[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5115-5116]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   HUNGER-FAST COALITION: GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY IS A NATIONAL PRIORITY

  (Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, last week USAID Administrator Raj Shah 
testified before the House Subcommittee on Foreign Operations. In his 
testimony he stated, and I quote, ``We estimate, and I believe these 
are very conservative estimates, that H.R. 1 would lead to 70,000 kids 
dying.'' This means, conservatively speaking, that the GOP budget cuts 
could result in the deaths of 70,000 children around the world from 
disease, from hunger, from lack of basic immunizations, mosquito nets, 
and food.
  These callous and brutal cuts are not only a stain on the moral 
conscience of this House; they directly undermine our national security 
and our economic future. Over 23,000 people from faith groups and other 
organizations are fasting in protest of these draconian cuts. Join them 
at www.hungerfast.org. I urge my colleagues to restore funding for 
these humanitarian and development programs. The lives of 70,000 
children are at stake.

              Shah: GOP Budget Would Kill 70,000 Children

                 (Posted by Josh Rogin, March 31, 2011)

       As Congress struggles to negotiate a budget deal to keep 
     the government running, the head of the U.S. Agency for 
     International Development (USAID) told lawmakers Wednesday 
     that the GOP version of the budget bill would result in the 
     deaths of at least 70,000 children who depend on American 
     food and health assistance around the world.
       ``We estimate, and I believe these are very conservative 
     estimates, that H.R. 1 would lead to 70,000 kids dying,'' 
     USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah testified before the House 
     Appropriations State and Foreign Ops subcommittee.
       ``Of that 70,000, 30,000 would come from malaria control 
     programs that would have to be scaled back specifically. The 
     other 40,000 is broken out as 24,000 would die because of a 
     lack of support for immunizations and other investments and 
     16,000 would be because of a lack of skilled attendants at 
     birth,'' he said.
       The Republican bill, known as H.R. 1, was passed by the 
     House, and would fund the government for the rest of fiscal 
     2011. It would effectively cut 16 percent from the Obama 
     administration's original fiscal 2011 request for the 
     international affairs account.
       Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) pointed out that H.R. 1 would 
     provide $430 million for the International Disaster 
     Assistance (IDA) account, which is 50 percent below the 
     president's fiscal 2011 request and 67 percent below fiscal 
     2010 levels.
       Shah said that such a cut ``would be, really, the most 
     dramatic stepping back away from our humanitarian 
     responsibilities around the world in decades.'' The IDA 
     account supports 1.6 million people in Darfur, so halving the 
     account would place 800,000 people at risk, he said.
       ``[T]his would lead to a significant amount of reduction in 
     feeding programs, medical programs and food and water 
     programs for people who are incredibly vulnerable,'' he 
     added.
       Shah was also testifying in defense of the administration's 
     fiscal 2012 budget request, which also faces the axe on 
     Capitol Hill. Subcommittee Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX) 
     opened the hearing by announcing that the administration's 
     fiscal 2012 request was dead on arrival.
       ``While I understand the value of many of these important 
     programs, the funding request for next year is--is truly 
     unrealistic in today's budget environment,'' she said. ``We 
     simply cannot fund everything that has been funded in the 
     past. And we certainly cannot continue to fund programs that 
     are duplicative and wasteful.''
       Granger said she would support USAID programs that have 
     national security implications or contribute to the ongoing 
     missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Her Democratic 
     counterpart, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), said that national 
     security is threatened by instability in other parts of the 
     world as well.
       ``Drastic cuts to USAID would risk a great deal in 
     stability and security around the world which could spawn the 
     kinds of threats that cost this country the lives of men and 
     women in uniform and billions in treasure,'' she said.
       Shah argued that foreign assistance is crucial to the long 
     term economic recovery because it helps develop markets for 
     American goods.

[[Page 5116]]

       ``USAID's work also strengthens America's economic 
     security. By establishing links to consumers at the bottom of 
     the pyramid, we effectively position American countries to 
     enter more markets and sell more goods in the economies of 
     the future, promoting exports and creating American jobs,'' 
     he said.

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