POMED Notes: “State and Foreign Operations Witness Hearing”
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations hosted a hearing of witnesses to discuss the foreign operations budget allocations for the Fiscal Year 2012 Budget. The Subcommittee chair Kay Granger (R-TX) presided over the hearing with ranking member Nita Lowey (D-NY) in attendance. The witnesses who testified before the subcommittee were Representatives David Dreier (R-CA), David Price (D-NC), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Silvestre Reyes (D-TX), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Donna Edwards (D-MD), Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI), and Sam Farr (D-CA).
For full notes continue below, or click here for PDF.
Rep. Dreir opened the hearing requesting support for the House Democracy Partnership (HDP) in the amount of $1.9 million out of the Economic Support Fund for the budget in FY2012. This number he stated was a 5% reduction from the $2 million HDP received annually in FY2008, 2009, and 2010. He articulated that following September 11, 2001 “Our foreign policy very rightly became refocused on the need to promote and strengthen democracy not just on elections that can be exploited by those with anti-democratic intentions or afford a veneer of legitimacy to corrupt and oppressive regimes, but on building truly democratic and accountable institutions that provide a path to peace and prosperity.”
Rep. Dreir argued that the HDP provides a unique set of skills and experiences that are vital to promoting democracy worldwide, most importantly, being the ability to promote parliament to parliament contact. He stated that the HDP is “the only organization that enables sitting Members of the House of Representatives, and staff, to conduct” democratic training and to work with foreign democratic organizations and legislators. With 14 partners already in place around the world, Rep. Dreir stated that he and the HDP were following the events in the Arab world “extremely closely” and they “hope to soon have a number of new candidate partners throughout the Middle East, the Maghreb, and beyond.”
Rep. Price testified before the hearing and requested the same amount that Rep. Dreir requested for funding of the HDP for FY2012 ($1.9 million). Rep. Price stated that the HDP is a unique organization that uses a “targeted approach” that only supports countries “that have shown a genuine interest in outside support for their internal reform efforts.” He also stated that the HDP also seeks to maximize their return “by limiting our activities to those countries in which we believe they will have the greatest impact.” The unique opportunity of legislator to legislator contact, according to Rep. Dreir, is what makes the HDP’s work so essential and important.
In light of recent events across the Middle East, Rep. Price stated that, “it is clear that the old paradigms that have often characterized U.S. policy in the region, an emphasis on stability over democracy and human rights, sporadic engagement with opposing political force, a preference over democracy and human rights, sporadic engagement with opposing political forces, a preference for military aid over development assistance—will need to be revisited.” Thus, he stated the HDP is actively seeking ways in which it can bring its resources to the Middle East and that they are currently in consultation with senior State Department and USAID officials.
Rep. Lee opened her remarks stating: “A robust international affairs budget is a reflection of our values and our ideals as a country, and absolutely essential to our national and economic security.” She argued that the international affairs budget “forms the backbone” of U.S. diplomacy and development work. Rep. Lee urged the subcommittee to provide the resources requested by President Obama to USAID and to recognize the importance of foreign operations in preventing military conflict in the future.
Rep. Blumenauer requested “flat-level funding from FY2010 of $315 million for long-term safe drinking water and sanitation supply projects.” He stressed the importance of global water security and urged the Subcommittee to properly appropriate U.S. funds to support water initiatives worldwide. Rep. McGovern urged the Subcommittee to properly fund USAID, the Feed the Future program, and the International Disaster Assistance account because they are essential to promoting U.S. national security as the potential for food crises becomes more widespread.
Rep. Farr testified and requested that the Subcommittee support President Obama’s funding requests for the United States Peace Corps ($439,600,000), the United States Institute of Peace ($42,740,00), Feed the Future ($911,900,00 from the State Department and $150,000,000 through USAID), the HDP ($1,900,000), along with other foreign operations programs in an effort to promote human rights, peace building, and governance.
