'Killing The Poorest Children In The World': Lois Frankel Slams DOGE Cuts To Foreign Aid, Food Assistance

Forbes Breaking News

During a House Appropriations Committee hearing last week, Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) spoke about the Trump administration's cuts to foreign aid.

Transcript

00:00her opening remarks. You have the floor. Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is an honor to work with you and

00:06welcome, Mr. Secretary. And I hope you're going to find this is a very thoughtful

00:11committee, both sides of the aisle. And I like your mission for us to work together. Okay.

00:20So, you know, you and I and Chairman Diaz-Belot, we go way back to our time in the Florida

00:27legislature. And I was very happy to join you at your welcoming ceremony when you came into the

00:33State Department. I thought your speech was inspiring. Thank you for that. But today I come

00:40with a deep sense of alarm and not to be personal in any way because I have a serious disagreement with

00:47some of the policy. With so many conflicts around the world, we're at a crisis point in Americans

00:54as far as policy and humanitarian leadership. The progress of this country under both Republican

01:00and Democratic administrations has built over decades that we built over decades is now being

01:07dismantled recklessly, needlessly and dangerously. And I say, why should Americans care? And the answer

01:15is simple. Foreign assistance is a strategic investment. It costs less. It has cost less than

01:211% of our federal budget yet delivers enormous returns for our national security, our economic

01:28competitiveness, our health, and our global standing. I don't know if you know this, but my son Ben

01:35is both a United States, an officer in the United States Marine, an artillery officer. He served all over

01:42the country, including Afghanistan and Iraq. And then he went back and served in USAID,

01:48also around the world. And he agrees with many military experts who will tell you that

01:55investing in soft power means less spending on weapons of war and less brave soldiers coming home

02:03in body bags. USAID, our nation's premier development agency, has been central to this strategy. It has

02:11helped prevent violent extremism through education, stopped deadly pandemics before they reached our shores,

02:17and delivered American-grown food to the world's most desperate corners. And yet, under this

02:23administration, we are witnessing Elon Musk's chainsaw taken to the entire system. While taking

02:31away food security, health care, and economic opportunities away from the poorest people in the

02:36world, Republicans are sadly focused on giving tax cuts to billionaires. My, my, my. I know my committee

02:44often hears me say that. My, my, my. The richest man in the world. Not you. Mr. Musk. Killing the poorest

02:55children in the world. President Trump's January 12th executive order launched what was called the

03:01Review of Foreign Assistance. And it's hard to believe that a responsible review was done in such a short time,

03:07it became a chaotic freeze and termination of over 80% of foreign aid programs, more than 5,200 across 100

03:16countries, without consultation with Congress, without public criteria, and without a plan. Just, just canceled.

03:23Let's talk about what this actually meant on the ground. Just some examples. Millions of people in the world

03:30left starving, including in Nepal, a critical nutrition program serving over a million women and children were canceled overnight.

03:36Leaving no transition, no staff, no delivery mechanism. And the government has now stopped purchasing

03:43therapeutic food because there's no one to distribute it. Education for 40 million children around the world

03:51was halted, including education and work opportunities in Central America aimed at preventing violence in

03:56communities and making people less likely to migrate, undermining United States immigration goals. And in April, we heard from a

04:05pet for implementer who told this committee that HIV testing programs were cut even while prevention

04:12services were still technically funded funded, it was impossible for pregnant women to know they even needed

04:20care. And that itself is projected to add 26 million new infections in just a few years.

04:27years. And although these programs were lawfully appropriated and competitively awarded and underway,

04:37yet Congress was not consulted. And this is also, which was just so sad, thousands of hardworking Americans and foreign

04:48partners who were sent on a mission by us, had their lives turned upside down in minutes. Implementing partners were

04:57left in the dark embassies had no answers. The so-called life-saving waivers were announced with funfair,

05:04fanfare, not funfair, fanfare, but with no process. So instead of building allies, we're leaving vacuums. And what happens

05:16when the rest of the world is hungry, illiterate, agitated, and afraid for their future?

05:24They turn to whoever is offering, offering help, whether that is China or an armed terrorist group.

05:32China's conducting development projects all over the world. And in Cambodia, just one week after we

05:37canceled paternal and child health programs, Chinese officials announced nearly identical efforts. And let's

05:45not forget what happens when disenfranchised men turn to ISIS or Al-Qaeda. And here at home, the fallout

05:54continues. Florida farmers, actually all our farmers around the country, have lost international food

06:01contracts. U.S. university research labs have gone dark. Non-profits in our communities have had to lay off

06:08workers. Data shared just recently reported that in European business bookings in April, it's now 26%

06:17because of the message that we are sending to other countries. We all want efficiency and we all want

06:24accountability, but a serious government doesn't throw Humpty Dumpty off the wall and hope we can put

06:31him back together again, which is what we are afraid of here. The haphazard and chaotic way, it just makes

06:39waste. Fraud and abuse more likely. And it's actually reported in our USAID and State Inspector Generals in

06:48a report. And Mr. Chairman, I ask consent to enter into the record two recent reports by the State Department

06:54and USAID Office of Spectral Generals highlighting the complexity and changes needed to successfully integrate

07:01humanitarian global health and development assistance into the State Department. So done without objection.

07:06Thank you. Mr. Secretary, you mentioned in your, we have a typewritten statement that you made and there's

07:15there is a mention of what looks like a 20 billion dollar rescission. I'm not sure whether that's a take back from

07:22the 25 budget or the 26, but I could tell you this to me, it's a no go. And I do have an ask and it's

07:32very respectful. And I want to say this again, the people on this committee, we got, we put, we got on this

07:39committee because we believe in the value of foreign assistance. And I think every one of us wants to work

07:45with you. And this is a thoughtful group of people. So I am just respectfully suggesting this, that you

07:53hold off on these staff and program reductions immediately and, and develop with us a plan to go

08:01forward. Because I think we, if we work together, we can make our country safer, stronger, and more

08:07prosperous. Thank you. And I, I yield back. Thank you.

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