy will help alleviate the negative
    consequences of climate change by supporting innovative and alternative
    approaches to doing business.
        USAID is also prioritizing the recruitment and onboarding of
    subject matter experts (SMEs) that provide Agency and USAID Missions
    with technical leadership and assistance in the design, management, and
    evaluation of climate programs; strategic planning and program
    management; and coordination with the interagency and other donors.
    These experts will work towards the integration of climate and water
    security across other sectors as a means of advancing resilience across
    the development portfolio.
        USAID is doing this work around the world, for example:

      --USAID's Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization has
            provided over $20 million in funding to support over 10 current
            peacebuilding and reconciliation activities focused on
            addressing the root causes of conflicts related to climate,
            natural resource management, water, land, the environment, and
            sustainable agriculture. These activities are ongoing in
            locations as diverse as the Kyrgyz Republic, Kenya, and the
            Dominican Republic/Haiti border region, in which natural
            resource availability and vulnerability due to environmental
            and climate shocks is a central driver of conflict.
      --USAID is also working to better anticipate and prepare for climate-
            related conflict by integrating climate and food security
            analysis through the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS
            NET). With an initial focus on three Global Fragility Act
            countries--Mozambique, Togo, and Haiti--this effort combines
            the gold-standard climate and food security analyses that FEWS
            NET is known for with new data and machine learning methods to
            improve our understanding of how climate, instability, food
            insecurity, and conflict interact to impact peoples' lives.
            This effort will enable targeted investment and tailored
            interventions that directly address climate change's impact on
            conflict.

        Regionally, USAID is working:

      --In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), which is the most
            water-scarce region worldwide with 60 percent of its population
            exposed to high water stress. In this region, addressing
            climate risks and water security are critical for long-term
            regional stability and reducing impacts of droughts, food
            insecurity, heat stressors, and infectious diseases, all of
            which are drivers of conflict. USAID has integrated climate
            into our programming working in critical conflict hotspots to
            empower communities to resolve conflicts over land, water, and
            natural resources through increasing equitable access to land
            and water, establishing sustainable natural resource management
            practices, and strengthening traditional dialogue and conflict
            resolution mechanisms.
      --In Central Asia, USAID continues to support cooperation around
            water sharing among the Central Asia Republics. A current
            effort is focused on the development of and training on
            software utilizing satellite data to help countries to assess
            and track seasonal mountain water supplies and flows.
            Recognizing that effective management of water resources relies
            on precise prediction of water availability as a basis for
            local, national, and transnational decisionmaking, USAID
            supported the addition of a glacier monitoring and increased
            temporal and spatial resolution tool that allows real-time
            monitoring of Asia's snow cover, hydrological forecasting,
            daily snow water equivalent, snow depth, snow melt, and short-
            term forecasting of water availability. Based on increasing
            demand, USAID will continue to distribute this software package
            and training to countries in South and Central Asia.

        Question. Does the funding in the fiscal year 2025 budget
    sufficiently allow you to elevate the role of the climate priorities at
    USAID and appoint senior level officials with authority to develop a
    new transformational climate change strategy for foreign assistance and
    development?

        Answer. Yes. The President's fiscal year 2025 budget request
    includes $3 billion in discretionary funding across the State
    Department and USAID. If enacted, this funding would allow USAID to
    better implement our ambitious eight-year Climate Strategy, which
    launched in 2022, and advance key initiatives, such as the President's
    Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE). USAID continues
    to make progress on our ambitious 2022-2030 Climate Strategy and has no
    current plans to draft a new strategy.
        With sufficient budget support, we aim to achieve the following
    targets by 2030:

      --Reduce global CO2 emissions by six billion tons
      --Protect, restore, and manage 100 million hectares of natural
            ecosystems for climate benefits
      --Support 500 million people to be more climate resilient
      --Mobilize $150 billion in public and private finance for climate
            actions
      --Support 80 countries with Nationally Determined Contributions and
            National Adaptation Plans
      --Increase equitable engagement with critical populations

        We are also seeing significant demand from partner countries for
    U.S. bilateral development assistance to address climate impacts and
    enable a transition to sustainable, resilient economies. USAID's
    Climate Strategy elevated climate in the Agency's programming and
    operations. The Strategy, combined with other Agency priorities such as
    localization, has the potential to contribute to transformational
    change if fully funded.
        Regarding the appointment of senior officials, USAID has benefitted
    from having a Chief Climate Officer since 2021. This coincided with the
    establishment of an Agency leadership council on climate change the
    same year, which is composed of senior officials from every USAID
    bureau. This structure provides USAID significant high-level leadership
    and oversight of climate change efforts.
        USAID's Climate Strategy calls on all missions to contribute to the
    Strategy and appoint a senior climate champion. Engagement from across
    all regions and sectors is leading to greater awareness of how climate
    is impacting development and human welfare. With the funding requested
    in the fiscal year 2025 President's budget request, missions will be
    able to launch more holistic programming that integrates climate
    resilience and environmental stewardship objectives.

                                     ______

                   Questions Submitted by Senator Jerry Moran
        Question. For fiscal year 2024, USAID will have to cope with a
    five-percent reduction in funding for global food security and
    agricultural development programs like the Feed the Future initiative
    as compared to fiscal year 2023.
        Overall, how will this reduction affect your agency's ability to
    help developing countries' agricultural sectors address long-term
    problems with lack of resilience in food supply chains?

        Answer. We recognize the challenging tradeoffs that need to be made
    in the budget process. We are emerging from a global food crisis of
    historic proportions, for reasons that are well known--including
    disruptions due to COVID-19, conflicts, erratic and acute weather,
    including prolonged droughts, and Russia's full-scale invasion of
    Ukraine. The reduced funding in the fiscal year 2024 foreign assistance
    bill included a reduction to the key accounts that fund food security,
    as well as a 5 percent reduction to the directed level for food
    security programs. These reductions will inevitably constrain our
    ability to maintain bilateral investments we have made in years past.
    It will also limit any acceleration in progress that we hope to achieve
    as we support communities building back from the recent compounding
    crisis and hinder our ability to respond to new crises.
        Despite those challenges, we are grateful to Congress for its
    longstanding and bipartisan support for Feed the Future. The data-
    driven approach of Feed the Future demonstrates the success the
    initiative has had. In areas where Feed the Future has worked, poverty,
    hunger, and child stunting have all declined by 20 to 25 percent on
    average during the first decade of the initiative.

        Question. How important are USAID's agricultural development
    investments in addressing the root causes of hunger and malnutrition,
    and preventing humanitarian food and nutrition crises?

        Answer. Investments in agricultural development have been
    incredibly successful at preventing the root causes of hunger and
    malnutrition. USAID did an assessment to measure the impact of Feed the
    Future over its first decade and found that, in areas where we worked,
    there was a 19 percent reduction in the prevalence of extreme poverty,
    a 26 percent reduction in the prevalence of child stunting, and a 21
    percent reduction in the prevalence of moderate and severe hunger.
        Agriculture research investments through USAID also have an
    outsized positive impact on our agriculture development goals.
    Investments in agricultural research that lead to sustainably increased
    productivity and dynamic agri-food systems alleviate poverty at higher
    rates than increased productivity in any other sector. For the poorest
    economies, a 1 percent increase in agricultural GDP yields roughly two
    to four times the impact on extreme poverty as comparable increases in
    labor productivity in industry or services. USAID's demand-led
    agricultural research can simultaneously address poverty reduction,
    food security, nutrition, and environmental goals.
        Historically, agricultural research investments have produced a
    seven- to ten-fold rate of return. For example:

      --When drought hit Southern Africa in 2016, six million farmers were
            able to harvest resilient yields by planting new, drought
            tolerant maize varieties developed through Feed the Future
            research support. Across 13 countries, small-holder farmers
            grew enough to make $160 million more during the drought than
            if they had grown regular maize.
      --In the dry corridor in Central America, the Bureau for Humanitarian
            Assistance has promoted climate smart practices that have
            extended the number of months that vulnerable households have
            sufficient corn to eat by 50 percent and increased bean yields
            by 25 percent.

        These Feed the Future investments also benefit U.S. farmers. As
    diseases that threaten foreign crops and livestock make their way to
    our shores, U.S. farmers and ranchers benefit from the work Feed the
    Future is already doing to combat them. For example:

      --Feed the Future funds multiple efforts to combat wheat stem rust, a
            disease that threatens our $10 billion-a-year wheat industry.
      --The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Sorghum and Millet developed
            new sorghum varieties that withstand damage caused by the green
            aphid, based on what we learned in Ethiopia. A decade ago,
            these aphids had reached 17 states in the U.S. and cost nearly
            $8 million in losses in 2013 alone.

        Question. How can we better help food insecure communities become
    more self-sufficient and less reliant on US emergency assistance?
    (Resilience)

        Answer. The Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS) for 2022 through
    2026 emphasizes strengthening resilience as a way to meet Agency food
    security objectives and reduce reliance on humanitarian assistance.
        USAID uses resilience-strengthening approaches to protect and
    improve food security (and other measures of well-being) across our
    work, with special attention given to areas of recurrent and protracted
    crises where greater resilience is essential for reducing humanitarian
    need and assistance.
        To help food-insecure communities become more self-sufficient and
    less food insecure, it is important to identify the main shocks and
    stresses that might threaten food security--such as drought, disease
    outbreaks, disasters, and conflicts--and invest in strengthening
    multisectoral sources of resilience that could help counter or manage
    those risks. These sources of resilience can include the assets,
    skills/strategies, services, and relationships that individuals,
    households, and communities rely on during shocks or stresses--such as
    skills and knowledge, access to financial services, diversified
    livelihood options, social networks and safety nets, resilient market
    systems, and access to information, including disaster early warnings.
        By strengthening resilience in these ways, USAID programming can
    help sustain food security beyond the end of an activity, even if
    future shocks and stresses occur, and avert humanitarian need and/or
    disasters. Examples include:

      --In the Sahel, the USAID-supported Resilience in the Sahel Enhanced
            (RISE) program (2014-2019) integrated and coordinated
            humanitarian and development efforts to address a vicious cycle
            of crises. RISE focused on strengthening households' sources of
            resilience, such as hazard insurance, disaster preparedness,
            asset ownership, bridging social capital, and access to
            financial resources, infrastructure, formal safety nets, and
            information. The final evaluation found that, despite drought,
            floods, COVID-19, and rising food prices, households that
            participated in RISE had levels of food security 10 percentage
            points higher and higher self-reported ``ability to recover''
            than non- participants. RISE also directly prevented 1 in 5
            extremely vulnerable individuals from experiencing severe food
            insecurity.
      --In Uganda, the Apolou and Nuyok Activities (2017-2023) are an
            extraordinary example of how USAID's resilience-strengthening
            approach can improve food security and nutrition. The
            activities took place in the Karamoja region during mounting
            shocks and stresses--such as major conflicts and market
            disruptions from COVID-19. They included more than 15
            interventions to strengthen households' sources of resilience,
            such as expanding health facility outreach, repairing community
            wells, strengthening livelihoods through a graduation approach,
            and building government capacity to test the quality of
            veterinary inputs. During the Apolou Activity, the percentage
            of women with sufficient dietary diversity nearly doubled
            (16.4% to 30.5%), despite impacts of the pandemic and increased
            conflict in Karamoja.

        During this Farm Bill reauthorization process, USAID is proposing
    that Congress consider technical changes to the Food for Peace Act to
    maximize the effectiveness of resilience programs. For example, by
    shifting some U.S. commodities from Title II non-emergency programs to
    emergency programs, USAID would maintain the same level of commodity
    procurements from U.S. producers while offering implementing partners
    the ability to fully design non-emergency programs to address the root
    causes of hunger. Giving partners more choice in programming would
    improve the outcomes of these programs and help decrease reliance on
    U.S. assistance in the long term.

        Question. Investments in agricultural research and development,
    including those within the Feed the Future initiative like in the
    CGIAR--the largest public agricultural research network in the world--
    and the Innovation Labs like the ones at Kansas State University in my
    home-state, are crucial to long-term global food and nutrition
    security.
        How are USAID and the State Department prioritizing these
    investments in international agricultural R&D, and how do they
    contribute to farmers' ability to grow nutritious foods and raise
    livestock in light of the many challenges smallholder farmers in target
    countries face like the high price of fertilizer, pests and diseases,
    and changing weather patterns, including drought?

        Answer. USAID prioritizes Feed the Future research that is
    evidence-based and purpose driven, as outlined in the U.S. Global Food
    Security Research Strategy. Feed the Future research investments are
    informed by (i) the likelihood of advancing practices, policies,
    knowledge, or technologies; (ii) the value to society of the outputs
    generated from successful research; and (iii) the existence of a unique
    and compelling need for the U.S. Government to fund the research. In
    practice, USAID and our interagency partners combine broad stakeholder
    engagement, expert consultations, and formal economic analysis to
    determine the potential benefits of our research investments.
        Demand-led agricultural research has historically produced a seven-
    to ten-fold rate of return on investment. Research is also a powerful
    driver of poverty reduction, with the long-term effect of agricultural
    research and productivity growth making food cheaper. In low income
    countries, cheaper food prices play a major role in poverty reduction
    and economic development.
        For the poorest economies, a 1 percent increase in agricultural
    gross domestic product yields roughly two to four times the impact on
    extreme poverty as comparable to increases in labor productivity in
    industry or services.
        Economic growth brought about by agricultural-led growth can also
    improve nutritional outcomes. Higher incomes and more affordable, safe,
    nutritious foods enable households to move to a more diverse diet that
    can improve health and nutrition outcomes.
        Over the past 50 years of CGIAR research investments, there has
    been a 10-dollar return on every dollar invested in research and
    development. Crop technologies developed with CGIAR investments have
    been adopted on over 221 million hectares globally, resulting in
    substantial economic welfare gains amounting to $47 billion annually.
    Notably, these benefits have been accrued across a diversity of
    geographies, crop varieties, and technologies leading to lower food
    prices and higher incomes.
        Investments in U.S. university-led international agricultural
    research have also led to over $8.4 billion in economic purchasing
    power parity returns on our cumulative investment of $1.24 billion over
    the past 40 years. Impacts go beyond direct economic benefits--analysis
    of U.S. university investments in the Collaborative Research Support
    Program (CRSP) and Feed the Future Innovation Labs (FtFIL) found
    improvements in overall human health, dietary quality and
    diversification, and environmental impacts.

        Question. How, too, has Feed the Future harnessed this return on
    investment and spurred gains in ending hunger and malnutrition, even
    amid the deep challenges of the last few years? For those who wonder
    why we would invest in ending hunger, how does improved global food
    security benefit our national security here in the U.S.?

        Answer. U.S. investments in foreign agricultural research through
    the Feed the Future Initiative benefit the world's poorest regions
    while also providing major benefits in the United States.
        Technologies developed with U.S. aid enhance global agricultural
    productivity, reduce climate risks, and combat pests and diseases. For
    example, many American producers of sorghum now plant improved
    varieties developed since 1979 through the Sorghum and Millet
    Innovation Lab and its predecessor programs. These programs developed
    sorghum varieties resistant to pests like the greenbug aphid and
    sugarcane aphid. A subsequent economic impact study found that USAID's
    greenbug aphid-resistant sorghum varieties had saved American farmers
    $389 million in 1989 alone. At that point, funding for the sorghum
    program had totaled $44 million (in constant 1989 dollars). The U.S.
    sorghum research generated nine times its total cumulative cost, and
    the benefits can reasonably be expected to have continued for many
    subsequent years.
        We have similar evidence of benefit spillover in wheat and beans.
    For example, the estimated impacts of international wheat research on
    the U.S. is between $140 to $180 million annually, representing a
    benefit-cost ratio of between 32:1 and 40:1. International bean
    research investments led to the development of 40 bean varieties now
    commercially grown in the United States.
        Global food security contributes to U.S. national security by
    improving overall global stability. By bolstering food security in
    regions prone to scarcity, U.S. foreign agricultural aid programs
    effectively mitigate underlying drivers of conflict, like economic
    grievances and resource competition. This proactive approach is not
    only cost-effective but also crucial for averting the human and
    financial toll of crises on both affected populations and the
    international community.
        Through collaborative efforts with key stakeholders over multiple
    decades, institutions like U.S. universities, CGIAR research centers,
    and USAID have laid the groundwork for proactive crisis management,
    highlighting the strategic importance of sustained engagement in
    foreign agricultural research programs.

        Question. For decades, the US government has directed humanitarian
    aid to hot spots like Haiti and Sudan. In a study done by the U.S.
    Government Accountability Office, published in March of 2023, it was
    reported that USAID provided $2 billion dollars to support
    reconstruction and development in Haiti during fiscal years 2010-2020.
    Yet the situation in both regions is deteriorating. In Haiti, there's
    total state collapse and violence is on the rise. In Sudan,
    paramilitary forces are wreaking havoc on the population, causing mass
    atrocities. In both cases, the U.S. government has relied on a network
    of large government aid contractors and international organizations
    that have little connection to the communities they serve to disburse
    this aid. I'm not convinced our status quo approach to delivering
    foreign aid is working. USAID has proposed funding both the crises in
    Haiti and Sudan. What assurances can you give us that the agency plans
    to spend this money in new ways that will deliver better results and
    not just invest the way it always has?

        Answer.
    Haiti
        Addressing severe food insecurity, protection, and displacement
    concerns are an integral part of stabilizing Haiti, but humanitarian
    assistance alone will not solve the crisis nor provide the future that
    the Haitian people deserve. USAID's Bureau for Latin America and the
    Caribbean provides continued investments in job creation, education,
    and a healthy functioning private sector. However, the enabling factor
    continues to be a secure and stable Haiti, which we believe will be
    supported by the deployment of the UN-authorized Multinational Security
    Support (MSS) mission. Continuing to provide targeted humanitarian
    assistance in conjunction with both security and development efforts
    remains critical for addressing the severe challenges facing Haiti.
        At the agency level, USAID has made improvements to address the
    cited concerns, including the following:

        1.  Awarded a new monitoring, evaluation, and learning contract to
    collect and analyze data to further build the knowledge and evidence
    base on USAID programs and the local context; and
        2.  began utilizing the Agency's new indicator data management
    system, which consolidates important performance indicator data, as
    well as information about each awarded activity, allowing timely
    reporting and adaptive management.

        In addition, USAID has an agency-wide commitment to localization
    which is being realized in Haiti today. USAID's Mission in Haiti is
    planning procurement that is supportive of USAID's global target of
    providing at least a quarter of all funds directly to local partners by
    the end of fiscal year (FY) 2025. Between fiscal year 2021 and fiscal
    year 2022, USAID/Haiti increased the percentage of funding to local
    partners from 10 percent to 22 percent. By the end of 2023, USAID/Haiti
    had 45 program-related awards, of which thirteen are to local
    organizations.
        USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) is committed to
    serving the most vulnerable populations in Haiti by providing life-
    saving assistance. USAID's humanitarian partners conduct needs
    assessments that determine beneficiaries based upon vulnerability
    criteria. We require our partners to have robust safeguards and risk-
    mitigation systems in place so that humanitarian aid reaches those who
    need it most and avoids fraud, waste, or abuse. USAID closely monitors
    partner activities to ensure that activities are reaching
    beneficiaries, including using third-party monitoring (TPM) to
    complement our monitoring efforts and provide an extra layer of
    independent verification that USAID-funded humanitarian assistance is
    reaching intended beneficiaries.
        For the humanitarian response in Haiti, USAID is providing direct
    support to 28 partners--including one local NGO--and indirectly we are
    supporting another 26 local partners. In addition, we support numerous
    local organizations through the UN's Women Peace and Humanitarian Fund,
    a pooled fund managed by the UN Development Programme and UN Women that
    supports several local protection organizations throughout Haiti.
    Applying for U.S. Government funding can be complex and time-intensive
    for smaller organizations, so local NGOs often choose to begin by
    partnering with existing USAID international partners. In addition,
    USAID is advocating for and supporting a UN-led pooled fund that is
    expected to begin operations soon and will prioritize funding to local
    NGOs.
    Sudan
        In Sudan, following the outbreak of conflict in April 2023, USAID
    quickly pivoted our broad portfolio of assistance in response to the
    changing context, including scaling up humanitarian response in
    locations of need where we had not worked before, such as urban centers
    in Khartoum and new states such as Gezira and Gedaref outside of our
    traditional humanitarian areas of operation.
        We also shifted humanitarian assistance funds to local response
    efforts. In fiscal year 2023, USAID/BHA provided an estimated $29
    million to support over 40 local partner organizations, such as women-
    owned local organizations, through our direct partnerships with NGOs
    and public international organizations. In fiscal year 2024 we have 29
    sub awardees through which we are programming $9.6 million. This is on
    top of $6.8 million going towards Emergency Response Room support.
    Local organizations will continue to be the bedrock of this
    humanitarian response based on their flexibility, unique access,
    important networks, and trust and acceptance among communities.
        USAID/BHA and USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives have also
    scaled up funding for local response networks at the community level.
    Since the outbreak of the war in April 2023, USAID/Sudan's Democracy &
    Governance office and Office of Transition Initiatives have provided
    $6.7 million to support local responder networks, and USAID/BHA has
    provided $6.1 million to these local organizations.
        USAID has prioritized humanitarian partners that are nimble and
    forward-leaning to continue to push for cross-border and cross-line
    humanitarian assistance, including scaling up support for NGOs that
    demonstrate their ability to pivot existing assistance to safely
    respond to new emergency needs.

        Question. In Darfur, attacks on civilians and communities are
    occurring based on ethnicity, echoing those of the genocide that began
    20 years ago, the year I last travelled to Sudan. In December 2023,
    Secretary of State Blinken released a determination that members of the
    Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had
    committed war crimes in Sudan, and that the RSF and allied militias
    committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. Why has USAID
    recently cut funding for key atrocity prevention and peacebuilding
    programs in Sudan in the wake of Secretary Blinken determining that the
    parties to the conflict have and continue to commit war crimes, crimes
    against humanity, and ethnic cleansing? How is USAID working to prevent
    further atrocities and achieve accountability for atrocities committed
    in Sudan, especially following the determination issued by Secretary
    Blinken in December?

        Answer. USAID has not cut overall funding for Sudan and has
    significantly increased its humanitarian support to the Sudanese
    people. Due to necessary programmatic pivots following the outbreak of
    conflict, USAID reviewed the performance of its existing partners and
    redistributed funding from partners that were no longer able to deliver
    on their programs to those that can, as part of our commitment to the
    effective use of taxpayer resources. The funds being redistributed will
    remain in the USAID/Sudan portfolio, in the sectors for which they were
    originally programmed. USAID believes that this is the most efficient
    and responsible use of resources to cover our immediate key objectives
    in Sudan, which includes support for atrocity documentation,
    peacebuilding, and Sudanese civil society.

        Question. In December 2023, I was alerted by the Food and
    Agriculture Association that they were experiencing issues delivering
    animal feed to Gaza. In response, I called Ambassador Jack Lew in
    Israel to make him aware of this issue, and it was the first time he
    had heard of the problem. The entrance of animal fodder into Gaza is
    crucial to the nutrition status of the population, especially of
    Children. FAO's inability to deliver the feed placed uncertainty on the
    future operations of the organization and the wellbeing of Gazans. Is
    your agency aware of issues delivering animal feed into conflict zones
    and if so, how can Congress support the ability of USAID to ensure
    animal fodder is successfully delivered to regions experiencing
    conflict?

        Answer. USAID is aware that animal feed had not been allowed into
    Gaza for several months, despite prior written approval from the
    Government of Israel authorizing 1,500 metric ton (MT) of feed to enter
    Gaza. We learned from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
    that on April 6 and 7, six trucks carrying 100 MT of animal fodder were
    able to enter Gaza for the first time since October 7, with additional
    trucks anticipated to cross in the coming days.
        We are working closely with the Governments of Israel, Egypt, and
    other partners in the region to increase the flow of both humanitarian
    aid and commercial goods into and within Gaza. This includes advocacy
    to reduce bottlenecks at inspection and crossing points and customs
    limitations on the volume of trucks. We are also advocating to improve
    deconfliction efforts, as humanitarian access is also constrained by
    ongoing military operations and by increasing insecurity and civil
    unrest.
        While USAID does not currently fund animal fodder in Gaza, improved
    access into Gaza will facilitate the delivery of the many humanitarian
    and commercial items that are desperately needed in Gaza, including
    support for livestock.

                              SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

        So thank you for your testimony and your leadership. And
    the hearing record will remain open for written questions until
    5:00 pm on Tuesday, April 16.
        And with that, this hearing is adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 4:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 9, the
    subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of
    the Chair.]

      STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS FOR
                                FISCAL YEAR 2025

                                  ----------

                            WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2024

                                           U.S. Senate,
               Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
                                                        Washington, DC.

        The subcommittee met at 2:03 p.m., in room SD-138, Dirksen
    Senate Office Building, Hon. Christopher Coons (Chairman),
    presiding.
        Present: Senators Coons, Merkley, Van Hollen, Schatz, and
    Hagerty.

    Strengthening American Competitiveness: Examining the Roles of the U.S.
     International Development Finance Corporation, Export-Import Bank of
            the United States, and Millennium Challenge Corporation

                 OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR CHRISTOPHER COONS

        Senator Coons. Ladies and gentlemen, this hearing of the
    Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on State and
    Foreign Operations and Related Programs will come to order. I'd
    like to thank our three witnesses today and the Members of this
    subcommittee who will be joining us.
        The subcommittee meets today to review the fiscal year 2025
    budget requests for three important agencies funded by the
    subcommittee that play a central role in strengthening American
    competitiveness, the International Development Finance
    Corporation, the Export-Import Bank, and the Millennium
    Challenge Corporation.
        Our witnesses are Scott Nathan, the CEO of the DFC, Reta Jo
    Lewis, the president and chair of the Board of Directors of
    EXIM, and Alice Albright, the CEO of the Millennium Challenge
    Corporation. They each have had distinguished careers in public
    service and in the private sector and have been in their
    current role since being confirmed in 2022. So, you have
    valuable perspectives and insights to share from your
    experience.
        Since I became chairman of the subcommittee one of my goals
    has been to ensure we're using U.S. foreign assistance to
    enhance American competitiveness. And to do this, we have to
    strengthen our standing as a partner of first choice by
    supporting economic resilience and growth in ways that have
    mutual benefits for our partner governments, local communities
    and our own domestic economic interests.
        State and AID play critical roles in this effort but we
    have to ensure we're leveraging other agencies under the
    subcommittee's jurisdiction including the three agencies you
    represent. The unique and valuable roles of your agencies will
    be the main focus of our hearing.
        First, the DFC, our country's development finance
    institution focused on private sector led development in some
    of the most critical sectors of our time for which the fiscal
    year 2025 request is just over a billion dollars, an increase
    of $25 million above enacted. The Millennium Challenge
    Corporation, a development leader with a model that emphasizes
    transparency, accountability, country commitments to fighting
    corruption, economic freedom, and civil liberty, for which the
    request is $937 million, an increase of $7 million over enacted
    and EXIM as the U.S. Export Credit Agency with a mission of
    supporting American jobs for which the request is $145 million,
    an increase of $5 million above enacted.
        You are all critical to advancing economic resilience and
    growth in promoting U.S. interests. That's why in the fiscal
    year 2024 appropriations bill we provided for a new initiative
    called the Economic Resilience Initiative which provides $265
    million in new and more flexible funding for investments in
    strategic infrastructure, critical mineral supply chains,
    energy security, digital security, and macroeconomic growth. We
    have to have an acronym, it's government--provides new
    authority to leverage the unique roles of the state and foreign
    operations subcommittee funded agencies like DFC, EXIM, and the
    Treasury Department in a more comprehensive and strategic
    manner.
        This funding will support our ongoing efforts to counter
    malign influence and address mutual interests including in the
    Pacific and Southeast Asia where for example, the Treasury
    Department has just announced a plan to leverage new funding
    provided through this initiative to guarantee billions in loans
    for infrastructure, transportation, and energy transition work
    in partner countries.
        The application of this ERI is global. Chair Murray and I
    recently traveled to Southern Africa to discuss the potential
    strategic impact for example, of investments in the Lobito
    Corridor, a project that aims to lay or improve over a thousand
    miles of railroad to help transport critical minerals from
    Zambia and the DRC to Port Lobito in Angola.
        But this is not just about mineral extraction. Along that
    quarter, EXIM and DFC are making investments including through
    financing for U.S. exports to enhance sustainable development
    for local communities. And the Millennium Challenge Corporation
    will be soon signing a compact with Zambia to further leverage
    the profound benefits of this quarter. MCC will focus on
    transportation and logistics for agriculture to help increase
    private sector investment in partnership with the work being
    done by EXIM and DFC.
        Zambia is a priority as well for USAID's economic
    resilience work including through ERI, where we're helping the
    government demonstrate the dividends democracy can pay while
    mitigating the risks from a significant national Chinese debt
    burden.
        So, we're demonstrating that even in this tightly
    constrained budget environment there's more we can do to
    coordinate across what's called the Inter-Agency to leverage
    all of our tools to enhance our economic diplomacy and
    facilitate sustainable development, and your agencies play a
    key role in that
        Investing in emerging markets and strategic sectors
    alongside our like-minded partners and allies consistent with
    international best practices for environmental and social
    safeguards and ensuring U.S. businesses have the chance to
    compete on a level playing field is both good development
    policy and an effective way to strengthen U.S. National
    economic security.
        That's particularly true when we're talking about
    countering Beijing's monopoly on critical mineral supply chains
    and processing and the need to build and secure new digital
    networks or in helping our partners diversify their energy
    production and sources.
        We're never going to outspend the PRC dollar-for-dollar in
    official development assistance but we can outmatch them when
    it comes to leveraging our coalition of like-minded partners
    and the incredible depth and strength of the American capital
    markets in our private sector. We also differentiate ourselves
    from the PRC by upholding values of transparency and
    accountability, promoting local ownership, protecting human
    rights and other foreign investment best practices.
        So, in conclusion, I look forward to discussing how each of
    you view the unique roles of your agencies, how we can help you
    better align your authorities and your resources to allow you
    to best bring your agencies to bear to these tasks and while we
    continue to make the most of every appropriated dollar, we
    cannot do more with less.
        So, this is also a chance for you to discuss the challenges
    you're facing and the opportunities we can seize if we increase
    our investments in you. Thank you.
        Senator Hagerty, would you like to make any opening
    remarks?

                   OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BILL HAGERTY

        Senator Hagerty. Well, thank you, Chairman Coons. It's good
    to be with you, and it's good to be with this esteemed group of
    leaders here today. Mr. Nathan, I'd like to start with you, if
    I might. It's good to see you again.
        You and I have talked about this on numerous occasions. The
    DFC has incredible potential to be a strategic tool for America
    on a worldwide basis. I'm concerned though that the agency has
    been distracted by ideology and that we're not offering the
    clear and compelling alternative to predatory Chinese funding.
    That is such an important aspect of your strategic mission.
        And I'd like to start out with what I view as perhaps the
    most critical geostrategic tool that we can deploy especially
    in the region that I'm talking about, the Indo-Pacific. When I
    served in my previous role in Japan, I worked very closely with
    the Japanese to displace Russian energy from their energy
    supply.
        Senator Coons. Senator, if I might interrupt briefly. We
    were going to let the witnesses give their opening statements
    and then turn to questioning. Were you making just an opening
    comment about the three agencies or launching into questioning,
    sir?
        Senator Hagerty. I was--I'll let this----
        Senator Coons. My apologies if--I was just inviting a brief
    opening comment, which is typically with the Ranking Member.
        Senator Hagerty. Let me say this, welcome to all of you
    again. Look forward to your testimony.
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator. So, we'll now invite
    Senator Schatz. Did you have a comment you need to make?
    Unfortunately, just for the awareness of our witnesses, we will
    have a two-vote series that begins in about 5 minutes. So, we
    will either have to suspend and just go vote and come back or
    we may have a transition to who's chairing to allow some
    members to go and vote and come back. Let us worry about that,
    you focus on your testimony.
        The Honorable Scott Nathan, let me invite you to make, in 5
    minutes or so, if you could, your testimony to the committee
    today. Thank you.
    STATEMENT OF HONORABLE SCOTT NATHAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE
                OFFICER, U.S. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
                FINANCE CORPORATION
        Mr. Nathan. Well, thank you very much Chairman Coons,
    Senator Hagerty, Senator Schatz it's a pleasure to be here and
    I appreciate the opportunity. I want to thank Congress and
    especially this Committee for its continued support of the
    Development Finance Corporation. Since Congress established
    DFC, we've used the tools you provided us to deliver on the
    Build Acts Mandate to make development and strategic impact
    around the world.
        DFC's financing for the private sector enables reliable
    access to energy and supports high quality infrastructure
    including railways, ports, airports, and safe and secure
    digital connectivity throughout the developing world. We're
    investing to strengthen health and food systems while also
    supporting the small businesses that are vital to generating
    jobs and opportunity.
        Unlike the development approach of the PRC or other
    strategic competitors, DFC's efforts are directed towards
    supporting private entities, mobilizing private capital, and
    building resilient market economies. We're guided by the belief
    that developing a robust private sector is the best way to
    alleviate poverty over the long term and strengthen the
    economic and strategic positions of our partners around the
    world.
        We need to show up and offer our partners a choice so they
    don't feel trapped into accepting too much debt or end up with
    projects that aren't needed or of poor quality. In the nearly 5
    years since Congress created it, DFC has made great progress in
    this regard.
        Last year, DFC committed a record $9.3 billion across 132
    transactions. Nearly double our fiscal year 2020 total and we
    did this in a cost effective and efficient manner. We deployed
    roughly $500 million into equity investments but with the
    remaining $8.8 billion in transactions requiring only $110
    million of appropriations, that's great bang for the taxpayers'
    buck.
        By mobilizing additional private capital, our investments
    are making an impact, driving economic development, where it's
    needed most and advancing U.S. strategic objectives. DFC is
    promoting energy security by helping to diversify Eastern
    European energy supplies with large scale projects in Poland,
    Moldova, Bulgaria, Georgia, and Greece. All these projects have
    helped the region shift away from dependences on Russian gas.
        We're focused on securing the critical inputs and supply
    chains for the industries of the future. Investing $150 million
    in graphite production in Mozambique, $50 million in rare earth
    oxides in Southern Africa and almost $1 billion for multiple
    solar panel manufacturing facilities in India to ensure no one
    country has a choke hold on price or availability.
        Wherever we go DFC works to ensure our projects meet the
    needs of local communities and we're investing to improve
    public health through improvements to local health
    infrastructure. And we remain committed to helping the small
    businesses that are the engines of their economies get access
    to capital they need to thrive.
        DFC has active projects in 112 countries, but our primary
    focus is the world's poorest countries. In fiscal year 2023,
    nearly three quarters of our projects were in low and lower
    middle-income countries.
        I'm proud of the DFC team and of this track record but I
    know we can do much more. The global demand for high quality,
    high standard development far outstrips the supply. We want to
    do more projects and have deeper collaboration, broader reach,
    more meaningful impact, and better metrics.
        For fiscal year 2025 the administration requests a budget
    of just over a billion dollars for DFC to empower this agency
    to better meet its mission. The fiscal year 2025 request
    includes $763 million in program funds that would allow us to
    grow our overall portfolio and continue strategic and
    developmental projects around the world.
        The budget request also includes administrative expenses of
    $245 million. This funding underpins the work DFC does around
    the world and it's our hope that the small increase in
    operating budget will help us become more capable and efficient
    as an organization. The request would extend our fee authority,
    giving us the ability to use fees collected from clients to pay
    for project specific transactional costs.
        Not only is this financially beneficial but it will also
    create an incentive for projects to reach completion on
    schedule. The fiscal year 2025 budget requests additional
    resources to attract and retain the talented and highly in
    demand workforce that DFC needs.
        Finally, a high priority for DFC is working with Congress
    to path a reauthorization bill for the agency. We see this as
    an opportunity to reaffirm the goals of the Build Act and make
    improvements. These include fixing the budgetary treatment of
    equity to make full use of this important tool Congress gave
    us, improving the method for determining country eligibility
    and raising the maximum contingent liability, so we can
    increase our deal flow and better keep pace with our
    competitors.
        We want to use reauthorization to fix these issues and best
    position DFC to meet the challenges of this current moment.
    We're eager to work with Congress to chart the best path
    forward for DFC.
        Thanks for this opportunity. I look forward to your
    questions.

        [The statement follows:]
              Prepared Statement of the Honorable Scott A. Nathan
        Thank you Chair Coons and Ranking Member Graham, as well as all the
    members of the Committee, for giving me this opportunity to discuss the
    Administration's Fiscal Year 2025 budget request for the U.S.
    International Development Finance Corporation.
        I want to thank Congress and especially this committee for its
    continued support of DFC. Since Congress established DFC, we have used
    the tools you provided us to deliver on the BUILD Act's mandate to
    increase the development and strategic impact of our investments around
    the world.
        DFC financing for the private sector enables reliable access to
    energy and supports high-quality infrastructure, including safe and
    secure digital connectivity. We are investing to strengthen health and
    food systems while also supporting the small businesses that are vital
    to generating jobs and opportunity.
        We need to show up and offer our partners a choice based on our
    values and on private enterprise, so they don't feel trapped into
    accepting the offerings of our strategic competitors or authoritarian
    governments--too much debt and projects that aren't needed or are of
    poor quality. In the nearly 5 years since Congress created it, DFC has
    made great progress in this regard.
        Last year, DFC committed a record $9.3B across 132 transactions,
    nearly double our FY20 total. By mobilizing additional private capital,
    our investments are making an impact, driving economic development
    where it's needed most, and advancing U.S. strategic objectives.
        We are investing to build roads, ports, airports, and other large-
    scale infrastructure projects in the developing world. For example, we
    have committed $553M to support the construction of a new container
    terminal in Sri Lanka--a critical transshipment point for the Indian
    subcontinent--to promote the free flow of goods across key trade routes
    across the Indo-Pacific.
        DFC is also promoting energy security by helping to diversify
    Eastern European energy supplies with large-scale projects in Poland,
    Moldova, Bulgaria, Georgia, and Greece. All these projects have helped
    the region shift away from its dependence on Russian gas.
        We are focused on securing the critical inputs and supply chains
    for the industries of the future, investing $150M in graphite
    production in Mozambique, $50M for rare earth oxides in South Africa,
    and almost $1B for multiple solar panel manufacturing facilities in
    India, to ensure no one country has a chokehold on price and
    availability.
        Wherever we go, DFC works to ensure our projects meet the needs of
    local communities. From our $20M commitment for cold-storage solutions
    in Africa to our $33M loan to build grain silos in India, we met our
    $1B food security objective in FY23, years ahead of schedule, and have
    since doubled our goal.
        We are investing to improve public health through improvements to
    local health infrastructure, including our $10M loan to expand
    distribution of liquid oxygen across Kenya. At the same time, we are
    taking steps to boost pandemic preparedness. In December, we announced
    we are expanding our $1B loan facility with Gavi to include vaccines
    for routine childhood illnesses as well as potential future outbreaks.
        And we remain committed to helping small businesses get access to
    the capital they need to thrive, with a focus on ensuring that under-
    represented groups benefit from our investments. For instance, in FY23,
    $2.5B of our commitments supported economic empowerment for women and
    other underserved communities.
        DFC has active projects in 112 countries, but our primary focus is
    the world's poorest countries. In FY23, nearly three quarters of our
    projects were in low- and lower middle-income countries.
        At DFC, we see the growing importance of the Indo-Pacific and have
    tripled our portfolio in the region in the last 3 years. This includes
    over $4B in commitments in India, but also substantial increases in
    Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, amongst others.
        Africa, however, remains DFC's largest market, with over $11B in
    commitments. DFC has successfully differentiated itself from the
    predatory practices of the PRC and other competitors, and we are
    continually on the lookout for further opportunities to work with the
    private sector in the dozens of countries where we work on the
    continent.
        In the Western Hemisphere, DFC sees great potential for
    partnership. DFC investment in this region can help create stable
    economies and local jobs. Our loan portfolio guarantees extend access
    to capital to small businesses, creating opportunity and local jobs,
    helping to address some of the underlying causes of migration.
        And in Europe, we have continued to respond to Russia's war against
    Ukraine. Our over $1B in commitments in Ukraine are helping to keep the
    private sector going at this critical moment while laying the
    groundwork for long-term economic recovery.
        To maximize impact, DFC partners with our peer development finance
    institutions to advance shared priorities. Just recently, we have
    reaffirmed our commitments with our counterparts in the Republic of
    Korea and Japan; we have announced a new collaborative framework--the
    Americas Partnership Platform--with the Inter- American Development
    Bank Group's private investment arm; and entered into a new compact
    with Taiwan's development finance institution.
        And we work closely with our interagency partners to coordinate
    efforts in support of broader foreign policy goals.
        I am proud of this track record, but I know that DFC can do much
    more. The global demand for high-quality, high-standard development
    finance far outstrips the supply. We want to do more projects and have
    deeper collaboration, broader reach, more meaningful impact, and better
    metrics.
        For FY25, the Administration requests a budget of $1.008 billion
    for DFC, to empower this agency to better meet its mission. The FY25
    request includes $763.4M in program funds, that would allow us to grow
    our overall portfolio and continue supporting strategic and
    developmental projects around the world.
        The request would extend our fee authority, giving us the ability
    to use fees collected from clients to pay for project-specific
    transaction costs. Not only will this be beneficial to taxpayers by
    allowing us to shift upfront costs to clients, it will also create an
    incentive for their projects to reach completion on schedule.
        The budget request also includes administrative expenses of $245M.
    This funding underpins all the work DFC does around the world, and it
    is our hope that the small increase in our operating budget will help
    us become a more capable, efficient organization. DFC has already taken
    many steps to improve its structure along a sector-based approach, and
    we are seeking additional resources from Congress to build upon this
    progress.
        The FY25 budget requests additional resources to attract and retain
    the talented and highly in-demand workforce that DFC needs. Growing our
    deal origination, processing, and monitoring teams will enable greater
    impact.
        We have just begun to build out our overseas presence and we are
    still massively underrepresented in the markets where we work compared
    to our peers and competitors. DFC's six existing full-time-equivalent
    staff overseas have proven essential to the targeted sourcing of
    projects that advance sector priorities. By FY25, DFC will have fully
    taken on the cost of staffing its existing overseas offices in Africa
    and Asia, at an annual cost of $4.8M. With the support of Congress, DFC
    hopes to prudently expand its overseas footprint.
        The complexity of DFC transactions requires significant resources
    to be devoted to monitoring them long after they are first originated.
    This budget request will provide us with the business and legal
    resources needed to keep pace with growth and perform effective
    oversight.
        All these improvements will put strain on DFC's IT infrastructure.
    The FY25 budget includes funding to support modernization of our IT
    systems and enhanced cybersecurity amid growing threats.
        Finally, a high priority for DFC is working with Congress to pass a
    reauthorization bill for the agency. We see this as an opportunity to
    reaffirm the goals of the BUILD Act and make improvements. We have been
    talking with Members and their staff and look forward to continuing the
    conversation on key issues.
        These include fixing the budgetary treatment of equity, to make
    full use of this important tool Congress gave us; changing country
    eligibility, to bring us in line with our peer development finance
    institutions; and raising the maximum contingent liability, so we can
    increase our deal flow and better keep pace with our competitors.
        We want to use reauthorization to fix these issues and best
    position DFC to meet the challenges of this current moment. We are
    eager to work with Congress to chart the best path forward for DFC.
        Thank you and I look forward to your questions.

        Senator Coons. Thank you very much CEO Nathan, thank you
    for your service and leadership. We look forward to President
    and Chair Reta Jo Lewis of EXIM Bank.
    STATEMENT OF RETA JO LEWIS, PRESIDENT AND CHAIR,
                EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED STATES
        Ms. Lewis. Chairman Coons, thank you so much. And for your
    distinguished members that will be joining us for inviting me
    to testify in the administration's fiscal year 2025 budget
    request from EXIM Bank. It is an honor to appear before you as
    EXIM's Chair and President and thank you for your support in
    passing our historic 7-year reauthorization in 2019.
        I'm also pleased to join my counterparts from DFC and MCC
    today. Like our fellow agencies, EXIM plays a vital role in
    promoting and sustaining U.S. leadership around the world. But
    while EXIM's activities may have development impact, as you
    know, it's not a development agency. As you know, EXIM is the
    official export credit agency of the U.S., our congressional
    mandated mission is to support U.S. jobs by financing or
    facilitating exports. The agency does that through our direct
    loans, loan guarantees and insurance programs in cases where
    the private sector is unable or unwilling to provide financing
    or where such support is necessary to level the competitive
    playing field for U.S. exporters.
        A multi-year lapse in EXIM's charter, a lack of quorum on
    the board of directors and the Covid-19 pandemic had a
    devastating impact on morale, staffing, and operations.
    Building on my predecessor's success and reopening the agency,
    I have worked to rebuild and revitalize EXIM and set it up for
    even greater success in our next chapter. In fiscal year 2023
    because of the dedication of our talented workforce, EXIM
    supported nearly $8.8 billion in authorization and an estimated
    40,000 jobs across the country.
        We strive every day at EXIM to fulfill our congressional
    mandates by sector, size, and scope. On Sub-Saharan Africa,
    EXIM approved nearly $1.6 billion in authorizations last year
    including the largest renewable project in EXIM's history.
        On small business, last year it marked the first time that
    authorizations surpassed $2 billion since fiscal year 2020. On
    our China and Transformational Exports Program, or CTAP, as we
    call it, saw a nine-fold increase in year-over-year growth
    since fiscal year 2022, and we authorized our first ever Make
    More in America, MMIA, transaction. This initiative allows EXIM
    to extend our medium- and long-term financing to domestic
    projects that facilitate exports, reassure manufacturing,
    rebuild the domestic supply chain, and support American jobs.
        In our fiscal year 2025 request budget justification, EXIM
    has requested $130.1 million for administrative resources plus
    $15 million in program budget which will enable the agency to
    offer competitive financing while meeting appropriate reserve
    requirements. This request will support recruitment and
    retention of highly trained staff required to successfully
    complete very complex international financial transactions and
    support underwriters in engineering.
        The request will support also a projected $11.3 billion in
    new authorizations and export value of $17 billion in estimated
    56,000 U.S. jobs. These numbers anticipate growth in excellence
    transportation program and an increase in green energy related
    transactions, particularly in nuclear plant refurbishments and
    hydro and solar power generation projects.
        As part of the fiscal year 2025 request, EXIM is seeking a
    default rate cap exemption from both--for both nuclear projects
    because of their size and for CTAP, China Transformational
    Export Program transactions which would allow EXIM to better
    counter predatory PRC financing in transformational export
    areas and higher risk markets.
        Finally, while reauthorization is not the subject of our--
    of today's hearing. I will be remiss if I did not mention that
    EXIM's charter will expire on--at the end of 2026. When EXIM's
    charter lapsed between 2015 and 2019, the world saw a 35
    percent increase in the number of foreign export credit
    providers. Other official credit providers evolved their
    philosophy and substantially expanded their roles, and U.S.
    manufacturers lost out as foreign governments promoted their
    domestic industries creating a fundamentally uneven playing
    field.
        An early reauthorization backed by large bipartisan
    majorities would send a strong signal to the world that
    Congress is committed to empowering the agency to advance
    American's national interests by facilitating exports and
    supporting jobs. I look forward to working with you, all of
    you.
        Thank you, again, and I look forward to receiving your
    questions, Mr. Chairman.

        [The statement follows:]
                      Prepared Statement of Reta Jo Lewis
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and distinguished members of
    this committee, thank you for inviting me to testify on the
    Administration's Fiscal Year 2025 budget request for the Export-Import
    Bank of the United States (EXIM).
        It is an honor to appear before you as EXIM's Chair and President
    of the Board of Directors and to thank you for your support in passing
    an historic seven-year reauthorization of EXIM in 2019.
        I am pleased to be joined at this hearing with my counterparts at
    the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and the
    Millenium Challenge Corporation.
        Like our fellow agencies, EXIM plays a vital role in promoting and
    sustaining U.S. leadership around the world. But while EXIM's
    activities may have development impacts, it is not a development
    agency.
        As you know, EXIM is the official export credit agency of the
    United States. Its congressionally-mandated mission is to support U.S.
    jobs by financing or facilitating exports. The agency does that through
    its loan, guarantee, and insurance programs in cases where the private
    sector is unable or unwilling to provide financing, or where such
    support is necessary to level the competitive playing field for U.S.
    exporters due to financing provided by foreign governments to their
    exporters.
        A multi-year lapse in EXIM's charter, a lack of quorum on the Board
    of Directors, and the COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on
    morale, staffing, and operations. Building on my predecessor's success
    in reopening the agency--an effort this committee supported--I have
    worked tirelessly to rebuild and revitalize EXIM and set it up for even
    greater success in its next chapter.
        In FY 2023, because of the dedication of our talented workforce,
    EXIM supported nearly $8.8 billion in authorizations--an almost 66
    percent increase over FY 2022--and an estimated 40,000 jobs across the
    country. These authorizations reflect not only our commitment to
    helping American businesses succeed, but also the strong, and growing
    demand for EXIM's products and services.
        We strive every day at EXIM to fulfill our congressional mandates
    by sector, size, and scope. As it relates to our sub-Saharan Africa
    mandate, since its first deal with Angola in 1942, EXIM's financing has
    been a catalyst for economic growth, job creation, and greater
    prosperity throughout Africa. I am very pleased to say that in FY 2023,
    EXIM approved nearly $1.6 billion in authorizations for sub-Saharan
    Africa.
        Since FY 2022, EXIM has authorized approximately $2.2 billion of
    transactions for the region. This includes two authorizations for
    Ethiopian Airlines to purchase Boeing aircraft valued at more than $725
    million; it also includes an authorization of more than $900 million
    for the construction of solar power plants in Angola--the largest
    renewable project in EXIM's history. All told, I am proud to say that
    EXIM's sub-Saharan Africa exposure stands at more than $8.0 billion, an
    historic high for the region.
        EXIM is focused on infrastructure project opportunities in
    developing markets for U.S. manufacturers and exporters. U.S. exports
    of goods and services are well positioned to facilitate such important
    projects around the world and align with the goals of the Partnership
    for Global Infrastructure and Investment, or PGI. EXIM has authorized
    deals under the PGI framework worth more than $2 billion, which also
    includes a roughly $600 million rail infrastructure deal in Kazakhstan
    and the previously mentioned Angola solar project.
        FY 2023 also marked the first time that small business
    authorizations surpassed $2 billion since FY 2020. This reflects 23
    percent of our total authorizations by dollar value but almost 90
    percent of our total authorizations by numeric value. In short, we do
    most of our deals with small businesses in Delaware, South Carolina,
    and states across America.
        I am also pleased to say that the efforts of our China and
    Transformational Exports Program (CTEP) team have resulted in a nine-
    fold increase in year-over-year growth since FY 2022, culminating in FY
    2023 CTEP authorizations totaling $2.4 billion, up from $252.9 million
    in FY 2022. As a share of the agency's financing in FY 2023, CTEP
    transactions made up approximately 28 percent of the agency's overall
    authorizations.
        Congress worked with EXIM during the 2019 reauthorization to create
    CTEP, and the agency is using the mandate to support U.S. manufacturers
    and exporters facing Chinese competition and to support America's
    comparative leadership over the People's Republic of China (PRC) across
    ten transformational export areas.
        Here's one example: in March 2020, the EXIM Board unanimously
    authorized a $91.5 million transaction in support of Weldy-Lamont
    Associates LLC, a U.S. small business exporter that won a contract to
    provide electricity in 400 rural villages in Senegal.
        In early 2021, EXIM learned that a PRC-based consortium sought to
    replace Weldy-Lamont by offering a more favorable financial package. In
    response, EXIM's Board of Directors unanimously approved an amendment
    to the transaction, extending an option of an 18-year repayment term to
    cover the entire EXIM financing of the project and an option to convert
    the previously approved EXIM loan guarantee to a direct loan.
        In 2023, EXIM also authorized our first-ever Make More in America
    (MMIA) initiative transaction, a direct loan for more than $4.7 million
    to Aquatech International to modernize and expand laboratory facilities
    in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
        The Make More in America initiative allows EXIM to extend medium-
    and long- term financing to domestic projects that would facilitate
    exports and underscores the agency's efforts to reshore manufacturing,
    rebuild the domestic supply chain, and support American jobs.
        EXIM subsequently approved additional transactions supporting
    electric-powered aircraft manufacturing in Vermont, and a plastics
    packaging facility in the Port of Houston. In aggregate, these historic
    transactions are expected to support almost 460 jobs during the
    construction period and 480 new jobs at the facilities.
        Aquatech's CEO wrote that the deal ``enables Aquatech to better
    support Critical Minerals (Lithium) and Electric Vehicle supply chains
    in the US and globally, demonstrating the power of public-private
    coordination to strengthen American manufacturing competitiveness.''
        I could not have put it better myself, which is why I am excited
    about the robust pipeline of MMIA applications, particularly for small-
    and medium-sized businesses.
        We hope to work with Congress to build on these achievements and
    set the agency up for even greater successes. I believe the Biden-
    Harris Administration's FY 2025 budget request to Congress does just
    that.
        In the agency's budget justification presented to Congress in
    March, EXIM requested $130.1 million for administrative resources plus
    $15.0 million in program budget, which enables the agency to offer
    competitive financing while meeting appropriate reserve requirements.
        This request will support recruitment and retention of highly
    trained staff required to successfully complete complex international
    financial transactions. This includes underwriters and engineers, who
    need sector-based knowledge and technical experience to speak to the
    viability, compliance, and safety issues involved in potential deals.
        The request will support a projected $11.3 billion in new
    authorizations, an export value of $17 billion, and 56,000 U.S. jobs.
        These numbers anticipate growth in EXIM's transportation program
    and an increase in green energy-related transactions, particularly in
    nuclear plant refurbishments and hydro and solar power generation
    projects. The agency also forecasts growth in single-buyer insurance,
    working capital, and supply chain programs within EXIM.
        As part of the FY 2025 request, EXIM is seeking a default rate cap
    exemption for both nuclear projects, because of their size, and for
    CTEP transactions, which would allow EXIM to better counter predatory
    PRC financing in transformational export areas and higher risk markets.
        Under current law, EXIM cannot experience defaults that equal or
    exceed two percent. Were that to occur, the agency's lending authority
    would be frozen at its current level and the agency would be unable to
    fully deliver on its mission of supporting U.S. jobs through exports
    until the default rate dropped below 2 percent.
        By their nature, export credit agencies like EXIM exist to take
    risks the private market is unable or unwilling to take. Because EXIM
    operates where gaps in the market exist, we necessarily support
    transactions with higher risk profiles. Inherent in this risk-taking is
    an expectation of some defaults. Put simply: EXIM cannot fulfill its
    mission of supporting U.S. jobs, and cannot aggressively pursue its
    mandates from Congress, if the agency is too afraid to ever fail. And
    the current 2 percent trigger is significantly hampering EXIM's
    willingness to incur risk, particularly in areas where Congress wants
    us to lean in, like competition with the PRC.
        Other U.S. government lending agencies do not face the 2 percent
    constraint, nor are we aware of any foreign export credit agencies
    subject to such a standard. The result is an overly conservative
    underwriting culture that limits EXIM's ability to level the playing
    field against foreign export credit agencies. The requested exemption
    would allow EXIM to more aggressively compete against the PRC and
    embrace higher risk technologies and markets, making sure U.S.
    exporters can compete on equal footing in the global market.
        Finally, while reauthorization is not the subject of today's
    hearing, I would be remiss if I did not mention that EXIM's charter
    will expire at the end of 2026.
        When EXIM's charter lapsed between 2015 and 2019, the world saw a
    35 percent increase in the number of foreign export credit providers.
    Other official export credit providers evolved their philosophy and
    substantively expanded their roles. And U.S. manufacturers lost out as
    foreign governments promoted their domestic industries, creating a
    fundamentally uneven playing field.
        An early reauthorization, backed by large, bipartisan majorities
    would send a strong signal to the world that Congress is committed to
    supporting EXIM and empowering the agency to advance America's national
    interest by facilitating exports and supporting jobs. I look forward to
    working with you and other congressional stakeholders on bipartisan,
    multi-year reauthorization legislation.
        Thank you again, and I look forward to your questions.

        Senator Coons. Thank you very much. I too, look forward to
    an early bipartisan reauthorization vote. And to the CEO Alice
    Albright of the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Thank you so
    much for your leadership. We look forward to your testimony
    today.
    STATEMENT OF HON. ALICE ALBRIGHT, CHIEF EXECUTIVE
                OFFICER, MILLENIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION
        Ms. Albright. Thank you, Chairman Coons., distinguished
    Members of the Subcommittee, thank you so much for inviting me.
    Thank you so much for inviting me to testify today. I also want
    to thank you and your staff for ongoing support and
    collaboration with MCC.
        MCC has always benefited from bipartisan backing. We deeply
    value this and welcome your continued counsel. I'm deeply proud
    to lead an agency with a proven record of partnership,
    accountability and delivering results for the American people.
    MCC emerged as a bold experiment in 2004 to test innovative,
    cost-effective, and data-driven approaches to ending global
    poverty.
        It represented a new approach, a focus on strong economic
    policies, good governance, democracy, and country led solutions
    and implementation. Now, 20 years later, having invested nearly
    $17 billion in 47 countries benefiting and expected 400 million
    people, we are no longer the experiment, but humbly the
    exception, a leader in how to bring about a better life for
    those people who need it the most.
        MCC delivers values driven, high impact, and sustainable
    infrastructure projects to meet the needs of low and lower
    middle-income countries, and to support the United States'
    economic and national security interests. The agency not only
    responds to immediate development needs but reinforces a
    network of partner countries both nascent and thriving
    democracies that share the United States' belief that ruling
    justly, investing in people, and upholding human rights creates
    durable pathways to prosperity.
        I'm reminded of this constantly when I travel. Just last
    week, I was in Dallas marking our 20th anniversary with
    President Bush. We hosted heads of state and senior leaders
    from more than a dozen countries who offered powerful
    testimonies on how MCC catalyzed democratic change and created
    the conditions necessary for economic growth.
        MCC also serves as an important counter to malign
    influences of some other nations. In particular, as China
    reduces its development aid in favor of more lending there is a
    real opportunity for MCC partnerships that promote open,
    sustainable, and inclusive development.
        Our model of country owned development and conditioning our
    investments on good governance enables us to incentivize
    partners to undertake difficult reforms. Having funds on hand 9
    to 12 months prior to signing assures our partners that funding
    is available when they tackle these reforms. It also ensures
    that projects are scoped appropriately prior to negotiations.
    Without funding in advance of program signings, MCC risks
    losing meaningful leverage, undermining the commitments and our
    credibility when there is strong competition.
        When MCC was established, the agency's budget matched its
    ambitious mandate. For the past decade however, MCC's budgets
    have remained largely flat while development challenges have
    grown significantly. MCC is balancing a surge in portfolio of
    signings and funding commitments along with increased security,
    supply chain and inflationary costs.
        With these rising costs combined with $1.1 billion in
    rescissions over the last 3 years, MCC's available balances
    have been significantly reduced heading into fiscal year 2025.
    As a result, MCC requires full funding in fiscal year 2025 and
    budget predictability to achieve strategic and lasting impact.
        In addition to resources, the fiscal year 2025 budget
    requests a legislative change that could bring MCC's impactful
    model to a broader range of countries including eight in the
    Western hemisphere, nine in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus and
    five in the Asia and Pacific region.
        This would also supercharge the MCC effect whereby
    countries are incentivized to pursue reforms to qualify for MCC
    assistance. I want to thank the Senators and the staff of this
    subcommittee for supporting this change in your fiscal year
    2024 bill report. I hope that this provision will be formally
    enacted soon. MCC's fiscal year 2025 budget will build upon
    more than 20 years of experience as a leader in international
    development.
        Although MCC is a small portion of the U.S. government's
    foreign assistance spending, it is often the largest and the
    most visible of U.S. government investments in countries where
    the agency works. We also have earned the distinction of being
    named the most transparent, bilateral donor in the world, 7
    years in a row.
        With a robust portfolio, MCC has built a track record of
    helping democracies deliver for this--their people. This
    includes a pipeline of strategic new programs that will be
    ready for approval by MCC's Board of Directors in fiscal year
    2025.
        With your support for MCC and our fiscal year 2025 budget
    request of $937 million. The agency is poised to create
    building blocks for stronger and more vibrant economies around
    the world and to foster greater security here at home. Thank
    you so much, and I look forward to answering the committee's
    questions. Thank you.

        [The statement follows:]
        Prepared Statement of Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer,
                        Millennium Challenge Corporation
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and distinguished members of
    the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify here today. I am
    pleased to participate in this hearing and share the Millennium
    Challenge Corporation's (MCC) FY25 Congressional Budget Justification.
        I also want to thank you and your staff for your ongoing
    collaboration and support. MCC has always benefited from bipartisan
    backing. We deeply value this support and I welcome your continued
    counsel and engagement as we work to reduce poverty through economic
    growth.
        I am proud to lead such a critical agency that has a proven record
    of partnership, accountability, and delivering results over the past
    twenty years for the American people.
        President Bush signed MCC into law on January 23, 2004, as a grand
    experiment to test cost-effective and data-driven methods to address
    global poverty. The approach was unprecedented--partner with low-
    income and lower-middle-income countries that have demonstrated a
    commitment to democratic governance, economic freedom, and investing in
    their people; support sustainable country-led solutions to unlock their
    greatest constraints to economic growth; and use data to drive all
    decisionmaking. The experiment worked. Since MCC's founding, we have
    delivered nearly $17 billion in aid to 47 low-income and lower-middle-
    income countries, with programs expected to benefit nearly 400 million
    people.
        MCC's model of country owned program development and conditioning
    our investments on good governance enables us to incentivize partners
    to undertake often difficult political and regulatory reforms,
    maximizing our impact prior to funds being executed. Having funding in
    hand 9-12 months prior to signingensures programs are scoped
    appropriately prior to negotiations. It also assures our partners that
    funding is available as they make necessary political and institutional
    reforms to receive an MCC grant and where possible, as they aim to
    mobilize their own financing to contribute to compacts. Without funding
    in advance of program signings, MCC risks losing meaningful leverage
    and undermining USG commitments and credibility to our partners when
    there is strong competition.
        MCC delivers values-driven, high-impact, sustainable, and
    transparent infrastructure and policy reform projects to meet the needs
    of low- and middle-income countries and to support the United States'
    economic and national security interests. The agency also reinforces a
    network of partner countries--both nascent and thriving democracies--
    that share the United States' belief that ruling justly, investing in
    people, and upholding human rights create durable pathways to
    prosperity. In addition to improving the lives of millions of people
    around the world, MCC serves as an important counter to malign
    influence of foreign nations by increasing U.S. Government presence, by
    providing large-scale infrastructure development alternatives, building
    stronger relationships and trust, and helping provide a clear roadmap
    for democratic best practices through our country scorecards.
        With a relatively small budget (<2% of international affairs budget
    last year). MCC has proven itself a thought-leader in development and
    sets the standard for transparency and use of evidence in the
    development space, having earned the distinction of being named the
    most transparent bilateral donor 7 years in a row. From a budget and
    appropriations standpoint, supporting the MCC experiment continues to
    be an excellent investment of taxpayer resources.
                                      fy25
        MCC requests $937 million in discretionary funding for FY25 to fund
    compacts in Zambia, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire, and The Gambia while providing
    ongoing compact development and oversight support across 20 compacts
    and 8 threshold programs. In addition, the President's Budget includes
    at least $200 million as a transfer to MCC from a new International
    Infrastructure Fund as part of a broader mandatory proposal to out-
    compete China globally.
        For FY25, MCC is developing a program in Zambia focused on the
    transportation and agriculture sectors. The Togo program aims to fully
    integrate digital applications to administer programmatic investments
    in connectivity, payment systems, new innovations, local skills-
    building and education. MCC and the Government of Cote d'Ivoire are
    developing a regional compact program in partnership with entities of
    the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), focused on
    modernizing the electricity grid and improving the financial,
    regulatory, and operational capacities of Ivorian and regional energy
    entities. For the compact with The Gambia, MCC is exploring investments
    in secondary education to increase skilled workers and in river cargo
    transport to reduce transport costs. Each of these programs will
    address critical development constraints in our partner countries,
    helping their democracies deliver for their people, while also
    showcasing the value of partnering with the United States in a
    competitive geopolitical environment.
        In support of MCC's programmatic work, I want to thank you for
    increasing MCC's Administrative budget in the FY24 appropriations. The
    FY25 Administrative Expenses request of $146 million includes a small
    (2%) increase to support management and oversight of MCC's portfolio
    and includes the President's 2025 Federal pay increase proposal
    (+2.1%). This request represents a modest 2% of the more than $6
    billion of assets under management that MCC will be overseeing in FY25.
        Amidst today's difficult geopolitical and social challenges, MCC's
    grant assistance is a key economic contributor to the way the United
    States incentivizes good governance and democratic values globally,
    and--because MCC funding does not add to a country's debt burden--a key
    differentiator in how the U.S. supports partners compared to predatory
    loans provided by malign actors. In FY24, MCC plans to sign compacts in
    Sierra Leone ($480 million estimated)--provided the Government of
    Sierra Leone continues to make clear progress to implement the
    Agreement for National Unity including completing the work of the
    Electoral Review Committee--and Belize ($125 million estimated), and
    will implement five programs, including compacts in Indonesia ($649
    million), Kosovo ($202 million), Lesotho ($300 million), and Malawi
    ($350 million), and the Kenya threshold program ($60 million). At the
    same time, MCC is continuing to develop programs with multiple
    countries, including four partners selected in early FY23 and MCC's
    most recent selectees (Cabo Verde, Tanzania, and the Philippines)
    announced in December 2023.
        The United States must have a robust foreign assistance toolbox
    that responds to both short and long- term challenges and reinforces
    country ownership and a network of partnerships with countries that
    share our democratic values. This is not only in the best interest of
    the global community, but also is necessary for the United States. We
    recognize that the challenges of today are not the same as they were
    when MCC first started. In order to meet the moment, it is important
    that the United States use all of the tools in its toolbox to be the
    partner of choice for countries looking to develop future partnerships.
        This means MCC must go broader and deeper to bring our tools to
    bear in more places around the world--whether that's a program focused
    on regional integration or an urban investment or a pocket of poverty
    in an upper middle-income country. MCC will continue to apply its data-
    driven model to identify the greatest opportunities to reduce poverty
    through economic growth. Guided by MCC's framework for selectivity and
    accountability, we will meet countries where they are on their
    development journey with effective partnerships by embracing a broader
    range of interventions to address new challenges and opportunities. We
    will respond to countries' needs by adjusting and adapting the tools
    within MCC's model--whether that's a focus on the digital economy or
    public financial management--and bolster our processes and operations,
    while investing in our people and our partnerships to improve MCC's
    efficiency, speed, and impact. By applying nearly two decades of
    lessons learned, we will use these innovative approaches to deploy MCC
    resources that are fit for purpose.
                               legislative change
        The FY25 Budget repeats a request in the FY24 Budget for
    legislative changes that would reform MCC's candidate country pool to
    include countries below the threshold for starting graduation from the
    International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). Senators
    Risch and Menendez introduced legislation--S.1240 the Millennium
    Challenge Corporation Candidate Country Reform Act--at the beginning of
    the 118th Congress to address this change. I want to thank the Senators
    and staff of this subcommittee for supporting this change in your FY24
    Bill Report.
        This legislative change would apply MCC's impactful model in a
    broader range of places. For instance, under current law, only four
    countries in the Western Hemisphere can be considered. This legislation
    would add nine additional countries, including Colombia, Guatemala,
    Ecuador, and Peru to MCC's candidate pool. In the Eastern Europe/
    Balkans/Caucuses regions, nine countries would be added, including
    Armenia, Bosnia, Georgia, and Moldova, while five countries would be
    added in the Asia and the Pacific region, including Fiji, Tonga, and
    Tuvalu.
        This legislative change would supercharge the ``MCC Effect.'' MCC's
    scorecards--which are used by our Board of Directors to select our
    partner countries--provide an objective measure of a country's
    commitment to ruling justly, promoting economic freedoms, and investing
    in their people. Since our founding, we have observed a phenomenon
    referred to by many as the ``MCC Effect,'' which is the clear
    incentivizing effect of MCC's transparent eligibility criteria, whereby
    countries pursue specific policy reforms to both qualify for, maintain
    eligibility for, and ultimately compete for MCC assistance.
        For example, post-conflict Cote d'Ivoire went from passing five out
    of 20 indicators on the MCC scorecard in FY12 to ten in FY15, and then
    14 in FY19. This impressive progress in a relatively short amount of
    time was led in large part by a dedicated committee created by
    President Ouattara in 2011 and chaired by the Prime Minister. The
    committee was focused solely on becoming eligible for MCC assistance.
    This focus on the scorecard has had tangible benefits for the people of
    Cote d'Ivoire as exemplified by the country's efforts to enhance gender
    equality in the economy. In response to MCC adding this indicator on
    the scorecard, the government passed a revised family code, which
    removed discriminatory measures that prevented women from obtaining
    passports, choosing jobs freely, and from being the heads of household
    in the same way as a married man. Because of these reforms, millions of
    women in Cote d'Ivoire gained the right to basic economic
    participation.
        This is just one example. We have heard from numerous governments
    that the data-driven insights that MCC and its scorecard offer can help
    countries identify their reform priorities and pave the way for
    accelerating economic growth and prosperity in a country. This is why,
    in July 2022, President Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo
    announced his intent to use the MCC scorecard as the country's roadmap
    for its ambitious development and reform agenda.
        Another key area where we see the incentivizing effect of MCC's
    model is in applying our Suspension and Termination Policy. If
    countries fail to adhere to MCC's model and statutorily mandated
    eligibility criteria at any point, MCC can take action to pause,
    suspend, or terminate eligibility for MCC assistance. In fact, MCC has
    ended 25% of its partnerships due to eligibility concerns. Prior to
    taking action, in the spirt of partnership and transparency, MCC has
    routinely engaged in dialogue with its partner countries to convey
    concerns and encourage reform. This has led to governments taking
    concrete action on a range of issues from strengthening the fight
    against trafficking in persons, enhancing democratic protections, or
    redoubling efforts to combat corruption, in order to maintain
    eligibility for MCC assistance.
        Thus, MCC can be thought of as a powerful projection of soft
    power--the MCC Effect incentivizes good governance reforms in countries
    before a single program dollar is spent as countries adopt reforms to
    pass the MCC scorecard. Modifying MCC's candidate pool--as outlined in
    S.1240--to incorporate a subset of vulnerable upper middle-income
    countries, expands this effect without incurring any program costs.
                                   conclusion
        I am proud to lead an agency built on the pillars of effective
    development. Our FY25 budget will build upon more than 20 years of
    experience as a leader in how the international community approaches
    development. MCC is a uniquely impactful that punches above its weight
    to reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In
    this constrained budget environment, you can be assured that MCC's
    catalytic investments are used efficiently and deliver high impact
    programs. We also contribute to systemic changes that go well beyond
    specific investments thanks to a strong emphasis on supporting the
    policy and institutional reforms and good governance that will allow
    developing countries to reduce poverty through economic growth. In an
    increasingly globalized economy, MCC's programs are a down payment on
    poverty reduction, increased growth and stability, as well as expanded
    market opportunities for American businesses.
        MCC's model is a counterweight to other development actors and
    stands in contrast to predatory financing from other sources, such as
    the People's Republic of China (PRC). We have a proven track record of
    effectively building infrastructure in countries of strategic
    importance to the United States. The MCC model encourages country
    partners to double down on good governance, democratic rights, and
    anti-corruption as prerequisites to investments. Once we select a
    partner, MCC responds to countries' real needs with grant financing,
    including to support policy reforms and transformative infrastructure
    investments that our partner countries have shaped. MCC's model and
    grant financing differentiate us from other donors' approaches and
    increased reliance on lending.
        In particular, as the PRC reduces its development aid in favor of
    more lending, there is a real opportunity for MCC partnerships that
    promote open, sustainable, and inclusive development. Although MCC is a
    small portion of USG foreign assistance spending, it is often the
    largest and most visible USG investments in the countries where the
    agency works.
        Most of MCC's current partners are among the poorest countries in
    the world, and MCC works with them because they pass a high bar for
    their commitment to democratic governance, to investing in their
    people, and to sound economic policies that are critical to reducing
    poverty among their citizens. MCC incentivizes this commitment through
    our competitive standards. We back countries' commitment through large,
    predictable grants that do not add to a country's debt burden. We seek
    to embed a culture of accountability, transparency, and responsible
    stewardship that helps sustain and scale progress.
        Through their support for MCC and our FY25 budget request of $937
    million, the American people are creating the building blocks for
    stronger and more vibrant economies and societies around the world.
    This means better governance, less poverty, and more economic
    opportunity--vital elements of peace and stability around the world and
    at home.

        Senator Coons. Thank you to all of you. My colleagues I
    know are currently voting and so I'm waiting for clarity from
    my staff on when I have to go vote. So, I'm going to enjoy an
    open field and a chance to just question you all. We are going
    to conduct this hearing in 7-minute rounds so I would expect
    that each Senator who comes will really just get one round, we
    won't do a second round likely.
        Let me just first start about the sort of broader unifying
    theme in some ways is leveraging the approach, the values, the
    priority of the private sector both metrics based and
    facilitating economic engagement and crowding in private
    capital. Broadly speaking, over the, I guess 14 years I've been
    here, private capital is significantly outpacing official
    government to government development loans or grants.
        And that's a good thing because global development needs
    far outweigh available government funding, particularly U.S.
    government funding. And this subcommittee is facing severe
    budget constraints as we did last year. I'd be interested in
    hearing whether you're confident that you have all the tools
    you need to maximize your ability to leverage private capital
    and how we can be more helpful as you try to advance your goals
    of sustainable development and creating more U.S. jobs by
    expanding U.S. exports and providing investments in developing
    countries, if you would, Mr. Nathan?
        Mr. Nathan. Well, thanks for the question, Mr. Chairman. We
    do have the tools we need, the Build Act gave us them. We just
    need to unleash them in the appropriate way in order to really
    fulfill our mandate as you mentioned which is to mobilize
    private capital and tap into the deep pools of private capital
    that will be necessary to fill the global infrastructure
    finance gap.
        So, for us that means fixing the budgetary accounting of
    equity whether that's before reauthorization or in
    reauthorization in order for this tool to be used the way I
    understand Congress intended it, we need to have a fix that
    takes into account the net present value of our investments.
        Currently, it's as if we're making grants or going to lose
    100 percent of every dollar we invest in while I don't expect
    that DFC will be the best equity investor, it's not going to be
    that bad where we are guaranteed to lose a hundred cents on
    every dollar. So, something that----
        Senator Coons. If I may interrupt, just put a dollar value
    on this roughly. You made $500 million in equity investments I
    think this past year. What would the impact actually be? What
    more might you be able to do if this were fixed?
        Mr. Nathan. So, I think it's instructive to look at the
    other part of our portfolio. We did $9.3 billion total in
    transactions, $500 million of that was in equity that cost $500
    million of appropriations. The remaining, if you subtract $500
    million from $9.3 billion, you get $8.8 billion of transactions
    that are debt and insurance. That cost $110 million of
    appropriations.
        The leverage effect, the cost savings to the taxpayer, the
    impact with the dollars that this committee can allocate using
    an MPV model and the subsidy model that is then resulting in
    order to account for appropriations gives enormous leverage.
        So, somewhere in between that leverage ratio, the, you
    know, basically 85:1 and 1:1, has got to be the right answer. I
    would expect we'd probably get to 4:1 that could allow us to
    make $2 billion of investments with equity. We can invest in
    infrastructure, in energy, in nuclear with that tool unleashed.
        If I could really briefly just mention two other
    authorities that would be great to have unleashed, our full
    guarantee authority and our ability to make political risk
    insurance contracts on debt investments or on to lenders.
        I think this authority needs to be clarified we're in on
    ongoing discussions in the inner agency to make sure that we
    have that tool. These are critical tools for being able to
    mobilize capital in the way that you mentioned.
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Mr. Nathan. Ms. Lewis.
        Ms. Lewis. Senator, Mr. Chairman the tools that we
    expressed that--I expressed in our opening to this statement
    about the fact that as it currently stands, EXIM loses our
    ability to conduct new business if our default rate equals or
    goes over 2 percent. So, we have been working diligently with
    members as well as the administration, as we have seeking an
    exemption especially around very large projects like nuclear
    and very large projects that are somewhat riskier, like CTAP.
        We believe that that exemption would allow us to also
    continue to send a signal to the market that EXIM is continuing
    to seek those types of transactions. But it also gives us an
    opportunity with that exemption for our underwriters to be able
    to take bolder and riskier opportunities because that's who we
    are. We believe that rather than having that exemption of
    that--from that 2 percent gives us a greater cushion and
    enables us to take advantage of some other calculated risks.
        And then finally Senator, we have seen the convening power
    that three different Senate Committees have done in bringing
    together the private sector with all of us in government who
    are in the economic cone. And it has, I believe, yielded some
    great results, especially around sectors like nuclear, digital,
    and critical minerals.
        Senator Coons. Thank you. I'm particularly interested in
    our engagement in nuclear power and refurbishment in Eastern
    Europe, in the developing world and look forward to hearing
    more from you about that. Ms. Albright?
        Ms. Albright. Thank you, Chairman Coons, we have great
    tools and for this topic in particular, grant financing. Grant
    financing with no time limits on it is a significant advantage
    for the agency and I think for the U.S. I will say there's a
    couple points on timing. One of the things that we do is work
    with countries to put in place different types of regulatory
    changes that set the table and set the stage for private sector
    companies to come in.
        We spend a lot of time out on the road in the U.S. meeting
    with private sector companies and doing road shows with
    chambers of commerce. I was in Texas last week doing one,
    encouraging them to bid on our business. But if we don't have
    the funding well in advance of when we need to start engaging
    in contract discussions it tends to have a chilling effect on
    whether or not we're actually going to be able to go ahead.
        So, we do face timing challenges and I would appreciate the
    opportunity to follow up with your staff on that. I also want
    to come back to this Candidate Country Reform Bill that we
    mentioned earlier. If we add another 30 countries with whom MCC
    could work--if they become eligible--it will introduce a whole
    new range of countries that private companies may also be
    interested in working in.
        So, I think it provides significant opportunity for us to
    begin to work with the private sector in different parts of the
    world. We're particularly interested in Central and Latin
    America, in Eastern Europe and out in the Pacific. And think
    for example, in Eastern Europe with some of the energy issues
    that are there that we could really make a difference.
        Senator Coons. Thank you and I duly noted the impact that
    rescissions have had on your ability to deliver advanced
    commitments and the importance for reliability as you enter
    compact, well stated. Thank you. Senator Hagerty.
        Senator Hagerty. Thank you, Senator Coons. Mr. Nathan, I'll
    go back to you now and back to the point about I think one of
    the most important strategic elements of your mission and that
    is to effectively counter the predatory practices of China. The
    CCP I should say. I think that's one of the most incredible
    geostrategic opportunities that we have is the use of U.S. LNG.
        And I've mentioned this to you before but in my prior role
    as U.S. Ambassador to Japan, I worked very closely with the
    Japanese to displace Russia from their energy supply chain. And
    the discussion certainly centered around economic security and
    energy security but it was always aimed toward national
    security. And as I think about the entire region of the Indo-
    Pacific where China's behaving in such a predatory fashion.
        That region consumes 70 percent of the world's LNG, 80
    percent of whom are using coal out there now. It strikes me
    that there is a tremendous opportunity before us with American
    LNG that would provide them with a safer, cleaner, more
    economic alternative and it would create a geostrategic linkage
    that's continuous, better than any piece of infrastructure.
    It's a relationship that becomes extraordinarily powerful for
    us.
        So, I want to ask you if you could just clarify for me how
    the DFC approaches LNG projects and how you think about them in
    terms of economic and national security.
        Mr. Nathan. Well, thanks for the question. And I mentioned
    in my testimony the work we've done, particularly in Europe
    since February 24, 2022 and Russia's outrageous, illegal
    further full-scale invasion of Russia to help Europe diversify
    from gas prom and Russian gas. And I can run through some of
    those projects for you----
        Senator Hagerty. I took the countries down but I'm very
    focused on the Indo-Pacific region right now.
        Mr. Nathan. Yes. So though--there were the countries in
    Europe, Moldova, Bulgaria, Poland, Greece, that we helped,
    we've done projects in Africa. Our board just approved $412
    million of financing for a project to generate power from gas
    in Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries of the world. We
    did a project in Southern Africa for Helium which is produced
    in association with LNG that will eventually account for 7
    percent of the global supply of helium, a critical material for
    defense, for aerospace, for medicine, for semiconductors.
        We're open to doing projects in the Indo-Pacific. We don't
    currently have any on the table. We do have other energy
    projects we did in the last year in Indonesia, a geothermal
    project. It took years and years to get that project in place
    but we're very pleased to be able to get it across the finish
    line. That's a huge resource for Indonesia to provide base load
    power and take advantage of their geographic position----
        Senator Hagerty. If we could specifically come back to LNG
    though because this is where I see the most immediate
    opportunity and frankly the greatest geostrategic leverage for
    us.
        Mr. Nathan. Yes, yes.
        Senator Hagerty. We have the capacity right now to produce
    more. There are mixed messages I think coming from the United
    States on this but I want to make certain that there's no
    limitation on what the DFC does----
        Mr. Nathan. Yes. That's why I wanted to go into the
    projects in Europe for example in Poland we made a $500 million
    guarantee to PKN, Orland, the largest utility there precisely
    to help them buy U.S. LNG in response to their dependency on
    Russian gas.
        This was because they ran out of hedging capacity to hedge
    between Henry Hub and Antwerp, the basis risk. And our
    guarantee provided more hedging capacity so that they could
    purchase U.S. LNG. In Bulgaria, we're making a $250 million
    loan to Bulgar Trans Gas to provide a store--more than a
    doubling of their storage facility. This enables them to buy
    gas--U.S. LNG cargos from Greece or from other places in the
    Southern European network to then provide wheeling of that gas
    to their neighbors in a way that helps diversify.
        And in Greece we provided $125 million and--I had the
    pleasure of visiting this facility--for the rehabilitation of a
    shipyard. This prevented a PRC entity from doing that shipyard,
    but the shipyard will be doing floating storage and
    regasification units. So again, it's part of the ecosystem of
    enabling these countries to diversify their energy supplies by
    buying U.S. LNG or other LNG cargoes but not be dependent on
    getting it from the east.
        Senator Hagerty. So, I get what you're saying right now but
    I'm coming back----
        Mr. Nathan. Yes.
        Senator Hagerty. Again, to the immediate opportunity and my
    question is very specific now. Is there anything that causes
    you to dissuade projects to disfavor LNG projects?
        Mr. Nathan. There's nothing that I'm aware of. We have to
    analyze them, they have to go through all of our high standard
    screening process. There is a process for greenhouse gas
    emissions accounting and for guidance on that. But all of the
    projects I just mentioned----
        Senator Hagerty. Do you take into account the greenhouse
    gas reductions of displacing coal when you do that sort of
    analysis?
        Mr. Nathan. Well, it goes into the discussion around it in
    terms of the exact accounting, the displacement effect does not
    go into the exact accounting. We use the international
    accounting standards for that. But what I was going to say is
    that none of that dissuaded us from doing the projects I just
    mentioned all of which are directly in the zone of the type of
    projects you mentioned----
        Senator Hagerty. I hear you. Without the immediacy of the
    crisis in Ukraine with Russia though I'd still like us to be
    looking longer term strategically at projects where we could
    really provide a very real counterweight----
        Mr. Nathan. Yes.
        Senator Hagerty. To the Belt and Road Initiative. So I
    would look forward to finding ways to continue to work
    together. And if you sense anything that's forcing a
    deprioritization of these projects or something that we could
    adjust that would allow us to be more aggressive, the
    geostrategic value is quite obvious.
        Chair Lewis, I want to come to you as well. Does EXIM Bank
    have any practices that discourage or in any way--what's the
    right word, discourage LNG projects?
        Ms. Lewis. Senator, EXIM, we believe have a very important
    role to support all of the industries and workers in accordance
    with all of our statutory, regulatory and policy requirements.
    As an independent agency, you know we have a prohibition clause
    that does not allow us to discriminate against any size or
    sector or region in the world. And so, we see----
        Senator Hagerty. In practice, is that the case?
        Ms. Lewis. That is definitely the case Senator. We seek to
    definitely align with other--with administration initiatives.
    But in----
        Senator Hagerty. Have you financed any LNG projects in the
    past 2 or 3 years?
        Ms. Lewis. LNG projects, we have been involved in a number
    of projects with commodities. And one of the things that we are
    really----
        Senator Hagerty. I'm not asking about commodities broadly.
    I'm asking specifically about what I think is the most
    important geostrategic opportunity we have, that's LNG?
        Ms. Lewis. We have--we received all of our projects on--and
    transactions on a case-by-case basis. And over the years, EXIM
    has invested in those. I would be--would love to be able to get
    back to give you a list of what those----
        Senator Hagerty. If you could do that--if you could give me
    a roster of the LNG projects that have been undertaken over the
    past several years. I'd love to see that, in the past 5 or 10
    years, I'd just like to see how that trend is going because
    again this is a really important opportunity for us. And the
    immediate benefit for this is rather obvious. Thanks.
        Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Senator Hagerty. Senator
    Coons had to go vote. I will chair in his absence. And Senator
    Schatz is recognized.
        Senator Schatz. Thank you very much to all of the
    testifiers. Thanks for all of your public service. Ms.
    Albright, it will not surprise you to know that I am extremely
    enthusiastic to see you in this role and at the testifiers
    table. I'm glad to see that MCC is working in the recently
    overlooked Pacific Islands.
        And I'd like you to say a little more about the potential
    for additional projects in the region and how especially this--
    small investments can provide big returns economically and
    geopolitically.
        Ms. Albright. Thank you so much Senator Schatz for the
    question. So, we very much agree that the Indo-Pacific and in
    particular the Pacific Islands are a great opportunity for our
    government's development dollars. And in particular for MCC.
    Right now, we are working on program in Carabas. $29.1 million
    that will work on helping young people in that country get
    better skills and opportunities for the jobs of the future, and
    that's a program that was very much designed with that
    country's government.
        We're also working on a program in the Solomon Islands.
    We--if we're able to expand our candidate pool we could include
    other countries if they are qualified. Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu for
    example. It's slightly different part of the region but we're
    also working on a big program in East Timor on water and
    sanitation and also education.
        And those are all programs that are part of our--about a
    third of our work is in the Indo-Pacific area. And I just made
    myself a list. We're doing programs right now in the
    Philippines, Nepal, Mongolia, Indonesia, East Timor, Carabas
    and the Solomons. And if we're able to expand our footprint we
    could add to that. And one thing that's--just last point I'll
    make is that, you know, we're able to do small programs in
    these huge compact programs.
        One of the things that's a real standout for the smaller
    islands is that the $29.1 million for Carabas is the largest
    piece of international aid that country will have gotten. And
    we're going to make a huge difference for the young people
    there. So, we can make a big difference with a reasonably
    modest amount of money.
        Senator Schatz. That's exactly the point here. And for us
    as appropriators I think that's where we ought to think about
    how to deploy the Federal dollar most efficaciously. And in
    these Pacific Island Nations, you know, $29 million is a
    rounding error for the Department of Defense and arguably for
    the Department of State in other contexts. $29 million is the
    most money that Carabas has seen in maybe ever--
        Ms. Albright. Ever.
        Senator Schatz. Externally. And this is a--this has a major
    impact and I have--I want to praise the State Department more
    generally. We've had these convenings over the last 3 or 4
    years with Pacific Island leaders, foreign ministers and prime
    ministers and defense ministers. And you know, the first couple
    were a little rough. They were--I wouldn't say gripe sessions
    because that's unfair to them but there were a series of
    complaints that were--that could be summarized by you guys are
    never around until you need something.
        But they were very specific in their asks and the State
    Department along with the SFOP's Committee sort of made good on
    a bunch of those promises. And it is gratifying to see that
    these subsequent meetings have not only increased in attendance
    from around three or four Senators to I think last time 15, 16
    Senators including the chairman of the Intelligence Committee,
    bipartisan participation from SFRC.
        I wouldn't call it a love fest but it was a huge
    improvement in the tone and the tenor of our partnership. So,
    when Secretary Blinken says, you know, allies, friends,
    partners you are on the front lines of making that true and so
    I just wanted to recognize that.
        I have a question for you about digital health tools. You
    just made a big announcement, a $300 million partnership. And
    I'm wondering if you can just talk through what that is going
    to mean and the kind of leveraged impact that's going to have
    both in terms of our good standing around the world but also
    real-world impact for people who need it?
        Ms. Albright. So that program I believe is in Lesotho. We
    signed the program a couple of years ago and it will build on a
    previous investment that we made in health clinics. And we all
    know that one of the big vulnerabilities in global health is
    the inavailability of data, because it really eats at a
    system's ability to anticipate where the problems are.
        So, with our new Lesotho program which will also focus on
    horticulture, we're going to be investing in data systems in
    that country to help their health clinics really get up to
    speed and figure out how they can anticipate where the issues
    are. And in a country that's had on a per capita basis a
    significant history with AIDS, we think that's a very important
    thing to help that country with, and we're very much looking
    forward to working with them and we can follow up with your
    office Senator Schatz to let you know how it's going.
        Senator Schatz. Thank you very much. I would love for us to
    be on a first name basis outside of this Committee, Ms.
    Albright. Thank you very much. Mr. Nathan, I've repeatedly
    heard from leaders in the Indo-Pacific about the threats that
    they face from sea level rise and disasters.
        How are you implementing the President's Emergency Plan for
    Adaptation or the PREPARE in the Indo-Pacific? And are there
    any additional tools that you need?
        Mr. Nathan. Well, thank you very much for the question.
    We're a key implementing agency for the PREPARE Act. We've done
    since the inception of DFC, a little over $600 million of
    financing transactions for adaptation within our climate
    finance bucket. That's everything from regenerative
    agriculture, helping prevent waste of food by helping with cold
    storage, water system management and hardening infrastructure.
    So, we are helping.
        In the Pacific Island Nations that you were asking about
    before, we're looking for projects that could specifically help
    in this area. They're challenging places for us to work to find
    private sector projects, nonetheless we have a $50 million
    microfinance facility specifically targeted at the Pacific
    Island Nations in cooperation with our colleagues at USAID
    which I think might be able to find some of these kind of
    adaptation----
        Senator Schatz. Just because I only have 30 seconds left,
    does that microfinance facility--is that like the first cousin
    of the Pacific Resilience Facility? Like how are those two
    things going to interact?
        Mr. Nathan. No--well this is specifically a private sector
    facility to help get money into the hands of individual
    businesses. So, they can definitely cooperate, but it's a
    separate facility.
        Senator Schatz. Okay and--but I guess my question is are
    you in conversations about how to sort of make sure that
    these----
        Mr. Nathan. Absolutely, I mean the idea is to find deal
    flow and by cooperating with our colleagues managing the
    resilience fund, that's one way to do that.
        Senator Schatz. Great, Thank you very much.
        Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Senator Schatz and let me
    add my thanks to all of you for your service and your testimony
    here today. All your agencies are great examples of different
    tools available to the U.S. government to do everything from
    supporting American jobs to supporting our strategy around the
    world and I'm grateful for your service.
        Ms. Lewis, it's great to see you again. I know we've talked
    about this in the past but I think we all share a concern about
    the PRC's dominance in the critical mineral supply area and the
    supply chains related to that. So, from acquisition of raw
    materials to processing.
        And my question is are there ways that EXIM could be more
    effective in financing critical mineral projects that diversify
    our supply chains? And as part of that question are the China
    and Transformational Exports Programs sufficiently flexible for
    critical mineral projects? And if not, are there changes you
    would like to see that provide for that flexibility?
        Ms. Lewis. Thank you so much, Senator for that, great to
    see you again. As you mentioned, we have been before you in
    other committees calling regarding the convening power that the
    Senate has to bring together the private sector players along
    with government agencies like ourselves to discuss and make
    sure that they understand the resources that EXIM has.
        As I had mentioned and in some previous conversations that
    you and I had, the exemption from--of having CTAP, the
    Transformational Export Program from our 2 percent default rate
    would be really, really critical for this agency. It would
    allow us to be able to take a little bit more risk. It would
    allow our underwriters to not be as cautious, because primarily
    when you look at these kind of critical minerals projects which
    are not a part of the 10 transformational exports that Congress
    had passed in 2019, but it is really critical that we have been
    able to tuck the critical minerals work and transactions
    underneath CTAP.
        We know that you would like to see us take some bolder
    actions as a part of a strategy to counter the PRC's unfair
    trade and export practices. At EXIM, you know we require that
    reasonable assurance and repayment for every transaction that
    we do. And so, to be able to ask you for that type of change,
    we think that that would allow us to have a lot more
    flexibility and to be able to take a lot more risk and for us
    to continue to do those types of deals.
        As well as you should know, from the convening that you
    participated in and allowed us to be with, we have been able to
    put out a Federal notice in our Federal registry to ask the
    industry and ask those in the market to give us some ways that
    they think that EXIM can be--can do more in this space.
        And we are very excited also that we have been able to use
    our MMIA deal authority that we have providing direct loans
    that we recently did for $4.7 million of an expansion of a
    facility for a company called Aquatech that happens to be in
    Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. And it is better for them to be
    able to support critical minerals like lithium and EV supply
    chains.
        Senator Van Hollen. Got it. Well, thank you. I look forward
    to continuing to work with you on this, and Senator Warner, and
    Senator Rubio, and I and others are working on legislation to
    expand some of these authorities in a targeted way.
        Mr. Nathan, it's great to see you again and thank you for
    all your good work and I hear you loud and clear on fixing the
    scoring issue. This is a self-inflicted wound. I think it's
    just malpractice that we have not resolved this yet because it
    makes no sense as you said to count every dollar that you
    invest as a grant dollar. So, we look forward to trying to
    finally get this done.
        You know as I think about, you know, how American
    businesses might be looking at the U.S. government and how
    we're organized, they might see it as a little stove piped,
    right? I mean each of your agencies has very important
    authorities. In some areas especially between the EXIM Bank and
    DFC there could be room for collaboration.
        So, I guess my question for you, Mr. Nathan is, to what
    extent are you sort of operating in a more coordinated, maybe
    not seamless way but a more coordinated way to make sure that
    we use all our tools? I mean some of the things that you
    provide or can be complimentary obviously to EXIM Bank. So, do
    you have some examples of where there's collaboration?
        Mr. Nathan. Well, thanks for the question and I as always
    appreciate your input and support. I'd say we definitely
    collaborate with our colleagues, my colleagues at the table and
    their agencies as well as USTDA, of course, our colleagues at
    the State Department, Commerce Department and USAID as well.
    The way we collaborate mostly is by participating in various
    interagency processes to identify foreign policy priorities
    that can be benefited from our activity.
        With MCC, we have a formal agreement to try to find ways to
    collaborate. And we've come at it from different ends but it's
    complimentary. MCC did a compact in Sierra Leone that worked on
    the power sector. We're funding a power plant there that will
    free them from the dependence on a barge with four diesel
    gensets that is unreliable and has led to severe political
    problems.
        With EXIM, we frequently have discussions but we're coming
    at these projects from the--almost the exact opposite end.
    Whereas EXIM is supporting U.S. business and their exports.
    We're in country supporting the company or the project with
    local financing. So, there are places where it can be
    collaborative. It'd be great if we had some good examples of
    projects. We're obviously both focused on the critical minerals
    area. We made $740 million of investments in critical minerals
    and key inputs last year. I foresee this being an area where we
    will likely collaborate in the future given the high priority
    and the opportunity to both support mining and processing.
        At the moment, our graphite investment last year in
    Mozambique ultimately, we're hoping that will have as an off
    taker a plant in Louisiana that will be supported by a
    Department of Energy grant and loan. So, there is plenty of
    opportunity for collaboration, and I agree with you. It's
    bewildering sometimes from the inside what each agency's doing
    from the point of view of our partners and allies, it's very
    hard to figure out.
        Senator Van Hollen. Right. No--I appreciate that and that's
    why a number of us had that sort of convening of the different
    agencies. If I could just finish up, Mr. Chairman, with a
    question to Ms. Albright and thank you for your service and
    when we met, I told you I was very happy to be in Kathmandu
    last year, the day after the MCC deal was finally being
    implemented. And as you know, it took years because a lot of
    disinformation from the PRC but I want to applaud not only the
    MCC but the government of Nepal for making the decision to move
    forward.
        Many of us are big supporters of the legislation that you
    mentioned. As you know, it passed the Foreign Relations
    Committee with a unanimous vote. I believe it was unanimous and
    we hope advance it. Could you just give one specific example of
    how passage of that legislation could make a big difference in
    advancing the mandate of the MCC and the goals of the United
    States?
        Ms. Albright. Thank you so much, Senator Van Hollen--
    whoops, let me push the button--for the question and I'm
    delighted that you were in Kathmandu the day after that was
    passed. It was a very important project for us. It's a $500
    million program that will help completely upgrade the energy
    capability of Nepal or off to the races on it. So, we're very
    excited about that.
        So, I keep this map on my desk which shows all the
    different countries that we could work in. And the one I'm
    going to zero in right now is Moldova. Because I would imagine
    that many of us in this room are concerned about what's going
    to happen to Moldova as a result of what Putin is doing in the
    region. And we can't work in Moldova right now, but if we were
    able to get the legislation passed, of course, it's a small
    country but it's a very strategic country. And that's one where
    we certainly could begin to work. There's a number of others in
    the region.
        There is also some interesting ones in Latin and Central
    America where we are not able to work. So, what's interesting
    about the legislation is not just the specificity of the
    countries, but it would enable us to work in regions some in
    Central America, some in Europe, Eastern Europe, some in the
    Pacific. And there are certainly different geostrategic
    interests that the United States has in all three of those
    regions over and above what the individual sort of countries
    have to what need in terms of working with MCC.
        So, there's just many opportunities here which is why we've
    been up here a lot visiting with you all to try to get the
    legislation passed but we'd be very enthusiastic and we think
    that a number of countries would qualify immediately and we
    could do some good work.
        Senator Van Hollen. Well, thank you. I know that the
    Chairman supports that legislation strongly as well as the
    legislation that Mr. Nathan emphasized with respect to the
    scoring rules. Thank you all for your testimony and for your
    service.
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator Van Hollen.
         We understand Senator Merkley will arrive in a few
    moments. If I might, I'm just going to go into another question
    or two and appreciate your answers to my colleagues.
    Accountability and transparency is a key part of the work of
    all three of your agencies. I think it's a central part of what
    makes the MCC model of development so powerful.
        I think you've done important work at the DFC in order to
    strengthen your internal transparency and accountability
    mechanism. And I think in EXIM it's important that we focus for
    a minute on workforce retention and competitiveness in order to
    ensure that you're functioning at the level you need to.
        So, if you could just each of you, if you'd speak about in
    what ways your agencies work to ensure transparency and
    accountability both internally and then competitively with
    other like-minded--other nations that are trying to do the same
    sorts of things you're doing. How do we promote transparency
    and accountability?
        Mr. Nathan. You want me to start?
        Senator Coons. Yes, please.
        Mr. Nathan. Okay. Thanks.
        Senator Coons. Forgive me, Mr. Nathan.
        Mr. Nathan. In regard to transparency, we too have been
    ranked high on transparency indices compared to our DFI
    counterparts. I think the last ranking, we were the highest but
    it still wasn't a high grade. So, if we're graded on a curve,
    we're doing well but we have a long way to go. We try to
    provide as much information as possible to the public, to the
    NGO community and obviously we provide all the information
    required by Congress.
        We have many different oversight mechanisms. We have a
    robust office of the Inspector General. We have the office of
    accountability, Public Office of Accountability that has
    recently changed leadership, and I'm very optimistic about the
    robust leadership there and the resources that office is
    getting in order to have the ability to fulfill its mandate. We
    want to cooperate with them as much as possible.
        Internally, we try to share information you know, we're a
    rapidly growing agency. In just the last 2 years we've gone
    from 440 people to 670, and that has a material impact on our
    culture, against the backdrop of the pandemic and changes to
    work patterns there have been some challenges in creating a new
    culture that's also I think, natural for an agency that
    launched only 5 years ago and built on a smaller team that
    really was serving a different mission and a different mandate,
    with different tools and a different process.
        So, reorienting it has involved some changes internally to
    how we're organized that I think going forward will really
    begin to bear fruit, but change is hard and that has led to
    some issues that we've tried to work through. But from the
    point of view of leadership of the agency, openness and sharing
    of information is a key element to that and I think we're
    making progress.
        Senator Coons. How do you ensure that your office of
    accountability which if I understand right, is still one person
    may soon be two?
        Mr. Nathan. Yes, and then potentially to triple, to three--
    --
        Senator Coons. Is actually accessible, open, responsive to
    concerns of communities that are impacted by projects you're
    helping finance?
        Mr. Nathan. So, one way is to make sure that there's great
    visibility on how to approach the office of accountability and
    we've worked with the new person who's in charge to make sure
    that whether it's through website, through constant
    communication with the NGO community which is really critical
    in this regard, that that's something he's aware of.
        We have a public hearing of our board two times a year, in
    which members of the public or NGOs can make statements, and
    that's another way for the Office of Accountability to be aware
    of what is in the flow of that information. And then obviously
    there's reports and letters sent directly.
        Senator Coons. And how do you contribute to greater
    transparency and accountability for the deal flow and the loans
    that you're actually involved in as opposed to our competitors
    from other countries who are also active in development
    finance?
        Mr. Nathan. Well, we make a public information statement
    about every deal that we do. We post that on our website. We
    have information about our deals on our website. That is
    certainly different than our strategic competitors which
    actually bind most counterparties with non-disclosure
    agreements to keep their loan agreements opaque, what kind of
    strings are attached or security arrangements are made. So,
    that's not the way we manage things.
        Senator Coons. Thank you. Ms. Lewis, tell us for a minute
    if you would, about EXIM and how you both ensure accountability
    internally and then compared to your strategic competitors.
        Ms. Lewis. From an internal perspective Senator, one of the
    things that we've been very clear is that we've seen that when
    having an agency that was closed from 2015 to 2019 and then
    COVID happened as well as the loss of a board quorum actually
    definitely changed the culture, I believe at EXIM Bank that we
    are striving every day to bring back.
        Our scores have definitely been low, Senator. And we have
    most recently over the last year hired a permanent chief human
    capital officer, chief management officer who has been really
    helping to lead the charge in the support of increasing morale
    as well as engagement.
        We've done a significant amount of work using an external
    consultant, one of the Big 4 to assist us in the different
    types of programs we have done from training, from leadership
    training, we've expanded our retreats from just the central 20-
    plus senior leaders to all of our managers which total about
    40. We have also been doing a numerous more recognition award
    programs as well as having offsite retreats that we have had.
        I'm very pleased to say that in the last one we had mostly
    about a week ago, we had over 80 percent participation of our
    team because I think people are just very interested in the
    work that we are doing so we have also re-upped the internal
    communications that we do for all of us to know what's going on
    at EXIM----
        Senator Coons. And what kind of initiatives do you take to
    ensure the transparency of the loans and loan terms?
        Ms. Lewis. Yes. Well as Scott also mentioned, we have a
    very--we've been working very closely and open with our IG to
    ensure that--we've seen a number, I would say the open cases
    that we have about 70 percent of them have only been done--
    issued in the last year. And so, we're working very closely to
    address them.
        As it relates to transparency and accountability we
    frequently, on a regular basis with our different transactions
    are noticed in the Federal register so that those can--seeking
    comments on those. We definitely published--when we complete
    every transaction on our deals, we also work very closely with
    other international bodies like the OECD because we all are
    part of the arrangement and there are things that we all have
    to report when we are doing different types of transactions.
        And so, we--and then most recently working with off of a
    recommendation, we have created a new Office of Compliance that
    coincides alongside Ethics and Ethics Officer. We believe it's
    going to be those types of engagements and developments at EXIM
    that's going to allow us to continue to be more transparent and
    more accountable to the American people as well as to the
    borrowers that come to EXIM.
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Ms. Albright. I think
    accountability transparency is sort of in the very DNA of the
    MCC. I'd be interested in how you think both internally and
    externally, you focus on transparency and accountability at
    MCC?
        Ms. Albright. Thank you, Chairman Coons for the question.
    Yes, there's many aspects we can point to. Let me talk first
    about our internal decisionmaking processes whether or not it's
    with our board, with partner countries, with regards to how we
    do a monitoring and evaluation of every single program.
        We are dedicated to transparency at every step along the
    way, whether or not it's our scorecards which you're familiar
    with which are on the Internet. So, every country can see how
    they rank in terms of whether or not they're going to become
    eligible for MCC's support.
        We also have--are very happy to have a very active dialogue
    with Congress on congressional notifications at every step of
    the way. We also evaluate every single program that we do. We
    look at the lessons that we can learn so we can learn how to do
    things, continue to learn how to do things better. All of those
    reports are also published publicly. So, that's with regard to
    our decisionmaking internally.
        A key part of how we think about accountability is whether
    or not countries remain eligible. As you know, it's very
    difficult for countries to become eligible for MCC support
    principally on the question of whether or not they're on a
    democratic trajectory.
        We then continue to watch that once a country is actually
    selected. And if a country begins to divert from that we start
    having serious conversations with the country about whether or
    not we ought to continue and that's really at the heart of how
    we operate.
        Very sadly, from time to time, we do have to actually
    completely discontinue our work as we did recently with Burkina
    Faso. We've also suspended our work in Niger.
        So, that's also--I think runs right the way through MCC's
    DNA. We too have an office of--we work with the IG from USAID
    and have a very transparent and productive relationship with
    them.
        Senator Coons. Describe briefly, if you would, the MCC
    effect. I've had the chance to see it on the ground, out in the
    world and talking to heads of state but I'd just be interested
    in how you understand it?
        Ms. Albright. So, the MCC effect is the function of
    publishing the scorecard. So, we publish a scorecard on the
    Internet every year. The next round will come out sometime this
    fall of how each country scores against 20 different
    indicators. The indicators fall into basically three different
    policy buckets. Is a country running its economy well? Is it
    investing in its people? And is it a democracy in trying to
    fight corruption. And countries study their scorecards whether
    or not they are close to becoming eligible or not.
        And so, what--in being able to see that public data which
    is all third-party data, countries often make a decision that
    they want to use that framework to make decisions about
    reforms. So, there's two good examples I can point to. One is
    in the Cote d'Ivoire where a number of years ago the country
    was only passing 5 of the 20 scores, and President Ouattara, at
    the time, set up a specific division to specifically make
    decisions to become eligible. And now they're passing, and I
    will double-check this for you, at least 14, and they're plenty
    eligible and we're doing a lot of work with them.
        The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a--they're only
    passing five or six maybe seven scores. But they've set up also
    an entity within their Ministry of Finance without paying a
    single dollar of MCC's program budget to actually also make
    decisions to reform how things are going in the DRC.
        So, it is a powerful tool for incentivizing reform and we
    see it in--there's lots of other examples I can share with you,
    but it's one of the--now that we're 20 years into our history,
    I think it's one of the most efficient high ROI aspects of the
    agency because a country starts making the reforms that they
    need you to become eligible without us spending a single dollar
    of U.S. taxpayer dollars on the program side. Our economists
    are in touch with them, but we're not spending program money
    until countries become eligible.
        Senator Coons. I've seen that directly. In fact, Cote
    d'Ivoire was the concrete example I had in mind even though our
    strategic competitors were offering multiples of U.S.
    investment, President Ouattara and the Prime Minister were very
    engaged in achieving the compact and so that's not the only
    country but probably the signal country.
        I understand Senator Merkley's mere steps away. So, I'll
    simply just say, each of you had a chance to touch on a
    legislative priority, reauthorization, equity fix, expanding
    the number of eligible countries, default rate. Is there
    something you didn't get to speak about that would be helpful
    to briefly address in terms of legislative action you'd like to
    see from Congress that would help strengthen your ability to
    execute on your core mission?
        Please, if you might, Mr. Nathan.
        Mr. Nathan. So, within our reauthorization process there
    are a couple of other elements I'd love to just briefly touch
    on. One is very similar to the issue facing MCC in terms of
    country eligibility. We're currently dependent on the World
    Bank income classifications. It's a crude tool that even the
    World Bank doesn't use for lending eligibility. And it leads to
    annual volatility when the countries move categories every
    year, that's very difficult to be working on a private sector
    deal and then July 1 have to put your pencil down.
        I think it would make sense to broaden out the group if we
    used World Bank categories, it would add some Caribbean
    Nations, some Pacific Island Nations, it would add countries in
    Central and South America that aren't currently eligible. And I
    think it would do it in a systematic fashion as opposed to a
    targeted fashion. So that's one element.
        There are other things in reauthorization that could help
    us be more efficient and utilize our resources better. Raising
    our annual lending cap, making the fee authority, I mentioned
    permanent, increasing the threshold for congressional
    notification. We're right now doing about 80 plus percent of
    our transactions require notification. That was around a
    hundred last year. It would be great if we could find a way to
    still notify in a majority but have it be fewer.
        And then ways to help incentivize our workforce really
    important to--in this very competitive labor market for
    transaction lawyers and other in demand transaction officers
    and otherwise to find ways to support them.
        Senator Coons. I suspect that's true across all three of
    you. You're looking for skill sets that are unusual and in high
    demand and in a very tight labor market of being able to
    incentivize and retain the very best. I mean, there are
    complaints I hear occasionally about the time cycle, how long
    it takes to work with all three of your agencies.
        And I often say that's partly because of the demands on
    your workforce that you're trying to move a lot of transactions
    and very complex transactions and monitor them for a long
    period of time. So, I'm very sympathetic to those concerns.
        Ms. Lewis, if you might.
        Ms. Lewis. Senator, you're absolutely right, Mr. Chairman.
    It's just not just monitoring. It is about how we continue to
    recruit and how we continue to retain is critically important
    and to be able to additionally see some types of awards that we
    could also incentivize our teams would be helpful.
        I want to just continue to emphasize the seeking of that
    default rate cap, the exemption on nuclear as well as for CTAP
    so that we can better counter you know, PRC financing on--
    especially in the 10 export areas. But more importantly, I
    think early reauthorization is really critical for EXIM Bank
    especially since we were out of the market for those years,
    we've had an ability to reset and rebuild and renew so many
    relationships.
        I think an early reauthorization with a strong bipartisan
    support would continue to send the right signal to the
    industry, to the market and to our countries that America is
    there and that we will be there with our EXIM Bank so that they
    can not only compete but they can actually win these awards
    around the world.
        Senator Coons. Ms. Albright.
        Ms. Albright. Thank you, Chairman Coons. Our two priorities
    are our budget, our robust budget and also our candidate pool
    legislation. Thank you.
        Senator Coons. Can I ask in this open setting, the
    President of Kenya will be here next week?
        Ms. Albright. Yes. We are going to be involved in those
    proceedings. We're very excited about it. We have signed a $60
    million threshold program with Kenya and it will be principally
    designed to work on some of the transportation and safety
    issues in Nairobi which anyone who's been to Nairobi knows how
    difficult getting around Nairobi can be.
        We're very enthusiastic about it, and if things go well
    with that threshold and if they continue to make advancements
    on overall eligibility, we will also be in a position to
    consider them from a compact. But we have to get through the
    threshold well first.
        Senator Coons. I'd welcome any chance to further
    conversations. I'll be meeting with the President next week.
    Mr. Nathan, if you might, and then I'll hand it over to Senator
    Merkley, with my thanks to all three of these great witnesses
    today.
        Mr. Nathan. Well, thank you. Just briefly on really the
    historic state visit that President Ruto will be making next
    week. We've had the opportunity to meet with President Ruto
    multiple times and find he and his team very constructive. We
    have a package of several hundred million dollars, probably
    around $300 million, of deals to announce during the state
    visit, and I'm very proud of the work the DFC team did to get
    us there. That will mean we have more than $1 billion of
    current projects in Kenya.
        We also and it relates to one of the things that we're
    looking for additional budget support which is expanding our
    overseas presence. Nairobi is a critical place both for
    projects in Kenya, but also regionally for us to have
    transaction officers or DFC staff on the ground.
        Senator Coons. Thank you. I very much look forward to
    continuing to work with you both during the state visit and in
    the year and years ahead. Thank you for your leadership and for
    your testimony here today.
        I'll defer to Senator Merkley who in the absence of another
    member arriving will close out the hearing when he's done
    questioning. Thank you all very much today.
        Senator Merkley. [Presiding.] Thank you very much, Chairman
    and thank you all for coming in and sharing your experience and
    expertise. Ms. Lewis, I wanted to try to understand better the
    charter for EXIM. Isn't the charter actually passed by law?
        Ms. Lewis. The charter is passed by law, yes. Yes, Senator.
        Senator Merkley. Am I correct that in that law it says EXIM
    reaffirmed the responsibility to review projects for
    environmental impacts including ``effects upon the Global
    Commons?''
        Ms. Lewis. Senator, you know, first of all, I just really
    appreciate the work that you've been doing as you call
    attention to these types of issues. We look and evaluate each
    of our transactions against our charter and our statutory
    requirements and they're all done on a case-by-case basis.
        Senator Merkley. Yes, but you didn't answer my question.
    Are those four words in your charter that has been passed by
    law that you shall consider ``effects upon the global
    commons?''
        Ms. Lewis. Well, our team does extensive due diligence,
    Senator.
        Senator Merkley. No, I'm just asking is that in your
    charter or not?
        Ms. Lewis. If it--from a legal perspective our charter is
    very clear that Congress has given us.
        Senator Merkley. You don't know if those words are in your
    charter or not.
        Ms. Lewis. Those words are in the charter, yes.
        Senator Merkley. Okay, they are in the charter. Thank you,
    that's what I was asking. Does it also say in your charter that
    your procedure is ``shall permit the board of directors in its
    judgment to withhold financing from a project for environmental
    reasons?''
        Ms. Lewis. Senator, it also tells us that we cannot
    discriminate against applications----
        Senator Merkley. I know, that wasn't my question. I am just
    asking you about this particular clause.
        Ms. Lewis. Congress has definitely made it very clear about
    the statute and charter of EXIM Bank.
        Senator Merkley. So, it shall permit the board of directors
    to withhold financing from a project for environmental reasons.
    That's in your charter, yes or no?
        Ms. Lewis. The charter basically, Senator allows us to----
        Senator Merkley. Why can't you just answer the question? Is
    it in your charter or not?
        Ms. Lewis. It does have it in our charter.
        Senator Merkley. Thank you, very much. Now, you have this
    non-discrimination language in your charter as well and it says
    the non-discrimination prohibition starts with ``except as
    provided in this act.'' Now, those other two clauses I just
    read to you are provided in this Act. Is that not right?
        Ms. Lewis. Senator, you know, one of the things that has
    occurred----
        Senator Merkley. I'm fascinated----
        Ms. Lewis. I don't have the authority to make changes of
    any magnitude, unilaterally----
        Senator Merkley. I'm just fascinated that you won't
    actually answer the question. I'm just reading you from your
    own charter and you're head of the operation. You--I'm just
    trying to establish for the record that this is what the
    charter says.
        Ms. Lewis. Our charter also gives us other explicit things
    that the EXIM Bank has to do about non-discrimination and no
    prohibition against size, sector or industry.
        Senator Merkley. So, I just read to you except this
    provided in this act, is that not the qualification on the non-
    discrimination clause. Okay. I know you don't want to cooperate
    in this line of questioning, and I'm really puzzled as to why
    that is the case because the charter's very clear. It gives you
    the power to approve or disapprove projects according to the
    impact on the global commons.
        It says that the non-discrimination clause is subject
    except as provided in this Act and the environmental provisions
    are provided in this Act. It says that explicitly shall permit
    the board of directors to withhold financing for a project for
    environmental reasons.
        I believe that you all are deliberately evading the
    responsibilities you have under this charter as written and I'm
    extremely disturbed about that. Are you aware of how much
    damage carbon pollution and methane pollution are doing to the
    global commons?
        Ms. Lewis. You know, Senator, I truly understand the
    concerns that you have. I will continue to--would love to work
    with you and your staff on these concerns to outline for you
    how EXIM looks at all of our statute changes.
        Senator Merkley. So, you're aware of my concerns but my
    question was are you familiar with the damage that carbon
    pollution and methane are doing to the Global Commons?
        Ms. Lewis. You know, one of the things, Senator, that I
    have done repeatedly at EXIM is how we have sought to work very
    closely understanding how climate change is a real threat. We
    understand the work that we have to do and we have been moving
    very aggressively in that work.
        Senator Merkley. So, you do understand the damage that
    carbon and methane are doing to Global Commons? That's a yes?
        Ms. Lewis. I understand that how we have at EXIM Bank
    supported very large green energy projects, some of the largest
    ones in the history of EXIM. I totally share, I understand the
    concern that you have----
        Senator Merkley. Why is it so hard? If you actually know
    the science, why is it hard to say yes, I understand the damage
    that carbon and methane are doing to Global Commons. Why is it
    that--why is that----
        Ms. Lewis. Senator, I can't comment on the science.
        Senator Merkley. You can't comment on the science. Do you
    ignore the science?
        Ms. Lewis. No, EXIM looks at each transaction, Senator, on
    a case-by-case basis.
        Senator Merkley. Well, by case-by-case, some do a lot of
    environmental damage and one of the great mysteries is why EXIM
    is proceeding to explore financing for an LNG development in
    Northern Mozambique.
        Now, LNG is interesting because we call it liquified
    natural gas. That's the industry term but anyone familiar with
    the chemistry of it as this is methane that's liquified. You're
    familiar with that?
        Ms. Lewis. I'm familiar with that.
        Senator Merkley. You're probably also familiar that methane
    gas has a much higher heat absorbing, heat trapping power,
    ounce for ounce than carbon dioxide?
        Ms. Lewis. I cannot comment on the science----
        Senator Merkley. I really encourage you to learn the
    science then because you have a responsibility under your
    provision to weigh environmental reasons on projects and to
    interpret or understand the effects on the Global Commons and
    that you have to educate yourself about----
        Ms. Lewis. Yes.
        Senator Merkley. If you're not educating yourself about
    that, you're going to----
        Ms. Lewis. Our team does educate us very well, Senator.
    They do exceptionally due diligence, our engineers on all of
    the projects that we do. On the one that you're specifically
    speaking about, there has been no decision on that particular
    transaction, and also that was a transaction that was done long
    before I came into office. And no final decision has been made.
    I definitely commit, Senator, to reviewing any of these
    transactions with you in a confidential manner.
        Senator Merkley. Well as we review it, I hope you'll take a
    chance to actually pay attention to the science that you say
    you don't like to weigh----
        Ms. Lewis. I'm sorry.
        Senator Merkley. No, go ahead.
        Ms. Lewis. No, I was just going to say that our team does
    exceptionally due diligence in all manners of these particular
    projects and as they pass review, they're done in accordance
    with our EXIM----
        Senator Merkley. So, they do weigh the science and impact
    on the environment?
        Ms. Lewis. Our team would--I would love to make our
    engineers and environmental people available to you, Senator,
    to go with exactly how on that particular project.
        Senator Merkley. Well, of course you're in charge. You're
    the head of this operation. The buck doesn't pass down to say
    I'm going to ignore the science and let my engineers tell me
    that do whatever. Not when you have responsibilities on this
    charter that you're ultimately the person accountable for.
        Ms. Lewis. Yes, we do.
        Senator Merkley. So, let me explain a little bit about
    methane since it seems to be a mystery here. When it's produced
    out from under the ground it leaks all over the place and we
    have massive observations of those leakages. We have onsite, we
    have UAV observations, we have satellite observations that
    leakage makes it extremely damaging for the amount of energy
    that it delivers.
        It's estimated that if it replaces local coal, it's equal
    in its climate damage to coal. However, when you spend extra
    energy, turn it into a liquid, you've now spent a huge amount
    of extra energy. You then spend a lot of extra energy
    transporting it overseas. You then put it into a leaky gas
    system somewhere around the world because all these systems
    leak.
        It's estimated by one study that if you have even 0.2
    percent leakage it's equal to local coal. Most systems leak far
    more than 0.2 percent. All of this means that this LNG is far
    worse than local coal. That's the basic understanding of
    scientists around the world. So, you're supporting, potentially
    because you said it's under consideration, a proposal to
    establish a huge American investment in something that's worse
    than local coal and has massive impacts upon to quote your
    charter, ``the global commons'', are you going to take into
    account the enormous climate change impact of liquified methane
    gas when you consider financing this project?
        Ms. Lewis. There are numerous things, Senator, that our
    team--our technical and our legal team take into consideration,
    our environmental team and we would be happy to come and brief
    you on that--on those specifics.
        Senator Merkley. So, you're saying yes, that is one factor
    not the sole factor but one of the factors you'll be taking
    into account?
        Ms. Lewis. It is numerous factors that we take and at this
    juncture----
        Senator Merkley. Well, there are numerous excluding this or
    numerous including the climate impact?
        Ms. Lewis. I cannot--since we look at each transaction on a
    case-by-case basis, I would be remiss to be able to sit here
    and say yes to that. I just know that our team----
        Senator Merkley. Such a mystery to me. Your charter says to
    consider the impact on the Global Commons. It says you have the
    power to withhold financing for environmental reasons. LNG has
    huge environmental impacts, worse than local coal and I can't
    even get you to say it's even be one of the factors you'll
    consider. Not the exclusive factor, but one of the factors.
        Ms. Lewis. I can say, Senator, we do an exceptional due
    diligence on all of ideals, and would love to come and brief
    you about them.
        Senator Merkley. When you brief me, are you going to tell
    me that this is one of the factors that you'll take into
    account?
        Ms. Lewis. When the--our technical, legal, and
    environmental team and experts come, we would love to be able
    to, in a confidential setting, brief you on any of the
    specifics.
        Senator Merkley. Why did President Biden pause the approval
    of more LNG export facilities here in the United States?
        Ms. Lewis. Why?
        Senator Merkley. Yes.
        Ms. Lewis. Senator, I basically stay focused on the
    transactions that EXIM has to do and follow the rules that
    Congress has put before us in order to evaluate any type of
    transaction.
        Senator Merkley. So, the President's team said we're
    enacting this pause in order to give due consideration for the
    environmental impacts of LNG. You weren't aware of that?
        Ms. Lewis. I'm aware of the--what the President put out,
    yes. We seek----
        Senator Merkley. So, if the President of the United
    States----
        Ms. Lewis. We seek to align with the President on all of
    our transactions.
        Senator Merkley. The President's environmental team is
    saying that these impacts are so clear and solid. We have to
    really weigh how they're evaluated. I think that's context for
    also considering of this project and others. I'm going to spare
    you any more questioning along this line.
        Ms. Lewis. I'm fine.
        Senator Merkley. I hope you've heard that we put this into
    the charter for a reason. Ignoring it is not an option. Failing
    to consider environmental impacts is not an option. Doing
    additional damage to the world on the most important issue
    facing humanity is really a crime against this planet and for
    you to consider the possibility of continuing to fund massive
    global climate damaging projects is completely at odds with the
    protection of the Global Commons in your charter.
        It's at odds with your power to withhold financing from a
    project for environmental reasons and I hope the EXIM Bank will
    become part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

                         ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS

        The Chair has asked me to close with the following notes.
    Thank you all for joining us. We look forward to continuing our
    work together as we move forward in fiscal year 2025 budget
    process.
        [The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but
    were submitted to the Agency for response subsequent to the
    hearing:]
       Questions Submitted to the U.S. International Development Finance
                                  Corporation
                  Questions Submitted by Senator Jeff Merkley
        Question 1. Staffing the Office of Accountability--The U.S.
    Development Finance Corporation has an Office of Accountability which
    hears complaints about human rights and environmental impacts that can
    undermine the sustainability of DFC projects and harm the very
    communities that are meant to benefit from DFC's work. However, the
    office is currently understaffed, and civil society organizations have
    complained that impacted communities often only find out about high-
    risk projects after approval.

        1a. In your view, what is the role of DFC in providing remedy when
    DFC projects harm the environment and communities?

        Answer. The role of DFC, or any entity providing financial support
    to a project, such as DFIs, ECAs, or commercial lenders, is to seek
    effective remedy by those who cause or contribute to harm in the
    supported project.

        1b. What resources does the agency need from Congress to support
    these efforts?

        Answer. DFC's budget for administrative expenses supports staffing
    and resources for the Office of Accountability. The Office of
    Accountability currently has one full-time employee, and DFC intends to
    hire two additional FTEs for that office.

        Question 2. LNG in Mozambique--In 2020, EXIM approved $4.7 billion
    in financing for the liquefied natural gas development (LNG) in
    northern Mozambique. However, in 2021, Total--the energy company behind
    the project--pulled back from the project due to the security situation
    and increasing violence. The United States has put in place a pause on
    LNG exports while it examines the climate, consumer and environmental
    justice impacts of those facilities. In 2024, it seems that Total is
    trying to move forward with the project and that EXIM is considering
    supporting this project again.

        2a. Why is DFC not reconsidering support for this project?

        Answer. DFC issued a commitment to provide political risk insurance
    for the ExxonMobil natural gas project in Rovuma, Mozambique (Area 4).
    This project is on hold due to decisions taken by the sponsor to halt
    progress towards a final investment decision. In these circumstances,
    DFC is not in a position to take any steps related to this project as
    approved by its Board.

        2b. What are the conditions under which DFC does reconsider its
    support for a project?

        Answer. Once DFC has entered into a legally binding commitment, it
    is generally obligated to move forward to closing the transaction.
    Decisions to reconsider support for a project are based on the specific
    facts and circumstances for the relevant transaction. But in general,
    once DFC has entered into a commitment, it can only decline to sign
    definitive documentation and proceed with a project for certain
    specified reasons, including for material adverse changes, the
    inability of the counterparty to perform project obligations, an
    inability to complete due diligence to DFC's satisfaction, and failure
    to satisfy relevant conditions precedent by specified deadlines.

                                     ______

                   Questions Submitted by Senator Chris Coons
        Question 1. Countries around the world are increasingly turning to
    nuclear as a carbon-free, reliable source of electricity that can help
    promote energy security. The United States is actively competing with
    Russia and China, among others, to establish these long-term commercial
    and geostrategic relationships. Partners around the world are looking
    for the United States to bring even small amounts of financing into
    these projects to demonstrate the backing and support of the U.S.
    Government.

        1a. To what extent is DFC supporting investments in nuclear power
    projects and how does DFC intend to support the U.N. Declaration to
    Triple Nuclear Energy by 2050, which the United States endorsed last
    year?

        Answer. DFC is committed to supporting nuclear energy where we
    identify projects that meet our investment criteria and fulfill our
    mandate. DFC is in early-stage project discussions with several nuclear
    energy project sponsors, which is a reflection of a concerted business
    development effort undertaken over the course of the past 3 years. DFC
    has signed several letters of interest (LOIs) to consider applications
    for financing for those nuclear energy projects. This includes three
    LOIs signed with nuclear technology developer NuScale Power for
    projects in South Africa, Indonesia, and Romania. The Romania LOI was
    later updated to include the project sponsor, RoPower, as DFC's
    potential counterpart and noted DFC's interest in reviewing
    applications for financing for this project. DFC also signed an LOI
    with a Polish company, OSGE, for two small modular reactor projects
    using GE/Hitachi technology, and is expressing interest in reviewing
    applications for financing for these projects in the future. DFC has
    had exploratory discussions on various potential conventional nuclear
    projects in the region as well.

        1b. How do DFC investments in nuclear power projects support job
    creation and economic activity domestically?

        Answer. DFC is in early-stage project discussions with several
    nuclear energy project sponsors and has not yet completed any
    investments to support nuclear power projects. Therefore, the requisite
    information on any specific projects' contributions to job creation and
    economic activity is unavailable.

        1c. What challenges exist to expanding financing for such projects?

        Answer. DFC's ability to provide financing for nuclear energy
    projects faces several key challenges:
        First, many conventional projects in DFC's target markets have not
    reached a stage of maturity where DFC could consider providing
    financing. Emerging technologies like small modular reactors have not
    been deployed commercially to date and lack full licensing and
    regulatory approvals in the United States and abroad. Underwriting a
    technology that has not been deployed commercially or fully developed
    in the United States is a significant challenge.
        Second, although DFC has established an initial internal due
    diligence framework for nuclear energy projects, due diligence of large
    investments with substantial environmental and social risks, legal and
    regulatory complexities, and commercial risks requires significant
    staff time and resources.
        Third, DFC's opportunity to invest at earlier stages in the project
    lifecycle would require the use of its equity or technical assistance
    products, both of which consume significant amounts of limited annual
    appropriations. DFC support for nuclear energy would therefore limit
    the amount of resources available for DFC's other priorities.
        And finally, DFC's limited maximum contingent liability--
    effectively a cap on the size of DFC's portfolio--is also a challenge,
    because high-cost investments using technologies in early stages of
    deployment with long development timelines may cause DFC to reach this
    limit quickly and prevent it from pursuing transactions in lower-risk
    sectors with significant development and foreign policy impacts. DFC
    intends to ask Congress to raise the maximum contingent liability from
    $60 billion to $120 billion through legislation to reauthorize DFC.

        Question 2. One of DFC's tools, political risk insurance (PRI), has
    proven critical in supporting so-called ``debt-for-nature swaps'' in
    which countries receive debt relief backed by PRI in exchange for
    commitments to conservation and sustainable development. I want to be
    sure we are maximizing DFC's investments in these and other
    conservation-related projects.

        2a. How is DFC identifying and supporting projects that conserve
    nature and biodiversity while also contributing to sustainable
    development? What types of innovative models is DFC using to finance
    such investments?

        Answer. DFC is well-established as a leading provider of the
    political risk insurance that is core to debt conversion transactions.
    However, DFC uses its entire set of tools in supporting other private-
    sector driven nature-based projects, such as providing sustainability
    linked loans to a timber and reforestation operation in South America.
    This type of transaction enables improved resiliency for smallholder
    farmers, ethically produced timber and other agricultural products, and
    ecosystem services such as the provision of clean water to local
    communities. The sector is quickly emerging and highly innovative and
    DFC is supporting some of the leading sponsors and developers who are
    finding ways to profitability conserve land and natural resources.

        2b. Are there changes you are looking to make to advance more
    nature conservation finance? Specifically, how can DFC scale its debt
    conversion work to do more of these types of transactions for nature at
    a faster pace to meet the need?

        Answer. DFC is constrained by the capacity of our personnel and by
    the numerous demands upon the agency, and we are working to develop our
    workforce to be able to work on more of these transactions. Debt
    conversions are highly complex, requiring simultaneous negotiation
    among multiple stakeholders from the NGO, financial, and public
    sectors. They therefore require highly skilled personnel.
        Legislative changes would help DFC support more transactions that
    drive economic development and U.S. foreign policy interests, including
    debt conversion transactions, and do so at a faster pace. For example,
    changes to DFC's country eligibility framework could open additional
    countries to DFC investment, including several with significant debt
    burdens and ambitions for dedicating additional resources to
    environmental conservation. Raising DFC's Maximum Contingent Liability
    from $60 billion to $120 billion would also provide an opportunity to
    expand DFC's debt conversion work further. DFC intends to ask Congress
    to make changes to country eligibility and maximum contingent liability
    through legislation to reauthorize DFC.
        Even without Congressional action, DFC has been using its existing
    tools and resources to do more. At COP28, DFC announced, along with the
    Inter-American Development Bank, a task force to create a debt-for-
    nature accelerator. This effort will help more DFIs and MDBs
    participate in future debt-for-nature conversion transactions, scaling
    the model that DFC has helped create.

        Question 3. DFC undertakes underwriting and due diligence reviews
    to determine whether to move forward with financing a given project.
    Unfortunately, these processes can take more time and lead to higher
    costs, which can potentially place U.S. technologies at a disadvantage
    compared to our international competitors.

        3a. What steps can DFC take to improve and streamline their
    internal processes, shorten review timelines, and reduce burden for
    projects?

        Answer. Much of DFC's work is in challenging jurisdictions, which
    adds complexity to supporting private sector projects. Ensuring that
    projects meet our requirements, such as bankability, environmental and
    social, integrity and reputation standards can take time to assess and
    resolve. The principal objectives of DFC's recent realignment to sector
    teams included strengthening business development, developing sector
    expertise, and deepening client relationships to support origination
    efforts, which should enable more rapid identification and processing
    of projects. DFC is also ramping its investment in personnel and
    refining its internal processes and structures with the goal of
    reducing timelines, including by investing in people and information
    technology infrastructure to better serve clients and manage DFC's
    portfolio. DFC is committed to streamlining the collection of
    information from project sponsors and modernizing the DFC forms portal
    facing the public.

        Question 4. While DFC and EXIM have different mandates, there are
    opportunities for greater collaboration on projects between the two
    agencies.

        4a. How are DFC and EXIM currently collaborating on projects? What
    internal or external barriers exist to enhancing cooperation?

        Answer. DFC and EXIM have distinct programs, tools, and authorities
    that are not duplicative of each other. At the staff level,
    collaboration exists to refer projects to each other where a project
    sponsor may come to the wrong program. The ability to jointly support
    larger projects only exists in certain sectors. For example, in an
    infrastructure project, there may be significant exports that EXIM
    would support, while DFC would support the in-country project itself.
    The main barrier is the limited number of projects and sectors that are
    in need of both types of support.

                                     ______

                  Questions Submitted by Senator Brian Schatz
        Question 1. Analysis from the International Monetary Fund
    highlighted that dozens of developing countries that are most
    vulnerable to risks such as intensifying droughts and storms are also
    significantly burdened by debt \1\--limiting the resources available to
    invest in resilience and conservation. The U.S. International
    Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has taken an innovative approach
    to addressing these dual challenges, such as its role in the Galapagos
    Marine Bond.

        1a. What additional opportunities exist for DFC to support debt-
    for-nature conversions and other innovative forms of nature finance?

        Answer. DFC has a growing pipeline of debt-for-nature projects in
    Africa, the Western Hemisphere, and Asia. DFC is also underwriting debt
    conversion projects for other impacts, such as food security and
    resilience through regenerative agriculture, and is considering debt
    conversion projects for health impacts. These transactions help
    countries to lower their debt burden, which makes them more resilient
    against economic coercion. While debt-for-nature projects could present
    excellent opportunities for Small Island Development States, DFC is
    unable to provide such support in many of these due to their high-
    income status. Finally, DFC is also supporting carbon credit-generating
    mangrove reforestation projects in Sub-Saharan Africa.

        1b. What role can Congress, the private sector, and philanthropic
    partners play in supporting these additional opportunities?

        Answer. Congress, private sector actors, and philanthropic players
    are welcome to share project opportunities with DFC for consideration
    to help scale DFC's project pipeline.
        Where philanthropies are able to take risks and costs, DFC believes
    it is possible to blend such support with DFC's programs to magnify the
    reach of DFC's products.
        Congress can support DFC's efforts by addressing current
    constraints in its pending reauthorization. Reauthorization should
    provide DFC with the risk capacity to match the policy objectives and
    risk appetite for this class of large projects. DFC will be able to
    support additional debt-for-nature opportunities using DFC's PRI
    authority by increasing DFC's Maximum Contingent liability from $60
    billion to $120 billion and codifying DFC's ability to collect and use
    fees paid by its clients.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ Swapping Debt for Climate or Nature Pledges Can Help Fund
    Resilience (imf.org).

                                     ______

                  Questions Submitted by Senator John Boozman
        Question 1. What specific steps is the DFC taking to increase U.S.
    presence in the Indo-Pacific and prove that the U.S. is a better
    alternative to coercive PRC investment?

        Answer. DFC's model of private sector partnership and financially
    sustainable growth is in particular demand in the Indo-Pacific. It
    stands in clear contrast to the PRC's statist and sovereign debt-fueled
    approach.
        In the Indo-Pacific region, DFC has increased its investments from
    $4 billion in 2022 to more than $9.6 billion cumulatively by the end of
    2023. At $3.8 billion of investments, India, a like-minded partner, is
    DFC's largest market and comprises almost 10 percent of DFC's global
    portfolio.
        DFC also announced more than $700 million in new investments in the
    Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries last year.
    DFC's portfolio in Indonesia has expanded to include investments in
    geothermal energy and support for small businesses and is now over $562
    million. In Vietnam, with whom the United States has a Comprehensive
    Strategic Partnership, DFC has grown its portfolio from under $50
    million in 2022 to more than $700 million by September 2023.
        DFC recently finalized its partnership with Japan and Australia to
    support Telstra's acquisition of Digicel's telecommunications assets in
    the Pacific. This strategic transaction materially advanced DFC's
    partnership with these two key allies. DFC further expanded regional
    partnerships by signing a trilateral MOU with Japan and the Republic of
    Korea in September 2023. DFC also signed a bilateral MOU with Taiwan
    International Cooperation and Development Fund in February 2024.
        In addition to its existing offices in Indonesia, India, Singapore,
    and Thailand, DFC is working to open offices in Vietnam and the
    Philippines to expand our regional presence and advance private sector
    investment in the region.

        a. Can you share any challenges or obstacles the DFC has
    encountered implementing its projects in the Indo-Pacific, and ways it
    has or currently is overcoming them?

        Answer. DFC faces a variety of challenges in the Indo-Pacific. DFC
    can only work where its financing is additional to private sources of
    financing. Many countries across the Indo-Pacific region have
    relatively sophisticated local bank and capital markets, which can
    supply attractive financing for commercially viable investments.
    Additionally, the infrastructure sector in this region often has heavy
    state involvement. Because DFC focuses on private sector opportunities,
    this limits opportunities for DFC to find viable projects in that
    sector.
        DFC is making progress in overcoming these challenges by--
    increasing its on-the-ground presence in the region to identify more
    opportunities to catalyze private investment and expand our regional
    portfolio. This expanded footprint is helped by DFC's regional
    collaborations and partnerships. By expanding our presence and
    collaborating closely with partners, we are better equipped to advance
    private sector investment opportunities and offer quality, standards-
    based alternatives to PRC-backed financing.

        b. Are there any specific types of projects DFC is prioritizing,
    and why?

        Answer. DFC focuses its efforts to source commercially viable
    projects in five strategic sectors: infrastructure (including digital
    and critical minerals), energy, agriculture, health, and support for
    small businesses. These are not only DFC's broad priority sectors, but
    they also represent the biggest needs throughout the Indo-Pacific.

        Question 2. Can you elaborate more on some of the over $1 billion
    in commitments made in Ukraine?

        Answer. DFC committed more than $425m in new deals since February
    2022, which brought overall exposure past $1bn in country. Over half of
    DFC's exposure in country is political risk insurance, an important
    tool that is helping to de-risk investments while the conflict is
    ongoing. Food security, support for small businesses, and healthcare
    are some of DFC's priorities in supporting the private sector in
    Ukraine.
        A few highlights of DFC's portfolio.--DFC committed three separate
    deals for a total of $75 million with Ukrainian banks to help mobilize
    capital for small businesses in Ukraine, with a focus on the
    agricultural sector. DFC also committed to a $25 million equity
    investment in an investment fund that is providing growth capital to
    fast-growing, technology-enabled small and medium size businesses
    primarily in Ukraine.

        a. Do any of these commitments involve strengthening global food
    security, and are projects such as these a priority of the DFC?

        Answer. Food security is a priority for DFC globally and in
    Ukraine. In addition to DFC's support for Ukrainian banks, which has a
    focus on the agricultural sector, one of DFC's key projects in Ukraine
    is DFC's $250 million loan to MHP SE. This project has allowed the
    Ukrainian poultry and grain producer to refinance maturing debt and
    support the continued maintenance and war-related expenditures of its
    poultry and grain production. The loan will also support the company's
    ability to increase food production and storage and support its export
    capacity. DFC is also focusing on logistics investments that support
    the agricultural sector.

                                     ______

                  Questions Submitted by Senator Bill Hagerty
        Question 1. Mr. Nathan, you shared with me during the hearing that
    you were not aware of any DFC policies that disfavor LNG projects.

        1a. Can you provide me a full list of LNG projects that the DFC has
    supported?

        Answer. The following list includes all projects involving natural
    gas (rather than limited to liquified natural gas [LNG] only) approved
    by DFC:

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               Project Name                                Country          Product           Amount         FY            Description
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Central Termica de Temane........................................      Mozambique      Direct loan      $200,000,000     FY20     450MW gas-fired power
                                                                                                                                                      plant
    ERU Gas Trading..................................................         Ukraine        Insurance       $62,000,000     FY20            Expansion of a
                                                                                                                                     previously insured gas
                                                                                                                                    storage, transportation,
                                                                                                                                       and trading business
    Pearl Petroleum Company Limited..................................            Iraq      Direct loan      $250,000,000     FY21              Development,
                                                                                                                                          construction, and
                                                                                                                                     operation of a natural
                                                                                                                                    gas processing facility
                                                                                                                                             and associated
                                                                                                                                         infrastructure and
                                                                                                                                        drilling of up to 5
                                                                                                                                      wells in the Khor Mor
                                                                                                                                                  gas field
    Rovuma LNG Phase I...............................................      Mozambique   Political risk    $1,500,000,000     FY22   Development of offshore
                                                                                             insurance                                    gas production to
                                                                                                                                          process liquefied
                                                                                                                                                natural gas
    ERU Moldova......................................................         Moldova   Political risk      $400,000,000     FY22          Non-construction
                                                                                             insurance                              elements of natural gas
                                                                                                                                     trading to support the
                                                                                                                                    purchase of natural gas
                                                                                                                                     as Moldova diversifies
                                                                                                                                    energy sources away from
                                                                                                                                                     Russia
    Tetra4...........................................................    South Africa      Direct loan      $535,000,000     FY23           Development and
                                                                                                                                     commercialization of a
                                                                                                                                     helium and natural gas
                                                                                                                                        field including the
                                                                                                                                      construction of a new
                                                                                                                                    helium liquefaction and
                                                                                                                                      liquefied natural gas
                                                                                                                                                      plant
    ONEX Elefsis Shipyards and Industries............................          Greece      Direct loan      $125,000,000     FY23    Acquire, rehabilitate,
                                                                                                                                    and expand a shipyard in
                                                                                                                                     Elefsina, Greece, that
                                                                                                                                    is projected to provide
                                                                                                                                      shipping services for
                                                                                                                                      energy-sector vessels
                                                                                                                                                (including LNG tankers)
                                                                                                                                       and other commercial
                                                                                                                                                      ships
    PKN ORLEN........................................................          Poland                 Loan g$500,000,000     FY23                          Loan guaranty to enable
                                                                                                                                          the Polish energy
                                                                                                                                     company to effectively
                                                                                                                                        limit its commodity
                                                                                                                                      price risk and reduce
                                                                                                                                      liquidity constraints
                                                                                                                                    associated with sourcing
                                                                                                                                           natural gas from
                                                                                                                                      alternative suppliers
    Bulgartransgaz...................................................        Bulgaria         Guaranty      $365,000,000     FY24   Expansion of the Chiren
                                                                                                                                    underground gas storage
                                                                                                                                       facility in Bulgaria
    CECA SL Generation Limited.......................................         Sierra Leone Direct loan      $292,000,000     FY24           105MW liquified
                                                                                        Political risk      $120,000,000     FY24   petroleum gas/liquified
                                                                                             insurance                              natural gas power plant
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        1b. Which of these projects are unrelated to providing alternatives
    to Russian gas in Europe?

        Answer. (1) CECA Sierra Leone Generation, (2) Tetra 4, (3) Rovuma
    LNG, (4) Pearl Petroleum, and (5) Central Termica de Temane are
    unrelated to providing alternatives to Russian gas in Europe.

        1c. Please provide a full list of LNG projects that have come to
    the DFC's attention, but which the DFC has declined to support. Please
    provide the justifications used in each case to deny support.

        Answer. DFC begins tracking project inquiries at the stage at which
    potential clients submit applications. Though DFC has supported several
    gas or LNG projects (see list in response to question 1), DFC has
    declined to support four gas or LNG projects which submitted complete
    applications for DFC support (see list below). Full project names and
    some identifying details are not included due to business
    confidentiality reasons.
        Prior to submitting applications, potential clients often seek
    informal feedback from DFC staff to understand whether their projects
    are likely to meet DFC's investment criteria. Where DFC provides
    feedback that a project is unlikely to meet these criteria, potential
    clients may decide not to submit an application and these projects
    would not be formally tracked. Reasons why projects could fail to
    attract DFC support include lack of project maturity, unclear impact,
    poor commercial viability, lack of alignment with U.S. government
    policies, or lack of compliance with DFC standards (including legal,
    environmental, or social requirements). DFC does not currently track
    concepts or similar early interactions and is unable to provide a full
    list of such concepts.
        However, below is the list of projects for which applications have
    not moved forward:

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Project Description                      Region          Year   Reason for DFC declining to support
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    LNG production facility with compression and    Sub-Saharan Africa     2024  Not aligned with DFC environmental
     storage infrastructure.....................                                                          standards
    Energy investment fund with portfolio           Sub-Saharan Africa     2021              Withdrawn by applicant
     including LNG/natural gas power plants.....
    Development of offshore gas field...........    Sub-Saharan Africa     2021      Not aligned with focus area in
                                                                                                    project country
    Development of a gas power plant............                Europe     2021  Sponsor seeking equity. DFC did not
                                                                                 have sufficient equity capacity to
                                                                                        pursue this kind of project
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Question 2. You stated in your testimony that a key aim of DFC
    financing is to enable ``reliable access to energy.''

        2a. Can you please tell me the number and dollar value of energy
    projects the DFC has undertaken during your tenure, compared with the
    number and dollar value of projects that could be categorized as ESG-
    related projects?

        Answer. DFC does not categorize any projects as ESG-related; DFC
    requires all projects to comply with DFC's Environmental and Social
    Policy and Procedures (ESPP).
        DFC's energy generation commitments in FY22 and FY23 totaled $3.6
    billion across 30 transactions.

        2b. Of the energy projects the DFC has undertaken during your
    tenure, what is the dollar value of hydrocarbon-based projects compared
    with non-hydrocarbon energy projects?

        Answer. Of the $3.6 billion of energy generation projects committed
    in FY 22 and FY 23, $1.7 billion are hydrocarbon based.

        2c. Can you please provide a full list of the projects that the
    DFC's ESG advisory team has recommended against supporting?

        Answer. DFC's Office of Development Policy (ODP) is responsible for
    evaluating environmental and social risk. This office includes staff
    that review all projects against DFC's ESPP to evaluate their ability
    to meet the requirements of the ESPP, including internationally
    recognized environmental and social standards (IFC Performance
    Standards). The ESPP includes a list of DFC's Categorical Prohibitions,
    which do not include prohibitions around fuel type.

        Question 3. You mentioned in the hearing that the DFC does not
    currently have any LNG projects in the Indo-Pacific.
        3a. What Indo-Pacific countries have communicated with the DFC
    about LNG projects?
        Answer. DFC has informally communicated with various Indo-Pacific
    Government representatives and companies about LNG projects. However,
    projects have not advanced to due diligence. Common reasons for
    projects not proceeding to due diligence include lack of project
    maturity, unclear development or strategic impact, lack of alignment
    with DFC's investment criteria (including commercial, legal,
    environmental, or social factors), or lack of staff bandwidth to accept
    new projects. Projects must be commercially viable to receive DFC
    support.

        3b. Specifically, what discussions have the DFC had with Vietnam
    about LNG projects?

        Answer. DFC's investment staff has had general discussions about
    natural gas projects in Vietnam. However, none of these resulted in
    projects that proceeded to applications or due diligence. Common
    reasons for projects not proceeding to due diligence are outlined in
    the response to question 3a.

        3c. If any Indo-Pacific LNG projects have been discussed, please
    provide the specific reasons for which the DFC did not pursue them.

        Answer. Common reasons for projects not proceeding to due diligence
    are outlined in the response to question 3a.

                                     ______

                   Questions Submitted by Senator Marco Rubio
        Question 1. Last year, shortly before you testified before this
    committee, the DFC announced it would be restructuring the organization
    into five major issue areas: infrastructure and minerals, energy,
    health and agriculture, small business support, and funds, rather than
    a previous structure around investment instruments. How has this
    restructuring reoriented DFC to better compete with Beijing's Belt and
    Road Initiative (BRI)?

        Answer. DFC investment teams are now realigned into six new teams:
    health and agribusiness, infrastructure, energy, small business and
    financial services, funds, and catalytic investments. All DFC products
    (debt, insurance, funds investments, equity, and technical assistance)
    will be available across all sectors. Our new structure will allow us
    to deliver all our products to our clients more effectively to better
    serve them. The realignment will also enable us to better understand
    market needs, conduct more targeted business development, and deliver
    high-standard, high-quality offerings as an alternative approach to
    that of our strategic competitors without adding unsustainable
    sovereign debt.

        1a. Will the restructuring include a reduction in force at the DFC?

        Answer. No. Since the realignment, we have continued to add staff
    to the DFC workforce.

        1b. There was no mention of major restructuring in your FY2024 or
    FY2025 congressional budget justifications. Why was this omitted from
    the budget?

        Answer. The FY2024 CBJ was written and submitted in April 2023. The
    realignment was notified to Congress in September 2023. The realignment
    was formalized in January 2024, and the new sector areas are mentioned
    in the executive summary of the FY2025 CBJ, which we submitted in March
    2024. DFC did not need additional funding to implement realignment.

        1c. Have you consulted with Congress, and its relevant committees,
    on the significance of this restructuring?

        Answer. Yes. Consulting with Congress remains important to us. DFC
    senior leadership began offering briefings on DFC's proposed
    realignment to SACFO, SFRC, HACFO, and HFAC Chairmen, Ranking Members,
    and committee staff in June 2023. During these briefings, DFC presented
    a vision for what the realignment looked like noting that some final
    decisions were pending, but the desire to bring Congress to the table
    early outweighed other concerns. In August 2023, before the
    Congressional Notification went to the Appropriations Committees, DFC
    leadership held prior consultations with core committee staff as
    required per the FY23 appropriations bill language. During these
    consultations, DFC leadership consulted with Hill stakeholders as well
    as previewed the then draft Congrssional Notification, including
    explaining anything that changed since the previous engagement.

        1d. The BUILD Act states the DFC must consider the national
    security interests of the U.S. To that end, how many investments
    focused on national security projects have been completed?

        Answer. DFC carefully considers the foreign policy impact of all of
    our investments. Some deals have a particular focus on strategic
    competition or other national security considerations, such as those to
    build or modernize ports, ICT networks, and other strategic
    infrastructure such as roads and airports. These are often located in
    particularly strategic locations as well, including major trade and
    communications corridors, and strategically important partners such as
    Vietnam, India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Brazil, among many
    others. However, all of our projects support the national security
    interests of the United States by promoting economic development, which
    helps strengthen stability and deepen economic relationships between
    the United States and host countries.

        1e. How does the DFC adapt to the ever-changing national security
    risk environment?

        Answer. DFC has prioritized the expansion of its Policy
    Coordination Group (PCG), which provides connectivity between DFC and
    the interagency through the White-House-led national security and
    foreign policy interagency planning process and serves as the
    interagency liaison into the Corporation for all key foreign policy
    making agencies--including the National Security Council, Department of
    State, and other departments and agencies as appropriate. PCG staff
    maintain regular channels of communication with diplomatic posts in the
    field, as well as with State, Commerce, DoD, USAID, USTDA, the NSC, and
    many others. This close connectivity ensures that our tools are well
    integrated into relevant policy processes, so DFC can best support the
    administration's foreign policy objectives. This connectivity also
    enables us to adjust to a constantly changing national security
    environment that identifies opportunities and risks for deploying DFC
    tools. From a risk management perspective, our due diligence processes
    consider the potential national security implications of a project's
    host country political and security environments.

        1f. Can you describe the type of infrastructure, mineral, and
    energy investments the DFC will prioritize after its restructuring?

        Answer. DFC will continue to prioritize making transparent,
    sustainable, private sector-driven investments in hard infrastructure,
    including roads, railways, ports, and airports; digital infrastructure,
    including trusted telecommunications; and energy and critical minerals,
    including the diversification and resilience of supply chains.
        In hard infrastructure, DFC will continue to prioritize making
    investments such as the $553 million loan to construct and operate the
    Western Container Terminal in Sri Lanka; the $125 million loan to
    acquire, rehabilitate, and expand the Elefsina Shipyard in Greece; the
    $150 million loan to modernize and expand the Puerto Bolivar container
    port in Ecuador; and the $150 million loan to renovate, expand, and
    operate the Freetown International Airport in Sierra Leone.
        In digital infrastructure, DFC will continue to prioritize making
    investments such as our $50 million guarantee to support trusted
    Australian operator Telstra's acquisition of Digicel Pacific's telecom
    network and assets, which ensured the continued provision of open,
    safe, and secure mobile service to about 60 percent of Pacific telecom
    users. Additionally, DFC will continue to prioritize making co-
    investments with our allies and partners. (In this case, DFC co-
    invested with our Japanese partner JBIC and our Australian partner EFA
    under our Trilateral Infrastructure Partnership.)
        In energy and critical minerals, DFC will continue to prioritize
    making investments that advance development and foreign policy goals,
    including those that displace potential or actual financing from our
    strategic competitors. Examples of such projects include our $500
    million loan to produce solar panels using cadmium (instead of PRC-
    sourced polysilicon) in India; a $126 million loan to produce
    geothermal power in Indonesia; a $550 million loan to an energy-
    efficient polypropene plant in Turkey; and a $292 million loan and $120
    million in insurance for the construction of a gas-fired electric power
    plant in Sierra Leone.

        1g. Congress has previously passed legislation to allow investment
    in upper-income countries in Central and Eastern Europe, but only for
    energy projects. Do you recommend DFC do the same for telecoms, energy,
    or infrastructure projects in Latin America, Africa, and Asia?

        Answer. DFC is able to support telecom, energy, and infrastructure
    projects in countries that are classified by the World Bank as upper-
    middle-income countries. By law, DFC is not able to support such
    projects in high-income countries, with the exception of energy
    projects in Europe. The current country eligibility framework has made
    it more difficult for DFC to effectively counter strategic competitors
    and support developmental projects in certain jurisdictions because of
    the volatility of country classifications from year to year, and
    because the current framework does not take into account that some
    countries that are classified as high-income may still struggle to
    attract private capital. DFC intends to ask Congress to change the
    country eligibility framework through legislation to reauthorize DFC.
    DFC will ask that Congress authorize DFC to pursue transactions in high
    income countries in strategic sectors and for strategic purposes,
    subject to Presidential certification.

        1h. What programs do you have in the Western Hemisphere? Can you
    provide the status of each of those programs?

        Answer. The Western Hemisphere remains an important market for DFC,
    with $9.4 billion in exposure at the end of FY2023. Its portfolio of
    investments across the region are spread out across the region's major
    economies, in countries like Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, as well as
    smaller but strategically important markets like Ecuador and the
    countries of Northern Central America.
        As in the rest of the world, DFC is focused on supporting projects
    aligned with its sector priorities, including infrastructure and
    critical minerals, energy, health and food security, small business
    support, and investment funds. DFC's investments in the region include
    support for strategic infrastructure such as ports and small cities,
    renewable energy generation and e-mobility, critical minerals
    investments, affordable housing, health, financial inclusion, and
    support for small and medium businesses. These investments provide
    financing alternatives to those provided by our strategic competitors
    and support other priorities, such as reducing migration.
        DFC has also opened an office in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and has
    announced plans to open an office in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
    It expects its new on-the-ground presence to help identify additional
    opportunities for private sector support in the region.

        Question 2. The DFC has said that it ``applies a gender lens to
    every project it considers'' and is committed to spending billions to
    fight the ``climate crisis.'' Which part(s) of the BUILD Act do these
    concerns respond to?
        Answer.

      --BUILD Act Sec. 1451 (f): DFC should invest so as to drive women's
            economic opportunities and prioritize the reduction of gender
            gaps.
      --BUILD Act Sec 1421 (g.3.A): DFC should promote the development of
            small and medium-sized enterprises.
      --BUILD Act Sec 1421 (g.3.C): DFC should promote policies and
            practices conducive to economic freedom.
      --BUILD Act Sec 1445 (a.4): DFC should pursue projects of all sizes
            that are designed to work in the most underdeveloped areas,
            including countries with chronic suffering as a result of
            extreme poverty, fragile institutions, or a history of
            violence.

        2a. Do these concerns override the BUILD Act's directive that DFC
    ``provide countries a robust alternative to state-directed investments
    by authoritarian regimes and United States Strategic competitors''?

        Answer. No. Not all DFC projects have gender or climate benefits,
    and DFC does not require them to. For those that do, the gender and
    climate benefits are accretive to the economic development and
    strategic impacts of a project. Fundamentally, DFC investments that
    support women-owned, women-managed, or women-serving businesses
    contribute to economic growth, security, and resilience in host
    countries and therefore help advance U.S. strategic interests. Beyond
    that, projects in highly strategic sectors like energy or
    infrastructure may have ancillary gender or climate benefits. The
    agency's 2X Women's Initiative was launched in 2018 by OPIC under the
    previous administration and has continued through active partnership
    with our G7 allies.

        2b. Has the DFC rejected an investment project that could
    potentially compete with a Chinese-led investment bid because that
    project did not advance gender equality or combat climate change in a
    partner country?

        Answer. No. DFC projects are not required to advance gender
    equality or combat climate change.
                                     ______

    Questions Submitted to The Honorable Reta Jo Lewis President and Chair,
                    Export-Import Bank of the United States
                  Questions Submitted by Senator Jeff Merkley
        Question 1. LNG in Mozambique.

        In 2020, EXIM approved $4.7 billion in financing for the liquefed
    natural gas development (LNG) in northern Mozambique. However, in 2021,
    Total--the energy company behind the project--pulled back from the
    project due to the security situation and increasing violence. The
    United States has put in place a pause on LNG exports while it examines
    the climate, consumer, and environmental justice impacts of those
    facilities. In 2024, Total is trying to move forward with the project
    and that EXIM is considering supporting this project again.

        1a. What is EXIM's process for reconsidering support for this
    project and what conditions must be met for EXIM to reapprove support?

        Answer. EXIM does not reconsider previously approved transactions.
    If parties to a transaction make material changes to the substance of
    the agreement, EXIM's Board must approve those material changes. The
    Mozambique project represents a rare instance where, following EXIM
    Board approval, the sponsor paused the project because of a force
    majeure situation. The sponsor has signaled its intent to resume the
    project, which would represent a material change to the timeline, and
    would require an amendment to change the timeline.

        Question 2. Greenhouse Gas Emissions

        Please provide responses to the following clarifying questions:

        2a. How does the EXIM Board of Directors consider the impact of
    greenhouse gas emissions of projects it supports?

        Answer. Upon receipt of an application, EXIM staff assess the
    project in accordance with our ESPGs, which reference the International
    Financial Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards and the Equator
    Principles (EP4)--the standards used by global lenders in international
    project financing. In accordance with these standards, project sponsors
    assess and quantify project-related greenhouse gas emissions, which are
    reviewed by EXIM staff and independent consultants. Where EXIM staff
    identify gaps, they include them in the presentation to the Board for
    consideration. And for high carbon intensity projects, staff also
    develop and submit to the Board a detailed description of project-
    related greenhouse gas emissions mitigation measures, including
    additional feasible options.
        EXIM also posts the projected project-related emissions for
    projects with annual emissions of at least 25,000 metric tons on its
    website and reports the emissions related to its authorizations on its
    website prior to Board consideration and within its Annual Report.
        More broadly, I have directed EXIM staff to review and update the
    ESPGs, consistent with our Charter and applicable laws. This review
    will consider current international environmental review standards and
    the latest climate science. As we move this process forward, it is
    essential that we get input and feedback from Congress, stakeholders,
    and the public on how to ensure we are striking the right balance so
    that the agency can fulfill its core mission of facilitating exports
    and supporting U.S. jobs, while taking into full account the potential
    adverse environmental impacts associated with applications for agency
    financing.

        2b. How many business development and underwriting staff are
    specialized in fossil fuels (oil and gas, mining, etc.)?

        Answer. EXIM staff are assigned to projects based on pipeline needs
    rather than sector. EXIM's Structured & Project Finance Division
    includes a Power Group and a Commodities Group, each of which has three
    underwriters who analyze and negotiate both fossil and non-fossil
    projects, including renewable energy, nuclear energy, metals and rare
    earth/critical minerals mining projects. EXIM's Global Business
    Development staff have a regional focus and cover all industry sectors
    with a priority towards EXIM mandates from Congress: CTEP, small
    business, sub--Saharan Africa, environmentally beneficial, and
    renewable energy.

        2c. What steps are EXIM staff taking to develop fossil fuel
    transactions, including outreach to industry, having staff located near
    key hubs and speaking at conferences?

        Answer. As a demand-driven agency, EXIM does not initiate projects.
    EXIM staff focus on transactions in our statutorily mandated areas--
    renewables, small business, transformational exports, MMIA, etc.--the
    Structured and Project Finance Division includes a Power Group and a
    Commodities Group, each of which has three underwriters who analyze and
    negotiate both fossil and non-fossil projects, including renewable
    energy, nuclear energy, metals and rare earth/critical minerals mining
    projects.

        2d. What steps are EXIM staff taking to develop renewable energy
    transactions, including outreach to industry, having staff located near
    key hubs and speaking at conferences?

        Answer. As a demand-driven agency, EXIM does not initiate projects.
    However, EXIM is taking steps to facilitate greater opportunities in
    renewable energy. For example, EXIM led the charge to expand the OECD
    Climate Change Sector Understanding (CCSU) to provide additional
    incentives for project sectors that facilitate foreign adoption of
    renewable energy projects or that otherwise support investment in
    projects that reduce greenhouse emissions.
        EXIM is also looking to bring on more staff to support
    transactions. We recently hired an experienced professional who
    specializes in renewable energy transactions and has underwritten green
    hydrogen, solar, biofuels, wind, and geothermal transactions. EXIM's
    recently appointed Vice President of Structured & Project Finance has
    more than 20 years of experience in the renewables sector. Both are
    well connected in the renewables sector and are continuously being
    invited to speak at conferences and workshops to promote EXIM
    financing. Last year, we hired a second engineer with appropriate
    subject matter expertise to facilitate efficient processing of
    renewable energy related project applications. These and other EXIM
    staff participate in a variety of intergovernmental initiatives in the
    renewables sector including the Department of Energy's Federal
    Consortium for Advanced Batteries, Power Africa, and Clean Edge Asia.
    These initiatives help promote U.S. exports overseas to specific
    projects that are being tracked and developed by our sister agencies.

        2e. How many fossil fuel industry conferences has EXIM board and
    staff attended since January 20th, 2020?

        Answer. Our records indicate that since January 20, 2020, EXIM
    Board members and staff have attended at least 30 conferences with at
    least a partial focus on fossil-fuel energy.

        2f. How many speeches has EXIM board and staff given at fossil fuel
    industry conferences since January 20th, 2020?

        Answer. Our records indicate that since January 20, 2020, EXIM
    Board members and staff have given at least five speeches at
    conferences with at least a partial focus on fossil-fuel energy.

        2g. How many renewable energy conferences has EXIM staff and board
    attended since January 20th, 2020?

        Answer. Our records indicate that since January 20, 2020, EXIM
    Board members and staff have attended at least 39 conferences with at
    least a partial focus on renewable energy.

        2h. How many speeches at renewable energy conferences has EXIM
    staff and board given since January 20th, 2022?

        Answer. Our records indicate that since January 20, 2020, EXIM
    Board members and staff have given at least nine speeches at
    conferences with at least a partial focus on renewable energy.

        Question 3. Greenhouse Gas Emissions

        EXIM's Charter sets ``a goal of the Bank to ensure that not less
    than 5 percent of the applicable amount (as defined in section 6(a)(2))
    is made available each fiscal year for the financing of renewable
    energy, energy efficiency (including battery electric vehicles,
    batteries for electric vehicles, and electric vehicle charging
    infrastructure), and energy storage technology exports.'' Please answer
    the following:

        3a. What specific steps is EXIM taking to meet this goal in future
    fiscal years?

        Answer. I have encouraged EXIM staff to increase their outreach in
    the renewable energy sector to increase awareness of the tools at
    EXIM's disposal to help business.
        Because many clean energy transactions, like other transactions in
    emerging sectors, carry higher rates of risk, EXIM is asking Congress
    for flexibility around the statutory default rate cap. EXIM has
    previously asked Congress to raise the cap from two to four percent,
    and as part of the FY 2025 budget request, EXIM is seeking a default
    rate cap exemption for CTEP transactions. Greater flexibility would
    allow EXIM to compete more aggressively against the PRC and embrace
    higher risk technologies and markets, ensuring U.S. exporters can
    compete on more equal footing in the global market.
        EXIM is also hiring more staff with experience in renewable energy
    transactions to take advantage of current and future opportunities.
    EXIM recently hired an experienced professional who specializes in
    renewable energy transactions and has underwritten green hydrogen,
    solar, biofuels, wind, and geothermal transactions. We also recently
    appointed a Vice President of Structured & Project Finance who has more
    than 20 years of experience in the renewables sector.

        3b. How many business development and underwriting staff are
    specialized in renewable energy (not including critical minerals)?

        Answer. EXIM staff are assigned to projects based on pipeline needs
    rather than sector. EXIM's Structured & Project Finance Division
    includes a Power Group and a Commodities Group, each of which has three
    underwriters who analyze and negotiate both fossil and non-fossil
    projects, including renewable energy, nuclear energy, metals and rare
    earth/critical minerals mining projects. EXIM also has two engineers on
    staff with appropriate subject matter expertise to support the
    technical due diligence of renewable energy projects.

        3c. Given the Congressional goal for renewable energy in EXIM's
    charter, how many staff does EXIM plan to hire in the next 12 months
    dedicated to developing and underwriting renewable energy projects?

        Answer. EXIM has requested $140 million in administrative expenses
    for FY 2025, an increase of $5.1 million over the FY 2024 level, which
    would help support an increase in full-time staff and better equip the
    agency to work through its pipeline of transactions. EXIM is looking to
    hire more staff with knowledge and expertise in clean energy
    transactions to take advantage of the growing number of opportunities
    in this sector.

        Question 4. EXIM ESPGs

        EXIM's Environmental and Social Procedures and Guidelines (ESPG)
    are over 10 years old.

        4a. What are the barriers to EXIM updating its ESPG? How will EXIM
    bring its outdated Environmental and Social Procedures and Guidelines
    (ESPGs) in line with the latest climate science? When will EXIM update
    the guidelines? Do you commit to soliciting stakeholder input in the
    update?

        Answer. EXIM staff members are actively working to review and
    update the ESPGs, consistent with our Charter and applicable laws. Such
    review will consider current international environmental review
    standards and the latest climate science. EXIM will solicit input and
    feedback from Congress and other EXIM stakeholders on any proposed
    changes before they are finalized.

        Question 5. EXIM Ignoring Corruption

        Last week, EXIM's Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a
    report finding that EXIM appeared to fail to act on fraud-related
    information OIG provided concerning fraud by Trafigura. Trafigura plead
    guilty in U.S. District Court on March 28, 2024, for violations of the
    Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, specifically, conspiracy to violate
    anti-bribery provisions in Brazil. Separate corruption charges are
    under consideration against Trafigura in Switzerland.

        5a. Will EXIM terminate its relationship with Trafigura now that
    the company has pled guilty to conspiracy and bribery charges? Did EXIM
    consider the investigation against Trafigura when considering
    Trafigura's application?

        Answer. We are reevaluating Trafigura after the U.S. Department of
    Justice unsealed the details of a settlement agreement in March 2024.
        EXIM did consider the allegations against Trafigura as part of the
    application. However, EXIM was unable to find additional evidence to
    substantiate the allegations before the EXIM Board approved the
    Trafigura transaction in July 2023. Indeed, formal charges against
    Trafigura were not made public until the Department of Justice
    announced its plea agreement with Trafigura on March 28, 2024, more
    than 8 months after EXIM's Board approved the Trafigura transaction.

        Question 6. EXIM Grievance Mechanism

        Communities affected by EXIM's financing must have an independent
    and robust channel to raise concerns about environmental and human
    rights impacts. EXIM's current grievance process does not meet the
    baseline standards of an effective independent accountability
    mechanism, such as is found at the U.S. Development Finance
    Corporation.

        6a. Do you commit to receiving public comment on the creation of an
    independent accountability mechanism?

        Answer. In 2002, Congress established a fully independent EXIM
    Office of the Inspector General (OIG), which examines EXIM policies,
    programs, and transactions. EXIM also requires all projects receiving
    support to establish a grievance mechanism. EXIM routinely assesses
    these mechanisms' accessibility and functionality and our projects'
    capacity to properly manage the mechanisms. Finally, EXIM has
    established an internal accountability mechanism through the
    Environmental and Social Project Information and Concerns webpage
    (``the portal'') and the Environmental and Social Review Committee. The
    portal includes an online registry to increase transparency regarding
    complaints received from affected communities and stakeholders. EXIM
    believes these existing accountability mechanisms are adequate.

        Question 7. Non-discrimination clause

        EXIM's charter was enacted by Congress. The non-discrimination
    clause in EXIM's charter begins with ``except as provided in this
    Act.'' EXIM's charter also has environmental policies and procedures
    clause that do not have the clause ``except as provided in this Act.''
    That clause says that EXIM shall develop procedures to ``permit the
    Board of Directors, in its judgment, to withhold financing from a
    project for environmental reasons.''
        7a. Do you interpret the non-discrimination clause in EXIM's
    charter to supersede its Environmental Policy and Procedures? Do YOU
    believe that EXIM's Environmental Policy and Procedures should apply to
    climate change impacts?

        Answer. The non-discrimination clause in Section 2(k) of EXIM's
    Charter does not supersede Section 11 of EXIM's Charter, which requires
    EXIM to ``establish procedures to take into account [the] potential
    beneficial and adverse environmental effects'' and for such procedures
    to ``permit the Board of Directors, in its judgment, to withhold
    financing from a project for environmental reasons,'' but the two
    provisions must be interpreted in a way that renders them compatible.

                                     ______

                   Questions Submitted by Senator Chris Coons
        Question 1. Given the national security imperative for U.S.
    leadership in global commercial nuclear markets, I am interested in how
    Congress can improve the Bank's competitiveness on nuclear export
    financing.

        1a. What feedback does EXIM hear from potential customers of U.S.
    nuclear exports about U.S. financing options?

        Answer. EXIM's customers look for EXIM to come as close to matching
    what other countries with nuclear sector manufacturers and service
    providers can offer, including competitive rates and an all-in-one
    solution that combines debt and equity. EXIM can provide the debt
    component of that solution but is statutorily prohibited from providing
    equity. EXIM's customers have indicated that our Engineering Multiplier
    Program loans for early-stage Front End Engineering and Design studies
    and other engineering studies are of particular use as a competitive
    tool. EXIM has also received expressions of significant interest in the
    agency's Make More in America (MMIA) initiative loans for the financing
    of manufacturing capacity, especially in the new Small Modular Reactor
    sector.

        1b. What changes does EXIM need so potential customers are more
    likely to choose United States suppliers--not just over Russia and
    China--but also South Korean and France?

        Answer. Under current law, the agency's authority to authorize new
    business is frozen if defaults meet or exceed two percent. While this
    has never occurred, the consequence is so severe that the threat alone
    is enough to dampen risk appetite. This is particularly true for
    nuclear- related transactions, which are sufficiently large that a
    single default would push the overall default rate past the two-percent
    cap. In light of this, the agency has requested, as part of the FY 2025
    budget submission, to exclude nuclear-related transactions from the
    default rate cap. In addition, as large-scale nuclear project loans can
    range from $10 billion to $20 billion, there is concern that if
    requests are received for multiple projects the agency will not have
    the lending capacity to support such financing requests and also make
    available the capacity required to meet its other mandates.

        Question 2. EXIM undertakes underwriting and due diligence reviews
    to determine whether to move forward with financing a given project.
    Unfortunately, these processes can take more time and lead to higher
    costs, which can potentially place U.S. technologies at a disadvantage
    compared to our international competitors.

        2a. What steps can EXIM take to improve and streamline their
    internal processes, shorten review timelines, and reduce burden for
    projects?

        Answer. EXIM applies commercial lending due diligence standards as
    supplemented by environmental standards mandated by EXIM's Charter. The
    agency also hires external advisors and outside counsel to assist in
    the necessary legal, technical, safety, environmental and social due
    diligence. Increasing EXIM's ability to add additional experts such as
    engineers, environmental specialists, attorneys, and financial
    underwriters would help to increase efficiency. EXIM is also seeking
    support for independent pay authority, which is the standard at other
    financial agencies, and which would allow EXIM to recruit and retain
    the workforce necessary to support U.S. exporters and American jobs.

        Question 3. While DFC and EXIM have different mandates, there are
    opportunities for greater collaboration on projects between the two
    agencies.

        3a. How are DFC and EXIM currently collaborating on projects? What
    internal or external barriers exist to enhancing cooperation?

        Answer. EXIM and the U.S. International Development Finance
    Corporation (DFC) have worked together as co-lenders and on a number of
    initiatives. Angola presents one recent example, where through
    President Biden's Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment
    (PGI), DFC is supporting refurbishment of the Lobito Atlantic Railway
    line and EXIM is supporting solar projects and Acrow Bridge's
    prefabricated bridges. In the nuclear sector context, DFC has already
    consulted with EXIM staff on several occasions, and the two agencies
    are committed to coordinating and working closely on any nuclear sector
    matters that DFC may become involved in.

        Question 4. EXIM's Environmental and Social Procedures and
    Guidelines (ESPGs) are over 10 years old. Is EXIM planning to update
    such guidelines, and if so, which sections of the policy does EXIM plan
    to review?

        Answer. EXIM staff members are actively working to review and
    update the ESPGs consistent with its Charter and with a view toward the
    Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Common
    Approaches and Equator Principles, the international standards under
    which EXIM competes. EXIM will also incorporate programs--like the Make
    More in America (MMIA) domestic export facilitation loan initiative--
    into the procedures to address the standards for an environmental
    review of projects located in the United States, including the
    application of domestic environmental laws and regulations. EXIM will
    solicit input and feedback from Congress and other EXIM stakeholders on
    any proposed changes before they are finalized.

                                     ______

                  Questions Submitted by Senator Brian Schatz
        Question 1. The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM)
    Environmental and Social Due Diligence Procedures and Guidelines have
    not been updated since 2013, and a recent review
    (EXIM_FossilFuel_2pager--final.pdf) of EXIM's energy ?nance suggests
    that the majority of EXIM's energy finance between 2014--2022
    benefitted fossil energy projects. With the global market for clean
    energy technologies expected to reach $23 trillion by 2030, it's
    critical that agencies such as EXIM have the appropriate tools to help
    U.S. businesses compete in the clean energy economy.

        1a. What modifications have been or will be made to EXIM's
    Environmental and Social Due Diligence Procedures and Guidelines?

        Answer. EXIM staff members are actively working to review and
    update the ESPGs, consistent with our Charter and applicable laws. Such
    review will consider current international environmental review
    standards and the latest climate science. EXIM will solicit input and
    feedback from Congress and other EXIM stakeholders on any proposed
    changes before they are finalized.
        Separately, EXIM has tools for supporting clean technology through
    our Environmental Exports Program (EEP), which provides incentives for
    Environmentally Beneficial exports, including clean technology exports.
    The EEP also implements the OECD's Climate Change Sector Understanding
    that provides financing enhancements for a variety of project
    categories that support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions or
    mitigate climate change impacts. In addition to the incentives of the
    EEP, EXIM's China and Transformational Exports Program provides
    additional incentives and financing flexibilities in clean tech related
    Transformational Export Areas such as Renewable Energy, Energy
    Efficiency and Energy Storage.

        1b. Does EXIM need additional tools to support clean energy
    exports?

        Answer. Many clean energy transactions, like other transactions in
    emerging sectors, carry higher rates of risk. As part of the FY 2025
    budget request, EXIM is seeking a default rate cap exemption for CTEP
    transactions. This would allow EXIM to compete more aggressively
    against the PRC and embrace higher risk technologies and markets,
    ensuring U.S. exporters can compete on a more equal footing in the
    global market.

                                     ______

            Questions Submitted by Senator Senator Chris Van Hollen
        Question 1. I understand EXIM bank has a long pipeline of projects
    waiting for consideration for funding.

        1. What are you doing to work through the pipeline to meet EXIM's
    mandate to support U.S. exports?

        Answer. EXIM staff regularly meet with U.S. manufacturers and
    service providers to discuss the current projects pipeline, projected
    new business, and what EXIM can do to be supportive of their efforts.
    We take very seriously our obligations to work through our pipeline and
    to protect the interests of U.S. taxpayers. EXIM has remained below its
    default rate cap of 2 percent because of the care and thoughtfulness
    that goes into the review and structuring of these transactions.
        Additionally, EXIM has requested $130.1 million in administrative
    expenses for FY 2025, an increase of $5.1 million over the FY 2024
    level, which would help support an increase in full- time staff and
    better equip the agency to work through its pipeline.
        EXIM is also seeking support for independent pay authority, which
    is the standard at other financial agencies, and which would allow EXIM
    to recruit and retain the workforce necessary to support U.S. exporters
    and American jobs.

                                     ______

                  Questions Submitted by Senator John Boozman
        Question 1. Can you describe in what ways the China and
    Transformational Exports Program has been successful in bringing
    American companies into robust competition with PRC predatory lending?

        a. Can you explain the challenges encountered thus far in
    increasing the program's effectiveness?

        Answer. Under my tenure, CTEP authorizations have jumped from $253
    million in FY 2022 to $2.4 billion in FY 2023. As of the drafting of
    these responses, FY 2024, the dollar amount in authorized CTEP
    transactions is greater than at this point last year. In total up to 31
    May 2024, EXIM has approved $3.6 billion in CTEP transactions since the
    program's inception. That is below the 20 percent goal set by Congress
    and below where the agency wants to be. We are working hard to raise
    this number, and we have asked Congress for additional tools to help us
    get there.
        Our CTEP transactions are still subject to EXIM's 2 percent default
    rate cap: under current law, EXIM cannot experience defaults that equal
    or exceed two percent. Were that to occur, EXIM would be unable to
    authorize any new loans until the default rate was brought back below
    two percent.
        By their nature, export credit agencies like EXIM exist to take
    risks the private market is unable or unwilling to take. Because EXIM
    operates where gaps in the market exist, the agency ends up supporting
    transactions with higher risk profiles. Inherent in this risk-taking is
    the possibility of some defaults.
        The default rate cap poses a significant challenge to EXIM's
    ability to support U.S. exporters, particularly because other export
    credit agencies are not bound by these constraints. As part of the FY
    2025 budget request, EXIM is seeking a default rate cap exemption for
    CTEP transactions. This would allow EXIM to compete more aggressively
    against the PRC and embrace higher risk technologies and markets,
    ensuring U.S. exporters can compete on a more equal footing in the
    global market.

        Question 2. Of the 10 Transformational Export Areas identified by
    EXIM, in what areas does China have a significant hold on the markets?

        a. What specific steps is EXIM doing to help U.S. exporters
    increase its presence in these markets in regions like the Indo-Pacific
    and Africa and promote U.S. foreign policy interests?

        Answer. Of the ten transformational export areas (TEA), China has a
    significant hold on the markets in four: energy storage, renewable
    energy, wireless communications, and semiconductors.
        EXIM is working to help U.S. exporters increase their presence in
    these markets and has seen some successes in the past few years,
    including:

      --In September 2022, EXIM approved its first authorization for U.S.
            energy storage exports in the form of a $6.9 million loan
            guarantee for the Nigeria Sapele Energy Storage Project to
            support power storage equipment made in the United States and
            sold by ESS Tech: iron flow batteries that will allow Sapele
            Power to effectively manage intermittent power demand from its
            customers, enable load-smoothing, peak demand shifting, and
            potential voltage level regulation for and with the main
            turbines.
      --Also in September 2022, EXIM approved a $52 million loan guarantee
            to Banco Atlantida in Honduras for the purchase of First
            Solar's Perrysburg, Ohio-made solar panels, Nextracker solar
            tracking systems, Shoals Technologies Group equipment, and
            solar cable management equipment supplied by Cambria County
            Association for the Blind and Handicapped. JP Morgan is the
            guaranteed lender funding these exports with the cover of
            EXIM's guarantee. This equipment powers a 53.4-megawatt solar
            power project in Olanchito, Yoro, Honduras. The transaction was
            the largest- ever solar project EXIM financed in the Americas.
      --In December 2022, EXIM approved a $407 million financing to the
            UK's Viasat Technologies Ltd. with the guarantee of its U.S.
            Parentco, Viasat, Inc. Viasat is a well-established provider of
            high-speed broadband services, advanced satellite and wireless
            networks and secure networking products, and services to
            government, commercial and satellite markets. EXIM financing
            will be used to fund rocket launches supplied by Space
            Exploration Technologies of Hawthorne, CA, and United Launch
            Alliance of Centennial, CO, as well as U.S.-brokered launch and
            initial in-orbit insurance services to support the deployment
            of two satellites. An estimated 2,200 U.S. jobs in California
            and Colorado are expected to be created or supported with this
            transaction.
      --In June 2023, EXIM authorized $907 million in financing to support
            construction of two photovoltaic solar energy power plants in
            Angola. The project will generate more than 500 megawatts of
            renewable power; provide access to clean energy resources
            across Angola; help Angola meet its climate commitments; and
            support exports of U.S. solar panel mounting systems,
            connectors, switches, sensors, and other equipment. The
            transaction is estimated to support 1,600 jobs.
      --Also in June 2023, EXIM's Board approved a preliminary commitment
            demonstrating EXIM's willingness to finance a $300 million
            credit to the Government of Costa Rica's Instituto
            Costarricense de Electricidad & Subsidiaries (ICE) for
            procuring equipment and supporting materials and services from
            trusted vendors to deploy a 5G network across Costa Rica.
            Huawei has filed legal challenges to the Costa Rican
            government's vendor tender process, but when those conclude,
            EXIM is optimistic about prospects for turning the preliminary
            commitment into a ?nal commitment.

                                     ______

                  Questions Submitted by Senator Bill Hagerty
        Question 1. Chair Lewis, you shared in the hearing that the Export-
    Import Bank does not discriminate against hydrocarbon-based energy
    projects, and LNG projects in particular.

        1a. During your tenure, how many hydrocarbon-related applications
    have been received by EXIM, and how many are in your current pipeline?

        Answer. Since I was sworn in, EXIM has authorized approximately
    $1.5 billion in financing to support exports related to conventional
    power generation, distribution equipment, and other equipment such as
    oil well analysis probes, pipes and gauges, and inspection equipment
    for existing drilling operations. Please note that this amount is based
    on information readily available to EXIM at the time of authorization
    and does not include financing of other goods or services in which the
    end use may be related to an existing conventional power project. EXIM
    does not publicize information related to potential transactions
    because of business confidentiality.
        During the hearing, you asked for a list of the LNG projects EXIM
    financed over the past five or 10 years. The chart below shows EXIM's
    authorized LNG projects since 2010.

        While not projects, as such, EXIM has also authorized guarantees to
    support U.S. LNG exports in 2020, 2023, and 2024.

        1b. Is EXIM, the White House, or any part of the Federal government
    ``slow walking'' or delaying the consideration of any of these
    applications?

        Answer. EXIM is not purposefully delaying consideration of any
    applications.

        1c. Are there hydrocarbon-related projects that have made it out of
    the EXIM Transaction Review Committee (TRC) and have been presented to
    you or your staff but have not yet been scheduled for an EXIM Board of
    Directors vote? If so, how many? Could you please provide the details
    for each of these projects?

        Answer. EXIM does not publicize information on where projects are
    in the underwriting process because of business confidentiality. More
    broadly, EXIM does not set a specific timeline for transactions to be
    considered by the Board of Directors. Rather, transactions are added to
    the agenda for meetings shortly after transactions have been vetted by
    the Transaction Review Committee and determined to satisfy all
    statutory and policy requirements.
        Additionally, financing for exports related to the development of
    large projects (including fossil fuel projects) have historically taken
    a significant amount of time to process due to the complexity of a
    specific project and the volume of analysis that must be completed to
    evaluate all risks that could affect the success of the project.
    Furthermore, finalization of the underwriting process may be contingent
    on a wide variety of factors, such as foreign governmental approvals,
    which are outside EXIM's control.

        Question 2. A New York Times report in February said that two of
    your climate advisors--who sit on the board the Administration created
    to advise EXIM on climate issues--quit in protest over an EXIM project
    in Bahrain. The story says that John Kerry even called you ``to try to
    delay a vote on the project but the board moved ahead.'' Other news
    articles have suggested that President Biden has voiced disagreement
    with energy projects EXIM is considering.

        2a. Can you please tell me which government and non-government
    persons have pressured or encouraged you not to support hydrocarbon-
    related projects?

        Answer. EXIM's Charter requires the Bank to seek comments on
    transactions from interagency and congressional stakeholders. More
    broadly, because I believe organizations are stronger when they solicit
    input from the public, partners, and stakeholders, I seek out an array
    of opinions on how EXIM should conduct its business on behalf of the
    American exporter. I welcome positive and negative feedback from a
    variety of project stakeholders, including government and non-
    government persons.

        2b. How have you responded?

        Answer. EXIM reviews each transaction based on a number of factors,
    including bankability, a reasonable assurance of repayment, impact upon
    the environment, technical and safety, and compliance with applicable
    laws.

        Question 3. U.S. exporters should be able to expect timely EXIM
    Board votes after due diligence has been completed on their
    applications.

        3a. Will you commit to taking actions to schedule these pending
    transactions for a timely Board vote?

        Answer. EXIM does not set a specific timeline for transactions to
    be considered by the Board of Directors. Rather, transactions are added
    to the agenda for meetings shortly after transactions have been vetted
    by an internal transaction review committee and determined to satisfy
    all statutory and policy requirements.
        Additionally, financing for exports related to the development of
    large projects (including fossil fuel projects) have historically taken
    a significant amount of time to process due to the complexity of some
    of these projects and the volume of analysis that must be completed to
    evaluate all risks that could affect the success of the project.
    Furthermore, finalization of the underwriting process may be contingent
    on a wide variety of factors, such as foreign governmental approvals,
    which are outside EXIM's control.

        3b. Please tell me what updates have occurred or are still under
    consideration as part of the agency's environmental due diligence
    procedures.

        Answer. EXIM's Environmental and Social Procedures and Guidelines
    (ESPGs) have not been updated since 2013 and need to be revised. EXIM
    staff members are actively working to review and update the ESPGs,
    consistent with its Charter and applicable laws, with a view toward the
    Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Common
    Approaches and Equator Principles, the international standards under
    which EXIM competes. EXIM will also incorporate programs--like the Make
    More in America (MMIA) domestic export facilitation loan initiative--
    into the procedures to address the standards for an environmental
    review of projects located in the United States, including the
    application of domestic environmental laws and regulations. EXIM will
    solicit input and feedback from Congress and other EXIM stakeholders on
    any proposed changes before they are finalized.

        Question 4. EXIM has a statutory lending authority of $135 billion.

        4a. How much of that $135 billion is obligated now, and how much
    more could EXIM obligate before reaching the $135 billion ceiling?

        Answer. As of April 30, EXIM had obligated $32.6 billion, leaving
    $102.4 billion in available capacity. Because EXIM transactions range
    from extremely small amounts to multi-billion-dollar projects, we
    cannot predict how many transactions it would take to reach the $135
    billion ceiling.

        Question 5. Part of your responsibility is to oversee the Program
    on China and Transformational Exports (CTEP). You noted in your
    testimony that EXIM's FY23 CTEP transactions totaled $2.4 billion.

        5a. Do you understand that to be consistent with Congress's intent
    for 20% of EXIM's total financing authority to be focused on this goal?

        Answer. Under my tenure, CTEP authorizations have jumped from $253
    million in FY 2022 to $2.4 billion in FY 2023. As of the drafting of
    these responses, FY 2024, the dollar amount in authorized CTEP
    transactions is greater than at this point last year. In total, EXIM
    has approved $3.6 billion in CTEP transactions since the program's
    inception. That is below the 20 percent goal set by Congress and below
    where the agency wants to be. We are working hard to raise this number,
    and we have asked Congress for additional tools to help us get there.

        5b. What is your strategy for growing CTEP transactions?

        Answer. Our CTEP transactions are still subject to EXIM's 2 percent
    default rate cap: under current law, EXIM cannot experience defaults
    that equal or exceed two percent. Were that to occur, EXIM would be
    unable to authorize any new loans until the default rate was brought
    back below two percent.
        By their nature, export credit agencies like EXIM exist to take
    risks the private market is unable or unwilling to take. Because EXIM
    operates where gaps in the market exist, the agency ends up supporting
    transactions with higher risk profiles. Inherent in this risk-taking is
    the possibility of some defaults.
        The default rate cap poses a significant challenge to EXIM's
    ability to support U.S. exporters, particularly because other export
    credit agencies are not bound by these constraints. As part of the FY
    2025 budget request, EXIM is seeking a default rate cap exemption for
    CTEP transactions. This would allow EXIM to compete more aggressively
    against the PRC and embrace higher risk technologies and markets,
    ensuring U.S. exporters can compete on a more equal footing in the
    global market.

        5c. Is President Biden's budget request sufficient to achieve this?

        Answer. The President's FY 2025 budget request contains resources
    for EXIM to fulfill its mission and, critically, it asks Congress to
    exempt CTEP transactions from the default rate cap. This would allow
    EXIM to compete more aggressively against the PRC and embrace higher
    risk technologies and markets, ensuring U.S. exporters can compete on a
    more equal footing in the global market.

        Question 6. With respect to competitiveness, on September 29, 2023,
    the EXIM Inspector General issued a report entitled ``Comparative
    Analysis of U.S. and OECD Arrangement Export Credit Agencies.''

        6a. How are you implementing these IG recommendations to help U.S.
    companies and workers?

        Answer. EXIM concurred with all 14 Inspector General
    recommendations and has closed two of the 14 recommendations as of May
    15, 2024. EXIM staff are working diligently to close the remaining open
    recommendations.

                                     ______

                   Questions Submitted by Senator Marco Rubio
        Question 1. EXIM plays an important role in countering Communist
    China's efforts to provide easily accessible credit to countries around
    the world. Recently, EXIM has experienced significant growth,
    supporting 66 percent more authorizations in FY2023 than it did in
    FY2022. What allowed EXIM to increase its number of authorizations by
    such a drastic amount? Did the criteria for granting authorizations
    change?

        1a. If the criteria for granting authorizations changed, how has
    that affected credit recipients' default rate?

        Answer. EXIM's China and Transformational Exports Program (CTEP)
    authority is too new to be able to determine if it will have any impact
    on affected credit recipients' default rate. Having said that, EXIM
    staff applies the same rigorous credit underwriting standards to CTEP
    matters as to any other credits.

        Question 2. Argentina, one of America's closest allies in the
    region, is undergoing a severe economic crisis with elevated inflation
    that prevents access to international loans. How does EXIM facilitate
    loans to partner countries that have difficulty accessing other
    international credit lines?

        2a. Do you believe EXIM should focus on partner countries with poor
    credit that present ripe opportunities for China to offer easy loans?

        Answer. EXIM is a demand-driven financial agency and must have a
    reasonable assurance of repayment to consider a transaction, so it
    cannot pick partner countries the same way development agencies can.
    However, EXIM collaborates closely with interagency partners to
    identify opportunities where the agency's financing tools can
    facilitate U.S. exports in high priority, geostrategic markets and
    sectors.
        In the case of Argentina specifically, EXIM has determined that
    public and private transactions in Argentina do not currently offer a
    reasonable assurance of repayment, as required by our Charter. As such,
    EXIM is not able to provide support for such transactions at this time.
                                     ______

            Questions Submitted to Millennium Challenge Corporation
                  Questions Submitted by Senator John Boozman
        Question 1. Can you discuss some of the agricultural projects the
    Corporation is pursuing?

        Answer. MCC has funded a wide range of agricultural interventions
    in response to the identified constraints to sectoral growth during
    project development. In many partner countries, MCC's support takes the
    form of physical infrastructure such as rural roads to expand farmers'
    market access, irrigation systems to increase production, and
    electrification for processing of agricultural goods. Other recent
    agricultural interventions include national livestock herd vaccination
    campaigns and significant policy reforms such as the modernizing of the
    fertilizer sector in Niger and fiscal reforms to incentivize investment
    in agriculture in Mozambique.

        a. Of the projects mentioned, can you provide how effective these
    have been in reducing hunger and in strengthening or building new
    markets?

        Answer. MCC's model for targeting the reduction of poverty through
    economic growth complements the work of other USG programs that target
    emergency and humanitarian relief by providing opportunities to raise
    incomes for vulnerable populations in its partner countries. Many of
    our investments play a role in increasing agricultural production, such
    as by providing over 500,000 acres of irrigation. Likewise, MCC's
    investments in electrification and roads helps ensure that agricultural
    production can be processed and reach markets. This combination of
    augmenting production and increasing rural incomes along with
    facilitating market access means that food is more accessible, and the
    agricultural economy is more resilient. Policy interventions equally
    contribute to food security by augmenting the private sector's
    participation for long term growth in the sector.

        Question 2. Could you discuss the main challenges the Corporation
    is currently facing in implementing its primary mandate?

        Answer. MCC's mission is to reduce poverty through economic growth,
    but we currently face significant challenges in doing so.
        Amidst today's difficult geopolitical and social challenges, MCC's
    grant assistance is a key economic contributor to the way the United
    States combats growing challenges and incentivizes good governance and
    democratic values globally. However, MCC faces statutory restrictions
    that limit its ability to apply its impactful model in a broader range
    of places, including upper middle-income countries that are facing more
    challenges than they did when MCC was founded. This is particularly the
    case, as the decades-long trend of global poverty reduction has
    reversed in recent years, leaving many countries vulnerable to losing
    years of economic progress.
        As such, in MCC's FY 2025 Congressional Budget Justification, we
    are asking Congress to reform our candidate country pool to include
    countries below the threshold for starting graduation from the
    International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The IBRD
    Graduation threshold is the gross national income (GNI) per capita
    threshold at which point the World Bank begins the process of
    discussing with countries the possibility of their graduating out of
    being eligible for IBRD lending. Senators Risch and Senator Menendez
    introduced legislation--S.1240 the Millennium Challenge Corporation
    Candidate Country Reform Act--at the beginning of the 118th Congress to
    address this change.
        This would allow MCC to work in countries that face substantial
    vulnerabilities due to conflict, migration, and climate.. It would also
    help nascent and fragile democracies facing these tipping points to
    reverse or prevent backsliding and to deliver sustainable economic
    growth for their populations. The legislation would substantially
    increase the regions MCC could work in, adding nine countries in Europe
    and the Caucuses and another nine in Latin America and the Caribbean.
        Additionally, over the past 3 years, MCC received appropriations
    which included $1.1 billion in rescissions, while simultaneously
    demonstrating a significant ramp up in execution ($3 billion in signed
    commitments across 12 programs over the past 2 years). This has created
    budget uncertainty during critical stages of compact development and
    negotiations, creating a less efficient and ideal development process.
    Without receiving MCC's FY 2025 budget request, downsizing or delays in
    programs where USG and country counterpart time and resources have been
    expended may have significant implications to U.S. credibility.

                                     ______

                   Questions Submitted by Senator Marco Rubio
        Question 1. The MCC is unique in that it provides grants, as
    opposed to loans. How do the criteria for receiving an MCC grant differ
    from the criteria for receiving a loan from other international
    financial institutions?

        Answer. MCC's criteria for selecting country partners is unique
    among development organizations. By statute, countries must be
    classified as either low income or lower middle income by the World
    Bank and not be prohibited from receiving assistance by Federal law.
    Additionally, MCC must consider a country's demonstrated commitment to
    (i) just democratic governance, (ii) economic freedom, and (iii)
    investing in its people. Each December, MCC's Board of Directors
    selects countries as eligible for MCC assistance. The MCC scorecard is
    an important tool the Board uses to assess a country's policy
    environment. When considering countries for assistance, the Board
    considers a country's policy performance, the opportunity to reduce
    poverty and generate economic growth, and the availability of funds to
    MCC. The selected countries, if they agree to participate, then develop
    a program proposal in partnership with MCC. The international financial
    institutions, such as the World Bank, do not require countries to
    demonstrate a commitment to good governance as outlined in MCC's
    founding statute.

        1a. When issuing grants, do you assess a given country's needs or
    the interests of the United States in providing assistance to that
    country?

        Answer. By statute, MCC's Board of Directors consider the following
    factors when determining a country's eligibility for MCC assistance:
    (1) a country's policy performance (primarily as measured by the annual
    MCC country scorecards), (2) the overall opportunity to reduce poverty
    and generate economic growth in the country, and (3) funding available
    to MCC. Each year, more countries pass the MCC scorecard than MCC has
    the resources to assist. As a result, selection is highly competitive
    and the MCC Board considers a wide range of supplemental information
    when determining selections, including assessments of any previous
    programs MCC has had with a country and whether those investments are
    being sustained. These considerations are further described in the MCC
    Selection Criteria and Methodology Report, which MCC's Board approves
    and that the agency submits to Congress each September. The MCC Board
    is comprised of the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury,
    Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the
    U.S. Trade Representative, MCC's Chief Executive Officer, and four
    private sector members.

        Question 2. Argentina is a close regional ally that is undergoing a
    severe economic crisis with elevated inflation that prevents access to
    international loans. Does Argentina currently receive any grants from
    the MCC?

        Answer. No. Argentina has never been a candidate country for MCC
    assistance due to its classification as an upper middle-income country
    by the World Bank. By statute, only low income or lower middle-income
    countries can be considered as candidate countries for MCC assistance.

        2a. Is the MCC providing grants to any countries in the Western
    Hemisphere? Why were those countries targeted?

        Answer. Yes. MCC is currently working with Belize. The MCC Board of
    Directors selected Belize as eligible to develop a compact in December
    2021 in recognition of the country's clear commitment to democratic
    governance and its ongoing and pressing development need characterized
    by rising poverty rates, challenges to sustained economic growth, and
    vulnerability to external shocks. The proposed $125 million MCC Belize
    Compact aims to support Belize's growth by catalyzing increased
    investment in post-primary education and energy. The Education Project
    aims to equitably increase the number of post-primary graduates with
    the competencies relevant to labor market demands, while the Energy
    Project aims to reduce the cost of electricity.
        MCC's ability to partner with more countries in the Western
    Hemisphere is currently limited by the statutorily prescribed income
    threshold for MCC candidacy. Reforming the candidate pool--as outlined
    in S. 1240 the Millennium Challenge Corporation Candidate Country
    Reform Act--by changing the income threshold would recognize the
    substantial challenges facing the development paths of countries that
    MCC cannot currently consider while also enabling MCC to bring its good
    governance selectivity model to a broader range of countries. In the
    Western Hemisphere, the Candidate Country Reform Act would allow MCC to
    newly consider countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, and
    Paraguay.

                              SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS

        Senator Merkley. The hearing record will remain open for
    written questions until 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22, 2024,
    and the hearing is adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 3:33 p.m., Wednesday, May 15, the
    subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of
    the Chair.]

      STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS FOR
                                FISCAL YEAR 2025

                                  ----------

                             TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2024

                                           U.S. Senate,
               Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
                                                        Washington, DC.

        The subcommittee met at 2:39 p.m., in room SD-138, Dirksen
    Senate Office Building, Hon. Christopher Coons (Chairman),
    presiding.
        Present: Senators Coons, Murray, Durbin, Van Hollen,
    Schatz, Graham, Collins, Boozman, and Moran.

                       UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE

                 OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR CHRISTOPHER COONS

        Senator Coons. Ladies and gentlemen, this hearing of the
    Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee and State, and
    Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, will come to order.
        The subcommittee meets today to review the fiscal year 2025
    budget request for the Department of State. And we are please
    to welcome back Secretary Tony Blinken.
        I have also solicited testimony from the State Department's
    Inspector General, Cardell Richardson, given the OIG's critical
    oversight work, which each Senator has in front of them, that
    will be a part of the formal record.
        I am also going to acknowledge at the outset, we have some
    controversial topics to cover, and ask that everyone in the
    Chamber respect the right of the subcommittee to conduct its
    work without verbal or visual instruction, which, if it
    interrupts our work, will cause us to have to have individuals
    removed.
        With that said, Mr. Secretary, it is great to have you
    here. We have a lot to cover. I want to just briefly reflect
    back on fiscal year 2024, our Enacted Bill for the State
    Department, USAID, MCC, DFC, and other agencies, was $58.3
    billion, which was a 5.5 percent cut compared to fiscal 2023
    enacted.
        As Senator Graham, noted in our hearing with USAID
    Administrator Power last month, we are having this
    subcommittee's budget cut at the time of great and growing
    need. That means fewer opportunities to prevent and mitigate
    crises, and more deferred costs later.
        In managing this tight budget environment, we, on this
    subcommittee prioritized limiting the impact on the State
    Department Workforce, meeting our treaty dues, and multilateral
    commitments to sustain U.S. global leadership, enhancing your
    tools for economic state craft, and protecting funding for
    critical and life saving, health programs and humanitarian
    assistance. That meant that funding had to be cut, in some
    cases deeply, that will have negative impacts on our ability to
    compete overseas, to serve real human needs, and our national
    interest.
        But like every other subcommittee, we made hard choices,
    and as a result of we were able to take important steps to help
    you modernize and innovate, to better leverage the private
    sector, to advance your efforts to strengthen partner economic
    growth, and stability.
        One of those efforts is a new economic resilience
    initiative which builds on existing efforts to support
    strategic infrastructure, including through the DFC and EXIM,
    allowing them to leverage billions of dollars, enhance critical
    supply chains, expand secured digital infrastructure, support
    new grants and loans to international financial instructions,
    and compete with the PRC's opaque and coercive lending
    practices.
        The result will literally be billions in new lending in the
    Indo-Pacific this year alone. We also enacted critical
    supplemental funding for urgent military and economic
    assistance to Ukraine, to strengthen deterrence in the Indo-
    Pacific, and to support our partner, Israel, and to provide
    life-saving humanitarian assistance in Gaza, Sudan, and
    elsewhere around the world.
        And I want to thank the Chair, and Vice Chair, for their
    determined leadership in achieving that critical result.
        Now, while we delivered on these priorities the needs
    outpaced our appropriations, and we are seeing historic levels
    of food insecurity, record numbers of refugees, and displaced
    people, democratic backsliding, Chinese economic coercion, and
    Russian aggression in Ukraine and elsewhere.
        In the intervening months, the war in Gaza continues to
    contribute to a humanitarian catastrophe, and threatens to
    escalate into a broader regional conflict.
        Here in our own hemisphere the people of Haiti are being
    terrorized by armed gangs, and a lack of governance, as we look
    ahead to fiscal year 2025, the House Appropriations majority is
    again proposing to slash our funding, just as they proposed
    last year, which ultimately led to the cuts we enacted.
        I am fortunate to have Senator Graham as Ranking Member,
    and strong subcommittee membership on both sides of the aisle,
    so I am confident we will maintain bipartisan support to
    address the most critical challenges, and advance America's
    interest. As I frequently point out, we can't do more with
    less, whether in supporting Ukraine's brave fight against
    Russia, countering the threat posed by China, or leveraging
    economic tools.
        We have a lot to discuss, so I will stop there. The bottom
    line is what I told you, what I told you last year remains as
    true today. Your task is daunting. And we have a responsibility
    to ensure you and your colleagues are equipped with the tools
    and resources you need to strengthen our national security, and
    advance our interests. Thank you.
        Ranking Member Graham.

                  OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM

        Senator Graham. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome, Mr.
    Secretary.
        So a statement was made yesterday offering condolences to
    the passing of the President of Iran, Mr. Raisi, who died in a
    helicopter crash. He was the protege of the Supreme Leader who
    earned his nickname, the ``Butcher of Tehran'', for his role in
    mass executions of thousands in 1988, his tenure as President
    was marked by the brutal repression of women and girls, and the
    enrichment of uranium, a violent crackdown of mass protest in
    2022, and direct attacks on Israel from Iranian soil.
        I would like to offer my condolences to the victims of the
    ``Butcher of Tehran''. To the Iranian people, we stand with you
    and hope and pray for the day your liberation comes from the
    Ayatollah and his henchmen.
        As to the world, it is pretty much on fire. It seems to me
    not a good time now to take resources off the table that can
    prevent things from getting worse. The World Food Program has
    doubled the number of people it serves in 2 years. Now, does
    that matter to you at home? Yes, it does.
        If people can't eat, and can't feed their family, they are
    likely to do almost anything. What would you do to feed your
    family? I don't want to help the terrorists, I want to make
    their life more difficult. This is a very small percentage of
    overall Federal spending, and every time I turn around, we seem
    to want to cut this account.
        You know I am pretty hawkish guy, but soft power matters. I
    have been all over the world, and a little bit of money spent
    well goes a long way. Feeding people keeps them from moving
    around and migrating, and creating pressure on neighboring
    countries. You are either going to pay now, or you are going to
    pay later.
        So I am hoping that the Congress will recognize that the
    investments we make in this account are national security in
    another form. And if you don't get that by now, you have missed
    a lot.
        As to the war in Israel, I stand with Israel, without
    apology. I hope one day to be able to end this conflict, in a
    way where the Palestinian people have hope they don't have
    today, and Israel will have security it deserves, and maybe we
    can integrate the region, with a deal with Saudi Arabia and
    Israel.
        And I have enjoyed working with you, Mr. Secretary, on
    trying to find a way to normalize between Saudi Arabia and
    Israel to have a Palestinian component, and I look forward to
    that.
        In the middle of all this, the International Criminal
    Court, out of nowhere, decided to indict, or issue an arrest
    warrant for the Prime Minister of Israel, an elected leader, of
    one of the most robust democracies on the planet. If you don't
    like the Government of Israel, stick around, they change every
    3 or 4 months.
        They have one of the most robust judiciaries anywhere on
    the planet, known for their independence. I have been working
    with many members of this committee to talk with the
    International Criminal Court. Number one, we believe that you
    have overstepped your mandate. Where is the complementarity?
        Israel is not a member of the ICC, for some reason the ICC
    granted state status to the Palestinians in 2015, when nobody
    else has. And they are now claiming jurisdiction over the State
    of Israel. Under the Rome Statute, before the ICC can act, it
    limits the action--ICC actions, situations when a nation is
    unable, or unwilling, to proceed with an investigation, or if
    the investigation is conducted in bad faith.
        Now, you must have concluded that the judiciary in Israel
    is--they don't act in good faith. I would assure you, that if
    you do wrong in the Israel Defense Forces, you can get court-
    martialed, like you can here. The ICC was never meant for
    missions like this. There was a meeting to be discussed
    yesterday. May 20, a representative of the ICC was supposed to
    land in Israel at 6:00 o'clock, to set up a meeting between
    Israel and the ICC Prosecutor, to talk about what Israel is
    doing, what concerns the ICC has, to invoke complementarity.
        Well, what happened? Israel was informed that the people
    from the ICC never boarded the plane, and we find out that the
    ICC Prosecutor, Mr. Khan, had done an interview with CNN days
    before, or hours before, I think it is days before, saying he
    was going to issue arrest warrants for the Defense Minister,
    and the Prime Minister. That is not good faith.
        I was on a phone call with eight members of the United
    States Senate asking the ICC, at least to talk to Israel before
    you move forward. They gave Venezuela 9 months. Clearly we were
    lied to and misled. You have done an interview with CNN before
    the plane departed. The idea you are going to collaborate
    apparently was a sham.
        We, hopefully, together will find a way to raise our
    displeasure with the ICC, because if they will do this to
    Israel, we are next. This group tried to come after our
    soldiers----
        [Applause.]
        Senator Graham. Yes, you can clap all you want to. They
    tried to come after our soldiers in Afghanistan, but reason
    prevailed. At the end of the day here, what I hope to happen is
    that we level sanctions against the ICC for this outrage, to
    not only help our friends in Israel, but protect ourselves over
    time.
        Mr. Secretary, your statement yesterday was excellent. The
    President's statement was excellent. Senator Schumer's
    statement on the floor was excellent, about the outrage here.
    They have destroyed the notion of complementarity. They have
    misled people in the United States Senate about their
    intention, and they shall and will pay a price.
        Mr. Secretary, I appreciate what you have said: It is now
    time for us to act.
        Thank you.
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Ranking Member Graham.
        With that, Mr. Secretary, the floor is yours.
        Secretary Blinken. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Graham,
    Vice Chair Collins, Chair Murray, very good to be with all of
    you today on this Committee. I thank you for the opportunity to
    testify before you, and----
        [Audience outburst.]
        Senator Coons. I recognize people feel passionately. We
    must have order in this room. We are going to proceed with this
    hearing. Mr. Secretary, you may resume.
        Secretary Blinken. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to
    thank you also for your partnership in working together to
    advance American leadership in the world, leadership that is so
    essential for delivering on the priorities that matter to our
    people at home. I think the need for our global leadership and
    cooperation with allies and partners----
        Senator Coons. The witness will suspend until the room is
    cleared of protesters.
        [Audience outburst.]
        Mr. Secretary, you may proceed.
        Secretary Blinken. Chairman, thank you.
        So I was saying, the need for our leadership, and
    cooperation with allies and partners, has never been greater.
    The People's Republic of China is pursuing military, economic,
    and geopolitical preeminence, challenging our vision for a
    free, open, secure, and prosperous international order. Russia
    is committing aggression not only against Ukraine but against
    the principles at the heart of the UN Charter, independence,
    territorial integrity, and sovereignty that are the building
    blocks for global peace and security.
        In the Middle East, we are standing with Israel in its
    efforts to ensure that what happened on October 7 never happens
    again, as we do everything we can to bring to an end the
    terrible human suffering in Gaza and prevent the conflict from
    spreading.
        U.S. leadership is needed to address humanitarian crises
    elsewhere around the world.
        [Audience outburst.]
        Senator Coons. The witness may suspend until we can clear
    the room.
        Mr. Secretary, you may resume.
        Secretary Blinken. Thank you. Our leadership is needed to
    address humanitarian crises elsewhere around the world,
    including in Sudan, and Haiti, where millions have been
    displaced, many killed, and to address global issues that no
    country can solve alone, including food security, the changing
    climate, transnational corruption, and the fentanyl crisis.
        But with the support of Congress, we can, and we are,
    approaching these challenges from a position of strength.
    Because of the actions we have taken, the United States is
    stronger economically, diplomatically, and militarily than we
    were a few years ago.
        We have made historic investments here at home in our
    competitiveness, in our innovation, in our infrastructure. We
    have renewed our alliances, and we have built new ones. We have
    secured unprecedented alignment with key partners in Europe, in
    Asia, and beyond.
        We have delivered essential American aid to Ukraine, and we
    have rallied the international community to share the burden.
    For every dollar that we have spent in economic and development
    assistance, others have collectively invested three more.
        Now, many doubted that bipartisan support for Ukraine and
    other urgent national security priorities could endure, but
    last month Congress demonstrated, demonstrated to the world
    that we would not pull back. You passed the President's
    Supplemental Funding Bill by an overwhelming margin and on a
    bipartisan basis.
        Our investment abroad does not come at the expense of our
    strength at home, far from it. Most of the supplemental is
    being spent here in the United States, building up our own
    defense industrial base, supporting thousands of American jobs.
    We need to keep up this momentum, and that requires a State
    Department and a budget that we fully resource so that we can
    meet the challenges of our time.
        And I think, as Senator Graham put it, in effect, an ounce
    of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure. We know that
    if we don't get these problems on the takeoff, we are going to
    have to deal with them on the landing, but in much more costly
    and difficult ways.
        The fiscal year 2025 budget, the President is putting
    forward, requesting $58.8 billion for the State Department and
    USAID, does this in two ways. First, it funds the essential
    missions of our department and USAID. The budget will ensure
    that the United States continues to be the partner of choice
    that countries can turn to when they need to solve big
    problems, the problems that also affect us. In an era of
    renewed great power competition, we have got to present the
    strongest possible offer, one that is relevant and responsive
    to the country's needs, and that advances our security and
    economic interests.
        That is why, for example, we are requesting $2 billion for
    a new fund to build high-quality, sustainable infrastructure
    around the world. Crucially, these kinds of investments create
    jobs for Americans and expand markets for our businesses
    overseas.
        We are requesting resources for the World Bank, with $1
    billion in U.S. funding we can unlock another $36 billion in
    development fund capacity to direct to the top priorities of
    emerging economies. That is a huge return on our investment and
    essential, again, for competing with China around the world.
        The budget also includes $1.7 billion for international
    organizations, including the United Nations, APEC, and the
    Inter-American Development Bank, to help shape them in ways
    that reflect our interests and values.
        We are asking for $500 million to give more people around
    the world access to secure Internet and digital technologies.
    Doing so will support the U.S. economy through the export of
    our technology products. It will help us ensure that we and our
    fellow democracies remain the leaders and standards-setters in
    key technologies, like artificial intelligence.
        The budget includes funding to address global issues that
    affect the lives and livelihoods of the American people, as
    well as people around the world, especially the synthetic drug
    crisis. It also funds our response to irregular migration,
    global food insecurity, public health, climate, and energy
    security. And again, if these problems are not addressed
    upfront, inevitably, they are going to have an impact on us
    down the road.
        We are also asking Congress to fully fund the State
    Department's Educational and Cultural Exchanges. These are
    really one of our best and most cost-effective tools for
    advancing U.S. values and interests around the world. And they
    support the students, the researchers, the young professionals
    from our communities who study and work abroad.
        To out-compete our strategic rivals, we also need to invest
    in the foundation of our strength abroad, our diplomatic corps.
    And that is the second pillar of the budget. Our budget makes a
    strong investment in expanding our overseas presence, opening
    posts in the Pacific Islands, and the Eastern Caribbean. It
    will also continue our modernization of American diplomacy. We
    are reorganizing the Department to make sure that it is ready
    to face the challenges of this time.
        We are attracting and working to retain the best possible
    talent. We are investing in our people in Washington and posts
    overseas with training, with technology. We are promoting more
    agility, more innovation, more efficiency in the processes that
    we bring to bear.
        Last year's enacted budget level represented a 5 percent
    cut from the year before. That challenges our efforts to
    deliver the results that Congress and the American people
    deserve.
        So I urge you to support this budget, which helps us
    address the most pressing foreign policy priorities for the
    coming year, and lays the foundation for strong American
    leadership in the years beyond.
        With that, I am happy to take any questions.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    STATEMENT OF HON. ANTHONY J. BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF
                STATE
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. As I mentioned in
    my opening remarks, we are working with your Department to
    increase investments in energy security, digital security,
    economic growth, strategic infrastructure, and your workforce.
    Given the difficult cut of fiscal year 2024, a 5 percent cut,
    and that fiscal year 2025 will likely again be a very
    challenging overall budget environment, any increased
    investments you will have the chance to do will likely come at
    the expense of other efforts. What are some examples of what
    you will have to scale back, and the impact of doing so, if
    your budget does not increase?
        Secretary Blinken. Well, first and fundamentally, there are
    some huge tradeoffs that we would have to bring to bear on some
    of the big strategic issues that we are working on. So if we
    have to look at how do we do the trade-off between funding for
    strategic ports and transportation projects that we are engaged
    in, for example, the Luzon Corridor in the Philippines, for
    example, the Lobito Corridor in Africa, that is critical.
        But at the same time, can we do that and then continue to
    fund the necessary programs to counter Russian aggression
    against Ukraine? What about our ability to meet all of the
    global challenges that, again, are going to have inevitably an
    impact back home: irregular migration, fentanyl, pandemic
    preparedness, food security.
        As we have looked at it, we have to make--we would have to
    make fundamental trade-offs among these big-ticket items. But
    let me be even a little bit more parochial. What does it
    actually mean if we are dealing with a world in which we have a
    5 percent cut or, as some in the House have proposed, an 11
    percent cut? We are going to have to reduce passport and
    consular services that we have managed to build back after
    COVID.
        We have plans to open new passport centers in this country.
    They would stall out, and that would be to the detriment of the
    ability of Americans to travel around the world, see family, do
    business, in education, we would have to decrease the Embassy
    security programs that we have. We are trying to add new posts,
    so that we are present around the world. Not only would we have
    trouble adding those posts, we would also have to look at
    cutbacks to security for existing posts. And even if we were to
    insulate that particular program, well, those reductions would
    get passed on to everything else.
        Senator Coons. You were recently in Ukraine, and you
    forcibly underscored the message that the United States
    continues to stand with Ukraine, and as I said, I am grateful
    for the leadership of the Chair and Vice Chair, in finally
    delivering on critical and needed assistance, that additional
    security, economic, and humanitarian assistance needs to be
    delivered as soon as possible.
        You mentioned in your opening statement, for every dollar
    that we have delivered, in terms of economic and development
    assistance, our partners have delivered three.
        Secretary Blinken. Right.
        Senator Coons. I would just be interested in how you are
    continuing to engage partners and allies in ensuring that they
    are continuing to contribute, in fact, exceeding our
    contributions, and what you see as the prospects for the year
    ahead in Ukraine?
        Secretary Blinken. Well, first I have to tell you that
    thanks to the leadership here in getting the supplemental done,
    that was the biggest difference-maker. The biggest difference-
    maker, practically speaking, in Ukraine as that assistance is
    now getting delivered, but also in making sure that we keep our
    allies and partners moving forward with us in making the
    necessary investments for Ukraine to continue to defend against
    the Russian aggression.
        But also this: to set Ukraine up in a way that, as I
    believe strongly, it will be a success, militarily,
    economically, democratically, able to stand strongly on its own
    feet, without the same level of investment that we have had to
    make in these few years. We have programs underway in each of
    those areas, and you can see the single best rebuke to Putin is
    a strong, successful, thriving Ukraine.
        We have the means now to make the necessary investments to
    do that. Our partners remain fully on board. But again, the
    supplemental was a big shot in the arm both for Ukraine, and
    European, and other partners on this.
        Senator Coons. Thank you. Since the horrific attacks by
    Hamas on October 7, I have strongly supported Israel's right to
    defend itself, like many of my colleagues, I am also deeply
    concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has
    become more dire in recent weeks given operations and the
    threat of further operations in Rafah.
        What are you seeing in terms of assistance and the delivery
    of humanitarian relief? What impact is the new pier having in
    Gaza that has been constructed by the United States? What
    diversion are you seeing by Hamas of assistance we are
    delivering? What diversion are you seeing by Israeli settlers
    and other protesters? And what do you think are the prospects
    for some positive path forward for a day after in Gaza?
        Secretary Blinken. The people of Gaza, children, women, and
    men are experiencing a humanitarian crisis. Food, water,
    medicine, shelter all remain in far too short supply. We have
    been working on this from day one to try to get the necessary
    access to Gaza so that supplies could get in, to try to get
    adequate distribution within Gaza, to try to get proper
    deconfliction so the humanitarians can go about their work
    safely and securely. And this remains absolutely essential work
    that we are at every single day.
        In recent weeks, we made important progress because of
    openings of access points in the north, because North Gaza was
    particularly aggrieved. But now we see the situation to some
    extent reversed, because of the conflict taking place in and
    around Rafah. Those access points, Rafah itself as well as to
    some extent Kerem Shalom, have either been shut down or not
    operating at full capacity. So we have that challenge, and it
    is imperative that those access points be fully operational.
        At the same time, even as we have seen progress in getting
    areas open, in getting the route from Jordan moving with
    trucks, those trucks have been disrupted in Israel by
    protesters, and that is imperative that that stop and be
    brought to order so the trucks can move freely. We did have a
    convoy yesterday that went through without impediment. In Gaza
    itself, there remain problems of deconfliction with the
    humanitarians.
        It is better at a sort of strategic level; there are good
    procedures in place, but we continue to see some problems at
    the operational level, at the tactical level, where a given
    unit may not know, in real-time, that a convoy is supposed to
    go through. So we are working on significantly improving that,
    finally fixing that to make sure that humanitarians can proceed
    safely, getting designated corridors, if necessary designated
    times, getting real-time communication between those providing
    the assistance and those on the ground who are engaged in
    military activities. All of this is a day in, day out work in
    progress, but we have to do better by the people of Gaza.
        Senator Coons. Thank you. I want to thank Senator Graham
    and Senator Cardin who led, as you know, a bipartisan
    delegation of ten of us to the region right after October 7.
    You have been working tirelessly to try and move forward some
    sort of reconciliation between the Saudis and Israelis, and I
    hope we will get a chance to turn to that.
        Senator Collins.
        Senator Collins. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Secretary
    Blinken, I share your relief that the National Security
    Supplemental Appropriations Bill that provides aid to Ukraine,
    Israel, and our allies in the Indo-Pacific region is finally
    law. Unfortunately, this is not the first time since Russia's
    invasion of Ukraine that Ukraine has had to wait for vital
    security assistance from the United States.
        On numerous occasions, President Biden's administration has
    blocked the transfer of weapons and equipment to Ukraine until
    sufficient pressure from Congress and our NATO allies led to a
    change in course, in some cases, after the point in the war
    when those weapons would have made the most difference.
        For example, the Ukrainians requested Abrams tanks in early
    2022. The administration did not approve that transfer until
    January of 2023, and the first tanks didn't arrive in Ukraine
    until October of last year. Long-range ATACM missiles are
    another critical capacity that was requested early in 2022. It
    took more than 18 months for the administration to approve a
    shorter-range version of ATACMS, and the longer-range version
    was approved only last month, nearly 2 years after the request.
    F-16s are another example.
        My point is, had the administration acted when Ukraine
    first requested these weapon systems, Ukraine would have been
    able to benefit sooner from the technological advantage these
    weapon systems provide. What I am seeking from you is a
    commitment to speed up the delivery of weapons, of munitions,
    of other technology at this very critical time during Ukraine's
    war with the aggressor Russia.
        Secretary Blinken. Thank you, Senator. First, I can assure
    you that we are doing everything we can to accelerate the
    actual delivery of the assistance to the Ukrainians so that
    they have it in their hands, and can use it to deal with the
    ongoing Russian aggression.
        Second, look, I have a different perspective on this than
    the one you just--the one you shared. Of course, the fact that
    well before the Russian aggression, President Biden made sure
    in Presidential drawdowns in the fall before the aggression,
    Christmas before the aggression, that the Ukrainians had
    stingers, javelins, and other things in their hands. We did it
    quietly; we did it effectively. They were able to prevent the
    takeover of Kyiv, and pushed back the Russian aggression.
        Every single step along the way, we have worked to get them
    what they need when they need it. But as you know, it is not
    just the weapon systems that count. You have got to make sure
    that people are trained on them, because if they are not
    trained on them, it doesn't do you any good to have an Abrams
    tank if you can't drive it, if you can't maintain it, which is
    particularly complicated with some of this technology. Again,
    it doesn't do you much good to have it.
        So I think the way that the Department of Defense, for
    example, has looked at this is to make sure that if we are
    providing things, we do it in a comprehensive way so that it is
    actually usable and sustainable because, again, otherwise it is
    not going to do you much good. And certainly that was the case
    with the Abrams tanks. F-16s, there are no pilots to actually
    fly them, so we are training. Others are training the pilots.
        So all of these things do have a, you know, a timeline to
    them. You are right, but I think it is not simply a matter of
    providing the tank, or the plane, or the missile, it is making
    sure that the entire infrastructure is there, from the ability
    to use them, the ability to maintain them, and then, of course,
    to have a concrete plan to make sure they are used effectively.
        Senator Collins. Well, from my perspective, there has been
    slow-walking of certain weapons and munitions, which I hope we
    can overcome. I want to switch to a different issue, and that
    is that just yesterday, the Special Inspector General for
    Afghanistan Reconstruction released a report that found that
    since August of 2021, at least $10.9 million in U.S. taxpayer
    dollars has been provided to the Taliban-controlled Government
    by 38 implementing partners of the Department of Defense,
    USAID, and the U.S. Agency for Global Media. How does the
    Department explain the Inspector General's assertion that U.S.
    assistance is going to the Taliban through taxes, fees, and
    duties?
        Secretary Blinken. Yes. Well, two things, Senator. First, I
    haven't seen the report, but I promise you I will look at it
    promptly. We are engaged with the Inspector General on this on
    a daily basis. We are responding to inquiries. We have, I
    think, dedicated something like 13,000 staff hours since we
    left Afghanistan, to working with the Inspector General's
    Office, and we are committed to doing that.
        I want to make sure that we are responsive, and responsive
    in real-time. So I will look at this as soon as possible. Are
    there, fees, taxes, and things that get collected by the
    Taliban? That sounds, unfortunately, logical. And maybe there
    is, in this case, I don't know. I don't want to speak to it not
    having seen the report. Maybe there is, unfortunately, a cost
    of doing business by some of these organizations that are
    trying to provide desperately needed assistance to people in
    Afghanistan.
        Senator Collins. I hope you will get back to me on that.
    Finally, Mr. Secretary, illegal marijuana grows in Maine and
    elsewhere, pose a significant national security and public
    health risk. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration's
    2024 Assessment, there has been a notable uptick in the number
    of illicit marijuana cultivation sites linked to Chinese and
    other Asian organized crime groups. That includes my State of
    Maine, where between 100 and 200 sites have been identified.
        Mr. Secretary, are these Chinese criminal syndicates
    operating these illegal marijuana grows in our country with the
    knowledge and consent of the Government of China?
        Secretary Blinken. Senator, first of all, let me defer to
    DEA on this, because they have the expertise about what is
    going on in the United States. But I would welcome working with
    you on this. Dealing with countering narcotics is a big part of
    our engagement with China. We are, of course, very focused on
    synthetic opioids, fentanyl, but any drug that poses a problem
    and is threatening our communities is something that we are
    deeply concerned with. So I would welcome following up with you
    on this.
        Senator Collins. Thank you.
        Secretary Blinken. Thanks.

        [The statement follows:]
           Prepared Statement of Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, distinguished members of the
    Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you.
        And thank you for your partnership to advance American leadership
    in the world that is so essential for delivering on the priorities that
    matter to our people at home.
        The need for U.S. global leadership--and cooperation with allies
    and partners--has never been greater.
        The People's Republic of China is pursuing military, economic, and
    geopolitical preeminence, challenging our vision for a free, open,
    secure, and prosperous international order.
        Russia is committing aggression not only against Ukraine, but
    against the principles at the heart of the UN Charter--sovereignty,
    territorial integrity, independence--that are the building blocks of
    global peace and security.
        In the Middle East, we're standing with Israel in its efforts to
    ensure what happened on October 7th never happens again, as we do
    everything we can to bring an end to the terrible human suffering in
    Gaza and prevent the conflict from spreading.
        U.S. leadership is needed to address humanitarian crises elsewhere
    around the world, including in Sudan and Haiti, where millions have
    been displaced and many killed . . .  and to address global issues that
    no country can solve alone, including food security, the changing
    climate, transnational corruption, and the fentanyl crisis.
        But, with support from Congress, we can and we are approaching
    these challenges from a position of strength. Because of the actions
    we've taken, the U.S. is stronger economically, diplomatically, and
    militarily than we were 3 years ago.
        We've made historic investments at home in our competitiveness,
    innovation, and infrastructure. We've renewed our alliances, built new
    ones, and secured unprecedented alignment with key partners in Europe,
    Asia, and beyond.
        We've delivered essential American aid to Ukraine . . .  and we've
    rallied the international community to share the burden. For every
    dollar we've sent in economic and development assistance, others have
    collectively invested three more.
        Many doubted whether bipartisan support for Ukraine and other
    urgent national security priorities could endure. But last month,
    Congress demonstrated to the world that we will not pull back, when you
    passed President Biden's supplemental funding bill by an overwhelming
    margin.
        Our investment abroad does not come at the expense of our strength
    at home--far from it. Most of the supplemental is being spent here in
    the United States, building up our defense industrial base and creating
    and supporting thousands of American jobs.
        We need to keep up this momentum. That requires a State Department
    budget that will fully resource our response to the challenges of our
    time.
        The President's FY 2025 budget--requesting $58.8 billion for the
    State Department and USAID--does that in two key ways.
        First, it funds the essential missions of our Department and USAID.
    The budget will ensure the United States continues to be the partner of
    choice that countries turn to when they need to solve big problems. In
    an era of renewed great power competition, we must present the
    strongest possible offer: one that is relevant and responsive to
    countries' needs, and that advances our security and economic
    interests.
        That's why we're requesting $2 billion for a new fund to build
    high- quality, sustainable infrastructure around the world. Crucially,
    investments like these create jobs for Americans and expand markets for
    our businesses.
        We're requesting resources for the World Bank. With $1 billion in
    U.S. funding, we can unlock another $36 billion in development fund
    capacity to direct to the top priorities of emerging economies. That's
    an enormous return on our investment--and essential for competing with
    China around the world.
        The budget also includes $1.7 billion for international
    organizations, including the United Nations, APEC, and the Inter-
    American Development Bank, to help shape them in ways that reflect our
    interests and values.
        We're asking for $500 million to give more people around the world
    access to secure Internet and digital technologies. Doing so will
    support the U.S. economy through the export of our technology products
    . . .  and it will help ensure we, and our fellow democracies, remain
    the leaders and standard-setters in key technologies like artificial
    intelligence.
        Our budget includes funding to address global issues that affect
    the lives and livelihoods of the American people, as well as people
    around the world--especially the synthetic drugs crisis. It also funds
    our response to irregular migration, global food insecurity, public
    health, and climate and energy security.
        We're also asking Congress to fully fund the State Department's
    educational and cultural exchanges. They are one of our best and most
    cost-effective tools for advancing U.S. values and interests around the
    world--and they support the students, researchers, and young
    professionals from our communities who study and work abroad.
        To outcompete our strategic rivals, we need to invest in the
    foundation of our strength abroad: America's diplomatic corps. That's
    the second pillar of this budget.
        Our budget makes a strong investment in expanding our overseas
    presence, opening posts in the Pacific Islands and Eastern Caribbean.
        It will also continue our modernization of American diplomacy. We
    are organizing the department and attracting and retaining the talent
    needed to take on 21st century challenges . . .  investing in our
    people in Washington and at posts overseas, with training and
    technology . . .  and promoting agility, innovation, and efficiency in
    our processes.
        Last year's enacted budget level represented a 5 percent cut from
    the year before. That challenges our efforts to deliver the results
    Congress and the American people deserve.
        I urge you to support this budget, which helps us address the most
    pressing foreign policy priorities of the coming year . . .  and lays
    the foundation for strong U.S. leadership in the years ahead.
        I'm grateful for this committee's partnership and your time. And I
    look forward to answering your questions.

        Senator Coons. Senator Murray, Chair Murray.
        Senator Murray. Thank you very much, Chair Coons, and thank
    you, Secretary Blinken, for joining us.
        As I think every Member of this Committee would agree, this
    is an extremely challenging moment across the world, and amid
    these challenges, your Department's work couldn't be more
    important. Our strength at home and across the world isn't just
    measured by the strength of our military; it is measured by our
    diplomacy, our influence abroad, and our strategic investments,
    like supporting our allies, building partnerships,
    strengthening trade and supply chains, and protecting
    civilians.
        That is why these types of investments were a key part of
    the National Security Supplemental that I worked so hard to
    pass earlier this year. We proved Congress can still come
    together to stand by our allies, like in Ukraine, and show
    American leadership is still strong. We know there is a lot
    more work to do.
        So when it comes to America's national security, it is
    absolutely critical we ensure that your Department has the
    resources needed to fulfill its essential mission. After all,
    Vladimir Putin is not operating his brutal invasion by a CR.
    And President Xi, certainly, is not cutting investment in
    diplomacy, or military, or economic assistance, or
    international development
        The lesson should be clear: when we fail to properly invest
    in the State Department and the powerful diplomatic tools we
    have, our adversaries fill the gap. So I am delighted you are
    here today and look forward to the conversation.
        Mr. Secretary, U.S. foreign policy should reflect our
    interests, and that means being consistent with our values.
    That includes protecting human rights and upholding the rule of
    law. We have to stand by our allies in time of need, and at the
    same time we have a responsibility to make sure weapons we
    provide do not contribute to violations of international
    humanitarian law, which exists to limit the suffering caused by
    warfare even when the war itself is justified.
        In May, the administration transmitted its first report
    under National Security Memorandum 20 to Congress. This report
    found it was reasonable to assess some partner countries are
    using U.S.-provided weapons in a manner that is inconsistent
    with international law. Clearly, more needs to be done to
    ensure human rights and the rule of law are central in our
    decisions regarding to what extent and under what conditions we
    provide security assistance to partner countries. What steps
    are you taking to ensure security assistance, legal
    requirements, and policies are being fully implemented?
        Secretary Blinken. Thank you very much, Chair. And let me
    first say I fully agree with you. And it is imperative that as
    we provide security assistance, defense support to other
    countries, to allies, and partners, that it be used in a way
    that upholds international humanitarian law, the law of armed
    conflict, et cetera.
        And we have processes in place, in fact, newly established
    in this administration, to try to make sure that we are doing
    that, particularly when it comes to the Conventional Arms
    Transfer Policy, something we call the CHIRG process, which
    tries to assess whether, in any given incident involving
    civilian casualties, American weapons were used. And those
    processes are actually underway.
        We have multiple inquiries going on with regard to specific
    incidents. I am referring here to Gaza, the challenge, and I
    think it is reflected in the NSM Report that you referred to,
    the challenge is making final determinations in the midst of a
    war, in the midst of conflict. It is very hard to get all of
    the dispositive information. We are not on the ground. We don't
    have access. In the case of Gaza, you have an extraordinarily
    complicated battlefield where Hamas, a terrorist organization,
    hides behind, and underneath civilians, and apartment
    buildings, and hospitals, and mosques, making it very, very
    difficult to make final real-time assessments.
        But as you have noted, and as the report concluded, given
    the totality of the damage that has been done to civilians in
    Gaza, and given the fact that there is American weaponry is
    there, it was reasonable to assess that in some instances it
    had been used in ways that are not consistent with
    international humanitarian law.
        These instances are under investigation. They are under
    investigation by us. They are also under investigation by
    Israel. There are hundreds of open inquiries in Israel. There
    are criminal investigations that are underway in Israel. And
    our own process, I take very seriously. We can't have double
    standards, whether it is Israel or any other country that we
    provide weapons to, in making sure, to the best of our ability,
    that they are used consistent with the requirements of
    International Humanitarian Law.
        Senator Murray. Do you have sufficient staff and resources
    to meet that objective?
        Secretary Blinken. It is a very good question, and it is
    something that we are looking very hard at, because I think in
    order to do something like this in real-time, the answer is
    probably no. It is incredibly labor-intensive. And even with
    that, not having access in the midst of a war makes it even
    more difficult. We are looking at ways that we can better
    resource what we are doing. And that is certainly something we
    will come to you with because I want to make sure that we do it
    as thoroughly and as effectively as possible, even given the
    conditions in which we are doing it.
        Senator Murray. Okay. Thank you. And let me turn to
    Ukraine. I really appreciated your update on where you are
    deploying new weapons and non-military aid to Ukraine. But
    despite our tireless efforts here in the Senate, the National
    Security Supplemental was significantly delayed. And I am very
    worried about the window that has now given Putin and Russia to
    build up their forces and make the advances that we have seen
    in the last few weeks. I am also really concerned about reports
    of Russia's increased weapons production and the challenges the
    U.S., our European partners, and Ukraine will have in keeping
    up with them.
        You were just in Kyiv.
        Secretary Blinken. Um-hum.
        Senator Murray. Given the recent gains on the battlefield
    by Russia, what is your assessment of how quickly the aid and
    support alongside our allies could translate to the Ukrainians
    holding the line or, in fact, regaining territory?
        Secretary Blinken. So I think it is translating into that
    right now. Items that were funded or supported by the
    supplemental are already there, and much more is flowing. But
    we have already seen that arrive. I think it has had two
    impacts: clearly a psychological impact, which Ukraine very
    much needed in this moment, and it really bucked them up to
    know that all of this was on the way. But we are also starting
    to see a practical impact in terms of these necessary pieces of
    equipment, and arms getting into the hands of Ukrainians when
    they need it most.
        Now, what is going on in the northeast, you primarily have
    a challenge of making sure that in the first instance,
    Ukrainians have effective defenses against the attempt by the
    Russians to create a buffer zone and to challenge Kharkiv. But
    I think we are getting to a point where that is starting to
    come into effect.
        So my hope and expectation, based on what we have seen, is
    you will see a stronger and stronger resilience to what Russia
    is trying to do as a result of the supplemental, as a result of
    things that Europeans are providing. But I have to tell you,
    there was real damage done over the last 8 months, and that
    gap, unfortunately, was filled to some extent by the Russians
    pushing forward. Now, I think the Ukrainians have the means to
    more effectively deal with that.
        Senator Murray. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr.
    Secretary.
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Chair Murray.
        Ranking Member Graham.
        Senator Graham. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Mr. Secretary, I believe the money in this account is about
    1 percent of all Federal spending; is that correct?
        Secretary Blinken. That is correct, yes.
        Senator Graham. And out of that pot of money, we provide
    security for personnel, State Department officials all over the
    world, right?
        Secretary Blinken. That is right.
        Senator Graham. Have you ever seen more threats to us than
    you do today?
        Secretary Blinken. Senator, we are operating in an
    incredibly dangerous world, but we to be out there.
        Senator Graham. Right. So it is hard to get out there if
    you can't get off the compound. So this is 1 percent of the
    Federal budget. If you eliminated the entire account, you are
    not doing anything to balance the budget. We need Overseas
    Contingency Operations funding, in my view, for the Navy, and
    we need OCO for this account to deal with the threats we face,
    because the topline numbers--hats off to Senator Murray and
    Collins--are just insufficient to the threats we face. Do you
    generally agree with that, that the amount of money we are
    dealing with is insufficient to the threats we face?
        Secretary Blinken. Yes, I do.
        Senator Graham. Let us talk about money. In the
    supplemental, which I supported, there was a provision that
    allowed--it is called REPO (Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and
    Opportunity for Ukrainians Act)--allowing us to go after
    Russian sovereign wealth funds; is that correct?
        Secretary Blinken. Yes.
        Senator Graham. Are you having good luck in doing that?
        Secretary Blinken. We are starting to. And first of all, I
    want to thank you for that. I think that was a very important
    initiative. Just today, the European Union came to an agreement
    to use the interest from the sovereign assets and just to be
    able to use it for Ukraine.
        Senator Graham. What about the principal?
        Secretary Blinken. So the principal is the next challenge,
    and we are working hard on that. I think here is where we are.
    My hope is that we can come to an agreement, at the very least,
    on an arrangement by which the principal would, in effect,
    serve as collateral against a significant loan or bond that
    would free up a lot of money for the Ukrainians.
        Senator Graham. Count me in, and I think all of us are
    pushing our European allies to go after Russian assets to open
    up another front, to hit Putin and his cronies in the
    pocketbook. So I want to help you there. Do you support Russia
    being designated a state sponsor of terrorism?
        Secretary Blinken. So this is, I know, an ongoing
    conversation we have had and one that----
        Senator Graham. Well, I just got a few minutes, so.
        Secretary Blinken. Yes. So very quickly, look, I think my
    perspective is this. We have and we are using many other
    authorities that I think are more clearly applicable----
        Senator Graham. Well, we will talk offline. I would urge
    you to do this. We need to send a signal to Russia, we are
    serious at every level, and they deserve to be a state sponsor
    of terrorism. I got a list of people that died that is too long
    for me to run off and I can't say half their names. So it is
    just time for Putin to be labeled a state sponsor of terrorism.
    They have just wreaked havoc.
        Now let us get to the ICC. Did you reach out to the
    Prosecutor's Office about your concerns of bringing a case
    against Israel?
        Secretary Blinken. Yes.
        Senator Graham. Did you talk about the concept of
    complementarity?
        Secretary Blinken. That is exactly what I talked about
    because it is exactly as you said. My understanding of the
    Court's intent----
        Senator Graham. I want to, you know, we have a lot of
    differences, I want to thank you. I want to thank President
    Biden for issuing a strong statement. Your statement was
    terrific, Mr. Secretary. Senator Schumer was very, very good.
    I, along with many others, engaged the ICC to engage Israel
    before you made a final decision. At least listen to them and
    see if you could find common ground.
        Again, I want to repeat. The ICC were supposed to be on the
    ground yesterday; is that correct?
        Secretary Blinken. That is my understanding, yes.
        Senator Graham. And they informed the Israelis basically
    after the flight left, they were not coming; is that correct?
        Secretary Blinken. That is my understanding.
        Senator Graham. And there was a CNN interview with the
    Prosecutor General announcing the arrest warrant; is that
    correct?
        Secretary Blinken. That is my understanding, too.
        Senator Graham. Which was filmed before the flight was due
    to leave.
        Secretary Blinken. I believe that is----
        Senator Graham. I think that is bad-faith, folks. So I want
    to take actions, not just words. Will you support a bipartisan
    effort to sanction the ICC, not only for the outrage against
    Israel but to protect in the future, our own interests?
        Secretary Blinken. I welcome working with you on that.
        Senator Graham. Okay. Let it be said that we are going to
    work together to send a signal to the ICC: What you did was not
    only outrageous, you destroyed the rule of law as we know it,
    and you have given, like Venezuela, 9 months. And I have never
    been more disappointed. We worked together to help the ICC
    against Russia. Ungoverned spaces and rogue nations are the
    point of ICC, not Israel.
        So let us talk about the deal. Are you optimistic that the
    normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel is still
    possible?
        Secretary Blinken. I am. And I have to, first of all,
    applaud the work that you have done on this over many, many
    months in helping carry this forward. And I think we are at a
    point where the necessary agreements between the United States
    and Saudi Arabia are very well within reach, and of course, we
    would bring all of this before Congress. But then the question
    will be, if those agreements are able to be concluded, it still
    requires Israel to do certain things in order to proceed with
    normalization.
        Senator Graham. I have heard the statement the ball is
    about to be in Israel's court. Is that fair to say?
        Secretary Blinken. That is my assessment, yes.
        Senator Graham. Okay. So as I understand it, here is what
    is non-negotiable: nobody expects Hamas to be standing
    militarily when this war is over, right?
        Secretary Blinken. As I said----
        Senator Graham. We share Israel's view they must know
    militarily----
        Secretary Blinken. We share Israel's view that Hamas cannot
    be governing Gaza.
        Senator Graham. Right. And they cannot be a military threat
    to Israel. We all agree with that.
        Okay, now as to the Palestinian future, we were on
    television last week and I thought you laid out pretty
    eloquent: What is going to happen once the battalions are
    destroyed? What does the day after look like? Do you believe a
    military occupation of Gaza by Israel is sustainable?
        Secretary Blinken. No.
        Senator Graham. You know, I have real doubts about that
    myself. Do you believe that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have the
    capability, if they have the will, to turn Gaza and West Bank
    around?
        Secretary Blinken. I believe a number of countries could
    play an instrumental role in, at least on an interim basis if
    necessary, helping to provide security, helping to provide
    governance, to govern to themselves----
        Senator Graham. It could be a coalition of people.
        Secretary Blinken. Yes.
        Senator Graham. Do you believe Mohammed bin Salman is
    sincere in wanting to normalize with Israel?
        Secretary Blinken. Yes.
        Senator Graham. Do you believe that the Palestinian
    component is not the establishment of a Palestinian State on
    day one, but a process that may get to there?
        Secretary Blinken. There has to be a clear, credible
    pathway to state.
        Senator Graham. Right, but not the establishment of state
    on day one.
        Secretary Blinken. Well, day one is virtually impossible.
        Senator Graham. Yes, right.
        Secretary Blinken. But getting to a state in a time now
    where----
        Senator Graham. That is one of the things he wants. That is
    one of the things he wants, to recognize Israel.
        Secretary Blinken. Right. It has to be credible. It has to
    be clear, in my judgment we need to have something that is
    time-bound, and of course, it has to have the necessary
    security guarantees for Israel.
        Senator Graham. So you are not advocating any agreement
    between normalization that would compromise Israel's security
    regarding the Palestinian file?
        Secretary Blinken. No. And the whole point of
    normalization, but also the whole point of the establishment of
    a Palestinian State, is to make sure that Israel's security is
    better insured.
        Senator Graham. I have been over there several times,
    Senator Collins went, a lot of people here went--I know my time
    is up. I cannot see a better time than now, the need to come up
    with a plan for Gaza and the West Bank after Hamas falls, and
    it will, is real. The opportunity is historic. Do not let this
    moment pass. To my friends in Israel, I will never abandon your
    security, but we are going to have to sit down as a world to
    make some hard decisions.
        So Mr. Secretary, I have enjoyed working with you and
    National Security Advisor Sullivan, and the President. I have
    said publicly I think this needs to be done on your watch, and
    I want to say again publicly, as a Republican, I think most of
    my colleagues would embrace a security agreement between the
    United States and Saudi Arabia if it would lead to
    normalization and a brighter future for Israel and the
    Palestinian people. I believe that is the position of most
    people on my side of the aisle, and we want to help you.
        Secretary Blinken. Thank you, Senator.
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator Graham, and thank you for
    your dedicated and persistent pursuit of a path forward that
    would actually deliver the end of the Arab-Israeli conflict,
    recognition of Israel by Saudi Arabia, and a path towards self-
    governance for Palestinians. That is something so many of us
    hope we can see. And thank you, Mr. Secretary. Senator Durbin.
        Senator Durbin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, it
    is good to see you. And thank you for your tireless efforts on
    behalf of this Nation. I appreciate it.
        I would like to mention two political prisoners in
    different parts of the world that we have reached out to and
    been in contact with, a Cambodian-American, Democrat activist,
    Terry Singh, who is serving a 6-year sentence on nonsense
    charges. And Gulshan Abbas, a Chinese Uyghur doctor languishing
    in a Chinese prison on a 20-year dubious charge. I hope you
    will continue to advocate for these two.
        Secretary Blinken. The short answer is yes, we will, and we
    are.
        Senator Durbin. I want to reiterate something I said on the
    floor last week, specifically supporting President Biden, in
    suspending key weapons deliveries to Israel that could be used
    for a full assault on Gaza and Rafah. Our President has stood
    in solidarity with the Israeli people since the horrific
    October 7 Hamas attack, which I might add included taking
    hostage someone with ties to my State, Hersh Goldberg-Polin,
    there is recent evidence of life and survival, so we are
    anxious to see his return.
        But like President Biden, and like many of us, I have had
    enough with Prime Minister Netanyahu's strategy in Gaza that
    has caused the deaths of thousands of innocent Palestinians,
    many of whom are women and children. How can we, in good
    conscience, continue to supply Netanyahu with weapons for a war
    where he restricts access to humanitarian aid like food,
    medicine, and fuel, at the expense of women and children?
        Secretary Blinken. Senator, we have been determined from
    day one to do two things. One, to make sure that Israel had
    what it needs to defend itself, to make sure that October 7
    couldn't happen again. But also in so doing, to look out for
    the protection of civilians and their needs, their humanitarian
    needs. And from day one, we have been pushing, pressing Israel
    to make sure that access was there, supplies were there,
    distribution was there, deconfliction was there.
        And that has been virtually every single day of the last 8
    months, working on that to try to improve the conditions for
    those who are caught in this horrific crossfire of Hamas'
    making. And particularly the children, the women, the innocent
    men who are suffering terribly every single minute of every
    single day.
        Senator Durbin. We have heard over and over that there is
    an Israeli strategy to restrict access to humanitarian aid in
    Gaza, and as a consequence, children are starving to death and
    people are in desperate situations. I have personal friends of
    mine who have been there, medical doctors, the reports are
    horrific of what deprivation has been caused there. Is that at
    the hands of Israel's strategy, or is that a part of it?
        Secretary Blinken. In our judgment, this is not, and has
    not been a deliberate attempt to deny people what they need,
    but this has not been the priority that it should have been and
    needs to be in terms of what Israel is doing in Gaza. It is, as
    we know, an incredibly complicated terrain in which to operate,
    given the nature of the enemy and what it does.
        But we have said for some time, for a long time, that in
    our judgment, the needs of the civilian population need to be
    put front and center and to design everything else around that,
    not the other way around. Over these many months, as we have
    gotten different access points open, starting with Rafah back
    in October, to Kerem Shalom some weeks later, to other crossing
    points, whether it was Erez or the 96 Crossing, the route from
    Jordan with trucks, now our own maritime pier.
        All of this has been designed, and with Israel's
    cooperation, to get assistance to people who desperately need
    it. But it has not been enough. It has not been effectively
    distributed, and people continue to suffer grievously. So we
    are working to do everything we can to maximize what they get.
    Deconfliction remains a real problem as well.
        Senator Durbin. So I understand the administration's
    position and agree with it, that when it comes to denying them,
    for example, access to 2,000-pound bombs, which may destroy the
    lives of innocent people and certainly would in these confined
    circumstances, that is an express statement by the United
    States that any policy of the Israelis that includes those
    bombs, we are not going to be complicit. Is that true?
        Secretary Blinken. To be clear about what the President
    said, and we have shared this for some time, we have deep
    concerns, and in fact cannot support a major military operation
    going into Rafah absent a credible plan to protect civilians.
    We haven't seen such a plan. We have deep concerns in a dense
    urban environment, like Rafah, with the use of something like a
    2,000-pound bomb. That is why we have been engaged in a
    discussion with the Israelis about it.
        Senator Durbin. So the point I am getting to though is when
    you look at the interdiction or denial of humanitarian aid and
    the deaths of innocent people, particularly women and children,
    what are we doing to put the pressure on Israel to stop that?
        Secretary Blinken. I think that is there every single day.
    The President has been very clear with Prime Minister Netanyahu
    about that. I have done the same with my various counterparts.
    We have commitments from Israel, including in writing, about
    the steps that haven't been taken that need to be taken, that
    they say they will take and are taking, and we are working to
    hold them to those steps. We have to make sure that more aid
    gets into more people more effectively.
        Senator Durbin. When I see this television coverage of
    miles and miles of trucks waiting to bring humanitarian aid,
    and I am thinking while there----
        [Audience outburst.]
        Senator Durbin. At the same time that these children are
    starving and being denied basic medical assistance, it strikes
    me that we are building extraordinary piers, temporary piers,
    at a cost of millions of dollars because the Israelis will not
    open up the gates to let the trucks in. Am I drawing----
        Secretary Blinken. No, the pier, the pier which is now
    functional, was designed to be a complement to, and not a
    substitute for these gates.
        Senator Durbin. So the gates are open?
        Secretary Blinken. So in the north, we have Erez and Zikim,
    which were recently opened. We have routes in the south though,
    and this is what has happened in the last couple of weeks, with
    the operations now taking place in the area of Rafah, and
    particularly the Rafah gate that was shut down. Kerem Shalom
    was operating at much less capacity than before because of the
    military operations that Israel is engaged in, in the last few
    weeks.
        So what we don't--what we don't want to see is a reversal.
    We had terrible problems, particularly in the north, in getting
    aid in, and the north was a particularly acute disaster area
    for the people that were still there. That has been improved,
    again not sufficiently, in opening these crossings from the
    north. We have convoys coming in from Jordan as well that are
    going directly to the north, Ashdod Port. But now the situation
    in the south is deeply, deeply, deeply concerning because these
    gates have either been shut down, or they are not operating as
    efficiently as they should.
        Senator Durbin. I hope that the United States, through the
    President, will take the same resolute, determined stand when
    it comes to the interdiction of humanitarian aid. We have been
    briefed by credible sources that there is little or no
    smuggling taking place into Hamas, and that the basic
    foodstuffs and medicine and fuel that are needed for these
    families that are struggling to survive there is being stopped,
    and it trickles in instead of coming in at full force. I hope
    we show the same level of determination for that as we did with
    these 2,000-pound bombs.
        Secretary Blinken. We do. Thank you.
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator Durbin. Senator Boozman.
        Senator Moran, my apologies.
        Senator Moran. Thank you, Senator Boozman. Thank you, Mr.
    Chairman.
        Mr. Secretary, the introduction of Russian troops into
    Niger, the same base as where American personnel, including
    Kansas Members of the National Guard, are stationed. What is
    being communicated to the Junta in Niamey to make certain our
    service members are protected, and what can you assure me about
    our pending withdrawal, that it will be safe and responsible?
        Secretary Blinken. Thank you, Senator. My number one
    priority, the number one priority as the Secretary of Defense
    in this case, is Force protection or personnel protection. And
    particularly in a situation like Niger, where, yes, we had a
    coup, we sought to reach an agreement with the junta or the
    government that exists now about staying. We haven't been able
    to reach an agreement that meets our needs.
        But we have been absolutely clear with them about the
    imperative of making sure that as we pull forces out, we do it
    in a way that is safe and secure for those forces, just as our
    Embassy personnel needs to be protected. We have assurances
    from the Government about that, but my number one priority is
    making sure that whatever happens as we proceed with bringing
    forces out, it is done in a way that protects them.
        Senator Moran. I think I read in the general press about a
    September 15 date for departure.
        Secretary Blinken. That is correct.
        Senator Moran. What is that based on? Why from now until
    then?
        Secretary Blinken. Basically, the amount of time it takes
    to do it safely, securely, to retrograde all of the material
    that is there. Again, to your point, we also want to make sure
    that we not only bring our people home, we bring all of the
    equipment home, technology home, because we certainly don't
    want Russians or Russian proxies getting a hold of that.
        Senator Moran. Related but concerning is we have spent
    billions of dollars in security assistance for countries across
    the Sahel, including training their militaries. I think we have
    seen five coups by the very military that the U.S. is training,
    since 2020, and the numbers I have seen suggest that terrorism-
    related activities grow by 2000 percent in the last 15 years.
    What is it that we need to do to change our policies? And where
    do we go; emphasis on security assistance versus governance,
    peace building, conflict resolution?
        Secretary Blinken. Yes. I think you put your finger on
    something critical, which is that as necessary as the security
    and military assistance is, it is not sufficient. And a more
    comprehensive approach that gets at trying to build government
    capacity, institutions, transparency, economic development,
    social needs, all of those things are imperative if we are
    actually going to have something that is sustainable.
        So we have some comprehensive plans in place to do that
    with some of the countries surrounding the Sahel. We have the
    Global Fragility Act, thanks to Congress, and indeed many
    Members of this Committee, that gives us both the means and the
    long-term approach to try to help build that up. Because I
    think if we don't, all the security assistance in the world is
    probably not going to work, and we are going to be on the wrong
    end of what you have just described.
        Senator Moran. Mr. Secretary, I think in last year's
    hearing, I raised this topic and asked this question. There are
    lots of reasons that this is important, but we have an average
    400-day wait time to receive a visitor's visa to the United
    States. Senator Klobuchar and I have introduced the Visa
    Process Improvement Act. I am reminding you that we have the
    Olympics coming to the United States, FIFA World Cup in 2026.
    Eleven cities, including Kansas City, are hosting this event--
    these events. It is expected to attract eight million
    international visitors. What is the plan? Is there changes that
    we have not yet seen that improve the situation for the visa
    processing system to address this 400-day average wait?
        Secretary Blinken. Yes. In short, yes. And we have been on
    this relentlessly. And the fact is, right now, more visitors
    can travel to the United States than ever before. As a result
    of visas, for fiscal year 2023, we issued 10.5 million
    nonimmigrant visas, and that exceeds what we issued before the
    pandemic, which is when we got into a great deal of difficulty.
    It exceeds it by 20 percent.
        We have, with a high standard for security and vetting,
    which of course remains critical in what we are doing. We have
    reduced interview wait times across the board. They are now at
    pre-pandemic levels in every single category, except for first-
    time visitors to the United States from non-visa waiver
    countries. So this is an area that we are putting particular
    focus on because every other wait time is actually below now
    pre-pandemic wait times.
        The processing times that are most impactful to our
    economy, whether it is students, temporary workers, business
    travelers, all of those wait times are actually down. So we
    have to focus on, and we are focused on, the first-time
    travelers who are not coming from visa waiver countries. We
    have dedicated extensive resources to this to make sure that
    both in our embassies and back home, we can do what is
    necessary to process people and process them quickly.
        Senator Moran. Is there any evidence, Mr. Secretary, that
    China has taken steps, tangible steps, to reduce the flow of
    fentanyl and precursor chemicals into the United States?
        Secretary Blinken. Yes. A good start, but not enough. By a
    ``good start'', I mean this: after the meeting between
    President Biden and President Xi, President Biden secured an
    agreement by China to act, and act more effectively on this.
    And what we have seen since then is the promulgation of new
    regulations to their chemical-producing companies. We have seen
    them take down some companies that were engaged in the illicit
    transfer of chemical precursors. And in addition, they
    established with us a working group so that we are working on
    this regularly, and we can bring information to them about
    things that we are seeing.
        Having said that, we believe that to really have an impact
    on the flow of these precursors that typically would go to
    Mexico, synthesized into fentanyl, coming to the United States,
    there are a few things that we really need to see. One is very
    public law enforcement, with prosecutions and convictions of
    people or enterprises that are engaged in this.
        Two, there are a number of chemical precursors that should
    be scheduled that China, at least theoretically, has agreed to
    schedule, that they still haven't, thus making it more
    difficult for companies to divert them.
        And third, there is a financial nexus between some actors
    and entities in China and criminal organizations, in Mexico in
    particular, that they need to act on.
        Senator Moran. Is China ambivalent, or it actually gains
    benefit from supporting the trade?
        Secretary Blinken. I think from what we have seen, they saw
    it before as principally a problem for us, and a demand problem
    that we were not addressing effectively. We have made it clear
    to them that: One, this is a number one priority for us. As you
    know well, Americans between the ages of 18 and 49, the number
    one killer is fentanyl, synthetic opioid . So this is a
    national emergency.
        Second, what we have seen is that even as our markets have
    become saturated, these criminal enterprises are making markets
    elsewhere around the world, in our own hemisphere, in Europe,
    in Asia. And we made it clear to China there is going to be a
    growing demand signal on you to act responsibly in dealing with
    this. You may not care so much if it is coming from us. You are
    probably going to care more if it is coming from a lot of other
    countries. We put together a coalition now of almost 150
    countries and organizations to deal globally with the synthetic
    drug crisis. And I think China is hearing those demand signals,
    and we are seeing action. But again, it is a start, but it is
    not enough.
        Senator Moran. Thank you.
        Senator Coons. Senator Van Hollen.
        Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Senator Schatz, and good to
    see you again, Mr. Secretary. I do want to follow up here where
    we left off earlier in this morning's Senate Foreign Relations
    Committee hearing. I did hear your exchange with Senator
    Murray, where you indicated that in the middle of a conflict,
    it would be difficult to reach any final conclusions about
    whether or not U.S. weapons were used in violation of
    International Humanitarian Law. I would just point out that
    there are many other conflicts where we are able to quickly
    make and do issue those kinds of judgments.
        But what I don't think is complicated at all is if you look
    at the period of time from October 7, the terrible Hamas
    October 7 attacks, to the present, I don't think it is
    complicated to conclude that the Netanyahu Government has
    complied with international norms with respect to the delivery
    of humanitarian assistance, along that continuum of time.
        Is it your testimony today that the Netanyahu government
    has complied with international norms when it comes to
    delivering humanitarian assistance to desperate people in Gaza
    since October 7 until today?
        Secretary Blinken. I think there has been a huge gap
    between stated intent and actual results. And that is a gap
    that we have been trying to close every single day. And I think
    that is what we have been seeing for many months.
        Senator Van Hollen. Mr. Secretary. I get that. You know,
    obviously my question was whether or not there have been
    violations of international norms, which I think to any person
    with eyes to see and ears to hear, there have been. And as you
    know, there are many people in the U.S. Government who have
    reached similar conclusions, and actually it has been well
    reported on. So I think that does hurt our credibility when we
    are not able to make that clear call.
        Let me move on to the issue where we were in agreement, I
    think, this morning, which is that it is in our national
    security interest to have a durable end to the conflict in Gaza
    and to the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And that we can
    only achieve security, and self-determination, and dignity and
    justice for Israelis and Palestinians alike by securing a
    normalization of relations with Israel and Saudi Arabia and
    other states, as well as a clear plan, I think you said a time-
    bound plan, to establish a Palestinian state. Am I paraphrasing
    that fairly?
        Secretary Blinken. That is correct.
        Senator Van Hollen. And you agree that it is not possible
    to achieve a secure and just end to the Israeli-Palestinian
    conflict by jumping over the equities of the Palestinian
    people; is that right?
        Secretary Blinken. Absolutely not. That is impossible. It
    would be self-defeating.
        Senator Van Hollen. I want to emphasize that point because,
    you know, Mr. Secretary, you have been around Washington for a
    long time, and it has been fashionable, in some foreign policy
    circles, to believe that you could do that, that you could
    somehow achieve peace and stability and security by jumping
    over the Palestinian issue.
        And I want to emphasize this because you have said that the
    Saudis are insistent on a clear path to a Palestinian state and
    a time-bound path, but it is also in our national security
    interest. So are we also insistent on that?
        Secretary Blinken. Yes, we are. And again, it is
    interesting and I think instructive to note that perhaps the
    two most vicious and vociferous enemies of a two-state solution
    are Hamas and Iran. That should tell you something. And it also
    should tell you what a rebuke to both Hamas and Iran it would
    be if we could finally get on this pathway in a credible and
    time-bound way. And I think certainly everything we have heard
    from the Saudis in the context of having these normalization
    discussions makes it clear that they feel the same way.
        Senator Van Hollen. Well, I am glad you raised that because
    there is one other party, right, in addition to the two that
    you mentioned, that has been dead set against a Palestinian
    state and a two-state solution. In December of 2022, just the
    day before the new Netanyahu government was sworn in, Netanyahu
    issued a list of priorities for this new very extreme
    government, and I am quoting, one of his guiding principles
    was, ``The Jewish people have an exclusive and inalienable
    right to all parts of the land of Israel,'' meaning including
    all the West Bank.
        So I want to read to you something else that Prime
    Minister--now Prime Minister Netanyahu said back in 2019 at a
    Likud Meeting, and this has been well reported, and I quote,
    ``Anyone who wants to prevent the creation of a Palestinian
    State needs to support strengthening Hamas. This is part of our
    strategy to divide the Palestinians between those in Gaza, and
    those in Judea and Samaria.''
        So Mr. Secretary, you mentioned some of the other opponents
    of a two-state solution, and it is absolutely true that Hamas
    believes in one state, right? Their despicable endgame is one
    state where they wipe out the state of Israel, right? And so
    can you be really clear as to why Prime Minister Netanyahu is
    simply misrepresenting the case when he says that a Palestinian
    state and a two-state solution would be, quote, ``A reward for
    Hamas''; isn't it exactly the opposite?
        Secretary Blinken. I believe it is exactly the opposite.
    Now, of course, a Palestinian state has to come with the
    necessary security guarantees for Israel. No one wants to see a
    state emerge that would become a threat to Israel, and I think
    there are effective ways to make sure that that doesn't happen.
        But yes, to your point, again, I think the biggest rebuke
    to Hamas and to Iran would be the realization of a Palestinian
    state alongside a Jewish and democratic Israel.
        Senator Van Hollen. And I agree with you 100 percent, Mr.
    Secretary. I just want us to be clear-eyed about all the forces
    that are arrayed against us. Part of the effort to undermine
    the PA, or the two-state solution has been undermining the
    Palestinian Authority.
        As you know, Finance Minister Smotrich has been withholding
    funds for the PA, which is weakening the PA and creating an
    even more unstable security situation on the West Bank. Today,
    Ben-Gvir talked about reoccupying Gaza. He said he would like
    to live in Gaza. This is today reported. So my question, Mr.
    Secretary, is what are we willing to do when people like
    Finance Minister Smotrich hold up funds for the PA, weakening
    security? And at what point do we say that our continued
    support is contingent on more cooperation?
        Secretary Blinken. I think if you ask the Israeli security
    forces, whether it is the intelligence forces, Shin Bet,
    whether it is the IDF, they will tell you that the PA plays an
    absolutely critical--essential role in trying to preserve
    security and stability on the West Bank. They do it in an
    incredibly difficult environment, precisely because they are
    constantly being starved for funds.
        They are doing work that is actually vital to Israel's
    security. And so it is manifestly against the interests of
    Israel, and it is against our own interests to see the PA
    undermined in the fashion that some are attempting to undermine
    it.
        Second, in terms of governance going forward, it is
    imperative that not only the conflict in Gaza end as soon as
    possible, but that Israel come forward with a clear plan for
    how Gaza is going to be governed, secured, and redeveloped,
    because the trajectory we are on right now, in the absence of
    such a plan, is either Israel stays and occupies the Gaza,
    which is unacceptable to us, and should be unacceptable to
    them, because they will be inheriting an insurgency that will
    bleed them for a long time.
        Or if they are not going to do it, then Hamas will come
    back. And we have seen already in areas that have been
    ``cleared'' by Israel, the return, in some cases, of Hamas. Or
    you will simply have anarchy, lawlessness, which we see in most
    parts of Gaza right now, and that eventually will be filled
    almost certainly by something bad, even worse than the
    lawlessness.
        So there is an imperative, an absolute imperative for that.
    We believe strongly that, of course, Palestinians must be
    governing themselves, whether it is in Gaza, whether it is the
    West Bank, and whether it is ultimately, of course, in a
    Palestinian State. And right now, for all of its deficiencies
    and challenges, the Palestinian Authority is the best vehicle
    for that. They have a new Prime Minister, they have a new
    government, they have a reform plan which needs to be
    implemented.
        In our own engagements with the Prime Minister, he struck
    us as someone who is serious and focused on actually trying to
    reform the PA, so it is responsive to the needs of the people,
    and that it roots out corruption. But of course, if it has no
    resources to work with, it is going to be impossible to do the
    job. So we are at this constantly, including trying to make
    sure that the revenues that the PA is entitled to actually get
    to the PA.
        Senator Van Hollen. Thank you. And I do think this is sort
    of the last gasp, the coming year, for a two-state solution,
    and it is going to require strong U.S. leadership. Thank you.
        Secretary Blinken. Thank you, Senator.
        Senator Coons. Senator Schatz.
        Senator Schatz. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you, Secretary.
    I want to follow up on Senator Van Hollen's line of
    questioning.
        The Israelis' Defense Minister called on Prime Minister
    Netanyahu to quote, ``Make a decision and declare that Israel
    will not establish civilian control or military governance in
    Gaza'', and that quote, ``A governing alternative to Hamas in
    the Gaza Strip be raised immediately.'' Can you comment on
    that?
        Secretary Blinken. We agree with what the Defense Minister
    has said, and other members of the cabinet have said. And it is
    just as I said: in the absence of such a plan, the trajectory
    is very negative in terms of Israel's own interests. So it is
    imperative that we see that.
        Now, we have not been standing still. We have been working
    very, very intently with many Arab partners over the last 3
    months, 4 months, on developing possible plans for Gaza, for
    post-conflict Gaza, because we also see that as a means of
    speeding the end to the conflict which we very much want to see
    as soon as possible, so that the suffering of people stops.
        Now, of course, and it is unfortunate, more than
    unfortunate, this has gotten lost from the conversation. Hamas
    could have arranged that--for that on day one by surrendering,
    giving up the hostages, putting down its arms, stop hiding
    behind people, and using them as human shields. Of course, it
    has not done that, and the fact that there has been virtual
    silence on that these many months, also is deeply unfortunate.
        But there, it is imperative that there be a clear plan and
    that Israel is ready to move on it. Otherwise, we are going to
    wind up exactly where I described to Senator Van Hollen.
        Senator Schatz. Yes. That is right. I mean no decision is a
    decision, right? Sort of sandbagging this ends us, inevitably,
    in a place where there are no two states, and there is some
    version of chaos. But I am glad you said that about Hamas,
    because I do think that, you know, one of the things that
    Members of this Committee, Members of Congress, even in
    American society, go straight to, is that we do criticize
    Israel, and I think they are worthy of criticism.
        But one of the reasons we criticize Israel is because they
    will listen sometimes, and it is not common for a Member of
    Congress to criticize Hamas, and it is not like as similar as
    reading a statement worried about whether or not they are in
    good standing with the American public. And so, I do think it
    is worth reiterating that without a partner for peace, it is
    going to be incredibly difficult.
        I want to pursue the question of normalization. You have
    talked to Senator Graham and others about where we are. It
    seems to me that we have many of the partners ready to go and
    the Prime Minister is the sort of last piece of that; is that a
    fair characterization of where we are?
        Secretary Blinken. Well, look, in fairness, we have had a
    lot of work to do to try to get as close to final as possible
    agreements on normalization between us and Saudi Arabia that
    are part of this--that would be part of this Arrangement, and
    of course, those are agreements if we reach them in principle,
    that we will bring to Congress. But I think we are at a point
    now where those Agreements are very much within reach, very
    close reach, and that suddenly turns what has been a
    theoretical or hypothetical into an actual question, to get the
    answer.
        Senator Schatz. I guess the question I am trying to figure
    out is, when you talk about how sort of vanishingly close, and
    that is what the public reporting has been, is that things are
    actually going reasonably well in the kind of ``bilat'' piece.
        Secretary Blinken. Um-hum. Yes.
        Senator Schatz. The problem is that this is not a bilateral
    negotiation; so where are we with that?
        Secretary Blinken. So I think, my point is this: For
    Israel, in talking about this until now, it has been a sort of
    theoretical or hypothetical conversation, assuming we reach
    conclusion on these agreements with Saudi Arabia, all of a
    sudden that becomes a real question. We are in effect calling
    the question. And I can't tell you what the answer will be. But
    actually having to answer the question as opposed to answering
    something that might happen is a very different thing.
        I can't tell you whether Israel, whether it is the Prime
    Minister or the country as a whole, is prepared to do in this
    moment, what would be necessary to actually realize
    normalization, because that requires an end to Gaza, and it
    requires a credible pathway to a Palestinian State.
        Are they able and willing to do that in this moment? I
    don't know, but until you actually pose the question in a
    concrete way, we are not going to find out.
        Senator Schatz. I want to go back to the humanitarian aid
    question, and the sort of throughput of the various crossings,
    and the pier and all the rest of it. We all know we want more,
    we all know that we are dissatisfied with both Hamas, and IDF,
    and the Israeli Government on the throughput. My question is
    rather specific: Where are we on numbers? How close are we to a
    sort of steady state of obviously still not a good situation
    but alleviating suffering?
        I know there was a number thrown around between 500 and 600
    trucks. You know these crossings get open. The numbers are
    getting fuzzy, so that all we do is sort of point our finger in
    the air, and say you ought to do more. How much more do we need
    to accomplish? And what specifically needs to happen in order
    to accomplish that?
        Secretary Blinken. I think, Senator, the all is two-fold.
    First, we tend to get fixated on the number of trucks. That is
    probably the wrong metric, but it is an input metric at least
    that is visible and countable. But what we really need to be
    focused on is this, and we are: What is the actual amount of
    assistance, however many trucks it takes, that is getting in
    sufficient to meet the basic needs of the people? But then not
    just getting in, getting distributed?
        So for example, we have had days where we have had 400
    trucks get to the crossing, but then there is nothing effective
    on the receiving end to pick them up and take them out and
    about in Gaza. Or there is, but then something gets bogged down
    because there is a deconfliction problem, and trucks get stuck
    at checkpoints. That is one piece.
        The other piece, very quickly, is this: it is not just as
    central as it is the food, it is the water system, it is
    sanitation, it is medical supplies. We have gotten repairs done
    to now two of the three major pipelines that go from Israel
    into Gaza.
        Now, the second challenge was the distribution network
    inside of Gaza had been heavily damaged, so we needed to get
    that repaired. And up until recently a number of dual-use items
    that were necessary to do that the Israelis were holding back
    on, because it turned out that in the past pipes, chlorine that
    you need for both of these things, had been misused and turned
    into tunnels or turned into weapons. But now we have agreements
    on those items going in so that the repairs can be made to the
    distribution network inside of Gaza.
        Senator Schatz. I think the challenge for us is that, you
    know, look, you are right, all these trucks sort of crossing a
    border and ending up at a--in a base yard somewhere not to be
    distributed to actual people is missing the point, and we need
    a logistics chain as if we are coming in for a natural or man-
    made disaster.
        The challenge is that recognizing those logistical
    challenges, and recognizing how hard this is to deconflict, and
    then just to have basic sort of humanitarian infrastructure,
    can be used as an excuse to sort of throttle the inputs and
    say, look, we would be doing this but these guys can't even get
    it to the people. And so I think that we have to be careful
    about how we characterize these problems, very real issues.
        I know that the Secretary of Defense had a spokesperson
    today saying a lot of this stuff is not even--even when it
    crosses doesn't get in to the humans. But I also think that we
    shouldn't use that as an--or allow anyone to use it as an
    excuse to throttle the throughput at the borders or any of the
    crossings.
        Secretary Blinken. Right, exactly. Thank you.
        Senator Schatz. Thank you Chairman. Thank you Secretary.
        Senator Coons. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. If you don't mind,
    I am going to ask two or three more questions. I don't know if
    any of the other remaining members have any additional
    questions they would like to ask before we conclude.
        In terms of economic statecraft, the PRC is the world's
    largest creditor just by raw volume, and has grown its
    influence through the Belt and Road, and lots of other ways of
    giving loans, but often behind a very opaque and needlessly
    coercive set of terms.
        It is increasingly important we work with like-minded
    governments to create alternatives. And last week this
    Committee held a hearing with DFC, EXIM, and MCC, and I just
    welcome your thoughts on what more we could be doing to
    strengthen our efforts to provide alternatives to PRC lending,
    and the work we are doing together, and the whole-of-government
    is doing together. I will soon go to the Philippines in part to
    talk about the Luzon Corridor.
        Secretary Blinken. Right.
        Senator Coons. And Chair Murray recently led a trip to
    Angola where we were largely looking at the Lobito Corridor;
    what more could we be doing?
        Secretary Blinken. So I think, Senator, what you are
    putting the spotlight on, Senator Murray is putting the
    spotlight on, are extraordinarily positive examples of what we
    can do when we effectively marshal our resources, both the
    resources of the U.S. Government, so that everyone is rowing
    together in the same direction, notably DFC along with USAID,
    along with the State Department, along with Commerce, Treasury,
    you name it.
        Also, our ability to catalyze private-sector investment
    because as we were discussing earlier, that really is, for us,
    the comparative advantage that we bring to the table. But
    government is critical in particularly challenging investment
    environments to be able to do things to secure investments in
    ways that bring the private sector in, and then to also do this
    in a way where we are working with allies and partners so that
    we can take advantage of their own investments and focus.
        So the President put together PGI at a G7 Meeting at the
    beginning of the administration, where we are mobilizing
    together resources with G7 Partners to direct them at specific
    investment opportunities.
        Similarly, we have this Mineral Securities Partnership,
    where we now have 14 countries that are prepared to make
    coordinated investments in developing critical minerals, rare
    earths, and to match them up with countries that have these
    things, and to do that in a coordinated way where we get a much
    bigger impact because we are managing to get other governments,
    other countries working with us.
        I think Luzon is a really good example of what we are
    doing, in this case mostly bilaterally with the Philippines,
    where it is the first PGI project in the Indo-Pacific. We have
    Subic Bay, we have Clark, we have Manila, we have Batangas,
    these are economic hubs that are all being joined with an
    effective infrastructure corridor, a rail, port modernization,
    agribusiness, semiconductor supply chains, and then the
    project, the Lobito Corridor which I saw as well, is truly
    extraordinary, where you now have the infrastructure starting
    to come in place, linking Angola, Zambia, the DRC, right across
    the Continent in ways that are creating tremendous
    efficiencies, but that are in the same corridor bringing
    together the transportation, primarily rail, the
    communications, the agribusiness, all of that coming together
    in ways that are benefiting the communities along that
    corridor, and that are moving things much more efficiently and
    more effectively than ever before when it is fully realized.
        So for us, having the tools to start these projects,
    obviously the diplomatic resources to go around and about
    identify them, bring countries together on them, bring the
    private sector in, the tools then to finance, not the full
    projects, but for example the feasibility studies, delivering
    government capacity to the host governments to be able to
    manage them on their side. All of these things are critical to
    their actual realization. And that is where things like our own
    budget, DFC; is essential.
        Senator Coons. Thank you. You have been doing this work a
    lot longer than I have, but one of the things I have noticed
    in, I guess, 14 years now of going and visiting posts and
    asking Foreign Service officers about their work-life balance,
    their experience, their career.
        Knowledge transfer, it is completely understandable that
    there is a structure whereby partly because of needing to move
    on to the next post, partly because of family, and school
    schedules, often someone will be at a post 2 or even 3 years,
    build a lot of relationships, connections, and have the best of
    intentions to write a very long and detailed memo, and leave
    behind all sorts of numbers, and pictures, but they end up
    leaving.
        And then their successor at post arrives weeks later and
    there is not a warm handoff, and particularly in cultures where
    personal relationships matter, and saying the sorts of things
    that you might not want to write down about; you can really
    trust this person, you really can't trust that person.
        I would just be interested in what you think we might be
    able to do together to provide more resources and strengthen
    the ability within the Department for there to be engagement
    from the departing officer to the incoming officer.
        I would think in the age of Zoom, and social media
    platforms, and iPhones, it would be easier than it may have
    been in decades past, but as we are about to take up the State
    Authorization Bill I wondered what your thoughts were on this
    topic generally and what we might be able to do.
        Secretary Blinken. Yes. Look, it is a great point and one
    of the things that we hate to see is reinventing the wheel,
    because someone has been at something for a while, they leave,
    the knowledge doesn't get shared effectively, and then someone
    has to pick up from where they started. So we do try to correct
    for that, and so for example we want to--we try to make sure
    that in a given Embassy if someone from one unit is leaving, it
    is staggered with other people in that unit so that, to the
    extent we actually have all those resources, which is another
    question, that there is some continuity.
        And that if there is not overlap between the incoming and
    the outgoing, that at least the outgoing has shared a lot of
    that with other folks, or maybe his or her boss, in ways that
    get passed on as effectively as possible to whoever is coming
    in.
        But you raised a really interesting question which I think
    we should look at about whether there is more we can or should
    do, to have some kind of more sustained connections between
    someone who has left, and has built up tremendous expertise,
    and maybe somewhere else, but whose knowledge is still
    essential to whoever is coming in. And that is, I want to go
    back and look at that, because it is an interesting idea.
        Senator Coons. I think it would help both with the
    effectiveness of the incoming officer in terms of how quickly
    they get up to speed, but also improve work satisfaction,
    career satisfaction for the outgoing because you spent years
    building these relationships.
        Secretary Blinken. Yes.
        Senator Coons. And then to feel like you now have to go on,
    and maybe it is because I visit more posts in Africa than
    anywhere else, and they tend to be understaffed they tend to be
    stretched a little thin.
        Secretary Blinken. Yes. And this is another challenge that
    we are facing which is understaffing. And by the way it is it
    is interesting, it is not just in Africa we have the critical
    midlevel positions including, for example, in our European
    Affairs Bureau that are open and understaffed. We have had two
    of the largest incoming classes of Foreign Service officers in
    a decade, which is very gratifying, but it takes a while for
    people to work their way through to a point where they are
    taking on these very important positions, and we do have real
    gaps that we are trying to rectify.
        And now we have got new authorities also to bring in people
    mid-career that has helped. But ultimately we have to have a
    Department that not only continues to attract the talent but
    that retains it and supports it as it goes up the ladder in
    these jobs.
        Senator Coons. That is something I am passionate about
    supporting you and helping you achieve. Last question, promise;
    the Global Fragility Act, we have talked about it a number of
    times. It was signed into law back in 2019. I have talked to
    the Secretary of Defense about it, earlier today I talked to
    the Secretary of the Army, and Chief of Staff about it, you
    know, bluntly it is a lack of involvement by the Department of
    Defense that concerns me most.
        The State Department has the lead, AID has been a good
    partner, there is a number of identified countries for
    implementation that I think are outside the mandate of the Act,
    but at the very least Papua New Guinea, Mozambique, Coastal
    West Africa, strike me as great examples of where we should be
    able to demonstrate a strategy that is State-led, AID partner,
    DOD partner, with a common agenda, common priority to prevent
    fragile States from becoming failed States.
        I just would be interested in how you see the State
    Department's efforts in ensuring we actually can move ahead
    with meaningful implementation.
        Secretary Blinken. Yes. Look, I have got to tell you, I
    think the importance of the Act, and actually implementing it
    effectively, has only been reinforced by what we have seen in
    the Sahel, which is the countries of course are not part of the
    Act, but countries adjacent to the Sahel, the ones you have--in
    some cases the ones you have cited are, and it just reinforces
    the fact that whatever we are doing in terms of security
    assistance to countries, that may be necessary but it is
    certainly not sufficient in allowing these countries, not only
    to remain stable but actually to move forward.
        And in the absence of that, then you are likely to see what
    we have seen in the Sahel, which is coup after coup. And at the
    same time when these coups happen, and our military which may
    have been helping deal with violent extremism and terrorism
    leave, we know what comes in typically afterward, including,
    for example, Russian proxy forces make things worse, not
    better. And so countries find out the hard way that this is not
    a good development. But I think it just places an emphasis on
    trying to make this work and work effectively.
        We are reviewing, on a yearly basis, how this is working,
    we are assessing the different commitments that that partners
    have made to it, the availability of resources the actual
    status of the program so that we are in real time, judging
    whether is it--are we actually doing this, is it being
    implemented, or not effectively, is it, even though these are
    of course 10-year programs, are we starting to see, you know,
    movement and progress, and will be sharing our own thoughts on
    that.
        I think it has helped us leverage multi-donor mechanisms,
    to some extent. We need to do more of that. I think it has
    helped us start at least to more effectively align assistance
    across the government, which was one of the big intents, but it
    is not yet where it needs to be in terms of implementation.
        So here again, given your leadership on this, this is
    something we should really work on, and I think the Sahel has
    just reinforced the importance of it.
        Senator Coons. My core concern is that DOD doesn't really
    focus or respond until there is a profound security crisis, and
    then when they do they tend to respond massively, and Coastal
    West Africa, their national leadership has been here
    repeatedly, some of our leaders have been there, and they are
    calling, and calling, and calling for more significant
    partnership. And I think if we fail to deliver on that we will
    be disappointed at the choices they may make.
        Secretary Blinken. Yes.
        Senator Coons. I am, in closing, grateful that we are
    hosting President Ruto this week for what I think is an
    important State Visit. You, and the Vice President, obviously
    the President, and many other cabinet officials, some
    Congressional leaders, I think it is important for us to
    highlight the centrality of partners that are democracies that
    share both economic, and public health, and climate, and
    security goals. So thank you for everything.
        Secretary Blinken. Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
        Senator Coons. Mr. Secretary thank you for what has been a
    very full day for you, of testimony before two committees. I
    appreciate your service.

        [The information referred to follows:]
      Prepared Statement of Cardell K. Richardson, Sr., Inspector General
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and distinguished Members of
    the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony
    today for this hearing on the U.S. Department of State's fiscal year
    2025 budget request.
        I was confirmed by the Senate on May 2, 2024, as the Inspector
    General of the Department of State (Department or State) and the U.S.
    Agency for Global Media (USAGM). This is my first congressional
    testimony in that capacity. I am delighted to join the State Office of
    Inspector General (OIG) team, which has done a remarkable job remaining
    focused on its important oversight mission despite the absence of a
    Senate-confirmed inspector general for approximately 4 years. I look
    forward to leveraging my decades of public service experience-- most
    recently as inspector general of the National Geospatial-Intelligence
    Agency--to lead State OIG and ensure that it remains an independent,
    objective organization that provides robust oversight, transparency,
    and accountability to the programs and operations of the agencies it
    oversees.
        OIG inspects embassies and diplomatic posts throughout the world to
    determine whether policy goals are being achieved and whether the
    interests of the United States are being represented and advanced
    effectively. OIG performs specialized security inspections and audits
    in support of the Department's mission to provide effective protection
    to our personnel, facilities, and sensitive information. OIG also
    audits Department operations and activities to ensure that they are as
    effective and efficient as possible. Finally, OIG investigates
    instances of fraud, waste, and mismanagement that may constitute either
    criminal wrongdoing or violations of Department regulations. In short,
    OIG plays a crucial role in overseeing the funds Congress appropriates
    to the Department for its many programs and activities and we believe
    that our work can play an important role in assisting Subcommittee
    Members with funding decisions.
        OIG concentrates a substantial portion of its oversight on the
    sustained major management and performance challenges confronting the
    Department. Beyond this important work, a growing element of our
    mission involves oversight of U.S. responses to global emergencies and
    emerging risks. Often these take the form of complex crises and
    contingency operations that have triggered whole-of-government
    responses. In recent years, for example, OIG has surged to provide
    oversight of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, including the
    evacuation of Embassy Kabul, and worked closely with oversight
    counterparts to ensure comprehensive oversight of the more than $174
    billion in supplemental funding that has been appropriated in response
    to the war in Ukraine. We are also directing oversight toward the
    Department's response to risks emerging from conflicts in the Middle
    East, strategic competition with the People's Republic of China, and
    responses to unauthorized migration and transnational crime arising
    from countries in the Western Hemisphere.
        In this testimony, I will discuss the nature and scope of our
    oversight mission, major management challenges confronting the
    Department, and our work to drive improvements reflected in various
    projects related to Ukraine and other high priority countries. I will
    conclude by reflecting on our financial standing and OIG's ability to
    deliver on our mandate from a resource and staffing perspective.
                              mission and results
        OIG's mandate covers both Department and USAGM programs and
    operations, which include more than 80,000 employees and more than 270
    overseas missions and domestic entities. We also oversee the U.S.
    Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, a Federal
    agency that operates under the foreign policy guidance of the
    Department. In terms of dollars, we are responsible for the oversight
    of more than $87 billion in Department, USAGM, and foreign assistance
    resources.
        In pursuit of this mission, OIG provides valuable return on
    investment through its audits, evaluations, inspections, and
    investigations. For example, in FY 2023, OIG identified approximately
    $245 million in questioned costs and taxpayer funds that could be put
    to better use, and OIG's criminal, civil, and administrative
    investigations produced an additional $13.8 million in monetary results
    (including fines, restitution, and recoveries).
        Our work consistently results in findings and recommendations that
    significantly improve the programs and activities we oversee--including
    improvements that are not easily quantifiable, such as our work related
    to safety and security. Our recommendations frequently address
    inadequate compliance with emergency planning standards and facility
    safety and security deficiencies. By helping the Department improve its
    security, OIG's work safeguards the lives of the thousands of people
    who work in or visit U.S. posts abroad and at home.
        Further, our investigative work consistently holds employees,
    contractors, and grantees accountable. In FY 2023, OIG obtained 7
    indictments, 5 informations \1\, and 17 convictions. In one recent
    case, our investigative work led to a 10-year prison sentence for a
    construction company president who was found to have fraudulently
    obtained more than 25 government contracts worth more than $125
    million.
                  major management and performance challenges
        OIG focuses substantial resources on oversight projects that
    address the Department's major management and performance challenges.
    For FY 2024, we assessed those challenges to be primarily threefold:
    safety and security, stewardship, and staffing.
    Safety and Security
        Safeguarding people, facilities, property, and information is a
    continual challenge for the Department. Physical security and safety
    deficiencies at diplomatic facilities combine to form one aspect of
    this challenge. Some of our findings from a recent inspection of
    Embassy Lilongwe, Malawi, illustrate the issue well.\2\ We found that
    approximately 93 percent of the Embassy's non-residential properties
    were not properly certified to ensure that safety, health, and
    environmental hazards were mitigated. We also found the Embassy's fire
    protection program did not fully comply with Department standards, and
    that 67 percent of its outstanding fire and life safety recommendations
    (issued by the Department's Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations)
    remained unaddressed. These failures to comply increase the risk of
    injury and loss of life for Department personnel at this post.
        We also conducted an audit related to the Department's
    implementation of physical security standards for temporary
    structures--such as containerized housing units, hardened alternative
    trailers, and shipping containers--that serve as residential or
    functional space at overseas posts when permanent structures for these
    purposes are unavailable. We found that the Department could not
    provide an accurate or complete inventory of temporary structures at
    the posts we audited. Moreover, we identified some temporary structures
    that did not comply with the Department's physical security standards
    and did not have required waivers or exceptions to those standards,
    which gives the Department limited assurance that physical security
    mitigation actions have been taken to address security and life safety
    concerns.\3\ We also found that overseas posts were generally not
    complying with Department guidance regarding the use of shipping
    containers.
        Another health and safety risk our work often highlights relates to
    emergency action planning. We continue to find that the Department
    struggles to meet its own standards and inspections of posts often find
    failures to implement emergency exit plans in non-residential
    facilities, regularly conduct drills, and stay current with consular
    crisis preparedness activities.\4\
        In addition to the security of people and property, we often focus
    on information security, and our oversight of the Department's IT
    security program continues to identify numerous control weaknesses. The
    FY 2023 Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) audit
    concluded again that the Department did not have a fully implemented
    information security program based on evidence of security weaknesses
    identified in eight of nine domains, including risk management,
    configuration management, identity and access management, and security
    training. The information security standards that form the criteria for
    this audit represent foundational guidelines for managing and reducing
    cyber risk by protecting networks and data. The Department's persistent
    inability to comply with those standards creates significant risk.\5\
    Stewardship
        Efficiently and effectively managing its significant resources is
    another longstanding challenge for the Department. OIG's work
    demonstrates that the Department could enhance its stewardship of
    taxpayer resources by improving its ability to identify and address
    weaknesses in financial and property management and oversight of its
    contractors and other implementers of its worldwide programs.
        Weaknesses in property and equipment management were initially
    reported during the audit of the Department's FY 2005 financial
    statements and have persisted since then. In FY 2023, the Department's
    internal control structure continued to exhibit several deficiencies
    that negatively affected the Department's ability to account for real
    and personal property in a complete, accurate, and timely manner. An
    independent contractor concluded that the combination of property-
    related control deficiencies was a significant deficiency. The
    individual deficiencies identified were related to overseas real
    property, construction projects, leases, personal property, software,
    and heritage assets. The audit also identified internal control
    deficiencies related to unliquidated obligations and financial
    reporting.\6\
        Regarding Department oversight of its contractors and other
    implementers, we conducted an audit to determine whether selected
    recipients of cooperative agreement funds supporting refugee
    resettlement support centers--overseas centers that assist in the
    processing of refugee applications--adhered to applicable Federal
    requirements. We looked specifically at three centers with offices in
    Bangkok, Thailand; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Istanbul, Turkey; and
    Nairobi, Kenya. We found that the recipients audited did not always
    comply with requirements, due in part to insufficient oversight by the
    Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, which could
    result in inconsistent refugee application information being processed.
    In addition, refugees can wait years for the adjudication process to be
    completed, and inconsistent refugee application information could delay
    the already lengthy process. Additionally, selected award recipients
    did not always spend funds in accordance with Federal requirements and
    award terms and conditions, which led to questioned costs.\7\
        In another audit, we sought to determine whether the Department's
    contract administration of the new Embassy compound in Mexico City was
    in accordance with Federal regulations and Department guidance.
    Regarding contract modifications processes, we found the project
    director did not assess the impact that such modifications would have
    on the overall project timeline. Moreover, the Department did not
    always perform required activities to determine fair and reasonable
    pricing, and the contracting officer did not always obtain required
    contractor release statements to avoid exposing the Department to
    increased financial risk. As a result of these deficiencies, the
    Department executed contract modifications without full awareness of
    potential consequences to the construction project timeline and
    associated project costs.\8\
    Staffing
        The Department expends substantial resources on recruiting,
    training, and retaining a diverse, talented workforce that can advance
    the Department's foreign policy mission and priorities. Nonetheless,
    our work suggests managing its human capital and designing and
    maintaining an organizational structure that conveys clear lines of
    authority is a continuing challenge for the Department.
        The kinds of workforce or human capital management issues that
    OIG's work identifies varies widely, but it tends to include staffing
    gaps, frequent turnover, and inexperienced and undertrained staff. Our
    work also often highlights structural issues that confuse staff, lead
    to gaps or overlap in authority, and ultimately weaken accountability.
        Examples are found in our audit of the management and
    administration of the Consular Systems Modernization program, which was
    conceived to modernize and consolidate approximately 90 discrete
    consular legacy IT systems into a common technology framework for the
    Bureau of Consular Affairs. Deficiencies in managing this program are
    highly problematic because the program is expensive and has broad
    implications for the bureau's ability to meet its mission, which, among
    other important duties, includes issuing passports, visa, and other
    documents to citizens and foreign nationals to facilitate travel to and
    from the United States. We found that bureau leadership did not ensure
    that the program was properly designed to meet its goals. Furthermore,
    insufficient management oversight from key Department bureaus
    contributed to problems with the program.
        Among other factors, we found that unqualified project managers
    contributed to the deficiencies we identified with the program. Of the
    seven project managers appointed to projects within the Consular
    Systems Modernization program, we found that none could provide a
    record of having taken the required training, none could provide a
    record of having met the annual continuing professional education
    requirement, and three stated that they did not believe they had
    received sufficient training to successfully execute the
    responsibilities of their respective positions. Moreover, we found that
    bureau leadership did not consider the experience of personnel before
    assigning them to project management positions.\9\
                     response to crises and emerging risks
    Ukraine Response Oversight
        Given the scale, scope, and stakes of the U.S. government's Ukraine
    response, related oversight remains State OIG's top priority. We, along
    with the Department of Defense (DoD) and U.S. Agency for International
    Development (USAID) OIGs, and other U.S. government oversight
    organizations, have adopted a collaborative approach to ensure that our
    oversight of the U.S. government's response to Russia's war against
    Ukraine is comprehensive, relevant, timely, and transparent, and
    preemptively identifies and mitigates gaps in coverage or duplication
    of effort.
        Over the past few years, about one-third of State OIG's workforce,
    including some State OIG staff located at Embassy Kyiv, has been
    contributing to the Ukraine response oversight mission on a full- or
    part-time basis. Congress has provided us with $21.5 million in
    dedicated funding to support this effort. We are grateful for this
    essential support, which we have applied toward a body of work that
    currently focuses on four leading risk areas for the Department:

      --Strategy and Coordination.--Since an effort of the scale and
            complexity of the Ukraine response can only be successful with
            a clear strategy and effective coordination, this has been a
            major emphasis in our work. In 2022, we shared oversight
            observations to inform the Department's Ukraine response,
            drawing on our past work to flag the strategic challenges it
            was likely to encounter as well as highlighting effective
            responses to the same types of challenges that had been
            successfully applied elsewhere in the past.\10\ Last summer, we
            issued a report detailing the Department's efforts to establish
            a strategy to guide foreign assistance programs and coordinate
            these efforts across the U.S. government.\11\ Working with
            USAID OIG, we also reviewed the execution of roles and
            responsibilities for providing direct financial support to the
            government of Ukraine.\12\ In addition, we have begun a joint
            audit with DoD OIG on Foreign Military Financing funding
            provided in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Because the
            response to Russia's war against Ukraine is not limited to the
            U.S. government, we have also examined the Department's
            coordination and engagement with pertinent multilateral
            institutions like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,
            European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation
            in Europe, as well as several United Nations agencies.\13\
      --Establishing Effective Operations.--Managing, coordinating, and
            supporting a robust response effort in Ukraine requires strong
            core systems and support. Accordingly, OIG examined a range of
            key questions related to Embassy Kyiv operations, including
            those relating to security, staffing, facilities, equipment,
            and emergency planning.\14\ We have also inspected other
            diplomatic posts in the region that provide support to Embassy
            Kyiv and that play a key role in the wider Ukraine response
            effort, and we have plans for more work in this vein in the
            months ahead.\15\
      --Monitoring and Evaluation.--Given the nationwide reach of the
            conflict, U.S. government personnel in Ukraine are subject to
            constraints on movement; conditions accentuated by the lack of
            U.S. military logistical support, which has been provided in
            other conflict settings. The quality and extent of monitoring
            and evaluation for Department-funded programs and activities is
            key in this context. In response, we reviewed the Department's
            end-use monitoring activities in Ukraine,\16\ and audited the
            Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation's
            monitoring plans and practices.\17\ In addition, we are
            completing an audit that covers the Department's monitoring and
            evaluation related to humanitarian assistance programming in
            and around Ukraine as well as an ongoing review of Department
            efforts to counter illicit diversion of advanced conventional
            weapons in Eastern Europe.\18\
      --Anti-Corruption and Counter-Fraud.--Anti-corruption reforms in
            Ukraine and wider efforts to counter fraud are key to the
            success of U.S. assistance in Ukraine. As a result, OIG is
            currently conducting an audit of Department anti-corruption
            programming and activities in Central and Eastern Europe,
            including Ukraine. In addition, OIG maintains a dedicated
            Ukrainian- and Russian-language hotline to receive and process
            allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement affecting
            Department programs and activities in Ukraine. This hotline is
            an important source of information that has not only triggered
            investigative activities but has also formed the basis for
            audit work to respond to risks and vulnerabilities impacting
            the Department's Ukraine response. Finally, by establishing
            memoranda of understanding with anti-corruption authorities in
            Ukraine, we have set a framework that allows us to share
            information necessary to advance cases of mutual interest with
            a connection to U.S.-provided resources.

        Our intensive focus on Ukraine has yielded a rapidly expanding body
    of work. We have issued 24 reports with 106 recommendations to improve
    critical aspects of the Ukraine response. We also have 17 ongoing and
    planned projects, and the list of our planned Ukraine-related work
    continues to grow. Our recommendations have triggered some important
    Department action. For example, because of our work, the Department
    completed the strategic framework needed to guide U.S. government
    assistance activities in Ukraine and evaluated the effectiveness of the
    alternative end-use monitoring practices it has been using in place of
    in-person monitoring in Ukraine.
    Other Oversight Priorities and Emerging Risks
        For the past 2\1/2\ years, State OIG has devoted substantial time
    and resources to oversight of the 2021 suspension of U.S. Embassy
    operations in Afghanistan and its aftermath. Following the U.S.
    withdrawal from Afghanistan, State OIG developed and executed an
    extensive workplan to provide needed oversight coverage of the
    Department's role in supporting Afghan evacuees and re-establishing a
    diplomatic mission outside of Afghanistan. In October 2021, State OIG
    also coordinated with the Department of Homeland Security OIG and
    Department of Defense OIG to establish an interagency OIG Afghanistan
    Project Coordination Group to coordinate and facilitate oversight of
    Operation Allies Welcome, deconflict when one OIG's review overlapped
    with another's responsibility, and promote comprehensive coverage of
    issues relating to the screening, vetting, and relocation of Afghan
    evacuees.
        To date, State OIG's Afghanistan response oversight efforts have
    resulted in the publication of 22 oversight products that have
    addressed topics that range from the Afghan special immigrant visa
    program and resettlement efforts to Embassy evacuation efforts and
    current diplomatic operations. Included in this number are several
    joint quarterly reports with a focus on Operation Enduring Sentinel,
    the continuing counter-terrorism effort relating to Afghanistan. Our
    oversight work in this area has led to changes in the Department's
    guidance for future evacuations and yielded improvements in the
    Department's handling of visas for Afghans at risk who worked in
    support of U.S. military, diplomacy, and development efforts.
        While OIG's Afghanistan-related oversight work continues,\19\ we
    are also pivoting to meet emerging oversight requirements in other key
    areas:

      --Israel and Gaza.--Challenges to U.S. Middle East policy have
            multiplied since October 7, 2023. OIG is planning audit and
            inspection work to provide oversight of Department programs and
            operations in the region and has recently launched an audit of
            Department efforts to counter Iran-backed groups.
      --People's Republic of China.--Last year, OIG completed an inspection
            of the American Institute in Taiwan \20\ and has plans for more
            oversight projects examining the Department's response to
            China's influence. We are also taking steps to establish an OIG
            office in Bangkok, Thailand, reflecting our increasing focus on
            work in the region.
      --Western Hemisphere Concerns.--OIG is developing plans for several
            inspections and audits of Department operations and programs
            related to migration in the Western Hemisphere, counter-
            narcotics, and security at the southern border.

        Against the backdrop of ongoing work to meet mandates and drive
    measures that will improve the Department's ability to address major
    management challenges, OIG will continue to assiduously work to address
    emerging areas of risk with available resources.
                                   resources
        We greatly appreciate the Subcommittee's ongoing support of our
    work and are grateful for the much-needed FY 2024 increase in our base
    appropriation and the substantial supplemental funding over the past 2
    years. Our FY 2025 request is nearly $108 million, which will allow us
    to keep pace with training and travel costs, pursue upgrades to support
    our IT network's resilience against cybersecurity attacks, and maintain
    a staff presence in Embassy Kyiv.
        However, the most pressing challenge we face are the restrictions
    related to selection and appointment requirements, which add months to
    the onboarding process for new hires. In the context of our efforts to
    meet emerging oversight demands, these restrictions not only delay our
    ability to meet staffing requirements, but also make it difficult to
    effectively utilize our supplemental funding. To address this challenge
    and meet the long-term and critical hiring requirements associated with
    Ukraine-related oversight, we would like to secure selection and
    appointment flexibilities consistent with direct hire authority.
        A second resource concern for us is the escalating costs associated
    with maintaining the security of our IT systems. OIG established an
    independent IT system in 2017 to create a firewall between the
    Department and our oversight information. This risk-mitigation effort
    has proven costly to continue to execute and we are currently studying
    potential options to address these costs. However, it is foreseeable
    that we will be requesting additional resources related to IT security
    in coming months.
                                   conclusion
        I am incredibly proud of the work of my State OIG colleagues and
    the value we provide to the Department, USAGM, Congress, and taxpayers.
    Team State OIG includes talented, committed professionals dedicated to
    helping the Department and USAGM successfully accomplish their
    respective missions through robust oversight and well-designed,
    practical recommendations. I thank my team for their resilience,
    ingenuity, integrity, and tenacity in promoting efficiency and
    effectiveness in Department programs and operations.
        I also want to conclude by thanking Chairman Coons, Ranking Member
    Graham, and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee for your support
    of State OIG's mission. I take seriously my statutory requirement to
    keep Congress fully and currently informed, and I appreciate your
    enduring interest in our work.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ Per Black's Law Dictionary 772 (6th ed. 1990), an information
    is an accusation exhibited against a person for some criminal offense,
    without an indictment.
        \2\ OIG, Inspection of Embassy Lilongwe, Malawi (ISP-I-24-15, March
    2024).
        \3\ OIG, Audit of Physical Security Standards for Department of
    State Temporary Structures at Selected Overseas Posts (AUD-SI-23-30,
    September 2023).
        \4\ See e.g., OIG, Inspection of Embassy Cotonou, Benin (ISP-I-23-
    20, July 2023).
        \5\ OIG, Audit of the Department of State FY 2023 Information
    Security Program (AUD-IT-23-31, September 2023).
        \6\ OIG, Independent Auditor's Report on the U.S. Department of
    State FY 2023 and FY 2022 Financial Statements (AUD-FM-24-07, November
    2023).
        \7\ OIG, Audit of Selected Cooperative Agreements Supporting
    Department of State Refugee Resettlement Support Centers (AUD-SI-23-28,
    September 2023).
        \8\ OIG, Audit of Select Contract Administration Processes Related
    to the Construction of New Embassy Compound Mexico City, Mexico (AUD-
    CGI-24-09, January 2024).
        \9\ OIG, Management and Administration of the Consular Systems
    Modernization Program (AUD-CGI-23-20, July 2023).
        \10\ OIG, Information Brief: Oversight Observations to Inform the
    Department of State Ukraine Response (OIG-23-01, December 2022).
        \11\ OIG, Review of Ukraine Foreign Assistance Coordination and
    Oversight (ISP-I-23-18, July 2023).
        \12\ In January and March 2023, State and USAID OIG jointly
    reported to congressional oversight committees on the required
    monitoring mechanisms and safeguards that the Department and USAID OIG
    had put in place surrounding direct financial support to the Ukrainian
    government.
        \13\ See for example: OIG, Inspection of the U.S. Mission to the
    North Atlantic Treaty Organization (ISP-I-23-16, May 2023); OIG,
    Inspection of the U.S. Mission to the European Union (ISP-I-23-15,
    April 2023); OIG, Inspection of the U.S. Mission to the Organization
    for Security and Cooperation in Europe (ISP-I-24-05, January 2024); and
    OIG, Inspection of the U.S. Mission to International Organizations in
    Vienna, Austria (ISP-I-24-04, December 2023).
        \14\ See e.g., OIG, Audit of Technical Security Following
    Reestablishment of Operations at U.S. Embassy Kyiv, Ukraine (AUD-MERO-
    23-24, August 2023) and OIG, Review of Embassy Kyiv's Operating Status
    (ISP-S-24-01, October 2023).
        \15\ See e.g., OIG Classified Inspection of Embassy Warsaw and
    Constituent Post, Poland (ISP-S-24-18, April 2024) and OIG, Inspection
    of Embassy Chisinau, Moldova (ISP-I-23-19, July 2023).
        \16\ OIG, Review of Department of State End-Use Monitoring in
    Ukraine (ISP-I-24-02, November 2023).
        \17\ OIG, Audit of the Bureau of International Security and
    Nonproliferation Administration of Assistance to Ukraine (AUD-GEER-24-
    14, March 2024).
        \18\ OIG, Ongoing Work for Office of Audits, Evaluations and
    Special Projects, Office of Inspections, and Office of Overseas
    Contingency Operations.
        \19\ OIG has seven ongoing and planned Afghanistan-related
    oversight projects. information on each project is available on State
    OIG's Afghanistan oversight website.
        \20\ OIG, Inspection of the American Institute in Taiwan-Taipei and
    Kaohsiung (ISP-I-24-07, November 2023).

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                         ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS

        [The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but
    were submitted to the witnesses for response subsequent to the
    hearing.]
      Questions Submitted to Honorable Anthony Blinken, Secretary of State
                  Questions Submitted by Senator Brian Schatz
        Question. Secretary Blinken has stated that, ideally, an effective
    and ``revitalized'' Palestinian Authority will have governance and
    security authority for Gaza. Debate over such a ``day after'' plan
    continues amongst various Israeli officials. A sustainable ``day
    after'' plan will require alignment and support of regional leaders,
    yet the extent of the financial or political commitment of other
    regional partners is not clear and relatively limited. The absence of a
    post-war governance plan leads the risk of default to an Israeli
    military occupation of Gaza. a. Does the State Department assess that
    it is in Israel's long-term foreign policy and security interests for
    Israel to reoccupy Gaza? b. Is it in the foreign policy and security
    interests of the United States for Israel to reoccupy Gaza? If not,
    what is the State Department doing to ensure that Israel does not
    reoccupy Gaza upon the conclusion of major operations? c. What
    commitments does the U.S. government have from regional allies and
    partners, including Saudi Arabia, that they will tangibly and
    substantially support the responsible administration of the Palestinian
    territories, the rebuilding of Gaza, and a credible pathway to a
    Palestinian state? d. How does the State Department define ``time-
    bound'' in reference to a ``concrete, time-bound and irreversible
    path'' to a Palestinian state?

        Answer. We are committed to advancing enduring peace and security
    for Israelis and Palestinians--including through practical, timebound,
    and irreversible steps to establish a Palestinian state. To realize
    this the Palestinian Authority must continue to improve its governance,
    and there should be no Israeli reoccupation of Gaza. Key regional
    partners have put forward ideas for Gaza post-conflict governance and
    security arrangements. We are engaging on these with an open mind,
    sharing our perspective in line with U.S. interests, and seeking areas
    of consensus.

        Question. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stated that, ``if
    Iran developed a nuclear bomb, [Saudi Arabia] will follow suit as soon
    as possible.'' This statement comes as the United States continues
    negotiations with Saudi Arabia on the pending peaceful nuclear
    cooperation agreement. a. Are you concerned that Saudi Arabia might try
    to develop a nuclear weapons program given the crown prince's comments?
    b. Would a nuclear-armed Saudi Arabia be in U.S. foreign policy and
    security interests? c. To what degree is the State Department,
    including through information and assessments provided by the Bureau of
    Intelligence and Research, factoring the potential for Saudi Arabia to
    develop an illicit nuclear weapons program openly, rather than a
    potential attempt at covert development, into its support for a
    civilian nuclear agreement?

        Answer. The United States has engaged in periodic negotiations with
    Saudi Arabia on a peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement since 2012,
    and we will continue to seek the strongest achievable nonproliferation
    terms in the negotiations. Saudi Arabia is a party to the Nuclear Non-
    Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement
    with the IAEA in force. It is obligated never to acquire nuclear
    weapons and to apply IAEA safeguards to all peaceful nuclear
    activities. We attach great importance to Saudi Arabia's continued
    implementation of these obligations.

        Question. UNRWA remains essential for aid distribution in Gaza, and
    the instability caused by the conflict and discontinuation of U.S. and
    UK funding have endangered UNRWA's ability to operate. UNRWA's future
    solvency, ability to sustain operations on the ground in the present
    conflict, and obligations to implement recommendations of the Colonna
    report are crucial to meeting the needs of Palestinian civilians and
    creating the foundation for U.S. interests in the Middle East.

        a. How has the discontinuation of U.S. funding to UNRWA impacted
    the size of contributions from donor nations that have resumed funding?
    Has the United States asked other donor nations to provide more funding
    while ours remain paused?

        Answer. Other donors have made their own decisions based on their
    own assessment of need and their level of confidence in UNRWA. We
    coordinate with other donors on assistance operations, including access
    challenges and urgent needs for the affected communities in Gaza.

        Question. b. What requirements would UNRWA need to meet for the
    Department to advocate for the resumption of UNRWA funding? How is the
    Department vetting and verifying Israel's accusations of Hamas'
    infiltration of UNWRA?

        Answer. We will continue to comply with all relevant statutory
    restrictions on U.S. funding to UNRWA and support the recommendations
    of former French Foreign Minister Colonna's independent review of UNRWA
    neutrality mechanisms and procedures. I take the allegations of UNRWA
    employee involvement in the October 7 attacks seriously, look forward
    to UN investigation results, and fully expect UNRWA to take steps to
    fire and prevent hiring staff with ties to Hamas or other terrorist
    organizations and support accountability for anyone involved in the
    attacks.

        Question. c. How would UNRWA's successful implementation of the
    Colonna report impact the administration's assessment to recommend
    resuming UNRWA funding? Does the Department expect the full
    implementation of the Colonna report before the U.S. considers resuming
    support for UNRWA, irrespective of how long implementation of Colonna
    takes?

        Answer. The Department has publicly called for UNRWA's full
    implementation of the Colonna Report's 50 recommendations, and we are
    aware that UNRWA has developed and is beginning to carry out an
    extensive internal action plan responsive to the report. Prior to the
    suspension of U.S. funding of UNRWA, we required accountability from
    UNRWA on neutrality of its teaching materials, facilities, and staff
    behavior, and the Colonna report recommendations reinforce many of
    those efforts.

        Question. d. Will the United States advocate for sustained UNRWA
    funding from Saudi Arabia as a part of an agreement for Israel-Saudi
    normalization?

        Answer. I cannot comment on the substance of ongoing negotiations
    between Saudi Arabia and the United States on normalization. Saudi
    Arabia has been one of the largest donors to UNRWA and has contributed
    nearly $1 billion to UNRWA this past decade, including $40 million for
    Gaza in March.

        Question. e. How is the United States working with Israel to ensure
    that aid delivered to the Gaza humanitarian pier is successfully
    delivered to UN depots for distribution?

        Answer. While the use of the pier has now concluded, there was
    close coordination between CENTCOM and the Israeli Defense Force's
    Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories to
    successfully deliver aid shipments via the humanitarian pier to UN
    depots. Given how dire the humanitarian situation in Gaza is, the
    United States continues to explore all avenues to get more aid to all
    in need there. The pier played a key role in advancing that goal.

        Question. f. What is the responsibility of the IDF for the secure
    delivery of humanitarian aid to UN depots in Gaza?

        Answer. There was close coordination between CENTCOM and the
    Israeli Defense Force's (IDF) Coordination of Government Activities in
    the Territories to enable delivery of aid shipments via the
    humanitarian pier to UN depots. The IDF provided security and logistics
    support for the operation of the temporary Joint Logistics Over-the-
    Shore initiative and participated in the convoy monitoring board under
    leadership of a U.S. three-star Army general. The board included
    representation from the IDF's Coordination of Government Activities in
    the Territories, the UN, and other partners.

        Question. The global backlash to the war in Gaza continues to grow.
    Shifting sentiment within populations, including in Southeast Asian
    countries with large Muslim populations, could negatively impact U.S.
    partnerships with countries in the region. a. What is your assessment
    of how the war in Gaza is impacting U.S. relationships and strategy in
    Asia, especially in Muslim-majority countries like Indonesia--the
    world's most populous Muslim-majority country--and Malaysia, where we
    are trying to strengthen our ties?

        Answer. The crisis in Gaza is impacting relations with Muslim-
    majority nations in Southeast Asia. While most criticism has been
    directed at Israel, there has been an effect on U.S. interests,
    including protests at our embassies, boycotts, and a decline in
    regional favorable public opinion of the United States. On a policy
    level, the United States and our partners in the region share goals for
    a ceasefire, release of all hostages, and a durable peace through a
    two-state solution. We are engaging Southeast Asian partners
    bilaterally and through ASEAN to build support for U.S.-led peace
    efforts.

        Question. In April 2024, the United States, UK, and Australia
    announced the consideration of including Japan into Pillar II of the
    AUKUS defense partnership. As one of our closest allies, Japan's
    inclusion could assist the joint development of advanced capabilities
    necessary to secure a free and open Indo-Pacific. What are the
    potential benefits of Japan joining AUKUS Pillar II?

        Answer. Collaboration with Japan on individual projects under AUKUS
    Pillar II could further the delivery of advanced defense capabilities
    to our respective forces in support of peace, security, and stability
    in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world. We are examining
    multiple factors as we consider collaboration with Japan and other
    potential partners, including technological innovation, financing,
    industrial strengths, ability to adequately protect sensitive data and
    information, and impact on promoting regional peace and stability.

        Question. Recent developments at Second Thomas Shoal demonstrate
    the need for the United States to fully support the Philippines against
    aggressive actions by the People's Republic of China (PRC). While a
    vast majority of U.S. foreign military financing is devoted elsewhere,
    it is essential for the United States to support its Pacific allies and
    partners to help deter problematic PRC actions in the region. a. What
    is the State Department's analysis of the defensive capabilities of the
    Philippines? Does the Philippines require additional military
    capabilities to better deter hostile and threatening PRC actions? b.
    What efforts is the State Department, including in conjunction with
    other departments and agencies such as the Department of Energy, the
    U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Trade and
    Development Agency, undertaking to explore the potential for expanding
    geothermal power generation in the Philippines given its potential
    benefits for national security, U.S. business, and for the climate?

        Answer. Modernizing the Philippines' defense capabilities is
    crucial to ensuring individual and collective security. We will strive
    to invest in enhancing the capability of the armed forces of the
    Philippines, including the Philippine Coast Guard, to fulfill their
    missions and contribute to regional security. We will also continue to
    advance renewable energy deployment, including through the U.S. Trade
    and Development Agency Geothermal Power Project to support development
    in the Philippines, energy access, and energy security efforts with
    interagency partners.

        Question. The U.S. government has made some important progress in
    addressing unexploded ordnance in the Pacific. However, large amounts
    of unexploded, U.S.-dropped, WWII-era bombs exist in numerous Pacific
    Island countries, including the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, and
    Kiribati and the full extent of the problem is unknown. a. Does the
    United States bear some responsibility for helping locate and clear UXO
    in the Pacific Islands, including in locations where U.S. WWII-era
    bombs still exist? b. How does the State Department plan to address UXO
    concerns through its fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget request?

        Answer. As was announced at the 2022 and 2023 U.S.-Pacific Island
    Forum Leader's Summits, I remain committed to unexploded ordnance (UXO)
    WWII war legacy priorities throughout the Pacific. The Department has
    UXO programs in Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall
    Islands, Palau, and Solomon Islands and has a UXO program starting in
    Papua New Guinea in early 2025. Our FY 2025 budget request for NADR-CWD
    funding includes continuing these war legacy UXO priorities in
    Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and throughout the region.

        Question. What efforts is the State Department, including in
    conjunction with other departments and agencies such as the Department
    of Energy, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S.
    Trade and Development Agency, undertaking to explore the potential for
    expanding geothermal power generation in Taiwan given its potential
    benefits for national security, U.S. business, and for the climate?
    What efforts is the State Department, including in conjunction with
    other departments and agencies, undertaking to explore the potential
    for expanding collaboration and exchange on indigenous issues with
    Taiwan, since both the United States and Taiwan have vibrant indigenous
    populations and cultures?

        Answer. Taiwan has 24 geothermal projects under development, and we
    are exploring opportunities for collaboration through expert exchanges
    and private sector engagement as Taiwan further develops plans to tap
    its geothermal energy potential in support of energy security and
    resilience. Through exchange programs on entrepreneurship, the arts,
    language, sport, media, and other sectors, we have worked with Taiwan
    to leverage its support for its diverse indigenous communities to
    preserve and expand its role in the Indo-Pacific region and the
    international community.
                                     ______

                Questions Submitted by Senator Chris Van Hollen
        Question. Israel's Compliance with IHL.--Since the October 7th
    attacks on Israel by Hamas, Israel's military operation in Gaza has
    resulted in hundreds of airstrikes, some of which have been considered
    by credible human rights organizations to be violations of
    international humanitarian law. According to a report sent to Congress
    on May 10, 2024, as required by National Security Memorandum 20,
    ``Israel has, upon request, shared some information on specific
    incidents implicating IHL, some details of its targeting choices, and
    some battle damage assessments. Although we have gained insight into
    Israel's procedures and rules, we do not have complete information on
    how these processes are implemented.'' Does the Department know how
    Israel implements its legal obligation to ensure that the expected
    civilian harm of a military strike is not excessive relative to its
    military value? If so, please provide an explanation.

        Answer. The U.S. Government has engaged Israel to further our
    understanding of how it integrates international humanitarian law (IHL)
    compliance into its combat operations and civilian protection. Israel
    has identified processes for ensuring IHL compliance at all levels of
    military decisionmaking, including adherence to proportionality. Israel
    has published analysis of its legal positions relating to targeting,
    civilian harm mitigation, and IHL compliance. Although we have gained
    insight into Israel's procedures and rules, we do not have complete
    information on how they are implemented.

        Question. In making such assessments, does Israel weigh the
    expected civilian harm of striking a given target against the value of
    hitting that specific target, or in relation to the importance of its
    overall operation in Gaza?

        Answer. The USG has engaged the Israeli government to further our
    understanding of its procedures and mechanisms to integrate
    international humanitarian law (IHL) compliance into its approach to
    combat operations and civilian protection. Israel identified several
    processes for ensuring IHL compliance is embedded at all levels of
    military decisionmaking, including adherence to proportionality. Israel
    also published written analysis of its legal positions, posted on the
    Israel MFA website, relating to targeting, civilian harm mitigation,
    and IHL compliance.

        Question. If Israel judges that a given strike will not cause
    excessive civilian harm relative to its military value, does it
    recognize that it still has an obligation to take all feasible
    measures, including in the types of weapons it chooses to conduct a
    strike, to reduce that harm? If so, has it done so in practice?

        Answer. The USG has engaged the Israeli government to further our
    understanding of its procedures and mechanisms to integrate
    international humanitarian law (IHL) compliance into its approach to
    combat operations and civilian protection. Israel identified several
    processes for ensuring IHL compliance is embedded at all levels of
    military decisionmaking, including adherence to proportionality and
    feasible precautions. Israel also published written analysis of its
    legal positions, posted on the Israeli MFA website, relating to
    targeting, civilian harm mitigation, and IHL compliance.

        Question. Has Israel's use of high yield munitions, such as 2,000-
    pound bombs, in populated areas comported with established best
    practices to reduce civilian harm in this regard?

        Answer. The USG has engaged the Israeli government at all levels to
    further our understanding of its procedures and mechanisms to integrate
    international humanitarian law (IHL) compliance into its approach to
    combat operations and civilian protection. During the conflict, we made
    clear to Israel that it matters how it conducts operations. We have
    paused shipment to Israel of 1,818 2,000-lb bombs out of concern for
    their end-use in dense urban settings. Israel has published written
    analysis of its legal positions relating to targeting, civilian harm
    mitigation, and IHL compliance.

        Question. CHIRG Implementation.--The State Department established a
    mechanism in September 2023, known as the Civilian Harm Incident
    Response Guidance (CHIRG), to track potential cases of civilian harm
    incidents committed through the use of US-origin munitions. This
    process represents the first formal system for monitoring and
    potentially penalizing reported civilian harm involving foreign forces
    and U.S.-origin arms. According to a report sent to Congress on May 10,
    2024, as required by National Security Memorandum 20, ``85 alleged
    incidents of civilian harm involving Israeli military operations in
    Gaza have been submitted to the CHIRG for evaluation, and approximately
    40 percent of those cases have been closed.'' What criteria are used to
    assess whether a foreign government's use of U.S.-furnished or
    authorized arms has resulted in civilian harm?

        Answer. The CHIRG defines civilian harm as incidents resulting in
    deaths or injury of civilians, or significant damage to civilian
    objects. When an incident is submitted into the CHIRG, PM and DRL work
    jointly, in coordination with our lawyers, regional and functional
    bureaus, embassies, DoD and others to gather information on an
    incident. These assessments aim to answer two questions: (1) Is it more
    likely than not that civilian harm, as outlined by this guidance,
    occurred; and (2) Is it more likely than not that U.S.-furnished or
    authorized end-items were involved in a reported civilian harm
    incident?

        Question. What criteria were used to assess the 40% of Civilian
    Harm Incident Response Guidance (CHIRG) cases involving Israeli
    military operations in Gaza that were closed, as indicated by the NSM-
    20 report?

        Answer. CHIRG cases are closed when the Department of State
    determines an incident does not meet the scope of the guidance. The
    CHIRG scope includes incidents where it is more likely than not that a
    U.S.-furnished or authorized end-item was involved in an incident of
    civilian harm. Cases can also be closed if the source of a report is
    deemed not credible based on a variety of considerations, including
    past inaccuracy and unreliability, how the source obtained the
    information, any known political agenda that might lead to bias, and
    inclusion of information that contradicts the initial report.

        Question. Did any CHIRG cases involving Israeli military operations
    in Gaza from this 40% result in a determination that civilian harm
    occurred?

        Answer. While we cannot comment on specific incidents, there can be
    cases where the Department of State determines that it is more likely
    than not that civilian harm occurred, but it does not meet the
    threshold that it is more likely than not that a U.S.-furnished or
    authorized end-item was involved in the incident. A reported incident
    must meet both criteria to progress through the CHIRG.

        Question. What is the status of the approximately 60% of the
    remaining CHIRG cases involving Israeli military operations in Gaza?

        Answer. Pending CHIRG cases are undergoing in-depth incident
    analysis and policy implication assessments. Incident analysis includes
    robust information gathering to compile and corroborate information on
    an incident. Policy implication assessments include an analysis of any
    potential violations of legal obligations, IHL/IHRL, end-use
    agreements, or other relevant agreements. Once these assessments are
    made, the Department creates an action plan outlining steps to respond
    to the incident and to mitigate civilian harm in the future.

        Question. Israel's Investigations into IHL Violations & Civilian
    Harm.--Throughout the war in Gaza since Oct. 7th, credible human rights
    and humanitarian organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty
    International, and Oxfam have stated that Israel is violating
    international humanitarian law (IHL). According to a report sent to
    Congress on May 10, 2024, as require by National Security Memorandum
    20, ``Israel has confirmed that it has opened a number of criminal
    investigations, which are ongoing, including into allegations related
    to deaths and treatment of detainees and allegations of violations of
    IHL. The [fact-finding assessment mechanism] FFAM also continues to
    examine hundreds of incidents to consider possible misconduct in the
    context of ongoing military operations.'' Since being made aware of
    these investigations, has the State Department asked Israel for
    additional information on the status of these investigations?

        Answer. We continue to make clear to the Government of Israel that
    we expect them to, not only behave consistent with the law of armed
    conflict and to adhere to their own rules of engagement, but to take
    all possible precautions to protect civilians. We have engaged the
    Government of Israel on its open investigations and urged swift
    assessments that ensure accountability for any abuses or violations.

        Question. How many cases has Israel opened related to deaths and
    treatment of detainees in Gaza and what is the status of these
    investigations?

        Answer. We have been clear and consistent with Israel that it must
    treat all detainees humanely and with dignity and in accordance with
    international law, must respect detainees' human rights, and must
    ensure accountability for any abuses or violations. We defer to Israel
    for the exact number of cases opened and their status; however, Israel
    has confirmed that it has opened a number of criminal investigations,
    which are ongoing, including into allegations related to deaths and
    treatment of detainees and allegations of violations of IHL.

        Question. How many cases has Israel opened concerning allegations
    of violations of IHL and what is the status of these investigations?

        Answer. We continue to make clear to the Government of Israel that
    we expect them to not only behave consistent with the law of armed
    conflict and to adhere to their own rules of engagement, but to take
    all possible precautions to protect civilians. We continue to believe
    that Israel needs to do more on this front; however, Israel has
    confirmed that it has opened a number of criminal investigations, which
    are ongoing, including into allegations related to deaths and treatment
    of detainees and allegations of violations of IHL.

        Question. Have any of Israel's investigations lead to remedial
    action or prosecutions for treatment of detainees, violations of IHL,
    or civilian harm since October 7th?

        Answer. We have stressed to the Government of Israel that
    investigations must proceed swiftly, and if the alleged perpetrators
    are determined to be in violation of criminal laws or the IDF's code of
    conduct, then they must be held accountable. We understand that a
    number of investigations are ongoing.

        Question. Use of AI in Gaza.--According to reporting in +972
    Magazine and Local Call, the IDF has been using an AI system called
    ``Lavender'' to develop a kill list of as many as 37,000 Palestinians
    in Gaza who allegedly had some connection with Hamas and who were
    targeted for assassination. The reports also indicate that the IDF did
    not require their personnel to robustly examine why these systems
    included certain individuals and targets on the list, essentially
    removing humans from the creation and use of targeting lists used in
    the IDF's bombing campaign in Gaza. The reports also assert that the
    ``Lavender'' system was known to make errors in approximately 10% of
    cases, making targets of individuals who have a loose or no connection
    to extremist groups. According to the reports, a second AI and
    automated system called ``Where's Daddy,'' tracked Palestinians on the
    Lavender kill list and was designed to target them at home despite the
    likelihood that their families would be there. The reports indicate
    that, especially for ``low-ranking'' members of Hamas, the IDF dropped
    so-called ``dumb bombs'' on their homes so as not to ``waste'' a more
    expensive precision guided munition on low value targets. The reporting
    indicates that, even for very low value Hamas targets, the acceptable
    civilian death toll was 15 to 20 people, including women and children.
    This explains, according to the reports, why so many Palestinians in
    Gaza have had their entire families wiped out. The reports indicate
    that for higher value targets as many as 300 civilian deaths were
    authorized. Does the State Department dispute the findings presented in
    these reports? If so, please explain in detail which, if any, parts of
    the reports are disputed and the basis for such assessment.

        Answer. The Department is aware of the reports but cannot speak to
    their validity or confirm their sources. The USG position remains
    consistent across all Israeli military operations and other activities
    in Gaza: Israel's use of AI must be carried out consistent with
    applicable international law, including law of armed conflict, and
    internationally recognized privacy rights. Military use of AI needs to
    be accountable, including during military operations within responsible
    human chain of command and control.

        Question. Was the State Department aware of the AI and automated
    systems described in the reports? If so, does the State Department know
    when and how they were used in Gaza?

        Answer. The Department is aware of the reports but cannot speak to
    their validity or confirm their sources. The IDF has publicly stated
    that these AI tools assist analysts with target development and the
    analysts must conduct independent reviews to verify identification.

        Question. If the reports are accurate, do you consider the
    targeting systems described therein and their use in Gaza to violate
    any part of international humanitarian law? Please explain your
    reasoning.

        Answer. The USG position remains consistent across all Israeli
    military operations and other activities in Gaza: Israel's use of AI
    must be carried out consistent with applicable international law,
    including law of armed conflict, and internationally recognized privacy
    rights. Military use of AI needs to be accountable, including during
    military operations, within responsible human chain of command and
    control.

        Question. Has the State Department requested additional information
    from the IDF concerning these reports? If so, what has been their
    response?

        Answer. The Department is in regular communication with Israel
    regarding the conduct of military operations in Gaza. The IDF has
    publicly stated that these AI tools assist analysts with target
    development and that the analysts must conduct independent reviews to
    verify identification.

        Question. Sudan Sanctions.--In December 2023, the State Department
    found that ``members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied
    militias have committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.''
    The Biden administration has also recently increased the number of
    sanctions against the RSF. This includes sanctions against Ali Yagoub
    Gibril and Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed, for leading the RSF war
    campaign, as well as Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, who is the brother of
    the RSF commander, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti. However,
    despite Hemedti's leading role in the RSF's military campaign and the
    aforementioned atrocities, the State Department has yet to sanction
    him. Why hasn't the administration sanctioned Hemedti to date? Please
    provide a detailed explanation.

        Answer. We continue to consider additional designations to advance
    our strategic goals. At this time, and in the context of ongoing
    diplomatic efforts, we have not assessed that imposing such a
    designation would advance our policy objectives of achieving a
    ceasefire and could undermine planned negotiations. We will update this
    assessment, and consider additional actions, based on the belligerents'
    actions related to achieving a negotiated solution to the conflict in
    Sudan, among other factors.

        Question. Pursuant to a letter sent on April 19 from SFRC and HFAC
    leadership to President Biden requiring an assessment on Hemedti's
    eligibility for Global Magnitsky (GLOMAG) Act sanctions, does the State
    Department believe Hemedti is sanctionable under GLOMAG authorities?

        Answer. We continue to review and evaluate all sources of
    information that identify potentially sanctionable conduct under our
    authorities, as well as consider how best to use designations under
    Global Magnitsky and other authorities to advance our policy
    objectives. Per your letter, we are also assessing how imposing a
    sanction under the Global Magnitsky sanctions program would affect
    ongoing diplomatic efforts.
                                     ______

                  Questions Submitted by Senator Susan Collins

        Question. ICC arrest warrants for Israeli officials: Mr. Secretary,
    one of the reasons the Senate has never ratified the Rome Statute that
    created the International Criminal Court (ICC) is because we feared it
    would inevitably be used for politicized prosecutions of U.S. troops
    conducting military operations overseas, which is exactly what
    happened. But in April 2021, the Biden administration reversed the
    previous Administration's imposition of sanctions against certain ICC
    personnel who had initiated a bogus investigation into alleged U.S. war
    crimes in Afghanistan. At the time, you said that while you continued
    to object to the ICC's efforts to assert jurisdiction over the U.S. and
    Israel, you thought those ``cases would be better addressed through
    engagement with all stakeholders in the ICC process.'' You also said
    you were encouraged that the State parties to the ICC were considering
    ``a broad range of reforms to help the Court prioritize its resources
    and to achieve its core mission of serving as a court of last resort.''
    So, it won't surprise you to learn how outraged I am by the
    announcement by the ICC that it is pursuing arrest warrants for Israeli
    Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel's defense minister. To accuse the
    leaders of Hamas and the leaders of Israel of war crimes together in
    the same breath shreds whatever credibility the ICC had left. In light
    of the ICC's announcement yesterday, will the Biden administration
    consider re-imposing sanctions on ICC officials in response to this
    frivolous and outrageous effort, as the United States did in 2020?

        Answer. The Administration is deeply concerned about the ICC
    Prosecutor's rush to apply for arrest warrants for senior Israeli
    officials. However, the Administration opposes any effort to sanction
    the ICC, its staff, its judges, or those who support it. Sanctions
    impede our ability to effectively support and defend Israel at this
    early stage and ahead; undermine our ability to defend U.S. citizens,
    including servicemembers; undermine accountability efforts for Ukraine
    and Darfur; and alienate and isolate the United States from our
    strongest allies.

        Question. Fentanyl.--Mr. Secretary, when you appeared before this
    Subcommittee last year we had a productive discussion on efforts to
    counter fentanyl in which nearly all Members who were present
    participated. That conversation was the basis for the enactment of a
    new general provision in the FY 2024 Department of State, Foreign
    Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act entitled Countering
    the Flow of Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Drugs and the first-ever
    funding directive for such activity--$125 million. Since you last
    testified before this Subcommittee, how would you describe your
    engagement with the People's Republic of China and Mexico on countering
    the flow of fentanyl, other synthetic drugs, and precursor chemicals:
    do we have willing partners to stop this scourge?

        Answer. We continue to engage at the highest levels with the
    Mexican government. Last year, the Mexican government committed to
    continue joint efforts to dismantle the fentanyl supply chain and
    disempower cartels on both sides of the border. While we believe the
    PRC can do more, as a result of U.S. diplomatic engagement, the PRC has
    taken steps to curb illicit sales of fentanyl precursor chemicals,
    issued a notice to its domestic industry, scheduled over 40 substances,
    including three fentanyl precursors, and arrested an individual based
    on U.S. law enforcement information.
                                     ______

                 Questions Submitted by Senator Lindsey Graham
        Question. Mexico/Vulcan Materials.--What specific actions has the
    Department of State taken to deter Mexican President Lopez Obrador from
    seizing Vulcan Materials property?

        Answer. We are following this dispute closely. We speak regularly
    with Mexican officials about our expectation that U.S. companies be
    treated fairly and in accordance with trade obligations, which provide
    trade and investment certainty in Mexico. While the United State does
    not take a position on the merits of an ongoing investment dispute, we
    have underscored to Mexican officials that cases like these can
    negatively impact Mexico's efforts to attract future investment.

        Question. Mexico/Vulcan Materials.--Why is it important to protect
    U.S. commercial interest abroad, and what additional steps can the
    Department take if President Lopez Obrador expropriates Vulcan's
    assets?

        Answer. We are always concerned about the fair treatment of our
    companies abroad, including in Mexico. Cases like these can undermine
    our efforts to create robust and resilient North American supply
    chains. The Department of State and our Embassy are aware of this
    dispute and are following it closely.

        Question. Hong Kong.--Given the arrests of individuals working at
    the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London, England and
    the Hong Kong Trade Development Council in Berlin, Germany on charges
    of espionage, is the Department of State or other appropriate Federal
    agency investigating possible acts of espionage by individuals at the
    HKETO in Washington, D.C.?

        Answer. Consistent with longstanding Executive Branch and
    Department of State policies and practices, the Department does not
    comment on the existence of such investigations.

        Question. Hong Kong.--Have any Chinese officials working at HKETO
    in Washington, D.C. been involved in acts of espionage or other
    activities that threaten our national security?

        Answer. Consistent with longstanding Executive Branch and
    Department of State policies and practices, the Department does not
    comment on the existence of such investigations.

        Question. Hong Kong.--Has the Department of State been briefed by
    the appropriate officials in London and Berlin on their respective Hong
    Kong espionage cases?

        Answer. Consistent with longstanding Executive Branch and
    Department of State policies and practices, the Department does not
    comment on the existence of such investigations.

        Question. Hong Kong.--Why should the HKETO be allowed to continue
    to operate in the United States?

        Answer. Consistent with provisions in the Hong Kong Policy Act of
    1992, the United States has permitted Hong Kong to maintain and operate
    three Economic and Trade Offices in Washington, DC; New York; and San
    Francisco. We are closely monitoring proposals to change the legal
    status of those offices and share concerns about the deteriorating
    human rights and rule of law situation in Hong Kong. When considering
    any possible changes to the offices' status, we would need to consider
    various elements of the U.S. national interest.

        Question. Disinformation.--According to press reports, the
    Department of State funded the Global Disinformation Index (GDI) that
    blacklisted certain conservative media websites for alleged
    disinformation and provided the names of such websites to major
    advertising companies for defunding. What methodology did GDI use to
    determine which entities to include on its ``dynamic exclusion list''?

        Answer. The Department is unable to comment on ongoing litigation.
    The Global Engagement Center (GEC) is focused on countering foreign
    disinformation and propaganda abroad. Some organizations that receive
    GEC funding for countering foreign disinformation overseas may also
    have their own domestic operations or programs in the United States;
    the GEC does not fund those organizations' domestic programs.

        Question. Disinformation.--What steps has the Department of State
    taken to ensure that no appropriated funds are provided to entities
    involved in countering disinformation that violate the First Amendment
    rights of U.S. citizens?

        Answer. All GEC grants or cooperative agreements incorporate the
    following provisions: ``Activities analyzing U.S. persons, whether
    located in the United States or abroad, are outside the scope of this
    award. Moreover, no activities supported under this scope of work shall
    be intentionally targeted toward U.S. audiences, whether in the United
    States or abroad. Any such activities may constitute grounds for
    termination for cause of this award.'' The GEC also conducts regular
    oversight to ensure grant recipients are not using GEC funds to engage
    in any activities in the United States.
                                     ______

                  Questions Submitted by Senator John Boozman
        Question. Recent reporting has indicated that there has been an
    influx of leaks from within the State Department containing classified
    information regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict, including material
    involving hostage negotiation proposals. Would you agree these leaks
    only complicate hostage negotiations and what is the State Department
    specifically doing to ensure leaks involving this classified
    information stop?

        Answer. I have made clear to my team that leaks about sensitive
    diplomatic discussions do not advance the interests of the United
    States and can make it difficult to engage in the sort of broad
    internal consultations that enrich the policymaking process.

        Question. Why would President Biden decide to halt the shipment of
    weapons to Israel needed to defend itself if support for Israel is
    ``ironclad?'' Would you agree it sends the wrong message to our
    adversaries?

        Answer. The President's commitment to Israel's security is
    unwavering. Since October 7, the Administration has surged billions of
    dollars of security assistance to Israel, passed a historic
    supplemental appropriation, and led an unprecedented coalition to
    defend against Iranian attacks. To date, we have paused only one
    shipment of munitions to Israel consisting of 1,818 2,000-lb bombs per
    our concerns regarding their end-use in dense urban settings as we have
    seen in other parts of Gaza. No other deliveries of weapons, munitions,
    equipment, or other services are paused at this time.

        Question. Recent reporting has indicated that undersea fiber-optic
    cables in the Pacific Ocean, which carries sensitive commercial and
    military data, are at risk of tampering by Chinese companies that
    employ repair ships due to these cables relying on these specialized
    foreign construction and repair companies. Can you elaborate more on
    the risk of this security threat and what the Administration is doing
    to ensure these cables are secure from threats?

        Answer. The security of commercial undersea cables, an essential
    part of the global information and communications technology
    infrastructure, is a high priority for the United States. Together with
    likeminded partners, such as Australia and Japan, we are supporting
    digital infrastructure development across the Pacific, including by
    funding the East Micronesia Cable and working with partners on the
    Pacific Connect undersea cable system. We continue to encourage the use
    of trusted vendors at all points in the cable laying, connection, and
    maintenance process.

        Question. I've heard from Pacific Island nations one of their top
    priorities is building their digital connectivity, but to do so, they
    must have the physical infrastructure in place to support it, including
    cybersecurity capabilities to complement it. Can you provide an update
    on what the Administration has and is doing to bridge this gap, and the
    current challenges it's facing to effective implement this?

        Answer. The Department, with the interagency, supports programs to
    advance meaningful connectivity needed for economic growth. We are
    working directly with U.S. industry and more than ten international
    partners to connect multiple Pacific Island nations with trusted
    undersea cables. That effort is advanced by building capacity of local
    governments and industries to absorb technical assistance; enhancing
    regulatory environments; promoting cybersecurity through secure cloud
    services; and demonstrating the commercial viability of such services
    in remote locations.

        Question. As you know, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has unleashed
    an unprecedented food crisis. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has severely
    hurt Ukraine's ability to produce and export grain and other
    foodstuffs, which are desperately needed for many low- and middle-
    income countries. Putin has exploited and manipulated the through its
    own exports, increasing its own agricultural export profits at the
    expense of increasing hunger worldwide. Can you elaborate more on the
    status of the humanitarian corridor Ukraine formed and what the
    Administration is doing to help it remain successful?

        Answer. Ukraine has demonstrated ingenuity to increase agricultural
    exports through Danube River ports, overland routes, and a Black Sea
    corridor created by pushing back Russia's fleet. This corridor has seen
    agricultural shipments exceed monthly volumes during the Black Sea
    Grain Initiative, supporting Ukraine's economy and global food
    security. USAID played a critical role in expanding Danube River ports
    and land border crossings and continues to mobilize investments into
    Ukraine's agricultural sector. We are also working to make war risk
    insurance more affordable and available.

        Question. Is the State Department working with other U.S. agencies,
    such as the Department of Defense and Department of Commerce, to
    develop a comprehensive strategy for ensuring maritime shipping lanes
    are more resilient from conflict-related disruptions?

        Answer. The U.S. Department of State is working with other Federal
    agencies, such as the Departments of Defense, Transportation, and
    Homeland Security, to enhance the resilience of maritime shipping lanes
    against conflict-related disruptions, including the ongoing disruptions
    in the Red Sea. The Department of State closely coordinates with the
    interagency to share critical threat-related information with partners
    and allies through diplomatic channels and with U.S. maritime
    stakeholders through interagency processes including the Maritime
    Alerts and Advisories system.
                                     ______

                  Questions Submitted by Senator Bill Hagerty
        Question. Since May 2022, U.S.-headquartered Vulcan Materials
    Company's operations in Quintana Roo, Mexico, have been harassed and
    intimidated by the Mexican government, including a March 2023 military
    occupation of the company's property. This is all part of a systematic
    effort to rob Vulcan of its legally-held land and deepwater port. It
    has now been 17 months since Vulcan was last able to operate its
    business in Mexico. During that same time period, Vulcan's property has
    twice been illegally occupied by Mexican military and law enforcement
    forces. What has the Biden Administration done to deter these types of
    actions?

        Answer. We are following this dispute closely. We speak regularly
    with Mexican officials about our expectation that U.S. companies are
    treated fairly and in accordance with trade obligations, which provide
    trade and investment certainty in Mexico. In 2018, Vulcan Materials
    Company filed an arbitration claim, which is still pending. While the
    United States does not take a position on the merits of the ongoing
    investment dispute, we have underscored to Mexican officials that cases
    like these can negatively impact Mexico's efforts to attract future
    investment.

        Question. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has
    threatened to imminently expropriate Vulcan's property by turning it
    into what he claims will be ``an environmentally protected area'' if
    the company does not accept his offer to purchase the property for a
    fraction of its fair-market value. If President Lopez Obrador follows
    through on his threat to expropriate Vulcan's assets, what will the
    Biden Administration's specific response be?

        Answer. We are always concerned about the fair treatment of our
    companies abroad, including in Mexico. In 2018, Vulcan Materials
    Company filed an arbitration claim, which is still pending. The
    Department of State does not take a position on the merits of an
    ongoing investment dispute.

        Question. If President Lopez Obrador follows through on his threat
    to expropriate Vulcan's assets, how will this impact the Biden
    Administration's review of the United States- Mexico-Canada Agreement
    (USMCA)?

        Answer. The Administration is preparing carefully for the upcoming
    2026 review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. I refer you
    to the Office of the United States Trade Representative for more
    details on the 2026 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement review.

                             CONCLUSION OF HEARINGS

        Senator Coons. And with that the record will stay open one
    week for any Member of the Committee who wants to submit a
    question for the record.
        Otherwise, this hearing is hereby adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 4:14 p.m., Tuesday, May 21, the subcommittee
    was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of the Chair.]

      STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS FOR
                                FISCAL YEAR 2025

                                  ----------

                                           U.S. Senate,
               Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
                                                        Washington, DC.

                           NONDEPARTMENTAL WITNESSES

        [Clerk's note.--The subcommittee was unable to hold
    hearings on nondepartmental witnesses. The statements and
    letters of those submitting written testimony are as follows:]
           Prepared Statement of Alliance for International Exchange
        As Executive Director of the Alliance for International Exchange, I
    appreciate the opportunity to submit testimony supporting funding of
    $808.6 million in Fiscal Year 2025 for educational and cultural
    exchange programs administered by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau
    of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
        The Alliance comprises U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations
    representing the international educational and cultural exchange
    community in the United States. We greatly appreciate our productive
    working relationship with the subcommittee and its strong and
    consistent support for exchange programs.
        The requested appropriation will allow the Department of State to
    maintain, and even slightly expand U.S. funded educational and cultural
    exchange programs, a cost-effective public diplomacy tool with unique
    capacities to adapt rapidly and effectively to foreign policy and
    national security priorities, while building relationships with
    strategic audiences in key countries and equipping young Americans with
    critical skills. A modest increase in funding would provide more
    opportunities for qualified Americans to participate in upskilling
    opportunities that help build their career skills and global abilities.
    It would further allow U.S. Department of State exchange programs to
    keep pace and meet at least a small fraction of unmet demand and allow
    the U.S. to engage more rising young leaders at home and abroad. The
    requested funding would assist in expanding programming to increase
    U.S. foreign policy effectiveness in critical regions, meet significant
    American and global demand for current programs, and allow for the
    integration of technology to reach those who cannot participate in in-
    person exchange.
        Due to the greater global challenges the U.S. is currently facing,
    it is more important than ever to sustain international people-to-
    people exchanges and expand the geographic scope, so that these
    programs may reach new audiences and participants and share American
    values. The requested funding would allow the Department of State to
    provide opportunities for young Americans to study and research abroad,
    equipping them with the skill-set they need to succeed in today's
    global marketplace. These programs build language and intercultural
    competencies for American citizens and future world leaders, allowing
    them to better solve important problems in the U.S. and around the
    world, and achieve greater understanding in both the private and public
    sectors. Additionally, international exchanges raise the profile and
    prestige of U.S. educational institutions and partners who interact
    with them, creating long-lasting cultural and business relationships.
    An increased investment in these programs will send a strong, united
    message of cohesion and dedication to international partnerships.
    Additional funding will make it possible for existing programs to
    invest in and build the infrastructure and outreach models needed to
    reach underserved communities and partner with organizations that serve
    minority, rural, first-generation Americans, and others who have not
    traditionally engaged in exchanges. By doing so, the U.S. ensures that
    its foreign policy delivers for Americans by including all Americans
    front and center through its people-to-people diplomacy.
        We believe funding for educational and cultural exchange programs
    should be balanced and strategic by reaching a range of people from
    many different countries and backgrounds. Our country is very well
    served by supporting initiatives to discover and cultivate emerging
    leaders; language and area studies programs that prepare U.S. citizens
    for the workforce; capacity development for women; youth engagement;
    exchanges of cultural and artistic expression; interactions with
    international athletes; and virtual exchanges that connect people who
    are unable to travel. This comprehensive approach to exchanges has been
    very effective in advancing our Nation's strategic interests and should
    be maintained.
                       supporting u.s. national security
        U.S. Department of State exchange programs allow the U.S. to engage
    with wide and diverse audiences and emerging leaders from over 110
    countries around the world, many of them from countries key to our
    National security interests (e.g. Brazil, China, India, Russia, Turkey,
    and Ukraine). American students studying abroad through U.S. Department
    of State exchange programs are ambassadors of the next generation of
    American leaders, highlighting our most promising young people and
    promoting American values around the world. U.S. Department of State
    evaluations repeatedly show that international exchange participants
    who visit the United States complete their programs with a better
    impression of our country, the American people, and our values. U.S.
    ambassadors around the world consistently rank exchange programs among
    the most useful catalysts for long-term political change and mutual
    understanding. Notable exchange alumni include: 721 current and former
    heads of foreign governments, 87 Nobel Prize winners, 75
    representatives to the United Nations, and 39 current and former heads
    of international organizations.
        Furthermore, it is critical that the U.S. both maintain and expand
    the human networks needed to successfully tackle these and future
    challenges. Building and sustaining networks is important for creating
    ongoing connections and is also a cost-effective way to enhance the
    impact of exchanges.
                         strengthening the u.s. economy
        U.S. Department of State exchange programs are a cost-effective
    investment that not only enhance America's long-term competitiveness
    but also provide significant and immediate economic impact in
    communities across the country. 90% of the Bureau of Educational and
    Cultural Affairs' appropriation is spent in the United States or
    invested directly in American citizens or American organizations. Among
    others, this appropriation supports 430+ EducationUSA Student Advising
    Centers worldwide, fostering the flow of 1,057,188 international
    students to U.S. universities and colleges in the 2022-23 academic
    year. These students who were enrolled at U.S. colleges and
    universities across the U.S. contributed $40.1 billion to the U.S.
    economy and supported over 368,000 jobs, according to NAFSA:
    Association of International Educators. A series of BridgeUSA program
    reports found that participants from the Au Pair, Camp Counselor,
    Intern/Trainee and Summer Work Travel programs contribute approximately
    $1.5 billion annually to the U.S. economy. All 50 States host
    international exchange visitors, who support the local economy during
    their stay.
                        increasing mutual understanding
        Exchange programs have a proven track record of building respect
    and increasing mutual understanding between Americans and citizens of
    countries around the world. For example, 94% of exchange students from
    Muslim-majority countries reported having a deeper, more favorable view
    of American culture after their stay in the United States, according to
    a U.S. Department of State evaluation of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth
    Exchange and Study (YES) Program.
        Support from Congress allows the U.S. Department of State to
    strategically align its programs with key U.S. foreign policy interests
    and to facilitate exchange experiences for more than 55,000 American
    and international exchange participants each year, including:

      --Bringing emerging and future leaders to the U.S. on programs like
            the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program
            between the U.S. and countries with significant Muslim
            populations; the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) Program for
            high school students from Eurasia; the Young Leaders
            Initiatives in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Americas; and
            the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP);
      --Expanding opportunities for young Americans to study abroad through
            programs like the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship
            Program;
      --Continuing to engage students and scholars through the renowned
            Fulbright Program;
      --Engaging and training young professionals through programs such as
            the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX); and
      --Broadening engagement with youth, women and girls, as well as
            program alumni.

        Increasing mutual understanding also requires expanding exchanges
    to include new audiences. With this appropriation for educational and
    cultural exchanges, program implementing partners could achieve
    objectives like the following: meeting a fraction of unmet demand from
    both Americans and those abroad to participate in these programs;
    expanding programs that prioritize underserved communities in the U.S.;
    expanding domestic outreach and recruitment of host families and
    students; and building relationships with other regions of the world to
    diversify inbound exchange programs.
        Additionally, a critical part of incorporating new audiences is
    successfully integrating technology. Learning from the lessons of the
    pandemic, implementing partners are continuing to incorporate virtual
    elements or fully virtual programs where appropriate. Although virtual
    programming helps reduce costs for participants, it comes with higher
    administrative costs to build necessary virtual infrastructure, hire
    and train staff to intentionally develop programming, and effectively
    use virtual tools, and acquire reliable virtual platforms. This
    appropriation should allow for virtual activities to successfully
    complement traditional in-person exchanges and expand access for those
    who otherwise would not have the opportunity to participate, furthering
    the reach and impact of these programs worldwide.
        Again, thank you for the opportunity to express our support for
    funding of $808.6 million in Fiscal Year 2025 for U.S. Department of
    State educational and cultural exchange programs. We look forward to
    working with the subcommittee to ensure that international exchange
    programs continue to play a vital role in supporting U.S. national
    security, strengthening our economy, and increasing mutual
    understanding between the U.S. and countries around the world. Thank
    you for your consideration.

        [This statement was submitted by Mark Overmann, Executive
    Director.]
                                     ______

              Prepared Statement of American Academy of Pediatrics
        The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), a non-profit professional
    organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical
    subspecialists, and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the
    health, safety, and well-being of infants, children, adolescents, and
    young adults, appreciates the opportunity to submit this statement for
    the record in support of strong Federal investments in foreign
    assistance to support children's health and wellbeing in Fiscal Year
    (FY) 2025 and beyond. AAP urges all Members of Congress to put children
    first when considering short and long-term Federal spending decisions
    and supports funding levels for the following programs under USAID: $35
    million for the Vulnerable Children account; $4,850,000,000 for
    International Disaster Assistance; $1,150,000,000 for the Maternal and
    Child Health budget line; and the following programs under the
    Department of State: $4,211,188,000 for Migration and Refugee
    Assistance; and $6,860,000,000 for Global HIV/AIDS programs.
                          vulnerable children (usaid)
        FY 25 Request: $35 million; FY 24 Level: $31.5 million.--In passing
    the Global Child Thrive Act in 2021, Congress recognized the need to
    integrate early childhood development interventions into U.S. foreign
    assistance programs to make sure that children have the tools they need
    to survive and thrive. The AAP appreciates an increase of funding in
    FY24 for the USAID Vulnerable Children account, which supports the care
    and protection of vulnerable children around the globe. This account
    funds three priorities: early childhood development programs, keeping
    children in family-based care, and supporting interventions that
    prevent violence against children. In 2022, with this funding, USAID
    provided 28.6 million children with services such as family tracing and
    reunification or other child development, protection, safety, and well-
    being services. Increased funding would allow the U.S. government to
    reach more children and families with child development, social
    services, and other key support to further its goals with the USAID
    strategy for Advancing Protection and Care for Children in Adversity
    (APCCA).
                   international disaster assistance (usaid)
        FY 25 Request: $4.85 billion; FY 24 Level: $4.779 billion.--In
    2023, the world saw an increase in global conflicts and natural
    disasters. In 2022, an estimated 468 million children--more than one in
    six children worldwide--lived in areas affected by armed conflict. The
    USAID International Disaster Assistance (IDA) account provides critical
    humanitarian assistance to civilian populations in response to natural
    disasters, conflict and insecurity, and other sudden-onset emergencies,
    and supports a range of humanitarian assistance to save lives including
    emergency food assistance, nutrition, water, shelter, health care,
    protection, and agricultural rehabilitation. Complex conflicts and
    natural disasters are increasing in frequency and severity, and because
    of this, more funding for the IDA account is needed to reach the same
    number of people who were reached previously.
       maternal and child health budget line including gavi, the vaccine
                           alliance and polio (usaid)
        FY 25 Request: $1,150,000,000 including $340 million for Gavi, the
    vaccine alliance and $165 million for polio eradication; FY 24 Level:
    $915 million including $300 million for Gavi, the vaccine alliance and
    $85 million for polio eradication.
        The AAP appreciates an increase in funding for Gavi, the Vaccine
    Alliance, which was appropriated at $300 million for FY24. The pandemic
    significantly set back gains for maternal, newborn, and child survival
    by several years because of disruptions to the delivery of essential,
    lifesaving health services, such as routine immunizations, antenatal
    care, and breastfeeding counseling. There are currently 4.9 million
    children and 287,000 women who die each from mostly preventable causes.
    Between 2019-2021, 67 million children missed out on routine
    immunizations, which is leading to outbreaks of vaccine preventable
    disease across the globe. Funding of $1.15 billion for USAID's Maternal
    and Child Health budget line would expand programs that support
    pregnant mothers and newborns before, during, and after childbirth as
    well as support training community health workers to diagnose and treat
    key childhood illnesses and improve access to routine childhood
    immunizations.
        Additionally, the first-ever malaria vaccines are now available and
    have shown to reduce all-cause mortality by 13 percent. An increase of
    $40 million in funding to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance would allow Gavi
    to support the rollout of the new malaria vaccines, reach millions more
    children with vaccinations and regain lost ground in vaccine coverage,
    and prevent outbreaks at their source. An additional $80 million to
    support USAID's bilateral polio program would strengthen surveillance
    and outbreak response.
       migration and refugee assistance (department of state--bureau of
                      population, refugee, and migration)
        FY 25 Request: $4,211,188,000; FY 24 Level: $3.928 billion.--In
    2022, an estimated 468 million children--more than one in six children
    worldwide--lived in areas affected by armed conflict. Over 43 million
    of these children were forcibly displaced. The Department of State's
    Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) account helps meet the basic
    needs of displaced people, supports sustainable and dignified solutions
    to their displacement, and assists the countries hosting them. With the
    increase of frequency and severity of conflicts, coupled with rising
    operational costs, more MRA funding is required to reach the same
    number of people who were reached previously. Additionally, MRA funds
    help manage migration in the Western Hemisphere, including irregular
    migration from Central America to the United States.
      global hiv/aids programs including pepfar, global fund, and unaids
                 (department of state--global health programs)
        FY 25 Request: $6,860,000,000 for Global HIV/AIDS programs,
    including $5.15 billion for PEPFAR, $1.65 billion for the Global Fund,
    and $60 million for UNAIDS; FY 24 Level: $6.045 billion.
        The Department of State's Global HIV/AIDS programs including
    PEPFAR, the Global Fund, and UNAIDS, support programs that expand
    access to HIV prevention, treatment, and care interventions. Each year,
    1.3 million people become newly infected with HIV and 630,000 people
    die of AIDS-related illnesses worldwide. Funding for PEPFAR has
    remained stagnant for over a decade in dollar amounts, resulting in an
    effective $1.5 billion decrease in purchasing power from 2009 to 2021.
    PEPFAR, the Global Fund, UNAIDS, and other multi- and bilateral U.S.
    investments in global HIV/AIDS are a cornerstone platform for U.S.
    global health programs and one of the major public health successes of
    this generation. Since the inception of the program, PEPFAR has saved
    more than 25 million lives. The program has provided over 20 million
    people with to access lifesaving antiretroviral treatment and supported
    5.5 million babies to be born HIV-free. Increasing investments in
    global HIV/AIDS programs are essential to ending AIDS as a public
    health threat and achieving an AIDS free generation.
        The American Academy of Pediatrics looks forward to working with
    Members of Congress to prioritize the health and well-being of
    children, globally, in FY2025 and beyond to adequately fund life-saving
    foreign assistance programs for vulnerable children and their families.

        [This statement was submitted by Mandy Slutsker, Director, Global
    Child Health Advocacy, American Academy of Pediatrics.]
                                     ______

     Prepared Statement of American Councils for International Education:
                                  ACTR/ACCELS
                     Regarding Department of State Programs
    Mr. Chairman,

        Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony to the
    subcommittee on behalf of American Councils for International
    Education. Exchange programs funded through the Educational and
    Cultural Exchange programs are a vital component to strengthening the
    National security of the United States and supporting U.S.
    international leadership. I am requesting that the subcommittee
    recommend funding in the fiscal year 2025 State, Foreign Operations
    bill of at least $800 million for programs under the Department of
    State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). Further, I
    ask that funding within ECA be provided at the amount of $115 million
    for Citizen Exchange Programs and that the Critical Languages
    Scholarship program be funded at a level of $11 million. I also ask
    that funding of at least $3.0 million be included for Research and
    Training for Eastern Europe and the Independent States of the Former
    Soviet Union Program.
        The complexities of the current geopolitical crises in Ukraine,
    Belarus, Afghanistan and the Middle East and the ongoing political
    unrest in South Asia and the Horn of Africa demonstrate the critical
    importance of exchange programs and the vital channel they provide the
    United States for engaging people and communities throughout the world
    in constructive dialog and the pursuit of mutual understanding. Surveys
    of academic year program alumni show that most remain in touch with
    Americans that they met on their programs in the U.S., and overall, 96%
    have positive impressions of Americans.
        Exchange programs funded through the Educational and Cultural
    Exchange Programs account are a vital component to strengthening the
    National security of the United States and supporting U.S.
    international leadership.
        Americans who have benefited from State Department funding go on to
    careers using those languages, including many who subsequently work in
    the State Department, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland
    Security, and other Federal employers. Exchange programs have been
    clearly shown to be an important, highly cost-effective public
    diplomacy tool as well as a training opportunity for those who
    represent and defend our country.
        These programs promote America's business and political interests
    abroad and advance U.S. democratic values abroad, reaching a wide range
    of students, educators, and young professionals.
        The U.S. is a global leader in delivering programs that create deep
    and long-lasting bonds between individuals. However, the U.S. is not
    without competition in this arena. China actively promotes competing
    outreach initiatives around the world. The U.S. must maintain its
    primacy in this area.
        As President of American Councils for International Education, I
    have the privilege of overseeing one of the leading nonprofit
    organizations administering U.S. Government and privately funded
    exchange and educational development programs in areas critical to U.S.
    interests around the globe. Exchange programs promote the qualities of
    democracy in the United States and work to build positive, productive
    relations between the people of the United States and the people of
    other countries.
        Leaders in more than 120 countries around the world, in both
    government and business, have come to share strong pro-Western values,
    thanks to exchanges.
                    educational and cultural exchanges (ece)
        No instrument is more cost-effective than American outreach through
    exchanges to the rising generation of young leaders and professionals.
    Exchanges provide a significant long-term multiplier effect at
    relatively low cost, as alumni later rise to increasingly important
    roles in government, the private sector, and the NGO community.
    Exchange opportunities are financially out of the reach of most U.S.
    families.
        Without a doubt, these programs benefit not just the countries on
    which they focus; they also benefit the U.S., which must strategically
    engage with the global community.
        Citizen Exchanges give American and foreign participants the
    opportunity to gain knowledge and share their expertise and experience
    through professional, youth, cultural, and sports exchange programs.
        The Critical Language Scholarships program is an essential part of
    the U.S. national security effort to expand the number of Americans
    studying and mastering foreign languages. These languages are less
    commonly taught in the United States but are essential to America's
    engagement in the world. Languages include Russian, Chinese, Farsi,
    Arabic, Korean, Indonesian, and others. More than 90% of participants
    indicate an increase in job skills as a result of participation in
    Critical Language Scholarships programs.
        The State Department has expanded the number of critical languages
    offered by the CLS from the original 10 to the present 16 languages,
    without any corresponding increase in funding. The result is that
    competitive positions for training in languages such as Russian,
    Chinese, Farsi, and Arabic have been reduced over this period.
        Overseas foreign language capability dramatically boosts U.S.
    capacity to operate around the world, both in collaboration with our
    friends and allies and, where necessary, in competition with our
    adversaries.
        Funding at a level of $11 million annually will enable CLS program
    resources to match in constant dollar support the level of funding of
    the program's initial implementation. The need for these resources is
    evident, both in terms of the additional languages deemed critical by
    the State Department and the increasingly challenging global
    environment in which State Department and other U.S. government
    national security professionals operate around the world.
        The Future Leader Exchange (FLEX) program brings about 800 students
    from countries of the former Soviet Union, Ukraine and Central and
    Eastern Europe through a merit-based competitive process to the U.S.
    for a high school academic year. With over 28,000 alumni in positions
    of responsibility in government, business, and education, FLEX plays an
    essential and critical role in fostering democratic values and positive
    views toward the United States.
        The Youth Exchange and Study Program (YES) fosters greater
    understanding between the United States and countries with significant
    Muslim populations and is an important part of U.S. foreign policy. The
    YES program brings approximately 800 students from almost 40 countries
    to the U.S. each school year and plays a critical role in achieving
    this objective.
     research and training on eastern europe and the independent states of
                            the former soviet union
        I am requesting the Committee provide report language and funding
    at the previously Congressionally recommended level of $3.0 million for
    the Program for Research and Training on Eastern Europe and the
    Independent States of the Former Soviet Union. The request is also to
    continue current bill language under the section for ``General
    Provisions.''
        The Research and Training on Eastern Europe and the Independent
    States of the Former Soviet Union Title VIII program was enacted into
    law in 1983. These programs provide American advanced research,
    fieldwork and essential linguistic capacities for policymaking
    challenges emanating from Russia, Ukraine, and the turbulent border
    regions.
        The purpose of the Research and Training on Eastern Europe and the
    Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (referred to as Title
    VIII programs) is to raise the readiness levels of U.S. civilian and
    prospective government personnel for understanding, analyzing, and
    dealing effectively with a new generation of cyber, environmental,
    geopolitical, military, technological and political challenges
    emanating from Russian aggression and in the region as a whole.
        Research and Training on Eastern Europe and the Independent States
    of the Former Soviet Union programs ensure that American scholars and
    government officials cultivate and maintain vital area expertise,
    linguistic capabilities, and knowledge of the region's increasingly
    diverse societies to ensure that our policymaking, conduct of
    relations, and engagement with this vital region are informed and based
    on an up-to-date understanding of the situation on the ground across
    the region.
        In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, exchanges are a critical, national
    security foreign policy tool. They are a cost-effective tool in
    promoting democratic values. These programs provide a significant
    return on investment, particularly in a time of limited resources.
        Therefore, I urge the subcommittee to provide the funding and
    report language I have outlined in this statement for the Bureau of
    Educational and Cultural Affairs and for the program of Research and
    Training for Eastern Europe and the Independent States of the Former
    Soviet Union.
        Thank you for your consideration.

        [This statement was submitted by Lisa Choate, President and CEO.]
                                     ______

     Prepared Statement of The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA)
        The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) is concerned about
    the 6 percent decrease to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 International
    Affairs Budget from the FY23 enacted level. In FY25, AFSA hopes this
    trend is reversed and significant hiring increases in the Foreign
    Service can resume with a corresponding boost in funding. Specifically,
    this testimony will address AFSA's appropriations requests for the U.S.
    Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
        In the FY25 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS)
    Appropriations bill, AFSA is seeking an increase in funds for the State
    Department's ``Human Resources'' account to hire and continue to fill
    Foreign Service positions. AFSA also requests an increase in funds for
    USAID's ``Operating Expenses'' account to hire and continue to fill
    Foreign Service positions. Additionally, these operational accounts aid
    in retention efforts for members of the Foreign Service. AFSA strongly
    opposes any proposed cuts to the operational accounts of foreign
    affairs agencies, which enable the hiring and retention of career
    members of the Foreign Service.
        Maintaining a robust diplomatic capability is vital to preserving
    America's global leadership role. Our leadership was built on a
    foundation of military might, economic primacy, good governance,
    democratic values, tremendous cultural appeal-and the diplomatic
    prowess to channel all that power, hard and soft, into global
    leadership and multilateral alliances that have kept us safe and
    prosperous at home. We would like to partner with our congressional
    supporters to ensure that today and for years to come, the full
    complement of U.S. diplomats is in the field, deployed around the world
    to promote and protect our interests. For a tiny percentage of the
    overall budget, the Foreign Service is America's first line of defense.
    Its members build the relationships that enable Americans to conduct
    business all around the world, keeping threats at bay and reducing the
    need for military action.
        If the United States retreats diplomatically, we leave a vacuum
    that will be filled by others. According to an April 2, 2024,
    ``People's Republic of China (PRC) Influence and Confirmations''
    presentation from the State Department, ``susceptibility to PRC
    influence is high in countries without Senate-confirmed ambassadors.''
    In the face of aggressive competition from countries such as China, the
    opportunity costs of leaving American embassies short staffed and
    without confirmed, empowered ambassadors are rapidly increasing. Doing
    so erodes our Nation's diplomatic power at our own peril.
        Growing cost-of-living concerns have also become a challenge in
    retaining members of the Foreign Service, as evidenced by an AFSA Fall
    2023 survey. Given the very mobile lifestyle and thus frequent
    relocations, our members cite moving and re-establishing households
    every few years, especially with domestic transfers, as growing
    expenditures. These costs are made even more onerous due to frequent
    career disruptions for partners and spouses of Foreign Service members
    and the challenge of looking for housing, childcare, eldercare, and
    setting up commuting routines every time a move is made. Thus, many
    Foreign Service households rely on just one income, or with one spouse
    earning well below their potential, throughout most of a Foreign
    Service career. Our members also overwhelmingly identified the cost of
    housing in the Washington D.C. region to be the most significant
    challenge of serving in domestic positions. Ensuring that we can hire,
    and then retain, U.S. Foreign Service members serves as another reason
    for our ask to increase funding of operational accounts.
                                state department
        An increase in the number of members of the Foreign Service will
    help accomplish three major goals: help facilitate a training float so
    that members of the Foreign Service are better prepared for their jobs,
    allow expanded intake from an increasingly diverse U.S. population, and
    enable the Department to meet expanding mission requirements.

      1.  Members of the Foreign Service receive quality training on the
            front end and on the basics of diplomatic work before they go
            to their first assignment, including language and functional
            training. However, limited funding for leadership and other
            specialized training hamper career-long training opportunities
            for our Foreign Service members. The officers are usually
            shuttled between language training and their next post, without
            the opportunity to simply study their lessons learned or gain
            new leadership skills in the classroom setting. A sustained and
            fully funded training float will enable members of the Foreign
            Service to perform higher quality work, accelerate out-of-cone,
            cross-functional skills building, and provide temporary duty
            officers to perform jobs while others attend training. An
            increase will help ensure that enough personnel are in place to
            support a training float for the Foreign Service.
      2.  A significant increase in the number of Foreign Service members
            provides the opportunity to expand representation to
            traditionally underrepresented groups. General expansion of the
            Foreign Service aids in both the recruitment and retention of a
            more diverse Foreign Service. While there has recently been
            greater intake from traditionally underrepresented groups,
            which should continue to expand, retention remains an ongoing
            concern. While U.S. Foreign Service members identify as being
            from or growing up in all 50 States, according to an AFSA June
            2023 survey, expanded intake would also allow for even more
            geographical and socioeconomic diversity.
      3.  Today, the U.S. is facing new threats and issues diplomats did
            not have to reckon with 10 years ago. Russia has re-emerged as
            a major national security threat, especially after its invasion
            of Ukraine in early 2022. China now has a larger diplomatic
            presence than the U.S. It has more posts overseas and
            outnumbers American diplomats five to one in African countries.
            Additional hiring and greater retention of the current
            workforce will enable the Foreign Service to meet its expanded
            mission requirements to counter the ever-growing threats to our
            global leadership and influence.

        Our nation needs a full team of diplomats and development
    professionals in the field keeping threats at bay and safeguarding our
    prosperity-combating the conditions that enable terrorism to take root,
    protecting against pandemics, and promoting the rule of law and
    international rules and norms that level the playing field for U.S.
    companies to compete and thrive. This deficit of Foreign Service
    members needs to be addressed as soon as possible if we are to avoid
    losing further commercial, economic, and even political ground to
    rising great powers and peer competitors. AFSA's request for funding to
    support Foreign Service hiring and retention will enable America to
    have a full team in the field and at home.
                                     usaid
        AFSA also greatly appreciates bipartisan support for foreign
    assistance, including increases to USAID's Operating Expenses (OE)
    account to permit hiring of career personnel and filling positions. We
    regard this support as a critical component of U.S. national security.
    AFSA recognizes the steady increase in the USAID OE budget since
    FY2019, which has allowed USAID to increase both career Foreign Service
    officers (FSO) and Civil Service (CS) staff. Largely done under the
    auspices of the Global Development Partnership Initiative (GDPI), USAID
    career FSOs are nearing the FY 23 target of 1,980 and an increase of
    over 300 career FSOs since 2019. This has been a good start. However,
    USAID still faces critical shortages of career Foreign Service
    employees. In the field, USAID Missions continue to struggle to fill
    Contracting Officer, Controller, technical, and programmatic positions
    with career FSOs. As a result, the Agency maintains its reliance on
    temporary contractors, short-term fixes, or simply making do without.
        Decades of OE shortages, career hiring caps, fragmented internal
    budget processes, and an under-resourced and unempowered Human Capital
    and Talent Management (HCTM) Office have distorted both USAID's
    workforce composition and processes. Today, Institutional Support
    Contractors (ISC), Personal Service Contractors (PSC), and non-career
    Foreign Service Limited (FSL) employees account for nearly 25 percent
    of staff. In some critical Washington Bureaus, such as Conflict
    Prevention & Stabilization (CPS), Humanitarian Affairs (HA),
    Resilience, Environment and Food Security (REFS) and Global Health
    (GH), an overwhelming majority of personnel are short-term non-career
    staff (PSCs, ISC, and FSLs). The continued reliance on non-career staff
    affects how USAID works, limits career opportunities for FSOs, and
    undermines overall morale across hiring categories.
        AFSA recognizes the efforts USAID has made under GDPI to increase
    career FSO staff. As reported in the FY 22 Transforming Workforce
    Report to Congress, USAID will meet its FY2023 goal of a career Foreign
    Service totaling 1,980. However, there is growing uncertainty over
    whether USAID will be able to reach its FY2025 target of 2,500 career
    FSOs. Furthermore, the addition of a new hiring authority, Civil
    Service Excepted (CSE), and an increase in hiring authority for FSLs to
    700, are troubling signs that USAID will continue to rely on temporary
    short-term employment options.
        For years, Congress and AFSA have been asking USAID to develop a
    comprehensive workforce strategy. In January 2024, the comprehensive
    strategic workforce plan (CSWP) was finally established, a positive
    first step. AFSA is committed to working with USAID to ensure that the
    CSWP captures and effectively utilizes the required and necessary data
    to allow leadership to make and implement decisions in an open and
    transparent manner that promotes a strong career FSO workforce while
    minimizing the need for continued short-term solutions. The CSWP and
    its first and future reports are essential in ensuring a growing and
    strong career workforce capable of implementing effective programming
    in support of our foreign policy goals.
        While GDPI and the SWPC are positive steps, there is still a need
    for vigilance. Turnover and vacancy rates of critical Senior FSO (SFS)
    and FSO positions across Washington Bureaus remain high. High SFS
    turnover in the Bureau of Human Capital and Talent Management (HCTM),
    coupled with continued vacancy in the Chief Human Capital Officer
    (CHCO) position, holds back growing and strengthening the career FSO
    corps. It is essential for USAID to better understand why both its SFS
    and FSO domestic positions are going unfilled, or when filled, why
    career staff often depart early.
        Finally, recent authority to increase the number of FSLs to 700 (a
    potential of over 250 new positions), along with new CSE mechanisms,
    give AFSA pause. FSLs and CSEs are professional and respected
    colleagues, many of whom would welcome the chance to compete for a
    career position with USAID if opportunities arose. However, USAID has
    seemingly chosen to meet its needs with temporary term-limited fixes,
    further limiting opportunities for its career FSOs. The continued use
    of these mechanisms and the explosion in the number of ISCs create not
    only a huge management and unknown budget burden, but further entrench
    perceptions of an unsupportive leadership for career FSOs.
        Again, AFSA requests an increase in OE funding that recognizes the
    urgent need for a larger, robustly resourced career Foreign Service at
    USAID. We hope this budget and on-going efforts by USAID are part of a
    larger, sustained, concerted effort to rebuild and empower USAID's
    career cadre to better serve the interests of the American people.
        Thank you for your consideration of these requests.

    Sincerely,

    Tom Yazdgerdi, AFSA President
                                     ______

            Prepared Statement of American Hellenic Institute (AHI)
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and Members of the
    subcommittee, I am pleased to submit testimony to the subcommittee on
    behalf of the Nationwide membership of the American Hellenic Institute
    (AHI) on the Administration's proposed FY2025 foreign aid budget.
        In keeping with the best interests of the United States, and with
    the vision and spirit of the Administration's FY2025 budget request
    aimed to meet our commitment to confronting global challenges, which
    includes fostering democracy and human rights and countering malign
    influences, AHI opposes any proposed: (1) military assistance the
    Administration will request for Turkey until; Turkey withdraws all of
    its troops and illegal Turkish settlers in Cyprus; Turkey demonstrates
    tangible steps to resolve its outstanding problems with Greece in the
    spirit of the December 7, 2023 ``declaration on friendly relations and
    good neighborliness;'' Turkey ends their political, financial, and
    logistical support for Hamas and other U.S. designated terrorist
    organizations; (2) any proposed reduction in the aid levels for the UN
    Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus.
        Further, AHI officially supported a bipartisan dear colleague
    letter addressed to the House Appropriations Committee led by the
    leaders of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus calling for FY2025
    appropriations to include $1.8 million for International Military
    Education and Training (IMET) assistance for Greece.
        Additionally, AHI recommends robust investment for Foreign Military
    Financing (FMF) assistance for Greece, a faithful NATO ally since 1952.
    As this testimony will demonstrate to the subcommittee, Greece's
    strategic importance to the United States justifies this
    recommendation. AHI also recommends a $25 million appropriation for
    fiscal years 2025 and 2026 for Greece's European Recapitalization
    Incentive Program (ERIP), as authorized by the United States-Greece
    Defense and Interparliamentary Partnership Act of 2021. In addition to
    ERIP financing for Greece, Congress should appropriate an extra $6
    million in FMF funding, as part of the President's FY2025 budget
    request. The East Med Act authorized appropriations of $3 million for
    FMF assistance in FY2020.
        The Republic of Cyprus, a vital U.S. strategic partner, will mark
    the somber 50th anniversary of Turkey's illegal invasion and ongoing
    occupation in July. For the first time in 2020, the U.S. Department of
    State provided funding for the Republic of Cyprus's IMET program. AHI
    welcomed this policy development as the U.S. rightfully invested
    resources in defense cooperation with the Republic of Cyprus. The U.S.
    must build upon it by providing a minimum $500,000 appropriation for
    the Republic of Cyprus' IMET program for FY2025.
        AHI strongly opposes any proposed cuts by Congress to foreign
    assistance programs that strengthen the U.S.-Greece and U.S.-Republic
    of Cyprus relationships.
        America Values Its Alliance with Greece.--Greece is an immensely
    valuable link as 'a pillar of stability' in the region as several high-
    level U.S. government officials have noted. Furthermore, as Greece is
    located in the intersection of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and has close
    cultural, political, and economic ties to Mediterranean countries,
    including Israel; as well as Western Europe, the Balkans, Eastern
    Europe, and the Middle East, Greece is situated in a vital strategic
    region to be an ideal partner for the U.S. The U.S.-Greece relationship
    has reached new heights by virtue of an ongoing Strategic Dialogue
    (which completed its 5th round in February, 2024) where avenues for
    cooperation among many sectors were discussed, including: regional
    cooperation, defense and security, and trade and investment, among
    others. Greece is a pivotal and dependable NATO ally to advance U.S.
    interests and is a frontline state against terrorism. Specifically,
    Greece has become indispensable to U.S. efforts to support Ukraine.
    Greece enables the U.S. military to enter the European theater through
    the port of Thessaloniki and to depart through Alexandroupolis, a port
    in northern Greece. Alexandroupolis has been referred to as the ``Souda
    of the North'' by the former Chief of the Hellenic National Defense
    General Staff, Konstantinos Floros, because it has become an important
    staging point for the transiting of equipment to Ukraine and Europe's
    Eastern flank. Greece has sent both military and humanitarian aid to
    Ukraine. On March 6, 2024, a Russian missile strike narrowly missed
    Prime Minister Mitsotakis while he was in Ukraine to meet with
    President Zenenskyy and show solidarity with Ukrainian people.
        The United States and Greece signed an extension of an upgraded
    Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA) in October 2021, addressing
    the two allies' commitment to address, over a longer term, the security
    challenges in the region as well as offering more flexibility to deepen
    cooperation in the defense sector. Secretary Blinken explained: ``This
    update will allow the agreement to remain in force indefinitely, and it
    enables U.S. forces in Greece to train and operate from additional
    locations.'' The MDCA also envisions the continuation and expansion of
    activities through the port of Alexandroupolis.
        For its part, Greece further demonstrates its commitment to NATO as
    a top contributor to its defense efforts. In 2023, Greece spent 3.01%
    of its GDP on defense expenditures, just behind the United States and
    Poland in terms of highest percentage of GDP.\1\ In 2022, Greece spent
    3.76% of its GDP on defense expenditures, most of any NATO member
    country that year, including the U.S.\2\ In addition, AHI welcomes the
    approved sale of F-35 fighter jets to Greece this year, a step which
    will further enhance the U.S.-Greece defense relationship.
        Greece is also important for the projection of U.S. strategic
    interests by being home to the most important U.S. military facility in
    the Mediterranean Sea, NSA Souda Bay, located in Crete. It is a base
    from where joint USN/USAF reconnaissance missions and air refueling
    support for U.S. and NATO operations were implemented successfully, and
    it continues to be immensely important. Military installations located
    at Souda Bay include the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational
    Training Centre (NMIOTC) and the NATO Missile Firing Installation
    (NAMFI). It also has been noted by U.S. government officials that Souda
    Bay allows United States Navy vessels--especially aircraft carriers--
    the ability to dock, make needed repairs and maintenance, and resupply,
    all within a couple of weeks and without having to return to Naval
    Station Norfolk.
        However, Greece's value extends well beyond Souda Bay. To further
    demonstrate Greece's value:

      --NATO Joint-Command HQ.--Thessaloniki hosts a NATO Rapid Deployment
            Corps combined with its Third Army Corps for 2 years.
      --Operation Atlantic Resolve.--Greece enables a substantial portion
            of the U.S. Army's 10th Combat Aviation Brigade to enter the
            European theater through the port of Thessaloniki and to depart
            through Alexandroupolis. As demonstrated earlier in this
            testimony, Alexandroupolis is being recognized for its
            increased geostrategic importance, which can also contribute to
            economic development and energy security.
      --USAF has invested resources to create the infrastructure required
            to operate MQ-9 Reaper Drones from Greece's Larisa Air Force
            Base.
      --Increased aircraft and soldier involvement at Stefanovikio Hellenic
            Army airbase improves NATO transit capability.
      --The trilateral naval exercise ``Noble Dina'' between the U.S.,
            Greece, and Israel is held annually off of the coast of Souda
            Bay.

        Former U.S. Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt described the U.S.-
    Greece relationship as being at ``an all-time high'' and acknowledged
    Greece as a key geostrategic partner of the United States, stating
    exercises conducted there are ``showcasing Greece's critical geographic
    position at the nexus of three continents.'' Pyatt's successor,
    Ambassador George Tsunis, has echoed this assessment, most recently in
    February 2024. ``The United States views Greece as an indispensable
    partner and key NATO Ally. Greece plays a critical role defending
    NATO's southeastern flank,'' Tsunis said in an interview.\3\
        Finally, Greece is also an active participant in peacekeeping and
    peace-building operations conducted by international organizations,
    including the UN, NATO, EU, and OSCE. In summary, it is evident Greece
    contributes significantly to U.S. interests. AHI strongly contends
    these actions justify a robust investment by the U.S. in Foreign
    Military Financing assistance to Greece.
        Greece's Role in European Energy Security.--Significant commerce
    and energy sources pass through the Eastern Mediterranean. Russia's
    illegal invasion of Ukraine has created an urgent need for Europe to
    get off Russian oil and gas through a diversification of energy
    sources. Greece is poised to play a fundamental role in Europe's energy
    security and independence from Russian energy. Greece is quickly
    becoming an energy hub for Europe, and the transit point for the
    Southern Gas and Eastern Mediterranean Gas Corridors, both of which
    contain significant amounts of non- Russian energy. Greece plays a
    pivotal role in the transit of energy from the Caspian region to Europe
    via the Trans- Adriatic Pipeline, operational since 2020. Greece is
    leading the expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor into the Balkans
    through initiatives such as the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria
    (IGB), which became operational in 2022. In addition, Greece will have
    a key role in the emergent Eastern Mediterranean Gas Corridor. Proposed
    pipeline and interconnector projects, as well as Greece's existing
    Liquified National Gas (LNG) terminals, position Greece to be the
    gateway for Egyptian, Israeli, and Cypriot energy to Europe. In fact,
    in February, the first FSRU (floating storage and regasification unit)
    received its first LNG cargo, which originated in the U.S. By contrast,
    Turkey promotes Europe's energy dependence on Russia through its
    Turkstream pipeline.
        Regional Instability.--The successful projection of U.S. interests
    in the Eastern Mediterranean depends heavily on the region's stability.
    A key to peace and stability in the region is for good neighborly
    relations among NATO members and respect for the rule of law.
    Therefore, the U.S. has a stake in focusing on the problems that are
    detrimental to U.S. interests and to call out those who cause
    instability in the region. Turkey is the fundamental cause of
    instability in the Eastern Mediterranean and broader region.

      --Turkey's unilateral claims against sovereign Greek territory in the
            Aegean which are in violation of international law, and
            Turkey's refusal to refer its unilateral claims to binding
            international arbitration.
      --Turkey's aggression against Cyprus which includes its continuing
            illegal occupation of 37.3 percent of Cyprus.
      --Turkey's insistence on a 'two-state solution' in Cyprus.
      --Turkey actively supports U.S.-designated terrorist groups, such as
            Hamas, as well as the global Muslim Brotherhood and a variety
            of extremist Islamist organizations.
      --Turkey's recently issued trade ban against US ally Israel.
      --Turkey's acquisition and test of the Russian S-400 missile defense
            system, which poses a grave threat to NATO assets. This is a
            blatant violation of Turkey's obligations as a NATO member.

        While Greece and Turkey have had somewhat of rapprochement in
    recent months, as evidenced by December 7, 2023 ``declaration on
    friendly relations and good neighborliness,'' the U.S. should view
    Turkey through the prism of 'trust but verify.' Turkey must take
    tangible steps to reassure Greece that its desire for peace is genuine.
        Further, Turkey's continuing occupation of Cyprus, its
    intransigence in solving the Cyprus problem, and its refusal to
    recognize E.U.-member Republic of Cyprus (a prerequisite to Turkey's
    E.U. accession process) are detrimental to U.S. interests and
    contributes to regional instability. To illustrate, Turkey insists on
    maintaining troop levels illegally in Cyprus, President Erdogan
    continues to promote a two-state solution for Cyprus, and attempts have
    been made to change Varosha's status by illegally reopening it, which
    would inflame tensions and is in violation of international law and
    United Nations resolutions. President Erdogan has gone so far as to
    state that Turkey should have invaded the entirety of the island of
    Cyprus in 1974.
        Secretary Antony Blinken has frequently mentioned the need of the
    United States to ``uphold the rules-based international order.''
    However, to do this, the application of the rule of law cannot be
    selectively applied. It must be applied to all countries which seek to
    undermine the ``rules-based international order,'' including Turkey.
        Turkey.--We oppose any foreign aid for Turkey and any other
    assistance programs from the United States. In 2019, AHI applauded the
    United States' decision to terminate Turkey's designation as a
    beneficiary developing country under the Generalized System of
    Preferences (GSP) program. AHI has long argued for this type of action
    by the U.S. government, especially in testimony presented to this
    subcommittee, until the following actions are taken: (1) the immediate
    withdrawal of all Turkish troops from Cyprus; (2) the prompt return to
    Turkey of the over 180,000 illegal Turkish settlers in Cyprus; (3) the
    Turkish government's safeguarding the Ecumenical Patriarchate, its
    status, personnel and property, reopening the Halki Patriarchal School
    of Theology, returning church properties illegally seized, and the
    reversal of Hagia Sophia's and Chora Church's status, returning them to
    a museum; (4) the assured cessation of violations against Greece's
    territorial integrity in the Aegean and of its airspace, which have
    quieted; (5) removal of the Russian S-400 missile defense system from
    Turkey, and (6) the cessation of support for U.S.-designated terrorist
    organizations, including Hamas. Of course, Turkey's ongoing human
    rights, freedom of speech, and religious freedom violations are
    problematic.
        This month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's formally
    converted The Church of St. Saviour in Chora, known as Kariye in
    Turkish, from a museum into a mosque. AHI urges Congress and the
    Administration to publicly and unambiguously express the outrage of the
    American people at this sordid act. Turkey should be held accountable
    for its actions with sanctions.
        Moreover, Turkey has demonstrated it is not a true and dependable
    U.S. and NATO ally. The U.S. government, both executive and legislative
    branches, rightly sanctioned Turkey for its procurement of the Russian-
    made S-400 missile defense system under Countering America's
    Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) in December 2020, as well as
    removing Turkey from the F-35 joint strike fighter program, actions
    that AHI applauded. AHI strongly opposed the sale of upgraded F-16
    fighter jets to Turkey, which the Administration approved in January of
    2024. It appears to observers of U.S. policy in the region that any
    proposed deal to sell F-35s to Greece remained contingent on Turkey's
    approval of Sweden's NATO accession and subsequent proposed sale of F-
    16s to Turkey. U.S. policy toward Greece should never be viewed through
    the prism of Turkey, or any third-party country. Greece is worthy of
    such a deal based on its own merit.
        Cyprus. The illegal occupation of the Republic of Cyprus by 40,000
    Turkish troops remains. This year will mark the 50th year of Turkey's
    illegal invasion and occupation of Cyprus. As long as the Republic of
    Cyprus remains under Turkish military occupation, a strong UN
    peacekeeping force must be maintained on the island. Congress can
    assist the Republic of Cyprus by reaffirming the United States'
    position that assistance appropriated for Cyprus should support
    measures aimed at solidifying the reunification of Cyprus and the
    unified government in Cyprus. It would provide a settlement, should it
    be achieved, with a chance to succeed.
        For the Republic of Cyprus, which is relatively new to the IMET
    program, it is critical to sustain investment in FY25. It will be the
    next step in a series of positive developments since the Statement of
    Intent that the U.S. and Republic of Cyprus signed in November 2018.
    Since then, Cyprus has assigned a defense attache to the Embassy in
    Washington, and the U.S. implemented an annual review of lifting of the
    arms prohibition on Cyprus. On March 30, 2023, the New Jersey National
    Guard and the Republic of Cyprus National Guard formalized their State
    Partnership Program collaboration, demonstrating the burgeoning U.S.-
    Cyprus security partnership.\4\ Most recently, AHI endorsed the
    bipartisan End the Cyprus Embargo Act (H.R. 8212), which will extend
    the waiver period on the ITAR (International Traffic in Arms
    Regulations) restrictions the Republic of Cyprus is subject to from 1
    year to 5 years. However, ultimately, the U.S. must fully and
    permanently lift its arms prohibition on Cyprus and remove Cyprus from
    the list of countries to which arms sales are prohibited under
    International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and calls for
    appropriations language to direct this of the U.S. Department of State.
    Separately, Cyprus continues to demonstrate its value as a U.S.
    strategic partner and contributor to stability. In March, Cyprus opened
    a sea corridor to ship aid directly to Gaza-most recently, a U.S.-
    flagged ship carrying aid to a U.S.-built pier off Gaza.
        UN-led attempts to achieve a just and viable solution to the 50-
    year division of the Republic of Cyprus fail to reach an agreement
    because of Turkish intransigence. Instead of helping to provide
    stability by promoting a just settlement supported by both Greek
    Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, Turkey insists on antiquated
    and obstructive stances. For example, Turkey insists on maintaining the
    Treaty of Guarantee, which would allow for future unilateral Turkish
    military interventions. This demand is completely unacceptable and
    contradicts the governing principals of a European Union member state.
    Furthermore, Turkey's illegal occupation of Cyprus has had an impact
    upon The Committee on Missing Persons' (a previous recipient of USAID
    support) ability to access certain Turkish military installations in
    Cyprus to excavate the remains of 955 Cypriots currently missing since
    the tragic events that occurred on the island for proper
    identification. Congress can help by calling on Ankara to support
    reunification efforts in a constructive manner which would include the
    removal of troops, settlers, and rights of guarantees. Moreover, AHI
    calls on the Administration to be engaged with the Cyprus problem at
    the highest levels. Lastly, AHI contends the U.S. must continue to
    support the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus to explore and
    develop the resources within its EEZ free of any third-party
    interference and to underscore the importance of avoiding any actions
    that escalate tension. As mentioned, Turkey's threats in Cyprus' EEZ
    endanger U.S. companies and energy security interests. If they reoccur
    in earnest, Turkey's history of illegal actions in Cyprus' EEZ prohibit
    any real chance for the resumption of settlement talks.
        Thank you for the opportunity to present our written testimony to
    the subcommittee.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/12/nato-
    countries-defense-spending-gdp-trump/.
        \2\ www.dw.com/en/poland-to-ramp-up-defense-budget-to-4-of-gdp/a-
    64555544.
        \3\ https://www.tovima.com/politics/amb-tsunis-on-greek-us-
    relations-in-uncertain-times/.
        \4\ https://cy.usembassy.gov/new-jersey-national-guard-signs-
    partnership-agreement-with-republic-of-cyprus-national-guard/.

        [This statement was submitted by Nick Larigakis, President.]
                                     ______

         Prepared Statement of American Israel Public Affairs Committee
        For Fiscal Year 2025, AIPAC urges the subcommittee's full support
    for $3.3 billion in security assistance for our strategic partner
    Israel as set forth in the 2016 U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding
    (MOU) on Security Assistance. We note with appreciation this
    subcommittee's support of full funding of Israel's security assistance
    in every previous year under the MOU.
        The significance of this subcommittee's commitment to Israel's
    security is magnified this year in the aftermath of the most
    devastating terror attack in Israeli history. On October 7, 2023,
    thousands of Hamas terrorists breached the Gaza border and brutally
    attacked Israeli communities, slaughtering at least 1,200 innocent
    people, including more than 30 Americans, and taking more than 250
    hostages to Gaza. The unprovoked and unprecedented assault, which ended
    years of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, included the rape,
    torture, and burning alive of babies, children, women and men, with no
    discrimination or hesitation. The carnage that took place on that day
    marks the most gruesome day in Israel's history and the single largest
    death toll of Jews since the Holocaust. Atrocities were gleefully
    committed and even live-streamed and documented--but it seems that
    today, after more than 7 months, the events of October 7 are
    forgotten--and even denied--by too many. Today, over 130 hostages
    remain in terrorist captivity as Israel wages a legitimate and
    justified war to bring them home and dismantle Hamas' capacity to
    threaten Israel.
        The battlefield Israel must maneuver through is the most complex
    and difficult battlefield that any army has ever seen. Israel must
    fight Hamas terrorists in an urban, and increasingly subterranean,
    battlefield as the terrorist group uses Palestinian civilians as human
    shields, while at the same time defending against threats on all sides.
    The Jewish state is currently under attack from the full spectrum of
    Iran's regional terrorist proxy network, including daily Hezbollah
    attacks along the northern border and a persistent stream of attacks
    from the Houthis in Yemen and Iranian-backed groups in Syria, Iraq and
    beyond. The scale and scope of the danger Israel faces was on full
    display during the unprecedented Iranian aerial attack against Israel
    on April 13-14.
        We have long appreciated that Congress' strong bipartisan support
    for Israel's security enables the Jewish state to defend itself, by
    itself, against this vast array of threats posed by Iran and its
    proxies. This year, we note with deep appreciation Congress'
    extraordinary $14.3 billion emergency supplemental appropriations for
    Israel, including $3.5 billion in foreign military financing to Israel.
    This largest single American investment in Israeli security sent a
    resounding message across the region that the United States stands
    ready to enable Israel to meet any threat arrayed against it.
        We also express our appreciation to the subcommittee for
    consistently opposing and rejecting all efforts to attach new political
    conditions to Israel's critical security funding. While Israel's aid is
    governed by all applicable laws and provisions that ensure oversight
    and proper use of U.S. security assistance globally, the notion of
    adding political conditions only weakens Israel and emboldens our
    mutual enemies across the world at a time when the Jewish state is most
    vulnerable. We have made clear our opposition to the Biden
    Administration's decision to withhold certain weapons from Israel, and
    we continue to oppose any legislative provisions that would impose new
    limits, restrictions, or conditions on aid to Israel. Congress must
    continue to provide Israel the capabilities necessary to guarantee its
    safety and security.
                              regional challenges
        In Gaza, Israel faces a persistent and ongoing threat from Hamas'
    terrorist army. Israel has defeated the majority of Hamas battalions
    and destroyed a significant portion of the group's terror
    infrastructure. However, Hamas is not yet defeated. It retains at least
    four battalions in Rafah and continues periodic rocket fire on Israel.
    Hamas has poured billions of dollars into establishing a deeply
    hardened terrorist infrastructure in and beneath the Gaza Strip. The
    breadth and sophistication of Hamas' labyrinth of terror tunnels--
    estimated to be between 350 to 450 miles long-presents an unprecedented
    challenge. Israel must have the time and space to complete its just and
    achievable mission: removing Hamas from power, ensuring Hamas can never
    again threaten Israel as it did on October 7, and securing the return
    of all the hostages.
        To the north, Hezbollah has launched daily missile and drone
    attacks from Lebanon at Israel since the onset of the war, forcing some
    70,000 Israelis to remain displaced from their homes since October
    2023. While Israeli retaliatory measures have successfully pushed much
    of Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces away from the Lebanese border, the
    persistent Hezbollah shelling has thus far resulted in the deaths of at
    least 23 Israelis. If fighting in the north widens, Hezbollah's arsenal
    of over 150,000 rockets and missiles, including many precision-guided
    missiles, could have potentially dire ramifications for Israel.
        To the south, the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen continue to fire
    missiles and drones at Israel while also targeting U.S. and allied
    military vessels and commercial ships in the Red Sea, significantly
    disrupting global shipping routes. Indeed, the full breadth of
    terrorist proxies armed and financed by Iran for decades--including
    militias in Iraq and Syria--have been mobilized against Israel since
    the onset of the war with Hamas.
        At the same time, Tehran has grown bolder in its aggression than
    ever, launching an immense direct aerial assault on Israel just last
    month, including over 300 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and
    drones intended to cause maximum death and destruction. Thanks to
    overwhelming U.S. leadership, allied support, and decades of U.S.
    investment in Israel's security, that attack was repelled successfully
    with minimal damage to Israel. But this attack marks a new, dangerous
    escalation by Tehran that represents only a small preview of the types
    of threats Israel could face in the future. Iran used less than 1
    percent of its ballistic missile arsenal in its recent attack.
        Given Iran's long record of clandestinely violating international
    agreements, Israel also needs to prepare for the possibility that
    stronger actions may be needed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear
    weapons. Accelerating its nuclear quest, Iran has increased its
    stockpile of 20 and 60 percent enriched uranium, according to
    International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) data. IAEA chief Rafael
    Grossi has warned that Tehran already has enough uranium enriched to
    near-weapons-grade levels to make ``several'' nuclear bombs and that
    IAEA surveillance of Iran's nuclear sites has been disrupted for years.
    Put simply, Iran is at the cusp of a nuclear-weapons capability while
    it continues to inflame the region and encircle Israel with terrorist
    proxies.
        It is in America's vital interest for Israel--our sole reliable
    democratic ally in the region--to have the military capabilities needed
    to decisively defeat these mutual threats.
    the strategic imperative to maintain israel's qualitative military edge
        Israel must invest heavily in its own defense to confront complex
    and wide-ranging threats. Prior to the war with Hamas, spiraling
    defense costs, including inflationary pressures, forced Israel to spend
    over 5 percent of its GDP on security--more than any other
    industrialized nation. Now, Israel plans to raise about $60 billion in
    debt this year to fund the ongoing war that has already taken a severe
    toll on the Israeli economy. The record mass mobilization of
    reservists--over 300,000 soldiers--coupled with the evacuation of some
    100,000 residents both from southern and northern communities has led
    Israel's economy to contract by almost 20 percent on an annualized
    basis in the last quarter of 2023.
        While Israel invests its own resources heavily into its own
    defenses, U.S. security assistance is critical to ensure the Jewish
    state maintains a qualitative military edge (QME). In accordance with
    the president's budgetary request and the 2016 U.S.-Israel MOU, AIPAC
    strongly urges the subcommittee to approve $3.3 billion in security
    assistance to Israel for fiscal year 2025 without any additional
    political restrictions. It is imperative that Congress reject attempts
    to threaten Israel's security by linking new political conditions to
    aid. By continuing its policy of approving a clean appropriation to
    Israel, this subcommittee will strengthen Israel's security, promote
    American interests in the region, and enhance the prospects for peace.
                   funding, policy, and oversight provisions
        We urge the subcommittee to maintain longstanding provisions in the
    bill and accompanying report that ensure strict oversight and reporting
    requirements related to Lebanon, Iran, Syria, and the Palestinians. Any
    funding to the Palestinians must comply with the Taylor Force Act to
    put continued pressure on the Palestinian Authority to stop
    incentivizing terrorism. We strongly support humanitarian assistance to
    civilians in Gaza and urge the subcommittee to extend and make
    permanent the prohibition on funds to UNRWA as well as critical new
    restrictions and oversight provisions on aid to Gaza included in last
    year's bill. The subcommittee must also maintain existing provisions to
    cut assistance should the Palestinians continue to engage in
    counterproductive unilateralism at the United Nations or the
    International Criminal Court.
        We believe that continued U.S. aid to Egypt and Jordan is also
    important to help ensure stability in the region, as is the strong U.S.
    commitment to the Multinational Force and Observers mission in the
    Sinai. In addition, AIPAC supports ongoing Israeli-Palestinian security
    cooperation under the auspices of the United States Security
    Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, if the
    Palestinians demonstrate a commitment to this shared effort.
        We strongly support the furtherance of longstanding programs like
    the migration assistance within Israel of at least $5 million annually,
    continued investment in the USAID-Israel international development
    cooperation program at $4 million, and the Middle East Regional
    Cooperation program at $10 million annually. And as we approach the
    fifth year of $50 million funding for the Middle East Partnership for
    Peace program, we urge Congress to extend the authorization and
    continue investing in this meaningful program that provides tangible
    opportunities for Israelis and Palestinians to build a better future
    together. AIPAC continues to urge support for a robust and bipartisan
    foreign aid budget that ensures America's strong global leadership
    position. Foreign aid enables the United States to support key allies
    like Israel, spur our job-creating exports, stem the spread of
    diseases, and help prevent countries in turmoil from becoming breeding
    grounds for terrorism.
          discrimination against israel in the international community
        Israel's security challenges are compounded by challenges it faces
    at the United Nations and other international fora, where Israel's
    opponents attempt to isolate and demonize the Jewish state. The latest
    iterations of this include South Africa's defamatory attempt to falsely
    accuse Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice as well
    as recent indications that the International Criminal Court may move to
    issue arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials. The U.S. must
    oppose such blatant attempts to weaponize and politicize international
    judicial fora against Israel. We also urge the subcommittee to maintain
    the prohibition on funding to the anti-Israel Human Rights Council's
    Commission of Inquiry.
                       israel: a vital strategic partner
        As a long-standing pillar of America's Middle East security
    framework, the U.S.-Israel strategic partnership combats shared threats
    and furthers U.S. policy objectives. Today, the U.S. and Israel face
    evolving threats as the Iran-Russia-China axis and rogue non-state
    actors increasingly exploit emerging technologies, such as drone and
    cyber capabilities, to further their aggressive and destabilizing ends.
    The 2022 Jerusalem U.S.-Israel Strategic Partnership Joint Declaration
    critically committed to ``move forward the U.S.-Israel defense
    partnership through cooperation in cutting-edge defense technologies
    such as high energy laser weapons systems to defend the skies of Israel
    and in the future those of other U.S. and Israel security partners.''
        Israel's stable, democratic, and dependably pro-American
    orientation ensures that America can consistently rely on its alliance
    with the Jewish state. This has been an enduring constant through
    Republican and Democratic administrations and across Israeli
    governments, anchored by bipartisan support in Congress for the
    relationship. Given the increasingly complex array of global threats
    facing America, Israel's role as a reliable ally in a critical region
    is more important than ever.
                                   conclusion
        As Congress considers U.S. Mideast priorities, one thing remains
    certain: ensuring Israel's security promotes American values and vital
    interests. This subcommittee deserves great credit for its stalwart
    advocacy for the U.S.-Israel relationship. That includes not only
    reliably providing Israel with full funding of vital security
    assistance without any conditions but also including important policy
    provisions dealing with so many aspects of U.S. Mideast policy. This
    bipartisan support will remain even more critical as America and Israel
    continue to work together to address the challenges and opportunities
    that lie ahead.

        [This statement was submitted by Howard Kohr, CEO.]
                                     ______

    Prepared Statement of American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
                                    (ASTMH)
                     Regarding USAID Global Health Funding
        The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH)--the
    largest international scientific organization of experts dedicated to
    reducing the worldwide burden of tropical infectious diseases and
    improving global health--appreciates the opportunity to submit
    testimony to the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on
    State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.
        We respectfully urge you to provide robust funding in your FY25
    State and Foreign Operations appropriation bill for global health and
    infectious disease programs. Many global health programs have had years
    of flat funding and will require additional resources, not only to
    reinvigorate programs that experienced disruptions due to the pandemic,
    but to ramp up innovation and impact. We must end once and for all the
    vicious cycle of underinvestment followed by panic. We would like to
    highlight two specific USAID programs:

        Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).--NTDs are a group of more than
    20 infectious diseases and conditions that disproportionately affect
    poor and marginalized populations. NTDs remain persistent threats to
    global health and economic viability, killing more than 500,000 each
    year and causing significant morbidity and mortality in more than one
    billion people worldwide. While the global challenge of NTDs may seem
    daunting, the NTD Program at USAID has made remarkable progress in
    treating and even eliminating NTDs. Launched in 2006, over its history
    the NTD Program has leveraged over $1.4 billion in Federal funding to
    secure $29.9 billion in donated drugs and expanded activities to more
    than 30 countries. In total, the program has distributed 3.1 billion
    safe and effective treatments to more than 1.6 billion people.\1\ The
    NTD Program has successfully curbed multiple NTDs, with 391 million
    people no longer requiring treatment for lymphatic filariasis (also
    called elephantiasis), 196 million people no longer requiring treatment
    for trachoma, and 14.7 million people no longer requiring treatment for
    onchocerciasis (or river blindness). Thirteen USAID-supported countries
    have eliminated at least one NTD as a public health problem entirely,
    including Bangladesh, Benin, Laos, and Mali in 2023. These figures show
    the tremendous return on investment that Federal funding for NTD
    treatment achieves. Every $1 invested by the U.S. government leverages
    $26 in donated medicines for mass treatment campaigns. Combined with
    the low, 50-cent cost of rapid-impact packages of medication that treat
    an individual for the five most common NTDs, NTD treatment is one of
    the best buys in public health. These gains cannot go to waste.
    Estimates show that with the strong support of programs like the USAID
    NTD program in the next 5 years, 15 additional countries will eliminate
    at least one NTD as a public health problem.

        We respectfully join the NTD Roundtable in calling for an increase
    to $125 million for FY25 for the USAID NTD program to further
    breakthrough delivery programs and ensure sufficient funding for
    necessary research and product development. The United States joined
    global leaders in signing the Kigali Declaration in 2022 to pledge
    commitment to ending NTDs. It is important that the United States
    provide robust resources to meet this pledge. An increased investment
    could:

      --Advance NTD elimination in priority countries, saving lives and
            livelihoods;
      --Expand the number of treatments in existing areas and add new
            geographic areas, potentially those listed by the WHO as still
            needing support;
      --Increase capacity to move from control to elimination of
            onchocerciasis in some areas;
      --Expand urgently-needed investments in research and development
            (R&D)--including diagnostics and drugs--for NTDs to ensure that
            tools and strategies are available to overcome emerging
            challenges;
      --Support greater integration with complementary programs necessary
            for the success of NTD prevention, control, and elimination
            efforts, including elements of water, sanitation and hygiene;
            nutrition; education; One Health; and vector control.

        Malaria.--While we have seen tremendous success as a result of U.S.
    funded efforts to eliminate malaria, the disease remains a significant
    global health threat. Despite our ability to treat and prevent malaria,
    it is still one of the leading causes of death and disease worldwide,
    with nearly half the world's population living in the 87 countries and
    territories where malaria is endemic.\2\ In 2022, there were about 249
    million cases of malaria and an estimated 608,000 deaths.\3\ The
    President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) has made remarkable progress
    lowering these sobering numbers, saving 11.7 million lives, and
    preventing 2 billion lives since 2000. That said, however, USAID must
    continue to strengthen and invest in these programs and in R&D of new
    tools to maintain progress. To advance these critical partnerships and
    innovation of next-generation tools and approaches, we respectfully
    request that Congress provide $925 million for the PMI for FY2025.
        International Partnerships.--ASTMH encourages robust funding and
    participation in important international partnerships such as the
    Global Fund, diagnostic partnerships, vaccine partnerships, and the
    World Health Organization.
        Global Fund.--Investments in the Global Fund support local
    prevention, treatment, and care services that strengthen overall local
    health systems and economies. U.S. investments in the Global Fund have
    and will continue to save lives and fight diseases--in endemic
    countries, where American diplomats and service members are also
    stationed, and at home, by preventing the spread of AIDS, tuberculosis,
    and malaria.
        Vaccine Partnerships.--U.S. contributions to Gavi, the Vaccine
    Alliance, CEPI, and other vaccine initiatives, multiply the impact of
    USAID programs through coordination and increased cost-effectiveness.
    The U.S. should lead by example in support of effective international
    partnerships of this sort.
        Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is a public-private partnership that
    has already helped to immunize a whole generation--more than a billion
    children--against some of the world's deadliest diseases and prevented
    more than 17 million deaths. This has helped to halve child mortality
    in 78 lower-income countries since 2000. Gavi is also now playing an
    essential role in delivering malaria vaccines to communities. With the
    pre-qualification of two malaria vaccines, the ability to reduce child
    illness and death from this disease is significant if those vaccines
    can reach those in need. To fulfill Gavi's market shaping mission for
    all child immunizations, and support efforts to increase the supply of
    new malaria vaccines to meet demand by 2026, we respectfully urge you
    to provide robust funding for the Maternal and Child Health (MCH)
    account, including Gavi, in GHP for FY 2025.
        World Health Organization (WHO).--The WHO plays a key role in
    fostering scientific collaboration, providing global surveillance for
    new diseases and outbreaks and supporting the sharing of vital data and
    clinical samples. To protect lives, both at home and abroad, the U.S.
    and global research community needs this information-sharing system and
    the data that are generated to develop vaccines and treatments.
        U.S. Government Coordination With Global Health Agencies and R&D
    Entities.--Stronger and more permanent links between USAID, CDC, BARDA,
    NIH, and ARPA-H and multilateral global health organizations and
    product development groups would create a strong added value for US
    researchers and global health agencies and, more importantly, for
    partner ministries and their surveillance and laboratory programs.
                                   conclusion
        The vast majority of infectious diseases do not emerge in the U.S.;
    instead, they thrive elsewhere, often long before a catalytic event
    occurs that rapidly brings the threat to the U.S. It is not a question
    of whether a new infectious disease outbreak will occur--it is a matter
    of when and which dangerous disease it will be. For this reason,
    Congress needs to support sustainable investments in U.S. global health
    R&D to increase our knowledge, understanding, and tools to confront
    infectious diseases. ASTMH appreciates the opportunity to share its
    expertise and we hope you will provide the requested FY25 resources to
    the programs identified.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ USAID NTD Program Fact Sheet. https://
    www.neglecteddiseases.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/USAID-NTD-Fact-
    Sheet-2023.pdf.
        \2\ Malaria's Impact Worldwide. CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/
    malaria_worldwide/impact.
    html.
        \3\ World Malaria Report (2023). https://www.who.int/teams/global-
    malaria-programme/reports/world-malaria-report-2023.

        [This statement was submitted by Linnie Golightly, MD, President.]
                                     ______

               Prepared Statement of Armenian Assembly of America
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and distinguished Members of
    the subcommittee, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) welcomes
    the opportunity to provide the following testimony regarding U.S.
    assistance and policy for the South Caucasus region generally and to
    Armenia and the Armenian people specifically for Fiscal Year 2025.
                             assistance to armenia
        A landlocked and centuries-old Christian nation, Armenia continues
    to face existential threats from autocratic Azerbaijan and Turkey with
    Azerbaijan's president boasting that ``We have destroyed Armenia,'' and
    warning Armenia ``that the iron fist is in place.'' In lockstep with
    Azerbaijan, Turkish parliamentarian Mustafa Destici publicly threatened
    Armenia: ``I remind you once again that the Turkish nation has the
    power to erase Armenia from history and geography, and that they stand
    at the limit of our patience.''
        Security Assistance & Democratic Reforms ($50 Million)--.As Armenia
    continues to deepen relations with the West while still under great
    threat and peril, we were encouraged by NATO Secretary-General Jens
    Stoltenberg's visit to Armenia this March and his statement that ``NATO
    supports Armenian sovereignty and territorial integrity.'' In addition
    to NATO, the United States is uniquely positioned to ensure that
    Armenia has the necessary tools and resources to protect its people and
    defend its borders. Therefore, the Assembly strongly supports the
    bipartisan request of 66 of your colleagues to include not less than
    $20 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and $10 Million in
    International Military Education and Training (IMET) to bolster
    Armenia's security and increase defense cooperation between the United
    States and the Republic of Armenia. In addition, the Assembly also
    supports the bipartisan request for $10 million in International
    Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INCLE) funding ``to support ongoing law
    enforcement and internal security reforms in Armenia.'' Per the
    bipartisan request to assist Armenia ``in advancing ongoing executive
    branch reforms, government transparency programs, reducing corruption,
    and supporting public administration reforms in e-governance,'' the
    Assembly also supports $10 million in funding within USAID's Office of
    Transition Initiatives (OTI) account 'to support democratic reforms in
    Armenia.'' Further, the Assembly strongly urges Congress and the
    Administration to provide defensive weapons to further assist Armenia
    in protecting its sovereignty. We are sure Americans would stand behind
    the United States providing Armenians with the means to defend
    themselves to prevent another Armenian Genocide.
        Humanitarian Assistance ($250 Million)--.On September 6, 2023, the
    Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission convened an emergency hearing
    sounding the alarm on the impending catastrophe in Nagorno-Karabakh.
    The Commission heard expert testimony from Professor David L. Philips,
    Director of Columbia University's Artsakh Atrocities Project, and Luis
    Moreno Ocampo, former Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court.
    Mr. Ocampo testified that ``there is a reasonable basis to believe that
    a genocide is being committed against Armenians living in Nagorno-
    Karabakh in 2023,'' and spoke of ``the ongoing genocide by
    starvation.'' On September 14, 2023, the Senate Foreign Relations
    Committee held a hearing on Nagorno-Karabakh wherein Acting Assistant
    Secretary of State for European Affairs Yuri Kim stated, ``the United
    States will not countenance any action or effort--short-term or long-
    term--to ethnically cleanse or commit other atrocities against the
    Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. The current humanitarian
    situation is not acceptable.''
        Despite these and similar warnings, just days later, on September
    19, 2023, Azerbaijan with the support of Turkey and in coordination
    with Russia, launched a military offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh
    resulting in the death and injury of innocent civilians and the forced
    displacement of some 120,000 indigenous Christian Armenians, including
    30,000 children who fled to Armenia. This assault was the culmination
    of Azerbaijan's genocidal campaign against the Armenian people that
    started with the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor in December
    2022, during which regrettably the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act was
    not enforced and placed the entire Armenian population of Nagorno-
    Karabakh under siege and threat of starvation. Section 620I of the
    Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 USC 2378-1), also known as the
    Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act (HACA) States that: ``No assistance shall
    be furnished under this chapter or the Arms Export Control Act to any
    country when it is made known to the President that the government of
    such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly,
    the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.''
    To address the ensuing humanitarian crisis caused by Azerbaijan's
    ethnic cleansing, the Assembly urges the subcommittee to allocate not
    less than $250 Millon under the Assistance to Europe, Eurasia, and
    Central Asia (AEECA) account, of which funds should be made available
    to Armenian American private voluntary organizations that have a proven
    most cost effective. U.S. assistance can also play a role in preventing
    further genocide.
                              the right of return
        Ignoring the long-standing international peace process under the
    auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's
    Minsk Group (co-chaired by the United States, France, and Russia), of
    which the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh was to be determined and
    violating the 1994 ceasefire agreed upon by Azerbaijan, Armenia, and
    Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan ignited a full-scale war against Artsakh
    and the Armenian people in September 2020. As a result, Armenians,
    having already faced a genocide in the 20th century, were forced yet
    again to rebuild in the wake of serious human losses and structural
    devastation. Upwards of 100,000 people--mainly children, women, and the
    elderly--were forcibly displaced from their homes, while hospitals,
    schools, and churches were destroyed by missiles, cluster and white
    phosphorus munitions, and drone strikes. The 2020 War followed by the
    September 2023 offensive upended decades of U.S. efforts and support
    for a peaceful resolution to the conflict on the basis of the Helsinki
    Principles. American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Michael Rubin
    laid bare Azerbaijan's public disdain for the United States in a May 9,
    2024 article: ``In December 2020, just a month after President Ilham
    Aliyev completed the first phase of Azerbaijan's conquest of Nagorno-
    Karabakh, Andrew Schofer, the lead U.S. diplomat on the crisis,
    traveled to Yerevan and Baku. Aliyev humiliated Schofer on live
    television, bragging about how Azerbaijan's military prowess achieved
    what American diplomacy did not and then asking, ``'Why are you
    here?''' Former Ambassador Sam Brownback during a June 2023
    Congressional hearing on ``Safeguarding the people of Nagorno-
    Karabakh'' put it this way: ``This is a question of the rights of the
    Armenian Christians of Nagorno-Karabakh: does this religious minority
    have a right to survival in their ancestral homeland? The only just
    answer is yes, they have the right not to be driven out, starved out or
    blockaded by the government of Azerbaijan.''
        The Assembly urges Congress to help ensure that the fundamental
    right of return as well as the fundamental principles of democracy, the
    right to self-determination, and the universal human rights of the
    people of Artsakh are upheld. Additionally, the United States can and
    should do more to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its gross human
    rights violations.
                     section 907 of the freedom support act
        Congress took a principled stand against Azerbaijani aggression
    with the adoption of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act in 1992 and
    needs to do so again. Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act States
    that U.S. funds ``may not be provided to the Government of Azerbaijan
    until the President determines and so reports to the Congress, that the
    Government of Azerbaijan is taking demonstrable steps to cease all
    blockades and other offensive uses of force against Armenia and
    Nagorno-Karabakh.'' In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001,
    terrorist attack on American soil, a national security waiver was added
    to Section 907. The exercise of the waiver is valid so long as it
    ``will not undermine or hamper ongoing efforts to negotiate a peaceful
    settlement'' to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict or ``be used for
    offensive purposes against Armenia.'' In exercising the waiver,
    Congress required a report within 60 days ``specifying in detail the
    following: (A) the nature and quantity of all training and assistance
    provided to the Government of Azerbaijan [pursuant to the waiver]; (B)
    the status of the military balance between Azerbaijan and Armenia and
    the 3 impact of United States assistance on that balance; and (C) the
    status of negotiations for a peaceful settlement between Armenia and
    Azerbaijan and the impact of United States assistance on those
    negotiations.'' A 2022 U.S. Government Accountability Office Report
    found that the State Department did not ``provide Congress with all
    required information--such as the impact of aid on the military balance
    between Azerbaijan and Armenia.''
        The 44-day War against Artsakh in 2020 resulted in a death toll of
    thousands of soldiers some brutally beheaded according to Human Rights
    Watch, and as documented by Columbia University's Institute for the
    Study of Human Rights and its ``Project on Atrocities in Artsakh.'' In
    addition, Azerbaijan's ongoing destruction of Armenian cultural and
    religious heritage sites has been condemned by the European Parliament
    and thoroughly documented by the Caucasus Heritage Watch (a research
    program in heritage forensics led by archaeologists at Cornell and
    Purdue Universities). The Assembly therefore urges that no U.S.
    taxpayer dollars be used to support Azerbaijan, and that starts with
    upholding the letter and spirit of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support
    Act and ensuring that Azerbaijan does not receive any U.S. military or
    security assistance. We also fully support H.R. 7288, the Armenian
    Protection Act of 2024, introduced by Congressman Michael Lawler and
    urge that its language be incorporated into the Bill.
        Additionally, we support the bipartisan request by 66 of your
    colleagues for a report by the Secretary of State to the appropriate
    congressional committees on ``how the Department of State coordinates
    with the Department of the Treasury and other relevant Federal
    departments and agencies to achieve behavioral change through sanctions
    on individuals from the Republic of Azerbaijan that are involved in
    corruption [and] human rights abuses . . . ''
        The Assembly previously welcomed a House-passed amendment to the
    Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act that authorized
    ``the President to impose sanctions on individuals accused of
    committing human rights abuses or engaging in corruption.'' The level
    of corruption and repression of the Aliyev regime in Azerbaijan is
    widely reported, whether the ``Azerbaijani Laundromat'' scheme with a
    $2.9 billion slush fund to whitewash its human rights record or the
    ``Pandora Papers'' revelations exposing even further its breadth-taking
    scope. Further, based on credible reports that Azerbaijani forces
    committed gross human rights violations during and after the 44-day
    war, the Leahy Law and Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act
    should be implemented to hold Azerbaijan accountable.
        Azerbaijan should not be rewarded for its blatant and ongoing
    violations against the Armenian people. The Assembly strongly urges the
    inclusion of report language calling for the immediate release of all
    POWs and captive civilians held by Azerbaijan, including Artsakh's
    leaders who are being subjected to sham trials.
                                   conclusion
        As Ambassador Brownback testified last June before Congress
    ``Armenia is the Israel of Christendom. The first Christian nation on
    Earth. Persecuted over several millennia by multiple empires, yet they
    remain. Their tenacity and sheer pluck inspire every religious minority
    around the world.'' History has shown that appeasing dictators only
    serves to further embolden them. In this instance, the lack of
    sanctions and the immediate enforcement of Section 907 as well as the
    failure to implement HACA allowed, instead of preventing, ethnic
    cleansing and genocide. The United States has taken a strong stand in
    support of democracy in Ukraine and should do the same for the Armenian
    people who also face existential threats. The Assembly's position is
    clear: stand up for democracy and human rights; oppose genocide and
    hold Azerbaijan accountable by imposing sanctions.

        [This statement was submitted by Bryan Ardouny, Executive
    Director.]
                                     ______

                   Prepared Statement of The Asia Foundation
    Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and Members of the subcommittee:

        I am honored to submit this testimony on behalf of The Asia
    Foundation (TAF). We are deeply grateful for the confidence the
    Committee has shown in TAF. For 70 years, The Asia Foundation has
    advanced the interests of the United States in supporting democracy,
    effective and responsive governance, political rights and economic
    participation of women, climate resilience, free markets and economic
    growth, and peaceful relations in the Indo-Pacific.
        TAF is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established in
    1954 and headquartered in San Francisco. An annual appropriation is
    authorized under The Asia Foundation Act of 1983 (22 USC 4402). The act
    acknowledged the importance of sustained funding for TAF and endorsed
    its ongoing value and contributions to U.S. interests in the Indo-
    Pacific. We pledge to you that, with your continuing support, TAF will
    sustain and expand its impactful work across the Indo-Pacific. To build
    on Congress's investment, The Asia Foundation is requesting $23,000,000
    for Fiscal Year 2025, one million above the level as enacted in FY2024
    and the President's budget request.
        TAF operates on the ground in more than 20 countries in Asia and
    the Pacific Islands through 17 permanent country offices. Our sustained
    presence in the countries where we work enables us to be a deeply
    trusted partner and to build relationships with reform-minded
    individuals and organizations that merit our help as they seek to
    advance shared goals and interests. We are confident that the
    relationships we nurture and the capabilities we expand today will
    ensure future security cooperation, development partnerships, rule of
    law, and fair trade between the U.S. and the Indo-Pacific.
        Appropriated funding is critical to TAF' s ability to continue
    operating as a unique American asset across the Indo-Pacific region.
    TAF is an especially cost-effective investment for the Congress in a
    time of budget constraints. Making the most of and leveraging taxpayer
    dollars, TAF continues to diversify its funding, raising roughly four
    dollars from other sources for every dollar of direct appropriation it
    receives.
        Sufficient appropriated funding is essential to maintaining TAF's
    robust and persistent footprint across the Indo-Pacific, specifically
    in countries of priority interest to the United States. No other
    organization has the long history, presence, and commitment to
    localization of The Asia Foundation in critically important countries
    such as the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand
    and Sri Lanka. TAF's regional office in the Pacific Islands contribute
    to expanding democratic and effective governance and values in a
    priority area for the U.S. Trust is built on continuity and deep
    understanding of local context. TAF is a steady and highly trusted
    partner to local civil society organizations and individual reformers.
        The U.S. has prioritized support for democracy, human rights, and
    climate resilience in its work to advance prosperity, transparency, and
    adherence to a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific. TAF's ability to
    help achieve these goals is more important than ever. New challenges to
    U.S. interests in the region and TAF's unique ability to respond to
    those challenges justifies the request for an appropriation of $23
    million.
    How is The Asia Foundation Unique Among Organizations Operating in the
            Indo-Pacific?
        The Asia Foundation is first and foremost a field-based
    organization. Through a cost-effective combination of grant-making and
    direct program operations managed by our 17 permanent offices in Asia
    and the Pacific, TAF maximizes program impact while keeping costs low.
    Our highly qualified teams in our country offices undertake policy-
    savvy research to inform pragmatic activities across the region,
    including perception surveys, surveys on conflict and violence,
    analyses of gender equality, economic scorecards, rapid assessments of
    pandemic effects, and assessments regarding natural disaster relief and
    other critical issues. These types of research and analysis enable us
    to craft and implement evidence-based solutions.
        TAF promotes reform by providing training, technical assistance,
    support for pilot projects, and seed funding to hundreds of established
    and emerging Asian and Pacific partner organizations, reform-minded
    individuals, and future leaders. These longstanding investments in
    human capital have paid off. TAF has built important relationships with
    Asian and Pacific governments and leaders and at the same time
    maintains strong links to local communities based on decades of trust
    and ongoing engagement. Former TAF grantees have become leaders and
    change-makers in government, industry, academia, and an increasingly
    diverse civil society.
        As country specialists, our staff based in Asia and the Pacific act
    as a substantive resource for program partners and implementers. TAF
    also serves as a resource on political and economic trends and issues
    for U.S. Embassies across Asia and the Pacific, including in places
    where U.S. officials' movements and outreach have been circumscribed
    due to security concerns.
        TAF also frequently responds to U.S. Embassy requests for American
    Centers through TAF' s innovative digital and print library Let's Read!
    This freely accessible library fills an important void in advancing
    childhood literacy and critical thinking skills by providing
    unprecedented access to new children's books in English and local
    languages across Asia and the Pacific, especially in remote locations.
    TAF has enabled the creation of over 10,500 books in 60 languages with
    nearly five million readers over the last 12 months, and the reach
    continues to grow. TAF Book Labs provide a venue for local writers and
    illustrators to develop new books. For example, in Pakistan, two Let's
    Read Corners, a unique digital library program in Karachi, serve five
    under-resourced schools with over 1,200 primary school students to
    digitally access books. The program also reaches school libraries,
    supports read aloud at-home programs and sessions to increase literacy.
    How Does The Asia Foundation Contribute to U.S. Interests in the Indo-
            Pacific Region?
        The U.S. has vital economic, political and security interests in
    the Indo-Pacific. TAF focuses on country and regional programs that
    promote stability and advance U.S. interests. TAF's work has led to
    better governance, stronger economies, and empowered citizens in many
    parts of the region. In turn, these development results have helped
    deepen economic relationships and increase security cooperation between
    Asian and Pacific Island countries and the United States. The core
    areas of TAF's work directly contribute to U.S. strategic goals.
        TAF programs reinforce U.S. policy priorities and interests by
    improving the business policy environment in Asian countries through
    better economic governance, procurement practices, and transparency.
    TAF convenes dialogues with American and Asian policymakers to discuss
    common approaches to development assistance and partnership-building.
    TAF works with partners to address the conditions facing countries with
    growing economies that have progressed beyond being development
    assistance recipients but still face governance and other challenges
    and which are key economic and security partners of the U.S., such as
    Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. Development takes time, and
    appropriated dollars allow TAF to make long-term investments.
        For instance, TAF is the major partner of the Department of
    Commerce in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework's Digital Skills
    Initiative. TAF cooperates with Google.org on Go Digital ASEAN, an
    initiative designed to equip micro, small and medium enterprises and
    participants in the emerging workforce with digital skills and tools
    that expand economic opportunity across all 10 ASEAN countries. The
    initiative has so far trained nearly 160,000 individuals across the
    region, 63% of whom are women from underserved communities, and has
    been praised by APEC for its high impact. TAF also cooperates with
    other U.S.-based companies on digital skills training through its
    Future Skills Alliance, improving digital literacy and career-ready
    skills for the region's most marginalized communities.
    What Would the Foundation do with the Requested Funding?
        FY 2025 funding at $23 million would position The Asia Foundation
    to maintain and expand programs in countries struggling with
    corruption, internal conflicts, and weak democratic processes and
    institutions. TAF' s programs have deepened over the years to improve
    governance at the National and sub-national levels, and advance women's
    empowerment. TAF conducts primary research and uses evidence-based
    approaches to inform our own programs, research work that also is
    shared, valued and used by other organizations and donor governments.
    GovAsia, our quarterly publication, provides a platform for TAF and its
    partners to examine the critical social, economic, and political
    problems facing citizens and governments across Asia and the Pacific,
    drawing on the results TAF programs produce and the methods we
    innovate.
        In FY2025, TAF will expand its programs even further in the
    Pacific, an area of key U.S. interest. TAF is currently operating in
    six Pacific countries, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Republic of
    Marshall Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. With additional funding, we will
    expand programs and research to 11 countries, including the Solomon
    Islands, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Tuvalu and Nauru.
    TAF is well positioned to bolster democratic institutions, build civil
    society, expand economic growth through technology, and expand
    opportunities and protections for women, including through a major
    counter-trafficking initiative. TAF will also expand climate resilience
    initiatives in this vulnerable region of the world.
        Also in FY2025, TAF will deploy new technology-driven programs to
    address economic empowerment. We will expand digital skills and
    workforce training opportunities, particularly for women and
    marginalized populations in Pacific Island nations. TAF has embarked on
    a new cybersecurity effort in partnership with Google in 13 Asian
    countries to bolster cybersecurity capabilities of 300,000 underserved
    micro and small businesses, non-profit organizations, and social
    enterprises. TAF's technology program also offers innovative solutions
    to problems of unequal access to e-commerce and cooperates with APEC on
    the annual APEC App Challenge, which aims to address economic
    priorities using technology for small business owners to participate in
    and benefit from the global digital marketplace.
        Just a few varied examples of our many successful programs
    implemented in the Indo-Pacific during FY2023 include:

      1.  TAF's ``Pacific RISE-CTIP'' program, with funds from USAID, is
            combatting trafficking in persons, working with governments,
            civil society organizations, and businesses in Fiji, Palau,
            Republic of Marshall Islands, Tonga and Papua New Guinea to
            raise awareness about human trafficking, embed standard
            operating processes, upgrade national action plans, provide
            protection services, and craft guidance on prosecution
            pathways. The Pacific is now a transit, source and destination
            area for sex and labor trafficking. Resources, shelter and
            legal services are provided, along with skills training for
            women and girls who have been sex trafficked, so they have
            alternative sources of income. TAF also strengthens civil
            society organizations leading counselling, collection of
            documentary evidence, and work with prosecutors and police.
      2.  TAF played a pivotal role in reopening opportunities for
            unskilled Bangladeshi workers in the Maldives. TAF supported
            civil society organizations in Bangladesh and the Maldives to
            devise policies to mitigate the impact of irregular migration
            and curb the exploitation and unlawful detention of migrants.
            The initiative led to a track 1.5 dialogue conducted in Male in
            July 2023, where stakeholders engaged on ways to solve labor
            migration challenges. Giving credit to TAF efforts, the
            Maldives Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology in August
            2023 announced the re-opening of opportunities for workers,
            addressing challenges such as exploitation, discrimination, and
            limited access to health and justice, improving the lives of
            Bangladeshi workers while also strengthening bilateral
            relations between Bangladesh and the Maldives.
      3.  TAF launched its 8th Tatoli! national public perception survey in
            Timor-Leste. The launch took place 3 months after a change of
            government in Timor-Leste. During the launch, The Vice Prime
            Minister emphasized the importance of Tatoli! to understanding
            and developing policies that address the priorities of Timorese
            citizens, and the planned utilization of Tatoli! findings to
            influence policy.
                                   conclusion
        Funding at $23 million will allow The Asia Foundation to invest in
    innovative programs that have received Congressional encouragement. We
    believe TAF's track record demonstrates that we can leverage
    appropriated dollars to secure greater resources and make efficient use
    of appropriated funds to advance U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific
    region. We appreciate the Committee's longstanding trust in and support
    for The Asia Foundation. We respectfully urge that the Committee
    support FY2025 funding for the Asia Foundation at $23 million.

        [This statement was submitted by Laurel E. Miller, President.]
                                     ______

                Prepared Statement of Basic Education Coalition
    Chair Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and Members of the subcommittee,

        I am pleased to submit testimony on behalf of the Basic Education
    Coalition, a group of leading international development organizations
    and academic institutions working together to promote global peace and
    prosperity through education. My name is Eric Eversmann, and I am the
    Co-Chair of the Coalition's Board of Directors as well as the Senior
    Director of Education at Save the Children. To enhance U.S. foreign
    assistance efforts and improve educational opportunities for children
    in need, we urge Congress to provide $1.1 billion for Basic Education
    in the Fiscal Year 2025 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
    bill, with at least $900 million provided as bilateral U.S. Government
    assistance. Such investments should not come at the expense of other
    poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance programs.
        Our Coalition is grateful for the subcommittee's longstanding
    bipartisan commitment to fight extreme poverty and improve access to
    education for children around the world, and we thank you for your
    efforts to protect the Fiscal Year 2024 topline funding levels for the
    Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development
    (USAID), and other important programs throughout the House and Senate
    conference process. While the overarching funding bill maintains U.S.
    leadership in development and humanitarian assistance, Basic Education
    ultimately received $922 million, or a $48 million cut to the Fiscal
    Year 2023 enacted level, for Fiscal Year 2024.
        Despite the extremely tight fiscal environment, now is not the time
    to scale back our efforts. To respond to increasing global need,
    reaffirm the United States' commitment to the Sustainable Development
    Goals, and combat competitors seeking to promote non-democratic ideals,
    we urge that you prioritize funding for Basic Education to expand
    access to and improve the quality of education in our partner countries
    in Fiscal Year 2025.
        U.S. Government leadership is needed now more than ever before.
    According to the World Bank, we are in the midst of a global learning
    crisis: over 70 percent of children in low- and middle-income countries
    are unable to read and understand a basic text or demonstrate basic
    mathematical proficiency by age 10.\1\ We are also facing an
    unprecedented democracy crisis. According to Freedom House, global
    freedom declined for the 18th consecutive year in 2023. Authoritarian
    adversaries, including China, Iran, and Russia, continue to threaten
    the sovereignty and self-determination of countries around the globe.
    The U.S. has, and must continue, to play a leading role in promoting
    democratic values, processes, and institutions.\2\ Education is
    paramount to tackling the democracy crisis.
        Access to quality, inclusive basic education is integral to
    advancing U.S. foreign policy goals, and we therefore urge the full
    funding of the recently updated U.S. Government Strategy on Basic
    Education, which will guide U.S. international education efforts for
    the next 5 years.\3\ Adapting from the experience of COVID, the U.S.
    Government has transformed its approach to Basic Education assistance
    to ensure that education systems around the world are prepared for
    future shocks--whether they come in the form of a global pandemic,
    conflict, humanitarian crisis, or natural disaster. In Fiscal Year 2022
    alone, the U.S. Government was reached over 32 million learners in 97
    countries around the world, distributed over 12 million textbooks and
    other learning materials, and trained and provided professional
    development to over 820,000 teachers and educators.\4\
        Education helps to empower communities and societies to prosper and
    thrive. It promotes economic growth and reduces poverty while
    addressing harmful social norms and inequalities. In fact, the most
    recent United Nations Sustainable Development Report suggests that
    providing quality education (SDG 4) for all children is the most
    important key to achieving sustainable development in the long term.\5\
    As such, the future development of nations around the world is
    predicated upon children and youth acquiring the skills needed to lead
    their countries into more prosperous, equitable, democratic, and
    inclusive societies.
        The COVID-19 pandemic caused the largest disruption to education in
    modern history, impacting the lives and education of over 90 percent of
    the world's children and youth.\6\ Now, more than ever, U.S. leadership
    in international Basic Education is required to allow USAID and its
    partners to expand Basic Education programs to vulnerable populations,
    address gaps in education service delivery, and strengthen
    international education systems. These investments will lay the
    foundation for improved health and nutrition outcomes,\7\ slower
    population growth,\8\ democracy and political stability, and promotes
    greater gender equality, understanding, tolerance, and hope.\9\
        In many low- and middle-income countries, too many students arrive
    at primary school off track developmentally and lacking the foundation
    that best supports classroom learning. A study conducted before the
    pandemic estimated that 250 million children globally were at risk of
    failing to meet their developmental milestones,\10\ meaning nearly one-
    third of the world's children have entered elementary grades without
    the cognitive, social-emotional, motor, and language skills needed to
    fulfill their potential. U.S. foreign assistance must expand programs
    that improve early childhood care and education, including pre-primary
    education and multi-sectoral early childhood development interventions
    for children ages 0-8. While inclusion of children with disabilities
    and marginalized populations is essential to quality education at all
    levels, it is especially important during the early years, as they are
    the foundation and gateway to fruitful, lifelong learning. If the early
    years are exclusive of these populations, future schooling will
    continue to be exclusive as well. Every child deserves the best
    possible foundation for lifelong learning, and the U.S. government
    should seize this opportunity to do more for more the world's youngest
    children and their families.
        Further along the educational pipeline, U.S. Government leadership
    is also critical for children making the transition from primary to
    secondary school so that the growing youth population has the
    opportunity for gainful employment and personal achievement.\11\
    Higher-level skills that are acquired in secondary school should
    prepare students for participation in the fast-paced, rapidly changing
    global economy. Automated technologies will continue to replace low-
    skilled labor and employers will increasingly demand technical, social,
    and critical-thinking skills. Digital literacy and information
    engagement skills (for example, the ability to identify misinformation,
    build emotional resilience to it, and reflect on one's own information
    consumption), will be necessary for the positive development of
    children and youth moving forward.
        It is also imperative that U.S. foreign assistance helps tackle
    gender-related barriers to educational attainment, especially in
    countries with persistent gender disparity in school enrollment and
    completion, particularly in secondary school when girls are most likely
    to drop out. In many contexts, entrenched social and cultural norms can
    limit girls' access to quality learning opportunities. Girls face risks
    of child marriage, gender-based violence, seclusion during
    menstruation, and greater responsibility for household labor than boys.
    Further barriers to girls' attendance and success at school include
    lack of access to water and sanitation facilities during times of
    menstruation, unsafe passage to and from school, school-related gender-
    based violence, inequitable teaching practices, and prohibitive school
    fees. To address these barriers, girls' education programs must promote
    holistic and multi-sectoral solutions that prioritize gender equity and
    broaden support for girls' education at every level of society.
        As COVID-19 has shown, resilience relies on the capability,
    empowerment, and ingenuity of people and leadership at the familial,
    communal, regional, and national levels. Local leaders and educators
    can engage families and communities, respond quickly to changing
    demands, and innovate in real time to adaptively meet local needs such
    as distance learning, remedial learning, girls' education, and skills
    development. Local leadership enables communities to respond to crises
    and emerge stronger and more resilient. U.S. foreign assistance should
    continue to support locally led, people-first approaches that develop
    leadership skills in USG-funded program participants and partners,
    including by elevating the voices of adolescents and youth.\12\ To
    ensure that aid leads to sustainable change, leadership development
    programs should be created at the country level in consultation with
    communal, regional, and national stakeholders, with the goal of
    spurring local innovation and knowledge sharing.
        Further developing the education workforce will also be necessary
    to sustainably improve a global education system that supports learners
    and learning for the future. U.S foreign assistance should seek to
    strengthen the education workforce (including through the recruitment
    of diverse talent) and address the quality of teacher pre-service and
    in-service training and certification programs. The Education
    Commission recommends that support for education should focus on
    improving teacher professional development, provide new roles and
    pathways for advancement, develop learning teams of educators who have
    distributed expertise, and build networks to facilitate skill and
    knowledge sharing.\13\
        Finally, we've learned from COVID-19 and other recent crises that
    school systems need to be prepared and resourced to facilitate and
    support extended periods of remote learning. Lack of access to
    technology, the internet, toys, books, and other learning materials
    furthers the learning equity gap for children living in low-income
    households, those from marginalized communities, and those with
    disabilities, and should be addressed to ensure that learning can
    continue for all children in future emergencies. We applaud the
    commitments made in the recently updated U.S. Government Strategy on
    International Basic Education to include education as part of the
    immediate response to an emergency, including by fostering improved
    collaboration across U.S. humanitarian and development departments and
    agencies.
        Funding for Basic Education through the SFOPS bill enables USAID
    and implementing partner organizations to work together in some of the
    world's most challenging contexts. This assistance is critical from an
    educational and development standpoint while also promoting long-term
    domestic and international security and economic prosperity.
        The Basic Education Coalition looks forward to working with
    Congress to ensure that quality education remains a core pillar of our
    foreign assistance and that the recently updated U.S. Government
    Strategy on International Basic Education is implemented successfully.
    Together, we can help strengthen education systems, alleviate poverty,
    foster stability and security, and spur economic growth, both abroad
    and here at home.
        Thank you for your continued support and for your consideration of
    our request.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ World Bank. (2022, June 23), the State of Global Learning
    Poverty: 2022 Update, https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/
    e52f55322528903b27f1b7e61238e416-0200022022/original/Learn
    ing-poverty-report-2022-06-921-final-V7-0-conferenceEdition.pdf.
        \2\ Freedom House, ``Freedom in the World 2024,'' https://
    freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/
    FIW_2024_DigitalBooklet.pdf.
        \3\ USAID, ``U.S. Government Strategy on Basic Education,'' https:/
    /www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2024-04/USG-Education-
    Strategy_FY2023-2024_FINAL_digital_single-508.pdf.
        \4\ ``Fiscal Year 2022 U.S. Government Strategy Report to
    Congress,'' USAID, https://www.edu-links.org/resources/fiscal-year-
    2022-us-government-strategy-report-congress.
        \5\ United Nations, ``Sustainable Development Report 2023:
    Implementing the SDG Stimulus'', https://s3.amazonaws.com/
    sustainabledevelopment.report/2023/2023-sustainable-development-
    report.pdf.
        \6\ United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
    Organization, ``COVID-19 Impact on Education.''.
        \7\ Mondal, Md Nazrul Islam and Mahendran Shitan, ``Factors
    affecting the HIV/AIDS epidemic: an ecological analysis of global
    data,'' African Health Sciences (2013): p.: 301-310.
        \8\ Murray, Sam, ``How Education Can Moderate Population Growth,''
    World Economic Forum (July 27, 2015).
        \9\ Sperling, Gene, and Rebecca Winthrop, ``What works in girls'
    education,'' The Brookings Institution (2016).
        \10\ Black, Maureen, Susan Walker, Lia Fernald, et al., ``Early
    childhood development coming of age: science through the life course,''
    The Lancet, October 4, 2016.
        \11\ The International Commission on Financing Global Education
    Opportunity, ``The Learning Generation: Investing in Education for a
    Changing World,'' 2016.
        \12\ Adelman, Melissa, Anshul Arora, Wendy Kopp, et al.,
    ``Unlocking sustained outcomes with a `people first' approach to
    development,'' 2020.
        \13\ The Education Commission, ``Transforming the Education
    Workforce: Learning Teams for a Learning Generation,'' 2019.

        [This statement was submitted by Eric Eversmann, Co-Chair of the of
    Directors and Senior Director of Education at Save the Children.]
                                     ______

                  Prepared Statement of Better World Campaign
        Thank you for the opportunity to provide written testimony for the
    record in support of a robust foreign affairs budget in FY2025. The
    accounts funded by this legislation support U.S. assessed and voluntary
    contributions to the United Nations. Within the State Department, we
    request $1.676 billion for the Contributions to International
    Organizations (CIO) account and $459.8 million for the International
    Organizations and Programs (IO&P) account. We also recommend $1.673
    billion for the Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities
    (CIPA) account and $420.6 million for the Peacekeeping Operations (PKO)
    account. We support bill language that enables us to pay our
    contributions to UN peacekeeping at the fully assessed rate. In
    addition to peacekeeping-related funding, we hope you will also
    consider funding important bilateral and multilateral health programs,
    including family planning programs ($1.740 billion, including $116
    million for the UN Population Fund), the U.S. President's Malaria
    Initiative ($925 million), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis
    and Malaria ($1.2 billion), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance ($340 million),
    and USAID's polio program ($165 million).
                 the importance of u.s. engagement with the un
        The State Department's CIO account funds U.S. assessments for the
    UN Regular Budget (UNRB) and more than 40 other international
    organizations. Last year, the CIO account was dramatically cut in the
    House and included for the first time ever, a zeroing out of the UNRB.
    The Senate Committee on Appropriations rightly rejected the funding
    prohibitions, and we sincerely hope this subcommittee will again push
    back on similar efforts in the House and provide the necessary
    resources. Despite the size of the organization and its global reach,
    the UNRB is equivalent to just one-quarter of the annual budget of the
    state of Rhode Island.
        The UN Regular Budget supports efforts to address threats to
    international peace and security by monitoring global implementation of
    legally-binding multilateral sanctions measures adopted by the UN
    Security Council. From its seat on the Council, the U.S. has
    successfully pushed for the adoption of robust sanctions--including
    asset freezes, travel bans, arms embargoes, trade restrictions, and
    other measures--targeting the malign activities of terrorist groups
    (Al-Qaeda and ISIS) and rogue States that seek to obtain weapons of
    mass destruction (North Korea). This work--critical to the National
    security of both the U.S. and its allies--would decrease, as would our
    ability to mobilize coalitions if the U.S. cuts off all funding for the
    UNRB. The UNRB is also a key source of funding for the UN's human
    rights work, including investigatory mechanisms that seek to document
    and expose human rights violations in a host of contexts, from Russia's
    invasion of Ukraine, to Iran's suppression of political dissent, to the
    Taliban's escalating suppression of women's rights. Cutting our UNRB
    contribution would also give countries hostile to international human
    rights norms--especially Russia and China--ammunition to call for all
    funding for these activities to be cut from the UN budget entirely.
        It is equally essential to ensure the timely delivery of U.S.
    contributions to UN agencies and activities. Since the 1980s, the
    U.S.--unlike almost every other country--has put forward a policy of
    paying UN Regular Budget dues at least 9 months late, even though the
    UN's fiscal year begins on January 1. This practice has exacerbated
    major liquidity challenges at the UN, repeatedly threatening the
    organization's ability to pay staff and administrative costs and
    forcing the UN Secretary-General to periodically institute hiring
    restrictions and tap cash reserves set aside for peacekeeping. This
    practice undermines the ability of the UN to operate, ultimately
    hurting U.S. interests abroad.
        In addition to supporting the U.S. contribution to the UNRB and all
    other international organizations funded by this account, our
    recommendation for CIO includes $100 million for the UN Educational,
    Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which the U.S. defunded
    in 2011 and withdrew from entirely in 2018, but formally rejoined in
    July 2023. Our funding recommendation would allow for $75 million in
    dues and a $25 million down payment to be made to begin addressing U.S.
    arrears to UNESCO, matching the President's request. It is also
    important that FY2025 State/Foreign Operations legislation extends
    waiver authority allowing the U.S. to make financial contributions to
    UNESCO beyond the current sunset date of September 30, 2025.
        We were heartened by the U.S. decision to rejoin UNESCO. The
    organization works to promote a number of U.S. priorities, including
    international Holocaust education, press freedom, and the protection of
    threatened cultural heritage sites. Our absence from UNESCO threw the
    organization into turmoil, threatening many of these programs and
    providing an opening for China--which became UNESCO's largest financial
    contributor--to exert greater influence over its work. It is a clear
    example of how counter-productive U.S. withdrawal from UN entities
    remains. Now that the U.S. is back, we can drive the agenda once again,
    including how to ensure the ethical development and use of artificial
    intelligence (AI).
        Another key aspect of the UN's global footprint is its peacekeeping
    operations. Each and every day, tens of thousands of UN peacekeepers
    serve in some of the world's most volatile conflict zones, charged with
    ensuring stability, protecting civilians from violence, facilitating
    the delivery of humanitarian aid, training local police forces to
    ensure order, and supporting democratic elections. These efforts
    promote core U.S. foreign policy interests because peacekeeping
    operations are effective at reducing the intensity of civil wars,
    preventing them from spilling over borders, and preventing dormant
    conflicts from reigniting, all while not requiring the U.S. to put its
    own soldiers in the field. They are also cost-effective, having been
    found on several occasions by the Government Accountability Office to
    be one-eighth the cost to American taxpayers of deploying U.S. forces.
        Unfortunately, in recent years that influence has been tested by
    the emergence of new global powers and the U.S.'s own failure to fully
    meet its commitments to the organization. Since FY2017, our Nation has
    accrued more than $1.3 billion in arrears because of Congressional
    enforcement of the legislative cap on peacekeeping contributions. This
    growing debt negatively impacts U.S. interests in several ways. U.S.
    arrears help reduce and delay reimbursement payments to the low- and
    middle-income countries that provide the vast majority of uniformed
    peacekeepers currently serving in the field as well as critical
    equipment that allows peacekeeping missions to fulfill their mandates.
    Our arrears also alienate allies who do pay their dues on time and in
    full, making it less likely that our agenda around peacekeeping reform
    is taken seriously.
        More needs to be done to address this issue. I am therefore hopeful
    that in addition to fully funding the CIO, this subcommittee will
    support waiving the peacekeeping cap and provide additional funds under
    the CIPA account to begin paying down our arrears, as it has so
    generously done in the past. BWC's recommendation for CIPA includes
    sufficient funds to pay the estimated FY25 peacekeeping dues at the
    full assessed rate (approximately $1.329 billion), plus an additional
    $344 million as a down payment to begin paying our cap-related arrears.
                           investing in global health
        The World Health Organization (WHO) plays a central role in
    amplifying U.S. investments in global health. With direct relationships
    in 150 health ministries throughout the world and the ability to engage
    with countries in ways that no single country can replicate, the WHO
    plays a lead role as a technical partner and implementor in key U.S.
    programs like the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR),
    global immunizations, malaria, and ongoing pandemic preparedness and
    response efforts. Our FY25 CIO figure includes slightly increased
    funding for WHO, matching the President's request, in recognition of
    the agreement at the 2023 World Health Assembly (WHA). At WHA, Member
    States agreed to a gradual increase in WHO assessed contributions to
    increase predictability in financing to address pressing global health
    challenges and ensure maximum impact of U.S. government health
    investments.
        The U.S. also provides voluntarily funds for a variety of WHO
    programs that are vital to U.S. foreign policy, global health, and
    national security priorities. Paying our dues and strengthening the
    organization through partnership (the U.S. contributes more scientists
    through secondments than any other country) gives us leverage to help
    reform the organization and the larger pandemic preparedness
    architecture. U.S. engagement is also critical to reforming the WHO and
    holding it accountable.
        The work of the WHO has unquestionably saved millions of lives and
    improved the quality of life for billions more. Through its partnership
    with the U.S. and all Member States, it has achieved extraordinary
    success, including the eradication of smallpox and dramatically
    reducing vaccine-preventable diseases and all-cause mortality.
    Moreover, because health extends beyond the clinic walls, the WHO can
    be credited for navigating the intersection of global health, politics,
    and socioeconomics in ways no other health agency can--largely because
    no other body is centrally positioned within a larger organization
    where its influence ensures consideration of health in all policies. No
    equivalent organization exists with the WHO's scope to coordinate
    disease surveillance, enhance global health research and development,
    procure health commodities, set global technical standards, or prevent
    the spread of cross-national infectious disease.
        As COVID-19 has shown us over the last 2 years, health systems
    around the world can be threatened in the time it takes a plane to
    round the globe. U.S. investment in the Global Polio Eradication
    Initiative (GPEI) has strengthened country health systems and provided
    vital tools, infrastructure, and skilled workers capable of not only
    eradicating polio but fighting other vaccine-preventable diseases, like
    measles and yellow fever. We have an urgent opportunity to End Polio
    once and for all. Endemic transmission continues to be very restricted
    in Afghanistan and Pakistan and was 60% lower in 2023 than the previous
    year. The genetic diversity of wild poliovirus is shrinking in these
    two countries, with only two clusters circulating in 2023 down from 16
    in 2020. An outbreak of wild poliovirus of Pakistani origin in Malawi
    and Mozambique in early 2022 was also stopped thanks to aggressive GPEI
    outbreak response. But as long as polio exists anywhere, it is a threat
    anywhere. Supporting the State and Foreign Operations contributions to
    GPEI at $165 million will be important to ending polio by supporting
    vaccine procurement, outbreak response, immunization campaigns, and
    disease surveillance.
        Since its founding in 2000, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has played
    a vital role in the purchase and delivery of life-saving vaccines for
    children in the world's poorest countries. During the pandemic, Gavi
    co-led the global solution to accelerate the manufacture and
    distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, in addition to its usual work to
    reduce preventable childhood deaths through routine immunizations. Gavi
    has delivered more than 1.5 billion vaccines, many of which were
    donated by the U.S. While routine immunizations and other global health
    activities suffered at the beginning of the pandemic, Gavi has been
    able to make up for the disruptions and ensure that 78% of the world's
    children get their shots. In addition, Gavi is working to ensure that
    two new malaria vaccines are available to children in regions hardest
    hit by malaria. These vaccines not only save lives from malaria, but
    data also show they result in a 13% reduction in all-cause mortality
    among children. Ensuring Gavi is funded at $340 million, and including
    a new multi-year pledge, will help it expand to cover new vaccines,
    including the malaria vaccines, and support its core operations during
    its next Strategic Cycle from 2026-2030.
        Despite strides in expanding access to insecticide-treated nets and
    medicines to help prevent malaria, particularly for young children and
    pregnant women, the number of malaria cases has surpassed pre-pandemic
    levels, according to the WHO's 2023 World Malaria Report. In 2022,
    there were an estimated 249 million malaria cases globally, an
    additional 16 million cases over the 2019 level. The global malaria
    response has faced a number of mounting threats, such as drug and
    insecticide resistance, layered humanitarian crises, resource
    constraints, new invasive mosquito species on the African continent,
    and the impact of more severe and frequent natural disasters
    exacerbated by climate change. To date, malaria investments have
    averted nearly 12 million deaths and more than 2 billion cases of
    disease and represent one of the biggest-if not the biggest-returns on
    investment in global health in recent years. While this tremendous
    progress should be celebrated, it is also a stark reminder of how much
    more must be done. Still today, malaria is responsible for the death of
    one child every minute.
        Malaria already places a strain on health care systems throughout
    the WHO Africa Region. The continent accounts for 93.6% of malaria
    cases and 95.4% of malaria deaths globally, with 78.1% of all deaths
    from malaria in this region among children aged under 5 years. The
    Seventh Replenishment of the Global Fund set an ambitious goal of $8
    billion over 3 years to jumpstart progress in ending the world's three
    most ancient diseases. The U.S. committed $6 billion over 3 years-$2
    billion annually-which is matched with $2 from other donors. The U.S.
    fulfilled its first tranche of a $2 billion contribution in FY2023 and
    funded $1.65 billion in FY2024, fulfilling its commitment to fund up to
    $6 billion within the U.S. matching requirements set in statute. The
    Global Fund works with the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI)-
    currently operating in 27 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the
    Greater Mekong Subregion in Asia-National Malaria Control Programs, and
    Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to optimize and scale up proven, cost-
    effective interventions such as bed nets, indoor residual spraying,
    anti-malarials, rapid diagnostic tests, and vaccines.
        Within the IO&P account, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) provides
    safe birthing and dignity kits after disasters, helps install solar
    lighting in refugee camps to help prevent gender-based violence, and
    provides contraceptives in more than 150 countries to prevent maternal
    mortality and improve the status of women. In Ukraine, the UNFPA has
    undertaken a number of actions to help women escaping the horrors of
    Russia's invasion, from helping expectant mothers who have seen their
    maternity wards bombed to dispatching mobile hospitals to provide
    sexual and reproductive health services around the country. By fully
    funding access to contraceptives, unintended pregnancies would drop by
    70%, maternal deaths would drop by 67%, and newborn deaths would drop
    by 77%. To meet the unmet need, the U.S. share of international
    reproductive health and family planning funding would be $1.74 billion
    (including $116 million for UNFPA). With respect to the UN Relief and
    Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), it will
    have a key role in managing civilian life in the Gaza Strip after the
    war concludes. There will need to be a massive reconstruction effort
    undertaken, in addition to meeting ongoing humanitarian needs, and
    UNRWA remains an essential humanitarian actor in the region. We call
    for the funding prohibition to be lifted and funding restored in the
    FY2025 State/Foreign Operations bill.

        [This statement was submitted by Peter Yeo, President, Better World
    Campaign.]
                                     ______

                   Prepared Statement of Bread for the World
        Members of the Committee, I am Reverend Eugene Cho, President and
    CEO of Bread for the World. I want to start by thanking you both,
    Chairman Chris Coons and Ranking Member Lindsey Graham, for your years
    of support for critical food assistance programs. You both, alongside
    the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the
    United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), have been champions of
    addressing hunger, and we are so grateful for your bipartisan support
    for this work. We look forward to continuing to work with you both in
    strengthening bipartisan support for food assistance.
        Hunger, and our response to it, can completely change lives--I
    know, because I have seen this in my own life. My father was born in
    what is now North Korea, in a small village outside Pyongyang. As one
    of six children, he faced hunger and poverty. His family fled south in
    search of a better life but were hampered in that pursuit by the Korean
    War. In 1977, my parents made the impossibly difficult decision to come
    here to the United States in hopes of providing more opportunities for
    my two older brothers and me. Their courage and faith in God changed
    the trajectory of my life. I am grateful and proud to be an American
    today. Unfortunately, far too many others face the same dire situations
    my parents experienced all those years ago.
        The organization I lead, Bread for the World, is a Christian
    advocacy organization urging U.S. decision-makers to do all they can to
    pursue a world without hunger. For nearly five decades, Bread has
    advocated for government policies and programs that will end hunger in
    the United States and around the world. Bread for the World's 250,000-
    strong network of advocates, churches, and partners in every U.S.
    congressional district works to address hunger, poverty, and
    malnutrition around the world.
        On October 7, 2023, the Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent
    war upended the lives of millions of innocent men, women, and children
    and set in motion an extreme food crisis. This crisis has compounded
    ongoing global challenges that have threatened decades of progress
    toward ending hunger and malnutrition. In fact, according to FEWS NET,
    the U.S. supported Famine Early Warning Network, 66 million people
    needed lifesaving humanitarian assistance because of acute hunger 6
    years ago. Today, in 2024, the number has almost doubled, reaching 130
    million people in need. Hundreds of millions of children, women and
    families are facing food insecurity in hunger hotspots including Haiti,
    Sudan, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Ethiopia.
    Northern Gaza is said to be at famine phase five, which means there is
    an expected emergence of hunger-related deaths in line with
    internationally recognized thresholds for famine.
        This food crisis comes as the world continues to reel from multiple
    other crises, including in Ukraine. In the Horn of Africa, we are
    witnessing the sixth consecutive failed rainy season. Without rain, the
    region is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years. Crops have
    largely failed, pastoralists have lost their animals, and nearly 5
    million people in Somalia are likely to face acute food insecurity.
    Nearly half of Somalia's under-five population, or 1.4 million
    children, are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition.
        In 2024 we have been encouraged by the historic bipartisan support
    for global food assistance programs. We applauded the $10 billion
    supplemental funding to respond to the global food price crisis, passed
    by overwhelming bipartisan support in both chambers this year, and we
    thank Chairman Coons and Ranking Member Graham for their leadership in
    getting these needed funds passed into law. As a Christian faith
    organization, we praise God that the delivery of humanitarian
    assistance to millions of people in Gaza and other hunger hotspots will
    aid in saving lives.
        Consistent assistance remains imperative for saving lives as these
    complex conflicts continue.
        As you discern priorities in the FY25 appropriations process, we
    urge you to continue to fund critical hunger, malnutrition, and
    poverty-focused programs. These programs provide a strong return on
    investment to the U.S. taxpayer because they help to create a
    healthier, more prosperous, and more stable world for everyone--all for
    less than one percent of the Federal budget. They save lives and enable
    children to grow up healthy and able to lead productive lives.
        Bread for the World urges this Congress to prioritize funding in
    the following appropriations accounts:

      --$300 million for Nutrition in Global Health Programs at USAID.--
            These programs at USAID focus on evidence-based interventions
            that affect children's survival and their physical and
            cognitive development. The modest increases of recent years are
            losing ground to the unconscionable rates of severe
            malnutrition due to rising food prices, the ongoing economic
            consequences of COVID-19, climate shocks, and many other
            problems. An increase to $300 million could prevent stunting
            for more than 553,000 people, cure more than 12.1 million women
            of anemia, support mothers to breastfeed more than 5.5 million
            additional children and provide life-saving treatment for 3
            million children experiencing wasting. This account is also
            essential to the effective implementation of the Global
            Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act, enacted in October
            2022.
      --$1.2 billion for Feed the Future's Global Food Security Strategy.--
            Feed the Future is a key U.S. government global hunger and food
            security initiative. Currently, 20 countries around the world
            are participating. Feed the Future has helped more than 23
            million people escape poverty and more than 5 million families
            live free from hunger. Congress reauthorized the program in
            2022 and provided a moderate increase in funding to $1.2
            billion, which has yet to be met in annual appropriations.
      --$180 million for International Agricultural Research and
            Development.--Agricultural research funded by Feed the Future
            helps farmers adapt to extreme weather and pests. U.S.
            investment supports research innovations that drive critically
            important agricultural productivity, nutrition, employment, and
            economic transformation in developing countries.
      --$5.66 billion for International Disaster Assistance.--The
            International Disaster Assistance account provides humanitarian
            assistance to countries impacted by natural disasters,
            conflicts, and other crises, including funding for treatment of
            acute malnutrition. This funding is key to fighting hunger and
            malnutrition in the many crises our world faces this year. On
            average, USAID responds to 75 crises in more than 70 countries
            each year.
      --$75 million for the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS)
            Program.--Launched in late 2022, VACS works to identify the
            most nutritious crops in each of the African Union's five
            subregions and mobilize resources to improve their resilience
            to climate change.
      --$54 million for the International Fund for Agricultural Development
            (IFAD).--Funds from IFAD help rural people build resilience,
            improve their food security, and contribute to poverty
            reduction. During the IFAD-11 replenishment period (2019-2021),
            an estimated 77 million rural people increased their incomes,
            and more than 60 million people increased their food
            production. This request is for installments of the U.S.
            commitment to IFAD-13.
      --$125 million for the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program
            (GAFSP).--The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program
            (GAFSP) is a multilateral platform that provides financial
            assistance to governments, farmer and producer organizations,
            and the private sector in the form of grants, concessional
            loans, and blended finance. It also provides technical
            assistance and advisory services and, in 2022, supported 16.6
            million farmers, including nearly 7 million women, to achieve
            higher agricultural productivity, increased incomes, and
            improved nutrition security.
      --$1.43 billion for the International Development Association (IDA)
            at the World Bank.--The International Development Association
            (IDA) at the World Bank is the largest single source of
            assistance for the world's 75 lowest-income countries. In FY23,
            nearly 87 million people were reached with health and nutrition
            services through IDA. This request includes the third and final
            installment of the U.S. commitment to IDA-20 (2022-2025). Every
            dollar in U.S. contributions to IDA leverages $4 in
            contributions from other donors and internally generated
            resources. Fully funding this pledge would position the United
            States well to lead in the ongoing 21st replenishment of IDA,
            set to be finalized in December of this year.
      --$197 million for the African Development Fund (AfDF).--The African
            Development Fund (AfDF) provides grants and concessional loans
            to 37 low-income countries on the African continent. In the
            past 5 years, AfDF has helped 74 million people improve their
            agricultural practices. This request includes $197 million
            toward the second installment of the U.S. commitment to AfDF-16
            (2023-2026). Every dollar in U.S. contributions to the AfDF
            leverages more than $16 in contributions from other donors and
            internally generated resources.
      --$43.6 million for the Asian Development Fund (AsDF).--The Asian
            Development Fund (AsDF) provides grants to the Asian
            Development Bank Group's 25 lower-income member countries to
            promote poverty reduction and quality of life improvements.
            From 2017-2019, AsDF enabled more than 150,000 farmers to gain
            access to quality farm inputs. This request includes the U.S.
            pledge to AsDF-13 (2021-2024).
      --$1 billion for the Green Climate Fund.--The Green Climate Fund
            (GCF) works in developing countries to lower greenhouse gas
            emissions and build resilience, including among smallholder
            farmers through climate-smart agriculture. The GCF allocates a
            minimum of 50 percent of its funds to help communities adapt to
            climate change, and two-thirds of those resources are invested
            in small island developing States, least developed countries,
            and the African continent. This request includes an installment
            toward the U.S. pledge to the second replenishment of GCF and
            funds to reduce unmet U.S. commitments.
      --$1.1 billion for Climate Adaptation Fund.--Climate adaptation
            programs support country response to adapt to and build
            resilience against the effects of climate change. These funds
            support bilateral adaptation efforts to build resilience to
            storm surges in coastal communities, provide early warning
            systems, improve soil health, and reduce food insecurity
            through sustainable agriculture. USAID partners with more than
            30 countries to strengthen their resilience to climate change.

        Thanks in part to this subcommittee and your support of
    humanitarian and international development programs through the years,
    the United States has led the global response to the needs of the
    world's most vulnerable people. God's love in Jesus Christ compels us
    to love our neighbors--in action as well as expression. We are all made
    in God's image and carry a sacred dignity and immeasurable worth, as
    laid out so clearly in Genesis 1:27. Whatever your personal and faith
    motivations, I hope that you continue to expand your legacy of
    promoting human flourishing, addressing the needs of the most
    vulnerable, partnering with countries for shared goals of prosperity,
    and investing in communities around the world. Now more than ever, the
    world needs U.S. commitment to poverty- and nutrition-focused
    development.
        Thank you for your continued support. May God continue to bless
    each of you and your work.
                                     ______

                         Prepared Statement of CARE USA
        On behalf of CARE USA, a humanitarian and development NGO that has
    operated in over 100 countries for almost 80 years, we are grateful for
    the continued bipartisan leadership in support of a robust
    international affairs budget. The State, Foreign Operations, and
    Related Programs budget reflects critical investments in America's
    global leadership, from addressing the global hunger crisis to
    supporting poverty alleviation around the world. Over the last several
    years, our development and humanitarian assistance has truly been put
    to the test. But America has continued to lead by supporting those
    suffering the most around the world and responding to natural disasters
    like flooding in Afghanistan, the crises in Sudan and Haiti, providing
    small business loans to women, and investing in small-holder farmers to
    help them increase their yields. And a majority of Americans support
    investing in foreign aid.
        I am also grateful for the robust humanitarian assistance included
    in last month's National Security Supplemental. This is lifesaving aid,
    and a key example of the generosity of spirit of the American people,
    both in the quantity and flexibility of funding.
        Given the fact that the international affairs budget not only
    directly saves lives but also launches catalytic investments from other
    donor countries that can improve global hunger, health systems
    strengthening, protection for women and girls, and humanitarian
    assistance, I strongly urge that these accounts are retained, at a
    minimum, at FY23 funding levels. The foreign assistance budget is small
    but mighty. Every dollar is stretched to maximize effectiveness and
    hollowing out resources from one of the smallest budgets is an alarming
    and ineffective way to attempt fiscal responsibility.
        The impacts of this budget can feel far away, but our experience in
    the countries in which we operate confirms how relatively small U.S.
    investments can change lives. Recently, my team was in Honduras where
    they met a woman participating in a U.S.-funded program to counter
    gender-based violence. She told our team: ``Thank you for this program.
    Because of it, I was able to get a divorce from my husband and now my
    kids are safe.'' Whether keeping families safe in their communities,
    helping women help themselves by supporting entrepreneurship
    opportunities, or ensuring that kids are able to eat enough to learn in
    school, U.S. assistance is saving lives.
        In particular, I wish to highlight the accounts below, which are
    especially important to improve the lives of the most vulnerable among
    us.
                            funding recommendations
        Topline International Affairs Budget.--$61.7 billion (no less than
    FY23 levels)

      --Global Food Security Strategy: $1.2 billion
      --Women's Economic Empowerment (GEEA Fund): $400 million
      --Global Health Workforce Initiative: $200 million
      --Bilateral and Multilateral Family Planning and Reproductive Health:
            $1.74 billion total, including $116 million for UNFPA
      --Remove language codifying the Mexico City Policy/Global Gag Rule, a
            harmful policy rider that limits access to sexual and
            reproductive health care.
      --International Disaster Assistance (IDA) $5.274 billion
      --Migration Refugee Assistance (MRA): $5.2 billion

        Lastly, I encourage you to adopt mechanisms across accounts that
    prioritize direct funding to local organizations, with a particular
    focus on women-led organizations. Every President since President
    George W. Bush has recognized that U.S. foreign assistance is more
    effective and sustainable when it is driven by local priorities and
    implemented by local partners.
        Together, each of these accounts enable us to respond to acute
    crises while helping to address the underlying causes of global
    suffering. As CARE approaches 80 years of work in the field, across
    over 100 countries, we have seen not only the tremendous impact of
    these programs, but have also been pleased to be a part of hard-won
    gains in effectiveness and sustainability. This Committee has been a
    tremendous leader in ensuring that every single dollar allocated to
    global development and humanitarian response is well spent, well
    justified, and pays dividends over the long term. Failing to fully fund
    and support these vital programs now would put those achievements at
    grave risk and lead to greater global challenges. The inevitable impact
    would include increased food insecurity, higher maternal mortality,
    fewer girls in school, and greater risk of global pandemics. CARE urges
    Congress not to jeopardize decades of gains with funding cuts that
    would only result in greater suffering and cause increased costs in the
    long run.

        [This statement was submitted by Ritu Sharma, Vice President of
    U.S. Programs and Policy Advocacy.]
                                     ______

                 Prepared Statement of Catholic Relief Services
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham: Catholic Relief Services
    (CRS), the international relief and development agency of the Catholic
    community in the United States, along with the United States Conference
    of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) requests that you increase international
    poverty-reducing humanitarian and development assistance in Fiscal Year
    2025 (FY25) appropriations. We ask Congress to increase the
    international affairs budget to $64.4 billion, including $62.4 billion
    for the FY25 State-Foreign Operations bill, to support poverty-reducing
    international assistance. We urge you to prioritize the accounts below
    to at least the levels indicated.
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                           an opportunity for renewal
        Pope Francis calls on us to confront our current global
    challenges--such as hunger, climate change, and ever-growing
    humanitarian need--as opportunities for renewal. In the lead up to
    Easter, the Pope's Lenten message reminded us to ``keep seeking and be
    ready to take risks. At this moment in time, we face enormous
    risks...let us find the courage to see our world, not as being in its
    death throes but in a process of giving birth, not at the end but at
    the beginning of a great new chapter of history. We need courage to
    think like this.'' \1\
        CRS works in this spirit of restoration, supporting communities in
    their efforts to enter more hopeful chapters of their lives. CRS
    answers Pope Francis' call to ``keep seeking,'' as we pursue solutions
    to the seemingly insurmountable challenges of our time. In order to do
    so, Congress must provide robust funding to address these issues head
    on. Strong funding must be complemented by a continued openness to, and
    oversight of, locally-led development and humanitarian responses, to
    ensure sustainable results by placing local actors at the forefront of
    program design and implementation. CRS encourages Congress to build on
    this willingness to confront challenges, not out of fear, but with the
    courage that Pope Francis deems necessary to bring about a more just
    and peaceful world.
                                     hunger
        This year, almost 300 million people are projected to face
    ``acute'' levels of food insecurity in Gaza, the Sudan, Ethiopia,
    Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo and beyond.\2\ The U.S.
    government has a history of investing in long-term solutions to combat
    hunger in such places. Feed the Future, a USAID-led initiative,
    addresses the underlying drivers of hunger by bolstering agriculture-
    led growth, building livelihoods and supporting nutrition in target
    countries. CRS implemented a Feed the Future project from 2013 to 2018
    in Nigeria, where households still benefit from the project: in 2023, 5
    years after the close of the project, 80 percent of participating
    households said they felt able to withstand rising food prices,
    changing weather patterns, and disrupted livelihoods to maintain their
    levels of food security. In response to the current global food crisis,
    the U.S. government launched the global initiative ``Vision for Adopted
    Crops and Soils'' (VACS), which aims to boost agricultural productivity
    and nutrition through the cultivation of climate-resilient indigenous
    crop varieties and the promotion of activities to rejuvenate healthy
    soils. CRS has championed elements of the VACS approach for years and
    can attest to the enduring returns. By increasing funding to the
    Development Assistance account, Congress can help communities be more
    resilient to such setbacks that continue to confront these communities
    and sustainably address global hunger.
        While the global food crisis has re-vitalized our understanding of
    the need for sustained development investments like Feed the Future, it
    also requires Congress to invest in new, innovative humanitarian
    programs that help the most vulnerable communities prevent overwhelming
    humanitarian need in the face of emergencies. CRS' PRO-RAICES project
    in Guatemala does just that. While farmers in the region experience
    drought and irregular rainfall, leading to unpredictable harvests, PRO-
    RAICES works with local partners to create agricultural systems that
    can withstand the pressures of a changing climate. CRS helps farmers
    increase yields by training them in techniques that improve soil
    moisture retention and minimize the use of chemical fertilizers.
    Simultaneously, at the municipal level, CRS staff and partners
    collaborate with local governments to facilitate their own investment
    in disaster risk reduction. Since the 2023 launch of PRO-RAICES, two
    municipalities have established Offices for Disaster Risk Reduction
    that help communities identify and mitigate the risk of natural
    disasters. Institutional improvements like these, which are driven by
    local stakeholders and supported by CRS, make communities less
    vulnerable to food insecurity. Increasing funding for the International
    Disaster Assistance account, which supports PRO-RAICES and other such
    projects, will make the necessary investments now, to prevent greater
    humanitarian need in the future.
                                 climate change
        In 2021, speaking about the imperative to be good stewards of the
    Earth, Pope Francis exhorted the world to ``take our proper place as a
    'Restoration Generation'.'' CRS and local partners respond to that call
    through climate adaptation programming around the world, including the
    Climate Resilient Cities project in the Philippines, funded by USAID
    through the Development Assistance account. CRS, with six local
    governments, implements urban-focused nature-based solutions--such as
    mangrove-planting along coastlines to mitigate harms from storms. The
    projects' longevity will depend on building strong local leadership, so
    CRS is building the capacity of municipalities to access climate data,
    as well as to secure financing for future adaptation projects. We ask
    Congress to scale up bilateral investment in climate adaptation and
    reinforce the vital work embodied by the Climate Resilient Cities
    project. Additionally, CRS recommends that Congress complement
    bilateral investments with funding to multilateral entities like the
    Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, and Least-Developed Countries
    Fund.
        To ensure the effectiveness of increased adaptation funding, CRS
    asks Congress to require Federal agencies, including USAID and the
    Department of State, to establish a data baseline of bilateral climate
    adaptation investments. Year-over-year data will allow U.S. government
    stakeholders and non-governmental organizations like CRS determine the
    scale and scope of current programming and identify the most effective
    approaches to support climate-vulnerable communities. CRS also urges
    Congress to ensure that the multisectoral impacts of climate change--
    for example, impacts on food systems and infectious disease rates--are
    recognized and integrated into long-term planning. We appreciate
    current efforts led by USAID and the Department of State to do so.
                              humanitarian crises
        Pope Francis reminds us that ``global crises . . . could be the
    occasions to bring about beneficial changes.'' And while CRS staff
    witness great suffering, they also see glimmers of hope. CRS works
    tirelessly in crisis-affected areas like Gaza and Ukraine, where
    devastating conflicts have captured international attention. In Gaza
    and the West Bank, with funding from the International Disaster
    Assistance account, CRS provides food assistance, health kits,
    psychosocial support, and shelter materials for conflict-affected
    families. This assistance aims to ensure that families survive and can
    begin their journey to recovery after conflict subsides. At the same
    time, we provide emergency relief to hotspots that are often
    overlooked, like the Sudan, Haiti and the Sahel region. We urge
    Congress to increase funding for International Disaster Assistance and
    Migration and Refugee Assistance to save lives today, and lay the
    groundwork for a better tomorrow.
        Humanitarian assistance alone will not resolve these crises.
    Rather, solutions must ultimately come from within, and require our
    support. In the Sudan, where ongoing conflict has displaced over eight
    million people, CRS implements the People 2 People project, which began
    in October 2022 in Central Darfur. People 2 People works with local
    citizens and peace actors to build cohesion among groups that have
    historically clashed. These efforts have been crucial in mitigating the
    intensity of the Sudanese conflict. Similarly, around the world, those
    affected by conflict and crisis are not giving up; instead, they are
    leaning into Pope Francis' call to create a brighter future. Therefore,
    we urge Congress to fund peacebuilding and social cohesion activities
    through the Complex Crises Fund and Economic Support Fund to support
    communities like those in the Sudan.
                                 global health
        The world has made substantial progress combatting infectious
    diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV, but we find ourselves at
    an inflection point. Progress on malaria, for instance, has stalled due
    to insufficient funding and growing humanitarian crises. CRS urges
    Congress to advance the Pope's vision of a renewed world by investing
    in global health accounts such as the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS,
    Malaria, and Tuberculosis. In 2022, CRS programs funded by the Global
    Fund distributed 55 million bed nets and reached 21 million children
    with preventive malaria vaccines. Through these efforts, CRS has
    prevented more than 75,000 malaria deaths among children under five
    since 2020.
        Moreover, Global Fund investments support locally-led health
    programming through the ``High Performing Implementers'' (HPI)
    initiative. Through HPI, CRS assists government partners to build
    institutional capacity to become strong implementers of Global Fund
    grants, which increases the effectiveness and sustainability of such
    activities in the future. After CRS' capacity strengthening support
    through the HPI initiative in Guinea, the Minister of Health commended
    the National Malaria Program to be the best national health program in
    the country. Investments like these not only help save lives, but also
    foster stronger systems to advance development.
        As the U.S. strives to revitalize gains in global health, CRS
    strongly urges Congress to maintain the Helms Amendment in FY25. CRS
    has grave concerns about utilizing taxpayer funding for activities
    inconsistent with the Catholic faith. Further, integrating such
    programming elements is not in the best interest of the U.S. and would
    exclude providers that are sometimes the most credible and trusted
    amongst local communities. CRS asks that lawmakers prioritize the
    dignity of human life across all aspects of humanitarian and
    development assistance.
                                  keep seeking
        Pope Francis calls us to confront poverty, hunger, and suffering,
    and to ``keep seeking''--in other words, we must not remain paralyzed
    by despair or indifference in the face of our global challenges, but
    seize opportunities for renewal and rebirth. CRS urges Congress to
    respond to this call, confident that the U.S. has what it takes to lead
    the way toward a ``great new chapter in history.''
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/lent/
    documents/20231203-messaggio-quaresima2024.html.
        \2\ According to the 2024 Global Report on Food Crises, 281.6
    million people are projected to experience Phase 3 or higher on the
    International Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) scale (3-Crisis,
    4-Emergency, 5-Catastrophe). Populations in Crisis or worse face high
    levels of acute food insecurity and are in need of urgent assistance.

        [This statement was submitted by Sean Callahan, President and CEO.]
                                     ______

              Prepared Statement of Center for Integration Science
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Congresswoman Graham, Members of the
    subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony
    on the FY25 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs
    Appropriations bill and specifically in support of our request for
    funding under the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
    Global Health Program to advance PEN-Plus Programs for the treatment of
    severe childhood-onset noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in Africa. We
    are very grateful to be working with Rep. McGovern and Senator Markey
    to advance this funding request.
                       funding request and recommendation
        Thousands of children and young adults in Africa live with severe,
    chronic noncommunicable diseases such as type 1 diabetes, sickle cell
    disease, and rheumatic and congenital heart disease, causing
    heartrending pain and frequently death. These diseases
    disproportionately impact the poorest individuals, families, and
    countries on the continent. Left unaddressed, they represent a
    devastating burden on lower-income countries and a roadblock to
    economic development.
        Historically these children and young people fall through the
    cracks of global health financing because their conditions require
    complex care and specialized provider training. There is no ``silver
    bullet''; care demands an evolution of entire health systems. In
    response, a coalition of expert organizations developed the PEN-Plus
    Strategy, a framework that builds on WHO guidelines and country-
    specific infrastructure to increase access significantly and
    sustainably to care for individuals living with these diseases.
        Forty-seven (47) African countries have already endorsed PEN-Plus
    as the official strategy to reach children living with severe non-
    communicable diseases on the continent; 22 of these countries are
    already at varying stages of implementation.
        I have just returned from the Inaugural International Conference on
    PEN-Plus in Africa (ICPPA) that was held April 23-25 in Dar es Salaam,
    Tanzania. ICPPA solidified momentum around the scaling of PEN-Plus
    across Africa and brought together over 400 stakeholders from 52
    countries, including strong U.S. representation from the American Heart
    Association, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, St. Jude's Research
    Foundation, American Society of Hematologists, and Mass General
    Brigham.
        The consensus among the Conference's experts, leaders, and partners
    is clear: the time is now to scale PEN-Plus as a proven package of
    interventions that will save children's lives, advance health systems
    towards universal health coverage, and meet a historically neglected
    burden of disease on the continent. As of 2024, the PEN-Plus
    Partnership is already supporting lifesaving treatment for
    approximately 10,000 people living with severe NCDs in 14 lower-income
    countries. Yet financial limitations hamper the expansion of these
    programs to more facilities and countries.
        On behalf of the PEN-Plus Partnership, Mass General Brigham (MGB)
    is seeking up to $15 million annually to match and leverage these
    private sector investments in PEN-Plus programs on the African
    continent. MGB estimates this matching support will engage at least 15
    member States in successful launch and/or scale of PEN-Plus programs;
    and increase the number of children and young people enrolled in care
    by at least 5-fold. By supporting PEN-Plus interventions, the U.S. will
    save thousands of young lives and demonstrate its technical prowess,
    innovative capacity, and moral leadership in this strategically
    critical region of the world.
                                    the need

      --Severe NCDs cause more than half a million avoidable deaths every
            year among the world's poorest children, adolescents and youth.
            Nearly 100,000 of these deaths are caused by just four
            conditions--type 1 diabetes, sickle cell disease, and rheumatic
            and congenital heart disease. Most of the medications needed to
            manage these conditions are off-patent and have been used for
            decades in wealthier countries--or, in the case of insulin, for
            more than a century.
      --In most low- and lower-middle-income sub-Saharan African countries,
            treatment for severe chronic NCDs is available only at referral
            hospitals in major cities, leaving the rural poor without
            access to affordable care. Without access, individuals and
            families incur catastrophic costs seeking care or forgo care
            altogether, risking disability and even death.
      --In addition to reducing life expectancy, these conditions
            significantly impair patients' quality of life and economic
            productivity while greatly increasing their healthcare costs
            and adversely affecting their social and cultural well-being.
            The resultant loss of productivity has dramatic economic
            impacts on families, social structures, and community
            stability.

        Countries most in need of these interventions are least able to
    afford them or put in the up-front costs to progressively move towards
    this level of care.
                             the pen-plus solution
        PEN-Plus is a set of clinical and health system interventions aimed
    at delivering high-quality care for people living with severe, chronic
    NCDs in rural and near-urban areas. Specifically, PEN-Plus introduces
    management and care for type 1 diabetes, sickle cell disease, and
    rheumatic and congenital heart disease into lower-level health
    facilities in low- and lower-income health systems. It complements and
    strengthens the World Health Organization's Package of Essential
    Noncommunicable (PEN) Disease Interventions for Primary Health Care.
        PEN-Plus programs train nurses, clinical officers, and community
    healthcare workers in the skills they need to care for people with
    these severe chronic conditions at the district level. These providers
    learn to offer diagnoses, lifesaving medications, patient education,
    psychosocial support, palliative care, and referrals for surgical and
    other specialty care. They are trained to manage crucial medications
    with narrow therapeutic windows, such as insulin, hydroxyurea, heart-
    failure medications, and anticoagulants. These providers also gain
    access to important diagnostic technologies, including glucose
    monitoring, hemoglobin evaluation, and echocardiography. Social support
    is a critical component of disease management in resource-poor
    settings, so PEN-Plus clinics provide that support for patients and
    their families who may struggle to pay for regular, healthy meals and
    transportation to clinic visits.
        Partners In Health and the Rwandan Ministry of Health first
    introduced PEN-Plus more than a decade ago at two rural hospitals in
    Rwanda. There, the model succeeded so well that the ministry since
    expanded it to every district hospital in the country.\1\ Since then,
    and with support from the PEN-Plus Partnership, Malawi has begun its
    national scale-up of PEN-Plus, and nine additional African nations--
    Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda,
    Zambia, and Zimbabwe-have initiated PEN-Plus implementation by
    establishing their first clinics and training sites. An additional six
    African countries--Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic
    Republic of the Congo, Ghana, and Nigeria-are conducting the
    preliminary planning essential to implementing PEN-Plus.
                impact of u.s. investment in expanding pen-plus
        According to the Lancet Commission on Reframing NCDs and Injuries
    for the Poorest Billion, less than 0.3 percent of global health
    spending--not even $100 million a year--is allocated to NCD care in
    countries where the world's poorest billion people live. The U.S. is
    uniquely positioned to play a leadership role in addressing some of the
    most devastating and largely untreated diseases afflicting children and
    young persons in sub-Saharan Africa. Direct funding will position the
    U.S. government as a major and influential player in the NCD space and
    expanding PEN-Plus will:
    Save/Improve the Lives of Thousands of Children and Young Persons in
            Sub-Saharan Africa

      --Estimated 5x increase in the number of persons receiving high-
            quality, sustained, integrated care for these conditions
    Spur Economic Growth and Reduce Poverty on the Continent

      --Alleviates family, community, and health system costs exacerbated
            by acute events due to poorly controlled conditions
      --Disproportionately increases quality-adjusted life-years, as these
            are conditions that primarily affect children and young persons
      --Provides an ``on-ramp'' for local health systems to progressively
            take on costs associated with integrated care for these
            conditions over time
      --Creates demand and incentivizes future private investments in
            supply chain and medicines/consumables
    Reinforce the U.S. Government's Larger International Development
            Strategies

      --Help ensure that USAID realizes its Vision for Health Systems
            Strengthening 2030 which ``shifts the focus from strengthening
            individual functions--inputs or building blocks--of the health
            system to a focus on the health system outcome goals of equity,
            quality, and resource optimization''
      --Significantly builds local human resources capacity and self-
            sufficiency/resiliency of health and management systems within
            target countries benefitting overall global health security
            goals
      --Leverages existing private investments and public investment
            commitments made by partner countries
    Strengthen the U.S. Government's Diplomatic Goals on the Continent

      --Demonstrated leadership in addressing a priority set of conditions
            and interventions across at least 20 countries in sub-Saharan
            Africa
      --Sophistication of the response reinforces the unique value-add to
            other governments of close ties to the United States and its
            intellectual, financial, and technical resources

        Recognizing that the limited U.S. funds available for global health
    must and should support multiple goals, this proposal will do so by
    reducing child mortality, delivering meaningful near-term improvements
    to children's and young adults' health, strengthening health systems,
    and continuing to advance U.S. leadership globally. PEN-Plus programs
    directly save vulnerable lives while advancing all these aims. Thank
    you for your careful consideration of this request.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ Implementation outcomes of national decentralization of
    integrated outpatient services for severe non-communicable diseases to
    district hospitals in Rwanda--PMC (nih.gov).

        [This statement was submitted by Gene Bukhman, PhD, MD, Executive
    Director.]
                                     ______

     Prepared Statement of Christian Connections for International Health
                                     (CCIH)
        To the honorable Members of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee
    for State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS), I would
    like to thank each of you for your continued leadership in global
    health. The tens of millions of lives saved by your support of global
    health investments demonstrate the importance of U.S. leadership to the
    world, and the achievements made against diseases such as HIV/AIDS,
    malaria, and many more are directly attributed to the decisions you
    have made to fund these needed programs.
        The economic and social gains for individuals, families, and
    communities worldwide are significant, with returns on investment
    exceeding 20 or 30 times the original investment. These programs are
    not charity, they are investments that provide stability, promote
    economic growth, and preserve human dignity around the globe. As you
    determine the funding levels for these initiatives for Fiscal Year 2025
    (FY25) I hope you will consider that providing robust funding to these
    base accounts will reduce the need for supplemental funding packages to
    address global challenges as they arise.
                                state department
    President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) $5.15 billion
        I would like to thank the members of this committee for including a
    1-year reauthorization for PEPFAR as part of the legislative package
    for Fiscal Year 2024. PEPFAR is the flagship program for foreign
    assistance programs, especially in global health. Through the support
    of PEPFAR programs, more than 5.5 million babies were born HIV-free.
    Additionally, care and support were provided to over 7 million orphans
    and vulnerable children through PEPFAR. Since its creation in 2003
    under the leadership of President George W. Bush and bipartisan leaders
    in Congress, as well as the strong support of evangelical and other
    Christians, PEPFAR has saved the lives of over 25 million people. I am
    thankful for the continued bipartisan support of this unequivocally
    pro-life initiative.
        However, I remain gravely concerned about the vulnerability of the
    PEPFAR program. For the first time in its history, PEPFAR did not
    receive a 5-year reauthorization, raising questions about U.S.
    leadership and commitment to ending HIV/AIDS. I am especially disturbed
    that the program, whose mission is to save lives, was falsely accused
    of subverting U.S. law and funding abortion procedures. As many of you
    know, the Helms Amendment, signed into law more than 60 years ago as an
    amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, explicitly prohibits
    the use of U.S. taxpayer dollars in the foreign assistance account to
    pay for the performance of abortion as a method of family planning or
    to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortion.
        I just returned from meeting faith-based health leaders in one of
    PEPFAR's priority countries and discussed this topic. They could not
    believe anybody would say PEPFAR promotes abortion.
        But that is unfortunately the case: organizations that have no
    interest, attachment, or support of foreign assistance programs sought
    to undermine the credibility and bipartisan support for this life-
    saving initiative.
        I urge this committee, and your colleagues on the Foreign Relations
    Committee as well as your counterparts in the House of Representatives
    to support and pass a 5-year clean reauthorization bill to allow PEPFAR
    to continue its work to save lives.
        We can see the end of HIV/AIDS in the next decade, if we keep our
    focus on the goal.
    Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund)
            $1.65 billion
        The complementary relationship between the Global Fund and PEPFAR
    allows for better-coordinated efforts to achieve an AIDS-free
    generation. With FY25 being the last year of the Replenishment cycle,
    the leveraging power of the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund
    carries even greater importance. Where the U.S. leads, the world will
    follow. If the world perceives that the U.S. is taking a step back from
    its leadership role in global health, the world will follow that
    example, or worse, look to partners whose motives are unclear (such as
    China) in order to fill that void. I hope this committee will not allow
    that to take place. In the event that a $1.65 billion contribution to
    the Global Fund is not matched by other donor countries, I would ask
    this committee to grant the authority to the Department of State to
    redirect any funding into bilateral programs.
                                     usaid
    Family Planning $575 million
        CCIH defines Family Planning (FP) as ``enabling couples to
    determine the number and timing of pregnancies, including the voluntary
    use of methods for preventing pregnancy, not including abortion,
    harmonious with their values and religious beliefs.'' FP programming
    lowers maternal mortality and morbidity rates as well as infant and
    child death rates. Globally, one-third of women are affected by illness
    or death due to poor reproductive health. Every year more than half a
    million women die in childbirth, with over 95% of them in Africa and
    Asia. The deaths of these women leave behind children who are more
    vulnerable to disease and death themselves.
        The use of voluntary family planning, which gives women and couples
    the tools to time and space their pregnancies in ways consistent with
    their faith and values, allows families to have the number of children
    they wish to have in the healthiest and safest way possible. By spacing
    pregnancies, women have a greater opportunity to recover from a prior
    pregnancy and grow their families in a safe environment. Any fully
    functioning health system must include a strong system of family
    planning provision. I urge this committee to continue supporting these
    critical life-saving initiatives.
    Importance of Localization
        As a coalition of faith-based organizations, many of which are
    locally owned and operated around the world, I would like to applaud
    the leadership of USAID in setting targets of 25% of USAID funding
    directly obligated to local partners by 2025, and to have 50% of
    funding obligated to local organizations by 2030. It is a smart policy
    to engage local authorities who are accountable for results in the
    decision-making process. It is my hope that this committee will
    continue its oversight role to ensure these goals are met.
        We must underscore that empowering and providing resources to local
    entities does not mean that international non-governmental
    organizations (INGO) serve no role in modern development. INGO's bring
    expertise and scale that local organizations do not often possess,
    especially in the short term. INGOs provide lessons learned and promote
    regional learning opportunities. We must not create the expectation
    that localization is a ``blank check'' that can solve every development
    or humanitarian crisis. Nor can we give the impression that INGOs are
    no longer valued and needed partners in foreign assistance.
        I applaud the suggested actions in the Locally Led Development and
    Humanitarian Response Act (S. 3994 and its companion bill HR 7710).
    These common-sense changes would allow local organizations to more
    easily access USAID resources and technical expertise to build more
    resilient health systems and graduate from needing foreign assistance
    resources to address health issues. These structural changes would
    allow new and underutilized organizations to partner with USAID and
    create strong, resilient health systems.
        Some of these suggested changes include:

      --Accept applications or proposals in languages other than English;
      --Increase the de minimis indirect cost rate to 15% for local
            entities;
      --Allow a 180-day delay for local entities to register in the System
            for Award Management;
      --Award contracts or other acquisition instruments in which
            competition is limited to local entities if doing so would
            result in cost savings, strengthen local capacity, or enable
            more sustainable programs.

        Another critical piece to the success of localization is to know
    where these new and underutilized organizations work. The Christian
    Health Asset Mapping Consortium (CHAMC) seeks to compile and store this
    valuable data. CHAMC is a voluntary association of organizations that
    work to address urgent needs for information and help improve the
    quality of data about the Christian health asset landscape. Faith
    actors can make or break a global health strategy; excluding them from
    planning and resources fosters distrust and may even leave people in
    communities believing ``health'' and ``faith'' are at odds. Strategic
    investments in faith engagement, such as USAID's Building Bridges, may
    help accelerate these programs to scale.
    Intersection of Climate and Health
        Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) are often the first to respond to
    emergencies and remain long after the emergency has subsided. While we
    have most often seen this in response to epidemics and pandemics in
    global health, we have also seen this in response to natural disasters.
    There is an increasing intersection between the impacts of climate
    undermining the resilience of health systems strengthened by
    investments in global health.
        As demonstrated by the recent floods in Kenya, many countries face
    longer and more intensive rainy seasons. These natural disasters create
    headlines that will be seen by the international community, but will
    need local actors, often in the faith community, to address the
    aftermath. The destruction and disruption of roads and the influx of
    patients injured by these disasters place additional stress on health
    systems that are still developing.
        Ignoring these impacts undermines the investments this committee
    makes to address global health concerns. Disrupting the transportation
    infrastructure makes it harder for patients to travel and receive
    treatment if they are HIV/AIDS positive, stagnant water becomes
    breeding grounds for mosquitoes carrying the malaria parasite, and
    shipping commodities to support family planning, tuberculosis
    treatment, or vaccinations becomes more expensive.
        To address these issues from a local perspective, CCIH has
    established the Faith for Climate Health Resilience (Faith4CHR), which
    will officially launch in June 2024. Faith4CHR aims to increase climate
    resilience with faith-based health partners in low- and middle-income
    countries (LMIC). Faith4CRH envisions a world where all communities:
    (1) have consistent access to quality healthcare and prevention
    services in the face of climate change, (2) are prepared for the
    impacts of climate change, and (3) have the tools they need to adapt.
    To achieve that, we need to elevate the voice of the communities and
    generate momentum across health systems.
    Impact
        The general consensus is that every $1 invested in global health
    programs yields a return of $35 to society in reduced health
    expenditure and improved productivity. This, of course, does not take
    into account the true scope of the human element; the 25 million lives
    saved by PEPFAR, the 11.7 million lives saved by the President's
    Malaria Initiative, and the 154 million lives saved from global
    immunization programs. For people worldwide, these programs represent
    the character and leadership of the United States.
        Thank you for your consideration.

        [This statement was submitted by Doug Fountain, Executive
    Director.]
                                     ______

        Prepared Statement of Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and distinguished Members of
    the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony in
    strong support of the foreign affairs budget, in particular the
    President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the
    international organizations and partners critical to its success. My
    name is Charles Lyons, and I am the President and CEO of the Elizabeth
    Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF). EGPAF implements a
    comprehensive response to the global fight to end HIV and AIDS through
    research, global advocacy, strengthening of local health care systems,
    and growing the capacity of governments and communities in the world's
    most affected regions to respond to urgent needs. I am proud to be
    leading a mission-driven organization, working closely with families,
    communities, countries, and donors fighting for an AIDS-free
    generation. I am asking you today to not only substantially increase
    funding to end the global HIV and AIDS epidemic, but also to ensure
    that children are at the forefront of the U.S. global AIDS response.
        EGPAF was founded over 35 years ago by Elizabeth Glaser. Elizabeth
    started the then Pediatric AIDS Foundation after losing her daughter
    Ariel to AIDS. In a moment when many mothers would rightfully be lost
    in grief, Elizabeth resolved to spare other families her heartache and
    ensure children were not forgotten in the HIV and AIDS response.
    Elizabeth's work was grueling, but because of her advocacy, researchers
    funded by the organization, and fellow advocates and activists,
    pediatric HIV cases domestically are now thankfully rare. Since our
    inception in 1988, there has been a 95 percent decline in new pediatric
    HIV infections in the United States.
        In the late 1990s, our Board of Directors decided that Elizabeth's
    legacy would extend far beyond the borders of the United States. EGPAF
    was determined that results for pregnant women and children in the
    United States could be replicated in countries experiencing the
    widespread devastating impacts of HIV and AIDS. As this committee knows
    well, the PEPFAR program soon followed due to historic bipartisan
    cooperation. As an organization already working in the region, we were
    grateful to partner with PEPFAR to dramatically scale up successful
    interventions. Over 20 years later, EGPAF is an established
    implementing partner working across 17 African countries. One of our
    organizational strengths is that almost the entirety of our staff is
    local to the country in which they work, ensuring that our programming
    is locally led, locally managed and building a sustainable global AIDS
    response.
        It can be hard now, after 20 years and twenty-five million lives
    saved, to remember the urgency behind the creation of the PEPFAR
    program. I want to remind the Committee of the challenges being faced
    by communities two decades ago, using the words of Felicity Maya, a
    nurse working with EGPAF in Eswatini. When Nurse Maya began her nursing
    career 20 years ago, she walked into the center of Eswatini's raging
    HIV epidemic-with few weapons to fight the deadly virus. After
    graduating from the University of Swaziland in 2003, Nurse Maya was
    posted to the Mankayane Government Hospital, working primarily with
    pregnant women and infants. At that time, there were no means to
    prevent mother-to child HIV transmission in Eswatini.
        In 2003, when PEPFAR was created, Eswatini had the highest HIV
    prevalence in the world. Four in 10 adults, including pregnant women,
    were estimated to be HIV-positive. Sixty-four percent of Eswatini
    deaths in 2002 were due to AIDS-related illness, according to the World
    Health Organization.
        Nurse Maya recalled one of her first young patients: ``I think she
    was around 3 or 4 years old. She was HIV-positive, [but] there were no
    ARVs [antiretroviral medication] at that time. She had been taking
    antibiotics for some time.'' However, antibiotics are not ARVs, and
    they are inadequate to fight off advanced HIV disease, AIDS. But they
    were the best tool available in Eswatini at that time to prolong a
    life. ``There came a time when she told us, 'Please, I don't want the
    [antibiotic] injections again. Mommy has already told me that the
    angels will be coming to pick me up at night.' We convinced her that
    she should take the medication-but then we didn't find her the next
    morning.'' She had died in the night.
        ``That was really something that I took from then until today. It
    was so painful to lose her because we were so close to her. We really
    thought that maybe she would have some few [more] days with us. But
    then she didn't [survive].'' This small girl, like almost all HIV-
    positive children, acquired HIV during pregnancy, childbirth, or
    breastfeeding. Thankfully today 82 percent of women globally are
    receiving the services and medicines they need to prevent transmission
    to their children, and new HIV infections in children have been reduced
    by 58 percent since 2010, translating to hundreds of millions of women
    being tested and, if needed, treated for HIV during the pregnancy and
    breastfeeding period. But we can't take these successes for granted.
        As Dr. Caspian Chouraya, our Country Director in Eswatini notes
    ``We're seeing that there have been huge improvements; however, there's
    still a gap when we compare adults and children [with HIV]. It has
    become better, and we should be able to celebrate that-but let's not
    become too complacent. Our children are still not getting the optimal
    formulations that we want them to get. Our children are still not being
    diagnosed at a rate we want them to be diagnosed.''
        For nearly a decade, the number of women reached with prevention of
    mother-to-child transmission of HIV services has remained steady \1\,
    meaning almost no new progress has occurred in driving down new
    infections in children. Also extremely concerning is the growing
    treatment inequity for children living with HIV, as compared to adults.
    The fact that children represent 4 percent of people living with HIV,
    but 13 percent of AIDS-related deaths is frankly unconscionable.
    Currently only about half of HIV positive children are accessing the
    treatment they need to survive, which is especially egregious since
    without treatment half of children infected with HIV during pregnancy
    and breastfeeding will die by the age of two and 80 percent by the age
    of five. To put it plainly, this means too many families are still
    losing far too many children, facing the same pain Elizabeth and Nurse
    Maya had to endure decades ago, even when the tools exist today to save
    these children's lives.
        Thankfully this Committee has time and again recognized the
    importance of prioritizing children in the global AIDS response, in
    FY24 asking PEPFAR for pediatric specific strategy. This strategy
    should include specific and measurable targets for children and
    adolescents that go beyond the generalized ``epidemic control'' or 95-
    95-95 UNAIDS targets. Lofty, high-level targets often mask uneven
    progress and the increasingly inequitable outcomes faced by children.
    For example, of the 20 countries that had reached ``epidemic control''
    by 2022, 13 still had less than 60 percent of children living with HIV
    on treatment.\2\
        Simply put, children are harder to reach than adults, and the first
    step in ensuring children are linked to treatment is understanding
    where they live so they can be tested. This is why data on pediatric
    HIV is so critical. Our organization is concerned that PEPFAR is not
    prioritizing pediatric data collection to inform program-decision
    making. We encourage the Committee to once again ask that children have
    their own strategy and be included in PEPFAR-funded population surveys
    like the Population-based HIV Impact Assessment Studies (PHIAS).
    Collecting better data is essential for better outcomes.
        Two things are clear after 20 years of the PEPFAR program. First,
    PEPFAR has been and continues to be transformative for the lives of
    children and families impacted by HIV. Second, there is still so much
    more work to be done. I am shocked and saddened by the political
    attacks the program has faced over the last year. These baseless
    attacks work to undermine the legacy of bipartisan support this program
    maintains and is the foundation of its success. I know many members of
    this Committee have visited countries where PEPFAR works and met with
    healthcare workers like Nurse Maya, and those who have received
    services through the program. You understand its profound impact on
    communities and families. If you have not been yet, I strongly
    encourage you to do so.
        I want to also express support for our global partners--the Global
    Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Health
    Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS
    (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). PEPFAR's
    success--and in turn EGPAF's success as an international organization
    working at national and local levels--is due in large part to the
    collaboration of countries, communities, related U.S. supported
    programming, and international partners. The prospect of ending AIDS in
    children will be jeopardized without a range of actors to provide
    program support, technical expertise and institutional commitment.
        I hope this Committee does not rest on the successes of the PEPFAR
    program to date but recognizes that with continued robust investments
    we can help countries, communities and families avoid the grief
    Elizabeth had to face. In the words of Nurse Maya, who has been working
    in PEPFAR supported clinics since the program's inception ``I've been
    practicing [medicine] for more than 20 years,'' she says. ``It's so
    satisfying seeing that you delivered this baby, and you did all that
    you could for that baby to be alive.'' Now is the time to double down
    on our commitment to do all we can for children living with HIV, finish
    the job Nurse Maya and others have been working so diligently to
    achieve and realize an AIDS-free generation once and for all.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ UNAIDS, The path that ends AIDS: UNAIDS Global AIDS Update,
    2023, pg. 60.
        \2\ PEPFAR, 2022 Annual Report to Congress and
    www.aidsinfo.unaids.org.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     ______

                        Prepared Statement of EYElliance
        Clear vision is essential for full participation in educational and
    economic opportunities. Globally there are nearly 1 billion children
    and adults who are living needlessly with poor vision that can be
    easily corrected with a pair of eyeglasses. Without proper vision they
    are unable to realize their full potential; the cost to the global
    economy due to lost productivity alone is $410 billion every year.
        For children, the link between vision correction and improved
    educational and economic outcomes is clear. The provision of eyeglasses
    improves educational outcomes, increases literacy rates, reduces
    absenteeism and dropout rates, and according to a recent UNESCO study,
    every $1 invested in ensuring school children have the eyeglasses they
    need generates $6-$26 in benefits derived from potential increase in
    lifetime earnings.
        For adults, uncorrected presbyopia (inability to see up close after
    the age of 40) harms people's quality of life and productivity. A
    recent study finds that 80% of patients with uncorrected presbyopia
    have difficulty performing near-vision-related tasks, like reading and
    sewing. This corresponds with a 22% decrease in quality of life.
    Presbyopia also decreases worker productivity. Recent randomized
    controlled trials show that correcting presbyopia can lead to a 22%
    increase in relative productivity, and a 33% increase in income.
        Additionally, vision correction results in safer drivers and safer
    roads. For all these reasons, and with ever-increasing demands on
    limited resources, funding to improve access to eyeglasses has a very
    high return on investment.
        EYElliance is grateful that the US Congress has recognized that
    eyeglasses help individuals live up to their full potential and become
    self-reliant. Dedicating $5M to the provision of low-cost eyeglasses
    across the world is a powerful first step. Although this clearly
    represents progress, the resources are limited so it becomes contingent
    on EYElliance, as the neutral broker in this space, to ensure they are
    used strategically to their best and highest purpose.
        We support the continued emphasis on empowering national
    governments and private sector entrepreneurs to deliver optical
    services and eyeglasses to the people in need. Below is a summary of
    results from this effort.
    Priority (1) Government-led and implemented expansion of access to
            eyeglasses within public health and education systems.
        In Cambodia, USAID has funded an international eye care NGO to
    support fully functioning government-managed vision centers--where
    trained professionals perform comprehensive eye exams, dispense
    eyeglasses, and treat basic eye conditions. The resources are also
    being used to develop school-based eye health programming.

      --317,493 school children and teachers received vision screenings
            through schools, and 4,771 received eyeglasses.
      --38,074 beneficiaries received vision screenings through community
            outreach, and 21,257 received eyeglasses.
      --139 eye care personnel trained; new programs established for
            pediatric refraction and ongoing professional development.
      --27 public vision centers have been equipped with upgraded equipment
            and are operated by newly trained staff.
      --National policy outcomes included endorsing a vision centre manual,
            a school eye health curriculum, and an eyeglass supply chain
            scheme.

        In April 2023, USAID awarded a grant to support the expansion of
    government eye health services in Zambia to include community-level
    workers and school-based programming.
        USAID has appropriately funded initiatives that are working to
    address the biggest barrier to widespread access to prescription
    eyeglasses--the training of new eye health professionals. By
    emphasizing government-led initiatives, USAID is increasing the
    likelihood that Ministries of Health will assume responsibility for
    costs over the long term.
    Priority (2) Growing the number of for-profit optical businesses
            serving low-income customers.
        USAID recently awarded $350K to Lapaire, a private optical company
    based in Kenya that sells affordable eyeglasses to low-income consumers
    in six African countries. Approximately 65% of Lapaire's customers are
    purchasing eyeglasses for the first time despite having poor vision for
    years. While USAID learned about Lapaire independently of EYElliance,
    Lapaire's founder launched the venture after reading about the business
    opportunity in a 2016 report authored by EYElliance and published by
    the World Economic Forum. EYElliance has been working with Lapaire
    since 2021, providing business-building support and advising on a new
    investment opportunity (debt & equity), enabling the business to add
    500 new optical stores. Alongside this investment, USAID's funding
    will:

      --Strengthen Lapaire's training program to ensure quality services
            are available and train at least 24 new eye health
            professionals.
      --Open 13 peri-urban optical shops and provide 20,000 eye exams
            annually at these locations.

        Vision is a public good with clear, high impact, social and
    economic benefits. It is a powerful example of a problem that impacts 1
    billion people that we can solve in one generation. We have the
    solution; and we know how to deliver that solution at a low cost
    tapping into the power of both the public and private sectors. We
    applaud the US Government for their leadership and implore its leaders
    to deepen their commitment. We envision our great country leading an
    effort that results in a world where every person who needs a pair of
    glasses, has a pair of eyeglasses. We envision a day when no girl or
    boy falls out of school, nor no woman or man falls out of the workforce
    because that do not have pair of eyeglasses.

        [This statement was submitted by Elizabeth Smith & Jordan Kassalow,
    Co-Founders.]
                                     ______

            Prepared Statement of First Focus Campaign for Children
    Dear Chairman Coons and Senator Graham,

        I am writing on behalf of First Focus Campaign for Children to
    thank you for your leadership on the State, Foreign Operations and
    Related Programs subcommittee of Appropriations. First Focus Campaign
    for Children is a bipartisan advocacy organization working to make
    children the priority in Federal policy and budget decisions. This
    testimony relates to the U.S. Agency for International Development and
    the State Department Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy.
        We appreciate the Committee's expanded funding for Maternal and
    Child Health/GAVI the Vaccine Alliance in FY24 and for the modest plus
    up of $1.5 million for Vulnerable Children programs. Given the number
    of challenges facing children worldwide, these investments were very
    welcome.
      u.s. foreign assistance has achieved great things for children, but
                                 more is needed
        It is in large part thanks to this subcommittee's investment in
    poverty-focused development and humanitarian assistance over the past
    three-and-a-half decades that the deaths of children under 5 years old
    due to preventable disease and malnutrition have fallen from more than
    12 million a year in 1990 to roughly 5 million today. Further, over the
    past 20 years, this subcommittee's investment in PEPFAR has enabled 5.5
    million babies to be born HIV-free and 25 million men, women and
    children to be saved from HIV.
        While these are huge triumphs to be celebrated, recent global
    setbacks including the COVID-19 pandemic, advancing climate change, new
    and ongoing conflicts, and mounting global food insecurity are putting
    these achievements at risk and heightening the urgency of refining our
    efforts. It is critical that the U.S. do all it can to ensure maximum
    impact of the limited pot of money spent on foreign assistance,
    especially the dollars spent on behalf of the most vulnerable children.
        The fact is, like elsewhere in the U.S. budget, children have never
    received the attention or share of foreign assistance resources they
    deserve. Children have specific developmental needs and investing in
    them delivers an outsized return on investment. Yet our spending on
    kids is miniscule. First Focus on Children's 2023 Children's Budget
    documents that just 9 cents of every $1 of U.S. foreign assistance goes
    to babies and kids worldwide despite the fact that they make up a third
    to a half of the population globally.
                             children are in crisis
        The imbalance of our investment in children internationally is
    unfair and out of alignment with the facts on the ground. According to
    UNICEF, children are more likely to live in poverty than adults and
    more vulnerable to its effects. Poverty, and everything that comes with
    it, has a devastating impact on child development.
        In addition to shortening their life spans, absolute poverty
    inflicts sickness and suffering on children that stunts the growth of
    their bodies and brains--robbing them, their families and their nations
    of their full potential. According to a report in The Lancet ``a
    staggering 43 percent of children under 5 years of age--an estimated
    250 million--living in low- and middle-income countries are at risk of
    suboptimal development due to poverty and stunting. The burden is
    currently underestimated because risks to health and wellbeing go
    beyond these two factors.''
              congressional action on behalf of children worldwide
        As acknowledged above, the leadership of the U.S. Congress has
    contributed to the dramatic drop in deaths of under 5-year-olds
    globally from preventable diseases and malnutrition.
        Then in 2021, in an attempt to increase the impact of U.S. efforts
    and ensure that kids were not just surviving but thriving, you,
    Chairman Coons (D-DE), along with former Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) and
    Representatives Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA),
    secured passage of the Global Child Thrive Act (GCTA) mandating the
    integration of Early Childhood Development (ECD) into U.S. foreign aid
    programs serving kids. By integrating ECD into current interventions,
    you were following the science and multiplying the positive impacts of
    already successful U.S. international programming. Incorporating an ECD
    tactic like parent training on responsive caregiving into a maternal
    and child health program, for example, elevates that program and
    ensures that children not only live beyond their fifth birthday but
    that their brains and bodies develop to their full potential too.
    where is usaid on implementation of the global child thrive act (gcta)?
        Unfortunately, implementation of the Global Child Thrive Act has
    been slow. Since its passage, the U.S. Agency for International
    Development (USAID) has released implementation guidance designed for
    easy use by U.S. missions around the globe. This is a good step in the
    right direction, but funding and leadership from the top of USAID is
    desperately needed to successfully implement the law.
        Part of the holdup is that implementation of the act falls to the
    vastly under-resourced Children in Adversity Office at USAID. (This
    office is funded each year by the Vulnerable Children Account.) The
    Children in Adversity Office does some of the most important child-
    focused work in the world by promoting care for the most vulnerable
    children, protecting children from violence and neglect, and supporting
    family care (as opposed to orphanages or institutions, which tend to
    impede child well-being and development). But, due to its small staff
    and lack of resources, the office's reach has been limited, as is its
    ability to ensure the implementation of the GCTA all on its own. Last
    year's $1.5 million increase for the account will certainly help, but
    $35 million is needed in FY25 to facilitate further implementation of
    the GCTA and enable the Children in Adversity Office to continue its
    other critical work.
                         a call to action for children
        First Focus Campaign for Children urges the prioritization of
    children's needs in your FY25 State, Foreign Operations bill and
    respectfully requests the following appropriations levels:

      --$35 Million for Vulnerable Children
      --$5.15 Billion for PEPFAR (Including $1.65 Billion for the Global
            Fund)
      --$1.15 Billion for Maternal and Child Health
      --$300 Million for Nutrition
      --$1.1 Billion for Basic Education
      --$925 Million for Malaria
      --$500 Million for WASH
      --$175 Million for UNICEF
      --$4.85 Billion for International Disaster Assistance
      --$4 Million for Lead Exposure/Toxic Chemicals

        The legacy of this subcommittee is one of real-world impact: saving
    millions of lives and reducing needless suffering globally. First Focus
    Campaign for Children urges your continued leadership in this area.
    Thank you for your consideration.

        [This statement was submitted by Leila Nimatallah, VP, Advocacy &
    Mobilization.]
                                     ______

                   Prepared Statement of Food for the Hungry
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and distinguished members of
    the subcommittee, thank you for your leadership and the opportunity to
    provide written testimony. My name is Mark Viso, and I am the President
    & CEO of Food for the Hungry, a Christian humanitarian organization
    providing life-changing relief and development programs since 1971. At
    Food for the Hungry, we design, develop, and deliver catalytic
    solutions that build resilience so that children, families, and
    communities can flourish. In light of growing global needs, I
    respectfully ask the subcommittee to provide robust funding for
    critical development, humanitarian, and global health programs at USAID
    and the Department of State, including no less than $1.2 billion for
    the Global Food Security Strategy, also known as Feed the Future; $300
    million for Nutrition within Global Health Programs; $1.15 billion for
    Maternal and Child Health; $500 million for Water, Sanitation, and
    Hygiene; and $985 million for Basic Education. I also request $4.85
    billion for International Disaster Assistance; $4.77 billion for
    Development Assistance; and $4.30 billion for the Economic Support Fund
    in Fiscal Year 2025.
        Inspired by our Christian faith, Food for the Hungry is honored and
    privileged to serve vulnerable families and communities in many of the
    world's most fragile contexts. In the face of spiraling global
    conflicts, a worsening hunger and malnutrition crisis, ongoing climate
    shocks, and growing economic uncertainty and political instability, we
    remain committed to transforming lives ``so the poor have hope, and
    injustice shuts its mouth'' (Job 5:16).
        In my role, I am honored to meet global brothers and sisters
    overcoming extraordinary challenges and humbled by their remarkable
    resolve to forge a better, brighter future for themselves and their
    families. From Ethiopia to Haiti and beyond, I am profoundly moved by
    the steadfast and selfless commitment of our staff and heartened to see
    the transformative impact of our programs and partnerships. As the
    needs of those suffering from poverty, marginalization, and injustice
    have grown in scale and complexity in recent years, I have been
    grateful to lead Food for the Hungry on a journey to reimagine
    international development and our role within it, questioning long-held
    assumptions, seeking creative and innovative solutions, and
    recommitting ourselves to centering the experiences, needs, and desires
    of those individuals, families, and communities we are privileged to
    serve.
        The deep, trusted relationships enjoyed by our local staff enable
    Food for the Hungry to catalyze transformational change in even the
    hardest of places, encouraged and sustained by Micah 6:8 ``to act
    justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.'' By
    partnering with the communities we serve, we deliver shareholder-led
    development that prioritizes local needs and sustainable solutions that
    result in resilient, flourishing communities.
        Just as the depth of our longstanding local relationships
    distinguishes Food for the Hungry, informing our innovative program
    model and animating our future state, so too our diverse partnerships
    with individuals, churches, corporations, foundations, the U.S. and
    other donor governments, and various United Nations agencies is a
    defining feature of Food for the Hungry, enabling us to leverage the
    resources entrusted to us for greatest impact. In 2023, Food for the
    Hungry reached nearly 10 million people in 18 countries experiencing
    extreme poverty, creating more than $14 million in assets, delivering
    improved nutrition to over half a million young women and mothers,
    ensuring access to clean water for over 700,000 people, and training
    over 40,000 community change agents in gender dignity and child
    protection. Through the tireless commitment of our staff, over 99% of
    whom serve in their country of origin, we are transforming broken
    relationships and systems, and restoring vulnerable communities and
    families to lives of health and hope.
        Still, we are reminded daily that the polycrisis continues. Right
    now, 783 million people face chronic hunger, with nearly 300 million
    people experiencing acute food insecurity requiring immediate
    assistance. More than a third of the world cannot afford and access
    sufficient nutritious food. Estimates suggest that 19 million children
    missed out on routine but life-saving immunizations due to the
    pandemic. 70% of children in low and middle-income countries experience
    learning poverty, unable to read and comprehend a simple text by age
    10. Over 2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water.
    Current estimates suggest over 130 million people will be forcibly
    displaced from their homes this year. Globally, nearly 150 million
    children suffer from stunted growth and development due to a chronic
    lack of essential nutrients, while more than 45 million children suffer
    from wasting, the most severe and life-threatening form of
    malnutrition. The number of people on the brink of famine has doubled
    since just last year, and every day, more than 13,000 children and 800
    women die from preventable causes.
        These figures are heartbreaking, and each one of them represents a
    real person currently being robbed of the resources and agency needed
    for a full, flourishing future. But we can change the status quo. With
    the political will and public courage of lawmakers like you, the U.S.
    government can increase foreign assistance investments to save lives
    and livelihoods now while building the long-term resilience necessary
    to better insulate vulnerable communities and families from future
    shocks and stresses. The subcommittee's past support for critical
    relief and development programs confirms that you, too, are moved by
    present injustices and motivated to mobilize the full force of the U.S.
    government to fight poverty and human suffering. Your continued
    partnership in empowering the most vulnerable members of our global
    community is indispensable to the work of Food for the Hungry. Toward
    that end, we respectfully request the following specific funding
    amounts in Fiscal Year 2025.
        We request $1.2 billion for the Global Food Security Strategy, also
    known as Feed the Future. A multiagency effort focused on addressing
    the root causes of hunger, poverty and malnutrition, Feed the Future
    works in 20 high-need, low-resource, focus countries to develop and
    deploy agricultural innovations, unlock financing for food security,
    and empower people to feed themselves and nourish the next generation.
    Feed the Future also supports research and technical assistance aimed
    at reducing communities' vulnerability to food shocks and stresses,
    thereby building capacity and resilience. Since its inception, Feed the
    Future has helped smallholder farmers generate more than $28 billion in
    sales, and just last year the program reached over 29 million people
    with food security interventions and 32 million children with
    nutrition-specific interventions.
        We request $300 million for the Nutrition subaccount within Global
    Health Programs. Though nearly half of all deaths in children under
    five are attributable to malnutrition, less than 0.4% of U.S. foreign
    assistance is spent on its prevention and treatment. The Nutrition
    subaccount plays a central role in turning the tide against
    malnutrition by targeting action during the important 1,000-day window
    between pregnancy and a child's second birthday. Focusing on low-cost,
    high-impact interventions such as nutrition education, breastfeeding
    support, multiple micronutrient supplementation, and the prevention and
    treatment of stunting and wasting, this funding supports the long-term
    physical and cognitive development of some of the world's most
    vulnerable women and children.
        We request $1.15 billion for Maternal and Child Health within
    Global Health Programs. This funding supports programs aimed at ending
    preventable maternal and child deaths through the strengthening of
    health systems and routine immunizations as well as the treatment of
    disease and integration of safe water, sanitation, and hygiene
    practices. Maternal and Child Health funding also provides access to
    skilled birth attendants and quality obstetric care, as well as
    training for frontline health workers.
        We request $500 million for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH).
    Key for improved health and poverty reduction, WASH funding increases
    access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, while promoting
    the adoption of key hygiene behaviors. It also supports climate-
    resilient conservation of freshwater resources, as well as efforts
    focused on reducing water-related conflict and fragility.
        We request $985 million for Basic Education. Basic education
    programs increase access to and improve the quality of education in
    low- and middle-income countries. Through teacher training, expanded
    education delivery, and other supports designed to aid children's
    acquisition of reading, math, and other foundational learning skills,
    this funding helps ensure children and young people fulfill their full
    potential and lead productive, successful lives.
        We request $4.85 billion for International Disaster Assistance
    (IDA). IDA funds provide critical humanitarian services including food,
    water, shelter, health care and protection in times of natural
    disaster, conflict, and insecurity. They also help improve countries'
    response to crises and reduce underlying risks and vulnerabilities.
    Food for the Hungry is proud to have partnered with the U.S. government
    to implement IDA-funded Emergency Food Security Programs as well as
    non-food security responses such as water, sanitation, and hygiene.
        We request $4.77 billion for Development Assistance (DA). DA funds
    support long-term poverty reduction programs focused on food security;
    water, sanitation, and hygiene; livelihoods; education; and climate
    programs. These funds are critical to the development of resilient,
    self-reliant, equitable, and democratic societies worldwide.
        We request $4.30 billion for the Economic Support Fund (ESF). ESF
    funds provide economic assistance to help countries meet urgent
    political, economic, development, and security needs. This includes
    programs to combat human trafficking, fight corruption, increase
    transparent governance, and protect fundamental human rights. Food for
    the Hungry is proud to have partnered with the U.S. government to
    implement innovative COVID-19 response programs through ESF.
        We find ourselves at a pivotal moment in history, confronting
    climate chaos, growing economic and social injustice, and a worsening
    hunger and malnutrition crisis. Rising instability, democratic
    backsliding, and current donor trends seriously jeopardize our ability
    to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. This new reality has shocked
    our collective conscience and forced many of us to confront the same
    uncertainty that many of the world's most vulnerable have known for far
    too long. But with a bold vision, shared purpose, and continued U.S.
    leadership, we can meet the moment and overcome these global
    challenges.
        Robust funding for international relief and development programs
    saves lives and creates a safer and more prosperous future for us all.
    It serves as an important reflection of our values and a critical
    reminder of American strength and generosity, while galvanizing
    increased investment and engagement from partners and allies. Now is
    the time to continue such leadership. As an organization called to
    ``feed the hungry and satisfy those who are in need'' (Isaiah 58:10),
    Food for the Hungry stands ready to partner with you in this urgent
    work.
                                     ______

        Prepared Statement of Friends Committee on National Legislation
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and Members of the
    Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of
    robust funding for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for
    International Development in the Fiscal Year 2025 State, Foreign
    Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations bill.
        Today, the world is experiencing the highest number of armed
    conflicts since World War II\1\. It was during World War II that
    members of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers,
    founded the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) to be a
    voice for peace on Capitol Hill. For more than 80 years, FCNL has
    continually advocated for a world free of war and the threat of war, a
    society with equity and justice for all, a community where every
    individual's potential may be fulfilled, and an earth restored. Guided
    by the Religious Society of Friends' historic Peace Testimony \2\ and
    the voices of hundreds of Quaker meetings across the country, we work
    to inform lawmakers, influence policies, and support peaceful solutions
    to violent conflict that address the root causes of war and injustice.
        To that end, I urge your support for robust funding in the FY25
    appropriations bill for accounts that help prevent mass atrocities,
    support urgent humanitarian needs, and strengthen climate resilience
    globally. These include: $25 million for Atrocities Prevention at the
    State Department; $344 million for the United Nations Relief and Works
    Agency for Palestine Refugees; and $270 million for USAID's Adaptation
    programs. You can find a full list of FCNL's FY25 SFOPs priorities in
    the chart at the end of my testimony.
        These efforts are more crucial than ever, and in my testimony
    today, I will urge you to invest deeply in the tools needed to prevent
    mass atrocities, alleviate human suffering and respond to the climate
    crisis. We continue to witness horrific violence in Gaza, renewed
    atrocities in Sudan, grinding war in Ukraine, and ongoing deadly
    conflicts in Haiti, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Myanmar, and many other
    countries. Globally, we have seen that contemporary violent conflicts
    inflict disproportionate harm on civilians through the deployment of
    indiscriminate weapons such as banned cluster munitions, the use of
    starvation as a weapon of war, conflict-related sexual violence, and
    systematic targeted attacks against ethnic, racial, and religious
    groups. The United States can and must do more to prevent, mitigate,
    and respond to violent conflict.
        All too often in today's world, these instances of violent conflict
    are compounded by other global threats, such as climate change and
    forced migration. Last year shattered all previous records and was
    named the hottest year since recording began.\3\ Combined with the
    current El Nino effect warming sea surface temperatures in equatorial
    regions of the planet, 2023 saw truly striking levels of both droughts
    and extreme flooding. Additionally, last year, more than 345 million
    people faced high levels of food insecurity, more than double the
    number in 2020, according to the World Food Program.\4\ From 2022-2023,
    the world suffered the largest single-year increase in forced migration
    in the history of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
    (UNHCR), with over 114 million people displaced globally due to
    persecution, violent conflict, human rights violations, and climate and
    environmental disasters.\5\ The tragedy continues, UNHCR anticipates
    more than 130 million people will experience forcible displacement or
    statelessness in 2024.\6\
        The invasion of Ukraine has only exacerbated this suffering as it
    has driven food prices up and created further economic shocks. And, for
    the 18th consecutive year, 2023 saw a decline in global freedom,\7\
    with 72% of the world's population now living in autocracies.\8\
        None of these crises can be resolved in isolation, as each can
    trigger and worsen the others. The rise of authoritarianism often
    exacerbates the drivers of violent conflict, including economic,
    social, and political marginalization and exclusion, while reducing
    avenues for nonviolent conflict resolution. Conflict-affected
    communities are often under-equipped to respond to climate shocks,
    which loom large over other crises. These shocks often drive further
    displacement and food insecurity, which in turn can drive new violent
    conflicts.
        Collectively, these compounding crises highlight the increased
    urgency to invest in peacebuilding, violence prevention, and
    resiliency. Failing to do so is too costly a choice, in dollars and in
    lives. When the United States waits until the seeds of violence bear
    fruit, its available tools are fewer, more expensive, and less
    effective, often based on securitized approaches that aim to enforce
    order rather than ensure justice, and which can exacerbate instability
    in the long run.
        One critical tool for addressing humanitarian crises that the U.S.
    has championed for decades has been the United Nations Relief and Works
    Agency (UNRWA). This February, I was humbled to join a peace delegation
    of faith leaders to Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon organized by
    Churches for Middle East Peace. In the region I met with a wide range
    of religious, political, and civil society leaders, including human
    rights defenders, humanitarian aid workers, peacebuilders and students.
    I was inspired by so many of them working on the frontlines for peace.
        On the trip, it became even more clear to me that the only way to
    save the hostages, Gazans and all Palestinians and Israelis from
    escalating horrors in the region, is with a comprehensive, permanent
    cease-fire. I want to pause here and thank every Member of Congress who
    has spoken out for a ceasefire and urge every Member who has not yet to
    do so.
        At the same time, the urgent and growing famine in Gaza\9\ must be
    addressed immediately. FCNL was greatly alarmed by Congress choosing to
    cut all funding to UNRWA in the FY24 Further Consolidated
    Appropriations Act (Public Law 118-47). UNWRA not only continues to
    provide critically needed food assistance to families and children in
    Gaza who rely on them for daily survival, but also provides primary and
    vocational education, primary health care, and social services, among
    many areas of work.
        In response to allegations that several of UNRWA's thousands of
    employees may have played a role in the horrific October 7 Hamas
    attacks in Israel, UNRWA has taken action to address the
    allegations.\10\ In late April, independent panel appointed by the UN
    Secretary General, reported that UNRWA has ``robust'' procedures to
    uphold UN neutrality principles but mentioned implementation gaps,
    partly due to funding issues.\11\ The report made dozens of
    recommendations to improve neutrality, which UNRWA pledged to
    implement. The panel also found that Israel has provided no evidence to
    its claim that UNRWA staff in Gaza are members of Hamas or participated
    in the October 7 attacks. The U.S. government cutting off funding for
    this critical aid to millions of civilians who are suffering, over the
    alleged actions of some, is cruel, unjust, and profoundly immoral. As
    such, I urge that you restore funding to UNRWA and provide at least
    $344 million in funding to UNRWA to address what has become the world's
    most urgent humanitarian crisis.
        Further, I feel compelled to mention as well that it is
    unjustifiable for the United States and other nations to provide
    further arms and military assistance to the Israeli government. With
    over a million people in Gaza on the brink of famine and the risk of
    regional conflict growing, more weapons of war will only exacerbate
    tensions, worsen the humanitarian suffering in Gaza, and send a message
    of impunity to the Netanyahu government as it violates international
    humanitarian law. Rather than greenlighting more bomb sales, I urge
    Congress to work to secure an immediate and permanent ceasefire to end
    the violence.
        Tragically, mass violence against civilians is occurring in many
    other places around the world as well. Secretary Blinken's December
    2023 determination that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic
    cleansing are being committed in Sudan \12\, is a stark call for us all
    to do more to prevent such mass atrocities. The United States has been
    a global leader in atrocities prevention policy for over a decade, and
    I urge you to match this with robust investments. In 2011, the United
    States was the first nation to establish an interagency body dedicated
    to atrocities prevention; in 2019 it was the first to pass a Federal
    law mandating reporting on government-led atrocity prevention efforts
    (the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act Public Law 115-
    441); and in 2022, it was the first to release a public strategy for
    atrocities prevention.
        Atrocities Prevention funding is an essential tool at the disposal
    of the U.S. government to ensure these efforts move from policy to
    action. The 2022 U.S. Strategy to Anticipate, Prevent, and Respond to
    Atrocities \13\ calls for the White House-led Atrocity Prevention Task
    Force to identify up to 30 priority countries most at risk for
    atrocities, and ``develop targeted response plans for priority
    countries.'' However, in FY23 and FY24, Congress appropriated just $6
    million for Atrocities Prevention. As the State Department's only
    funding dedicated solely to the prevention of mass atrocities and
    genocide, $6 million cannot match the ambition of the Strategy.
        Atrocities Prevention programs work to prevent mass atrocities and
    genocide by funding projects that engage in early warning, early
    response, and long-term conflict transformation efforts. Atrocities
    Prevention funding helps communities develop early warning networks to
    alert communities of encroaching danger from non-state armed groups. It
    helps community leaders strengthen their mediation and conflict
    transformation skills to reduce tensions and prevent rumors from
    becoming riots.
        We urge Congress to match its financial support for atrocities
    prevention to this legacy of global leadership. We greatly appreciate
    the inclusion of $6 million for the Atrocities Prevention in FY24
    appropriations, and we hope the Committee will act to increase this
    critical funding. I urge you to appropriate at least $25 million for
    Atrocities Prevention.
        Further, the crucial first step in prevention is the recognition of
    the early warning signs and risk factors of mass atrocities. To ensure
    U.S. policy and programming can best be implemented, our diplomatic and
    development professionals assigned to countries experiencing or at risk
    of mass atrocities must receive training on recognizing and responding
    to these early warning signs, as mandated in the Elie Wiesel Genocide
    and Atrocities Prevention Act. As such, I urge you to make available
    $500,000 each for the State Department and USAID to conduct Atrocities
    Prevention training for Foreign Service Officers.
        Perhaps one of the most successful resilience-building tools
    available to the Federal Government lies within funding for USAID's
    Adaptation program. Adaptation funding assists developing countries
    with reducing their vulnerabilities to climate change's impacts--
    impacts like increased hunger, intensified conflict, forced migration,
    and exacerbated poverty. From floods to droughts to extreme heat and
    rising sea levels, climate impacts are affecting communities worldwide
    with increasing frequency, disproportionately impacting developing
    countries and those who have done the absolute least to contribute to
    the climate crisis in the first place. Examples of adaptation funding
    include the building of sea walls to counter sea level rise, the
    planting of drought-resistant crops in the Horn of Africa, and
    investments in weather monitoring and early warning systems in rural
    areas.
        Adaptation funding is a crucial component of the President's
    Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE), a whole-of-
    government plan to assist half a billion people around the world in
    managing climate change's effects on their communities. Non-profit and
    faith-based partners, as well as the private sector, have
    enthusiastically jumped at this opportunity to work with the U.S.
    government, mobilizing an estimated $2.3 billion in additional finance
    from 21 private companies just in the past 2 years alone. By investing
    in USAID's Adaptation account, you are investing in true U.S. global
    leadership to counter the climate crisis. I urge you to appropriate at
    least $270 million for Adaptation.
        Advancing nonviolent ways of resolving disputes and ending climate
    injustice is a moral, strategic, and financial imperative. It is past
    time for the United States to begin investing in the world we all
    seek--a world free of war and the threat of war. We urge Congress to
    invest in, and lay the foundations for, peace in all its forms.
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and Distinguished Members of
    the Committee, I thank you for your work to build peace and for giving
    me the opportunity to testify.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\  ``With Highest Number of Violent Conflicts Since Second World
    War, United Nations Must Rethink Efforts to Achieve, Sustain Peace,
    Speakers Tell Security Council.'' United Nations Press Office. https://
    press.un.org/en/2023/sc15184.doc.htm. Accessed 2 April 2024.
        \2\ ``Our Peace Testimony.'' Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
    in Britain.'' https://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/24/. Accessed 2 April
    2024.
        \3\  ``NASA Analysis Confirms 2023 as Warmest Year on Record,''
    Roxana Bardan https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-analysis-confirms-
    2023-as-warmest-year-on-record/Accessed 2 May 2024.
        \4\  ``A Global Food Crisis,'' World Food Programme, www.wfp.org/
    global-hunger-crisis. Accessed 2 April 2024.
        \5\ ``Six humanitarian crises that impacted refugees and displaced
    communities in 2023,'' UNHCR. https://www.unrefugees.org/news/six-
    humanitarian-crises-that-impacted-refugees-and-displaced-communities-
    in-2023/. Accessed 2 April 2024.
        \6\ UNHCR Global Focus. https://reporting.unhcr.org/. Accessed 2
    April 2024.
        \7\ Gorokhovskaia, Yana, et al. `` The Mounting Damage of Flawed
    Elections and Armed Conflict.'' Freedom House, Feb. 2024, https://
    freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2024/mounting-damage-flawed-
    elections-and-armed-conflict. Accessed 2 April 2024.
        \8\ ``Democracy Report 2023: Defiance in the Face of
    Autocratization,'' Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). www.v-dem.net/
    documents/29/V-dem_democracyreport2023_lowres.pdf. Accessed 2 April
    2024.
        \9\ ``Gaza: Halt the War Now to Save Children from Dying of
    Imminent Famine, UN Committee Warns,'' UNHR. https://www.ohchr.org/en/
    press-releases/2024/03/gaza-halt-war-now-save-child
    ren-dying-imminent-famine-un-committee-warns. Accessed 3 April 2024.
        \10\ ``Serious Allegations Against UNRWA Staff in the Gaza Strip,''
    UNRWA. https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/serious-
    allegations-against-unrwa-staff-gaza-strip. Accessed 20 March 2024.
        \11\ Independent Review Group. Independent Review of Mechanisms and
    Procedures to Ensure Adherence by UNRWA to the Humanitarian Principle
    of Neutrality. New York: Office of United Nations Secretary General,
    2024. Web. https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2024/04/
    unrwa_independent_review_on_neutrality.pdf.
        \12\ ``War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing
    Determination in Sudan,'' U.S. Department of State. https://
    www.state.gov/war-crimes-crimes-against-humanity-and-eth
    nic-cleansing-determination-in-sudan/. Accessed 20 April 2024.
        \13\ U.S. Department of State, Bureau for Conflict and
    Stabilization Operations, Public Affairs. (2022). United States
    Strategy to Anticipate, Prevent, and Respond to Atrocities. https://
    www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/CSO-2022-SAPRAv2b-FINAL_2022-
    06-03_508v9-Accessible-06292022a.pdf.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Account Name                 FY24 Enacted    FY25 Request
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Atrocities Prevention...................      $6,000,000     $25,000,000
    Atrocities Prevention Training, State            500,000         500,000
     Department.............................
    Atrocities Prevention Training, USAID...  ..............         500,000
    Complex Crises Fund.....................      55,000,000      75,000,000
    Reconciliation Programs.................      25,000,000      40,000,000
    International Disaster Assistance.......   4,779,000,000   4,850,000,000
    Emergency Refugee and Migration                  100,000     100,000,000
     Assistance.............................
    Migration and Refugee Assistance........   3,928,000,000   4,450,000,000
    Renewable Energy........................     247,000,000     260,000,000
    Sustainable Landscapes..................     175,700,000     185,000,000
    Adaptation..............................     256,500,000     270,000,000
    UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine  ..............     344,000,000
     Refugees...............................
    Middle East Partnership for Peace             50,000,000     100,000,000
     Programs...............................
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

        [This statement was submitted by Bridget Moix, General Secretary.]
                                     ______

         Prepared Statement of Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS
        Thank you to Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and members of
    the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations,
    and Related Programs for your longstanding, bipartisan support for the
    Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund).
    As you know, the Global Fund is a multistakeholder partnership that
    raises and invests more than $5 billion per year to fight HIV/AIDS,
    tuberculosis (TB), and malaria. U.S. leadership and support--driven for
    two decades by Congress--has provided the Global Fund with the
    resources, partnership, and oversight to save 59 million lives since
    2002.
        Since the establishment of the Global Fund at the height of the
    AIDS epidemic, the U.S. has played a crucial role in its success.
    Congress mandated that U.S. contributions make up no more than one-
    third of the Global Fund's resources, ensuring that dozens of other
    donor countries around the world match your generous and far-sighted
    appropriations two-to-one. Today, I ask you to continue this proven
    approach by fulfilling the United States 3-year pledge to the Global
    Fund and leveraging twofold investments from our international
    partners. On behalf of Friends of the Global Fight, I respectfully
    request that Congress appropriate a minimum of $1.2 billion for the
    Global Fund in Fiscal Year 2025.
                                    results
        The Global Fund has made astonishing progress in the fight against
    these three epidemics. Since the U.S. helped establish the Global Fund
    in 2002, the combined death rate from AIDS, TB and malaria declined by
    55% in countries where it operates. In that same period, life
    expectancy in 15 high-burden countries in Africa increased by 26%.
    Behind those figures are now multiple generations of people given the
    opportunities to live healthy, productive, and dignified lives.
        The Global Fund is achieving more and more every year. In 2022,
    Global Fund investments provided 24.5 million people with
    antiretroviral therapy for HIV, treated 6.7 million people living with
    TB, and distributed 220 million bed nets to prevent malaria. Compared
    with the year before, the Global Fund increased HIV prevention services
    by 22%, increased TB diagnosis and treatment by 26%, and treated 11%
    more people for malaria.
        Despite this progress, the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria
    is far from over. Fortunately, the Global Fund is equipped to
    anticipate and adapt to new challenges. The Global Fund invests in
    bringing new technologies to market, promotes access to care for
    marginalized populations by partnering with those communities, and is
    highly attuned to shifting dynamics in-country, thanks to its model of
    local implementation and country ownership. Some of the progress to
    control TB has been reversed by increasing drug resistance and by the
    spread of COVID-19, which is a respiratory disease like TB. Using
    innovative models and technologies, the Global Fund fought back,
    registering dramatic increases in TB coverage after 2 years of COVID-
    related declines. Drug and insecticide resistance, and the emergence of
    new mosquito dynamics in Africa, threatens to worsen the malaria
    epidemic. In response, the Global Fund helped bring new types of
    insecticide-treated bed nets to market and is improving surveillance of
    malaria vectors. It also invests in promoting health equity--a major
    obstacle to providing HIV services, especially in countries like
    Uganda, where shrinking civic space is putting pressure on vulnerable
    communities most at risk of suffering from HIV.
                           what u.s. investment buys
        In 2022, the U.S. made a bold a bold pledge to contribute up to $6
    billion during the 3-year Seventh Replenishment of the Global Fund, the
    final year of which is FY25. I thank Congress for supporting that
    pledge in FY23 and FY24. Based on current and expected contributions by
    other donors, $1.2 billion in FY25 would complete the 3-year pledge,
    accounting for 33% cap on U.S. contributions. Fulfilling this pledge
    would send a powerful statement of the U.S.'s enduring commitment to
    strengthening global health and leading the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB
    and malaria.
        That investment would enable the Global Fund to continue its
    lifesaving work in an increasingly challenging global health
    environment. $1.2 billion from the U.S. would save an estimated 1.4
    million lives and avert 30 million new cases of the three diseases. Any
    additional contribution above that level could catalyze new short-term
    investments from other donors and strengthen the investment case for
    others to increase pledges for the Global Fund's 8th Replenishment in
    FY26. Most importantly, additional funding will save more lives.
                 leveraging and strengthening u.s. investments
        U.S. contributions don't just help pay for the Global Fund's
    lifesaving work. They also leverage and reinforce a wide range of
    health programs to respond now surging needs among the world's most
    vulnerable people--maximizing value for money and return on investment.
    As mentioned previously, every dollar the U.S. invests in the Global
    Fund mobilizes two dollars of investment from our international
    partners. The Global Fund also works with partner countries to
    incentivize their own increased domestic investments in health systems.
    The Global Fund works closely with implementing countries to realize a
    transition to sustainability and self-sufficiency. The Global Fund is
    also exploring supplementing its resources with innovative financing
    mechanisms, such as facilitating debt relief in exchange for countries'
    own health investments.
        The Global Fund works strategically with U.S. bilateral health
    assistance programs like PEPFAR and the President's Malaria Initiative.
    Through this collaboration, the Global Fund accelerates the
    effectiveness of U.S. bilateral programs and fills gaps in service
    delivery.
        The Global Fund has demonstrated keen agility to fight the three
    epidemics and deliver care in challenging operating environments such
    as Ukraine and Nigeria. That is because the Global Fund has built
    trusted relationships and resilient supply chains in partnership with
    local faith, civic and private sector partners, and invests in
    community health workers. Since 2002, the Global Fund has disbursed
    more than $15 billion in challenging operating environments,
    complementing U.S. efforts to increase stability and security in
    conflict zones and fragile States around the world.
        The Global Fund's work to fight the three epidemics also
    contributes to global health security, reinforcing the U.S.'s own
    emphasis on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. An
    independent study published in the Lancet concluded that one-third of
    Global Fund investments also support health security. By building
    health systems that can fight against epidemics today, the Global Fund
    is contributing to preventing the pandemics of tomorrow.
                            efficiency and oversight
        Thanks to the Global Fund's operational effectiveness, efficiency
    and unique partnership model, it is an outstanding steward of U.S.
    taxpayer dollars. The Global Fund has no paid staff in any implementing
    country. Instead, local Country Coordinating Mechanisms--which include
    government and non-government partners--design and implement programs
    with rigorous oversight by the Global Fund. This ensures that countries
    are empowered to take ownership of health programs, while keeping
    Global Fund operating costs to a minimum. In fact, the Global Fund's
    operating expenditure as a percentage of donor contributions has
    steadily decreased, and is 5.1%, significantly below most comparable
    organizations. The U.S. exercises oversight of its investments through
    a permanent seat on the Global Fund Board and detailed reporting to
    Congress.
        The Global Fund also ensures value for money by working with the
    private sector to shape markets so that it can procure and deliver high
    quality interventions affordably and efficiently. The private sector,
    which is represented in a permanent seat on the Global Fund's board,
    works closely with the Global Fund on procuring commodities,
    incentivizing and deploying innovations, and strengthening supply
    chains. It is no surprise, then, that 20 leading American and global
    corporations recently wrote a letter to you supporting a $1.2 billion
    contribution to the Global Fund for FY25. As they note, Global Fund
    programs greatly improve operating environments for U.S. companies--
    including by making workers and consumers healthier and more
    prosperous-and produce $31 in economic gains for every dollar invested.
                                   conclusion
        For more than two decades, the U.S. has invested in the Global Fund
    with historic impact. It is no exaggeration to say that millions of
    women, children, and other vulnerable people owe their lives to the
    generosity of the American people and their representatives in
    Congress. Today, I ask you to keep up the fight. A $1.2 billion
    contribution to the Global Fund, along with robust appropriations for
    the bilateral health assistance programs with which it coordinates so
    closely, will save lives and reinforce U.S. global leadership. With
    your continued support, the world can rid itself of these terrible
    epidemics. This is not only the right thing to do--this investment
    keeps all Americans safer and demonstrates our values in other
    countries. It is also a preeminent sign of American leadership based on
    unique comparative advantages. Truly, we cannot afford to step back.
    Thank you for your lifesaving leadership in support of the Global Fund
    and global health investments.

        [This statement was submitted by Chris Collins, President and CEO.]
                                     ______

                Prepared Statement of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
        Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony to the
    subcommittee on behalf of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi). I
    respectfully request the Committee to provide $340 million as the U.S.
    contribution in Fiscal Year 2025 to Gavi and to increase USAID's
    Maternal and Child Health account commensurately. Fiscal year 2025 is a
    foundational and signal-setting year for the United States' commitment
    to Gavi's next strategic funding cycle (2026-2030). We appreciate the
    commitment to a 4-year pledge to Gavi's next strategic period
    articulated in the President's Budget FY25 request. A commitment by the
    United States to provide $340,000,000 to Gavi in fiscal year 2025 in
    anticipation of its replenishment in 2026 will allow Gavi to maximize
    its ability to provide life-saving vaccines and to leverage
    contributions from other donors and increase partner countries' self-
    financing.
        A commitment from the United States at this level will help to
    achieve Gavi's goal of reaching an additional 300 million people with
    vaccines by the end of 2025--saving an additional 7-8 million lives. As
    detailed in this testimony, it will help support critical immunization
    efforts around the world and strengthen global health security, which
    has become a critical priority for the US government. It will also help
    to support prevention of backsliding and progress in routine
    immunization, which was impacted severely by the COVID-19 pandemic. It
    will also promote the stability in vaccine markets and drive innovation
    in global health.
        I would like to thank you, Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham,
    and the other members of the subcommittee for your strong support of
    Gavi, and for providing funding to Gavi at $300 million in fiscal year
    2024. This Committee has been the leader, since our inception in 2000,
    in the United States-Gavi partnership. You have been and continue to be
    an essential part of our success in bringing vaccines to the world's
    most vulnerable and in helping to keep the world safe from infectious
    diseases. Your support for our routine immunization work in low-income
    countries helps protect millions of children from vaccine-preventable
    diseases every year.
                    a critical time for routine immunization
        Since 2000, Gavi has driven unprecedented progress in global health
    through one of the most cost-effective public health interventions
    available--vaccines. With support from the United States and other
    donors, Gavi works alongside a range of partners to expand routine
    immunization access in low- and middle-income countries, while also
    strengthening health systems and building stockpiles of vaccines
    against potential disease threats like Ebola and yellow fever. In just
    over two decades, this work has helped immunize more than 1 billion
    children, averting an estimated 17.3 million deaths. With support from
    the United States, Gavi expanded global access to COVID-19 vaccines and
    delivered more than 2 billion doses to the world's lowest-income
    countries, including hundreds of millions of U.S.-donated doses,
    averting 2.7 million deaths.
        The efforts of Gavi and its partners have protected millions of
    children against deadly yet preventable diseases and have been a major
    factor in nearly halving child mortality since 2000. But the COVID-19
    pandemic has reminded the international community that global health
    gains remain fragile. Pandemic-related disruptions led to the largest
    sustained decline in childhood vaccine coverage in three decades,
    resulting in deadly outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases like
    polio and measles. With millions of children missing out on the
    benefits of vaccination--including more than 10.2 million ``zero dose''
    children in Gavi countries who have not received the most basic
    vaccines--there is now a humanitarian and global health security
    imperative to respond.
        Disease outbreaks and increasing fragility and displacement
    jeopardize national routine immunization programs and threaten global
    health security. Increasing birth rates in Gavi-supported countries
    also means that a greater number of children must be immunized each
    year just to maintain the same coverage rates overall. The COVID-19
    pandemic created new challenges, having disrupted vital immunization
    services in the low-income countries Gavi supports and reducing the
    number of planned immunization programs.
        Without continued investment and support, disruptions like these
    could lead to concurrent outbreaks of other deadly infectious diseases,
    further stressing already weakened health systems and jeopardizing
    decades of progress in immunization. Despite these challenges, Gavi has
    set ambitious goals to reach even more children and, with continued
    support and partnership, is well-placed to reach these goals and make
    further progress on closing the immunization gap. Gavi continues to
    play a critical role in supporting routine immunization and preventing
    global infectious disease outbreaks by expanding vaccine access and
    strengthening health systems in low-income countries, work that would
    not be possible without the continued support of the US
              the alliance's 2026-2030 strategy and the road ahead
        Strong U.S. support for Gavi in FY25 is critical to help achieve
    its goal of reaching an additional 300 million children with vaccines
    by the end of 2025--saving an additional 7-8 million lives.
    Specifically, an additional $40 million above last year's budget would
    have a clear programmatic impact and additional return on investment,
    directly supporting Gavi's ability to implement new tools to save
    lives, including:

      --Accelerate availability of malaria vaccines, enabling Gavi to buy
            about 10.3 million doses of the new (unbudgeted) R21 malaria
            vaccine, of a forecasted programmatic need of between 50-60
            million doses. Malaria killed over 600,000 people in 2022, and
            was responsible for an estimated 470,000 preventable child
            deaths in Africa alone. An early study of the malaria vaccine's
            impact shows it has the potential to reduce all child mortality
            by an impressive 13%.
      --Expand investments in Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a new goal has
            brought groundbreaking momentum in the first steps against
            cervical cancer. By 2025, Gavi aims to reach 86 million girls
            and young women with the vaccine, which will avert 1.4 million
            deaths from cervical cancer.
      --Accelerate support for polio eradication, through the introduction
            of a hexavalent, a single dose vaccine for six diseases. By
            adding polio to the existing pentavalent vaccine (which
            protects against five diseases diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis
            (whooping cough), hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b
            (Hib)), hexavalent will tackle more diseases more efficiently.
      --Keep pace with programmatic needs due to population growth, as Gavi
            needs to reach more children every year just to maintain
            coverage levels. To catch-up and to increase coverage will
            require even more resources, while currency fluctuations have
            reduced Gavi's buying power.

        Continued support will also help build strong, sustainable health
    systems and enable additional countries to transition out of Gavi
    support and begin fully self-financing their immunization programs.
    Furthermore, continued support from the US will allow Gavi to expand
    access to its portfolio of vaccines to as many as 20 diseases and
    invest in critical emergency stockpiles. Gavi programs have been a
    major factor in reducing the number of deaths due to vaccine-
    preventable disease by as much as 70% since 2000.
                                 the gavi model
        Gavi's impact draws on the strength of its partners, all of whom
    play a critical role in the Alliance. This unique model brings together
    donors, including sovereign governments like the United States;
    implementing country governments; private sector partners,
    international organizations such as UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank;
    and civil society partners to build sustainable, country-led
    immunization programs in lower-income countries.
        Empowering countries to take ownership of their vaccination
    programs is a core component of the Gavi model. Every country that
    receives Gavi support shares the responsibility of vaccinating their
    children and co-finances vaccine costs. As a country's income grows,
    their co-financing obligation also grows until they reach a specific
    Gross National Income cap, at which point they begin to transition out
    of financial support from Gavi. Throughout this process, Gavi provides
    technical support and guidance to ensure transitioning countries have
    the capacity to continue implementing sustainable and equitable vaccine
    programs. Currently, 19 countries have fully transitioned from Gavi
    support with more expected to transition in the coming years.
        Building healthy markets is critical to the long-term success of
    the Gavi mission. Since its inception in 2000, Gavi, its partners, and
    the private sector have been working to improve vaccine market
    certainty by pooling demand from Gavi-eligible countries. Gavi's
    purchasing power covers more than half of the annual global birth
    cohort, enabling it to provide a large and reliable market when
    negotiating vaccine prices, which also allows Gavi to leverage pooled
    procurement and preferential pricing with manufacturers. These market
    shaping strategies have also helped attract new manufacturers across
    the world to support Gavi-eligible countries, starting from five firms
    in 2001 to 19 firms today. Partnership with the private sector is also
    integral to Gavi's model, leveraging their financial resources,
    operational expertise, and innovation helps the Alliance to deliver on
    its ambitious coverage and equity goals.
                 gavi's contribution to global health security
        Immunization is among the most cost-effective ways to prevent
    epidemics and is a crucial component of any global health security
    strategy. As the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, investments in
    global health security are crucial to protect Americans, prevent loss
    of life, and protect the global economy. Gavi plays an important role
    in disease control and strengthening global health security by
    maintaining emergency vaccine stockpiles to respond to outbreaks of
    cholera, meningococcal disease, yellow fever, and Ebola.
        Gavi also works to improve global health security and infectious
    disease prevention and control by building strong health systems in
    Gavi-eligible countries. These investments enable countries to better
    identify, track, and respond to infectious disease threats and to reach
    more children with routine immunization services. Continued
    contributions from the US help ensure this work continues in Gavi-
    supported countries, and in turn, makes the world safer for everyone.
        In the current strategic period alone, Gavi will invest $2 billion
    in Health Systems Strengthening, including through cold chain (e.g.
    freezers, refrigerated trucks), electrification (e.g. solar),
    electronic records, and healthcare worker training. Gavi's largest cold
    chain program, launched in 2015, ended up being instrumental in
    preparing countries for the COVID-19 rollout. The numbers demonstrate
    the payoff of Gavi's health systems investments: in 2022, 2.6m more
    children received basic routine immunizations than in 2021. This
    demonstrates both the resilience of health systems and how Gavi core
    programming helps prepare for pandemic response.
                                   conclusion
        Continued U.S. investment in global health programs is essential to
    protect people from rising health threats and reducing preventable
    deaths. These programs complement the impact of Gavi- supported
    immunization efforts and are crucial to maintaining health security in
    the United States and around the world.
        A U.S. contribution of $340 million to Gavi for fiscal year 2025
    and a commensurate increase for USAID's Maternal and Child Health
    account are critical to maintain Gavi's gains. Continued funding for
    Gavi will help expand immunization efforts, support country transitions
    to self-financing vaccine programs, promote program sustainability, and
    strengthen global health security.
        We thank this subcommittee for its long history of protecting
    global health and other foreign assistance programs.
        Thank you for your consideration.

        [This statement was submitted by Chloe Cooney, Director of U.S.
    Strategy.]
                                     ______

       Prepared Statement of Global Campaign for Education--United States
      fy2025 budget for international basic education programs, usaid and
                                state department
        As the Secretary of the Board of Directors for the Global Campaign
    for Education-U.S. (GCE-US), I represent a diverse coalition of more
    than 80 international nonprofit organizations, faith-based groups, and
    advocates dedicated to ensuring quality, universal education for all
    children. We urge you to support investments in education globally by
    allocating at least $1.125 billion to the Basic Education account--
    including at least $175 million for the Global Partnership for
    Education (GPE) and at least $50 million for Education Cannot Wait
    (ECW), both of which complement U.S. bilateral education efforts.
        The power of education is clear: education increases security and
    stability, spurs economic growth, allows individuals, communities, and
    countries to become more self-reliant, and provides proven results
    across development sectors. As outlined in the United States Agency for
    International Development's (USAID) Education Strategy, ``the U.S.
    government recognizes that its investments in international education
    serve as a force multiplier for all of its work in international
    development.'' \1\
        While support for International Basic Education funding is always
    important, the need for international education assistance has
    increased exponentially due to humanitarian emergencies. Globally, 224
    million crisis-affected children \2\ urgently need education and
    support. Over one billion students in low-and-middle income countries
    have lost at least 1 year of in-person classroom learning, estimated to
    reduce global prosperity and future earnings by at least $21 trillion
    globally.\3\
        Foundational learning losses have taken a substantial toll: it is
    estimated that in low-and-middle income countries, 70% of 10-year-olds
    are unable to read or comprehend a simple text.\4\ This combined
    measure of schooling and learning is referred to as ``learning
    poverty.'' \5\ In Sub-Saharan Africa, the rate of learning poverty is
    as high as 89%.\6\
        USAID and U.S. government leadership are vital to address global
    education challenges. Young people--particularly girls, children and
    youth with disabilities, those in crisis and emergency settings, and
    historically marginalized groups--need support to access inclusive,
    quality education. We must fully fund International Basic Education and
    protect against any possible decreases in these important programs.
        Decreasing global education funding could result in a lost
    generation without education and sharply curtailed opportunities for
    global and economic stability. Each year of education reduces the risk
    of conflict by approximately 20%.\7\ When children and youth are out of
    school, they are often exposed to education loss, including regression
    in foundational knowledge, increased exposure to violence and risks,
    and increased danger of not completing school.\8\ The risks are even
    higher for girls and youth with disabilities. Teenage girls experience
    a 65% increased risk of pregnancy when schools are closed during
    crises.\9\ Schools often deliver key health, nutrition, water,
    sanitation, and hygiene supports.\10\
        Despite these challenges, USAID and multilateral partners like the
    Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and Education Cannot Wait (ECW)
    have found effective solutions to address evolving education needs.
    Bilateral U.S. basic education programs focus on strengthening quality
    inclusive education, providing early learners with foundational skills,
    and preparing youth for long-term success. This programming is
    essential for achieving sustainable economic growth, poverty
    alleviation, social stability, inclusion, and participatory democracy.
    In FY2022, U.S. international basic education programming reached over
    30 million learners in 73 countries.\11\ These important efforts
    include programming foundational literacy and numeracy skills,
    improving teachers' professional development and training, and
    partnering with local organizations and governments to adopt public
    sector policies supporting increased access to inclusive education.
        U.S. support for international organizations, including GPE, ECW,
    and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
    Organization (UNESCO), complements our bilateral programs, increases
    U.S. reach, and leverages additional resources to address ongoing
    education challenges. GPE is the largest global fund solely dedicated
    to transforming education in lower-income countries and operates as a
    unique, multi-stakeholder partnership. To receive GPE funding,
    governments must commit to significant domestic educational
    investments. During FY2023, GPE mobilized $2.7 billion in accelerated
    funding to help developing countries support educational opportunities
    for over 227 million students, trained over 481,000 teachers,
    distributed 48 million textbooks, and built 6,664 classrooms.\12\
        Launched in 2016, ECW is the first global fund dedicated to
    education in emergencies and protracted crises. It delivers rapid,
    collaborative responses to the educational needs of children and youth
    affected by emergencies. In some of the world's most challenging crisis
    settings--including ongoing armed conflicts, forced displacement,
    refugee exodus, and weather-related emergencies--ECW has reached 8.8
    million children and youth, delivered education materials and textbooks
    to over 2.04 million children; reached 2.1 million girls; supported the
    training of 72,629 teachers and administrators; increased the number of
    teachers trained on mental health and psycho-social support; developed
    26 Multi-Year Resilience Programs; and disbursed 26 First Emergency
    Response grants.\13\ These programs are designed to meet education
    needs for crisis-affected children and youth aged 3-18 years old,
    particularly refugees, internally displaced children, girls, and
    students with disabilities.
        The U.S. government is instrumental to GPE and ECW's transformative
    work, providing financial assistance and technical support, playing
    leadership roles in GPE and ECW's governance structure, and encouraging
    and matching ECW's engagement with the private sector. This has been a
    collaborative effort, with USAID and the State Department/Bureau of
    Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) working together to
    contribute resources for ECW and share leadership responsibilities.
        It is important for the U.S. to rejoin and contribute to UNESCO to
    re-establish U.S. global leadership; rebuild trust with allies; and
    support the development of science, culture, and education, which would
    benefit both people across the globe and in the United States. By not
    rejoining UNESCO, the U.S. has missed key opportunities to lead in the
    international and education communities and all aspects where UNESCO
    leads in the global system. Rejoining UNESCO is critical to promote
    U.S. interests and counter the increasing influence of China, which
    became UNESCO's largest donor during the multi-year absence of the U.S.
        We urge that funding for International Basic Education not come at
    the expense of other development or humanitarian accounts. We strongly
    support sustained funding for the entirety of poverty-focused
    development accounts, which work together to serve the common goal of
    building a safer and more prosperous world. At a time when America is
    facing an array of converging global threats that have significant and
    increasing security and economic impacts here at home, we ask that you
    support a strong and effective FY25 International Affairs Budget funded
    at no less than the Administration's request of $64.4 billion,
    including $62.4 billion for the FY25 State-Foreign Operations bill, to
    advance America's security and economic interests at a time of
    spiraling global crises.
        Recognizing that global education is a force multiplier for all our
    work in international development, it is vital that the U.S. provides
    at least $1.125 billion for the Basic Education account in the FY2025
    State and Foreign Operations Bill, including at least $175 million for
    GPE and at least $50 million for ECW.\14\ We greatly appreciate your
    consideration of our request and look forward to working together to
    ensure quality, inclusive education for all children and youth.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ https://www.usaid.gov/education/usg-strategy.
        \2\ https://www.educationcannotwait.org/resource-library/crisis-
    affected-children-and-adoles
    cents-in-need-education-support-new-global.
        \3\ https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/
    6fb17cf5-1fad-4147-b7bb-691f63c29541/content.
        \4\ https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/06/23/70-
    of-10-year-olds-now-in-learn
    ing-poverty-unable-to-read-and-understand-a-simple-text.
        \5\ The State of Global Learning Poverty: 2022 Update
    (worldbank.org).
        \6\ 70% of 10-Year-Olds now in Learning Poverty, Unable to Read and
    Understand a Simple Text (worldbank.org).
        \7\ https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/504671468762020790/
    pdf/28137.pdf.
        \8\ https://www.educationcannotwait.org/covid-19/.
        \9\ https://www.wvi.org/sites/default/files/2020-08/
    Covid19%20Aftershocks_Access%20Denied_
    small.pdf.
        \10\ Impact & Results | Education Cannot Wait.
        \11\ https://www.usaid.gov/reports/international-basic-education-
    strategy/fy-2022.
        \12\ https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/new-2023-results-
    report-persistent-effects-pandemic-and-progress-gpe-grant-
    achievements#::text=GPE's%202023%20results%20report%20points,
    data%20availability%20and%20education%20financing.
        \13\ https://www.educationcannotwait.org/impact-results.
        \14\  https://www.usglc.org/resources/.

        [This statement was submitted by Ngozi Lawal, Secretary of the
    Board of Directors.]
                                     ______

                  Prepared Statement of Global Health Council
        Global Health Council (GHC) thanks the subcommittee for the
    opportunity to share this testimony in support of global health-related
    programs operated by the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for
    International Development (USAID) within the International Affairs
    Account (Function 150).
        GHC is the leading member organization devoted to advancing global
    health priorities by uniting advocates, implementers, policymakers, and
    other stakeholders. Using the power of our community's collective
    voice, we work across disease areas to drive sustainable funding and
    equitable policies that improve global health and well-being for all.
    We work with more than 125 organizations--including associations and
    coalitions, corporations, foundations, NGOs, academic institutions, and
    think tanks--that are implementing programs across 150 countries and
    focusing on a broad range of global health issues.
        For Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, GHC encourages robust support for the
    Global Health Programs account, and related organizations and programs,
    at a minimum of FY24 enacted levels. To pursue the achievement of
    critical U.S. global health goals and commitments, we urge the Senate
    Committee to support a greater investment in global health programs for
    FY25 contrary to the potentially devastating cuts proposed by the House
    Appropriations Committee which would see 10-11% cut from the SFOPS
    budget and drastically harm the ability to address world crises and
    signal a cessation of U.S. leadership and influence on the world stage.
    GHC's programmatic funding recommendations can be found in the table
    below. These investments yield positive outcomes well beyond their
    intended targets by supporting U.S. and global health security,
    benefiting the economy, and savinging lives around the world.
                        u.s. and global health security
        Estimates show that, if not addressed, future pandemics could cost
    $570 billion per year in economic losses.\1\ With the converging crises
    of ongoing global conflicts and instability, food insecurity, the
    rapidly spreading Avian flu, and the continuous threat of emerging
    infectious diseases, continued financial support of health systems is
    critical to prevent acute health crises and bolster stronger, more
    secure health systems. These investments work well beyond their
    intended targets by helping to protect the health of Americans via
    strengthening countries' capacity to better prevent, detect, and
    respond to infectious disease outbreaks at their source to reduce their
    threat to the U.S. and the world.
        The Global Health Programs account supports a breadth of measures
    and includes funding for maternal and child health; U.S. contributions
    to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and
    Malaria, the Pandemic Fund; nutrition; family planning; neglected
    tropical diseases; and vulnerable children. These investments are key
    to reaching the finish line on bold global health initiatives, such as
    achieving an AIDS-free generation; ending preventable child and
    maternal deaths; and eradicating polio, measles, and malaria, the
    latter of which are posing increased risk to the American public.\2\
                               economic benefits
        Global health investments benefit the U.S. economy, particularly in
    research and development (R&D). Approximately 86 cents of every dollar
    spent by the U.S. on global health R&D goes directly to U.S.-based
    researchers and product developers.\3\ From 2007-2022, U.S. investment
    in global health R&D generated an estimated 600,000 new U.S. jobs.\4\
    These investments clearly build U.S. research and technological
    capacity--a boon to the economy, as well as the health of Americans who
    equally benefit from such innovations. For instance, USAID's investment
    in next generation HIV interventions--such as research on female-
    controlled prevention options, like microbicides and multipurpose
    prevention technologies, and the development of an effective HIV
    vaccine-is critical to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic globally. Moreover,
    this research capacity serves as a crucial component of our global
    partnerships working to promote collaboration and health equity through
    shared research and access to critical tools.
        U.S. investment in multilateral global health organizations also
    yields economic benefits. For example, U.S. investments in WHO's work
    result in a $35 return on investment at least for every $1 invested.\5\
        Furthermore, U.S. global health investments draw attention to and
    prioritize solutions that address non-communicable and other neglected
    health threats that increasingly affect the economies of key trading
    partners and encourage investment by peer countries.
                           impacts of u.s. investment
        Global health programs are a critical component of how the U.S.
    engages with the world and have secured their place as some of the most
    lifesaving, cost-effective, and successful forms of U.S. foreign
    assistance. For example, Congress passed the Global Malnutrition
    Prevention and Treatment Act into law, which authorizes USAID to carry
    out activities to prevent and treat malnutrition globally. This piece
    of legislation acutely impacts the approximately 345 million people
    worldwide who are facing food insecurity. By investing in global health
    and development, the U.S. is building healthier, more resilient
    communities, and contributing to economic and political stability,
    which help to promote American diplomatic goals and values.
        Americans consistently support global health and development
    assistance funding with a 2023 poll showing that a majority of
    Americans believe the Federal Government should particularly invest
    more in pandemic preparedness both at home and abroad.\6\ Especially in
    this moment, where global solidarity is needed to invest in bolstering
    health systems and preparedness worldwide, the U.S. must not roll back
    its critical investments in global health programs, but drive them
    forward with increased funding and support. By maintaining U.S.
    investment in global health, we will continue to build upon the hard
    work and achievements to prevent persistent global health threats and
    ensure a healthy future for Americans and people globally.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ https://www.csis.org/analysis/harnessing-multilateral-
    financing-health-security-preparedness.
        \2\ https://www.marylandmatters.org/2023/10/14/how-marylands-
    recent-malaria-case-can-inform-future-detection-and-prevention/
    #::text=Typically%2C%20there%20are%20about%202%2C000,
    malaria%20case%20for%2040%20years.
        https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/
    S2049080122013231.
        https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/us-measles-cases-2024-
    so-far-rcna145013.
        \3\ https://www.ghtcoalition.org/why-research-and-development.
        \4\ ibid.
        \5\ https://www.who.int/about/funding/invest-in-who/investment-
    case-2.0
        \6\ https://www.pandemicactionnetwork.org/news/u-s-national-poll-
    on-government-investment-in-pandemic-preparedness/.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        For more information on U.S. investments in global health, visit
    http://ghbb.globalhealth.org.

      Appendix: Account & Program Recommendations for Fiscal Year 2025 (in
                                   thousands)
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 FY 2025 Recommended Funding
                                                    Level (in thousands)
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Global Health Programs (USAID & State)....                   $15,365,000
    Maternal and Child Health.................                     1,150,000
      of which Gavi...........................                       340,000
      of which Polio (all accounts including                         165,000
       ESF)...................................
    Malaria (PMI).............................                       925,000
    Tuberculosis..............................                     1,000,000
    Family Planning (all accounts)............                     1,740,000
      of which UNFPA (IO&P)...................                       116,000
    Nutrition.................................                       300,000
    Vulnerable Children.......................                        35,000
    Neglected Tropical Diseases...............                       125,000
    HIV/AIDS (USAID)..........................                       350,000
    PEPFAR....................................                     5,140,000
      of which UNAIDS.........................                        60,000
    The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and                          1,650,000
     Malaria..................................
    Pandemic Fund (all accounts)..............                     1,000,000
    Global Health Security....................                     1,000,000
      of which CEPI...........................                       200,000
    Emergency Reserve Fund....................                       300,000
    SIGHT Fund for R&D........................                       250,000
    Global Health Worker Initiative...........                       200,000
    Health Systems Strengthening..............                       200,000
            Development Assistance (DA)
    Water and Sanitation......................                       500,000
          Contributions to International
                Organizations (CIO)
    World Health Organization.................                       134,580
      International Organizations & Programs
                      (IO&P)
    UNICEF....................................                       175,000
      of which FGM............................                         5,000
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

        [This statement was submitted by Elisha Dunn-Georgiou, President
    and CEO.]
                                     ______

           Prepared Statement of Global Health Technologies Coalition
        On behalf of the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), a
    group of more than 45 nonprofit organizations, academic institutions,
    and aligned businesses advancing policies to accelerate the creation of
    new drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, and other tools that bring healthy
    lives within reach for all people, I am providing testimony on fiscal
    year 2025 (FY25) appropriations for global health programs at the US
    Agency for International Development (USAID). These recommendations
    reflect the needs expressed by our members working around the globe to
    develop new and improved technologies for the world's most pressing
    health issues. We appreciate the Committee's support for global health,
    particularly for continued research and development (R&D) to advance
    new drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, and other tools for long-standing and
    emerging health challenges.
        I am testifying today because we still do not have the technologies
    that we need to achieve a future where pandemics are prevented and
    health is within reach for everyone. In 2022, 1.3 million people were
    killed by tuberculosis, 1.3 million people were newly diagnosed with
    HIV, and 249 million people were infected by malaria. In 2019, at least
    1.27 million people were killed by antibacterial resistance. Today,
    more than 1 billion people worldwide are still affected by neglected
    tropical diseases. Unfortunately, it is women and children who are
    often the most underserved in the health sector. And as we look toward
    the future, we cannot afford to sit idly and wait for future pandemic
    threats with the potential to match or exceed the disruption of COVID-
    19.
        To develop the innovations and technologies that we need to defeat
    these diseases and to prevent future pandemics, the U.S. government
    needs to sustainably increase its investments in global health research
    programs. Public funding is critical for this sector because companies
    have little commercial incentive to invest in health areas that impact
    people in poverty. Not only are innovations and technology greatly
    needed, but they are also investments that yield incredible benefits
    outside of global health. Data from the past 16 years show that
    investments in global health R&D lead to economic gains in the United
    States and in partner countries. As told in a recent analysis conducted
    by a partnership between Policy Cures Research and GHTC, between 2007
    and 2022, $46 billion in U.S. government investment in global health
    R&D led to $104 billion in economic activity and the creation of more
    than 600,000 jobs countrywide. This is not to mention the follow-on
    effects of the innovations that the United States invested in during
    that time period, which are projected to generate $255 billion and
    counting for the U.S. economy.
        As the world's leader in biomedical research, the United States has
    both a responsibility and an opportunity: with relatively small public
    investments, we have the power to save and improve millions of lives.
    To continue our progress toward developing lifesaving tools in FY25, we
    respectfully urge the Committee to support global health research by:

      --Increasing or sustaining funding levels for every global health
            program under the US Department of State and USAID.
      --Creating a new, additive Supporting Innovative Global Health
            Technologies (SIGHT) Fund under USAID for global health
            innovation at $250 million in FY25.
      --Again, including report language directing USAID to increase global
            health innovation spending.
      --Again, including report language requesting that USAID produce an
            annual report on its global health research programs.

        USAID has provided unparalleled support for the late-stage
    development of global health technologies for decades. It is the only
    U.S. agency with a mandate to improve global health that supports the
    development of global health products from early-stage concepts to
    delivery around the world. USAID identifies innovation gaps, sponsors
    clinical trials, and scales new technologies to communities in need.
    Additionally, USAID uses novel financing models, builds interagency and
    multisectoral partnerships, and applies a business mindset to stretch
    the US government dollar for maximum impact. The agency's value-add is
    driving the late-stage research and scale-up of global health products
    that offer significant public health benefits but are not supported by
    other public or private funders.
        Still, USAID's global health innovation mandate is increasingly
    constrained by three challenges:

      --USAID funding for R&D has not kept pace with total global health
            spending. In 2006, USAID spent eight percent of its global
            health budget on R&D. Today, USAID spends 5.5%, and this
            spending is projected to decline further without a course
            correction.
      --USAID funding for R&D is siloed by disease or health area, limiting
            funding opportunities for products that are novel or needed for
            emergencies. Funding for innovation today is drawn from
            disease- and population-specific appropriations accounts,
            limiting the ability of USAID to fund products that address
            multiple health issues or emerging challenges.
      --Constrained budgets force leaders in the Global Health Bureau to
            prioritize immediate impact over innovation. With limited
            resources, leaders must make difficult decisions between
            funding programs now and funding innovation that could drive
            greater impact in the future.

        To this end, sustained or increased funding for every global health
    line and a new, additive approach to funding global health innovation
    is needed at the agency. With an initial appropriation of $250 million,
    the SIGHT Fund would raise total annual USAID investments in global
    health innovation to approximately 10 percent of overall Global Health
    Bureau funding, slightly above the previous peak of eight percent set
    in 2006. Filling the cracks, the SIGHT Fund could be tapped for
    different health challenges as R&D opportunities emerge, especially for
    products currently without a funding source, such as those for
    antimicrobial resistance and malnutrition, as well as population-
    specific tools. The SIGHT Fund would improve health research
    coordination within USAID and with health research agencies across the
    U.S. government. USAID has long-standing partnerships with many
    innovators, and the SIGHT Fund would supplement, not supplant, these
    existing programs and partnerships--expanding the global health pie
    rather than slicing it further. It would enable USAID to make bolder
    investments in new technologies while reducing the trade-off between
    programming and innovation. The SIGHT Act (H.R. 6424) was introduced on
    a bipartisan basis in the House of Representatives in November 2023. It
    would establish the program area and staffing needs to implement the
    SIGHT Fund's appropriated budget. GHTC is actively advocating for the
    passage of H.R. 6424 and a Senate companion bill in 2024.
        In addition, we urge Congress to renew its request for an annual
    R&D investments report from USAID. At the request of Congress, USAID
    releases an annual report on its health-related R&D investments and
    programs. These reports provide Congress and the global health
    community insight into how USAID is investing in global health research
    and progressing toward its health-related R&D strategy. The strategy is
    an important articulation of USAID's health innovation mission and
    (together with the reports) is an essential accountability tool to
    ensure that USAID is on track to meet its health R&D goals. This
    request is critical to ensuring that U.S. investments in global health
    research are efficient, coordinated, and maximally effective. Global
    health R&D is unique as a foreign policy goal in that it also supports
    researchers in the United States. From 2007 to 2022, more than $39
    billion in Federal funding went to U.S.-based institutions for global
    health research and development, supporting hundreds of thousands of
    estimated jobs and generating billions more in economic growth. In
    addition, many of the tools and technologies developed from this
    funding benefit people living in the United States, either directly or
    indirectly, by strengthening national health security and global
    prosperity.
        As we emerge from a global pandemic, it is clearer than ever that
    increases in investment for global health innovations are critical.
    Stronger global health R&D positions the United States to be better
    prepared for the next pandemic, saves lives, and bolsters health R&D
    capacity in the United States and abroad. Increased funding and an
    enabling policy environment that supports breakthrough innovation is an
    investment with documented benefits across multiple sectors and,
    ultimately, leads to more accessible and equitable health for all. With
    increased public funding for global health research, we can achieve a
    world that is healthier and safer for everyone.
        GHTC urges the Committee to continue to direct USAID to prioritize
    science, technology, and innovation to advance its global health and
    development mission, allocate sufficient resources to support this
    work, and continue producing detailed, public annual reports on USAID's
    health R&D strategy.
        We urge the Committee to maintain strong support for the Global
    Health Programs account under the State Department and USAID--
    supporting, at minimum, sustained funding at fiscal year 2023 levels
    for each disease- or population-specific program and supporting
    increases where possible--and create a new SIGHT Fund for global health
    innovation with a new and additional $250 million investment. Global
    health innovation and implementation must not be seen as competing
    priorities, but rather part and parcel of the US commitment to
    improving global health. Global health research that improves the lives
    of people around the world--while at the same time supporting U.S.
    interests, creating jobs, and spurring economic growth at home--is a
    win-win investment.
        I thank you for this opportunity to provide this testimony.

        [This statement was submitted by Dr. Kristie Mikus, Executive
    Director.]
                                     ______

             Prepared Statement of Global Partnership for Education
        Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the
    opportunity to bring you up to date regarding the work of the Global
    Partnership for Education (GPE) and its 88 developing country partners.
    On behalf of our partners, I thank you for your steadfast leadership
    and commitment to international education programs and respectfully
    request that the subcommittee provide $175 million, under the United
    States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Development
    Assistance account, as the U.S. Government's Fiscal Year 2025
    contribution to the Global Partnership for Education. I also request
    that the subcommittee provide $1.125 billion for overall basic
    education funding, including strong funding for Education Cannot Wait.
                      the global partnership for education
        GPE is a partnership of donor and developing country governments,
    UNICEF, UNHCR, the World Food Program, the World Bank, other
    international organizations, civil society, the private sector and
    foundations partnering to ensure a more effective and efficient
    response to the global education challenge. GPE provides financial and
    technical support to nearly 90 partner countries where eighty percent
    out-of-school children reside and where the National education systems
    require the most urgent support. The U.S., through USAID, and other
    donor governments are engaged with many local education groups where
    partners convene in country to provide support for the highest
    priorities and to monitor progress. GPE features a ``compact"-based
    operating model that strengthens the link between development of
    national sector plans and identification of key policies to drive
    system transformation. GPE continues to place strong emphasis on
    domestic resource mobilization for education and more effective and
    equitable use of those resources.
                      gpe's impact over the last 22 years
        Access to Education.--160 more children are in school in partner
    countries since GPE's inception in 2002, including 82 million
    additional girls. Between July 2022 and June 2023, GPE grants financed
    the distribution of 48 million textbooks, the training of 481,000
    teachers and the construction or rehabilitation of 6,664 classrooms.
        Learning Outcomes and Improving Quality of Education.--To improve
    education and learning outcomes, GPE supports teacher training. As a
    result, 67 million more children have access to professionally trained
    teachers in partner countries since 2002. More than 481,000 teachers
    were trained with GPE funds in fiscal year 2023.
        Fragile or Conflict-Affected Countries--Responsive Support.--GPE is
    committed to making sure no child is left behind, particularly in
    crises that disrupt education. Millions of children are affected by
    conflict, natural disasters, complex humanitarian emergencies, and
    fragility. Increasingly, the world's out-of-school children live in
    countries facing war and violence. As a result, they are deprived of
    their education. Ensuring access to education protects the rights of
    children and youth amid chaos while instilling a sense of normalcy and
    shoring up resilience.
        More than 60% of GPE funding goes to countries affected by
    fragility and conflict, which have some of the highest rates of out-of-
    school children and the lowest levels of learning but lack the
    resources to sustainably build their education systems. GPE has
    developed flexible, accelerated, and responsive funding policies that
    enable swift and flexible support when crises unfold that create
    extensive challenges to education systems. Recent examples include:

      --In Afghanistan, where the Taliban has banned girls' education past
            the sixth grade, GPE continues to convene partners on the
            ground and has approved grants totaling $110 million to support
            children's education. GPE support helps children participate in
            community-based education and learn basic skills in public
            schools.
      --In Ukraine, GPE continues its dialogue with the government to
            determine how best to stem the learning losses caused by the
            war. Through GPE's matching fund, the ``Multiplier,'' GPE has
            matched over $25 million in cash and in-kind support from
            Microsoft, Google, and UNESCO, totaling more than $51 million
            in education assistance.

        Gender Equality--Ensuring that girls have access to education has
    been a top priority of GPE since its inception. Gender is now hardwired
    into every step of GPE's operating model, because investments in
    school-age girls have the highest returns in tackling future gender
    inequalities. The results are clear: since 2002, twice as many girls
    have been enrolled in school in partner countries, meaning 82 million
    more girls are now on the path to gender equality. Recent examples
    include:

      --The Democratic Republic of the Congo is using a $100 million grant
            to implement a girls' education strategy to accelerate progress
            towards gender equality in education. GPE supported a public
            awareness campaign to promote girls' education and implemented
            training modules on gender-based violence prevention for
            teachers and other education stakeholders.
      --In Nigeria, where 65 percent of out-of-school children are girls,
            GPE has supported the country through the Nigeria Partnership
            for Education Project (NIPEP) to integrate religious schools
            and train teachers to ensure more children attend and stay in
            school. More than 417,000 girls from low-income families
            received scholarships to attend these integrated primary
            schools. The project also gave female teachers scholarships to
            update their teaching skills, enabling them to serve as
            advocates and role models for girls.

        Furthermore, GPE opened a girls' education funding window under its
    current strategic plan, a $250 million Girls Education ``Accelerator''
    Fund to target support to very poor countries which have much progress
    to make on gender equality. Thirty countries where girls lag the
    farthest behind boys can access this funding.
        Education and Peace.--Education is not merely a means to individual
    growth; it is a powerful tool that can influence the future trajectory
    of societies. If inclusive and of quality, it promotes understanding,
    tolerance and peaceful coexistence among individuals and communities.
    The Institute for Economics and Peace and GPE have reaffirmed the
    potential for education to build peaceful societies through a recent
    study. The study highlights that higher rates of completion of both
    primary and lower secondary school shows a positive correlation with
    factors known to create and sustain peaceful societies. The study also
    reveals that countries with higher years of schooling experience fewer
    conflicts and an increase in safety and security. In the face of global
    challenges like economic prosperity and multiple global conflicts,
    investments in quality education for every child are needed now more
    than ever.
        Preparing for Instability and Resiliency, including Climate
    Change.--Extreme weather events threaten children's lives and destroy
    infrastructure critical to children's well-being and learning. Every
    year, nearly 40 million children's education is interrupted by natural
    disasters and the disease outbreaks that follow. With nearly half of
    the world's children living in 'extremely high risk' countries, the
    climate crisis is exacerbating the global learning crisis.
        At the same time, education can be a powerful pillar of climate
    action. Education gives people the knowledge and tools they need to
    adapt to the impacts of climate change, including the risks to their
    lives and livelihoods. Quality education dramatically reduces deaths
    from weather-related disasters. Girls' education in particular has been
    shown to reduce vulnerability to climate-driven disasters. GPE
    financing supports partner countries to build resilient education
    systems that are climate smart and can prepare for disasters and
    provide needed skills to learners to adapt.

      --In Vanuatu, 885 schools were partly or entirely destroyed in April
            202 when tropical cyclone Harold, the second most powerful
            cyclone to hit Vanuatu, made landfall. It caused widespread
            damage of infrastructure and livelihoods, with nearly 51,000
            students and 2,400 teachers impacted. With GPE's support of
            more than $3 million, Vanuatu was able to distribute more than
            7,600 teaching and learning materials to ensure the early
            education curriculum could continue to be taught. Nearly 90
            primary schools affected by the cyclone have been provided with
            water tanks, ensuring hygienic practices, and with this GPE
            support 13,800 students and 560 teachers have benefited from
            clean drinking water and handwashing facilities.

        GPE launched a new Climate-Smart Education System Initiative with
    Save the Children and UNESCO, which provides technical assistance to
    education ministries to mainstream climate change into education sector
    policy, plans and budgets. In an unprecedented partnership between
    education and climate funds, GPE has now partnered with the Green
    Climate Fund and Save the Children to launch the Building the Climate
    Resilience of Children and Communities through the Education Sector
    (BRACE) initiative. This $70 million co-financed investment will
    support greener infrastructure, green curricula and climate early
    warning systems in schools to prepare for natural disasters. It will
    also support 20 of the most climate-vulnerable countries to develop
    their capacities to access more climate finance to build resilient
    education systems.
        School Meals.--Good health and nutrition are critical for
    children's learning. Approximately 180 million school age children live
    with malnutrition and 1 billion children are at high risk of suffering
    from food insecurity. This threatens the education, growth, and
    development of children and adolescents worldwide. School meals are the
    largest social safety net in the world, currently reaching 418 million
    children every day worldwide. School meals also support local
    economies, create jobs and livelihoods in communities, and ultimately
    help break the links between hunger, and unsustainable food systems and
    the learning crisis.
        GPE supports countries to deliver school nutrition outcomes, in
    turn bolstering children's learning outcomes.

      --In Haiti, GPE's Multiplier co-financing instrument, working with
            the World Food Programme, crowded in a total of US $44.2
            million from the U.S.'s McGovern Dole Program, Inter-American
            Development Bank and Education Above All Foundation to support
            school meal programs and increase their coverage by 20% to 1.5
            million children.
      --In October 2023, GPE launched the School Health & Nutrition
            Technical Assistance Facility to support countries to build
            nationally owned school meal programs with sustained financing,
            improved legal and policy frameworks, multi sectoral
            coordination and knowledge and evidence exchange between
            countries. The Facility will pilot its approach with US $1
            million allocated to Kenya and Lesotho.
                        gpe's partnership with the u.s.
        Through USAID's engagement, the U.S. continues to be an active
    participant on GPE's Board, a member of the executive committee and is
    closely engaged at a technical level on the development of GPE's
    policies and strengthening of its funding and operational model. USAID
    also serves as a member of local education groups in many partner
    countries, which are key priority setting and program monitoring
    bodies. USAID missions work with ministries of education in GPE-
    supported countries on the formulation of national plans,
    identification of key priorities for system transformation, and
    applications for GPE support. This close cooperation enables combining
    GPE's resources with U.S. bilateral education funding where feasible to
    improve outcomes.
              fiscal year 2025 support for gpe and basic education
        Mr. Chairman, I urge the subcommittee to provide a fiscal year 2025
    U.S. contribution to the Global Partnership for Education of $175
    million. I also urge you to support an overall fiscal year 2025 level
    for basic education of $1.125 billion, including strong funding for
    Education Cannot Wait. Thank you for your consideration.

        [This statement was submitted by Laura Frigenti, Chief Executive
    Officer.]
                                     ______

                   Prepared Statement of The HALO Trust (USA)
        the department of state conventional weapons destruction program
        As humanitarian demining organizations, The HALO Trust (USA), Mines
    Advisory Group (MAG) U.S., and PeaceTrees Vietnam submit this testimony
    as partners of the U.S. Government in addressing threats to peace,
    security, and human lives posed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs),
    landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), and insecure weapons stockpiles.
    HALO, MAG, and PeaceTrees Vietnam are implementing partners of the
    Department of State's Conventional Weapons Destruction (CWD) program,
    and are helping to save lives and restore livelihoods in nearly 40
    countries and territories. This testimony is also supported by Legacies
    of War, a renowned advocacy and educational organization representing
    the Lao-American, Cambodian-American and Vietnamese-American
    communities.
        State Department humanitarian demining programs play a leading
    international role in responding to conflicts and humanitarian crises
    including the war in Ukraine, preventing casualties, allowing displaced
    families to return to their homes and livelihoods, enabling farmers to
    till their fields, supporting economic development, ensuring post-
    conflict stabilization, and promoting safety through securing weapons
    and explosive materials that could fall into terrorist hands.
        Given the importance of global demining and weapons security
    programs, we respectfully ask that you include the following requests
    in the FY 2025 SFOPS budget:

      1.  $290 million for the State Department's Conventional Weapons
            Destruction program;
      2.  Specific allocations for Conventional Weapons Destruction
            Programs.--$80,000,000 for programs in Laos, Vietnam, and
            Cambodia, additional funds above the prior year's level for
            programs in Sri Lanka, Angola, and Zimbabwe, and sustained
            support for demining activities in Ukraine.
      the state department conventional weapons destruction (cwd) program
        The State Department CWD program has many benefits, but serves
    three primary goals: (1) To enhance U.S. and global security by
    destroying and securing weapons at risk of diversion to terrorists,
    insurgents, and other violent non-state actors, including MANPADS, (2)
    To improve stability and prosperity by clearing landmines and
    unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination, thereby returning land to safe
    and productive use, and (3) To promote US foreign policy.\1\
                                  saving lives
        CWD programs save lives. The most recent Landmine Monitor recorded
    at least 4,710 people that were killed or injured by mines or other
    explosive remnants of war across 49 countries in 2022. At least 1,171
    of those killed or injured, 49% of all civilian casualties, were
    confirmed to be children.\2\ This number of casualties is more than
    twice the number in 2013, with the most casualties taking place in
    Syria and Ukraine.
        Landmines continue to affect families and communities long after
    conflict has ended, threatening lives and disrupting livelihoods. No
    parent should fear that their child might be fatally injured simply by
    walking to school or playing outside. Landmines kill indiscriminately,
    and we must continue to eliminate these threats.
                                 food security
        Demined land is most often used for growing crops and grazing
    livestock, thereby advancing food security at a moment when the world
    is facing a looming famine. In no place is this more starkly apparent
    than in Ukraine, where the Ukrainian government estimates at least
    470,000 hectares of farmland may be contaminated with landmines and
    other explosives \3\, driving global food shortages--and where U.S.-
    funded demining teams are already hard at work clearing threats to
    protect farmers and allow for safe harvests.
                              economic development
        CWD activities also promote economic development that can transform
    communities after conflict. Within weeks of mine clearance, displaced
    families can return home and plant crops and communities can build
    roads, schools, hospitals, and vital infrastructure. A 2019 report
    conducted by the United Nations Development Program in Lebanon showed
    that every dollar spent on mine action generated an economic return of
    $4.15, helping to alleviate poverty in some of the poorest parts of the
    country.\4\ And in Mozambique, which is now mine free, a 2018 National
    Bureau of Economic Research report indicated that without clearance of
    mines, Mozambique's GDP would have been 15-25% lower in 2015.\5\
    Demining is critical to economic recovery, as well--Ukraine's
    agricultural sector has already lost $70 billion in lost revenue due to
    the conflict, including production loss from a decrease in sowing
    areas.\6\ Demining is the first step to allowing their economy, and
    economies around the world, to recover after conflict.
                    security and stability in fragile states
        Weapons security management programs funded by the CWD account
    support security through stockpile storage training and the destruction
    of obsolete weapons, including shoulder-launched missiles capable of
    downing aircraft (MANPADS). These programs are essential for preventing
    unplanned explosions that put thousands at risk, and they keep weapons
    from falling into the wrong hands. This type of programming is critical
    in areas like Libya, where a massive buildup of arms during Gaddafi's
    rule, and distribution of weapons and ammunition in the campaign
    against him, fueled the proliferation of deadly items across North
    Africa, the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin. In Mozambique, weapons
    management programs are also essential to preventing insurgents from
    overrunning national authorities and seizing weapons. Further, in the
    Northern Triangle as well as Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, and the CARICOM
    region, weapons and ammunition security management programs also help
    to combat the illicit flow of black-market weapons that fuel violence,
    a driver of emigration.
        In Ukraine and elsewhere, State Department-funded programs are also
    working to track weapons diversions, ensuring accountability of U.S.
    advanced conventional weapons provided to Ukraine, and identifying
    areas of the globe where weapons security management programs are most
    needed.
                       promoting positive u.s. leadership
        U.S.-funded demining programs work in regions critical to
    increasing America's positive influence abroad, taking land that is
    currently too dangerous to use and transforming it into an economic
    asset available to often impoverished local populations, thereby
    advancing our interests and our values as Americans. Deminers across
    Africa, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific sport U.S. flags on their
    equipment and vehicles, while building livelihoods and strengthening
    ties with both host governments and the general population in regions
    of growing global economic importance.
    supporting cwd programs in ukraine, laos, vietnam, cambodia, sri lanka,
                              angola, and zimbabwe
        Ukraine already contained significant landmine and explosive
    contamination in the eastern region before the recent invasion. The
    Ukrainian government estimates that nearly 30% of the country is
    contaminated with landmines and other UXO \7\ that will threaten
    civilians for years to come, and the risk will be particularly acute as
    civilians move throughout the country as areas continue to become
    liberated. State Department implementing partners including the HALO
    Trust and MAG are already on the ground working to save lives from
    explosives, and increased funding is urgently needed to enable the
    elimination of these deadly devices as soon as possible--which is
    critical to supporting Ukrainian resilience and recovery.
    Reconstruction can only occur when explosives have been removed from
    roads, fields, and buildings.
        Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia remain heavily impacted by U.S. cluster
    bomblets and other explosive hazards. Laos is considered the most
    heavily bombed country in history, suffering over 50,919 casualties
    from explosive remnants of war.\8\ Cambodia, which contains additional
    significant landmine contamination has suffered over 65,005 casualties
    from explosive hazards since 1979.\9\ In Vietnam, at least 105,086
    casualties from explosive threats have been recorded.\10\ More
    resources are needed to remove these deadly items, demonstrate
    continued resolve to removing U.S. legacy ordnance, and strengthen
    diplomatic relations. An appropriation of $80 million in FY25 would
    expedite ongoing clearance efforts and demonstrate positive U.S.
    leadership in the region, while allowing the State Department to spend
    these resources in the region to achieve the greatest humanitarian
    impact.
        Since the end of Sri Lanka's decades-long civil war in 2009, U.S.
    demining assistance has been critical to allowing thousands of
    displaced families to return to their homes and develop their land.
    U.S. demining efforts have also enabled the reopening of schools and
    hospitals, the reconstruction of thousands of homes, and the
    reconstruction of the Jaffna railway--enabling access to Sri Lanka's
    northern ports. More than 280,000 mines have already been destroyed,
    and increased funding will keep Sri Lanka on track to be mine-impact
    free by 2028.
        Landmines in Angola have injured or killed more than 80,000 people
    since they were first used in its civil war,\11\ but with the help of
    U.S. foreign aid, over 100,000 landmines have been destroyed. Demining
    must continue, especially in the rural areas of Angola, where some
    communities have been waiting decades for assistance. This clearance is
    also critical to supporting the development of the Lobito Corridor,
    where more than 100 minefields will hamper expansion of this vital
    commerce route. Increasing funding for demining in Angola is also
    necessary for the U.S. to implement The DELTA Act, legislation passed
    in December 2018 in support of wilderness management in the Okavango
    Delta region. In southeast Angola, landmines near the headwaters of the
    Okavango Delta kill elephants and other wildlife, hamper efforts to
    conduct biodiversity research, and interfere with anti-poaching
    initiatives.
        Zimbabwe possesses very dense, unfenced minefields close to houses,
    schools, and clinics that kill livestock and separate communities from
    viable sources of water. Over 1,600 casualties \12\ have occurred due
    to explosive accidents. Due to the predictable mine-laying patterns
    along the Zimbabwean borders, demining teams in Zimbabwe have one of
    the highest mine-destruction rates of any global program. Supporting
    increased funding for CWD programs in Zimbabwe will allow the country
    to achieve mine-free status as quickly as possible.
                                   conclusion
        Since 1993, the U.S. has led global demining efforts, providing
    more than $5.09 billion in assistance to more than 125 countries and
    territories for CWD activities.\13\ Thanks to a global effort, over 30
    countries and territories around the world are now mine-impact free,
    \14\ and as the single largest funder of humanitarian demining
    programs, the United States has helped the bulk of these countries
    reach this milestone. We hope to see many more countries soon join this
    list.
        U.S. demining and weapons security programs save lives, enable
    stabilization and rebuilding after countries have been ripped apart by
    conflict, enhance security, and promote U.S. interests while making a
    tangible difference in the lives of communities worldwide.
        For these reasons, we hope the subcommittee will support strong
    funding for the State Department CWD program, for CWD programs in
    Ukraine, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Angola, and Zimbabwe.
        Thank you for your consideration.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ U.S.A., Department of State, Office of Weapons Removal and
    Abatement in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. (2024). The
    United States' Commitment to Conventional Weapons Destruction (23rd
    ed., Fiscal Year 2023, pg. 5). Waynesboro, VA: McClung Companies.
        \2\ Landmine Monitor (2023, November). Landmine Monitor 2023. The
    Monitor. Retrieved from: https://www.the-monitor.org/en-gb/reports/
    2023/landmine-monitor-2023/the-impact.aspx.
        \3\ Roman Neyter, Sergiy Zorya, and Oleksandr Muliar (February
    2024). Agricultural War Damages, Losses, and Needs Review (pg. 4, 20).
    Kyiv, Ukraine: Kyiv School of Economics. Retrieved from: https://
    kse.ua/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/RDNA3_eng.pdf
        \4\ Hamade, K., & Srour. I. (2019, February 6). 2019, February 6).
    Socio-economic benefits of mine action in Lebanon: United Nations
    Development Programme. UNDP. Retrieved May 24, 2022, from https://
    www.undp.org/lebanon/publications/socio-economic-benefits-mine-action-
    leb
    anon.
        \5\ Chiovelli, G., Michalopoulos, S., & Papaioannou, E. (2018).
    Landmines and Spatial Development. NBER Working Paper Series. https://
    doi.org/10.3386/w24758.
        \6\ Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. ``Oleksii Reznikov: Action plan
    for demining agricultural land for sowing campaign approved'' (2023,
    March 20). State Sites of Ukraine. Retrieved from https://
    www.kmu.gov.ua/en/news/oleksii-reznikov-skhvaleno-plan-zakhodiv-iz-
    rozminuvannia-silskohospodarskykh-zemel-dlia-provedennia-posivnoi.
        \7\ Ministry of Economy of Ukraine. ``Ukraine needs 10 times more
    humanitarian demining specialists than it has now: Yuliia Svyrydenko''
    (2023, April 20). State Sites of Ukraine. Retrieved from https://
    www.kmu.gov.ua/en/news/dlia-humanitarnoho-rozminuvannia-ukrainy-
    potribno-v-desiatky-raziv-bilshe-fakhivtsiv-nizh-ie-zaraz-iuliia-
    svyrydenko.
        \8\ Lao PDR--Impact (2023, September 5). The Landmine Monitor.
    Retrieved from https://www.the-monitor.org/en-gb/reports/2023/lao-pdr/
    impact.aspx.
        \9\ Cambodia--Impact (2023, December 20). The Landmine Monitor.
    Retrieved from http://www.the-monitor.org/en-gb/reports/2023/Cambodia/
    impact.aspx.
        \10\ Vietnam--Impact (2021, February 11). The Landmine Monitor.
    Retrieved from http://www.the-monitor.org/en-gb/reports/2023/Vietnam/
    impact.aspx.
        \11\ Angola--Impact (2021, February 10). The Landmine Monitor.
    Retrieved from http://www.the-monitor.org/en-gb/reports/2021/Angola/
    impact.aspx.
        \12\ Zimbabwe--Impact. (2022, November 17). Retrieved from https://
    www.the-monitor.org/
    en-gb/reports/2023/zimbabwe/impact.aspx.
        \13\ U.S.A., Department of State, Office of Weapons Removal and
    Abatement in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. (2024). The
    United States' Commitment to Conventional Weapons Destruction (23rd
    ed., Fiscal Year 2023, pg. 5). Waynesboro, VA: McClung Companies.
        \14\ ``The deadly legacy of landmines'' (April 3, 2023). UN News.
    Retrieved from: https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/04/1135252.

        [This statement was submitted by Chris Whatley, Executive Director
        Ambassador (Ret.) Daniel Clune, Board Chair, Mines Advisory Group
    (MAG) U.S.
        Sera Koulabdara, Chief Executive Officer, Legacies of War
        Claire Yunker, Executive Director, PeaceTrees Vietnam.]
                                     ______

                Prepared Statement of Helen Keller International
        Mr. Chairman, thank you for this opportunity to provide testimony
    to the subcommittee on behalf of Helen Keller International regarding
    critical programs in global health. Helen Keller Intl urges the
    subcommittee to recommend in fiscal year 2025, under the U.S. Agency
    for International Development's (USAID) Global Health Programs and
    Development Assistance accounts, at least $4.5 million for the child
    blindness program; at least $125 million for Neglected Tropical
    Diseases; at least $300 million for nutrition, including $23.5 million
    for Vitamin A supplementation; and $1.15 billion for the Maternal and
    Child Health account, inclusive of $340 million for Gavi, the Vaccine
    Alliance. Finally, under the Development Assistance account, we request
    the subcommittee continue strong support for nutrition in agriculture,
    including providing $1.2 billion for Feed the Future programs.
        Helen Keller Intl is a leading nonprofit organization with programs
    in 20 countries in Africa and Asia, and the United States. We were co-
    founded in 1915 by Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing as a
    child and was an advocate for the poor and marginalized as an adult.
    Together with a global community of supporters, we ensure that everyone
    has the opportunity--as Helen did--to reach their true potential. We
    fulfill this mission by designing and implementing programs based on
    science and local collaboration that save lives, improve sight, and
    improve nutrition for nearly 73 million people each year.
        Today, we are as determined as ever to accomplish even more on
    behalf of children and families in the countries where we work.
    Disruptions to global food systems due to extreme weather events,
    supply chain disruptions, and protracted conflict are further
    compounding global malnutrition. Helen Keller Intl appreciates the
    actions of Congress to respond to these immediate crises and provide
    critical emergency and humanitarian response. We also know long-term
    investments in nutrition and health through USAID's development
    programs are necessary to build resilience to future crises and to help
    millions of people create lasting change in their own lives. We have
    many of the tools we need to address these global challenges, but
    partnership and political will are essential to deliver proven health
    and nutrition interventions that will meet the needs of children and
    families around the world.
            nutrition, food security, and maternal and child health
        Malnutrition drives almost half of child deaths under age five, the
    vast majority of which occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. For
    those who survive, malnutrition during a child's early years often
    leads to lifelong and irreversible damage, including reduced
    intellectual development, educational achievement, and earning power.
    Nutrition investments are only 1% of US global health funding, even
    though malnutrition claims the lives of approximately three million
    children under age five each year, more than AIDS, tuberculosis, and
    malaria combined.
        Strong nutrition is foundational to global development, and is
    necessary to improve health, education, economic participation, and
    gender equality. In 2022, USAID reached 32 million children through
    nutrition programs. The US is not alone in this work--45 governments
    from low- and middle-income countries made strong policy and financial
    commitments at the most recent Nutrition for Growth Summit and the
    African Union is committed to increasing domestic nutrition
    investments. Despite USAID's major investments in health systems, there
    remain huge gaps in delivering life-saving nutrition interventions. In
    some instances, mothers attend their prenatal visits but do not receive
    prenatal vitamins, or bring their children to health centers for
    checkups but their children are not screened for acute malnutrition and
    then treated if necessary. The 2021 Lancet Series on maternal and child
    undernutrition highlighted that closing these opportunity gaps is one
    of the quickest ways to scale-up lifesaving nutrition interventions.
        Many of the most effective interventions to prevent and treat
    malnutrition among women and children span the course of the critical
    1,000-day period during a woman's pregnancy to a child's second
    birthday. Improving children's diets between the ages of 6-23 months is
    essential; new evidence shows that one promising solution, a small
    quantity of lipid-based nutrient supplements, can reduce deaths by 27%
    in that age group. Four health systems interventions--multiple
    micronutrient supplementation (prenatal vitamins), breastfeeding
    support, Vitamin A supplementation, and ready-to-use therapeutic food
    (RUTF) for the treatment of wasting-are some of the most cost-
    effective, lifesaving tools to combat malnutrition. Breastfeeding is
    recognized as a cornerstone of child health because of the essential
    nutrition it provides for a child's growth and development. Multiple
    micronutrient supplements, a specific formulation of prenatal vitamins,
    provide critical benefits such as reducing stillbirth, low birthweight,
    and preterm birth while also addressing the undernutrition and
    micronutrient deficiencies experienced by more than one billion women
    and adolescent girls worldwide. However, across most low and middle-
    income countries, these interventions, known as the Power 4, have low
    coverage rates, even as coverage of other complementary health services
    has increased.
        Helen Keller Intl is a recognized leader in distributing vitamin A
    capsules to children in countries across the world. In the last year,
    Helen Keller Intl provided vitamin A supplementation to more than 35
    million children across 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Vitamin A
    is essential for healthy eyesight and the optimal functioning of the
    immune system to protect children from life-threatening diseases. We
    request that the subcommittee recommend $23.5 million for vitamin A
    supplementation within the nutrition account to contribute to these
    lifesaving programs globally.
        Helen Keller Intl sees the impact these interventions make on the
    health and lives of families around the world. In the last year, Helen
    Keller screened more than 2.1 million children for acute malnutrition.
    This screening is essential to connect families to the necessary
    treatment, such as RUTF, to recover from the most severe forms of
    malnutrition. In places like Cambodia, Helen Keller was able to provide
    treatment to 88% of the children identified as being moderately or
    severely malnourished, in addition to supporting families to learn how
    to cook nutritious meals to support their children's nutrition and
    ensure the long-term health and wellbeing of their families. USAID's
    historic investment in 2022 for an additional $200 million to screen
    and treat wasting, matched by $380 million from other governments and
    private philanthropies, went a long way toward addressing the
    increasing need to treat malnutrition due to the global food crisis.
    Building upon the momentum of USAID's 2022 investment, the recent
    announcement on May 3, 2024 to commit an additional $200 million for
    procurement and distribution of RUTF and other specialized nutritious
    foods, underscores the critical role of continued and expanded
    investments in combating malnutrition amidst the ongoing global food
    crisis.
        Helen Keller Intl requests the subcommittee recommend $300 million
    under the nutrition-specific account within global health programs for
    fiscal year 2025. We support the continuation and expansion of
    nutrition programs to support infants, young children, and women of
    reproductive age, as well as ongoing efforts to improve reporting on
    the scope and impact of U.S. government investments in nutrition-
    specific prevention and treatment interventions. We applaud Congress
    for passing the bipartisan Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment
    Act in 2022 to ensure USAID delivers the strongest nutrition support
    for families across nutrition priority countries, but adequate
    appropriations are required to realize the ambitions of this
    legislation. These programs, and those financed under the Maternal and
    Child Health account, are instrumental to the goal of ending
    preventable child and maternal deaths. With this forward-looking
    commitment the US will continue to be a valued global leader in
    combating the scourge of malnutrition and promoting maternal and child
    survival.
        We also urge the subcommittee to provide $1.2 billion to Feed the
    Future, the US government's flagship food security program. We request
    the continued inclusion of report language on a food security and
    agricultural strategy that promotes improvements in nutrition with
    measurable outcomes as a core objective, and specifically supports
    smallholder farmers, particularly women farmers and other vulnerable
    populations. These programs must focus on improving children's diets,
    in line with the recent recommendations from the Board for
    International Agricultural Development to accelerate action on
    nourishing foods for children. These investments in agriculture are
    essential to increase food availability and access, improve food
    security and nutrition, increase dietary quality, raise incomes, and
    empower women.
                          neglected tropical diseases
        Over one billion people are at risk of Neglected Tropical Diseases
    (NTDs), which can lead to blindness and other disabilities, chronic
    pain, and social isolation. NTDs may be life-threatening at a later
    stage of the disease, and they are related to various clinical
    complications, such as anemia, malnutrition, and HIV/AIDS. In many
    cases, NTDs disproportionately impact women, thereby having devastating
    consequences on families. Research shows eliminating NTDs increases
    access to education and improves economic performance, essential
    elements of prosperity and economic growth.
        The critical support provided by the United States since fiscal
    year 2007 has allowed the treatment of more than 1.5 billion people and
    enabled transformational success. For example, last year the country of
    Mali was able to stop treating for trachoma--a blinding disease that
    only a few years ago was widespread throughout the entire country. In
    2023, Niger submitted a dossier for elimination of onchocerciasis to
    the World Health Organization; if approved, Niger will become the first
    country in sub-Saharan Africa to eliminate this disease. These
    achievements would not be possible without the support of the US
    government. USAID was the first bilateral donor to commit significant
    investments to not only treating diseases, but also providing support
    to those who did not have access to treatment in time, and need support
    to manage the resulting morbidity, particularly focusing on surgery for
    trichiasis and lymphedema.
        This funding has enabled large scale access to medicines to prevent
    and treat the most common NTDs. For every one dollar spent by the
    United States on NTDs, $26 is leveraged in donated drugs, representing
    one of the world's most successful public-private partnerships. In the
    last year, Helen Keller Intl worked with Ministries of Health to
    administer treatments to over 33.5 million people for at least one NTD,
    contributing to national efforts toward the control and elimination of
    NTDs. Like in Mali, the achievement of elimination of blinding trachoma
    and other diseases such as lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis is
    within reach in many countries over the coming years.
        We respectfully request increased support for USAID NTD programs at
    a funding level of $125 million for fiscal year 2025. With continued
    commitment to NTD programs, USAID is on track to eliminate at least one
    NTD in 15 countries within the next 5 years. With increased commitment,
    this progress can be expanded to additional countries, including
    morbidity management, and free millions more people from the risk of
    developing these diseases.
                            child blindness program
        U.S. support and partnership with USAID through the child blindness
    program helps to save the sight of hundreds of thousands of children in
    developing countries. USAID leadership has driven tremendous progress
    on what used to be the leading cause of childhood blindness, vitamin A
    deficiency. USAID's continued leadership to address other causes of
    child blindness is essential. Currently, 1.4 million children worldwide
    are blind, and much of this suffering is preventable. Children who are
    blind or visually impaired and who live in poverty in developing
    countries must depend on their families and on government health
    systems, which in most cases have limited capacity to meet the needs of
    blind children. These children are at grave risk of being in ill
    health, poorly educated, and less productive without access to critical
    eye health and rehabilitation services.
        Most of the blindness in children could be avoided since highly
    effective preventive and curative measures are available to address
    visual impairment in children. Children who are blind or have low
    vision can often be helped through simple and inexpensive operations
    and vision correction. For example, in partnership with USAID's Child
    Blindness Program and Cameroon's Ministry of Public Health, and the
    Ministry of Secondary Education, Helen Keller Intl conducted vision
    screenings for more than 41,600 students between the ages of 11-15
    years in Yaounde, Cameroon, providing glasses free of charge to those
    who needed them in 2023. We help students see a blackboard clearly for
    the first time and fulfill their educational potential by establishing
    systems for school-based vision screening and providing sight-restoring
    eyeglasses. Helen Keller Intl requests the subcommittee recommend at
    least $4.5 million in funding for programming to address blindness and
    visual impairment in children.
        Thank you for your consideration of Helen Keller Intl's testimony
    and recommendations. We share Helen Keller's belief: The welfare of
    each is bound up in the welfare of all.

        [This statement was submitted by Sarah Bouchie, President and Chief
    Executive Officer.]
                                     ______

        Prepared Statement of Institute of International Education (IIE)
        On behalf of the Institute of International Education (IIE), I am
    pleased to submit testimony in support of the Fulbright Program ($287.8
    million) and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program
    ($17 million), both of which are funded by the Department of State,
    Educational and Cultural Exchange Programs, and implemented by IIE. I
    am also pleased to submit testimony in support of Scholar Rescue
    Programs ($7 million).
        The Fulbright Program, operating continuously for over 75 years, is
    the flagship U.S. government sponsored international exchange program--
    supporting Americans to study, conduct research, and teach English
    overseas, and foreign students and scholars who contribute to U.S.
    universities and communities, while furthering their scholarship. No
    program reaches as many corners of the world, or the U.S. as the
    Fulbright Program does. We are seeking the Committee's support for
    level funding of $287.5 million in FY2025.
        As a key pillar of international education and exchange, the
    Fulbright Program has demonstrated its unique capacity to adapt quickly
    to address global challenges, while engaging diverse audiences in the
    U.S. and 160 countries around the world. Some 5,000 visiting Fulbright
    students and scholars were in the U.S. on new or continuing grants last
    academic year.
        Fulbright encourages participation of people from geographically
    diverse institutions and disciplines considered underrepresented, as
    well as from individuals who have traditionally been underrepresented
    in fellowship programs, including those at HBCUs, HSIs and community
    colleges. Level funding would support grant opportunities and fund new
    regional projects, enabling more Americans and U.S. colleges and
    universities to benefit from the program, and have a subsequent
    positive impact on more individuals, institutions, and communities at a
    time when defending democratic values is critical.
        Fulbright's sustained commitment to increased institutional
    diversity makes the program more inclusive and accessible to
    nontraditional applicants. The commitment to accessibility is also
    highlighted in the expansion of the network of Fulbright Student and
    Scholar campus representatives at U.S. colleges and universities to
    serve diverse populations underrepresented in education abroad and
    competitive fellowships, and in the prioritization of outreach to MSIs,
    community colleges, higher education institutions in rural and
    economically disadvantaged areas, and military academies. Currently,
    over 1,700 U.S. higher education institutions have a Fulbright campus
    representative, including more than 350 MSIs and 300 Community
    Colleges.
        Level funding would also allow the U.S. to build upon the Fulbright
    Program's proven model to address pressing issues that impact both
    foreign and domestic policy, like climate change, democracy building,
    and countering disinformation and undue foreign influence. The program
    operates where others cannot, fostering goodwill toward America, and
    establishing a scholarly network where research and development can
    flourish. Fulbright contributes directly to our National security and
    global economic competitiveness. The Fulbright Program projects
    American strength, shores up allies, and advances American values of
    freedom, opportunity, and open exchange of ideas. It is a long-term
    investment in building communities and collaboration by advancing
    individuals' relationships, knowledge, and leadership skills. This is
    an important role for our government to invest in, as private
    international exchange programs do not have the reach and bilateral
    leveraging value of Fulbright.
        This year, scholars of the new Fulbright Amazonia initiative worked
    to begin developing action-oriented policy briefs in three thematic
    areas. Each group will present their policy recommendations in
    Washington, D.C. at the conclusion of the program on the topics of
    climate change adaptation and mitigation, strengthening human and
    environmental health and security, and bioeconomy and sustainable
    development. At a Fulbright Enrichment Seminar in Houston, Texas, NASA
    engineer Dr. Elizabeth Jens spoke to attendees about her own trajectory
    from Fulbrighter to renowned rocket scientist. Jens came to the U.S.
    from Australia as a Fulbright Foreign Student to Stanford University,
    where she earned a master's and doctorate in aeronautics and
    astronautics. Today, she is a propulsion and systems engineer at NASA's
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Based on the research she
    began during her Fulbright and her subsequent work in the field, Jens
    published the Hybrid Rocket Propulsion Design Handbook, providing
    engineers with design methodologies to develop realistic hybrid system
    designs. In 2018, Jens was honored as a Patron of Mateship, a 100-year
    old program by the Australian Embassy to promote the strong Australia-
    U.S. bilateral relationship, looking to strengthen the countries'
    future cooperation on science and innovation policy. In 2023, Linsey
    Marr, an environmental engineering professor at Virginia Tech
    University, was one of two Fulbrighters named a MacArthur Fellow
    recognized for her work as an environmental engineer who protects
    public health through researching indoor and outdoor air quality and
    the transmission of airborne pathogens. As a 2017 Fulbright U.S.
    Scholar to Taiwan, Marr investigated the potential for long-distance
    transport of the flu virus.
        Fulbright alumni, totaling more than 400,000 globally, have become
    leaders and contributed greatly to society--including 40 current or
    former heads of state or government, 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer
    Prize winners, 80 MacArthur Foundation Fellows, 16 Presidential Medal
    of Freedom recipients, and thousands of leaders across the private,
    public, and nonprofit sectors. The Fulbright Program creates an
    unparalleled sphere of influence--future leaders who benefited from
    U.S. higher education and gained understanding of American communities
    and our people.
        The Fulbright Program exemplifies successful international cost-
    sharing. Eighty-nine foreign governments contribute over $90 million
    annually, with 49 foreign governments matching or exceeding the U.S.
    government's annual contribution. Increasing U.S. contributions to the
    Fulbright Program will only compound this unique bilateral financing
    model and lead other donors to increase their contributions,
    substantially increasing the impact of program.
        Today's Fulbright Program includes students and scholars from all
    U.S. States and territories at great benefit to the U.S. economy. Over
    750 U.S. higher education institutions are both hosting and sending
    students and scholars--including minority serving institutions and
    community colleges--making for a well-rounded and inclusive program.
    Including foreign Fulbrighters, international students studying in the
    U.S. contribute more than $40 billion to the U.S economy, while
    creating over 365,000 U.S.-based jobs last academic year.
        From its inception, the Fulbright Program has benefited from
    bipartisan Congressional support. During the last several years of
    pressure on the Federal budget, Fulbright has proven its value to the
    U.S. and our relationships internationally. While there are many
    competing demands and worthwhile investments for the Federal
    Government, Congress has the opportunity to protect the Fulbright
    Program and focus expansion into priority areas to further connect the
    next generation of leaders.
        The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program enables
    undergraduate students of limited financial means to study or intern
    abroad, thereby gaining skills critical to our National security and
    economic competitiveness since 2001. The award is solely reserved for
    American undergraduate students who are eligible for a Federal Pell
    Grant, providing scholarships to more than 41,000 students since its
    inception.
        Gilman Scholars are high-achieving undergraduates who hail from all
    50 States and Puerto Rico, representing more than 1,300 U.S.
    institutions. The Gilman Program supports America's public diplomacy
    and national security efforts and is the largest and most inclusive
    study abroad scholarship in the Nation. Nearly 70% of Gilman Scholars
    identify as racial or ethnic minorities and more than half are first-
    generation college students. Nearly three-quarters of Gilman Scholars
    came from small cities, towns, and rural communities, and approximately
    30% come from community colleges, HBCUs or other MSIs. By supporting
    undergraduate students who have high financial need, the program has
    been successful in supporting students who have not traditionally had
    access to international academic experiences which make students more
    competitive in the workforce and instills a global mindset from a
    younger age. Gilman Program Alumni have created over 1,000 jobs for the
    U.S. economy and established more than 400 new organizations,
    companies, or other ventures, a 20-year impact study showed.
        The program also encourages study in a wide array of destinations,
    growing to over 160 countries since 2001, including countries where
    languages critical to U.S. national security are spoken. The demand for
    the program remains high. Over 150,000 students have applied since the
    inception of the program. More than 10,000 applications from highly
    qualified students are received every year for approximately 4,000
    scholarships making it very competitive.
        The Gilman Program continues to demonstrate a commitment to our
    Armed Services with preference given to Veteran applicants and
    dependents of active-duty service members through the Congressionally-
    created the Gilman-McCain Scholarship.
        In addition, Gilman Scholars positively impact their communities
    while carrying out follow-on service projects that aim to inform and
    encourage more American students to study and intern abroad. They serve
    as influential role models by their exemplary achievement through their
    international exchange experience, and many continue to pursue advanced
    degrees and are active in seeking solutions to global challenges.
    Maintaining bipartisan support for the Benjamin A. Gilman International
    Scholarship Program at the FY24 funding level of $17 million will
    continue to enhance our National security, economic prosperity, and
    provide access to opportunity for underserved populations.
        IIE's Scholar Rescue Fund.--The IIE Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF)
    is doing essential work to protect the lives and careers of threatened
    scholars in a time of unprecedented need. In diverse contexts across
    the globe, professors and researchers are living amidst the world's
    worst conflicts, humanitarian crises, and repressive regimes, resulting
    in threats to their physical security, the indefinite interruption of
    their scholarly work, and the endangerment of entire disciplines in
    particular countries. The program has received a record number of
    requests for support in every year since 2017, an alarming trend that
    points to the many scholars across the globe who live and work amidst
    authoritarian regimes or conflict--in Afghanistan, Burma, Ethiopia,
    Gaza, Russia, Sudan, Ukraine, Venezuela, Yemen, and elsewhere. It is in
    the interest of U.S. foreign policy to help scholars continue their
    work in safety, with the hopes that they can one day return home or
    secure work in a host country. We are seeking the Committee's support
    for level funding of $7 million in FY2025 for Scholar Rescue
    activities.
        IIE-SRF is currently responding to multiple large-scale higher
    education emergencies. By keeping these scholars safe and productive in
    academic roles across the globe, IIE-SRF is preserving and enhancing
    these countries' intellectual capital--the ``brain save'' of their best
    and most promising professors and scientists until it is safe for them
    to return. If these scholars do not receive support now, many lifetimes
    of work--and potentially entire academies in countries such as
    Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine, and Yemen--will be lost, a catastrophic
    impact on generations to come.
        IIE-SRF has the global networks, tested model, and reliable track
    record to respond to crises of this scale. When sectarian and other
    violence in Iraq was at its worst, IIE-SRF launched the Iraq Scholar
    Rescue Project, a public-private partnership funded in part through the
    Department of State, which saved the lives of hundreds of Iraqi
    scholars. Since August 2021, IIE-SRF has been responding to an Iraq-
    style avalanche of applications from Afghanistan, as university
    professors and civil society leaders, many of whom represent the
    National academy the U.S. helped to build in Afghanistan, face severe
    threats to their safety and work. This has only compounded as crises in
    Ukraine, Sudan, and Israel/Palestine have increased the number of
    displaced persons worldwide and vie for the public's attention.
        While we have been able to support more than 100 fellowships for
    Afghan scholars and their families so far--with placements arranged at
    universities in the U.S., Canada, Japan, and across Europe--there are
    hundreds more who have appealed to IIE-SRF. U.S. colleges,
    universities, and think tanks have demonstrated a remarkable commitment
    to supporting their Afghan colleagues and continue to seek
    opportunities to host Afghan scholars. IIE-SRF has developed an
    extensive network of institutions that welcome the opportunity to host
    teachers and researchers, but the overwhelming demand for support from
    Afghan scholars far outstrips private and philanthropic resources.
    Federal funding would support an existing public-private partnership
    that can leverage relationships in the higher education community in
    order to quickly find academic placements for Afghans and other
    recently displaced scholars, such as from Ukraine. IIE-SRF works with
    its vast global network of dedicated university partners to secure
    placements that meet both scholars' and universities' needs and enable
    scholars to secure visas to their host countries.
        The impact of IIE's work to rescue scholars extends well beyond the
    immediate lives saved. There are many examples, historical and current.
    During the 1930s, IIE's Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign
    Scholars supported Dr. Felix Bloch, a physicist who had fled Nazi
    Germany, to continue his scientific research at Stanford University.
    Bloch's research on nuclear magnetic resonance would later be applied
    to develop the MRI and earned him the Nobel Prize.
        Many of IIE-SRF's current fellows are engaged in work that promises
    to also have a wide-reaching impact, including on their home countries.
    One example is Dr. Marzia Hakimi, an Afghan scholar of mechanical
    engineering scholar undertaking the IIE-SRF fellowship at the
    University of Alberta in Canada. In addition to her academic duties,
    Dr. Hakimi is teaching online science courses to secondary-level
    students in Afghanistan, especially girls who are currently excluded
    from school.
        IIE-SRF fellows also enrich their host campuses. According to Dr.
    Sonia Feigenbaum, Senior Vice Provost for Global Engagement and Chief
    International Officer at the University of Texas at Austin, ``IIE-SRF
    fellows have not only added academic value, but have also enriched the
    fabric of our campus community, embodying resilience, and the pursuit
    of knowledge despite adversity. Their presence serves as a reminder of
    the power of education to transcend borders and unite people despite
    differences in language, cultures, and backgrounds.'' UT Austin has
    hosted six IIE-SRF fellows from five countries, including two currently
    on campus from Ethiopia and Yemen.
        Your continued support for Fulbright, Gilman and Scholar Rescue
    programs is a testimony to the bipartisan values and critical foresight
    of this and previous Congressional leaders as you continue to
    prioritize the investment in the academic and diplomatic future of our
    great nation.
        Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony before this
    committee.

        [This statement was submitted by Allan E. Goodman, CEO.]
                                     ______

                       Prepared Statement of InterAction
        Chairman Coons and Senator Graham, Members of the subcommittee,
    thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony concerning the FY
    2025 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs bill. The
    lifesaving, life-changing programs in the State, Foreign Operations
    bill represent the best of American values and engagement with people
    around the globe.
        My name is Tom Hart, and I am the President and CEO at InterAction.
    InterAction is the largest alliance of international NGOs and partners
    in the United States. Our more than 160 members work to eliminate
    extreme poverty, strengthen human rights and citizen participation,
    promote peace, and ensure dignity for all people. Our network raises
    $8-10 billion annually in private donations from Americans each year-
    putting us collectively among the top 10 donors in the world.
        For 40 years, InterAction has united hundreds of international NGOs
    to collaborate and act collectively, promoting more effective policies
    and actions that positively impact global communities and benefit
    America.
        On behalf of the InterAction membership, I want to thank the
    subcommittee for its leadership and continued support for foreign
    assistance programs. As the subcommittee knows, foreign aid is a tool
    for promoting U.S. national security, demonstrating American values,
    driving economic growth at home and abroad, and combating poverty all
    over the world. America's leadership on the global stage helps build a
    more stable and prosperous world, which in turn leads to a more stable
    and more prosperous America. I am grateful to have joined you at
    various times in Liberia, Ghana, and Rwanda to see the remarkable
    progress these resources are having on the ground.
        I want to begin with our deep gratitude for the supplemental
    humanitarian funding Congress provided to address the compounding
    crises happening around the world. The $9.2 billion in global
    humanitarian funding will provide the vital resources needed to respond
    to the crises in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the
    Congo, Haiti, and beyond.
        In the long term, we recognize that supplemental funding cannot
    replace essential base funding for foreign assistance. We also
    recognize that the subcommittee faces a very challenging situation this
    upcoming fiscal year. The House's proposed SFOPS allocation for FY2025,
    if enacted, would likely necessitate emergency funding to support life-
    saving programs. I agree with your sentiments, Sen. Graham, when you
    said last week that now is not a good time to take resources off the
    table that can prevent things from getting worse. We must break this
    cycle.
        As you both know, less than 1% of the Federal budget goes toward
    global development and humanitarian assistance and that small
    percentage can go a long way. But we can't do more with less. While we
    appreciate your efforts so far, we urge you to continue to work with
    your colleagues and invest adequately in resources that address rising
    humanitarian and development needs, including the backsliding in
    poverty reduction and democratic governance, and the worsening global
    food crises. We look forward to continuing to work with you to ensure
    that aid is effective, efficient, and sustainable, including through
    efforts to further localization.
        We also urge you to reject further directives to development and
    humanitarian accounts that add complexity and reduce flexibility.
    Particularly under the constrained funding levels this subcommittee is
    working with, further stretching aid dollars--particularly humanitarian
    assistance--across new funding, directives will only undermine the
    effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance.
        In my testimony, I will highlight the challenges we face and the
    importance of efficient and cost-effective investments in development,
    humanitarian, democracy, and global health programs at the State
    Department and USAID in the State, Foreign Operations bill. Rather than
    mention each account, I have included a table at the end of my
    testimony. A comprehensive list of InterAction's recommendations can be
    found in our recently released resource, Choose to Invest.
        Development.--Development Assistance (DA) advances economic
    prosperity, supports poverty reduction, and promotes the development of
    resilient, democratic societies. These resources increase food
    availability, access to basic water and sanitation services, and
    household income through enhanced agriculture productivity and the
    sustainable use of natural resources. Amid global crises, however,
    funding for development priorities has been squeezed by urgent security
    and humanitarian needs. It is DA that helps to build resilience,
    stability, and local leadership needed to break crisis cycles, and
    ultimately, to defray future costs. For example, every $1 invested in
    building resilience through programs for WASH, basic education, climate
    change adaptation, and more saves $3 dollars in humanitarian
    assistance.
        Continued U.S. investment in Development Assistance will spur
    economic growth, reduce the need for future foreign assistance, and
    build a more peaceful international order. To maintain our commitment
    toward long-term development, InterAction requests that you fund the
    Development Assistance account at $4.77 billion for FY25.
        Within Development Assistance funds, USAID implements the Global
    Food Security Strategy program, known as ``Feed the Future,'' which
    plays a vital role in addressing the root causes of poverty and hunger
    in countries facing high rates of malnutrition. Currently, as many as
    783 million people face chronic hunger. With the global demand for food
    projected to increase by 50% between now and 2050, Feed the Future has
    adapted to meet emerging challenges through agricultural development
    programs, research, resilience building, and food system strengthening.
        Investments in the agriculture sector are up to four times more
    effective than investments in any other sector spurring economic
    growth, supporting local agrifood systems, and reducing poverty in low-
    income countries. To properly address the global food insecurity and
    malnutrition crisis, InterAction requests that Feed the Future be
    funded at the authorizing level approved in the 2022 Global Food
    Security Act (GFSA) at $1.2 billion for FY25.
        Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance.--Democracy, Human Rights,
    and Governance (DRG) programs expand space for a vibrant civil society
    and independent media; strengthen political and government institutions
    to be responsive to citizens' needs; promote transparency and
    accountability; cultivate the rule of law; foster equitable economic
    growth; advance tolerance and inclusiveness; protect human and labor
    rights; and support credible elections.
        The rise in unstable democracies and decline in democratic freedoms
    have created an environment where authoritarian influences continue to
    undermine democratic norms and crack down on citizen's rights and
    freedoms. U.S. democracy assistance directly counters these illiberal
    influences by strengthening transparency and democratic governance and
    equipping civil society with the tools that they need to advocate for
    democracy.
        Investing in DRG assistance is a strategic and cost-effective way
    to advance U.S. foreign policy goals. Stable democracies are more
    reliable trading partners, create opportunities for U.S. businesses,
    and enhance economic freedom and regional security. Simply put,
    democracy fosters stability during crises and opens up opportunities in
    their aftermath.
        We know it works. For decades, the U.S. has funded DRG programs to
    strengthen institutions, enabling Ukraine to choose a path toward
    democracy and freedom. A distinct difference from Russia's tyranny.
    Through the years the Ukrainian people, with support from the U.S.,
    have built an independent democratic alternative to Putin's world--and
    what they built was worth fighting for.
        We appreciate Congress' consistent support for democracy assistance
    and request that you maintain funding for DRG programs at FY24 levels
    ($2.9 billion) for FY25.
        Humanitarian Assistance.--In 2024, nearly 300 million people around
    the world will need humanitarian assistance due to three main drivers:
    conflict, natural disasters driven by climate shifts, and economic
    instability. These factors have also contributed to more than 1 in 73
    people being forcibly displaced, marking the highest displacement rate
    since the turn of the century. These alarming statistics underscore the
    urgent need for increased funding for humanitarian accounts,
    particularly International Disaster Assistance (IDA) and Migration and
    Refugee Assistance (MRA).
        The International Disaster Assistance account provides flexible
    funding to address the basic needs of people in crisis, such as food,
    water, shelter, and medical care. Migration and Refugee Assistance
    supports refugee and humanitarian aid that provides basic needs of
    displaced people, supports durable solutions to migration and
    displacement, and assists the countries that host them.
        I could point to countless crises affecting countries across the
    globe. However, I want to draw your attention to a crisis that
    transcends borders and affects us all: the hunger crisis. This issue is
    not just a statistic; it is a powerful reminder of our shared humanity
    and the urgent need for collective action.
        Prior to the war in Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza,
    millions of people were being pushed into food insecurity. Now we are
    facing the largest food crisis in modern history. In 2022, 2.4 billion
    people were moderately or severely food insecure.
        With conflict as the biggest driver of hunger, 70% of starving
    people are living in areas affected by war and violence. It is the most
    marginalized among us-women, children, and refugees-who suffer the
    most. Recently, I joined Save the Children on a trip to the Democratic
    Republic of Congo to see first-hand how armed militias, flooding, and
    rising poverty are increasing hunger and malnutrition. Unfortunately,
    current funding levels do not provide enough critical resources for the
    over 9 million people, including 7.2 million displaced, that are
    affected.
        In addition, climate shocks, disrupted supply chains, and high
    fertilizer prices have prevented farmers from accessing markets and
    harvesting crops. This situation is only set to worsen. As the number
    of those in need rises, so do the operational costs and commodity
    prices, escalating the cost of humanitarian response. IDA allows USAID
    to adapt to changing contexts, respond to emerging crises, and promote
    early recovery.
        In FY23, humanitarian resources helped USAID respond to 76 crises
    in 64 countries. To address humanitarian crises in FY25, InterAction
    requests that International Disaster Assistance is funded at $4.8
    billion and that Migration Refugee Assistance is funded at $4.2
    billion.
        The scale of need we are witnessing today underscores a new
    reality. Humanitarian assistance, once designed to address short-term
    emergency responses, now finds itself responding to more human-caused,
    protracted crises. This shift demands a new approach, one that
    recognizes the complexities of our current global landscape.
    InterAction and our Members are committed to working with you toward
    effective solutions to address this reality.
        In conclusion, the challenges we face today are immense: multiple
    global conflicts, a decline in democratic norms, and compounding food
    insecurity. The need for a robust investment in foreign assistance has
    never been greater. We understand the spending pressures and fiscal
    realities facing our Nation, and we know that you must make difficult
    choices.
        However, in this era of global competition, investing in
    development and humanitarian aid pays dividends to the United States in
    terms of security, prosperity, and goodwill.
        As you prepare for FY 2025, it is vital that the United States
    continues to do its part as a global leader, investing in helping
    vulnerable people and communities around the world. Let America's
    actions reflect our dedication to building a safer, more prosperous,
    and more just world for all.
        Thank you.
        [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                                     ______

      Prepared Statement of Interfaith Working Group on Foreign Assistance
        Members of the Committee, I am Dr. Christine Sequenzia, testifying
    on behalf of the Interfaith Working Group on Foreign Assistance. Please
    accept my sincere gratitude for the opportunity to submit written
    testimony advocating for the over 800 million people facing complex
    crises stemming from conflicts, rising costs of living, covid
    implications and climate change worldwide. I want to thank Chairman
    Chris Coons and Ranking Member Lindsey Graham for your unwavering
    commitment to strengthening the United States' role as a leader in both
    humanitarian assistance and international development programs,
    honoring the dignity of all, while building flourishing communities. We
    look forward to continuing to work with you, strengthening bipartisan
    support for emergency and non-emergency development aid delivery.
        Founded in 2013, the Interfaith Working Group on Foreign Assistance
    (IWGFA) is a multifaith coalition of dozens of organizations committed
    to saving lives and advancing the dignity of vulnerable and
    marginalized people around the world. We believe that every human being
    has inherent dignity and should be fulfilled of basic needs such as
    food, clean water, shelter, education, and the right to live freely.
    Through data-driven legislative advocacy in support of robust U.S.
    humanitarian and poverty-focused development assistance, we strive to
    build peace and prosperity in the way we help prevent and respond to
    global crises. As faith-based organizations, we bring together
    Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Sikh and other faith voices,
    standing in solidarity with one another centered around our common
    value of recognizing and upholding our shared humanity.
        As the compounding impacts of food price spikes further exacerbate
    hunger and insecurity, climate change impacts more people, and fall-out
    from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, U.S. government leadership,
    funding and technical assistance is more vital now than ever before.
    House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole approved topline numbers last
    week which would cut the foreign affairs budget to levels unseen in
    well over a decade which would devastate ongoing United States
    humanitarian efforts and draw communities further into famine.
    Conflicts and crises in places such as Israel-Palestine, Ukraine,
    Sudan, and Haiti have intensified over the past year, and innocent
    civilians have been the most victimized--particularly those with less
    ability to express personal agency, like women, children and the
    elderly.
        The Interfaith Working Group on Foreign Assistance has been closely
    monitoring these complex crises leading to hunger and poverty hotspots
    around the world, and would like to highlight the following areas:

      --Sudan--.The violence in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and
            Rapid Support Forces has doubled the number of internally
            displaced persons, which now numbers over 7.2 million, and has
            driven 1.8 million refugees to bordering nations (IOM).
      --Gaza--.The number of people facing catastrophic levels of hunger in
            Gaza has doubled since December, with the northern part of the
            strip already meeting some of the criteria of a full-blown
            famine, according to estimates by food insecurity experts. Over
            1 million people in Gaza are suffering from starvation. (FEWS-
            NET)
      --Democratic Republic of Congo--.In addition to the fighting among
            different armed groups, gender-based violence and sexual
            exploitation is occurring in the DRC on a very large scale.
            There is widespread food insecurity, where 5.5 million people
            are internally displaced and 1.1 million have become refugees
            due to ongoing conflicts, according to UNHCR data.
      --Horn of Africa--.Due to multiple conflicts, the East and Horn of
            Africa and the Great Lakes (EHAGL) region is currently hosting
            4.99 million refugees, and the region has 11.71 million
            internally displaced persons (UNHCR).
      --Yemen--.The ongoing war in Yemen has left 17 million people food
            insecure, and ``3.5 million pregnant/breastfeeding women and
            children under 5 are suffering from acute malnutrition'' (WFP).
      --Ukraine, Haiti, and many other conflict-torn nations and
            territories.

        We urge the U.S. Congress to scale up humanitarian investments in
    these and other highly impacted countries/regions, and to continue to
    fund critical hunger, malnutrition, and poverty-focused programs. While
    representing less than one percent of the Federal budget, these
    programs provide a strong return on investment to the U.S. taxpayer
    because they help promote a healthier, more prosperous, and more stable
    world for everyone. These programs also save lives and work toward
    enabling children to grow up in healthy stable environments.
        Specifically, the IWGFA urges members of the subcommittee to
    prioritize funding in the following appropriations accounts:

      --$ 1.8 billion for Food for Peace (Title II).--Food for Peace Title
            II programs provide emergency and long-term development food
            assistance targeting the most vulnerable populations affected
            by natural disasters, conflicts, and chronic food insecurity,
            while strengthening nutrition, water and sanitation services,
            agricultural productivity, and household income
            diversification. In 2022, USAID provided commodities such as
            wheat, split peas, sorghum, and vegetable oil to feed
            communities affected by the drought in the Horn of Africa, as
            well as ready-to-use supplemental foods (RUSF) and ready-to-use
            therapeutic foods (RUTF) to treat acute malnutrition in
            children. According to food security experts, the scale-up of
            humanitarian assistance-mobilized primarily by the United
            States-was integral in preventing the onset of famine in parts
            of Somalia.
      --$ 265 million for the McGovern-Dole International Food for
            Education Program.--McGovern-Dole provides U.S. agricultural
            commodities as well as financial and technical assistance to
            low-income, food-insecure countries through establishing school
            feeding programs for preschool children, while also increasing
            local access to safe water, improving sanitation, and helping
            local farmers to bolster sustainable production of nutritious
            foods. In 2022, thanks to the McGovern-Dole Program,
            approximately 105,000 children and their families in Sri Lanka
            received protein-rich take-home rations to cover 3 months of
            food needs.
      --$ 920 million for the Maternal and Child Health (MCH)
            Programming.--The MCH account supports programs aimed at ending
            preventable maternal and child deaths through strengthening
            national health systems, treating diarrheal disease, malaria,
            and pneumonia, improving nutrition and access to safe water and
            sanitation services, and providing voluntary family planning
            and immunization support.
      --$ 4.21 billion for the Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA)
            Program.--MRA works to mitigate and resolve conflict-related
            displacement and support humanitarian action and diplomacy for
            displaced populations in highly impacted countries/regions such
            as those mentioned earlier.
      --$ 4.85 billion for the International Disaster Assistance (IDA)
            Program.--IDA provides critical humanitarian assistance to
            civilian populations in response to natural disasters, conflict
            and insecurity, and other sudden-onset emergencies in their
            home or host countries.
      --$ 1.2 billion for Global Food Security Strategy.--Feed the Future
            is a key U.S. government global hunger and food security
            initiative. Currently, 20 countries around the world are
            participating. Feed the Future has helped more than 23 million
            people escape poverty and more than 5 million families live
            free from hunger. Congress reauthorized the program in 2022 and
            provided a moderate increase in funding to $1.2 billion.
      --$ 60 million for the Complex Crises Fund (CCF).--CCF allows the
            U.S. government to prevent and respond rapidly to emerging or
            unforeseen crises in fragile countries at a heightened risk of
            conflict and instability. Since its inception in 2010, CCF has
            provided $340 million to emergent crises in 36 countries,
            allowing for the quick mitigation of crises and ability to
            address unforeseen needs arising outside of planned
            programming.
      --$ 1 billion for the Green Climate Fund.--GCF works in developing
            countries to lower greenhouse gas emissions and build
            resilience, including among smallholder farmers through
            climate-smart agriculture.

        Please find a list of our full requests for each account below:

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Appropriations Account Interests               FY25 Request
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Food for Peace (Title II Funds).......................    $1,800,000,000
    McGovern-Dole.........................................       265,000,000
    USDA MG-D Local and Regional Procurement..............        26,500,000
    Maternal and Child Health (USAID Account).............       920,000,000
    Global Nutrition (USAID Account)......................       172,500,000
    Global Health.........................................     4,638,500,000
    International Disaster Assistance.....................     4,850,000,000
    Development Assistance................................     4,770,000,000
    Global Food Security Strategy.........................     1,200,000,000
    Migration and Refugee Assistance......................     4,210,000,000
    Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance............       100,000,000
    Democracy Fund & Human Rights and Democracy Fund......     2,900,000,000
    Complex Crises Fund...................................        60,000,000
    Green Climate Fund....................................     1,000,000,000
    Economic Support Fund.................................     4,300,000,000
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

        Many of these programs also support human rights, and responsible
    and effective governance, while addressing complex emergencies and
    conflicts. These accounts are key to uplifting the lives of millions in
    poverty and facilitating increased global peace and stability. Any
    proposed cuts will substantially harm the U.S.' ability to help those
    most in need of aid, which will not only roll back decades of progress
    made on these global issues, but also jeopardize U.S. international
    standing, national security, and economic opportunities.
        As faith-based organizations, we stand in solidarity with
    vulnerable and marginalized populations, centered around our shared
    humanity and values to uphold one another's humanity. We strive to
    build peace and prosperity through joint advocacy on U.S. policy and
    programs related to poverty-focused development assistance,
    humanitarian aid and crises prevention and response.
        May God give us all wisdom and guidance at this critical juncture.

        [This statement was submitted by Dr. Christine M. Sequenzia, MDiv.,
    Chair.]
                                     ______

    Prepared Statement of the International Council on Monuments and Sites
                                  (ICOMOS-USA)
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham and members of the
    subcommittee, I appreciate this opportunity to present the
    recommendations for Fiscal Year 2025 State Department appropriations
    from the United States National Committee of the International Council
    on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS-USA). My name is Thomas Cassidy, and I
    am the Advocacy Chair of the organization's Board of Trustees.
        ICOMOS-USA is a privately funded nonprofit organization. As the
    oldest and one of the largest of the 110 National Committees of the
    International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), ICOMOS-USA has
    played a critical role in the conservation and protection of cultural
    heritage sites across the world for over half a century. ICOMOS-USA is
    a proud member of the worldwide ICOMOS alliance and a vital bridge
    linking preservation professionals in the United States with our
    counterparts in other countries. As the only U.S. professional
    preservation organization with a global focus, ICOMOS-USA remains the
    gateway for U.S. professionals to participate in worldwide heritage
    conservation. A principal focus of our domestic work is advocacy on
    behalf of the World Heritage program.
        Thank you for the FY 2024 State and Foreign Operations
    appropriations bill. We were inspired by Chairwoman Patty Murray's
    March 21 statement that the FY24 State and Foreign Appropriations bill
    provides ``$3.4 billion to meet our commitments and fully fund our dues
    to the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations.'' We
    were also pleased to see robust funding for both the State Department's
    Contributions to International Organizations (CIO) and International
    Operations and Programs (IO&P) accounts.
        We support the Administration's FY25 request for increases over
    FY24 enacted for both of these accounts.
        Our principal concern, however, is the United States' continued
    failure to pay its assessed voluntary contribution to the World
    Heritage fund. This despite our rejoining UNESCO last July. In fact,
    the last time the United States honored its commitment to the World
    Heritage Fund was in 2011 when we paid utilizing the IO&P account.
        From our conversations with the State Department, we understand
    that it does not plan to use any FY24 or FY25 CIO funds for payment to
    the World Heritage fund. Given that, we have urged the Department to
    utilize the IO&P account for UNESCO's 2024 assessed contribution of
    $753,989 to the World Heritage Fund.
        We request that the Committee direct the Department, at minimum, to
    pay the 2024 and 2025 assessments from the IO&P account and develop a
    plan to pay the United States' arrearages from the CIO or IO&P accounts
    in the near future. Our best understanding is that the total arrearages
    are about $8,500,000.
                    background on the world heritage program
        The UNESCO adopted the World Heritage Convention in 1972. The
    United States was a prime mover in the creation of the World Heritage
    Convention, which seeks to foster international cooperation to protect
    globally significant sites and was also the first nation to ratify the
    convention. The World Heritage Center is responsible for coordinating
    within UNESCO all matters related to World Heritage, including
    maintenance of the list of World Heritage Sites. The Committee has
    three advisory bodies including the International Council on Monuments
    and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Union for Conservation of
    Nature (IUCN).
        As the professional and scientific adviser to the committee on all
    aspects of cultural heritage, ICOMOS is responsible for the evaluation
    of all nominations of cultural properties made to the World Heritage
    List with the criteria established by the World Heritage Committee.
        The value of the World Heritage Program has been well described by
    the State Department:

            In 1972, the United States proposed the World Heritage
            Convention to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
            Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and was the first state to
            ratify that convention. The World Heritage Program promotes
            local and international cooperation for the preservation of
            natural and cultural heritage. Significantly, it is the most
            widely accepted international conservation treaty in the world,
            which has resulted in the American concept of national parks
            being implemented worldwide.\1\

        Similarly, the State Department has recognized the importance of
    World Heritage in multiple reports and statements. For example, in
    December, 2022 attention was drawn to the Administration's action
    ``withdrawing oil and gas development from the broader Chaco Canyon
    Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.'' \2\ The Department's 2022
    Report on Religions Freedom reported our Embassy in Iraq's announcement
    of ``an additional $750,000 in U.S. funding for the further renovation
    of the Lalish Temple, the holiest Yezidi temple and a UNESCO World
    Heritage Site, bringing total U.S. support to more than $2.3 million.''
    \3\ And the Department in its 2021 report on foreign terrorism cited
    the inhumanity of a terrorist group's destruction of UNESCO World
    Heritage sites in Mali.\4\
        We understand the Department's Office of Cultural Heritage has
    identified over 260 historic structures and properties, including 25 in
    UNESCO World Heritage Sites, in U.S. embassies, consulates, and
    residences worldwide. These buildings have been described as ``the
    stages on which our diplomats advance American ideals of democracy and
    free enterprise around the globe.'' \5\
                   world heritage sites in the united states
        There are 25 World Heritage Sites in the United States, including
    Yellowstone and Mesa Verde National Parks, which were both among the 12
    sites first inscribed in 1978. Other U.S. sites include the Statue of
    Liberty, Chaco Culture, Independence Hall, Hawaii Volcanoes,
    Everglades, and Cahokia Mounds.
        We are pleased that the State Department--and other Federal
    agencies--continue to participate in significant World Heritage
    activities--including traveling to Saudi Arabia for last year's
    celebratory inscription of Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks on the World
    Heritage List. That inscription--like Chaco Culture National Historic
    Park, Taos Pueblo, Monumental Earthworks of Poverty Point, Cahokia
    Mounds State Historic Site, and Mesa Verde National Park- is a powerful
    demonstration of the United States' commitment to the outstanding
    universal value of Indigenous cultures.
        We look forward to this year's expected inscription of the serial
    transnational nomination of Moravian Church Settlement sites in
    Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom, and Germany. And, in
    future years we look forward to successful inscriptions of both the
    Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Serial Nomination of United
    States Civil Rights Movement Sites.
        additional reasons to reengage with the world heritage committee
        ICOMOS-USA believes strongly that continued--and ideally enhanced--
    engagement by the United States with the World Heritage Committee
    requires payment of dues. Quite simply, representatives of state
    parties have openly complained that it is not fair for the U.S. to
    utilize the system, including consulting with the World Heritage
    Committee on details of future designations, without helping to meet
    the costs of the system. Although a number of U.S. nominations have
    been approved by the Committee, we are concerned that other countries
    may look askance at future U.S. nominations, thereby jeopardizing
    acceptance of future U.S. sites when we are not contributing to the
    costs of the World Heritage program.
        This Committee--and the Biden Administration--have recognized for
    several years that engagement with UNESCO would enable the United
    States to counter Chinese influence and promote other national
    interests of the United States. China's involvement in the World
    Heritage program has accelerated as our participation has decreased.
    Among other things, the number of World Heritage Sites in China has
    increased dramatically over the past 20 years, and now includes 57
    sites, the second largest total of sites globally just after Italy's 59
    sites. China is also using the cultural legacy of the Silk Road to
    advance its One Belt, One Road initiative and promote its geo-political
    and economic interests in Asia, Africa, and elsewhere.
        There is also a well-recognized need for the United States to
    broadly counter Russian influence in the international community. We
    were pleased that in 2022 the United States was one of 46 nations to
    join the United Kingdom in urging the World Heritage Committee to not
    hold its scheduled meeting in Russia and stating that the signatories
    would not attend a meeting in any other nation chaired by Russia.
        And last year, the World Heritage Committee, at the request of
    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, utilized its emergency
    procedures to both inscribe the Historic Center of the Port City of
    Odessa on the list of World Heritage and also to include the site on
    the List of World Heritage in Danger. In 2022, we were honored that
    Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Culture and World Heritage joined our
    annual celebration to describe the destruction and challenges of
    preserving her nation's heritage resources. We look forward to engaging
    in international efforts to invest in programs that can preserve and
    reconstruct Ukraine's national heritage and other sites damaged by
    conflict.
        With the increasingly visible interests of the U.S. in the Pacific,
    there is an opportunity to advance four sites on the U.S. Tentative
    List for possible future inscription, including the Pacific Remote
    Islands in U.S. Territorial Waters, as a strategic element of our soft
    diplomacy in the region.
        Paying our annual contribution to the World Heritage Fund should be
    a part of our commitment to promoting our National values on the global
    stage. As we approach the 1-year anniversary of rejoining UNESCO we
    believe strongly this is the time for the United States to once again
    demonstrate its financial commitment to this well-known UNESCO program.
        Thank you for considering our testimony. I would be pleased to
    answer any questions you may have.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ https://2009-2017.state.gov/p/io/unesco/c48319.htm.
        \2\ ``Highlighting U.S. Efforts to Combat the Biodiversity Crisis,
    Fact Sheet,'' Office of the Spokesperson, December 15, 2022; https://
    www.state.gov/highlighting-u-s-efforts-to-combat-the-biodiversity-
    crisis/.
        \3\ ``2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: IRAQ,''
    https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-
    freedom/iraq/.
        \4\ ``Country Reports on Terrorism 2021, Chapter 5, Foreign
    Terrorist Organizations, Africa'' https://www.state.gov/reports/
    country-reports-on-terrorism-2021/.
        \5\ See ``Fund to Conserve United States Diplomatic Treasures
    Abroad,'' https://fundtoconserve.org/program-in-honor-of-preservation-
    month.

                                     ______

                         Prepared Statement of J Street
        Thank you Chairman Chris Coons, Ranking Member Lindsey Graham, and
    the other Members of the subcommittee for the opportunity to offer the
    pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy movement's views on U.S.
    assistance for Fiscal Year 2025 to our ally Israel, the Palestinian
    people and to other partners around the world. This testimony addresses
    provisions of the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs
    (SFOPS) appropriations bill affecting the U.S. Department of State and
    the U.S. Agency on International Development.
        I greatly appreciate how the leaders and Members of this committee
    have worked together for many years, on a bipartisan basis, to ensure
    robust appropriations in each of these areas. These past 8 months have
    been some of the most challenging times for the pro-Israel, pro-peace
    community since the devastating October 7th Hamas attack on Israel, and
    we look to you all to press for strategic support for our allies and
    robust assistance to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
                       meeting aid commitments to israel
        Maintaining a strong, vibrant U.S.-Israel relationship based on
    shared values and goals is a core American interest. U.S. support for
    Israel as a democracy and a national homeland for the Jewish people is
    a historic and crucial commitment. An enduring relationship between the
    United States and Israel promotes common interests in the security,
    economic and strategic spheres.
        American security assistance to Israel, including maintaining
    Israel's defense capabilities, is an important anchor for any viable
    peace process based on providing Israel with the confidence and
    assurance to take steps that would lead to a demilitarized Palestinian
    state next to a secure Israel, fully integrated into the region.
        Nonetheless, U.S. support to Israel--as with U.S. security
    assistance to any country--must be used in compliance with U.S. and
    international law; when inconsistencies or violations arise, they
    should be investigated thoroughly and rectified swiftly to minimize
    harm and preserve the credibility of the U.S. and its partners around
    the world. That is why, especially in light of the Administration's
    NSM-20 report, J Street supports the Administration's measured decision
    to pause certain munition transfers to Israel, in a manner that does
    not undermine Israel's defense capabilities, to signal deep concerns
    over a large-scale operation into Rafah, home to over 1.3 million
    Palestinian refugees.
        With the understanding that this Administration is well positioned
    to make diplomatic decisions to halt certain weapon transfers to
    Israel, as needed, J Street urges the subcommittee to appropriate $3.8
    billion in security assistance for Israel in Fiscal Year 2025 in
    accordance with the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding agreed to under
    President Barack Obama.
    u.s. bilateral assistance benefitting the palestinian people and unrwa
                                    funding
        Just as ensuring the security of Israel is a vital American
    interest, so is restoring and maintaining robust US assistance
    benefiting the Palestinian people through both bilateral aid and the
    United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). J Street therefore
    urges the subcommittee to include in Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations a
    robust funding level for the Migration, Refugee Assistance (MRA)
    account in the amount of no less than $4.5 billion and to allow for the
    immediate resumption of funding to UNRWA, along with no less than $229
    million in Economic Support Funds (ESF) available for assistance for
    the West Bank and Gaza.
        U.S. assistance benefitting the Palestinian people has served as an
    essential component of efforts by previous administrations of both
    parties to enhance security and well-being to Palestinians and Israelis
    alike. The direct relationship between U.S. assistance to Palestinians
    and the security and stability of Israel and its neighbors is
    undeniable, but far from the only reason previous Congresses and
    administrations have consistently provided such aid. U.S. assistance to
    Palestinians is a means of recognizing Palestinians' dignity--their
    standing as individuals and as a people. It is an acknowledgment that
    their suffering is real, and a reiteration of the U.S.' commitment to
    help end the conflict at the root of it.
        Moreover, U.S. assistance benefitting the Palestinian people
    impacts the security not just of Israel, but of the entire immediate
    region. This is especially true when it comes to the region-wide
    operations of UNRWA, to which the United States has typically provided
    around a quarter of the agency's operating budget.
        UNRWA provides vital humanitarian and development services to
    Palestinian civilians, including but not limited to primary and
    vocational education, health care, and emergency relief. UNRWA operates
    not just within the West Bank and Gaza, but in neighboring countries
    which rely upon its efforts to assist millions of Palestinians whom
    they would otherwise be unable to adequately support UNRWA's
    protectees. This includes more than two million Palestinian refugees
    living in Israel's strategic ally Jordan, and nearly half a million
    Palestinian refugees impacted by conflict in Syria.
        We want to see this bipartisan commitment to UNRWA continue. While
    we were deeply disturbed by the allegations of UNRWA employees'
    potential involvement in the horrific October 7th Hamas attack on
    Israel, we were pleased to see UNRWA take immediate remedial steps in
    light of the allegations, and we supported the Biden Administration's
    pause in funding for the agency at the time as the investigations
    proceeded. However, UNRWA plays an unparalleled role in providing
    assistance to Palestinians in Gaza and the Fiscal Year 2024 ban on
    funding for UNRWA included in the appropriations bill threatens to
    undermine the agency at a moment when it is needed the most.
        Last month, a high-level independent report into UNRWA's
    operations, led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna,
    was released, and included findings that UNRWA has robust, well-
    developed internal mechanisms to ensure neutrality and accountability.
    The report also provided additional recommendations as to steps the
    agency should take to ensure its commitment to neutrality and to
    improve operations, and the agency has committed to implementing these
    recommendations.
        We note that even amid the allegations, a senior Israeli official
    recognized the critical necessity of UNRWA's ongoing operations at this
    time, saying, ``If UNRWA ceases operating on the ground, this could
    cause a humanitarian catastrophe.'' The official stated that with no
    other organization capable of fulfilling UNRWA's functions, ``Israel is
    not pushing to shut down UNRWA.''
        Therefore, I reiterate my request to this subcommittee to support
    robust funding for the MRA account and to allow the immediate
    resumption of funding for UNRWA.
        In addition to life-saving support for UNRWA, we urge this
    subcommittee to prioritize funding for initiatives that support
    security, peacebuilding and economic development between Israelis and
    Palestinians. We recommend at least $50 million for the Nita M. Lowey
    Middle East Partnership for Peace Act in Fiscal Year 2025, in light of
    the current crisis, to promote dialogue and reconciliation in the
    region; $33 million for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement
    security coordination in the West Bank and Gaza to address security
    challenges that threaten the well-being of both populations; and $27.2
    million designated for the Middle East Partnership Initiative to
    empower civil society and promote democratic values in the region.
                    foreign assistance & diplomacy worldwide
        The same security, strategic and moral considerations informing our
    support for generous U.S. assistance to Israel and the Palestinian
    people hold true when it comes to U.S. aid and diplomacy around the
    world. J Street therefore urges the subcommittee to ensure robust
    overall funding for global U.S. assistance, State Department personnel
    and operations, financial commitments to multilateral organizations and
    related programs supporting peace and diplomacy.
        U.S. funding for a strong Foreign Service, the United Nations,
    humanitarian assistance and cultural exchange programs worldwide
    significantly impact the ability of the United States to work in
    concert with our allies and the international community on matters of
    immense strategic importance that affect every American and Israeli.
        As we have seen in previous years, diplomacy has the ability to
    deliver significant national security payoffs to the United States at a
    fraction of the cost of military action and without any of the
    attendant human suffering. As Admiral Mike Mullen, former chairman of
    the Joint Chiefs, once stated: ``It is my firm belief that diplomatic
    programs, as part of a coordinated strategy, will save money by
    reducing the likelihood of active military conflict involving U.S.
    forces. The more significant the cuts, the longer military operations
    will take and the more and more lives are at risk.''
        An overwhelming consensus of pro-Israel organizations--including J
    Street--have long argued for robust US assistance worldwide, and
    importantly urged that Israel not be treated as a special case,
    exempted from cuts to foreign aid while programs affecting the rest of
    the world are put under increasing strain. We urge the subcommittee to
    continue expanding generous US assistance to other partners and peoples
    in need, just as it has continued to increase aid to Israel.
        Thank you again for the opportunity to provide our views on Fiscal
    Year 2025 appropriations. I welcome and look forward to answering any
    questions or requests for information that you may have.

        [This statement was submitted by Jeremy Ben-Ami President.]
                                     ______

                Prepared Statement of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
        On behalf of Jesuit Refugee Service/USA (JRS/USA), thank you for
    the opportunity to present our views on the importance of investing in
    refugee assistance programs in the FY25 State & Foreign Operations
    Appropriations bill. Specifically, we urge the subcommittee to oppose
    any cuts to programs that benefit forcibly displaced persons and to
    instead support $4.4 billion for Migration & Refugee Assistance and
    $1.12 billion for the Nita M. Lowey Basic Education Fund, including at
    least $50 million in funding for Education Cannot Wait (ECW).
        We want to extend our sincere thanks to Chairman Coons, Ranking
    Member Graham, and members of the subcommittee for past efforts to
    protect funding for refugee assistance programs and for championing
    access to education especially for refugee and forcibly displaced
    children. In this challenging fiscal environment, bipartisan
    Congressional support that assists those affected by conflict and
    crisis is critical in ensuring that the U.S. remains a leader in
    offering opportunities for those who have been forcibly displaced to
    learn and thrive.
        The number of people forced from their homes due to persecution,
    conflict, and violence reached 114 million in 2023, the highest number
    on record.\1\ U.S. engagement and support for refugee assistance
    programs has a direct impact on the well-being of refugees and other
    displaced people who are often the most marginalized members of
    society. Now more than ever, to promote a world of peace and justice
    where all people can thrive, the U.S. must be a leader in helping those
    who are among the most vulnerable.
        As an organization serving more than 1.5 million refugees and other
    forcibly displaced persons in 58 countries, we at JRS/USA work daily to
    support their needs.\2\ With support from the State Department's Bureau
    for Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), we can provide life-
    saving assistance and help improve their quality of life. As the 5th
    largest PRM NGO grantee, JRS/USA is able to provide access to
    education, livelihoods, and psychosocial support for refugees who
    otherwise would have no place to turn in places like Chad, Ecuador, and
    Iraq.
                         critical funding for refugees
        The Migration & Refugee Assistance account funds lifesaving
    programs and plays a vital role in asserting U.S. leadership and
    national interests around the world. U.S. funding--including support
    for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and faith-based and civil society
    organizations--helps meet the basic needs of displaced persons,
    including access to food, water, shelter, healthcare, and education.
    These programs assist developing countries that host 75 percent of
    refugees as well as countries that have significant internally
    displaced populations.\3\
        For example, Chad currently hosts 1.3 million forcibly displaced
    persons, including more than 550,000 new refugees from Sudan who have
    arrived over the past year due to an eruption of conflict in their home
    country.\4\ As the United Nations designated humanitarian organization
    lead in the education sector in Chad, among other countries, and with
    support from PRM, JRS is providing secondary education to more than
    35,000 refugee students in Chad. But there are currently still an
    estimated 200,000 refugee children who are not enrolled in secondary
    school in Chad. With no end of the conflict in sight, more refugees are
    expected to cross into Chad and the needs of all refugees inside the
    country will only increase as resources are stretched.
        Ecuador is home to one of the largest refugee populations in the
    Western Hemisphere--mainly from neighboring Colombia--and to the
    fourth-largest community of Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Latin
    America.\5\ At the same time, Ecuador is currently experiencing a
    severe period of violence and political instability, including a
    significant escalation in homicide rates, which have nearly doubled
    annually since 2020. This has resulted in an increase in the number of
    Ecuadorians fleeing in search of safety and security. With resources
    from PRM, JRS continues to implement life-saving programming for
    displaced persons in Ecuador as well as Ecuadorians fleeing to
    neighboring countries.
        In Iraq, JRS provides a variety of programs to refugees and other
    forcibly displaced people including Yazidis displaced by the genocide
    in 2014. This specialized support consists of home visits and material
    assistance among other types of aid. JRS runs learning centers that
    provide structured education for children and young people as well as
    skills training for adults. JRS has also made particular efforts to
    provide mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services to
    survivors of the Yazidi genocide. These types of programs would not be
    possible without assistance from donors like the United States.
        Maintaining stable and humane conditions for displaced persons and
    host communities during early onset emergencies and protracted crises
    is critical for ensuring stability and security. Given that we are
    currently facing the worst displacement crisis on record, it is
    essential that support for the Migration & Refugee Assistance account
    is increased to meet the growing needs and remains strong. Not only
    does U.S. leadership on refugee issues send a signal for other
    governments to follow our example, but U.S. support for refugee
    assistance programs has a clear, tangible impact on people's lives,
    helping them contribute to building a peaceful and hope filled world.
                         prioritizing refugee education
        Refugee education is a necessary and critical protection tool. JRS
    is proud to play an important role in educational programming around
    the globe. Providing access to education for refugees and others who
    are forcibly displaced is a vivid example of the impact of U.S.
    investment and engagement. Not only does education offer an important
    form of protection for children, but education is also the key to
    achieving success across the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
    Without it, how can we expect the displaced children of today to
    participate productively in building future peace and stability?
        Yet, of the nearly 15 million school-age refugees, half are not in
    school. Sustained enrollment in school for refugees is also a challenge
    as 38 percent are enrolled in pre-primary school, 65 percent in primary
    school, 41 percent in secondary school, and only six percent at the
    tertiary level.\6\ An even greater number--224 million--conflict-
    affected children lack educational services, denying them their right
    to an education and making them more vulnerable to violence,
    trafficking, child labor, child marriage, and recruitment by armed
    groups.\7\
        In 2021, only 2.9 percent of global humanitarian financing was
    allocated to education.\8\ Through robust funding of global education
    programs, and by ensuring that education is a core part of humanitarian
    assistance, we can ensure that more displaced children are gaining
    access to a quality education and a hopeful future. This includes
    encouraging bilateral donors, multilateral entities, and corporate
    donors to take part in these efforts.
        The U.S. has begun to recognize the importance of investing in
    refugee education in recent years as we witness the impact of conflict
    and crisis on young people. But the need is arguably more important now
    than ever before. Continued and increased support from the U.S.
    Government, as well as multilateral partnerships like Education Cannot
    Wait, play a critical role in helping forcibly displaced people build a
    future for themselves and the communities in which they live.
                             education cannot wait
        Launched in 2016 with the support of civil society organizations
    including JRS/USA, Education Cannot Wait is the first global movement
    and fund dedicated to education in emergencies and protracted crises.
    ECW gathers international humanitarian and development aid actors,
    along with public and private donors, to help reposition education as a
    priority on the humanitarian agenda, usher in a more collaborative
    approach among diverse actors and foster additional funding to ensure
    that every crisis-affected child and young person is in school and
    learning.
        The U.S. government has played a critical role in ECW's
    transformative efforts, contributing over $170 million in financial
    assistance since its inception, including $25 million in annual
    appropriations in FY20, FY21, and FY22; $30 million in FY23; and $30.4
    million in FY24. The U.S. also provides technical support to ECW and
    its partners and plays a leadership role in ECW's governance structure.
    USAID and PRM work together to contribute resources, share leadership
    responsibilities, and ensure that U.S. resources are put to good use.
        To date, ECW has raised $1.6 billion from 23 donors, including the
    private sector.\9\ With both first emergency rapid response and multi-
    year funding platforms, ECW has reached over 8.8 million children and
    youth and trained over 140,000 teachers in 43 crisis-affected
    countries.\10\ ECW-supported programs span a wide spectrum of context-
    specific activities including water and sanitation infrastructure,
    school feeding, mental health and psychosocial support, learning tools
    and materials, school infrastructure, and teacher training and
    incentives. Programs are implemented through UN agencies as well as
    international, national, and local NGOs, including Jesuit Refugee
    Service.
        With the support of ECW funding in Uganda, JRS has been able to
    improve educational facilities for refugee girls enrolled in secondary
    school. This includes building dormitories, separate bathing
    facilities, additional classrooms, and teacher's quarters. These
    investments have enabled girls to study and achieve their goals in a
    safe and productive environment and are critical in Uganda and other
    refugee-hosting communities. Congress must continue to invest in this
    innovative partnership which allows the U.S. to contribute to timely
    and critical programs that make an immediate impact in the lives of
    young people who have been displaced from their homes and their
    schools.
                                   conclusion
        In a world navigating a growing number of crises, how we respond to
    the millions of families and children who have been forced to flee
    their homes impacts not only their future but peace and security around
    the globe. Now is the time to redouble our efforts and demonstrate U.S.
    global humanitarian leadership.
        We thank Congress for its past support for these critical programs,
    including its longstanding commitment to, and support for, UNHCR and
    faith-based and civil society organizations serving refugees in some of
    the most difficult circumstances. We urge the subcommittee to oppose
    any cuts to refugee assistance and to instead include $4.4 billion for
    Migration & Refugee Assistance and $1.12 billion for basic education
    programs, including $50 million in funding for Education Cannot Wait,
    in the FY25 State & Foreign Operations Appropriations bill.
        Thank you again for your time and consideration.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ UNHCR (2024). 2023 Donor Impact Report. https://www.unhcr.org/
    media/2023-donor-impact-report.
        \2\ Jesuit Refugee Service/USA (2022). 2022 Annual Report. https://
    www.jrsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/JRS-AR-2022-Final-
    7.1-Small.pdf.
        \3\ UNHCR (2023). Mid-Year Trends 2023. https://www.unhcr.org/us/
    media/mid-year-trends-2023.
        \4\ UNHCR (2024). Global Focus: Chad. https://reporting.unhcr.org/
    operational/operations/chad.
        \5\ UNHCR (2024). Global Focus: Ecuador. https://
    reporting.unhcr.org/operational/operations/
    ecuador.
        \6\ UNHCR (2023). ``Unlocking Potential: The Right to Education and
    Opportunity.'' https://www.unhcr.org/media/unhcr-education-report-2023-
    unlocking-potential-right-education-and-
    opportunity.
        \7\ Education Cannot Wait (2023). ``Crisis-Affected Children and
    Adolescents in Need of Education Support: New Global Estimates and
    Thematic Deep Dives.'' https://www.educationcannotwait.org/sites/
    default/files/2023-07/f_ecw1022_globalestimates_paper_
    mech2_1.pdf.
        \8\ United Nations Transforming Education Summit (2023).
    ``Education in crisis situations: A commitment to action.'' https://
    www.un.org/en/transforming-education-summit/education-crisis-
    situations.
        \9\ Education Cannot Wait (2024). Contributions by Donor. https://
    www.educationcannotwait.
    org/about-us/our-partners/our-donors.
        \10\ Education Cannot Wait (2024). Main Results Dashboard. https://
    www.educationcannotwait.
    org/impact-results/main-results-dashboard.

        [This statement was submitted by Kelly Ryan, President.]
                                     ______

      Prepared Statement of the Joint Baltic American National Committee,
                                  Inc. (JBANC)
    Dear Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and Members of the
    subcommittee:

        The Joint Baltic American National Committee, Inc. (JBANC),
    representing the Baltic-American community, has worked closely with
    Congress since 1961 to enhance United States policy towards Estonia,
    Latvia, and Lithuania.
        As the subcommittee considers appropriations for the fiscal year
    (FY) 2025, we remain grateful for the unwavering and enduring support
    that the United States has shown to the Baltic countries. Foreign
    Military Financing (FMF) and International Military Training and
    Assistance (IMET) programs for the Baltic countries have remained core
    elements of military assistance for nearly three decades, together with
    more recent, and much-needed Baltic Security Initiative funding. FMF
    funding, which ``enables eligible partner nations to purchase U.S.
    defense articles, services, and training,'' has maintained similar
    investment over recent years. We are pleased that the House report
    language for FMF legislation is at $29.25 million for the Baltic
    countries: $9.75 million each for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. We
    urge the subcommittee to continue to support robust FMF and IMET
    funding for the Baltic countries.
        U.S. security assistance remains critical for Estonia, Latvia, and
    Lithuania in being able to defend against escalating threats from
    Russia. The Baltic American community is especially grateful for
    continued strong language on security assistance to the Baltic
    countries' capability development and hopes the FY25 National Defense
    Authorization Act will reflect the same. All these measures help to
    emphasize the strong connection between the United States and the
    Baltic countries.
        It bears repeating that every Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian
    knows that freedom cannot be taken for granted. Besides their ongoing
    commitment to reach 3% of GDP for defense spending in 2025, the Baltic
    countries have been outstanding in delivering their own stocks of
    weapons and materials to Ukraine to help that country continue to
    defend itself.
        Thank you for the opportunity to make these points to the
    subcommittee, and for your efforts on this important area in
    transatlantic security. We look forward to working with you on this
    issue. If you or your staff have any questions, please contact us.

        [This statement was submitted by Karl Altau, Managing Director.]
                                     ______

                  Prepared Statement of Kiwanis International
        Mr. Chairman, it is an honor to provide testimony to the Committee
    on behalf of more than 430,000 Kiwanis-family members in nearly 16,000
    Kiwanis family clubs, with more than half located within the United
    States. We appreciate the opportunity to provide testimony in support
    of the Kiwanis/UNICEF program to eliminate maternal and neonatal
    tetanus and in support of our work related to iodine deficiency and
    nutrition. We are seeking the support of this Committee to recommend
    $2,000,000 in the fiscal year 2025 bill for maternal and neonatal
    tetanus (MNT) and $3,500,000 for iodine deficiency and iodine
    nutrition. This funding would come from the U.S. Agency for
    International Development's Global Health Programs, Maternal and Child
    Health and Nutrition accounts.
        I am the elected volunteer president of Kiwanis International. I
    have the privilege of serving members in the United States and in more
    than 80 countries around the glove.
                        iodine deficiency and nutrition
        Iodine deficiency is the world's leading cause of preventable
    mental impairment. Iodine deficiency has been kept under control
    through a global movement to iodize edible salt. Funds provided through
    USAID and its public/private partnership with Kiwanis International,
    UNICEF, and the Iodine Global Network are preventing brain damage and
    other adverse outcomes for millions of children.
        Kiwanis International has successfully invested in universal salt
    iodization to virtually eliminate iodine deficiency disorders for two
    decades. In partnership with UNICEF, USAID and several governments,
    global access to iodized table salt increased from less than 20% to 88%
    today. Kiwanis has raised and invested more than $100 million from its
    members and clubs for this effort.
        We ask for your support for $3.5 million in fiscal year 2025 to
    sustain existing iodine deficiency programs and to initiate additional
    programs to address the needs of the few countries that are still at
    risk.
        Iodine, a micronutrient that naturally occurs in some foods, is an
    essential element for normal growth and development in humans. Iodine
    is not synthesized by the body and is required to be provided through
    the daily diet in recommended amounts. It is required for proper
    functioning of the thyroid gland, which in turn regulates many
    biochemical reactions and the proper skeletal and central nervous
    system development in fetuses and infants.
        While many of the disorders resulting from severe iodine deficiency
    in dietary intake have virtually disappeared (e.g. goiter, cretinism,
    stunting, stillbirth), insufficient iodine during pregnancy leads to
    brain damage that can reduce a child's IQ by 8 to 10 points. Even mild-
    to- moderate iodine deficiency at school age can reduce IQ by 3 to 5
    points.
        Thanks to iodized salt, most infants and children of the world have
    had correct brain development. Adequate iodine in the diet during
    pregnancy and until age 5 will greatly improve a child's healthy brain
    development and readiness to learn as he/she enters primary school
    grades. Adequate iodine during early life is critical to children's
    ability to reach their full potential.
        The cost of prevention is small--$.05 a year per individual for a
    lifetime of protection against iodine deficiency. On average, every
    dollar spent on salt iodization yields a $30 return on investment
    through improved learning, which leads to greater productivity in later
    life that boosts economies of the Nations in which these children live.
        Recent developments in food fortification, such as double fortified
    salt (e.g. adding iron, zinc, folic acid), or adding iodized salt to
    rice, flour, maize, tea, bouillon cubes, and condiments, offer
    promising results to extend the efficiency of this very inexpensive
    health intervention.
                         maternal and neonatal tetanus
        For over 13 years, Kiwanis and its members have been working to
    eliminate the deadly disease of maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT).
    Kiwanis launched its global campaign The Eliminate Project in 2010 to
    help save or protect more than 61 million mothers and newborns from
    MNT. Tetanus is a preventable disease that kills one baby every 22
    minutes.
        Participation and funding by the United States are imperative to
    the success of eliminating MNT. In many developing countries, women
    give birth at home without the support of a healthcare worker and
    without a clean, sterile blade to cut the umbilical cord. This, and
    other factors, can lead to tetanus poisoning in the newborn baby,
    causing severe spasms and an excruciatingly painful death.
        It is a terrible disease in which human contact exacerbates the
    baby's pain. A mother's touch hurts, leaving the baby to writhe in
    agony for days until he or she dies.
        MNT results when tetanus spores, which are present in soil
    everywhere, enter the bloodstream. It is mainly caused by a lack of
    access to sanitary birthing conditions, unclean instruments used to cut
    the umbilical cord, and unclean post-partum cord care. MNT is easily
    prevented by a series of vaccine doses to women of childbearing age,
    who pass the immunity on to their children.
        Women who are properly vaccinated with the tetanus vaccine will
    have immunity through most of their childbearing years and their babies
    are protected through the first 2 months of life. . We believe these
    women matter. They deserve to give birth to healthy babies, and their
    babies deserve to achieve their full human potential.
        In partnership with UNICEF, Kiwanis committed to and has raised
    $110 million to immunize women in countries where MNT is still a major
    health threat. More than 6,000 Kiwanis-family members and clubs in the
    United States alone have contributed to the fundraising campaign. We
    are now tackling the hardest leg of a difficult journey.
        Since 2000, MNT has been eliminated in 48 of the 59 at risk
    countries. Between 1999 and 2018, more than 169 million women in some
    of the world's most remote places were vaccinated against tetanus,
    saving thousands of newborns from death due to tetanus every year.
    Eleven countries remain where MNT is still a public health problem.
        In July 2014, USAID announced that it was joining as a partner with
    Kiwanis to help eliminate MNT. Kiwanis has been working in partnership
    with USAID to strengthen its programs on MNT and to provide funding
    through the UNICEF global effort. Kiwanis' global volunteer network and
    strength in reaching communities and leaders, along with UNICEF's field
    staff, technical expertise, and unbeatable supply chain, are working to
    eliminate this cruel, centuries-old disease and pave the way for other
    interventions.
                              support for partners
        We have a highly effective partnership with UNICEF and urge you to
    support UNICEF in its request for a U.S. fiscal year 2025 contribution
    for the UNICEF core resource budget of $175 million. We also support
    funding for the Maternal and Child Health account at a level of $1.15
    billion.
                             a personal experience
        I have been a member of Kiwanis since 1993. As the president of
    Kiwanis, I have had the opportunity to travel and to experience the
    unique cultures in many of these countries.
        I am fortunate enough to work with someone who has benefited from
    the iodine nutrition initiative (our first worldwide service project
    IDD).
        A young man who is now serving in the top leadership role in our
    Asia Pacific region grew up in Nepal and has become passionate about
    Kiwanis because of the funding Kiwanis and others committed to his
    health and the Kiwanis/UNICEF successful effort to eliminate iodine
    deficiency disorders (IDD). IDD was one of the leading causes of mental
    and developmental disabilities in his community.
        UNICEF and its partners have immunized more than 161 million women
    all over the globe, protecting them and their babies, helping to
    eliminate MNT in 48 out of 59 countries at high risk for the disease,
    including the Philippines where Kiwanis has more than 5,000 members.
        Kiwanis is committed to support both of these global health
    initiatives and our members are passionate about this part of the work
    we and they do.
        As a mother and grandmother, I am one of those passionate members.
                                   conclusion
        Mr. Chairman, I ask you to join us in our efforts working to
    eliminate MNT and supporting iodine nutrition. Help continue targeting
    the last countries to be validated for the elimination of MNT and
    protect the lives of hundreds of thousands of children.
        Help us ensure that no baby suffers this excruciating seven-day
    death ever again by recommending $2,000,000 within the Global Health,
    Maternal and Child Health account for the elimination of maternal and
    neonatal tetanus. This funding will help continue targeting the last
    countries to be certified for the elimination of MNT and protect the
    lives of hundreds of thousands of children.
        Funds provided through USAID and its public/private partnership
    with Kiwanis International, UNICEF, and the Iodine Global Network, are
    preventing brain damage and other adverse outcomes for millions of
    children by supporting new and sustaining existing programs to iodize
    salt. USAID funding at the level of $3,500,000 in the Global Health,
    Nutrition account will provide continued funding to keep global
    attention to this permanent intervention and to address the needs of
    the few countries that are still at risk of iodine deficiency
    disorders.
        Thank you for your consideration.

        [This statement was submitted by Katrina Baranko, President.]
                                     ______

                       Prepared Statement of Mercy Corps
    Dear Chairman Coons and Ranking Member Graham,

        As the Vice President for Policy and Advocacy at Mercy Corps, I
    write to express my support for protecting and increasing U.S. foreign
    assistance funding to continue carrying out lifesaving and resilience-
    building work. These investments play a critical role in affirming U.S.
    global leadership and commitment to vital humanitarian and development
    programs.
        The United States' role in the world stands at a critical juncture-
    humanitarian and development needs are rising across the globe,
    democratic gains continue to erode, decades-long progress against
    poverty and disease are backsliding, and competitors that do not share
    American values are gaining influence. Foreign assistance provided by
    the American taxpayer helps maintain global stability, drives economic
    growth at home and abroad, and combats poverty all over the world.
    What's more, foreign aid bolsters America's influence and ideals
    globally-all while delivering at home for the American people. At less
    than 1% of the total Federal budget, U.S. global development and
    humanitarian relief efforts deliver an exceptional return on investment
    in both economic and security terms. At a time of historic suffering,
    it is critical to ensure we maintain U.S. humanitarian leadership and
    don't lose focus on long-term development and resilience priorities
    that help reduce the need for future foreign assistance and limit the
    probability of conflict and insecurity.
        Mercy Corps is a multi-mandate international NGO that provides
    humanitarian aid, development, and peace assistance in more than 40
    countries around the world. We partner to put bold solutions into
    action-helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger
    communities from within. Mercy Corps supports communities--and the most
    marginalized within them--to emerge from crises and build towards a
    more inclusive, resilient future. Mercy Corps is a leader in the
    humanitarian and development NGO space and a major implementing partner
    for both USAID and the Department of State.
        Despite global efforts to address growing food insecurity,
    conflict, instability and worsening climate shocks, in 2024, 302
    million people are expected to need humanitarian assistance across 73
    countries; needs driven by conflict, extreme weather events, and
    economic volatility. By the end of 2023, more than 333 million people
    were facing acute levels of food insecurity and as many as 783 million
    people were facing chronic hunger. And by mid-2023, more than 1 in 73
    people worldwide remained forcibly displaced, with 88 percent of them
    in low- and middle-income countries.
        These challenges have driven an increase in attention and resources
    to humanitarian response. The inclusion of humanitarian funding in the
    recently passed national security supplemental package serves as a
    vital example to U.S. partners that more can and must be done to
    address the rapid increase in needs the world has seen over the last
    several years. Thank you for your consistent commitment and support for
    humanitarian programs throughout the supplemental process. The
    inclusion of humanitarian assistance in the supplemental would not have
    been possible without your persistent championing of those efforts.
        However, it is critical that humanitarian assistance is partnered
    with prioritization of systemic long term development investments and
    vital resilience-building work. In FY24, despite strong Senate support,
    cuts to the two primary development accounts--Development Assistance
    and the Economic Support Fund--could further exacerbate humanitarian
    needs, disrupt livelihood development, weaken market systems, and
    contribute to worsening displacement and food insecurity in many parts
    of the world. Continued Senate leadership and defense of development
    and resilience building programs remains critical.
        In FY2025, Mercy Corps urges the U.S. Congress to support the
    following humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding accounts in the
    State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPs), to enable
    further life-saving humanitarian work and increase resources devoted to
    long-term resilience building efforts. Many of our recommended funding
    levels are consistent with Senate FY24 levels.

      --International Disaster Assistance (IDA) must be funded at no less
            than $4.85 billion to meet growing humanitarian needs. The IDA
            account provides critical humanitarian assistance to civilian
            populations in response to natural disasters, conflict and
            insecurity, and other sudden-onset emergencies. IDA-funded
            programming, overseen by USAID BHA, includes emergency food
            assistance, nutrition, shelter, safety and protection, water/
            sanitation/hygiene (WASH), health, logistics, coordination, and
            livelihoods support. Funds also support investments that
            promote early recovery, build resilience, and reduce risk in
            communities vulnerable to recurrent humanitarian crises. As
            complex conflicts and climate-related disasters increase in
            frequency, severity, and duration, rising operational costs and
            commodity prices coupled with high inflation are increasing the
            cost of humanitarian responses. The IDA account allows for the
            flexibility needed to adjust to changing contexts and use the
            right tools in the right place at the right time based on
            needs. Efforts to condition or add directives to humanitarian
            assistance undermines the effectiveness and limits the impact
            of programs.
          -- Program Example.--The Mercy Corps-led VenEsperanza program in
                Colombia, funded by USAID/BHA, delivers food assistance and
                complementary nutrition support to vulnerable Venezuelan
                migrants, Colombian returnees, and host community members.
                VenEsperanza also supports participants to transition from
                a State of emergency to more secure and sustainable
                economic and social integration in Colombia through
                household financial management skill building,
                entrepreneurship training, savings groups establishment and
                access, and employability skill-building.
      --The Development Assistance (DA) account must be funded at no less
            than $4.769 billion to scale up critical resilience-building
            work. DA focuses on poverty reduction and promotes the
            development of self-reliant, resilient, and democratic
            societies. It supports programming that helps countries and
            communities accelerate and sustain inclusive economic growth;
            address chronic poverty; fight hunger and malnutrition; prepare
            for and adapt to climate change; address root causes of
            migration; improve education; increase access to WASH; and
            promote water security. Investing in the adaptability and
            economic self-reliance of vulnerable communities--especially
            those prone to conflict and extreme weather-driven crises--is
            vital to preventing the need for costlier humanitarian
            interventions later.
        --Program Example.--The Mercy Corps-led, USAID-funded Small Town
                WASH program is a 5-year, $13mn program designed to
                facilitate the economic recovery of select crisis-affected
                communities in northeastern Nigeria through (1) the
                rehabilitation and creation of new WASH infrastructure such
                as piping systems and reticulations, water collection
                points, and water kiosks, as well as safe restroom
                facilities; and (2) strengthening the capacity of local
                institutions to sustainably manage and govern them well
                after Mercy Corps' program has finished.
      --The Economic Support Fund (ESF) must be funded at no less than
            $4.026 billion to meet economic development needs in countries
            of strategic U.S. interest. ESF is a critical account which
            supports development and economic assistance, particularly to
            countries of strategic importance to the U.S., to meet near-
            and long-term political, economic, development, and security
            needs. ESF funds are available to protect human rights and
            freedom of the press, combat human trafficking and corruption,
            address shared global challenges like food insecurity and
            energy security, advance democracy and good governance, and
            spur economic growth. The ESF account also has a broad mandate
            to support private sector engagement and to address the threats
            caused by the climate crisis.
        --Program Example.--The Mercy Corps-led Informal Livelihoods
                Advancement Activity in Jordan is a USAID-funded activity
                aiming to support Jordanian micro and small enterprises
                (MSEs) to grow, transform, and become resilient to future
                shocks. Its main objective is to sustainably increase
                revenues and sustain job creation among MSEs and formal and
                informal home-based businesses, focused on four economic
                sectors: tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, and services.
      --Feed the Future (FTF) must be funded at no less than $1.2 billion
            to curb rampant global food insecurity. FTF, America's flagship
            global food security initiative, is of vital importance to U.S.
            development and food security policy. FTF programs are active
            in 20 countries and support country-driven approaches to
            improving food security and building communities' resilience to
            shocks, including through agriculture development, nutrition,
            and resilience programs, as well as research and technical
            assistance. Given that food insecurity can be a major
            contributing factor to societal unrest, government instability,
            and conflict, investing in FTF supports U.S. security and
            national interests.
        --Program Example.--The Mercy Corps-led Resilience in Pastoral
                Areas--North program in Ethiopia (USAID/REFS-funded) is a
                multifaceted program that aims to improve the resilience
                capacities of drought-affected households, markets, and
                governance institutions in the lowland areas to contribute
                to enhanced food security, inclusive economic growth, and
                improved sustainable delivery of nutrition services. It
                deploys a market systems development approach to support
                intensified and sustained pastoral and agro-pastoral
                production and marketing, and to provide diversified and
                sustainable economic opportunities for people transitioning
                out of pastoralism. RIPA-North has also been layered with
                three crisis modifiers during the prolonged drought in East
                Africa to help communities cope during emergencies and
                sustain development gains.
      --The Complex Crises Fund (CCF) must be funded at no less than $60
            million in order to maintain peaceful outcomes in fragile
            contexts. CCF provides resources for preventing and responding
            rapidly to emerging or unforeseen crises in fragile countries
            at a heightened risk of instability. Managed by USAID CPS, it
            provides global, flexible funding, enabling the U.S. to respond
            outside of planned programming. CCF funds prevent conflict and
            respond to unanticipated opportunities to build peace and
            advance democratic progress in fragile contexts. USAID has
            utilized CCF in 36 countries to date.
        --Program Example.--The Mercy Corps-led, USAID-funded Securing
                Peace and Promoting Prosperity program ran from 2017-2023
                in the Karamoja region of Uganda, focused on addressing
                governance, economic, social, and ecological issues that
                risked igniting conflicts. It brought together deeply
                divided communities, paved the way for sustainable and
                equitable land and water management practices to take
                place, promoted collective trauma healing, and reduced
                social tensions. In places affected by fragility and
                conflict, peace and governance interventions are the first
                step in creating an enabling environment that supports
                climate adaptation.
      --The Prevention and Stabilization Fund (PSF) must be funded at no
            less than $200 million to enable the successful implementation
            of the Global Fragility Act (GFA). PSF aims to avert violence,
            stabilize conflict-affected areas, and address the root causes
            of global fragility. Funding supports context specific efforts
            to strengthen social cohesion, combat corruption, protect human
            rights, promote conflict reduction and reconciliation, engage
            private-sector actors in peacebuilding, and reinforce critical
            governance reforms, transitional justice, as well as enable
            international coordination and monitoring evaluation and
            learning. It is critical to the success of the GFA as it funds
            the development of a number of areas contributing to stability,
            including justice sector reform, women and youth empowerment,
            and accountable service delivery. Appropriating the $200
            million authorized by the GFA in FY25 will help ensure the
            successful implementation of this law and provide funding to
            help ``look upstream'' to address fragility factors before they
            significantly impact their countries' future.

        America stands at a critical juncture. The world is grappling with
    escalating conflicts, resulting in devastating consequences. Increasing
    hunger, disease, migration, and water scarcity--compounded by severe
    and changing weather patterns--leave a trail of destruction and
    threaten to upend international stability. Continued Senate leadership
    and championship of humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding
    programs is more essential than ever. Sustained investments in U.S.
    foreign assistance are a crucial component of global leadership,
    bolstering decades of work done to make the world a safer, more
    prosperous place with less disease and poverty.

        [This statement was submitted by Kate Phillips-Barrasso, Vice
    President for Policy and Advocacy.]
                                     ______

              Prepared Statement of the Millennium Water Alliance
    Dear Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and Honorable Members of
    the subcommittee:

        We write in support of funding of not less than $500 million in
    Fiscal Year 2025 for water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WSSH)
    programs administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development
    under the Sen. Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005 (Public Law
    109-121), as amended by the 2014 Water for the World Act (Public Law
    113-209).
        This amount reflects our estimate of the need for U.S. assistance
    in the High-Priority Countries designated by USAID last year pursuant
    to the Water for the World Act, enacted 10 years ago, combined with an
    assessment of the capacity of USAID missions to process such funds .for
    effective catalytic programming consistent with the U.S. Government's
    Global Water Strategy, also required under the Water for the World Act
    of 2014.
        We fully understand the pressures created by budget caps, reflected
    in last year's cut of nearly $21 million from the FY 2023 enacted level
    of $475 million. Since FY 2024 was enacted only recently, we do not
    know how USAID will specifically distribute this reduction in WSSH
    programming in the field.
        As you know, from FY 2021 through FY 2023, Congress annually
    enacted $475 million for this programming. We acknowledge again with
    gratitude the recommendations of your subcommittee for $475 million and
    up to $500 million over those fiscal years, which recognized the need
    for significant increase in post-COVID situations in the poorest
    countries.
        USAID in 2020 applied to water and sanitation programming
    relatively little of the 2020 emergency supplemental COVID funding.
    Many of our 21 members now work with USAID missions in critical
    priority countries with more programs with healthcare facilities, and
    coordination with other partners on health systems strengthening, and
    intensive hygiene education.
        Poor sanitation amplifies the channels for many infectious
    diseases, some of which can be reduced or eliminated with better
    sanitation practices and very basic systems. Poor sanitation has a
    massive impact on the environment, endangers safe food supplies, and in
    particular affects children's health.\1\ Still, each year, more than
    297,000 children under five die from diarrheal diseases, which could be
    prevented by improved water, sanitation, and hygiene.\2\
        Now, as then, a strong investment in WSSH helps to safeguard U.S.
    strategic interests. Improved WSSH can help prevent pandemic disease
    and build resilient health care systems.
        The requested increase over the FY 2024 appropriation would:

      --Resume the work begun by missions in concert with NGOs and others
            to expand the USAID partnership with the private sector in many
            target countries, where all participants in USAID programs
            increasingly look to private and public sector partnership to
            advance the immediate work as well as build locally-owned
            systems and financing plans to maintain WSSH access long after
            the catalytic USAID grant or contract has completed.
      --Contribute to efforts to provide WSSH in healthcare facilities,
            prevent infectious disease outbreaks, and help end the
            transmission of cholera and Neglected Tropical Diseases.
      --Assist USAID in much-needed data collection and analysis to
            increase program efficiency and provide the tools needed for
            even longer-term sustainable infrastructure and governance in
            the field, essential in building systems to reduce the impact
            of future epidemics.

        The history of leadership of this subcommittee has been essential
    to the progress made since passage of the 2005 water for the Poor Act.
    On behalf of our implementing and donor partners that work in more than
    90 countries around the world to alleviate poverty, build democracy,
    and represent the best of America to hundreds of thousands of grateful
    people, we thank you.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ WASHData.org May 2021.
        \2\ https://www.unwater.org/water-facts/water-sanitation-and-
    hygiene/.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                         The Millennium Water Alliance

         Acacia Water  CARE  Catholic Relief Services

    Center for Affordable Water & Sanitation Technology  Chemonics

    Desert Research Institute  Eastern Congo Initiative
                              Food for the Hungry

           Global Water Center  HELVETAS  IRC WASH

      Living Water International  Mortenson Center-University of
                                Colorado Boulder

    Save the Children  Splash  WaterAid America
                   The Water Project  Water Mission

                World Resources Institute  World Vision

        [This statement was submitted by John D. Sparks, Director of
    Advocacy & Communications.]
                                     ______

          Prepared Statement of Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network
    Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and Members of the subcommittee:

        Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony on behalf
    of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) regarding aid
    effectiveness items for the fiscal year 2025 (FY25) appropriations
    bill. Thank you also for the bipartisan leadership of this subcommittee
    over the years in ensuring America's global engagement and championing
    investments in the array of programs that are vital to fostering a more
    secure, just, and prosperous world.
        MFAN is a bipartisan reform coalition created in 2008 to support
    more effective and more accountable U.S. foreign assistance that
    advances American interests, delivering greater results for people in
    need and U.S. taxpayers. Our priorities include:

      --Continuing to elevate development as a distinct arm of American
            global engagement;
      --Supporting evidence-based development programs, building on
            accountability and principles of monitoring, evaluation, and
            learning;
      --Building and expanding the U.S. Government's (USG) partnerships
            with new and diverse stakeholders, including national and local
            actors;
      --Boosting financing for development, including through greater
            partnership with the private sector;
      --Utilizing new and innovative approaches to development; and
      --Improving coordination and collaboration among all USG agencies
            involved in foreign assistance, including USAID, the State
            Department, the MCC, and the U.S. International Development
            Finance Corporation (DFC).

        Thanks in large part to the bipartisan work of this subcommittee,
    significant progress has been made in recent years in helping to ensure
    U.S. aid dollars are used in the most effective way possible to prevent
    disease, save lives, and unlock opportunities for economic growth. From
    the life-saving work of PEPFAR to mobilizing greater private sector
    financing through the DFC, there is much to be proud of in the advances
    in aid effectiveness. That said, much more remains to be done, and MFAN
    therefore urges the subcommittee to support the following in the FY25
    appropriations bill:

      --Agency Transparency and Reporting.--Directing USG foreign
            assistance agencies to comply with the quarterly publication
            requirements of the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability
            Act.
      --USAID Operations.--Supporting no less than the Administration's
            request of $1.86 billion for the Operating Expenses (OE)
            account and the creation of an Acquisition and Assistance (A&A)
            Working Capital Fund.
      --USAID: Locally Led Development.--USAID reporting directives
            detailing the agency's progress in advancing locally led
            development and the agency's work on Domestic Resource
            Mobilization.
      --USAID: Reducing Bureaucratic Barriers.--USAID reporting on how its
            Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Modernize, Burden Reduction
            Program (BRP), EDGE Fund awards, and Localization policy are
            being integrated and are leading to better development
            outcomes.
      --USAID: Evidence & Innovation.--Directing USAID to further integrate
            existing cost-effectiveness evidence into activity design
            guidance and practice and to use procurement approaches that
            are open to the ideas of the private sector, social enterprise,
            and non-profit community.
      --DFC and MCC Administrative Expenses.--Ensuring these costs keep
            pace with programming increases.
      --Flexible Funding.--Modestly increasing the Executive branch's
            deviation authority from sector directives included in the bill
            and report tables.

        Below we summarize the need for the inclusion of these provisions.
    Additional details are included in our full list of FY25
    recommendations submitted to the subcommittee.
                       agency transparency and reporting
        Good information is key to ensuring that U.S. foreign assistance
    maximizes accountability and sustainable impact. The Foreign Aid
    Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016 (FATAA) requires agencies
    involved in implementing U.S. foreign assistance to publish
    ``comprehensive, timely, and comparable'' project level information on
    ForeignAssistance.gov on a quarterly basis. It also requires agencies
    to monitor and evaluate their programs and to publicly report all
    evaluations. Not all agencies are complying with the quarterly
    publication requirements of FATAA, however, which negatively impacts
    the ability of agencies to make policies and programming decisions
    based on transparent facts and evidence. We encourage the subcommittee
    to ensure all agencies come into compliance with these requirements and
    provide a plan for avoiding reporting delays in the future.
                               usaid--operations
        Robust funding for USAID's OE account is essential for aid
    effectiveness and supports agency efforts to drive innovation, attract
    and retain skilled development talent, oversee program implementation,
    improve transparency and accountability, evaluate results, and apply a
    strong learning agenda for future programming. USAID, however, has
    inadequate staffing levels to effectively manage its current workload,
    much less meet the unprecedented demands placed on it from record
    levels of procurements. USAID contracting officers manage more than
    four times the workload of their contracting counterparts at the
    Department of Defense. This is not a recipe for aid effectiveness. We
    urge the subcommittee to support the President's request for the OE
    account so that the agency can address these personnel shortages. We
    also strongly support USAID's proposal to create an Acquisition and
    Assistance (A&A) Working Capital Fund; authority for the Fund would be
    a critical step in addressing USAID's Contracting Officer staffing
    shortage. Lastly, we note that USAID lacks adequately skilled staff to
    deliver on the promise of more robust partnering with the private
    sector. Enhancing the private sector and business development
    experience of its staff, including in the recruitment process, must be
    prioritized.
                         usaid--locally led development
        Locally led development, also known as community-led-development or
    country ownership, is generally a more effective and sustainable way to
    deliver aid. That is because it helps accelerate country transitions
    from aid to broader forms of partnership with the United States--and
    greater self-reliance. Recent (FY22-24) State-Foreign Operations bill
    reports have included important directives for USAID to report on its
    progress in advancing locally led development. We urge the continuation
    of these directives, including reporting on how USAID ensures its local
    funding methodology does not include funding international
    organizations as part of tracking progress toward Administrator Power's
    goal to direct 25 percent of development funds to local entities by
    FY25. Also, building on report language included in prior years'
    appropriations bills, we encourage the subcommittee to request a report
    from USAID detailing the agency's work to develop and implement a
    Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM) strategy. With the demands on U.S.
    foreign assistance programs at exceptionally high levels, assisting
    recipient countries build the capacity to invest and manage more of
    their own resources to improve their citizens' health, education, and
    economic well-being is a vital longer-term investment. Successful
    models for DRM exist in the work of institutions such as the Global
    Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which outlines specific
    requirements and expectations for countries regarding domestic
    financing and resource mobilization as part of its sustainability,
    transition, and co-financing policies.
                         usaid--barriers to partnership
        We commend USAID for its efforts to institute reforms and reduce
    bureaucratic barriers, including its locally led development work.
    Notably, the Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Modernize and Burden
    Reduction Program (BRP) initiatives represent important efforts to
    expand the agency's partnerships with new and diverse stakeholders,
    including national and local actors and the private sector, which are
    central to achieving more sustainable impact and spurring long-term
    self-reliance. However, the degree to which the work of PSE Modernize,
    the BRP, awards by the EDGE Fund, and the agency's Localization policy
    are being integrated and are leading to better development outcomes is
    unclear. We encourage the subcommittee to seek reporting from the
    agency on this matter.
                usaid--evidence-based procurement and innovation
        Over successive administrations, USAID has increased its commitment
    to the use of rigorous evidence--in line with the FATAA and the
    Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act. The use of cost-
    effectiveness evidence--understanding the impact per dollar of a
    proposed program--is key to achieving results and maximizing the
    programs' ROI. Benchmarking proposed interventions against the cost-
    effectiveness of interventions known to be effective promotes good
    stewardship of taxpayer funds and provides the Agency with critical
    information about whether and how foreign assistance is achieving its
    stated objectives. Therefore, we encourage the subcommittee to direct
    the Agency to further integrate existing cost-effectiveness evidence
    into activity design guidance and practice and to conduct additional
    benchmarking activity. We also encourage USAID to regularly use
    procurement approaches that are open to the ideas of the private
    sector, social enterprise, and non-profit community. In doing so, USAID
    is more likely to identify cost-effective solutions to the development
    problems it seeks to address.
        funding for the millennium challenge corporation (mcc) and u.s.
              international development finance corporation (dfc)
        The DFC and MCC play invaluable roles in fostering economic growth
    and poverty reduction. To ensure their work is maximized, it's
    important that their administrative costs keep pace with rising
    programmatic activity. MFAN is pleased the final FY24 agreement
    rejected the House's cuts to the agency's administrative expenses and
    instead increased funding; we urge the same for FY25. In addition,
    while we recognize--due to the significant constraints on the
    subcommittee's 302(b) allocation--the temptation to tap previously
    appropriated MCC funds as a source of ``new'' funding for the bill, we
    oppose the rescission of previously appropriated MCC funds. The
    decision to rescind funding 3 years in a row, including $475 million in
    FY24, is a worrying trend that risks undermining the MCC's unique
    operations model. Ensuring the agency can deliver on its commitments
    requires careful pre-planning and partner country commitments, both of
    which depend on resources being set aside in advance.
                                flexible funding
        Lastly, for many years, this subcommittee has maintained the
    practice of including funding directives in the State-Foreign
    Operations Appropriations bills that reflect congressional priorities
    on how these resources should be spent. While it is the prerogative of
    lawmakers to direct, oversee, and require accountability of taxpayer's
    money, the number of directives and the mandatory nature of them has
    grown considerably in the past two decades. These directives limit
    agencies' ability to respond to rapidly changing circumstances and
    pivot to opportunities that advance American national interests. For
    these reasons, MFAN advocates for more flexible foreign aid funding
    mechanisms on the part of Congress that are paired with appropriate and
    timely accountability on the part of the executive branch. We are
    pleased that Congress supported more flexible foreign aid funding in
    the FY23 bill by expanding the 10 percent deviation authority beyond
    the committee's tables. For FY25, we recommend additional adjustments
    to Sections 7019 and 7060(h) to modestly expand the executive branch's
    deviation authority. While these modest changes for FY25 would enhance
    efforts to instill more flexibility in exchange for greater
    accountability, other options are available to consider for current and
    future appropriations. These could include lessons learned from the
    relatively flexible funding Congress appropriates for PEPFAR and the
    MCC.
        Thank you again for this opportunity to present our recommendations
    for the FY25 State and Foreign Operations Appropriation bill and for
    considering these requests.

        [This statement was submitted by Les Munson, Larry Nowels, and Ritu
    Sharma, Co-Chairs.]
                                     ______

             Prepared Statement of National Center for State Courts
        Thank you, Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and distinguished
    Members of the subcommittee for the opportunity for the National Center
    for State Courts (NCSC) to testify on the importance of the rule of law
    and the vital role that courts and other justice sector institutions
    play in upholding democratic principles and safeguarding democracy
    across the globe, along with protecting the United States' national
    interests. NCSC, in association with the Conference of Chief Justices
    (CCJ) and Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA), urges this
    subcommittee--in its FY25 State, Foreign Operations bill--to continue
    and expand efforts carried out by the Bureau of International Narcotics
    and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) within the U.S. Department of State
    and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to strengthen
    democracy and the rule of law across the world through judicial reform
    programs.
        More than 50 years ago, U.S. court leaders founded NCSC with the
    mission of leading and supporting State courts and courts around the
    world in improving the administration of justice services in the midst
    of evolving challenges that have impacted justice systems. We support
    courts through providing evidence-based research, identifying and
    promoting best practices and programs, providing consulting services to
    courts and justice system partners, and enhancing the professionalism
    of courts through education programs. NCSC assists U.S. State courts
    that handle 97% of all cases filed in the country, including cases
    presenting important Federal claims, and we also support U.S.
    international development and security interests through federally
    funded programs that promote the rule of law and democratic principles
    in developing countries.
        NCSC is the only organization that emphasizes collaborative
    relationships with the CCJ, COSCA, and other associations of judicial
    leaders. Through doing so, we hold unique perspectives on the most
    pressing challenges and opportunities facing courts and the people they
    serve. NCSC and our partner organizations are deeply committed to the
    goal of improving lives through justice system reform, working toward
    ensuring political stability, social harmony, and economic prosperity.
        NCSC has worked with many bureaus within the Department of State
    and with USAID over the last 30 years to implement over 100 rule-of-law
    programs. These programs strive to build and strengthen democracy
    abroad; protect vital U.S. domestic interests; combat authoritarianism
    and disinformation; counter corruption, organized crime, and terrorism;
    and promote human rights and justice, particularly for marginalized and
    vulnerable groups. Currently, we implement rule of law programs in more
    than 30 countries, and our justice partners in developing countries can
    attest to the substantial impacts of U.S.-funded rule of law programs
    abroad--building stronger justice systems and developing local
    professional capacity to create helpful and sustainable judicial
    reforms. Through strengthening local capacity building, U.S. assistance
    programs stand out in the global donor community as smart, results-
    oriented investments that create sustainable impacts.
        We are in strong support of Federal programs that are essential to
    promoting and strengthening the rule of law across the globe. We
    specifically request that the programs outlined below be continued,
    enhanced, and funded at the highest possible levels in FY25 in order to
    advance the administration of justice internationally and to provide
    support to partner countries in doing so:

      --The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
            (INL), which uses a broad set of tools to fight crime, illegal
            drugs, and instability abroad. These include foreign
            assistance, bilateral diplomacy, multilateral engagement, and
            other tools that foster cooperation between international drug
            control and cross-border law enforcement. Currently, NCSC
            partners with INL in over 30 countries in Africa, Asia, the
            Caribbean, the Middle East/North Africa (MENA), Europe, and
            South America to implement programs around sustaining the rule
            of law, justice education, drug courts, law enforcement
            support, and prosecutorial training. Funding for the
            International Narcotics Control & Law Enforcement line under
            Foreign Operations is critically important to continuing and
            expanding these vital programs that further a wide range of
            U.S. global interests.
      --The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which works
            with NCSC in Central America to implement the Justice Human
            Rights and Security Strengthening Activity project. This
            program aims to enhance citizen engagement with the security
            and justice sectors, increase the efficiency of judicial
            systems, and improve the effectiveness of community police
            working with local partners and communities.

        These investments are particularly critical today, given active
    threats to democratic governance in countries around the world, which
    threaten the peace and prosperity of the U.S. and our allies. We see
    these threats through disinformation that spreads mistrust in the
    legitimacy of elections, through barriers to access to justice that
    diminish trust in institutions, and through corruption that finances
    cross-border criminal and terrorist organizations. Programs that
    maintain government integrity, accountability, ethics, and judicial
    independence are necessary to prevent, detect, and punish malign actors
    who make such threats to democracy.
        Investments in rule of law programs allow the U.S. to further
    systems where no one is above the law and where there is equal justice
    under the law, ultimately bolstering the capabilities of foreign
    judicial systems to check authoritarianism and arbitrary rule. When
    judicial systems are strong and well-functioning, they can help counter
    state-sponsored terrorism, build regional security, mitigate government
    corruption, reduce refugee migrations that can affect American borders,
    strengthen the public's trust in governing institutions, and prevent
    illegitimate regimes from gaining power through undemocratic means.
        NCSC is grateful to collaborate with the State Department on
    initiatives that promote the rule of law across the globe, including
    the following activities and milestones made possible through critical
    Federal funding:

      --In Morocco, NCSC works with counterparts at the Moroccan Ministry
            of Justice and Prison Administration and civil society
            organizations to improve outcomes for youth detainees by
            evaluating detention conditions; promoting juvenile justice
            reforms; and supporting interagency coordination, referral
            networks, and service delivery.
      --In Tunisia, NCSC works with the Ministry of Justice to advance
            justice sector digital transformation and interoperability in
            line with the National Digital Tunisia Strategy, and also
            supports civil society actors to improve legal awareness and
            access to justice.
      --In Lebanon, NCSC works with key judiciary counterparts to improve
            case processing efficiency and retrieval of past case records.
            By the end of 2023, more than 135,000 case files had been
            physically reorganized and refiled according to new protocols
            designed with NCSC assistance.
      --In Mongolia, NCSC is currently exploring ways to support the
            country's growing democracy and market economy by helping
            strengthen its judicial discipline system, its judicial
            education programs, and its judicial administration capacities.
      --In Bangladesh, NCSC is working with local justice sector
            institutions to strengthen the rule of law and expand access to
            legal aid services. In 2023, NCSC's assistance enabled target
            courts to dispose of more cases than they received for the
            first time since program inception in 2018.
      --In Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova, NCSC is working with law
            faculties and the justice practitioner community on legal
            education reform, introducing practice-based learning inside
            and outside the classroom so that law students are prepared to
            enter the legal profession with the requisite skills to work
            ethically as judges, prosecutors, and lawyers--a generational
            strategy to fight corruption.
      --In North Macedonia, NCSC organized a Continuing Legal Education
            (CLE) program to strengthen the country's Bar Association and
            its capacity to design, implement, and maintain a functioning
            CLE program for defense attorneys.
      --Across the globe, NCSC conducts research on the impact of
            anticorruption assistance approaches in countering justice
            sector corruption and money laundering, and identifies best
            practices and lessons learned for effective and responsive
            programming. NCSC also created a four-modules educational
            program for INL to train international criminal justice actors
            on identifying personal and institutional risks that give rise
            to bias and discrimination in a justice system.

        Our International Visitors Education Program is also an important
    part of our efforts to promote justice system reform and to share our
    American values. In 2023, NCSC delivered a seven-week educational
    program in the U.S. for judges from Indonesia.
        In addition, NCSC continues to support other countries in
    modernizing judicial systems and improving court administration. We
    work to find affordable and innovative technology solutions to help
    courts, law schools, and other justice institutions carry out their
    mandates and improve institutional performance. One such solution is
    our cloud-based portal, which supports the testing and development of
    court case management software for judiciaries in Africa, the
    Caribbean, and South America. NCSC is partnering with the judiciaries
    of Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Guyana, Namibia, Argentina,
    and Jersey to automate their court systems and thus increase efficiency
    and transparency. Our CourTools(c) performance measurement system and
    court excellence frameworks have been adapted in other countries,
    including Kosovo, for local leaders to assess how court systems are
    functioning and to share court performance information with the public.
        The U.S.-funded projects that NCSC implements have been successful
    in promoting the rule of law worldwide. By doing so, these projects
    help support governments in every region of the world with building
    stable civil societies rooted in law, tackling corruption, and
    ultimately ensuring just outcomes. By supporting rule of law programs
    around the world, the U.S. demonstrates our Nation's fervent commitment
    to protecting and promoting the rights of all people and to upholding
    democracy in every corner of the globe. These programs are vital to
    achieving our policy objectives internationally and protecting our
    National security and economic interests domestically. On behalf of
    NCSC, I urge this subcommittee to continue supporting and expanding
    efforts to promote the rule of law in its FY25 State, Foreign
    Operations bill. Thank you for your consideration.

        [This statement was submitted by Mary C. McQueen, President.]
                                     ______

                  Prepared Statement of The Nature Conservancy
        The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global nonprofit conservation
    organization whose mission is to conserve the lands and waters upon
    which all life depends. Our planet faces the interconnected threats of
    rapid climate change and rapid biodiversity loss. We have years, not
    decades, to address these existential perils. Grounded by decades of
    local on-the-ground experience, TNC is maximizing our ability to affect
    change by bringing together real-world solutions, policy expertise,
    sustainable financing and collaborative partnerships in over 74
    countries and in all 50 U.S. States. TNC is grateful to this
    subcommittee for its longstanding commitment and investment in
    prioritizing conservation and climate in U.S. foreign policy and
    assistance.
        Five years ago, a seminal study reported that one million plant and
    animal species were on the verge of extinction. Between 1980 and 2000,
    nearly 250 million acres of tropical forest were destroyed. During the
    same time period, 23% of the Earth's land surface was degraded,
    reducing productivity of farmland and other ecosystems. In the last 150
    years, live coral cover on reefs has been cut in half. By 2035, reefs
    as an ecosystem may be functionally extinct. The loss of nature is
    undermining food and water security and human health. With a doubling
    of human population since 1970, and a fourfold increase in the global
    economy and a tenfold increase in global trade, our planet faces a
    crossroads. Threats to the natural world are destabilizing communities
    and countries, requiring innovative investments in solutions that
    benefit both nature and regional security. Investing in conservation
    supports U.S. national security and strategic interests around the
    world. Leading national security experts agree that global ecological
    disruptions threaten U.S. national security and must be prioritized in
    policymaking, as evidenced in The Security Threat that Binds Us, a
    report developed by the Council on Strategic Risks.
        TNC appreciates the leadership of this subcommittee to finance and
    sustain conservation investments globally. We applaud the momentum
    behind new authorizing legislation spearheaded by your leadership, S.
    618, the U.S. Foundation for International Conservation Act, which
    underscores the urgency of investing in nature.
        The following accounts strategically position the United States to
    continue investing and partnering with leading on-the-ground
    conservation efforts internationally. America can advance its foreign
    policy goals through these foreign aid accounts and policy instruments
    at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and U.S.
    Departments of State and the Treasury, as well as through investments
    in global natural resource agencies and contributions to multilateral
    financial and environmental institutions. These agencies and
    institutions include the U.S. Forest Service (International Program),
    U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
    (International Programs, Wildlife Trafficking, Multinational Species
    Conservation Funds, and Wildlife Without Borders programs) and the
    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (International
    Program). TNC urges the subcommittee to double down on U.S. leadership
    and investment through targeted foreign assistance in FY2025.
        USAID Biodiversity Conservation Programs.--USAID is the largest
    funder of global conservation in the U.S. government and has been
    supporting biodiversity conservation for more than 30 years. In March
    2014, USAID launched its first-ever Biodiversity Policy with the vision
    to conserve biodiversity for sustainable and resilient development.
    This policy helped elevate biodiversity conservation as a core priority
    of USAID's global mission. The anticipated update to the Biodiversity
    Policy has the potential to deliver on the transformative change
    envisioned for a future in which biodiversity is conserved so people
    and nature can thrive. We appreciate USAID's focus on achieving nature-
    positive, equitable development across societal systems by implementing
    the new policy. TNC is partnering with USAID in key biodiversity
    hotspots, such as in the Cubango-upper Okavango Basin of Angola, where
    critical resources are supporting community-led governance of water
    supplies and sanitation services in addition to advancing biodiversity
    goals. These efforts upstream are helping sustain the basin and foster
    vibrant economies in Angola, Namibia and Botswana. TNC requests the
    USAID Biodiversity Conservation Programs be funded at $500 million in
    FY25.
        USAID Sustainable Landscapes Program.--This program focuses on
    countries where globally important forests are threatened and where
    degradation of wetlands, peatlands and agricultural land impairs
    development and drives emissions. For example, TNC is currently
    implementing a USAID Sustainable Prosperous Communities initiative in
    Mexico, which promotes sustainable techniques and training for farmers,
    ranchers and other rural stakeholders to reduce deforestation and
    incentivize sustainable management practices. The initiative is
    designed to benefit more than 40,000 people and improve land management
    across more than 860,000 acres. The USAID Sustainable Landscapes
    program is augmented by two additional USAID investments in the Climate
    Adaptation and Clean Energy Program. TNC also supports an additional
    investment for the Amazon Fund and related efforts to curb
    deforestation and advance deforestation-free supply chains that also
    further American business interests. TNC requests $300 million in FY25
    for the program along with additional investments in climate adaptation
    and clean energy.
        U.S. Contribution to the Global Environment Facility (GEF).The
    United States' support for the GEF is essential to its efforts to build
    a safer, cleaner and healthier world, with direct benefits for American
    jobs and prosperity. Every dollar the U.S. invests in the GEF generates
    another $40 from other countries and partners. This has helped the GEF
    deliver over 5,000 projects in more than 170 countries, several of
    which are key U.S. allies. The GEF is lean and effective, with only 2%
    of resources being spent on expenses at its headquarters. Over its 32-
    year history, GEF has invested $23 billion in direct conservation and
    generated an additional $129 billion in co-financing. TNC has been an
    implementing partner of the GEF in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and
    Latin America, and we appreciate the critical difference the GEF is
    making to addressing the dual crises of biodiversity loss and climate
    change. TNC requests the GEF be funded at $150.2 million in FY25 to
    contribute towards the annual installment of the U.S. contribution to
    the eighth GEF replenishment.
        U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).--The DFC
    is advancing U.S. foreign policy interests by mobilizing private sector
    capital to help communities most in need. Thanks to the BUILD Act of
    2018, supported by the leadership of this subcommittee, the DFC is able
    to focus on key drivers of biodiversity loss and climate change such as
    infrastructure, habitat fragmentation and natural resources extraction.
    Thanks to the DFC, TNC has been able to help developing countries reach
    their critical biodiversity and climate targets by overcoming their
    debt burdens and lack of access to international capital. Through our
    Nature Bonds we are helping countries refinance their debt and generate
    new funding to invest in conservation, and in climate mitigation and
    adaptation measures. Across the deals completed in the Seychelles,
    Belize, Barbados and Gabon, we have engaged with governments, financial
    institutions, NGO partners and community stakeholders to ensure that
    the project outcomes are a win for both conservation and sound fiscal
    management. We look forward to more opportunities to partner with the
    DFC and urge Congress to reauthorize the agency. TNC supports the
    Administration's requests of $1,008 million in FY25--$245 million for
    administrative expenses and $763.4 million in program funds-to be
    flexibly allocated among credit subsidy, equity, technical assistance
    and other programmatic activities.
        Tropical Forest and Coral Reef Conservation Act (TFCCA).--This year
    marks the 25th anniversary of this debt-for-nature swap program, a
    highly effective fiscal tool that has helped shape American foreign
    policy and global commitment to the environment. The TFCCA has brought
    to life the simple but innovative idea of converting sovereign debt
    owed to the United States into in-country environmental conservation
    investments. This has greatly benefited local livelihoods and globally
    important biodiversity zones, all while bolstering cooperation and
    relationships with key U.S. allies. The latest deal, announced in
    December 2023 with Peru, will mobilize nearly U.S. $20 million to
    support the conservation of the Peruvian Amazon by empowering
    indigenous peoples and local communities to engage effectively in the
    management of protected areas and creating economic opportunities that
    foster sustainable livelihoods. Such examples abound from this
    innovative fiscal policy investment across all the geographies it has
    reached. TNC requests $20 million in FY25 for TFCCA.
        Science, Finance, and International Cooperation.--Two United
    Nations conventions-- the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
    (IPCC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
    (UNFCCC)--have received implementation funding from the U.S.
    government. Since its creation in 1988, the IPCC has received broad
    bipartisan support for providing high-integrity science on climate
    change. Similarly, the UNFCCC has been the primary space for
    policymakers to mount an international effort to tackle these risks.
    Continued funding of a modest budget line will signal that America
    continues to place importance on climate science and wants a place at
    the table in ongoing and future negotiations.
        U.S. Contribution to the Green Climate Fund (GCF).--The GCF is a
    multilateral fund established in 2010 to help the world's most
    vulnerable countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and enhance
    capacity to respond to climate change by working with a wide range of
    partners, including more than 200 private and public sector and
    national and international organizations. Through this approach, GCF
    de-risks investments by attracting private-sector financing and
    mobilizing financing at scale. GCF's investments aim to achieve maximum
    impact in the developing world by supporting paradigm shifts in both
    climate mitigation and adaptation. As a member of the GCF Board, the
    United States is able to demonstrate its leadership on the global
    stage. TNC is among the newest accredited entities of the GCF, and we
    look forward to greater collaboration and project implementation. TNC
    urges Congress to enable the U.S. government to demonstrate its
    leadership in combatting the climate crisis by supporting continued
    investment in the GCF.
        TNC is proud to partner with several U.S. government agencies to
    meet the challenges our planet faces. Together with the government of
    Mongolia, we recently announced Eternal Mongolia, the largest land deal
    we have entered in to date. Eternal Mongolia will enable new
    conservation protections across nearly 35 million acres--an area the
    size of Iowa--comprising intact grasslands, forests, deserts, wetlands
    and rivers. Through a proven model called Project Finance for
    Permanence, Eternal Mongolia will unlock $198 million of new
    conservation investment over the next 15 years. This is TNC's third
    PFP, and the first to be part of Enduring Earth, a global initiative to
    accelerate conservation worldwide.
        In conclusion, we are working to connect efforts to protect nature
    and limit climate change globally. We need to rethink economic systems
    so that they value nature. We must produce food in ways that restore
    nature. We need to recognize the leadership of Indigenous peoples and
    local communities worldwide. Strengthening existing global biodiversity
    and climate change commitments in the face of crises affecting nature
    and people must be a core component of U.S. foreign policy and aid. TNC
    sincerely appreciates the leadership of this subcommittee and urges it
    to continue investing in our shared priorities through conservation and
    climate foreign assistance programs.

        [This statement was submitted by Nav Dayanand, Associate Director,
    Legislative Affairs.]
                                     ______

                     Prepared Statement of The ONE Campaign
        Chairman Chris Coons, Ranking Member Lindsey Graham, and members of
    the Senate State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS)
    Appropriations subcommittee, The ONE Campaign is honored to provide you
    with the following testimony as an outside witness. The ONE Campaign is
    a global organization that advocates for the resources needed to create
    economic opportunities and healthier lives in Africa. On behalf of The
    ONE Campaign, I appreciate the opportunity to raise the importance of
    continuing core U.S. investments in long-term development priorities,
    especially those that impact Sub-Saharan Africa, that are funded
    through the U.S. State Department, U.S. Agency for International
    Development (USAID), and the U.S. Treasury Department.
        Africa is young, vibrant, and the fastest growing continent on the
    planet.\1\ It is also rich in natural resources, with a strong culture
    of entrepreneurship and innovation, and is the world's largest free
    trade area by the number of member countries. Many African countries
    are challenged by high levels of debt that are outpacing how much they
    are receiving in external sources, while burdened by many economic,
    health, and conflict related threats. Analysis from the ONE Campaign
    found that, in 2024, $50 billion will flow out of developing countries,
    many of which are in Africa. Meanwhile, and as well covered by this
    subcommittee, Chinese and Russian investments only continue to
    proliferate throughout Africa. For all of these reasons, it is critical
    that the U.S. continues its hugely impactful investments in developing
    countries, especially in Africa.
        One of the U.S.' greatest leadership legacies is its investment in
    global health. One investment of particular significance is Gavi, the
    Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), managed by USAID. Since 2000, Gavi has
    partnered with 40 countries in Africa, providing 438 million children
    with routine immunizations, saving 11.1 million lives--most of them
    infants.
        But far too many children are still dying from vaccine-preventable
    diseases. Continuing to grow the US investment in Gavi, which will help
    leverage other donors, is imperative to saving the lives of vulnerable
    children. Gavi uses most of its funding to purchase vaccines that fight
    19 common and deadly infections including pneumonia, hepatitis, and
    measles, on behalf of lower-income countries; bulk purchasing allows
    Gavi to access lower prices than countries would be able to negotiate
    on their own.
        Gavi continues to innovate by improving access to new vaccines,
    such as the currently unfunded rollout of the world's first malaria
    vaccine, including the RTS,S malaria vaccine, which was borne from the
    groundwork of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Gavi does all
    this while strengthening the health systems in recipient countries.
    Gavi also works closely with private sector partners to lower prices
    for vaccines globally. A key aspect of Gavi's model and success is the
    mandate for recipient countries to finance a portion of all vaccine
    costs based on their ability to pay until they are fully financing
    their own programs, leading to sustainable immunization programs. As a
    result, 19 countries have now graduated from Gavi and fully self-
    finance their routine immunization programs.
        But the battle hasn't yet been won--20.5 million children missed
    out on life-saving vaccinations in 2022 alone. Gavi faces the challenge
    of maintaining its success while also reaching these children and
    catching up from other disruptions, and also expanding access to new
    innovations like malaria vaccines. Increasing the US' contribution to
    Gavi in FY2025 would uniquely enable the US to take the lead on
    increasing access to this first-of-its-kind vaccine and catch up the
    millions of children who have been left behind. Therefore, the ONE
    Campaign is requesting $340 million in funding for Gavi in FY2025 and
    that USAID's Maternal and Child Health program be increased
    commensurately.
        There is perhaps no better example of the power of US foreign aid
    than our work to end the global HIV/AIDS crisis, which took more than
    20 million lives in Africa between 2000-2022. To put in perspective,
    this is equivalent to the populations of Michigan and North Carolina
    put together. Since 2003, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS
    Relief (PEPFAR)--managed by the State Department and implemented by
    seven other departments and agencies--has saved more than 25 million
    lives, provided life-saving antiretroviral treatment to nearly 20.5
    million patients, and enabled more than 5.5 million babies to be born
    HIV-free to HIV-positive mothers.
        Meanwhile, our investments in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
    Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund)--a partnership between
    governments, civil society, the private sector, and affected
    communities to collectively fight to end the risk of HIV/AIDS,
    tuberculosis (TB), and malaria--have also been lifesaving. Since the
    Global Fund was founded in 2002, its programs have helped save 59
    million lives and cut the combined death rate from HIV, TB, and malaria
    by more than half. In countries where the Global Fund invests, AIDS-
    related deaths have been reduced by 72%, TB deaths by 16%, and malaria
    deaths by 27%. In 2022 alone, the Global Fund provided 24.5 million
    people with antiretroviral therapy for HIV, treated 6.7 million people
    for TB, and distributed 219.7 million mosquito nets to prevent malaria.
    US investments to the Global Fund are capped at 33% of the total,
    catalyzing a remarkable response from other donors, who pledge to match
    the contribution at a two-to-one ratio. But our fight against these
    diseases is far from over. HIV remains the leading cause of death
    globally among women of reproductive age. Sub-Saharan Africa bears the
    brunt of this, where two-thirds of all people living with HIV
    reside.\2\ TB continues to be a leading cause of death, with an
    estimated 10.6 million people falling ill from the disease in 2022
    alone.\3\ Malaria infected an estimated 249 million people in 2022,
    with 94% of the cases in Africa, where the vast majority of deaths were
    in children under 5 years of age.\4\ This is why ONE is requesting
    $6.375 billion in FY2025 for HIV/AIDS programs, provided as $6.05
    billion for the State Department's HIV/AIDS programs, including $1.65
    billion for the Global Fund and $4.395 for PEPFAR, as well as $330
    million for USAID HIV/AIDS programs.
        Beyond investments in global health, the US has been a leader in
    helping developing countries pull out of poverty and better serve their
    citizens through long-term development investments. The Development
    Assistance (DA) account, implemented by USAID, is one of the primary
    bilateral development accounts focused on poverty reduction and the
    growth of self-reliant, resilient, and democratic societies. DA
    investments help countries and communities pull out of poverty; fight
    hunger and malnutrition; address root causes of migration; improve
    education; increase access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH);
    prevent conflicts and encourage stabilization; and spur economic
    growth. With DA funds, USAID is able to implement several key
    strategies required by Congress, including the Global Food Security
    Strategy and Global Water Strategy. This account is also critical to
    Africa, as it supports many critical economic and social development
    priorities, including, but not limited to, Prosper Africa and Power
    Africa.
        Given the increasing humanitarian suffering the world is facing,
    the ONE Campaign has been strongly supportive of, and is grateful for
    Congress' support for, the robust humanitarian aid levels included in
    the recently passed FY2024 appropriations law and the FY2024 national
    security supplemental. Yet, it is imperative that we maintain our
    support for long-term development priorities, as we risk countries
    sinking further into the cycles of crisis if there are not continued
    and strengthened investments that enable countries' resilience and
    stability. As such, we are requesting that the Committee provide no
    less than $4.4 billion for DA at USAID in FY2025.
        We know that support for economic development is crucial to helping
    countries stand on their own. The International Development Association
    (IDA) arm of the World Bank serves the world's 75 poorest countries, 39
    of which are in Africa, helping to bring clean water, electricity, and
    sanitation to hundreds of millions of people. Through zero- to low-
    interest loans and grants, they have helped numerous countries develop
    their economies without being forced to take on unpayable debts. They
    also provide rapid crisis funding for countries experiencing economic
    shocks and environmental disasters. In Nigeria, a country that will
    soon have one of the world's largest youth populations, economic
    stagnation and a significant debt burden have made it extremely
    difficult for the government to invest in sectors that create growth
    and opportunity. Over the past 9 years, IDA funding has helped to drive
    important advancements like reaching over 7 million people with new or
    improved electricity services and providing thousands with life skills
    and vocational training. Nigeria is now both an IDA donor and recipient
    country, contributing for the first time during IDA19.\5\
        U.S. contributions to IDA20 through the Treasury Department helped
    support efforts to drive a resilient recovery for the poorest countries
    following the COVID-19 pandemic and restore progress toward the 2030
    development goals. Since 1960, 36 countries have graduated from being
    supported by IDA to becoming IDA donors. With nearly 85% of IDA
    operations and commitments during IDA19 (2020-2022) achieving their
    objectives, IDA is among the world's most efficient and effective
    vehicles for international development. Every $1 in donor contributions
    translates to over $3.50 of financing support. As IDA heads into its
    next replenishment for IDA21 later this year, it is imperative that the
    U.S. assert our historic leadership within the body in the next fiscal
    year. That is why we are asking the Committee to provide no less than
    $1.43 billion for an IDA contribution through the U.S. Treasury
    Department in FY2025.
        U.S.-led international development programs like the ones mentioned
    above are not just aligned with U.S. values, they're also a good
    investment in our economy and national security, all for less than 1%
    of the National budget. As you go through your FY2025 process, we urge
    you to prioritize meaningful investments in foreign assistance that
    bring us closer to a world without poverty or preventable disease. We
    appreciate your leadership on these issues and consideration of our
    requests. We look forward to working together with you to make this
    future a reality.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ ``Global Issues: Population.'' United Nations. Accessed May 15,
    2024. https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/
    population#::text=Africa%3A%20fastest%20growing%20continent&text=Africa

    %20has%20the%20highest%20rate,projected%20to%20double%20by%202050.
        \2\ ``The Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic.'' Kaiser Family Foundation,
    July 26, 2023. https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/the-
    global-hiv-aids-epidemic/.
        \3\ ``Tuberculosis.'' World Health Organization. November 7, 2023.
    https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tuberculosis.
        \4\ ``Malaria.'' World Health Organization. December 4, 2023.
    https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/
    malaria#::text=Globally%20in%202022%2C%20there%20were,580%20000)
    %20of%20malaria%20deaths.
        \5\ ``Stories of Impact: IDA, the World Bank's Low Income Fund in
    Africa,'' The ONE Campaign, April 2024, accessed May 15, 2024, https://
    cdn.one.org/pdfs/IDA_Case_Studies_2024.pdf.

        [This statement was submitted by Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, CEO/
    President.]
                                     ______

              Prepared Statement of the Pacific Salmon Commission
        Mr. Chairman, and Honorable Members of the Committee, I am Ron
    Allen, Tribal Commissioner and Chair for the U.S. Section Budget
    Committee of the Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC). The U.S. Section
    prepares an annual budget for implementation of the Pacific Salmon
    Treaty. Funding comes from the Departments of State, Commerce, and
    Interior. The integrated budget details program needs and costs for
    Tribal, Federal, and State agencies involved in the Treaty.

            Department of State funding in support of implementing the
            Pacific Salmon Treaty is part of the International Fisheries
            Commissions line item. The FY 2023 funding level was
            $5,600,000. The U.S. Section recommends a funding level of
            $5,500,000 for FY 2025, which is a $100,000 decrease. These
            costs provide essential support to implement the revised
            chapters of the annex to the Treaty.

        The Department of State provides funding for the dues to operate
    the bilateral Pacific Salmon Commission Secretariat office in
    Vancouver, British Columbia. The United States and Canada kept the dues
    constant for 11 years. The U.S. Section and the Canadian Section
    recognized that an annual increase in dues is needed to maintain
    operations over the next 10 years. The U.S. Section requested funding
    level is sufficient to maintain Secretariat operations. Canada is
    expected to match the increase in dues. The Commission's Finance &
    Administration Committee works closely with the Secretariat staff to
    keep costs in check. The Secretariat faced challenges in recent years
    to ensure the operation of test fisheries necessary for the management
    of Fraser River sockeye and pink fisheries as outlined in Annex Chapter
    4 of the Treaty. Declines in the return of Fraser River sockeye and
    changes in the Canadian Use of Fish Policy have impacted the viability
    of the test fisheries.
        The Secretariat faces challenges regarding funding for the pension
    liability as the Secretariat staff ages and retires. Our section urges
    the Department of State to continue covering this liability outside the
    dues structure, consistent with other International Fishery
    Commissions.
        The Department of State provides funding, through an inter-agency
    agreement, with Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries
    Service, to support United States participation in the annual meeting
    process and to support staffing of the U.S. Section office. A hallmark
    of the PSC process is the input from affected fishing interests from
    Alaska to Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Maintaining the funding at
    current levels is essential to address these challenges.
        Funding to support activities under the Pacific Salmon Commission
    comes from the Departments of Interior, State, and Commerce. The U.S.
    Section can provide an additional budget summary and details to the
    Committee as required. Adequate funding from all three Departments is
    necessary for the United States to meet its Treaty obligations. The
    funds are needed for critical data collection and research activities
    related to the implementation of the Treaty and are used in cooperative
    programs between Federal, State, and Tribal fishery agencies and the
    Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada. The commitment of the
    United States is matched by the commitment of the Government of Canada.
        Mr. Chairman, the United States and Canada established the Pacific
    Salmon Commission, under the Pacific Salmon Treaty of 1985, to conserve
    salmon stocks, provide for optimum production of salmon, and to control
    salmon interceptions. After more than thirty years, the work of the
    Pacific Salmon Commission continues to be essential for the wise
    management of salmon in the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, and
    Alaska. For example, upriver bright fall Chinook salmon from the
    Hanford Reach of the Columbia River are caught in large numbers in
    Alaskan and Canadian waters. Tribal and non-Tribal fishermen harvest
    sockeye salmon from Canada's Fraser River in the Strait of Juan de Fuca
    and in Puget Sound. Canadian trollers off the west coast of Vancouver
    Island catch Washington coastal and Puget Sound Chinook and Coho
    salmon. In the Northern Boundary area between Canada and Alaska, fish
    from both countries are intercepted by the other country.
        The Commission provides a public forum to ensure cooperative
    management of salmon populations. The United States and Canada
    successfully concluded lengthy negotiations to improve management,
    building on and adjusting the coastwide abundance-based management
    regime for Chinook salmon established in the 1999 agreement. The
    revised Coho Chapter also continues to build on a framework for
    abundance-based management. The revised Annex Chapters for Chinook,
    Coho, Chum, Transboundary and Northern Boundary fisheries will be in
    force for the next 10 years. The United States and Canada completed a
    revised Fraser River Sockeye and Pink salmon chapter in 2020, which
    will also be in force through 2028. The U.S. and Canada are beginning
    negotiations for revised Annex Chapters. The negotiations will require
    additional resources in future years for the parties to participate in
    the negotiation process. The U.S. Section will provide cost estimates
    as the process unfolds.
        Before the Treaty in 1985, fish wars often erupted with one or both
    countries overharvesting fish that were returning to the other country,
    to the detriment of resource sustainability. At the time the Treaty was
    signed, Chinook salmon were in a severely depressed state because of
    overharvest in the ocean as well as environmental degradation in the
    spawning rivers.
        Under the Treaty, both countries committed to rebuilding the
    depressed runs of Chinook stocks, and they recommitted to that goal in
    1999 when adopting a coastwide abundance-based approach to harvest
    management. Under this approach, harvest management will complement
    habitat conservation and restoration activities being undertaken by the
    States, Tribes, and other stakeholders in the Pacific Northwest to
    address the needs of salmon listed for protection under the Endangered
    Species Act. The 2018 Chinook Chapter continues these commitments. The
    revisions to the Chinook Chapter will continue to build on the progress
    made in previous agreements. The combination of these efforts is
    integral to achieving success in rebuilding and restoring healthy,
    sustainable salmon populations.
        Finally, I ask you to consider the fact that the value of the
    commercial harvest of salmon subject to the Treaty, managed at
    productive levels under the Treaty, supports the infrastructure of many
    coastal and inland communities. The value of the commercial and
    recreational fisheries, and the economic diversity they provide for
    local economies throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, is
    immense. The Commission recently funded an economic study of fisheries
    that has determined this resource creates thousands of jobs and is a
    multi-billion-dollar industry. The value of these fish to the twenty-
    four treaty Tribes in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho goes far beyond
    their monetary value, to the cultural and religious lives of Indian
    people. A significant monetary investment is focused on salmon due to
    the listings of Pacific Northwest salmon populations under the
    Endangered Species Act. Given these resources, we can continue to
    utilize the Pacific Salmon Commission to develop recommendations that
    help with the development and implementation of solutions for
    minimizing impacts on listed stocks. We continue to work toward the
    true intent of the Treaty, and with your support, we will manage this
    shared resource for mutual enhancements and benefits.
        Mr. Chairman, that concludes my written testimony submitted for
    consideration by your committee. I want to thank the Committee for the
    support that it has given the U.S. Section in the past. Please feel
    free to contact me, or other members of the U.S. Section to answer any
    questions you or other Committee members may have regarding the U.S.
    Section of the Pacific Salmon Commission budget.
        Thank you.

        [This statement was submitted by W. Ron Allen, Chair.]
                                     ______

                          Prepared Statement of PEPFAR
        As a family physician, a faculty member in Family Medicine at
    Boston University, a former chair of the advisory board for the Center
    for Global Health Initiatives at the American Academy of Family
    Physicians, and the Immediate Past President of the North America
    region for the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), I am
    writing in support of a report language request that the Committee
    direct the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator to provide to the
    Committee an estimate of the current proportion of PEPFAR funding that
    goes to existing integrated health services for HIV, other priority
    health conditions, and outbreak prevention and response, and to provide
    an Administration target for increasing this proportion. This request
    would also seek that the Committee further directs the program to
    report this information not later than 90 days after the date of
    enactment of the act.
        I have directly worked in primary care development in Vietnam,
    Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Lesotho in southern Africa, and most
    recently just completed working as the Executive Director of the
    Primary Health Care Performance Initiative (PHCPI)--a partnership
    between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Health
    Organization, the World Bank, the Global Fund, UNICEF, Ariadne Labs and
    Results for Development--trying to better measure primary health care
    in low and middle income countries.
        In these contexts, validated by the experience of many American
    primary care colleagues engaged in strengthening primary care and
    frontline health services around the world, I have personally seen how
    valuable programs targeting priority diseases, such as PEPFAR, have
    been--and also how much promise has yet to be realized.
        In settings where patients may only access service settings
    addressing care for a single issue or disease, the power of these
    programs to improve overall morbidity and mortality ends up limited, as
    they are unable to address the range of health issues that most
    patients face--and simultaneously also fail to achieve the best
    possible outcomes for the priority disease at issue, in this case HIV/
    AIDS. In addition, in places where some integrated services are brought
    into single issue service settings, you may only experience the
    benefits of these programs if have the priority disease in question,
    such as HIV.\1\ Without a doubt, strong frontline primary health care
    services can typically address more than 80% of a person's health
    needs, reduce health inequities, and provide some of the greatest
    overall improvements in population-based morbidity and mortality.\2\ In
    order to get the greatest overall benefit from PEPFAR program
    investments, it therefore follows that these disease-based services
    should be delivered in frontline integrated primary care settings in
    order to improve both non-HIV and HIV outcomes.
        PEPFAR itself has recently recognized this fact. In PEPFAR's 2023
    COP/ROP plan guidance, accelerating this type of integration is
    identified as a key priority: \3\

            Page 57: PEPFAR recognizes that ``accelerating integration of
            health services and systems is key to sustaining the HIV
            response . . .  Integrated health services, when based on
            strong primary care and essential public health functions,
            strengthen people-centered health systems and contribute to the
            best use of resources.''

            ``Where appropriate--and in collaboration with national
            governments and other donors--Operating Unit teams should
            support accelerating integration of HIV service delivery into
            existing local health and social service systems (which could
            include primary care as mentioned above) . . . ''

        In addition, PEPFAR recognizes how this approach is also essential
    to meaningfully strengthening human resources for health, so badly
    needed around the world and especially in Africa as the WHO projects a
    shortage of more than 6 million health workers across Africa by 2030
    (an increase of 45% in this deficit since 2013), undermining access to
    and provision of health services across the region: \4\

            Page 63: ``PEPFAR HRH support for HIV services should be
            integrated within country systems for primary health care,
            rather than provided in standalone models, whenever possible.
            This shift to greater integration of PEPFAR's health workforce
            support into country systems will allow PEPFAR investments to
            be leveraged toward strengthening partner-country HRH capacity
            for delivering high quality primary health care services and
            sustaining the impact of HIV investments. Integrated care
            delivery teams, task-shifting, and expansion of community
            health worker's roles to include wrap-around services for
            people living with HIV should be considered.''

        PEPFAR acknowledges the importance of such integrated care to
    overall improvements in morbidity and mortality:

            Page 84: ``Person-centered care for older adults facilitates
            treating multiple conditions at once, which can reduce
            unnecessary visits--potentially shortening facility waiting
            times. This care model also aligns PEPFAR priorities with MOH
            priorities for primary care and noncommunicable diseases.''

        Multiple outside entities and articles have similarly identified
    the importance of integrating PEPFAR service delivery into integrated
    settings. For instance, the Kaiser Family Foundation published a policy
    report looking across four sustainability indicator areas (commitment
    to HIV, basic health system, economic, and commitment to health
    indicators) and found that PEPFAR countries scored, on average, highest
    on ``commitment to HIV'' and lowest on ``basic health system''
    measures. Overall, PEPFAR countries were most likely to meet or exceed
    commitment to HIV indicators (66%), which assess how fully countries
    have adopted internationally-recommended policies for addressing the
    epidemic. By contrast, only 17% of basic health system measures were
    met or exceeded. For the other two indicator areas--economic and
    commitment to health--PEPFAR countries met or exceeded 29% and 30% of
    targets, respectively. This suggests that the areas of focus for
    promoting sustainability rest largely in the realm of further
    strengthening the basic health system and in addressing economic
    vulnerability.\5\
        Further research backs this up, confirming that delivery of HIV
    services in integrates care settings improves both non-HIV and HIV
    outcomes. In PLOS Medicine, a systematic review and meta-analysis
    looking at the existing scientific evidence on the impact of service
    integration on the HIV care cascade, health outcomes, and cost-
    effectiveness found that integration of HIV services and other health
    services tends to improve health and health systems outcomes, offering
    a valuable strategy to boost the sustainability of the HIV response and
    contribute to the goal of ``ending AIDS by 2030.'' Of note, across 32
    studies, uptake of other (non-HIV) health services was significantly
    higher in integrated programs. Treatment success for diseases or
    conditions other than HIV, measured in 21 studies, was significantly
    higher in integrated programs. In addition, as measured in 10 studies,
    costs of basic HIV and non-HIV services tended to be lower in
    integrated programs.\6\ Specifically, HIV care outcomes were better in
    integrated settings, including uptake of HIV testing and counseling,
    ART initiation coverage, time until ART initiation, retention in HIV
    care and viral suppression.
        A recent viewpoint published in The Lancet including an author from
    USAID's Office of HIV/AIDS who also works on PEPFAR reinforced these
    lessons, stating ``Ending the HIV epidemic relies in part on
    integrating stand-alone HIV programming with primary health-care
    platforms to improve population-level health and ensure sustainability.
    Integration of HIV and primary health care services in sub-Saharan
    Africa improves both outcomes.'' In this piece, the authors call for
    re-thinking HIV service delivery, calling for ``a shift away from
    vertically siloed, donor-dependent HIV programmes that operate
    alongside established, sustainable primary health-care systems.
    Integrated HIV and primary health-care programmes in LMICs promise to
    improve population-level health and to sustain the gains of PEPFAR.
    This fundamental change in the structure of global health programmes
    requires rethinking PEPFAR's existing HIV programming and funding
    models, including person-centred health services integration, health-
    care workforce reform, and strategic financing.'' \7\
        Unfortunately, without Congressional guidance, PEPFAR seems
    unlikely to dedicate meaningful funds to such an effort. USAID has
    recently embarked on an effort under the leadership of Dr. Atul Gawande
    to improve USAID's work on primary health care with the advent of the
    USAID Primary Impact program seeking to utilize many metrics based on
    work that I previously led at PHCPI.\8\ USAID does not yet seem to be
    funding this with significant support in relation to its global health
    budget--in part because it has not yet been defined as a Congressional
    priority--and such an effort remains limited in scope and success until
    increased funding can be dedicated to it in the future.
        PEPFAR may suffer a similar fate without Congressional action, as
    entrenched interests may seek to reduce the expansion of funding to
    support HIV care delivered through integrated health services. To
    counter this, multiple organizations have signed onto a letter to the
    Committee requesting that the State and Foreign Operations
    subcommittees of Appropriations require PEPFAR to provide the following
    information on how it is planning to increase support for integration:
    the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator should provide a target for
    increasing the proportion of PEPFAR funding that goes towards broad-
    based service delivery covering HIV, other priority health conditions
    in the community, and outbreak prevention and response in existing
    integrated health services.\9\
        This information is necessary to hold PEPFAR accountable in
    implementing its own guidance on this issue and monitor its ongoing
    progress. Only though this type of action can the program be
    successfully driven to make the necessary transformational changes to
    bring PEPFAR well into the next millennium and maximize its gains on
    investment.
        Moving towards delivery of HIV care in integrated service settings
    can help meet the needs of local populations, promote effective
    coordination with local partners and governments to meet these needs,
    support more effective integration of health systems strengthening
    activities and reduce health system fragmentation across the full
    spectrum of global health programming, contribute to reducing health
    disparities, and save costs through greater efficiencies in local
    health systems by funding integrated activities. Most importantly,
    integration is a win-win: moving HIV care into integrated settings will
    save more lives from both HIV and non-HIV health issues.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ Egilman D, Bird T, Mora F, Druar N. Gets AIDS and survive? The
    ``perverse'' effects of aid: addressing the social and environmental
    determinants of health, promoting sustainable primary care, and
    rethinking global health aid. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2011 Oct-
    Dec;17(4):364-82. doi: 10.1179/107735211807523972. PMID: 22069935.
        \2\ Starfield B, Shi L, Macinko J. Contribution of primary care to
    health systems and health. Milbank Q. 2005;83(3):457-502. doi: 10.1111/
    j.1468-0009.2005.00409.x. PMID: 16202000; PMCID: PMC2690145.
        \3\ PEPFAR 2023 Country and Regional Operational Plan (COP/ROP)
    Guidance for all PEPFAR-Supported Countries https://www.state.gov/2023-
    country-and-regional-operational-plan-guidance-and-technical-
    considerations/.
        \4\ https://www.afro.who.int/news/chronic-staff-shortfalls-stifle-
    africas-health-systems-who-study
    #::text=It%20is%20projected%20that%20the,in%20Africa%20has%20daunting%2
    0implications.
        \5\ Kates J, Moss K, Oum S, Rouw A, Nandakumar A. Sustainability
    readiness in PEPFAR countries. Global Health Policy. Kaiser Family
    Foundation. 2023 https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/
    sustainability-readiness-in-pepfar-countries/.
        \6\ Bulstra CA, Hontelez JAC, Otto M, Stepanova A, Lamontagne E,
    Yakusik A, et al. (2021) Integrating HIV services and other health
    services: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med 18(11):
    e1003836. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003836.
        \7\ Goldstein D, Ferris R, Phelps BR, Minior T. Integrating global
    HIV services with primary health care: a key step in sustainable HIV
    epidemic control. Lancet Glob Health 2023 https://doi.org/10.1016/
    S2214-109X(23)00156-0.
        \8\ https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2024-02/
    FINAL%20PI%20TWO%20PAGER.pdf.
        \9\ https://www.fundforglobalhealth.org/pepfar-integration-with-
    primary-care.

        [This statement was submitted by Jeffrey F. Markuns, MD, EdM,
    FAAFP.]
                                     ______

                       Prepared Statement of Project HOPE
        regarding fiscal year 2025 appropriations for global health and
                                humanitarian aid
        Thank you, Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and members of
    the subcommittee for your strong support of U.S. leadership in global
    health and humanitarian assistance and for the opportunity to submit
    testimony. As you are aware, the world looks to us and often follows
    our lead in the realm of global health and humanitarian assistance.
    U.S. leadership has played a critical role in addressing global health
    and humanitarian challenges around the world, saving millions of lives.
    Investments in global health and humanitarian assistance have made the
    world--and the United States--safer, healthier, and more prosperous.
        At Project HOPE, we see firsthand the incredible impacts these
    lifesaving resources have on families and communities, such as when a
    mother and child emerge through childbirth healthy or when a family
    finds new shelter quickly after a hurricane. As a global health and
    humanitarian organization, Project HOPE provides relief and support in
    30 countries around the world. We achieve our outcomes through support
    from private donations paired with U.S. government resources.
        I want to thank the Committee for its steadfast support for global
    health and humanitarian assistance in the most recent, and quite
    challenging, Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24). I want to thank you for the
    continued base funding for humanitarian assistance. And while we were
    sorry to see some key accounts significantly cut, namely Global Health
    Security, HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria, the remainder of the Global Health
    Accounts were maintained, which is appreciated.
        Given the importance of every aspect of global health and
    humanitarian assistance, we were quite pleased with the creation of the
    new Global Health Workforce line item. While the initial funding is at
    a modest $10 million, we hope it can catalyze key actions to strengthen
    the health workforce. As a dedicated funding line, it will initiate the
    creation of policies and accounting pathways within USAID to better
    track and inform USAID's vital efforts to strengthen the health
    workforce globally.
        Finally, I also want to thank the Committee for its support for the
    National Security Supplemental which provided crucial increases in
    humanitarian funding for food, health care, water, and shelter. This
    support helps bridge the burgeoning gap between donor resources and the
    unprecedented scale of humanitarian need around the world.
      going forward: requesting continued and sustained support of global
                                health accounts
        We hope you can build on these investments in Global Health for
    Fiscal Year 2025. U.S. global health and humanitarian programs
    reinforce U.S. foreign assistance priorities to alleviate suffering,
    reduce poverty, achieve gender equality, promote human rights, and
    improve national and global security by supporting stable, resilient,
    and democratic communities. Sustained U.S. investment in global health
    is crucial for building on existing achievements and accelerating
    progress toward the collective global goal of ensuring healthy lives
    and promoting well-being for all.
        Today, I write to express support of U.S. investments in global
    health accounts. Restoring funding to the three accounts that were cut
    in FY24 should be the highest priority. With more than one million
    American lives lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to restore
    funding to global health security is undeniably and tragically self-
    evident. Doing so will minimize the impact of the next pandemic and
    save lives and livelihoods, as well as protect U.S. national security
    interests. In addition, we ask to restore funding to HIV/AIDS,
    tuberculosis, and malaria, if not through the Global Fund, then
    bilaterally. There is no better value for money and health impact than
    these investments. Further, any reduction in the fight against these
    infectious diseases will invite their dramatic resurgence. I will walk
    through each of these further, but I must begin with the staff that
    supports every health investment.
                  support health workers through every program
        The world faces a severe global health workforce shortage. The WHO
    estimates, even with current progress, the world will still face a
    shortfall in health workers of 10 million, including in the United
    States, as we regularly recruit a significant percentage of the U.S.
    health workforce from the developing world. Supporting frontline health
    workers is key to achieving U.S. global health goals at the local,
    community, national, and global level.
        I am pleased by the inclusion of the new, dedicated budget line
    item for ``Global Health Workforce'' of $10M at USAID in the FY24
    budget bill that Project HOPE and our partners have worked so hard to
    achieve. Many thanks to our Congressional champions. Next year, it is
    imperative to increase this amount to at least $20M as requested by the
    Administration. We hope this funding will be used with precision to
    play at catalytic role in driving improvements in the health workforce
    until U.S. funding can be increased to have scalable impact.
        We are looking forward to working with USAID and partners to
    further strengthen direct support for health workers, as they serve
    their communities around the world. In Sierra Leone, for example,
    Project HOPE helped launch a baccalaureate and graduate degree program
    in Neonatal Nursing and Pediatrics, which has equipped the next
    generation of neonatal nurses with the skills needed to provide
    advanced nursing care to newborns. And in a crisis setting, Project
    HOPE has supported 138 health care facilities in 23 oblasts in Ukraine
    since the start of the 2022 invasion, with support from USAID's Bureau
    for Humanitarian Assistance. This support included medicines, medical
    supplies, insulin, needles, hygiene kits, emergency health kits,
    surgical kits, and children kits (worth more than $8.5 million). As
    part of these efforts in Ukraine, in 2023, Project HOPE trained 3,400
    health workers, operated 36 mobile medical units that treated more than
    195,000, and provided mental health support to more than 71,000 people.
                   restore funding to global health security
        We were disappointed to see a cut in funding for global health
    security during the final FY24 negotiations. U.S. investments in global
    health security are working and making progress to bolster the
    capabilities of partner countries to detect, prevent, and respond to
    infectious disease threats and build sustainable systems as lessons
    learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Now is not the time to reduce
    investments, return to modes of panic or scarcity, or neglect funding
    trends for global health security.
        We are asking to restore funding in global health security at the
    Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development
    to the previous level of $900M. Much-needed investments include USAID's
    bilateral global health security programming, as well as dedicated
    funding for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the
    Pandemic Fund. These investments all together help build partner
    country capacity to detect, prevent, and respond to infectious disease
    threats before they become epidemic and pandemic threats--protecting
    lives and livelihoods in the United States and around the world.
        Project HOPE responded to the pandemic in many ways and saw
    firsthand how investing now will pay dividends during the next
    pandemic. In partnership with the Center for Human Rights and
    Humanitarian Studies at the Watson Institute of Brown University,
    Project HOPE developed a COVID-19 preparedness and response curriculum
    to support the rapid scaling up of response efforts, which reached
    people in 94 countries. As part of that effort, Project HOPE helped
    train more than 151,000 health care workers and frontline personnel
    worldwide by the end of 2021. Our team delivered more than 18 million
    pieces of personal protective equipment and provided surge support in
    health systems overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients. To tackle burnout and
    mental health stigma, Project HOPE also trained over 120,000 health
    care workers in 41 countries through the Mental Health and Resiliency
    training program to provide essential personnel with stress management,
    coping, and self-care skills.
             restore funding to hiv/aids, tuberculosis, and malaria
        Funding for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria took a significant hit
    in the recent budget, presumably to meet the lower matching requirement
    within the Global Fund. However, those resources were critical to the
    global efforts against these three devastating diseases. These diseases
    have proven their ability to resurge in many circumstances when our
    vigilance and proactive prevention measures faltered. Without continued
    U.S. leadership and support, these diseases will undoubtedly bounce
    back. This funding should be restored to at least its FY2023 level to
    be utilized by the Global Fund or, if the required matching is not met,
    the US bilateral programs. Namibia, for example, has the sixth highest
    prevalence of HIV in the world, with around 8% of the population living
    with HIV (approximately 176,000 people ages 15-64). HIV is the leading
    cause of death in the country. Project HOPE is working in Namibia to
    mitigate the impact of HIV through ensuring access to quality health
    care for vulnerable populations. In one effort started in 2013, with
    funding through PEPFAR, we are working with the government to provide
    treatment, care, and support to vulnerable groups living with or
    affected by HIV. We focus on children first--providing services that
    are responsive to their needs and their family and community contexts.
                  funding for critical humanitarian assistance
        Humanitarian challenges, both man-made and natural disasters, have
    increased by 260% in just the last 4 years. Almost all of these have
    implications for U.S. national security as well as a strong moral
    imperative. U.S. engagement needs to extend beyond financial
    contributions, utilizing our diplomatic and strategic capacity when
    appropriate. The American people expect their government to help those
    in the deepest need. While the U.S. has continued to be generous in its
    financial support, the requirement to continually seek 'supplemental'
    funding hamstrings both our stature and ability for impact. Therefore,
    we recommend a humanitarian base funding of no less than $4.85 billion
    for the International Disaster Assistance Account (IDA), while
    recognizing there may still be a need for supplemental funding as well.
    IDA resources help create stability and reduce suffering in countries
    around the world. And again, we know what a tremendous impact the U.S.
    can have by providing supplemental funding to those in need. In
    neighboring Haiti, for example, Project HOPE among other humanitarian
    organizations, with support from USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian
    Assistance, has been able to utilize supplemental funds to support the
    provision of primary health services; improve water, sanitation, and
    hygiene; provides protection through mental health and psychosocial
    support programs; and strengthens gender-based violence case management
    and referral pathways to vulnerable Haitians fleeing the conflict in
    their home country.
                                   conclusion
        I thank the Appropriations Committee for its leadership in global
    health and humanitarian assistance, particularly given the constrained
    funding environment. I ask the Committee to support health workers
    through all global health programs, restore funding to global health
    security and HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria programs to maintain
    progress achieved so far, and to ensure preparedness for future
    threats. As we continue to face unprecedented global needs, we also
    support investments to further grow the base for humanitarian
    assistance, ensure sustained support, and avoid drastic funding swings
    in protracted crises. We also hope that you will continue to support
    supplemental funding as needed to address unforeseen or unfunded
    crises.

        [This statement was submitted by Rabih Torbay, President and Chief
    Executive Officer.]
                                     ______

                        Prepared Statement of Pure Earth
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, Members of the subcommittee,
    on behalf of Pure Earth I am honored to submit testimony in support of
    United States leadership to help end childhood lead poisoning globally.
    We ask that the Committee direct $4 million in FY 2025 foreign
    operations funding to support State Department and U.S. Agency for
    International Development efforts to address lead exposure around the
    world.
        We all know that lead exposure can be harmful to humans, especially
    children. Over the past few years, we have better understood the
    massive scale and impact of lead poisoning globally.
        One-third of the world's children have a concentration of lead in
    their blood at or greater than 5 micrograms/deciliter--the vast
    majority in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). While there is no
    level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects,
    the World Health Organization recommends that for an individual with a
    blood lead concentration *5 mg/dL, the source(s) of lead exposure
    should be identified, and appropriate action taken to reduce and
    terminate exposure.
        For children, exposure to lead can permanently damage their
    development. Lead poisoning costs children in LMICs 726 million IQ
    points, and accounts for up to 20 percent of the learning gap between
    children in rich and poor countries. Lead poisoning affects the health
    of pregnant mothers, and mothers with elevated blood lead levels pass
    that along to their developing babies.
        Lead exposure also has serious consequences for adults, causing
    increased risks of cardiovascular disease. Researchers estimate that
    1.6 million to 5.5 million premature deaths a year from cardiovascular
    disease are directly caused by lead poisoning. Even at the lower end,
    the death toll is more than HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. However,
    global donor funding targeted at addressing lead poisoning amounts to
    only about $20 million a year.
        In addition to the human costs, these effects have enormous
    economic consequences. World Bank researchers estimated that lead
    poisoning costs economies $6 trillion a year due to lost productivity
    from premature deaths and IQ loss, almost all in LMICs.
        Because of its enormous human, social and economic impacts, lead
    poisoning globally profoundly affects U.S. foreign assistance goals to
    promote child health and development, education, and poverty reduction;
    and it has implications for U.S. national security and economic
    interests, because poverty and marginalization lead to insecurity and
    conflict.
        In the United States, we still face challenges from lead exposure
    due to lead-based paint and lead water pipes. In LMICs, sources of lead
    pollution are more varied: in addition to lead paint, other significant
    causes of lead poisoning include spices adulterated with lead, metal
    and ceramic cookware contaminated with lead, and improper recycling of
    lead-acid batteries.
        These sources of lead exposure can threaten American children as
    well. The most recent example is the finding of lead in imported
    applesauce pouches that resulted in more than 500 reports of lead
    poisoning across 44 States.
        The best way to protect children globally from lead poisoning
    including children in this country, is to reduce contamination at the
    source. Pure Earth knows from experience that there is a proven
    effective strategy to lower lead exposure, that includes understanding
    prevalence, severity, and location of exposure; determining the most
    significant sources of exposure, and working with communities and
    governments to address those sources, as well as supporting populations
    already affected. These interventions are well worth the investment.
        LMICs are increasingly aware of the threat of lead poisoning and
    taking actions to address lead exposure, including India, Bangladesh,
    Philippines, Ghana, South Africa, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. However,
    they need help from development partners to stop childhood lead
    poisoning.
        We very much appreciate that the U.S. Government has recently
    recognized the threat of lead poisoning in developing countries, and
    committed to address lead contamination of consumer goods. U.S.
    leadership is absolutely critical to put this issue on the world stage,
    and convince other governments and institutions to give the scourge of
    lead poisoning the attention and funding it deserves.
        We respectfully request that the subcommittee designate $4 million
    from environment programs, toxic chemicals funding to address lead
    exposure. In addition, we ask that the subcommittee include report
    language that explains why this issue is important, and that requires a
    report on U.S. Government plans to lower lead exposure in LMICs:

            The Committee provides not less than $4 million to reduce lead
            poisoning in low- and middle-income countries by reducing lead
            exposure risks associated with lead-contaminated sites, the
            unsound recycling of lead acid batteries, contaminated metal
            and ceramic cookware, contaminated spices and other foods,
            lead-based paint, cosmetics, or other exposure sources as
            appropriate. Lead poisoning affects half of all children in
            low- and middle-income countries, results in a greater
            mortality toll than HIV and malaria combined, can cause
            permanent brain damage in children, harms learning potential,
            and costs economies up to $6 trillion a year. Lead-contaminated
            goods that originate from other countries regularly poison
            children in the United States, requiring the U.S. Government to
            engage in efforts beyond our borders to protect children in the
            U.S. and globally. The Committee commends U.S. efforts to
            address this issue; not later than 90 days after the date of
            enactment of the act, the Secretary of State and the USAID
            Administrator shall brief the Committee on their strategies and
            progress to lower lead poisoning globally.

        Lead poisoning is an overlooked, cross-cutting global development
    issue that undermines U.S. international development goals and the
    goals of our international partners. It robs hundreds of millions of
    children of intellectual capital and economic opportunity, and hurts
    efforts to address poverty and promote economic growth. Lead
    contamination in other countries increasingly threatens American
    children. The United States can lead the world in working to lower the
    number of children poisoned by lead around the world.
        We thank the subcommittee for its continued investment in U.S.
    humanitarian and development programs that reflect American values and
    protect American interests, and for its support for lead exposure
    mitigation in prior appropriations legislation. Pure Earth encourages
    the subcommittee to allocate not less than $4 million in Fiscal Year
    2025 to support cost-effective programs that help children around the
    world reach their full intellectual potential.
        Thank you for your consideration. Please let me know if you have
    any questions or would like additional information on our efforts.

        [This statement was submitted by Richard Fuller, Founder and
    President.]
                                     ______

                 Prepared Statement of RESULTS Educational Fund
        On behalf of RESULTS, and our network of committed grassroots
    advocates across all 50 States, I would like to thank Chairman Coons
    and Ranking Member Graham, along with the additional members of the
    State and Foreign Operations subcommittee, for U.S. investments and
    commitment to addressing extreme poverty and health equity around the
    world. The bipartisan support for global health and development
    programs has made an enormous difference in billions of people's lives
    and communities. I want to thank the Committee particularly for the
    FY24 increases for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Nutrition
    Account in Global Health at USAID. Child deaths have reached an all-
    time low thanks to longstanding investment, but new crises since 2020
    have led to a spike in malnutrition and in the number of children
    missing out on lifesaving routine vaccination, putting this progress at
    grave risk. We cannot afford to lose momentum in these crucial efforts.
    Your commitment to increasing funds here is notable, and we urge you to
    continue to prioritize and increase the funding accounts that
    contribute to ending preventable child and maternal deaths in your
    fiscal year 2025 bill, even in the face of proposed topline budget
    cuts. Truly, these programs save lives and create positive change
    around the world and your leadership here is imperative across these
    vital accounts
        UNICEF just reported that in the past 50 years immunizations have
    saved over 154 million lives. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has been a
    leading driver in saving lives--and U.S. support has helped Gavi to
    immunize over one billion children since 2000. Measles, pneumonia, and
    deadly diarrhea caused by rotavirus have all been leading killers of
    kids under the age of five, and are now all vaccine preventable. With
    Gavi support over 78 countries have rolled out the newest vaccines in
    some of the most remote and hard to reach places, and in turn, are
    driving down child deaths. Under the last administration, the U.S. made
    an early pledge, and our largest to date, in support of the most recent
    Gavi replenishment. It was incredibly successful and even exceeded its
    global target at a critical juncture. This June Gavi is coming out with
    their ``Investment Opportunity'' for its next 5-year strategy, which
    includes an equity agenda of reaching ``zero dose children''--those
    kids who haven't received any vaccines, and who are most likely not
    being seen by a health system at all--and rolling out the new
    lifesaving malaria vaccine. An early signaling of the U.S. investment
    and commitment to Gavi's new strategy is critical for driving other
    donors to the table. RESULTS urges the Committee to fund Gavi at $340
    million for fiscal year 2025 (FY2025) and to send a strong message in
    the bill/report to other donor countries by including language that
    this is the first installment of a multi-year pledge, and urging other
    donors to also increase their multi-year commitments by no less than 20
    percent. Language to that effect from this Committee in advance of the
    last Gavi replenishment helped set the stage for the global success I
    noted just a moment ago.
        The support for Gavi should not come at the expense of other core
    maternal and child health programs. RESULTS also urges the Committee to
    increase the Maternal and Child Health account at USAID to $1.15
    billion for FY2025 to support other core MCH programs and to account
    for both the increase to Gavi that is needed, along with the U.S.
    support for the Global Financing Facility as proposed by the
    president's budget request. Through critical USAID investments, in 2022
    the Maternal and Child Health programs helped almost 12 million women
    to give birth in a health facility and supported over 11 million
    newborns with postnatal care. This access is essential--often
    lifesaving. Investments in high-impact, evidence-based interventions to
    improve maternal and child health must be prioritized in U.S. foreign
    assistance.
        RESULTS also urges you to increase USAID nutrition programs--which
    are funded by the global health account and are key to child survival--
    to $300 million in FY25. Of the five million preventable child deaths
    annually, malnutrition is still an underlying cause of almost half.
    USAID nutrition programs support low-cost but highly effective
    interventions, such as: vitamin A; iron and other micronutrient
    supplementation; food fortification; promotion of good nutrition and
    hygiene practices; and treatment for severe, acute malnutrition. This
    is particularly important during the 1,000 day window starting with
    pregnancy and through a child's second birthday, when malnutrition can
    lead to physical and cognitive stunting that has irreversible lifetime
    effects.
        Last year almost 32 million children under 5 years of age had their
    nutritional intake improved thanks to U.S. funding. This is work we can
    be proud of: children who get the right nutrition early on are 10 times
    more likely to overcome life-threatening childhood diseases such as
    diarrhea and pneumonia and are more likely to achieve higher levels of
    education.
        Building on the profound effect of health programs in a child's
    life, we cannot forget the impact of a quality education. RESULTS is
    grateful for this Committee's ongoing commitment for the multilateral
    education programs, including support for the Global Partnership for
    Education (GPE). On GPE, Congress has consistently led the way. We have
    made huge strides to ensure that basic education is equally available
    for girls and boys, and to eliminate public school fees. But
    unfortunately for many students, access to school alone does not equal
    learning. Reading and math are the launching pads for future learning,
    growth, and development. Still, too many children are not able to
    access the quality foundational learning they need and deserve. As a
    result, 70 percent of 10-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries
    are experiencing ``learning poverty.'' There is a critical need for
    increased investment in both bilateral education funding and the
    multilaterals. The world is dealing with numerous crises, and we cannot
    afford to leave behind an entire generation of learners.
        Since 2021, the Global Partnership for Education has reached 227
    million children in 68 partner countries with active grants to support
    national education plans--with a focus on equity and girls. With
    increased U.S. leadership, and support for USAID and the Global
    Partnership for Education, we can partner with governments to reach
    even more children and support education leaders to strengthen national
    school systems, so all children can fulfill their right to education.
    That is why RESULTS is calling for Congress to increase support for
    International Basic Education, and to provide no less than $200 million
    for the Global Partnership for Education in FY25.
        RESULTS also wants to acknowledge the immensely important
    leadership of this Committee to reauthorize PEPFAR in a critical year.
    The world continues to watch the U.S. leadership on global HIV/AIDS,
    and we are so grateful for the bipartisan support of this Committee and
    for the leadership of both Chairman Coons and Ranking Member Grahamas a
    longtime champions of the issue. It is thanks to lasting bipartisan
    support from Congress that the United States was able to make the
    historic 3-year pledge to the Global Fund and provide $2 billion to the
    Fund in FY23, and to maintain the high funding of $1.65 billion in
    FY24. For every dollar from the U.S., we have leveraged two dollars
    from other donors to end these epidemics and help countries build
    health systems. The Global Fund supports high impact investments to end
    the epidemics of TB, HIV and malaria, build primary health services,
    and better protect us against new pandemics. Our fight here must
    continue, and we urge you to maintain your support at $1.65 billion in
    the FY25 bill.
        As we further our efforts on global TB, including pushing USAID to
    set new bold global goals to reach and treat all people facing the
    disease, the resounding limitation is the severe lack of global
    resources. TB experts--the epidemiologists, the pulmonologists, the
    experts in active case-finding, and contact tracing, even the lab
    technicians for PCR tests--all helped lead the response to COVID. It's
    now clear: the historically underfunded TB programs and the people who
    run them are the world's frontline response system for airborne disease
    control and are central to pandemic preparedness. Many countries have
    made remarkable strides to integrate pandemic preparedness efforts into
    their existing TB programs--but this requires the support of donors, to
    ensure it doesn't come at the expense of people sick with TB.
        As COVID-19 deaths are declining, TB is again poised to become the
    leading infectious disease killer. The funding level for the bilateral
    USAID TB program should better reflect the magnitude of the nearly 11
    million people annually sickened and the 1.3 million people dying every
    year of this airborne infectious disease. TB cases disproportionately
    affect low-income and otherwise marginalized communities and are a key
    driver of poverty. The vast majority of TB cases are curable, but
    millions of people go without quality treatment each year.
        It has been bipartisan leadership in Congress that has driven
    critical U.S. leadership on TB, pushing USAID to do more and do it
    faster by increasing resources for our bilateral TB programs year on
    year. It's urgent that we act on TB and invest in the programs that can
    and have been the frontlines for pandemic response--just as we saw in
    COVID. RESULTS again urges the Committee to increase resources to $1
    billion for bilateral TB in FY25.
        Again, thank you very much for your crucial leadership and for this
    opportunity to testify. I respectfully request that the Committee fully
    fund these programs that have enormous impact in ending needless
    suffering and preventable deaths, and tackling the root causes of
    poverty globally.

        [This statement was submitted by Dr. Joanne Carter, Executive
    Director.]
                                     ______

                   Prepared Statement of Rotary International
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and members of the
    subcommittee: Rotary appreciates the opportunity to encourage
    continuation of funding for FY 2025 to support USAID's Polio
    Eradication Initiative. These efforts support the broader Global Polio
    Eradication Initiative (GPEI), which is an unprecedented model of
    cooperation among national governments, civil society and UN agencies
    working together to reach the most vulnerable children through the
    safe, cost-effective public health intervention of polio immunization.
    Rotary International requests the subcommittee provide $165 million for
    USAID's polio eradication activities to capitalize on the historic
    opportunity of unprecedented low levels of endemic polio virus
    transmission. These funds will support the GPEI's priority of stopping
    all forms of polio virus transmission through high quality immunization
    campaigns. These funds will also provide vital support for surveillance
    activities which provide confidence in both the presence and absence of
    polio virus transmission. The nearly 300,000 members of Rotary clubs in
    the U.S. appreciate the United States' generous support and
    longstanding leadership toward a polio free world. Continued U.S.
    leadership will help achieve a polio free world and ensure the
    continued global health contribution of polio eradication
    infrastructure and resources.
                  an urgent opportunity to achieve eradication
        USAID's leadership within the Global Polio Eradication Initiative
    (GPEI) has contributed toward a 99.9 percent decline in global polio
    cases since 1988. Five of the six regions of the world have been
    certified free from the wild polio virus. Eradication efforts have also
    successfully wiped out two of the three wild poliovirus strains. Today,
    Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world with
    endemic transmission of wild polio virus, and the virus has been
    cornered to a limited area in both countries.
        However, ongoing challenges threaten over thirty years of progress,
    the US investment of more than $4.7 billion, and the current window of
    opportunity to eradicate polio. Endemic transmission continues to be
    very restricted and was 60 percent lower in 2023 than the previous
    year, with only 12 cases confirmed in 2023 in the endemic countries of
    Afghanistan and Pakistan (six in each). These two endemic countries are
    treated as a single epidemiologic block due to the population movement
    between countries. The genetic diversity of wild poliovirus is
    shrinking in these two countries, with only two clusters circulating in
    2023, down from 16 in 2020.
        An outbreak of wild poliovirus of Pakistani origin in Malawi and
    Mozambique in early 2022 was stopped thanks to aggressive outbreak
    response. This outbreak was formally closed in May 2024.
        Setbacks in routine immunization related to the COVID-19 pandemic
    have resulted in variant poliovirus outbreaks. These outbreaks can
    occur if the weakened strain of the poliovirus contained in the oral
    polio vaccine (OPV) circulates among under and unimmunized populations
    for a long time. While these outbreaks continued in 2023, there were 40
    percent fewer cases in fewer places. The novel oral polio vaccine type
    2 (nOPV2) continues to be administered to stop these outbreaks more
    efficiently. Outbreaks in four key countries, Nigeria, Democratic
    Republic of Congo, Somalia, and Yemen, are considered of particular
    concern, accounting for three-fourths of variant polio virus cases
    since 2022 and sparking outbreaks in neighboring countries. The GPEI is
    working to stop outbreaks in these countries while also addressing
    outbreaks in proximate geographies and improving the timeliness and
    efficacy of outbreak response activities.
        Variant poliovirus has appeared in locations long considered to be
    polio free, including Israel, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the
    United States. Two individuals (one in Israel and one in the United
    States) developed paralytic polio in 2022. These incidents were
    addressed by the health authorities of these countries but are relevant
    because they were related to the spread of virus from places where the
    GPEI continues to battle the poliovirus and underscore the need to stop
    virus transmission in those places.
            usaid's vital role in global polio eradication progress
        The United States is a leading funder and technical voice among
    sovereign donors in the drive to eradicate polio. USAID's polio
    eradication program contributes to the Global Polio Eradication
    Initiative by focusing support towards national plans to build and
    sustain population immunity sufficient to stop polio transmission,
    build and enhance facility and community-based surveillance able to
    detect and respond to possible polio cases, increase public trust in
    immunization by working with local partners to address parental
    concerns, working with civil society to reach the most vulnerable
    children in high risk areas and along international borders, and
    assisting in early detection and outbreak response to any new polio
    cases found in previously polio-free areas.
        USAID has remained steadfast in its support for polio eradication
    and successfully navigated working in a post-pandemic environment
    despite constraints resulting from the pandemic and ongoing, complex
    geopolitical challenges in key geographies. USAID also continued to
    invest in polio surveillance and laboratory networks to support the
    rapid and accurate identification of polio cases through poliovirus
    surveillance in human and environmental samples. In some instances,
    USAID support for surveillance includes transport of polio samples from
    districts to national laboratories and training of local surveillance
    teams in early detection and rapid outbreak response to any new polio
    cases found in previously polio-free areas.
        USAID also applied lessons learned from polio eradication efforts
    and supported partners to build on the polio architecture to motivate
    demand, planning and coordination, and distribution and management to
    address setbacks in polio and other routine immunizations. This
    includes strengthening partnerships at the country level, using polio
    micro plans in support of routine immunization, supporting the tracking
    and mapping of newborn and pregnant women, broader behavior change
    communication and messaging to support immunization, integrated disease
    surveillance. In Pakistan specifically, USAID supports the Vaccine
    Logistics Management Information Systems which efficiently tracks the
    movement of vaccines from central storage facility to the health
    facility level. The system also provides real-time information on the
    availability of vaccines at each stage of the supply chain that
    contributes to making informed decisions in terms of distribution and
    delivery.
        USAID also supports the CORE Group Partners Project (CGPP), a
    multi-country, multi-partner initiative providing financial and
    technical support for strengthening host country efforts to eradicate
    polio by improving polio vaccination uptake, enhancing quality of polio
    campaigns and routine vaccination, strengthening surveillance, and
    fostering polio partnerships at all levels through civil societies and
    community networks that predominantly rely on female community health
    workers. The CGPP specifically supports NGOs to foster strong community
    engagement, monitor routine immunization sessions, monitor cold chain
    equipment and vaccine distribution and collection per guidelines,
    assist in the rollout of the novel oral polio vaccine (nOPV), and
    support broader disease surveillance at the community level. The CGPP
    also works with NGOs to support the certification and containment
    processes, through community-based surveillance and by helping to
    inventory materials potentially infectious for poliovirus (PIMs) at
    Polio Essential Facilities in their project areas.
                            usaid staff and missions
        USAID staff continued to provide technical support virtually to
    USAID Missions and Ministries of Health and continued to coordinate
    with other donors. USAID staff reviewed National Emergency Action
    Plans, participated in polio oversight and technical meetings, and
    continued to promote and disseminate lessons learned across countries
    for overall program improvement. USAID/HQ and Mission staff continue to
    be actively engaged in working with GPEI partners in support of
    effective implementation and review of the GPEI Strategy--2022-2026.
    USAID also provides support for certification and containment committee
    meetings at all levels. USAID's polio coordinator is a member of the
    EURO Certification Commission's (in a personal capacity) and
    participates as needed in document review, advocacy, and meetings.
    Finally, USAID staff are also involved in legacy and transition
    planning discussions at the country and global levels to ensure the
    contributions made by Global Polio Eradication Initiative sustain polio
    eradication progress and contribute toward broader health objectives,
    and that the lessons learned in polio eradication are recorded to
    benefit ongoing health priorities.
                        fiscal year 2025 budget request
        Rotary respectfully requests $165 million in FY2025 for USAID's
    Polio Eradication Initiative.
        FY 2025 funding support for USAID for polio eradication will enable
    robust surveillance for poliovirus and the vaccination of individuals
    in the hardest-to-reach communities. Additional funding will support
    the expansion of surveillance activities which provide confidence in
    both the presence and absence of polio virus transmission, and
    specifically to provide active subnational and community-based
    surveillance to detect and investigate cases in 25 countries and five
    regions including surveillance medical officers in high risk districts,
    and community-based surveillance officers in high risk conflict/
    insecure, remote, mobile and border areas.
        USAID will also continue to prioritize timely outbreak response,
    given the increasing unpredictability of polio variant virus outbreaks
    and the opportunity to apply effective outbreak detection and response
    tools, such as the novel oral poliovirus 2 (nOPV2) vaccine. USAID will
    work to implement improvements in response planning, execution and
    monitoring to ensure rapid, high-quality activities including those
    which support fixed-site, mobile clinics and house-to-house planned and
    outbreak response immunization campaigns in high risk and remote areas;
    combat vaccine hesitancy through Social Mobilization, Community
    engagement, and social media; and facilitate coordination across UN
    agencies and integration of polio vaccination with broader immunization
    for long-term sustainability of polio immunity.
        The requested funds would also support integrated services in
    targeted geographic areas where polio still circulates such as
    Afghanistan, Pakistan and outbreak countries. These countries are
    characterized by multiple, complex challenges including conflict and
    insecurity and are frequently areas that are unreached by other health
    interventions. The polio eradication program is working to reach the
    most vulnerable children in these high-risk areas with value-added
    interventions. These initiatives are tailored to address local needs
    and can include delivery of ``plusses'' such as treated bed nets, or
    integrated immunization campaigns that deliver other antigens. Such
    integrated efforts offer children and families some of the broader
    services they need, while increasing demand and acceptance of polio
    vaccination.
                        the role of rotary international
        Since 1985, polio eradication has been Rotary's flagship project,
    with members donating time and money to help immunize nearly 3 billion
    children in 122 countries. Rotary's chief roles are fundraising,
    advocacy, raising public awareness and mobilizing volunteers. Rotary's
    cumulative investment in global polio eradication, including match
    funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, stands at more than
    $2.7 billion--the largest contribution by an international service
    organization to a public health initiative ever. These funds have
    helped countries to buy vaccine and the equipment needed to keep it at
    the right temperature and support the means to ensure it reaches every
    child. Rotary also plays a key role in encouraging country level
    accountability. Rotary has National PolioPlus Committees, in the
    endemic countries and over 20 outbreak/at-risk countries. These
    national committees work to keep the spotlight on polio eradication
    amidst competing priorities from the community level to the National
    level.
                         benefits of polio eradication
        Since 1988, tens of thousands of public health workers have been
    trained to manage massive immunization programs and investigate cases
    of acute flaccid paralysis. Cold chain, transport and communications
    systems for immunization have been strengthened. The global network of
    146 laboratories and trained personnel established by the GPEI also
    tracks measles, rubella, yellow fever, meningitis, and other deadly
    infectious diseases including COVID-19 and will do so long after polio
    is eradicated. $27 billion in health cost savings has resulted from
    eradication efforts since 1988. Investing in polio eradication now may
    cumulatively save an estimated $33.1 billion by 2100 in the form of
    reduced costs of surveillance and vaccination. The costs to control
    polio at today's low levels, plus costs to treat the survivors, would
    be over $1 billion per year for decades to come. Furthermore, as many
    as 200,000 children could be paralyzed annually in the next decade if
    the world fails to capitalize on the more than $19 billion already
    invested in eradication.
        Polio eradication is a cost-effective public health investment with
    permanent benefits. A new investment case finds that successful polio
    transition in the 8 priority countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean
    Region will deliver a return of nearly U.S. $39 for every dollar spent.
    The study projects economic and social benefits totaling an estimated
    U.S. $289.2 billion through sustaining polio assets and integrating
    them into expanded immunization, surveillance and emergency response
    programs. These findings underscore the opportunity for national
    governments, donors and stakeholders to use polio assets to sustain a
    polio-free world and build strong, equitable and resilient health
    systems.
        Continued U.S. leadership is essential to ensuring we capitalize on
    this historic opportunity to rid the world of polio. To continue this
    tremendous progress, we respectfully request your support for the polio
    eradication efforts of the USAID in the FY25 State, Foreign Operations,
    and Related Programs Appropriations bill.

        [This statement was submitted by Johrita Solari, Chair, Polio
    Eradication Advocacy Task Force.]
                                     ______

             Prepared Statement of Save the Children Action Network
        My name is Christy Gleason, and I am the Executive Director at Save
    the Children Action Network (SCAN). SCAN is the 501(c)4 advocacy arm of
    Save the Children U.S. and a political voice for kids. We work to
    ensure that the issues critical to children's lives and futures are
    given top priority by our elected leaders. Thank you for the
    opportunity to testify on the needs of children most impacted by
    poverty around the world and the indispensable role United States
    leadership plays in supporting these children to survive and thrive. I
    am testifying today to express concern about the interim 302(b)
    allocation for the FY25 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations
    bill released May 16. I also testify in support of strong investments
    in Development Assistance, International Disaster Assistance, Migration
    and Refugee Assistance, Global Food Security, Maternal and Child
    Health, Operating Expenses, and the Prevention and Response of Gender-
    Based Violence globally, including Ending Child Marriage. Finally, I
    offer testimony in opposition to the inclusion of any new spending
    directives.
        U.S. investments in children and their families around the world
    are making a difference. Through U.S. funded assistance, we have
    witnessed dramatic declines in the number of people living in extreme
    poverty, child and maternal deaths, and childhood stunting (a severe
    form of childhood malnutrition).
        However, years of gains in outcomes for children are at risk. The
    number of children in humanitarian need continues to rise--the result
    of both protracted and new conflicts, extreme weather events and market
    disruption. 1 in 5 children are living in or fleeing armed conflict,
    and over 150 million children worldwide urgently need critical
    humanitarian aid to survive. At the same time, chronic hunger afflicts
    one in five children globally, permanently compromising their physical
    and cognitive development. And nearly 710 million children currently
    live in countries at the highest risk of extreme weather events.
        U.S. global leadership on behalf of children has never been more
    essential--for children's futures and for U.S. foreign policy
    objectives related to global peace, prosperity, and human rights.
    Overlapping and intersecting global crises require renewed and
    bolstered U.S. leadership to save lives immediately, while
    simultaneously investing in prevention and resilience at individual,
    family, and community levels. Only by responding to today's crises and
    rebuilding a more resilient, peaceful, equal, and economically
    prosperous global community will we ensure a world where generations of
    children can grow up healthy, protected, and educated.
        While we understand that Congressional appropriators are facing
    significant constraints, we are deeply concerned by the
    disproportionate cut made to the allocation for the FY25 State and
    Foreign Operations Appropriations bill. A decrease of this magnitude
    poses unacceptable risks to the lives and futures of children around
    the world, to hard-fought development gains won over decades, and to
    U.S. national security and global peace and prosperity. We urge
    Congress to put children's needs at the heart of U.S. foreign policy to
    ensure every child can get the healthy and safe childhood they deserve,
    no matter who they are and where they live. With this frame, I urge the
    following:

        Core Humanitarian Accounts (FY25 requests: International Disaster
    Assistance at $4.85 billion and Migration and Refugee Assistance at
    $4.211 billion).--Children are disproportionately represented among
    people in humanitarian need. At the same time, they face distinct risks
    and rights violations and have different needs by virtue of their age,
    relative stage of physical and emotional development, and access to
    decision-making spaces and resources. A staggering 300 million people
    worldwide need humanitarian aid in 2024. A record 117 million people
    are forcibly displaced, 40% of them children--and this number is
    projected to grow. We are grateful that Congress has answered the call
    with supplemental appropriations. It is desperately needed, especially
    as the needs keep growing. There are currently an unprecedented eight
    crises requiring over $2.5 billion to fully meet the scale of needs:
    Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan,
    Syria, Ukraine, the West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen. In 2017, there was
    just one: Syria.

        Robust investment in the core humanitarian accounts will ensure
    continued U.S. global leadership in alleviating the humanitarian needs
    of children worldwide--and drive greater action and contributions from
    our allies. Though it constituted less than .15% in FY23 including
    supplementals, these accounts have an outsized humanitarian impact,
    providing critical support for tens of millions of displaced persons
    and children living in crises and conflicts; urgent relief to
    increasingly frequent weather and natural disasters; averting hunger
    and famine; and ensuring vital access to education, protection, and
    clean water for children in crisis. Maintaining our funding to scale
    with global needs is crucial to prevent loss of life, support stability
    and well-being in volatile regions, and protect and expand development
    gains won over decades.
        While the 2024 supplemental funding bills brought these accounts to
    a generous $17.86 billion, continued reliance on supplementals to
    address humanitarian needs can both hinder the ability to respond to
    sudden onset emergencies and make it more difficult for humanitarian
    actors to carry out medium-to-long-term aid for protracted crises where
    children's needs remain dire. We urge Congress to continue its long,
    bipartisan history of supporting children in need worldwide by
    prioritizing strong humanitarian base funding in the FY25 bill.
        We also remain extremely concerned about the suspension of funding
    for UNRWA. UNRWA is irreplaceable--depriving it of critical funding
    risks the complete collapse of any semblance of a humanitarian response
    not just in Gaza, but across the region. We urge Congress to resume
    funding for UNRWA in FY25 and ensure that every child, wherever they
    are and whoever they are, has access to lifesaving assistance.
        Development Assistance (FY25 request: $4.66 billion).--A strong
    Development Assistance account is critical to tackling the root causes
    of poverty and breaking the cycle of humanitarian need. It funds
    programs to combat child marriage and help farm families be self-
    reliant, growing economies and creating communities that can manage
    chronic challenges and bounce back from crises. As such, it is the
    backbone of U.S. investment in a more stable, prosperous world.
        Global Food Security (FY25 request: $1.2 billion).--Feed the Future
    (FTF) is a dynamic whole-of-government approach that tackles global
    hunger and malnutrition through programs to improve agricultural
    productivity, expand markets and trade, prevent child malnutrition, and
    strengthen the resilience of individuals experiencing the highest
    levels of vulnerability, particularly children. FTF reached 32 million
    children under age five with nutrition-specific interventions and
    leveraged $698 million to support global food security programming.
    Unfortunately, global hunger is on the rise after decades of steady
    decreases. As many as 783 million people are facing chronic hunger and
    148 million children are stunted by poor nutrition. By emphasizing
    resilience, FTF addresses the root causes of poverty and hunger by
    equipping people with the resources needed to feed themselves, reducing
    long-term reliance on foreign aid. Strongly investing in FTF is
    critical to help families build resilience to shocks and stresses.
    Investing in resilience yields benefits of $2.8 for every $1 invested
    and avoids costly humanitarian efforts in the future.
        Maternal and Child Health (FY25 request: $1.15 billion).--
    Investments in maternal and child health, including U.S. contributions
    to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, cement the foundation for healthy,
    stable societies. U.S. leadership and assistance contributed to cutting
    child and maternal mortality around the world in half since 1990. In
    the past 10 years, USAID's efforts have helped save the lives of 9.3
    million children and 340,000 women. In 2022, the annual number of uner-
    5 deaths dropped below 5 million for the first time ever.
        Despite this progress, 4.9 million children under age five still
    die each year, almost one million of them on the day they are born.
    Moreover, newborn mortality has not decreased as quickly as child
    mortality.
        Each year, 303,000 women and adolescent girls die from preventable
    causes related to pregnancy or childbirth, including postpartum
    hemorrhage, hypertension, infection, and obstructed labor.
    Complications during pregnancy and childbirth remain the leading cause
    of death for adolescent girls aged 15-19 across the globe. Maternal
    health interventions improve health outcomes of mothers and reduce
    infection risk among newborns and prevent complications from pre-term
    births. Prematurity is the leading cause of newborn deaths, yet many
    preterm births can be prevented or managed with feasible, cost-
    effective solutions. Health interventions throughout a woman's and
    girl's life, from preconception through labor and in between
    pregnancies, can help prevent early births. These include improving the
    nutrition and health of mothers, promoting healthy spacing of
    pregnancies, and addressing risk factors before and during pregnancy.
        Gender Equality (FY25 request $3.1 billion), including Prevention
    and Response to Gender-Based Violence Globally (FY25 request $414
    million), and Combatting Child Marriage Globally (FY25 request $30
    million).--We urge continued U.S. leadership on global gender equality
    and the prevention, mitigation, and response to gender-based violence
    experienced by children globally.
        Gender inequality and gender-based violence are early warning signs
    of instability and violent conflict and undermine the effectiveness of
    existing investments in global health, development, and stability.
    Forms of gender-based violence-- such as intimate partner violence,
    child marriage, and female genital mutilation/cutting-- are rooted in
    structural gender inequality and manifest in gender discrimination
    affecting women and girls in every country and community in the world.
    Adolescent girls are particularly at risk of gender-based violence,
    especially in conflict and crisis settings.
        The World Bank estimates that global economic gains from ending
    child marriage could reach over $500 billion per year, driven in part
    by the impact child marriage has on a girl's ability to complete her
    education and earn income over her life. Conversely, girls with a
    secondary education and access to gender and age-responsive healthcare
    services are more likely to marry later, earn more income over their
    lifetimes, and face fewer complications from childbirth. These girls
    are also more resilient through economic and environmental shocks,
    contributing to the resilience of their families and communities.
        Finally, we urge that Congress mandate increased U.S. investment in
    sex, age, and disability disaggregated data to measure progress towards
    gender equality outcomes and reporting on allocations of funding for
    all children and/or youth-focused programming.
        USAID Operating Expenses (FY25 Request of $1.9 billion).--We are
    concerned about the 2.75% cut to USAIDs operating expenses from FY23 to
    FY24 given how critical operational funds are for USAIDs staffing,
    localization vision, ability to conduct evaluations, and overall
    learning agenda. Robust funding for USAID Operating Expenses (of at
    least $1.9) is vital to ensure sustainable program results.
        Locally Led Development.--We were glad to see that both the House
    and Senate FY24 SFOPS reports included strong report language requiring
    the agency to report on progress in advancing locally led development
    and humanitarian response. For FY25, we encourage appropriators to
    request that USAID align its definition of a ``local entity'' with the
    Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) definition in accordance with
    the U.S. government's reporting to the Grand Bargain.
        No New Funding Directives.--Save the Children believes strongly,
    based on our programmatic experience, that the most effective
    humanitarian response and development programs are based on knowledge
    of local context and tailored to the local context. This requires that
    funding streams allow those on the ground with intimate knowledge of
    the needs, challenges, opportunities and capacities to decide how funds
    are used. Those decisions should not be dictated from far away.
    Accordingly, we oppose the inclusion of any new spending directives in
    the FY25 appropriations bill.
                                   conclusion
        We thank the subcommittee for considering our testimony as it makes
    decisions about how to allocate resources. Save the Children Action
    Network appreciates bipartisan support for programs that are essential
    for fighting poverty and ensuring children at home and around the world
    have the tools and resources they need to survive and thrive. An
    investment in children is an investment in future peace and prosperity.
    We look forward to continuing to work alongside you as you champion and
    invest in the needs of children around the world, so they have what
    every child deserves-the opportunity to survive and thrive.

                                     ______

                   Prepared Statement of Surfrider Foundation
    Dear Chair Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and members of the Senate
    Committee on Appropriations subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations,
    and Related Programs:

        The Surfrider Foundation (``Surfrider'') strongly supports the
    appropriations of at least $69.3 million to the U.S. International
    Boundary and Water Commission's Salaries and Expenses Account, of which
    at least $17.5 million be made available to support operations and
    maintenance of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant
    (``SBIWTP''), administered by the Department of State to protect public
    health, at-risk communities and national military preparedness in the
    Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Federal budget.
        South San Diego County along the U.S./Mexico border is plagued by
    binational flows of polluted water from the Tijuana River. In part due
    to insufficient treatment capacity, mechanical failures, and neglected
    maintenance of the SBIWTP, sewage-polluted flows are wreaking havoc on
    the local community, economy, and environment. Since October 2018, the
    U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission has documented the
    entry of over 148 billion gallons of toxic effluent into the United
    States through the Tijuana River,\1\ with 28 billion gallons of
    polluted flows crossing the international border since the start of
    this year.\2\ The southernmost beach in San Diego County has been
    closed for over 900 consecutive days and counting as a result of this
    pollution. Nearby, Imperial Beach has been closed 100 percent of 2024,
    with Silver Strand Beach closed for 96 percent of the year, and world-
    renowned Coronado Beach closed for 74% of the year due to elevated
    bacteria in the water.\3\
        Exposure to untreated and undertreated sewage poses a significant
    public health threat. Sewage contains bacteria, viruses, and parasites
    that can make people sick with gastrointestinal symptoms, rashes, and
    eye infections, as well as more serious conditions including hepatitis,
    acute respiratory disease, cholera, giardia, methicillin-resistant
    staph infections (MRSA), and flesh-eating bacteria from V. vulnificus,
    among others. A 2018 study estimated that each year, 90 million
    illnesses are caused by recreating in sewage-polluted waters, which
    costs the U.S. economy up to $3.7 billion annually.\4\ For this study,
    the primary exposure route was through dermal contact and accidental
    ingestion of polluted water during recreation. However, bacteria and
    industrial chemicals in areas chronically polluted with high levels of
    sewage and industrial discharges, such as coastal waters near the
    Tijuana River Watershed, also become aerosolized in sea spray, reducing
    air quality and causing an additional exposure route through
    inhalation, further threatening public health.\5\ Preliminary results
    from new air quality monitoring stations installed in San Ysidro by the
    San Diego Air Pollution Control District show levels of hydrogen
    sulfide, one of the main chemical components of sewer gas, to be above
    the state standard for protecting against headaches and nausea.\6\
        Not only do polluted flows threaten the public health of
    surrounding communities, the Tijuana River pollution crisis undermines
    U.S. national security, affecting Navy SEAL training programs and the
    ability of Border Patrol agents to do their jobs. According to a House
    Report of the Committee on Armed Services that outlines impacts on Navy
    readiness and training, pollution from the Tijuana River caused over
    250 in-water canceled training events in FY2020.\7\ Additionally,
    Border Patrol agents have experienced illnesses from exposure to toxic
    water while performing job duties, including flesh-eating bacteria.\8\
        Local businesses and economies have also been hit hard and continue
    to suffer due to increasing water and air contamination. The County of
    San Diego, with assistance from the San Diego Chamber of Commerce,
    recently conducted an economic impact study to measure the impacts of
    border pollution on local businesses. Preliminary results reveal that
    74 percent of local businesses have been negatively impacted, 30
    percent have laid off staff, 50 percent have lost more than $100,000 in
    revenue, the City of Imperial Beach has experienced $1-1.5 million in
    property tax damage, and the estimated revenue loss for tourism is over
    $500,000 annually.\9\ Some businesses have been forced to close, and
    many residents have lost their livelihoods.
        These economic and public health concerns are why the City of
    Imperial Beach, City of San Diego, and the County of San Diego maintain
    an ongoing State of Local Emergency related to the impacts of cross-
    border pollution from the binational Tijuana River. The Tijuana River
    was also recently designated as one of America's most Endangered Rivers
    \10\ due to the severe level of sewage and industrial pollution
    threatening local communities and wildlife. A recent white paper
    published by San Diego State University's School of Public Health
    summarized the public health impacts of the pollution and noted that
    the death of three bottlenose dolphins in San Diego from sepsis is
    likely linked to Tijuana River pollution. ``These dolphins serve as
    sentinels for the risk of possible human exposures to dangerous
    bacteria'', the paper States.\11\ Despite local and national attention,
    toxic flows continue to threaten families, expose Border Patrol
    personnel, harm ecosystems and wildlife, and impede public access to
    the coast every day.
        The International Boundary and Water Commission is tasked with
    managing the SBIWTP, yet inadequate funding has led to years of
    deferred maintenance, plant failures, and a long list of critical
    repairs needed in order for the SBIWTP to be fully operational. For
    example, the already struggling SBIWTP became inoperable after damages
    and inundation sustained from Tropical Storm Hilary in August 2023.
    Flooding from the storm resulted in the plant receiving flows of 50 to
    80 million gallons per day above the plant's permitted design limit of
    25 million gallons per day. As a result, the plant intentionally
    diverted raw sewage into the Pacific Ocean to prevent further damages.
    The plant has since come back online, but is operating at a diminished
    capacity due to those damages and the state of affairs preceding that
    weather event. Insufficient treatment capacity and frequent mechanical
    failures at the SBIWTP and its distribution system are problems year-
    round, not just during heavy rain and storm events. Dr. Maria-Elena
    Giner, U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water
    Commission, testified to the California Coastal Commission that the
    SBIWTP was failing to meet over 15 of 35 water quality parameters
    regulated by their discharge permit, stating that previous annual
    funding levels were too low and ``did not prioritize this plant [the
    SBIWTP] as part of the maintenance that was needed.'' \12\
        Thanks to strong support and engagement from local communities,
    nongovernmental organizations, local decision-makers, scientists,
    Federal agencies, and Congressional leadership, progress has been made
    to plan for expanded capacity of wastewater and stormwater
    infrastructure at the U.S./Mexico border. Federal funding allocated
    through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) as well as
    the U.S. Border Water Infrastructure Grant Program helped advance
    development of the Comprehensive Infrastructure Solution, which
    outlines projects to upgrade treatment facilities at the U.S./Mexico
    Border. The Comprehensive Infrastructure Solution is designed to
    eventually increase wastewater treatment plant capacity and the broader
    distribution system to be able to adequately handle wastewater flows.
    Once implemented, the Comprehensive Infrastructure Solution is
    estimated to decrease cross-border flows by 75% year-round and reduce
    beach closures by 95% in summer months.\13\
        However, even with the $300 million provided by the USMCA agreement
    and contributions from the Mexican Government, there is a several
    hundred million dollar funding gap to fully implement the Comprehensive
    Infrastructure Solution. This funding gap does not include the
    additional funding needed to address current repairs as a result of
    decades of deferred maintenance at the SBIWTP. The FY2024 Federal
    budget included elevated funding to help the International Boundary and
    Water Commission start to address this maintenance backlog, yet
    elevated annual funding is critical to prevent future deferred
    maintenance from occurring. The International Boundary and Water
    Commission requires not just funding to address previous damage, but
    also increased annual funding in order to provide adequate maintenance
    and operation of the SBIWTP each year to prevent similar issues from
    occurring in the future.
        Providing FY2025 appropriations of at least $69.3 million to the
    International Boundary and Water Commission Salaries and Expenses
    Account, with at least $17.5 million of that allocated to the
    operations and maintenance of the SBIWTP, will allow the Commission to
    accomplish its mandate to properly operate and maintain the current
    SBIWTP in a manner that prevents future mechanical failures and
    polluted flows that contribute to the severe public health crisis and
    military preparedness threat occurring at the U.S./Mexico border.
    Further, Surfrider supports the funding level of $78 million to the
    International Boundary and Water Commission Construction Account, with
    at least $40.1 million of that allocated to urgent construction needs
    and implementation of redundant measures of the SBIWTP, to address
    ongoing mechanical failures.
        Thank you for your consideration of elevated funding to advance
    public health, water quality, and environmental justice at our Nation's
    southern coastal border.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ Email exchange with International Boundary and Water Commission
    Area Operations Manager, February 6 2024.
        \2\ Email exchange with International Boundary and Water Commission
    Area Operations Manager, May 2 2024.
        \3\ Email exchange with San Diego County Environmental Health
    Specialist, May 2 2024.
        \4\ https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-
    017-0347-9.
        \5\ https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.2c02312?ref=pdf%20.
        \6\ https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/story/2023-10-
    08/new-monitors-confirm-what-south-bay-residents-suspected-
    concentrations-of-wastewater-gases-are-above-state-
    thresholds.
        \7\ https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20210920/CRPT-
    117hrpt118.pdf (see page 108).
        \8\ https://www.surfrider.org/news/the-impact-of-toxic-border-
    pollution-on-us-border-patrol.
        \9\ Preliminary findings presented during testimony by Lauren
    Cazares, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, to the California
    Coastal Commission on October 11 2023: https://cal-span.org/meeting/
    ccc_20231011/.
        \10\ https://mostendangeredrivers.org/river/tijuana-river/.
        \11\ https://www.sdsu.edu/--files/tijuana-sewage-contamination-
    public-health-crisis-white-paper-021424.pdf.
        \12\ Dr Maria-Elena Giner testimony to the California Coastal
    Commission, October 11 2023, Minute 38.
        \13\ https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-water-infrastructure/tijuana-
    river-watershed-nepa-
    implementation.

        [This statement was submitted by Katie Day, Senior Manager of
    Science and Policy.]
                                     ______

             Prepared Statement of U.S. Global Leadership Coalition
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham: On behalf of the U.S. Global
    Leadership Coalition, thank you for the opportunity to testify about
    the important resources provided in the Department of State, Foreign
    Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations bill. Today, I ask that
    you support a strong and effective Fiscal Year 2025 International
    Affairs Budget funded at no less than the Administration's request of
    $64.4 billion, including $62.4 billion for the FY25 State-Foreign
    Operations bill.
        Our diverse coalition of businesses, NGOs, faith-based
    organizations, veterans, farmers, mayors, and community leaders across
    the country is grateful for the longstanding bipartisan support in
    Congress for America's development and diplomacy tools--including in
    the recently passed national security emergency supplemental.
        This emergency funding could not be more significant for protecting
    America's security and economic interests here at home. As China,
    Russia, and Iran take increasingly coordinated action against our
    interests, we must ensure our Nation is not only able to compete but is
    also stopping threats before they reach our shores.
        At the same time, it is important to examine the underlying reasons
    for this significant emergency package and why supplemental resources
    have become so essential. In recent years, base funding for America's
    development and diplomacy toolkit has largely remained flat while
    global threats have escalated. Given this threat-resource mismatch, it
    is not surprising that Congress has relied on emergency supplementals
    to bridge the gap.
        As we look to the future, it is essential that America confronts
    these complex and growing global threats with an equally serious
    response that prioritizes strategic, long-term investments in our
    civilian national security tools.
                   growing threats from america's adversaries
        As you know better than most, America's adversaries are working to
    create chaos around the world and here at home--and they are becoming
    even more brazen in their collaboration.
        Russia hosted Hamas leaders at the Kremlin just days following the
    barbaric October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel. China continues to
    provide significant economic support to Russia as it assaults Ukraine--
    and earlier this month Chinese President Xi Jinping rolled out the red
    carpet for Russian President Vladimir Putin. North Korea is supplying
    Russia with weapons for its ongoing war in Ukraine. Iran continues to
    produce weapons to kill Israelis, Ukrainians, and Americans. China
    continues to purchase Iranian oil and gas, providing Iran the resources
    to fuel proxy wars across the Middle East. In the Indo-Pacific, grey
    zone maritime clashes between China and the Philippines continue as
    Taiwan's future hangs in the balance.
        Our adversaries' objective is no secret--it is to directly
    undermine our security, our economy, and our National interests here at
    home and in every corner of the world. I have seen this firsthand in my
    own travels--most recently in South Africa as part of a bipartisan,
    bicameral CODEL with the Aspen Institute. As expected, we heard and saw
    the outsized footprint China has throughout the continent. What I
    didn't expect was how rapidly Russia is also expanding its presence
    across Africa. AFRICOM briefed us on the presence not only of the
    former Wagner Group--now rebranded as the ``Russian Africa Corps''--but
    also the economic investments that were at a whole different scale,
    matching what experts are seeing in Latin America and Asia.
               unrelenting and interconnected global emergencies
        This global nexus of authoritarian collaboration, escalating
    conflict and instability, and growing humanitarian crises continues to
    directly impact America's national and economic security--and it shows
    no signs of letting up. Here are just a few examples:

      --The ongoing war in Sudan has resulted in thousands dead and 25
            million people at risk of hunger, disease, displacement, and
            violence. The country now accounts for the largest number of
            internally displaced people in the world and nearly one-third
            of the population is on the brink of famine. Not only is this a
            humanitarian emergency, the security implications for the
            region and for the world cannot be understated.
      --After Burma's democratically elected government was overthrown in a
            military coup in 2021, the country has been mired in
            humanitarian catastrophe and civil war. Backing from Russia and
            North Korea has been vital for the military junta as it clings
            onto power, while China's influence has fueled a conflict that
            has sent Burma's economy plummeting and led to more than 2.5
            million internally displaced. The spillover across Burma's
            borders is also destabilizing a key part of Indo-Pacific.
      --More than 270,000 Americans have died from an overdose of a
            synthetic opioid in the last several years. Tragically, much of
            the supply of synthetic drugs and illicit opioids is produced
            in and comes through international supply chains from Mexico
            and China--fueling one of the most devastating public health
            and geopolitical crises with widespread implications for
            American families, the U.S. economy, and our National security.

        If we fail to address these and so many other challenges using all
    our tools of national security--including diplomatic, development,
    economic, humanitarian, and global health--they will continue to spiral
    at a time when global stability has rarely been more impactful on
    American stability.
                 powerful solutions to stem the tide of crises
        While America cannot control the actions of our adversaries and
    competitors on the global stage, we can determine how we choose to
    show-up, engage, and lead in the world to advance our security and
    economic interests. Importantly, U.S. development, diplomacy, and
    foreign assistance are a proven investment in building a safer, more
    prosperous America.
        We have seen this model pay dividends for America time and again.
    U.S. foreign assistance, for example, helped move South Korea from
    economic collapse after the Korean War to our sixth largest trading
    partner and a key ally today. We now get back $65 billion every year in
    trade with South Korea--far more than the total we invested there over
    five decades.
    Economic Toolkit
        Today, as we confront our adversaries and competitors, we also see
    the growing nexus of how economic security is national security. It
    will be increasingly important that we invest in and sharpen America's
    diplomatic and economic tools to protect American families. This
    includes how we engage in economic statecraft to create American jobs,
    strengthen supply chains, bolster infrastructure in emerging economies,
    leverage technology and diplomacy, and ensure the U.S. is setting the
    rules of the road on everything from trade to energy to artificial
    intelligence.
        At a time when China has increased its economic development
    spending around the world by 525% in the last 15 years alone, America
    cannot take its foot off the gas. China is taking advantage of this
    moment to expand its global influence and advance its interests--many
    of which do not align with ours. The U.S. International Affairs Budget
    is a powerful tool in America's strategy to compete and offer a better
    alternative by leveraging investments in development financing,
    economic assistance, infrastructure, and public-private partnerships.
        This conclusion was underscored by the bipartisan House Select
    Committee on Strategic Competition with the Chinese Communist Party in
    its recent report, which called for an expansion of the ``toolkit for
    global development and strategic investments to counter the Belt and
    Road Initiative,'' and specifically urged Congress to ``[f]ully fund
    DFC and USAID... to advance strategic, values-driven, and high-standard
    infrastructure and investment in low- and middle-income countries.''
        When I traveled to Kenya last year, America's impressive Ambassador
    Meg Whitman, former CEO of Hewlett Packard, also made a compelling
    case. She reminded our delegation that by 2050, 1 out of 3 workers in
    the world looking for their first job will live on the continent of
    Africa--and our competitors are everywhere playing to win, especially
    China. The next day, my colleagues and I visited impactful U.S.
    economic development programs led by USAID and the Development Finance
    Corporation (DFC) that are bolstering opportunity in Kenya and here in
    the United States.
        Failure to adequately invest in these critical tools puts America
    at a disadvantage and could undermine critical resilience-building
    efforts and ultimately lead to more crises. Unfortunately, the final
    FY24 spending deal included significant cuts to America's core economic
    and development assistance accounts that will be important for Congress
    to reassess in FY25.
    Humanitarian Assistance
        From Sudan to Gaza to the Democratic Republic of Congo to Haiti,
    global humanitarian needs have reached a fever pitch. If we ignore
    these growing humanitarian emergencies, we do so at our own peril.
        At the beginning of each year, the International Rescue Committee
    releases a report on the 20 countries most at risk of new or worsening
    humanitarian crisis. For 2024, 8 out of the top 10 watchlist countries
    are in Africa. According to the report, ``Watchlist countries are home
    to just 10% of the world's population but account for approximately 86%
    of all people in humanitarian need globally.'' In addition to the human
    toll, of additional concern is that many of these countries are
    experiencing growing conflict and turmoil, adding to the growing
    instability and security risks throughout the world.
        The good news is that America's development and diplomacy programs
    help save lives and alleviate suffering--strengthening global stability
    and showcasing the best of our Nation's values.
        Our coalition is grateful that Republican and Democratic
    administrations and Members of Congress have a legacy of sustaining and
    strengthening America's commitment to global humanitarian assistance.
    Importantly, alongside a slight increase for humanitarian aid in the
    final FY24 spending deal, Congress reinforced its commitment to helping
    the world's most vulnerable by including more than $9 billion in the
    recently passed national security emergency supplemental for global
    humanitarian assistance. These resources will help save millions of
    lives and go a long way to promote stability at this moment of
    significant crisis.
                effective investments amid constrained resources
        Each year, Congress faces the difficult task of distributing finite
    resources across many priorities. Given the spending caps imposed by
    the Fiscal Responsibility Act, this year is certainly no exception. But
    the consequences of shortchanging America's investments in our civilian
    international affairs toolkit are simply too great.
        Congress's power of the purse is not a responsibility to be taken
    lightly. Members of Congress have an obligation to ensure taxpayer
    resources are spent effectively, accountably, and transparently to
    advance American interests. Over the past decade, Congress has taken
    this responsibility seriously, passing more than 50 bipartisan bills to
    strengthen and reform U.S. development and foreign assistance programs
    on issues from global health to food security to development finance to
    aid transparency. As a result, the 1% of the total Federal budget
    provided for development and diplomacy has consistently proven to be a
    cost-effective investment that delivers a significant return for
    Americans.
        In the coming weeks and months, our coalition looks forward to
    continuing our bipartisan, bicameral engagement with Congress to
    underscore why investing in our international affairs tools directly
    matters for America's security and economic interests and our values.

        [This statement was submitted by Liz Schrayer, President and CEO.]
                                     ______

      Prepared Statement of U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council
        The U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC) is
    requesting $50 million for the FY2025 Cooperative Development Program
    (CDP) of the Development Assistance account in the FY2025 State-Foreign
    Operations and Related Programs Appropriations bill. For more than five
    decades, USAID has supported the development of cooperatives as part of
    its foreign aid program, mainly through the Cooperative Development
    Program (CDP) which is designed to bring U.S. leadership to the mission
    of capacity building for the development and growth of cooperative
    businesses and cooperative systems around the world. This request for
    $50 million is the same as was requested in FY2024.
          who is ocdc and what is our interest in usaid's cdp program?
        The U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC) has a
    membership of 10 U.S. cooperative development organizations (CDOs) with
    expertise in sectors as diverse as agriculture, finance, health, and
    energy. These OCDC members are successful U.S. cooperatives who are
    part of a robust U.S. cooperative sector that contributes more than 2
    million jobs and over $65 billion in annual revenue to the U.S.
    economy. It is estimated that more than 120 million Americans benefit
    from their membership/participation in one or more of the nearly 30,000
    cooperatives that exist throughout all sectors of the U.S. economy.
        In addition to being leaders in the U.S. domestic cooperative
    community, OCDC members have a shared interest in being champions,
    advocates, and promoters of effective international cooperative
    development. Individually and collectively, they have an impressive
    record of achievement, and they bring many resources to this
    international work from the private sector. They share their business
    expertise and send members around the world as volunteers to build
    sustainable cooperative businesses. And they develop trading
    relationships between cooperatives in the U.S. and those in developing
    countries, which increases jobs at home and security worldwide.
    Examples of impacts achieved by OCDC members include:

        ACDI VOCA.--In Guinea their CDP is increasing economic
    opportunities, strengthening local market actors' ability to promote
    economic growth, and increasing youth and women's entrepreneurship. In
    the Philippines, CDP is expanding market-driven growth, promoting
    private sector-led development, enhancing gender and social inclusion,
    and strengthening civil society.
        Equal Exchange.--Fair Trade-certified coffee cooperatives in
    Ethiopia, Rwanda, East Timor, and Central America link thousands of
    smallholder farmers directly with global markets and their premium
    coffee prices.
        Frontier Co-op.--Support cooperative member's organic cultivation
    practices, enhance their socio-economic wellbeing, provide education
    facilities, and support the economically disadvantaged at-large in
    member villages in India.
        Genex.--Based on a foundation of business consulting provided by
    Genex through CDP funding, more than $94 million of host government
    investments has been leveraged for agriculture cooperatives in South
    Africa.
        Global Communities.--Through the establishment of the Agency to
    Support Housing Initiatives, the organization facilitated the building
    of 1,140 new units of cooperative housing at 33 sites in Poland, with
    an estimated 4,560 individuals benefiting from the housing.
    Participating cooperative members contributed over $39 million to
    finance their housing projects.
        HealthPartners.--46,000 members of health-care co-ops in Uganda now
    have reliable access to care, including bed nets to prevent malaria and
    Zika.
        Land O'Lakes Venture 37.--Their work with the dairy sector in
    Rwanda has focused on partnering with cooperatives that have leveraged
    economies of scale through horizontal or vertical integration working
    with each partner to improve operational management, organizational
    governance and business decision-making.
        NCBA CLUSA.--The Creating an Environment for Cooperative Expansion
    project improved enabling environments, enhanced support to
    cooperatives, and improved business performance of cooperatives, in six
    countries, building the capacity of more than 15 local support
    institutions to provide quality cooperative development services, and
    providing targeted technical assistance to more than 60 agricultural
    and savings and credit cooperatives.
        NRECA International.--Decades-long relationship with the Philippine
    rural electric community included assistance in the more recovery from
    Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) that has included work to make the
    Philippines' power distribution infrastructure more storm resilient. 49
    rural electrification projects in the Philippines provide power for 4.3
    million co-op members.
        World Council of Credit Unions.--In its first 3 years, WOCCU's CDP
    program in South America helped 109,679 individuals obtain formal
    financial services, 15,120 individuals received financial education and
    literacy training, 12,278 Venezuelan migrants and locals accessed
    entrepreneurship or employment opportunities, and 2,037 Venezuelans
    received support for revalidating their diplomas, or professional or
    technical degree certifications.
                           impact of the cdp program
        Compared with other U.S. foreign aid programs, the CDP program has
    received a modest amount of funding and yet it has achieved tremendous
    success as a catalyst in laying an effective base for widespread and
    sustainable locally led international cooperative development. Among
    the measures of the CDP program's success over the years are the
    following impacts in 2023:

      --314 cooperatives and credit unions assisted with a combined savings
            to members of $123.7 million.
      --The program works in 22 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin
            America.
      --871,173 women and youth directly benefited from the program.
      --Over 9.9 million people including cooperative members and their
            households benefited from the program.
      --Reforms to cooperative law and regulation in Mozambique, Tanzania,
            Uganda, and Kenya.

        This is only a representative sample of an impressive track record
    for the CDP program. The challenge is to use the CDP program to get
    additional traction for locally led cooperative development that will
    produce similar impacts in other parts of the developing world. Among
    the lessons we have learned is that the CDP program is an important
    resource for demonstrating the positive experience of cooperatives in
    the developed world that can then be replicated to address the economic
    and social challenges of developing countries where cooperatives have
    not had a similar successful history.
          why cooperatives should be an international development tool
        In the quest for a more prosperous, democratic, and inclusive world
    there has never been a better time to increase U.S. investment in
    locally led cooperative development. Through a democratic business
    model, people-centered approach, underlying social justice principles,
    concern for community, and dedication to equitable economic growth,
    cooperatives bring a unique set of solutions to today's most difficult
    development challenges.
        Cooperatives are a dynamic force for self-determination, and they
    contribute to creating communities where all people--including women,
    youth and the most vulnerable- have an opportunity to improve their
    livelihoods. Cooperatives go where for-profit businesses will not
    providing economic opportunities and services in places that others
    find unprofitable or too risky. For many poor and isolated people,
    joining a co-op is the best option to help them escape poverty.
        U.S. cooperative development assistance has helped develop
    cooperatives that serve millions across the globe. What results can be
    expected if a greater investment is made? This testimony provides
    evidence that a greater U.S. investment in cooperative development
    will:
    (1) Create Jobs and Economic Growth in Low- to Middle-Income
            Countries--and the United States
        Recent research demonstrates that cooperatives offer a proven way
    for people to control their economic livelihoods.

      --In four countries studied, cooperatives were found to provide
            members with measurable economic benefits, providing members
            with higher average incomes than national averages.
      --The economic status of women improves considerably by belonging to
            a cooperative.
      --Cooperative development stems migration by providing economic
            opportunities for people in their home country.
      --The cooperative model contributes to the growth of strong and
            healthy democratic communities increasing trust in
            institutions.

        Public-sector assistance helps fund the formation of cooperatives
    in developing economies and, as they grow, these well-managed
    cooperatives develop vital U.S. linkages with corporate foundations,
    non-government organizations and American volunteers. This makes U.S.-
    funded cooperative development a win for jobs in the United States:

      --Private-sector jobs at companies in the U.S., such as those
            involved with coffee and cocoa, rely on supply chains anchored
            by well-organized cooperatives in developing countries.
      --In turn, successful cooperatives buy U.S. products, which expands
            export opportunities.
             what difference do cooperatives make? central america
        Studies of Three Central American Countries.--El Salvador,
    Guatemala and Honduras have found:

      --Cooperative members enjoy higher incomes than non-members.
      --Women cooperative members are very likely to earn more when
            compared to non-members.
      --Young cooperative members are very likely to earn more when
            compared to non-member youth.
      --There is an overall higher level of social capital and community
            satisfaction among cooperative members than among non-members.

        Final Conclusion.--While migration decisions depend upon many
    factors, cooperative members are less inclined to migrate than non-
    members.
    (2) Ensure Large-Scale Impact
        Cooperatives overseas that have been initiated and nurtured through
    U.S. funding are thriving. Additional resources will continue fostering
    development at this impressive scale. For example, U.S. assistance has
    meant that:

      --70 million rural people in the Philippines now have electricity.
      --46,000 health-care co-op members in Uganda have access to reliable
            care.
      --15 million producers sell milk to more than 144,000 dairy
            cooperatives in India.
      --Thousands of small farmers in Africa and Central America access
            global markets through Fair Trade-certified coffee
            cooperatives.
      --39,000 credit unions met the financial needs of 38 million members
            across Africa.
      --36,000 farmer cooperatives provide fertilizer and other critical
            services to rural India.
      --40,000 children in Asia are learning the basic principles of
            banking. through a cooperative.
    (3) Result in Increased Trust, Sustainability, and Growth
        Where trust of for-profit companies is low, cooperatives grow.
    Trust is a basic principle for cooperatives, which are owned, managed,
    controlled, and patronized by their own members. For example;
    Cooperative banks and savings and credit cooperatives globally were not
    damaged during the financial crisis of 2007-08 and grew in membership
    because they were seen as more risk-averse, sustainable and
    trustworthy.
                               requested funding
        The U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC) is
    requesting $50,000,000 for the Cooperative Development Program (CDP) in
    the FY2025 State-Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations
    bill.
                            requested bill language
    Development Assistance: Cooperative Development Program

            ``Provided that not less than $50,000,000 shall be made
            available for USAID cooperative development programs within the
            Bureau for Inclusive Growth, Partnerships, and Innovation.''
                           suggested report language

            ``The Committee has repeatedly recognized the important role
            that U.S. cooperatives and credit unions play in overseas
            programs as a means to lift low-income people out of poverty
            through their own efforts by mobilizing equity and savings for
            community-based economic growth. The Committee directs the
            Agency for International Development to increase the budgetary
            level of the program for the next 5-year agreement to include
            funding for research on the impact of cooperatives on members
            and their communities. Due to increased demand for the program
            and the programmatic impact, the Committee intends to budget
            for not less than $50,000,000 per year for the next 5 years.''

        [This statement was submitted by Paul Hazen, Executive Director.]
                                     ______

                        Prepared Statement of UNICEF USA
        Mister Chairman, Ranking Member Graham, and Members of the
    subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs of the
    Committee on Appropriations, on behalf of more than 10 million
    supporters of UNICEF USA across the United States, it is with gratitude
    for this subcommittee's longstanding bipartisan support that I
    respectfully ask the subcommittee to provide a fiscal year 2025
    contribution of $175 million to the United Nations Children's Fund's
    (UNICEF) core funding within the International Organizations and
    Programs Account. This funding will help ensure that UNICEF, which
    works in the world's toughest places and across more than 190 countries
    and territories, can continue to meet the growing needs of children
    worldwide.
        UNICEF USA is a U.S. nonprofit organization that rallies its
    significant supporter base among the American public to advance
    UNICEF's global mission. I am proud to say that last year, we leveraged
    the U.S. Government's generous contribution to raise an additional
    $829M from individuals, foundations and corporations who share our
    goals to ensure every child is healthy, educated, protected, and
    respected.
        2023 was a catastrophic year for children, and 2024 is expected to
    see global humanitarian needs remain near record levels. It is
    estimated that well over 450 million children worldwide are living in
    or fleeing from conflict zones and 43 million children have been
    internally displaced due to weather-related disasters over the last 6
    years. UNICEF's work around the world has expanded in response to the
    overlapping and compounding crises--including protracted conflict,
    natural disasters, disease outbreaks and rising levels of food
    insecurity--which disproportionately impact children and can drive
    instability that threatens broader, longer-term impact. These
    conditions can deepen poverty and hunger and create conditions that can
    drive irregular migration, stoke conflict, and threaten global
    stability and U.S. foreign policy interests.
        In a time when it feels like bad news is endless, we have some
    encouraging news, achieved in part due to consistent U.S. leadership in
    partnering with UNICEF for decades: more children are surviving today
    than ever before--the global under-5 child mortality rate has declined
    by 51 percent since 2000. Behind these numbers are stories of midwives
    and skilled health personnel who help mothers safely deliver their
    newborns, health workers who vaccinate and protect children against
    deadly diseases, and community health workers who make home visits to
    support families in ensuring children receive health and nutrition
    support. Through its decades of commitment and collaboration to reach
    children with low-cost, quality, and effective health services,
    including in some of the world's hardest-to-reach areas, UNICEF has
    reliably provided the knowledge and tools to save countless lives.
    UNICEF remains an essential partner to the U.S. in advancing shared
    priorities to deliver impact for children, including improving global
    health by complementing and enhancing bilateral programs, and in many
    cases working in areas where governments and other partners cannot.
        Since its creation in 1946, with U.S. partnership, UNICEF has
    helped reach more children than any humanitarian organization in the
    world and provides child health and nutrition services, safe water and
    sanitation, quality education and skill building, HIV prevention and
    treatment for mothers and babies, and the protection of children and
    adolescents from violence and exploitation. UNICEF also invests in
    emergency preparedness to respond to crises, including climate shocks,
    faster, save more lives and reduce costs.
        UNICEF receives no direct funding from the United Nations; all
    UNICEF's funds come from voluntary contributions from public and
    private sources. Almost a third of UNICEF's total funding comes from
    non-governmental sources. Core resources are flexible funds that UNICEF
    relies on to ensure it can direct support to areas of greatest need and
    where it will make the most impact for children. They allow UNICEF's
    experts to be on the ground and equipped to respond when a crisis
    occurs and to be there to support communities in rebuilding, and also
    for UNICEF to support children's needs throughout their childhood and
    adolescence predictably.
        UNICEF's work around the world has continued to expand in response
    to increasing needs. In 2023, UNICEF responded to 412 new and ongoing
    humanitarian crises in 107 countries and provided safe water and
    sanitation for 42 million children and families in humanitarian crises,
    and these needs are expected to grow. Millions of innocent children
    need our support:

      --The war in Ukraine has robbed the country's 7.5 million children of
            stability and safety.
      --Over 1 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance in
            Gaza and the West Bank, with both Israeli and Gazan children
            experiencing terrible trauma from the ongoing crisis--the
            consequences of which could last a lifetime.
      --Sudan is now the largest child displacement crisis in the world,
            with 13,000 children displaced every day for the last 300 days.
      --The escalating crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has
            put children at increasingly high risk of harm and
            vulnerability to recruitment by armed groups.
      --In Haiti, more than 3 million children require humanitarian
            assistance. With basic services on the verge of collapse, half
            of those in need aren't getting it due to insecurity and
            insufficient humanitarian funding.

        Last year, I visited a refugee camp in Turkey just after two
    devastating earthquakes and thousands of aftershocks hit the country,
    leaving millions of children in need of assistance. The earthquakes
    destroyed homes and vital infrastructure, leaving families homeless,
    vulnerable and without adequate access to essential services. I
    witnessed first-hand the child-friendly spaces UNICEF created to
    provide safe environments in the aftermath of the disaster. There,
    children are not only provided food and shelter, but they're also given
    renewed access to vital services such as education and psychosocial
    care. Seeing smiles on children's faces after such a traumatic event
    was proof of the power of UNICEF's work.
        While in Turkey, I also met a young family with three children who
    had narrowly escaped their building before it collapsed. The parents,
    already displaced from Syria, lost everything, again. Children in Syria
    have been struggling to cope after nearly 13 years of sustained
    conflict, continued displacements, the impact of unprecedented economic
    crisis, and disease outbreaks. In 2023, UNICEF reached 15.8 million
    people, including 10 million children, in Syria with safe water,
    healthcare and education access, nutrition resources, psychosocial
    support and cash transfers. It is stories like theirs that remind me
    how important it is to continue our work. Before, during and after
    emergencies, UNICEF is on the ground to support the most vulnerable.
    UNICEF works at the intersection of humanitarian aid and international
    development, and voluntary contributions from champions like the U.S.
    Government enable UNICEF to provide continuity of service to support
    families like this one, no matter when or where disaster strikes.
        As the largest single vaccine buyer in the world, UNICEF also has
    unique, longstanding expertise in procurement and logistics to help
    children in need. Every year, UNICEF procures enough vaccines to reach
    45 percent of the world's children under 5 years old, contributing to
    dramatic cuts in under-five mortality rates. In 2023, UNICEF delivered
    2.79 billion vaccine doses to 105 countries, including 6.2 million
    doses of the world's first malaria vaccine to 7 African countries.
    UNICEF is committed to making every dollar go further to save and
    improve children's lives, using its procurement power to influence key
    product markets such as vaccines, helping to drive down prices. UNICEF
    contracts with companies worldwide, including in the U.S., to help meet
    global needs. In 2023, UNICEF procured $713.43 million in goods and
    services from U.S. companies.
        UNICEF's programs to address wasting, the most life-threatening
    form of malnutrition, reached over 70 percent of children under the age
    of five in 47 high-mortality countries in 2023--the most ever--helping
    turn the tide against the global malnutrition crisis. UNICEF also
    supported the treatment and care of 9.3 million children with severe
    wasting, the highest number ever reported. UNICEF continues to reach
    millions of children in need of lifesaving ready-to-use therapeutic
    food (RUTF) thanks to generous support from the U.S. Government, which
    was bolstered by other governments and partners including the Bill and
    Melinda Gates Foundation and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
    Saints, to help ensure that mothers would have healthier pregnancies
    and births and to offer therapeutic food and micronutrients to their
    children who might be at risk.
        UNICEF also advocates for a child's right to education and a
    protective learning environment in communities around the world. In
    emergencies, education is a lifeline for children in crisis, providing
    stability, security and access to psychosocial support. In response to
    the ongoing conflict in Myanmar, Rohingya refugees, almost 60 percent
    of whom are children, have been resettled in Bangladesh. Working with
    the Government of Bangladesh and partners, UNICEF is helping provide
    support for access to quality education, including establishing
    learning centers; and is reaching children affected by violence, abuse
    and neglect with prevention and assistance.
        Amid escalating conflict, insecurity, displacement and poverty
    across the globe, more positive outcomes are needed. An increase in
    core funding will help UNICEF continue to draw upon its more than 70
    years of experience to respond to the needs of children, alleviate
    suffering, and help them grow and thrive.
        UNICEF is also proud of its incredible backing from the American
    public, ranging from generous philanthropic and individual donations to
    cross-country participation in UNICEF USA's annual ``Trick-or-Treat for
    UNICEF'' fundraising campaign. UNICEF also maintains important
    partnerships with organizations like Kiwanis International to eliminate
    maternal and neonatal tetanus, which has now been eliminated in 48 out
    of 59 at-risk countries, and to work toward the elimination of iodine
    deficiency disorders.
        As a leader in fighting vaccine-preventable diseases, UNICEF
    procures vaccines for Gavi and buys all vaccines and related items for
    global campaigns not covered by Gavi. UNICEF's long partnership with
    Rotary International and others has nearly eliminated polio, reducing
    polio cases by more than 99.9 percent since 1988. Only 12 wild polio
    cases were confirmed worldwide in 2023. Together, UNICEF and Rotary
    help vaccinate over 400 million children every year and have helped
    immunize more than 3 billion children in 122 countries as of 2023.
        Measles cases increased worldwide from more than 170,000 cases in
    2022 to more than 320,000 cases in 2023. With the American Red Cross,
    UNICEF helps lead the Measles and Rubella Initiative, working with
    countries, partners, parents and caregivers to create a world free from
    measles and rubella. UNICEF is also a founding member of the Roll Back
    Malaria Partnership to support malaria treatment and research, and to
    expand prevention measures such as long-lasting insecticide-treated bed
    nets. In 2023, UNICEF procured $27.8 million in long-lasting
    insecticidal nets which equated to 13.4 million nets for 32 countries.
        UNICEF believes in the power of localization to ensure that every
    child has timely access to life-saving supplies that are compliant with
    global standards of quality and can help address health and other
    issues endemic to a region through regional manufacturing and local
    procurement. UNICEF also values partnerships with civil society
    organizations as essential for achieving positive outcomes for children
    and collaborates with national NGOs to tap into local initiatives and
    community-based organizations to reach marginalized populations. Over
    4,000 civil society organizations, most local or national NGOs, work
    with UNICEF to deliver over $1 billion in programming annually to
    support communities and children worldwide.
        As UNICEF continues to work relentlessly to help meet children's
    needs no matter where they are or what they face, UNICEF USA also
    supports fiscal year 2025 funding requested by our partners for Iodine
    Deficiency and Iodine Nutrition ($3.5 million), Maternal and Neonatal
    Tetanus ($2 million), and Polio Eradication ($165 million). UNICEF USA
    also asks the U.S. Congress to provide at least $1.15 billion under the
    Maternal and Child Health (MCH) account (including $340 million for
    Gavi), at least $300 million for the Nutrition account, and at least
    $500 million for Water and Sanitation in fiscal year 2025. We urge you
    to allocate $35 million to the Vulnerable Children account. Finally,
    UNICEF knows that education is critical for children, and can be
    lifesaving for children in crises. We support at least $1.1 billion for
    International Basic Education, including $200 million for the Global
    Partnership for Education and $50 million for Education Cannot Wait.
        The subcommittee's support for $175 million for UNICEF's core
    resources we are requesting would significantly impact UNICEF's ability
    to address the enormous challenges facing children around the world and
    help ensure that every child has an opportunity to survive and thrive.
    Thank you for your consideration.

        [This statement was submitted by Michael J. Nyenhuis, President and
    CEO.]
                                     ______

                     Prepared Statement of WaterAid America
        The world is facing historic challenges, including unprecedented
    food insecurity, growing levels of displacement, and the ever-
    increasing impacts of a changing climate. Additional investments in
    foreign assistance, such as through the Department of State and U.S.
    Agency for International Development (USAID), are crucial in addressing
    these challenges, shaping a more prosperous future, continuing gains in
    poverty elimination, fostering healthy communities, and promoting
    peaceful societies.
        With the leadership of the United States, the past decade has seen
    many advances in global health and development, including improving
    access to clean drinking water, hygiene, and improved sanitation that
    has saved countless maternal and child lives. For Fiscal Year (FY)
    2025, WaterAid recommends no less than $59.7 billion for the Department
    of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPs)
    appropriations bill, and specifically, that the Water and Sanitation
    directive at USAID receive no less than $500 million.
        WaterAid has a presence in 30 countries and our vision is a world
    where everyone, everywhere has safe and sustainable access to clean
    drinking water, adequate toilets, and good hygiene. Our work shows that
    inclusive access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) creates
    healthier and more productive populations, builds resilience in the
    face of climate shocks and natural disasters, and lays the foundation
    for long-term, sustainable growth.
        WASH access is a primary way that the world's population
    experiences water insecurity. Achieving water security requires three
    things: good-quality, well-managed water resources; well-managed water
    supply services; and management of disaster risks. That said, water
    resources are of little use without sustainable water supply services.
    WASH is integral to establishing useful and sustainable water security.
        Investing in WASH unlocks billions in economic opportunity and is
    critical to the functioning of markets and commerce. A 2021 study from
    WaterAid and Vivid Economics on the benefits of universal WASH access
    found that general investment in basic WASH services can yield benefits
    up to nearly 21 times the cost.\1\ Basic water investments will
    generate an estimated U.S. $32 billion dollars annually, while
    investments in basic hygiene and basic sanitation services will
    generate nearly U.S. $45 billion and US $62 billion dollars per year,
    respectively.\2\ In fact, access to basic sanitation around the world
    is currently so low that addressing universal access would result in
    the highest annual return of the three basic interventions.
        The benefits of WASH also come in the form of fewer deaths, reduced
    human suffering, and greater resilience to shocks and health crises.
    Our recent research on universal WASH access also found that:

      --Hand hygiene can reduce cumulative infections by up to 20%,
            including in a COVID-like respiratory disease epidemic;
      --Simple WASH interventions can prevent up to 1.6 million maternal
            and natal deaths yearly--including 20 million maternal sepsis
            cases; \3\
      --Safely managed sanitation would prevent up to 6 billion cases of
            diarrhea and 12 billion cases of parasitic worms over a 20-year
            period--increasing school and work attendance by a cumulative 3
            billion days each year; \4\ and
      --Every dollar invested in strategic flood resilience upgrades to
            WASH systems could avoid up to $96 dollars in associated WASH
            restoration costs.\5\

        If the world is to address the immense challenges we face, WASH
    investments must be increased to mitigate the worst impacts, protect
    lives, and support a secure future. WASH is a cornerstone for ending
    preventable maternal and child deaths, improving nutrition and
    preventing acute undernutrition. WASH is also essential to addressing
    gaps in global health security and pandemic preparedness and response,
    as well as infection prevention and control measures, especially in
    healthcare facilities. WASH is also critical to water security, climate
    resilience and adaptation, and food security.
        Climate change directly threatens water security, further exerting
    additional stress on water resources. More than a quarter (27%) of the
    global population currently lives in potentially severely water-scarce
    areas--and by 2050 this percentage is predicted to rise to between 42%
    and 95%. Droughts, floods, and other disasters threaten the
    availability of clean, safe, and sustainable water for domestic use and
    human well-being, use in institutions such as healthcare facilities and
    schools, economic growth and livelihoods, and the environment.
    Conversely, safely managed sanitation and improved hygiene reduce the
    risk of contamination in times of flooding, averting diseases and
    reducing the need for migration.
        Similarly, without water, there is no food. Currently, 55 million
    people (about twice the population of Texas) are directly exposed to
    drought each year, with the food security impacts of that exposure
    reaching millions of additional people. It is estimated that 72% of the
    world's freshwater is used for agriculture, and growing populations
    will require an estimated 15% increase in water withdrawal just to
    support increased agricultural production alone.\6\ The populations of
    Africa and Asia are predicted to grow by 2 billion and 1 billion people
    respectively over the next 50 years--and climate-smart efforts must
    increase to meet the growing demands for WASH and the need for water-
    dependent food production. Without a holistic approach to these
    challenges which includes WASH, food supplies may increase but a lack
    of clean water and sanitation will cost millions of lives and solutions
    will not be sustainable or durable.
        Sustainable, reliable water supply, increased water storage, and
    resilient and inclusive WASH services are needed to ensure the
    availability of clean water in times of scarcity. Growing food needs,
    dietary changes, urbanization, increased irrigation, all exert an
    increased demand upon water resources. The ongoing need for WASH to
    maintain, save, and protect lives and livelihoods directly interlinks
    with the viability of a food-secure world. Access to good quality,
    climate-resilient WASH services can enable communities living in
    poverty to withstand longer dry seasons and flooding, and to reduce
    their overall disease burden. This helps promote health and well-being,
    education outcomes, food security, productivity, and livelihoods.
        It's been 10 years since Congress passed the Senator Paul Simon
    Water for the World Act, strengthening the United States' leadership in
    improving access to WASH and ensuring that US investment reaches the
    least-resourced communities and most vulnerable populations, including
    women and girls. In FY 2022 alone, USAID support helped 5.2 million
    people gain access to sustainable drinking services, of which 47% were
    accessing water services for the first time. In addition, 4 million
    people gained access to sustainable sanitation services, of which 90%
    were accessing services for the first time.
        U.S. support for WASH programs is about more than infrastructure.
    Investment in these programs helps to:

      --Strengthen Government Capacity to Provide Services.--USAID provided
            technical assistance to the Government of Senegal to implement
            large-scale WASH investments that fund water and sanitation
            services to benefit 150,000 people. This project was led by the
            Senegalese Government, helping to strengthen its systems and
            processes for providing WASH services to communities.
      --Grow Local Economies.--In Ethiopia, USAID established a training
            program for local masons and installers of sanitation
            solutions. This program provides opportunities for masons to
            grow their businesses, while strengthening supply chains,
            improving the private market and increasing demand for
            sanitation and hygiene products.
      --Build Resilience in Communities.--In South Kordofan State in Sudan,
            USAID provided training and equipment for residents to travel
            to local communities to repair and maintain water pumps. These
            individuals ensure that 230,000 residents in a water-scarce and
            conflict-prone region can continue to access water.

        WaterAid applauds USAID's work with national governments to
    strengthen local governance and the financing of water and sanitation
    services, leading to increased domestic investment and less reliance on
    donor assistance. This increased domestic investment provides social,
    financial, and technical capacity and accountability mechanisms for
    WASH infrastructure which will better withstand future shocks,
    including infectious disease outbreaks and climate-related disasters
    like drought and flooding.
        On behalf of WaterAid, I respectfully request an increased
    investment of $500 million through the FY 2025 bilateral WASH directive
    to save lives and protect our future. This increase in funding would:

      --Build local capacity and aid effectiveness by strengthening
            countries' tools and abilities to improve water sector
            coordination, mobilize national and private sector investment,
            and incentivize local management of water resources;
      --Scale-up evidence collection, analysis, and learning to support the
            expansion of proven WASH interventions to enhance resilience,
            sustainability, and self-reliance by building local, long-term
            capacity; strengthen institutions and the rule of law; and
            share best practices and lessons learned;
      --Help communities prepare for future natural disasters and currently
            changing climate patterns that impact water and sanitation
            services;
      --Provide WASH to often-overlooked healthcare facilities and schools,
            and thereby strengthen resilience to disease outbreaks and
            improve pandemic preparedness that protects Americans at home;
            and
      --Support cross-sectoral work USAID is doing as it relates to WASH,
            including maternal and child health; food security,
            livelihoods, and nutrition; and economic development
            programming.

        In addition to supporting $500 million for Water and Sanitation,
    WaterAid also supports robust funding for accounts that WASH plays a
    critical role for success, such as global health programs, including
    global health security and pandemic preparedness; global food security
    programs; and climate resilience and adaptation programs at USAID.
        Greater investments in WASH and greater incorporation and
    prioritization of WASH in various sectors are key components to our
    collective global future. WASH investments are the often-overlooked
    ingredient for increasing national security and economic growth,
    mitigating future costs, and improving humanitarian outcomes. I invite
    the Committee to leverage this relatively small investment in WASH in
    the FY 2025 appropriations bill.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ WaterAid and Vivid Economics. Mission Critical: Invest in
    Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene for a Healthy and Green Economic
    Recovery. 2021. Page 20. https://washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/
    mission-critical-invest-water-sanitation-hygiene-healthy-green-
    recovery.
        \2\ WaterAid and Vivid Economics. Mission Critical: Invest in
    Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene for a Healthy and Green Economic
    Recovery. 2021. Page 20. https://washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/
    mission-critical-invest-water-sanitation-hygiene-healthy-green-
    recovery.
        \3\ WaterAid. Ending the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Crisis
    Together: Policy Priorities for Accelerating Progress. 2023. https://
    washmatters.wateraid.org/sites/g/files/jkxoof256/files/mettre-fin-
    ensemble--la-crise-de-leau-de-lassainissement-et-de-lhygine-les-
    priorits-stratgiques-pour-des-
    avances-plus-rapides.pdf.
        \4\ WaterAid. Ending the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Crisis
    Together.
        \5\ WaterAid and Vivid Economics. Mission Critical: Invest in
    Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene for a Healthy and Green Economic
    Recovery. 2021. https://washmatters.wateraid.org/sites/g/files/
    jkxoof256/files/mission-critical-invest-in-water-sanitation-and-
    hygiene-for-a-healthy-and-green-economic-recovery_2.pdf.
        \6\ United Nations. Water Scarcity. https://www.unwater.org/water-
    facts/scarcity/.

        [This statement was submitted by Kelly Parsons, CEO.]
                                     ______

              Prepared Statement of Wildlife Conservation Society
        Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, and Members of the
    subcommittee, the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
    welcomes the opportunity to provide FY25 SFOPS testimony on
    biodiversity conservation, counter wildlife trafficking, global health
    programs and public-private conservation foundation through the U.S.
    State Department, Treasury, and the U.S. Agency for International
    Development. WCS applauds the removal of harmful policy riders from the
    FY24 Appropriations Act related to international climate finance and
    the recognition of sound science to guide policymaking. As a key
    implementing partner of U.S. awards, WCS operates field programs in 60
    countries, 16 priority regions and the waters in between. WCS calls
    your attention to the bipartisan letter of support for biodiversity
    conservation co-led again this year by Sens. Van Hollen and Tillis; and
    a letter of support for robust international climate finance co-led
    again by Sens. Merkley and Cardin.
        WCS seeks parity between defense and non-defense discretionary
    funding and recognizes that a health International Affairs Budget and
    corresponding SFOPs 302b allocation will advance the U.S.'s strategic
    global position and counter the influence of coercive and authoritarian
    governments. U.S. investments in international conservation programs
    increase the capacity of nations to protect their natural resources
    from corrupt and malign actors, respond to extreme weather, and buffer
    against zoonotic spillover thereby strengthening governance and the
    rule of law. As the U.S. advances the goal to conserve 30 percent of
    the world's lands and waters by 2030 it can align and harmonize
    policies to deliver on international climate finance to the most
    vulnerable communities; halt global forest loss by 2030 and conserve
    global forests; strengthen enforcement against nature crimes globally;
    promote One Health to prevent future pandemics at the source of
    spillover; and safeguard the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local
    communities. WCS requests support for the following priorities in the
    FY25 SFOPS Act:

      --USAID Biodiversity Program: $500,000,000
      --State Department INL/USAID Counter Wildlife Trafficking Program:
            $140,000,000
      --USAID Sustainable Landscapes Program: $451,000,000
      --International Climate Finance: Robust bilateral & multilateral
            finance
      --Global Health Security Program: Report Language
      --Global Environment Facility: $150,200,000
      --Public-Private Conservation Foundation: Report Language

        USAID Biodiversity.--The U.S. government is a global leader in
    biodiversity, forest, and marine conservation investments delivered
    largely through the USAID Biodiversity Program. These programs conserve
    and protect some of the largest, most at-risk natural landscapes and
    millions of livelihoods dependent upon natural resources. The high
    forest and low deforestation rates typical of the Central African
    region are often under-valued until an immediate threat of destruction
    is presented, creating perverse incentives for governments to negotiate
    the conversion of intact forests and peatlands which play a vital role
    in regulating temperature, sequestering carbon and providing habitat
    for elephants. Narco-ranching in Central and South America is the
    illegal taking of land from Indigenous Peoples and communities to
    launder drug money through illegal cattle ranches, and accounts for 90%
    of recent deforestation.\1\ Maintaining and restoring natural resources
    enhances US economic and national security interests, reducing conflict
    over resources and improving the stability of trading partners. WCS
    recommends $500,000,000 for USAID Biodiversity Conservation Programs to
    be allocated in a manner similar to prior fiscal years, and the
    following report language:

            Of the Biodiversity funds, the Committee supports the Central
            Africa Regional Program for the Environment with at least
            $50,000,000 and $25,000,000 for the Andean Amazon, and to
            protect great apes in Central Africa and Indonesia.
            Biodiversity programs include transfers to other Federal
            agencies with technical expertise, such as $8,500,000 to U.S.
            Forest Service International, $6,500,000 to USFWS for
            international conservation programs and the Multinational
            Species Conservation Funds, $8,500,000 for tropical forest
            conservation in the Maya Biosphere Reserve of Guatemala,
            Belize, Mexico, of which not less than $3,500,000 shall be
            provided by direct transfer to the Department of the Interior's
            International Technical Assistance Program.

        State INL & USAID's Countering Nature Crimes.--Wildlife
    trafficking, illegal logging, illegal fishing, and illegal mining are
    nature crimes linked to other transnational organized crimes such as
    drug, weapons, and human trafficking, and pose similar threats to
    national security, economic prosperity, the rule of law, and the
    environment. With field conservation programs in 20 of the Focus
    Countries and all six of the Countries of Concern,\2\ WCS works in
    partnership with USAID and INL to implement anti-poaching, law
    enforcement, and capacity building programs around investigations and
    border patrols, prosecutions, and convictions from source sites to
    trafficking bottlenecks to demand countries. The FY24 enacted law
    included $118,750,000 of which $47,500,000 is directed to INL with
    emphasis on applying the latest criminology, behavioral, or social
    sciences practices. In FY25, WCS recommends $140,000,000 split between
    INL (Title IV) and USAID (Title III) to counter nature crimes.
        USAID Sustainable Landscapes.--Mitigates the drivers of
    deforestation and land degradation in the world's largest and most
    biologically diverse tropical forests. Forests cover 30% of the
    planet's land area, house up to 90% of all terrestrial wildlife
    species, mitigate severity of storms, and directly sustain the
    livelihoods of 1.6 billion people worldwide. The U.S. commitment to
    halt global forest loss by 2030 is being accomplished in part by
    sustainable land management practices vital to protecting essential
    storehouses of biodiversity and carbon in intact forests, peatlands,
    and grasslands. U.S. government support gives developing countries the
    ability to address the drivers of deforestation and degradation, halt
    illegal logging, and restore degraded lands. U.S. jobs are protected
    when products from illegal logging are not able to access U.S. markets
    and undercut the U.S. timber industry by about $1 billion annually.
    While the Administration reports in 2022 that the Department of State
    and USAID projects supporting the Plan to Conserve Global Forests total
    $547.5 million,\3\ annual investments from these and other agencies
    must be significantly ramped up in FY25 to meet the $9 billion pledge
    to halt global forest loss by 2030. In FY25, WCS recommends
    $451,000,000 for USAID Sustainable Landscapes toward the US's $1
    billion annual Global Forest pledge.
        International Climate Finance.--National security experts recognize
    the danger that climate change poses and the negative impacts on the
    U.S.'s economic, humanitarian and development interests abroad. U.S.
    foreign assistance in the form of both bilateral and multilateral funds
    for international climate finance serve vital U.S. interests by
    promoting global stability and security, alleviating global poverty,
    promoting resilience and disaster preparedness, protecting investments
    in international development, creating economic opportunities for U.S.
    businesses and workers, and complementing global health efforts. U.S.-
    backed programs are incentivizing developing countries to curb
    deforestation while addressing rural poverty and improving the way
    lands are managed and harvested--leveraging U.S. funding with up to 39
    times more funding from other donors. These and other programs build
    resilience to drought, flooding, and other extreme weather events, and
    steward tropical forests and other carbon-rich and biodiverse
    landscapes and seascapes. In doing so, they also strengthen American
    alliances, prevent food and water scarcities, help to avoid conflicts,
    and forced migration, and bolster our own national security. In many
    cases, these bilateral and multilateral programs have benefitted from
    years of bipartisan support under both Republican and Democratic
    administrations and Congresses. In FY25, WCS recommends $500,000,000 to
    the Green Climate Fund, and robust bilateral and multilateral funding
    for international climate finance that balances mitigation and
    adaptation funding while advancing nature-based solutions.
        Global Health Security Program.--As we continue to recover from the
    impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that has ravaged our families, our
    Nation, and our global economy, there has never been a more crucial
    time to prevent and prepare for the next pandemic. Pandemics can also
    exacerbate local and regional insecurities while undermining U.S.
    national security interests, the global economy, and supply chains upon
    which U.S. businesses and consumers depend. Pandemics of zoonotic
    origins also highlight the critical nexus between healthy environments,
    animal health, and promoting public health. USAID Global Health
    Programs have a track record of monitoring, predicting, preventing and
    responding to emerging infectious diseases that spillover from wildlife
    and animals to people. Collection and analysis of zoonotic spillover
    data of both known and unknown pathogens at the source of spillover is
    an essential but often overlooked component of preventing pandemics.
    Global Health Security and pandemic preparedness programs enacted by
    the FY23 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 117-263)
    authorize $1 billion annually in global health security funding. With
    support from the Pandemic Fund or financial intermediary fund (FIF),
    Global Health Security Agenda countries can strengthen their policies
    and practices to prevent spillover of pathogens at the source by
    developing or expanding existing Zoonosis Plans beyond livestock
    diseases to pandemic prevention at the source. In FY25, WCS recommends
    at least $250,000,000 for the US contribution to a Pandemic Fund as
    authorized by the FY23 NDAA. WCS also endorses Reps. Meng and
    Malliotakis' report language request:

            Global Health Security.--The Secretary of State is encouraged
            to prioritize zoonotic spillover prevention at the source, such
            as wildlife trade chains, degraded edges of the forest, within
            the new Pandemic Fund and Pandemic Agreements.

        Global Environment Facility (the GEF).--America's investment in the
    GEF unites donor and recipient countries, US corporations and NGOs to
    support projects in 170 countries. The GEF has supported the creation
    of 3,860 protected areas and the sustainable management of 61 major
    river basins. The GEF supports efforts to counter nature crimes,
    conduct wildlife monitoring, promote clean water, remove deforestation
    from supply chains, improve farming practices, and establish payment
    for ecosystem services programs. Promoting One Health, good governance,
    plastic circular economies and removing mercury and other toxic
    chemicals from the environment are also priorities under GEF-8 and
    Wildlife Conservation for Development Integrated Program. The FY25 PBR
    is $150,200,000. In FY25, WCS recommends $150,200,000 for the US pledge
    to GEF8 and supports paying down unmet commitments.
        Public-Private Partnership Foundation for Conservation.--Protected
    areas across the globe conserve critical biodiversity and iconic
    species, contribute to local economies, and support U.S. development
    and foreign policy objectives by providing clean water, supporting food
    security, and promoting governance and economic opportunities. Yet,
    recent studies show that protected and conserved areas too often suffer
    from a lack of durable long-term financing, which can cause great
    projects to fail in developing countries in the face of emerging
    pressures such as pandemics or civil unrest. Safeguarding ``natural
    security'' against the drivers of famine, extreme weather, and
    authoritarian rule costs far less than suffering the costs of losing
    vital benefits provided by healthy ecosystems. To leverage greater and
    sustained long-term financing for protected areas around the world,
    public-private partnerships can be facilitated by a US international
    conservation foundation, as outlined in S.618, championed by Sens.
    Coons and Graham. In FY25, WCS supports previous years' language and
    endorses Sens. Van Hollen and Tillis' report language request:

            Public-Private Partnerships.--The Committee directs that, of
            the funds appropriated by this act and prior Acts under the
            heading ``Economic Support Funds'' made available to support a
            new public-private partnership foundation for conservation are
            in addition to funds otherwise allocated to the Biodiversity
            Conservation program at USAID in the act and are not to cause a
            reduction of total funds available to Biodiversity Conservation
            at USAID.

        WCS appreciates the leadership of this subcommittee and its
    bipartisan approach to drafting appropriations bills. Grounded in good
    science, continued investments in these important programs will deliver
    on US national and economic security interests.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ Radachowsky, J. (2021, April 10). To confront the US border
    crisis, save Central America's forests. Scientific American.
        \2\ U.S. Department of State, 2021 END Wildlife Trafficking Report.
    (Nov. 4, 2021); U.S. Department of State. 2021 END Wildlife Trafficking
    Strategic Review. (2021, Nov 4).
        \3\ U.S. Department of State. (2022, November 18). U.S. Leadership
    Advances Global Efforts To Conserve Critical Ecosystems and Protect
    Carbon Sinks: A Progress Report on Implementing U.S. Efforts on the
    Plan To Conserve Global Forests Critical Carbon.

        [This statement was submitted by Kelly Keenan Aylward, Executive
    Director, Federal Affairs & Policy.]

           LIST OF WITNESSES, COMMUNICATIONS, AND PREPARED STATEMENTS

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page

    Albright, Alice, Chief Executive Officer, Millennium Challenge
      Corporation:
        Prepared Statement of........................................    55
        Statement of.................................................    53

    Blinken, Hon. Antony J., Secretary of State, Department of State:
        Prepared Statement of........................................   111
        Questions Submitted to.......................................   139
        Statement of.................................................   107
    Boozman, Senator John, U.S. Senator From Arkansas, Questions
      Submitted by

    Collins, Senator Susan M., U.S. Senator From Maine, Questions
      Submitted by...................................................   146
    Coons, Senator Christopher A., U.S. Senator From Delaware:
        Opening Statement of

        Questions Submitted by

    Graham, Senator Lindsey, U.S. Senator From South Carolina:
        Opening Statement of
        Questions Submitted by.......................................   147

    Hagerty, Senator Bill, U.S. Senator From Tennessee:
        Opening Statement of.........................................    45
        Questions Submitted by
    Lewis, Reta Jo, President and Chair, Export-Import Bank of the
      United States:
        Prepared Statement of........................................    51
        Questions Submitted to.......................................    88
        Statement of.................................................    50

    Merkley, Senator Jeff, U.S. Senator From Oregon, Questions
      Submitted by
    Millennium Challenge Corporation, Questions Submitted to.........    98
    Moran, Senator Jerry, U.S. Senator From Kansas, Questions
      Submitted by...................................................    36

    Nathan, Honorable Scott, Chief Executive Officer, U.S.
      International Development Finance Corporation:
        Prepared Statement of........................................    48
        Statement of.................................................    46

    Power, Administrator Samantha, Administrator, United States
      Agency for International Development:
        Prepared Statement of........................................     7
        Questions Submitted to.......................................    28
        Statement of.................................................     4

    Richardson, Sr., Cardell K., Inspector General, Prepared
      Statement of...................................................   133
    Rubio, Senator Marco, U.S. Senator From Florida, Questions
      Submitted by
    Schatz, Senator Brian, U.S. Senator From Hawaii, Questions
      Submitted by
    U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, Questions
      Submitted to the...............................................    78

    Van Hollen, Senator Chris, U.S. Senator From Maryland, Questions
      Submitted by

                                SUBJECT INDEX

                                  ----------

                                                                       Page

                    STRENGTHENING AMERICAN COMPETITIVENESS:

                 EXAMINING THE ROLES OF THE U.S. INTERNATIONAL

                        DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORATION,

                    EXPORT-IMPORT BANK OF THE UNITED STATES,

                      AND MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION

    Additional Committee Questions                                       78
        Questions Submitted by Senators:.............................
           Boozman, John
           Coons, Christopher A.
           Hagerty, Bill
           Merkley, Jeff
           Rubio, Marco
           Schatz, Brian
           Van Hollen, Chris........................................     93
    Conclusion.......................................................    57
    FY25.............................................................    56
    Legislative Change...............................................    57
                                   __________

               UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

    Additional Committee Questions                                       28
        Questions Submitted by Senators:.............................
            Moran, Jerry.............................................    36
            Schatz, Brian............................................    28
                                   __________

                       UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE

    Additional Committee Questions                                      139
        Questions Submitted by Senators:.............................
            Boozman, John............................................   148
            Collins, Susan M.........................................   146
            Graham, Lindsey..........................................   147
            Hagerty, Bill............................................   149
            Schatz, Brian............................................   139
            Van Hollen, Chris........................................   143
    Conclusion.......................................................   139
    Major Management and Performance Challenges......................   134
    Mission and Results..............................................   134
    Resources........................................................   138
    Response to Crises and Emerging Risks............................   136

                                    [all]