[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 202 (Thursday, December 7, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H6727]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         FOREIGN AID PRIORITIES

  (Mr. BURCHETT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURCHETT. Mr. Speaker, the United States provides a lot of 
foreign aid to a lot of countries. It is important that we make sure 
that money is being spent wisely.
  The Biden administration has not taken this responsibility seriously 
at all, Mr. Speaker. The White House is currently pushing to send 
billions of dollars to Ukraine, even though we have already allocated 
over $110 billion to Ukraine and have no way of knowing where that 
money really ends up.
  We also have sent nearly $2 billion to Afghanistan since our botched 
withdrawal in 2021, even though we know a lot of that money ends up in 
the hands of the Taliban.
  I asked an expert witness in a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing if 
there is any way the United States can provide aid to Afghanistan 
without any of it falling in the hands of the Taliban, and he said no.
  Yet, when the president of Guatemala specifically requested aid to 
help block off one of the most popular travel routes for illegal 
immigrants coming to the United States, the Biden administration 
refused to help.
  It is pretty apparent to me, Mr. Speaker, that this administration 
has its foreign aid priorities all out of order.
  It needs to get serious about addressing issues that affect the 
American people, like our illegal immigration crisis, instead of trying 
to send billions of unchecked dollars to Ukraine and the Taliban.

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