00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will now yield, and it's a pleasure, to the ranking member of the full Appropriations Committee, Ms. DeLauro, for her opening statement. You have the floor.
00:08Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member Frankel. An honor to be here with the chair of the Appropriations Committee, my dear friend.
00:18And I want to say thank you for holding what is an extremely important hearing on the Trump administration's budget request for the Department of State.
00:26Secretary Rubio, good afternoon. I welcome you to the House Appropriations Committee for your first budget hearing.
00:32Thank you for appearing with us here today. As you know, bipartisanship allows us to govern in the interest of the nation.
00:41However, I cannot thank you for your proposal to flash funding for the Department of State by $51.6 million, an 84% cut to our ability to conduct diplomacy and save lives around the world.
00:56But before we talk about your request to suffocate your own department next year, I want to talk about what is happening right now.
01:03Mr. Secretary, this administration is dismantling programs that save lives, protect our national security, for the sake of a tax cut for billionaires.
01:12It is recklessly and unlawfully freezing and stealing congressionally appropriated funds from agencies, programs, and services across the government.
01:23Congress holds the power of the purse. It's right there in the Constitution, Article I, Section 9, Clause 7.
01:31And while this administration has engaged in the unrestrained destruction of institutions across our government, nothing compares to the human consequences of what is happening under your watch.
01:45I might add that we are, for 2025, we are, in the continuing resolution, we are following the 2024 budget.
02:00And there are directives in that budget.
02:03And if we are to follow the letter of the law, which is you pass it in the House, you pass it in the Senate, the President signs the legislation,
02:10and you have a law, and that law says that for 2025, we are going to move in the direction of the 2024 budget.
02:22That is not happening, and we need to question that.
02:28There is, as I pointed out, unrestrained destruction of institutions across our government.
02:37You follow the orders of unelected billionaire Elon Musk and oversaw the evisceration of USAID
02:42and a freeze on programs actively saving the lives of vulnerable people around the planet.
02:48Food for people on the verge of famine already on ships was halted.
02:53Administration of life-saying treatments for horrific diseases was stopped.
02:59Your actions have cost human lives already and will cost many more in the near- and long-term future.
03:06It is despicable, it is shameful, and it is a stain on our nation that may never be fully erased.
03:13The funding freeze was made under the guise of eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.
03:17But the American small farmers, who feed millions around the world, are not waste,
03:23and human lives they support are not either.
03:28I'm all for finding and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse,
03:31something Inspectors General Richardson and Martin at State and USAID, respectively,
03:37were tasked with doing before they were illegally purged in the dead of night.
03:42The administration has not brought one allegation of fraud or misuse to this committee either.
03:50And, Mr. Secretary, I know that I do not need to lecture you on what soft power is and how it works.
03:55You used to be well aware of how having the world on our side through diplomacy,
04:01cultural influence, and through humanitarian role keeps Americans safe and our economy strong and growing.
04:07But your familiarity with the irreplaceable role of the institutions you oversee
04:13makes it even more baffling as to why this administration has seemingly done everything in its power
04:19to estrange us from our allies, so distrust of America around the world.
04:26Insulting and abandoning our allies does not put America first.
04:30Cosing up to dictators and accepting lavish gifts from petro-states does not put America first.
04:36Taking food from the mouths of the most vulnerable people in the world,
04:41millions of whom are children, does not put America first.
04:45When we are helping impoverished communities and nations treat diseases,
04:49when we are feeding starving children in conflict zones,
04:52and when we help ensure villages have drinkable water,
04:56we are using and gaining soft power.
05:00We do these things because they are the right thing to do.
05:03We also do these things because they are in our own interest.
05:06They build influence, our global standard, and strengthen our national security.
05:11When we retreat from the global stage, China and Russia fill in the gaps,
05:16and the world becomes a more dangerous place for Americans.
05:20Whose name is on the sack of flour?
05:24The door of the clinic.
05:26On the school book.
05:28The United States of America, period.
05:30It must remain that way.
05:33Both parties and you understood that in the past.
05:37While we only have a few lines of political rhetoric masquerading as a budget to work with,
05:42this is what we do know about what you are proposing for the Department of State next year.
05:47You create a slush fund for the president while abandoning our allies and partners around the world,
05:52with an 84% cut to diplomats and development experts.
05:57You cut educational and cultural exchanges by 93%.
06:00You cut support for people in the poorest countries in the world,
06:04depriving millions clean water and sanitation,
06:07putting them at risk of death from cholera and diarrhea,
06:10and depriving them of food and shelter.
06:13You cut our ability to cooperate on narcotics control and law enforcement by over $1.2 billion,
06:19increasing the threats of transnational crime, terrorism, and drug and human trafficking.
06:25This does not make America stronger, safer, or more prosperous.
06:29The administration is putting billionaires and our adversaries first.
06:33Americans, our allies, and vulnerable people around the world will be worse off for it.
06:38As a leading Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, I assure you,
06:43we will not stop fighting to protect America's interests
06:46and against this administration's dangerous dismantling of our diplomatic and humanitarian efforts across the world.
06:54I thank you, and I look forward to your testimony.
