National Security and Department of State - Outside Witness Day
House Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
2025-04-02
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Source: Congress.gov
Participants
Transcript
Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and related programs will come to order. Good morning, everybody. I want to welcome you all to the subcommittee's outside witness hearing for fiscal year 2026. Yesterday, we heard from several members of the House of Congress on their priorities and requests for the fiscal year 2026 bill. I'd like to reiterate a couple of points I made to the members during the member day hearing. When I took over as chairman of this subcommittee in 2023, it became very clear to me that the previous administration was really pushing controversial and divisive policies abroad. I did it multiple times. I repeatedly warned the Biden officials privately and publicly and in hearings that just funding things that were controversial or radical was not only contrary to US interests, but would also jeopardize the public's support for foreign assistance. And in the I told you so category, we are witnessing the fallout from this. But here's a question. Where do we go from here? As we work through the fiscal year 26 cycle, I'm a firm believer that we've got to get back to basics, frankly. My expectation is to fund effective, accountable programs to support our national security. Many of you here today are instrumental, instrumental in that effort. So I want to thank all of you, including all the people who make up the organizations that you represent, for your efforts to further key priorities and policy goals that all Americans, all Americans can be proud to support. So I look forward to listening to each of you, to your remarks and insights as we begin the fiscal year 2026 process. Now, given the significant interest in participating in this hearing, we will, and again, there are going to be other organizations that we're not going to be able to have speak to us today, but their submissions will be, their testimony will be submitted to the record.
Now, I'd like to remind our witnesses present today to please, and I know it's not easy, summarize your remarks within three minutes, and remember that your full testimony will be included in the record. We have limited time and a lot of participants and a lot of interest. So I will be using the gavel more than usual. Usually, I like to be flexible. And we have a great relationship, by the way, the members of the subcommittee. But I want to try to keep us on schedule. I don't expect it. But if there are any disruptions or any interruptions by agitators or anybody else, we will have them removed. And we will have them removed quickly. Now, look. I am so thrilled and honored to have, I think, the best ranking member that I could ever have. And just so everybody knows, her and I have known each other for many, many years, and we have areas where we disagree and we have areas where we agree. But I will tell you, nobody's a tougher advocate and a more sincere advocate and a more effective member than the ranking member that I'm now going to yield to. I would say maybe the only agitator might be me. Good point. So listen, I have a few things to say. But I want to say this, because I'm not happy with what's been going on, obviously. But I do want to say this. I have gotten to know this committee, and I know this gentleman for a lot of years. I could not think of a better group of people to have to go forward under the circumstances that we have. But listen, thank you all for being here.
We're convening this hearing at what I think is a moment of crisis for our nation's foreign policy and humanitarian leadership. Those of you who are going to come here today, you're uniquely positioned to speak, if you feel like it, to the real and devastating consequences of recent decisions that have threatened decades of progress. Because we all understand that foreign assistance is not charity, it's strategy. It's one of the most effective tools that we have to advance America's security, economic strength, and global stability. And yet, it's been less than 1% of the federal budget. And these investments help countries recover from crises, tackle long-term challenges, build resilience. And they're not just lifelines for others. They are safeguards for us. But today, we are facing the reckless and unilateral dismantling of USAID and other agencies this committee's jurisdiction.
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