[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 100 (Thursday, July 21, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1572]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT, FISCAL YEARS 2006 AND 2007

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                               speech of

                            HON. ADAM SMITH

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 20, 2005

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2601) to 
     authorize appropriations for the Department of State for 
     fiscal years 2006 and 2007, and for other purposes:

  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Chairman, ``Today, I rise to discuss the 
need for the United States to be a true leader in the fight against 
global poverty. More than 1 billion people live on less than $1 a day 
and another 2.7 billion people struggle to survive on less than $2 a 
day. So what do these numbers really mean? They mean that well over 
half of the world's population is struggling in poverty and one-sixth 
of the world's population can't meet even the most basic needs for 
survival. This is morally unacceptable.
  I applaud the President's leadership on the issue, including his 
commitments to increased debt relief and direct assistance to Africa 
that were discussed recently at the G-8 summit in Scotland. Programs 
like the Millennium Challenge Account, which have allowed us to 
increase development aid and target it more effectively, are an 
important part of the solution. But, the United States still lacks a 
comprehensive strategy to help eliminate extreme global poverty. We 
need to leverage development aid, debt relief, technical assistance and 
public private partnerships. We need to coordinate with world bodies, 
including the United Nations, in helping impoverished'' countries 
devise plans that will work for them.
  I'm pleased that this bill includes language that will move us in the 
right direction. The language, that I requested be added to the bill as 
it was being drafted in committee, declares that the elimination of 
extreme global poverty should be a top foreign policy priority for the 
United States and that the U.S. should work with all the players 
involved in this fight, including developing and donor countries and 
multilateral institutions to coordinate polices to address global 
poverty. Most importantly, the language urges the President to develop 
a comprehensive strategy to eliminate extreme global poverty. It says 
this plan should include foreign assistance, foreign and local private 
investment, technical assistance, private-public partnerships and debt 
relief.
  I'd like to thank Chairman Hyde and the entire International 
Relations Committee for including this language in the bill. The United 
States has the opportunity to take a firm leadership role in bringing 
relief and a better future for billions of people around the world. The 
time to act is now and we can get started with developing a 
comprehensive plan and I look forward to continuing to work in a 
bipartisan fashion on increasing the United States commitment to global 
poverty.''

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