[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 103 (Wednesday, June 19, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E795]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2020

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                      HON. BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 13, 2019

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2740) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
     Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2020, and for other purposes:

  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the amendment offered 
by my colleague Congresswoman Spanberger and my fellow members of the 
New Democrat Coalition National Security Task Force, Congressmen Boyle 
and Brown. Our foreign policy rests on three interconnected pillars of 
defense, diplomacy, and development. All three elements are critical 
and work in concert to promote American leadership in global affairs. 
We cannot shortchange one without harming our overall foreign policy.
  As former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis put it succinctly: ``If you 
don't fully fund the State Department, then I need to buy more 
ammunition.''
  That is but one reason I am so deeply concerned by the many critical 
foreign service positions that remain unfilled in the Trump 
Administration. These empty posts include the assistant secretaries 
overseeing the Middle East, East Asia, South Asia and Political-
Military Affairs, as well as key ambassadorships around the world.
  Our amendment would encourage the State Department to implement 
recommendations from a recent GAO study that found foreign service 
vacancies are undermining our foreign policy objectives. In addition, 
the amendment encourages GAO to expand its study to include the impact 
of vacancies in senior leadership and politically appointed positions 
at the Department of State on the United States' ability to meet its 
foreign policy, diplomacy, aid, and national security priorities and 
objectives.
  I urge my colleagues to support this amendment to ensure all three 
pillars of our foreign policy are working together at their best to 
promote our interests abroad and ensure our national security.

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