00:00From Indiana, Mr. Mavan is recognized for remarks on the bill.
00:05Chairman Cole, Ranking Member DeLauro, Chairman Diaz-Balart, and Ranking Member Frankel.
00:11I rise today in opposition to this bill, which woefully underfunds and undermines U.S. leadership in the world at a time
00:17when our adversaries are increasingly competing for influence.
00:21Historically, the National Security Department of State and related programs appropriations
00:26has accounted for less than 1% of our annual budget.
00:29Yet, the impact of these programs were incredible.
00:32The programs built good will with local communities.
00:36They also helped secure supply chains and force countries that wanted to do business with the United States
00:41to reconsider their labor practices.
00:43They helped detect infectious outbreaks and prevent them from spreading worldwide.
00:48The programs worked.
00:50They made the United States safer, stronger, and more prosperous by building relationships of trust.
00:56Diplomacy and development worked.
00:59The foreign freeze that began in January had a ripple effect globally and at home.
01:05I've heard from constituents in Munster, Indiana, who are concerned about the U.S. efforts to counter authoritarian influence
01:10with the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for Global Media,
01:14whose journalists worldwide have faced credible threats, wrongful imprisonment, and death,
01:19all in service of bringing unbiased news and information to people under the authoritarian regimes.
01:25I spoke with constituents from Chesterton, Indiana, whose family was impacted by the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
01:33The administration's closing of the U.S. aid left my constituents, like many of yours, without jobs.
01:40These are people who dedicated themselves to making the world a better place, who just want to make a difference.
01:46The specifics of this bill paint a grim picture.
01:48It codifies the dismantling of U.S. aid, which provides on-the-ground infrastructure to respond quickly and effectively to evolving crisis.
01:57This removes the monitoring mechanisms the U.S. had in place to keep our country safer.
02:05Further, the development of economic assistance will be cut by 21% and this bill becomes law.
02:11These programs do not throw money at other countries, hoping it will be spent wisely.
02:16It helps farmers have better access to tools to cultivate their land responsibly.
02:20It helps local organizations establish systems of accountability and combat corruption.
02:25It helps educate the next generation by ensuring there are safe classrooms for kids to learn in.
02:31I will close with this.
02:32Senator Lugar of Indiana believed that when properly administered, development assistance is the bargain for U.S. national security
02:41and for our own economic and moral standing in the world.
02:45Indiana itself benefits from the world created when U.S. leads $68 billion in goods and services
02:54are exported to overseas markets, creating 750,000 jobs here at home.
03:00By reducing the foreign affairs budget, by reducing our diplomatic force posture,
03:05and by reducing our ability to combat our adversaries, this bill does not make America safer, stronger, more prosperous.
03:12It leaves us more vulnerable to the changing tides of Chinese and Russian investment.
03:17For these reasons, I cannot support this bill in current form.
03:20With that, I yield back.
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