[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 59 (Wednesday, April 5, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E466]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS BUDGET PROPOSED BY THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 5, 2017

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the 
draconian 31 percent cut to the international affairs budget proposed 
by the Trump Administration.
  President Trump's budget would starve our nation's diplomacy and 
development efforts at a time of increased challenges to global 
security and stability.
  Strategic investments in development and diplomacy, alongside a 
strong defense, are essential to fight terrorism, support our allies, 
and uphold America's leadership role in the world.
  If the United States retreats from our global commitments, then we 
cede ground to countries that do not share American interests and pose 
a risk to American values.
  You do not make America great again by unilaterally withdrawing from 
the world.
  Since World War II, we have been and we remain the essential nation. 
Ronald Reagan used to talk about making America that shining city upon 
a hill.
  What he meant was a beacon, a place people could look to for succor, 
human rights advocacy, and protection. That is who we are.
  Yesterday, the Trump Administration announced that it was ending all 
funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which works to 
provide access to contraceptives, prevent unsafe abortions, and stop 
maternal deaths around the world.
  Cutting these funds threatens the lives of millions of girls and 
women.
  Throughout U.S. development operations, we are fostering American 
values through support for civil society, free markets, independent 
media, and democratic institutions.
  At a time when countries like Russia and China are undermining 
democratic institutions and the post-WWII international order, we need 
robust diplomatic and development operations more than ever.
  Foreign assistance is not just a nice thing to do. It opens foreign 
markets for American businesses and creates enduring partnerships 
abroad.
  For example, what began as a donor-recipient relationship between the 
United States and South Korea in the wake of the Korean War has since 
blossomed into an unbreakable alliance bound by shared military, 
diplomatic, cultural, and economic ties. South Korea is now our sixth 
largest trading partner.
  We turn to diplomacy to solve our most intractable national security 
challenges.
  It is a political solution we seek in Syria, not a military one. It 
is the JCPOA, a multilateral diplomatic effort, that has effectively 
reversed the Iranian nuclear threat.
  It is our aid and reconstruction efforts that will eliminate 
terrorists' sanctuaries in Afghanistan, not a permanent military 
presence.
  Pulling out the rug beneath our nation's diplomats not only makes 
their efforts less effective, but it also further exposes our military 
by shifting the entire burden to them.
  More than 120 retired generals and admirals recently wrote a letter 
to Congress on this matter saying ``the State Department, USAID, 
Millennium Challenge Corporation, Peace Corps and other development 
agencies are critical to preventing conflict and reducing the need to 
put our men and women in uniform in harm's way.''
  This is no longer a battle about numbers or a budget. This is a 
battle about who we are as a people and what role we will play in 
shaping the world we hand over to our children and grandchildren.
  There are people who benefit from the United States' diplomatic and 
foreign aid efforts, who are fighting for democracy as we speak, 
putting their lives on the line counting on us to have their backs.
  This is not the time to retreat. But that is what this budget does. 
We must fight this budget for the sake of that shining city upon a 
hill.

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