Hearing of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs - "U.S. Policies and Programs for Global Development: USAID and the FY 2011 Budget Request"

Statement

Dr. Shah, I'm very pleased to welcome you for your first formal appearance before this Committee and your first time testifying before Congress as USAID Administrator.

Less than two weeks after being sworn in, you were made the Obama Administration's point person in responding to the almost unimaginable tragedy in Haiti. Dealing with a crisis of that magnitude would be a tall order no matter how long you had served as Administrator, and by all accounts you stepped up to the task with great aptitude and aplomb.

Prior to your confirmation, USAID had been without a permanent Administrator for an extended period. So we particularly appreciate the leadership you have demonstrated and the experience and dynamism you bring to the job.

Our focus today is on the President's Fiscal Year 2011 budget request, and specifically the policies and programs for development that USAID is responsible for designing and implementing.

Secretary Clinton has rightfully identified diplomacy and development as two key pillars of our national security, along with defense. We make it a priority to reduce poverty and alleviate human suffering around the world because it is the morally right thing to do and because it reflects the compassion and generosity of the American people. But foreign assistance programs also serve our economic and national security interests.

Poor and unstable countries make unreliable trading partners and offer weak markets for U.S. goods and services. Conflict, lawlessness, and extremism that threaten U.S. interests find fertile ground in the places where basic human needs are not being met and fundamental human rights are not respected Done right, development assistance is a sound investment in a better, safer world.

One of my legislative priorities is to reform our foreign assistance laws and programs to ensure that aid reaches those who need it most, and that it is delivered with maximum effectiveness and efficiency. Our development assistance should aim not only to improve the lives of poor people, but to build the human capacity and the economic and political institutions that will sustain these gains.

I look forward to working with you as we write legislation to replace the outdated and cumbersome legal structure that currently exists with one designed to meet the needs of the 21st Century.

The Administration is now in the midst of two reviews that will have some bearing on this process. The Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, or QDDR, seeks to define the capabilities that are needed and to match resources with priorities. The Presidential Study Directive known as PSD-7 will, we hope, produce a national strategy for global development that establishes clear and specific objectives for United States policies and programs, consistent with the Millennium Development Goals.

We should strive to achieve those goals not only in countries where the risk of violent extremism is most pronounced, but everywhere that children go hungry, women die in childbirth for lack of skilled assistance, and communities are ravaged by a preventable disease.

I'm particularly gratified that the President's budget places an emphasis on global health, food security and climate change. These are areas where the international community faces significant challenges, and where we know how to make a real difference. They build on one of the great foreign policy legacies of the previous Administration, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.

To ensure that our assistance is as effective as possible, we must elevate and strengthen USAID. I applaud Secretary Clinton's call to "rebuild USAID into the world's premier development agency." We must also make good on President Bush's pledge to double the size of the USAID foreign service, a goal that President Obama has also endorsed.

To put the budget numbers in perspective, the entire International Affairs budget accounts for just over 1 percent of federal spending. And only about a third of that one percent is allocated to development and humanitarian programs.

One overarching goal of our foreign assistance is to reduce the need for putting American soldiers in harm's way. About 18 percent of the entire International Affairs budget -- and about 60 percent of the growth since last year -- is for the front line states of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. By building schools, training police and increasing agricultural production, we help lay the foundations for a more stable future in those volatile nations. It is an investment well worth making, considering the savings in long-term costs in American blood and treasure.

With this in mind the increases for fiscal year 2011 are quite modest and, I think, extremely well-justified.

Dr. Shah, we appreciate having you here this morning and look forward to your testimony.

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