[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 159 (Friday, September 29, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





     DEPARTMENT OF STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, AND RELATED PROGRAMS 
                        APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2024

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 28, 2023

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition of H.R. 4665, 
Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs 
Appropriations Act, 2024.
  This bill makes devastating cuts to our foreign assistance and will 
undo years of progress in the areas of humanitarian aid, bolstering our 
national security, and combatting the effects of climate change. With 
this bill, House Republicans have completely abandoned our country's 
leadership on the global stage and made our country and other countries 
around the world susceptible to destabilization.
  This bill eliminates U.S. support for climate adaptation, sustainable 
landscapes, and clean energy programming. Climate change is an 
existential threat to every single one of us--and this bill does 
nothing but bury our heads in the sand. These divestments will not only 
be devastating to our environment, but also to our national security. 
Cuts to climate programs will leave the Department of Defense more 
vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Without adequate funding 
to address the climate crisis, people around the globe will be driven 
from their homes, unable to feed their families, and will fall deeper 
into poverty. At a time when a historic number of refugees are fleeing 
conflict and instability, the United States will turn its back and be 
unable to respond to and assist our allies.
  The majority has authored this bill to satisfy the most extreme among 
us without considering the real-life consequences for our allies and 
for the world's most vulnerable populations. This bill zeros out or 
dramatically cuts several critical peacebuilding funding accounts, 
which will severely impact the United States' ability to prevent 
violent conflict, build sustainable peace, and save lives. This bill 
hurts women and children--codifying the expanded version of the harmful 
global gag rule, cutting foreign assistance for family planning and 
reproductive health, and prohibiting funding to the UNFPA, the United 
Nations reproductive health agency.
  Mr. Chair, this bill fails to protect Americans and cedes leadership 
to our adversaries. With this level of funding, House Republicans are 
ignoring reality and making it impossible for the United States to 
engage peacefully and constructively with the international community--
all while our adversaries are engaging aggressively. Millions of lives 
are on the line, and instead of making a serious attempt to address 
these problems, the majority has injected politics into our foreign 
policy and have authored a bill that has virtually no chance of passing 
in the Senate. For all of these reasons, I must vote against H.R. 4665.

                          ____________________