CNN Newsroom: Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) Discusses About President's Budget Proposal

Interview

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Well, my first thoughts are that this needs to be a bipartisan approach. We now control one-third of the pie, Republicans, and we need to have a seat at the table. We are - believed that everything should be in discussion at this moment.

However, to come right out of the gate and say you want to increase taxes on Americans. I think that's the wrong approach. There is a lot of wasteful spending in Washington. I mean, we just had a hearing where we talked about nearly $400 billion that was stolen by fraudsters and international organizations in COVID relief money. We see what is happening at our border, the amount of money that is being spent without actual border security measures taking place.

We see from inspectors general across the board, different agencies, coming out with recommendations on how we could save money, how we could put safeguards in place to protect taxpayers. I think we need to look at where we can save. You have a bunch of programs by the way that have not been reauthorized, that they have discretionary funding. And we never even discussed what is the merit of those programs, are they accomplishing their goals or is that money that could be shifted elsewhere.

So I think the first thing that Republicans want is to look at cost savings measures. We want to make sure that we do not default, by the way. I'm very much committed to ensuring that that does not happen. But I also want to make sure that we are fulfilling our obligations in terms of Medicare and Social Security.

So that leaves the discretionary funding, that leaves some other pots, but I think if we review inspectors general's recommendations, that in itself could be a tremendous cost savings to the taxpayers.

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Yes. So I'd say that there are certainly savings. I was actually the ranking member on international organizations committee where he did oversee all that foreign aid and quite frankly there's a lot of money that's going overseas, where we don't know where it's actually going. There are no metrics in place.

And that was one of the things that I constantly brought up in our hearings. If you look at Afghanistan, for example, there were billions of dollars that were spent in Afghanistan, whether it be through the Department of State or whether it'd be by the Department of Defense that went into areas where - they went to pay for ghost armies, for example, people that actually didn't exist. They built buildings that were never used. These are the types of concerns that we have with foreign aid.

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I'm not - I can't commit to a specific number right now. I don't think it's about just a - throwing a number out there. I think it's got to be specific. What - where's the money going, why is it going there and is it fulfilling its purpose.

But the truth is there are countries that do not support us, whether it'd be the United Nations, there are countries that do not like us and yet they still receive foreign aid and I think that has to be examined. My whole thing is to make sure that money is going towards its intended purpose and it's fulfilling its specific goal.

And that is why I feel these inspectors general's reports is where we should be starting because they point out the waste, they point out the fraud, they point out the abuse ...

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... and there is some cost savings to be had. But again, particularly with foreign aid, it needs to have a strategic purpose and a goal. And if we're not fulfilling that goal, then it should be looked to be cut.

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Well, look, Dr. Fauci who served in both the previous and the current administration said quite clearly that he didn't believe that the lab leak theory exam was accurate. In fact, he commissioned scientist to prove otherwise. And it seems that he had put his - wrapped his head around this narrative of the national - natural origin and did everything he could to debunk the lab leave theory, but now it's coming to light.

Republicans have been saying this for quite some time that the lab leak theory is accurate and is most likely and even we're seeing agencies within this administration confirming that, whether it'd be the FBI, whether it'd be the Department of Energy.

And so what we're finding out here is that Dr. Fauci seem to not want Americans to know that this was part of a lab leak. And quite frankly, it was a lab leak that came from the Wuhan lab, which by the way American tax dollars made their way there through the EcoHealth Alliance.

And so what - one of the witnesses who was the former director, Mr. Red - Dr. Redfield of the CDC told us ...

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... that not only was an American tax dollars that went there from NIH, but he believes it was from Department of State, he believes it was from the U.S. aid, he believes it was the Department of Defense.

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He believes it was the Department of Defense. So when you talk about cutting foreign aid, that's an area were we should not be funding labs in communist countries that are adversaries to be doing data function research that could have developed this virus.

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Well, he said it --

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Oh, I would love to. It's not my decision. It's the chairman's. I believe Dr. Fauci should be coming to the committee. I think the goal here is to question those around him first and follow those answers and facts to where they lead. If it leads to Dr. Fauci he should be coming forward before the committee as should Peter Daszak of Eco Health Alliance which is where the money was funneled from NIH to Eco Health, then to the Wuhan lab.

But Dr. Fauci did deny that NIH funding went. But in an e-mail we were able to produce through foil request we were able to show the connection here that he was informed, quite frankly, of that funding, that NIH money through NIH went to the Wuhan lab. And then I think he's later backtracked on that. And by the way we have the proof to show it. So, there's no doubt that money did make its way to the Wuhan lab, and that is something where we should be not be seeing that money ever going to a communist country's lab that developed this gain of function research that may have then produced this virus.

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Thank you.

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