Business meeting to consider an original resolution authorizing expenditures by the committee during the 119th Congress; to be immediately followed by a hearing to examine eliminating waste by the foreign aid bureaucracy.
Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments
2025-02-13
Source: Congress.gov
Participants
Transcript
The committee will come to order. Pursuant to the notice issued on February 5th, 2025, the committee will consider the committee funding resolution for the 119th Congress. I note the presence of a quorum. As required by the Rules Committee, this resolution authorizes funding for the committee for the next two years. It has the support of the ranking member, Peters, and is traditionally adopted by a voice vote. I see Peters. Do we need Peters still here? We don't. Okay. Those in favor will say aye. Aye. Those opposed will say no. The ayes have it. The funding is approved and the business meeting is now adjourned. You have to talk to Gary about that. Can we get my phone back? The committee will come to order. Today, we are going to dive into reckless and wasteful spending of our federal government, particularly when it comes to foreign aid.
Our country is $36 trillion in debt, yet we continue to send billions of dollars overseas, often funding projects that are not just useless, but in many cases, actively harmful. Taking the path to fiscal responsibility is often a lonely journey, but thanks to Elon Musk and Doge, they've brought to light the waste that I've been highlighting for over the last decade. Every year, I release my Festivus report to expose the ridiculous spending of the federal government, and this past year was no exception. I uncovered over a trillion dollars in government waste, with the State Department and USAID being some of the worst offenders. Let me give you just a few examples of what these unelected bureaucrats are spending your hard-earned money on. $4.8 million went to Ukraine's Public Affairs Office in Kyiv to fund social media influencers. Instead of protecting our own border, $2.1 million was sent to Paraguay to enhance their border security. USAID also funded a group of Ukrainian women-led designers to travel to the Paris fashion show. I don't know about you, but I'd imagine Ukrainian women have more important things to worry about than appearing in the Paris fashion show. USAID spent $2 million on transgender surgeries, hormone therapy, and gender-affirming care in Guatemala. $3 million was spent to promote girl-centric climate action in Brazil. And I'd love to picture what a conversation about girl-centered climate action looks like. It's like, hey, Barbie, do you know what girl-centered climate change is? Since when do we believe arguments need to be tailored for girls to understand?
How insulting to women at large that they think there are special arguments for girls to understand that are different than boys. $25,000 to fund a transgender opera in Colombia? Was nobody in Colombia willing to buy a ticket? USAID spent $32,000 in Peru to create a comic featuring a trans hero to address social and mental health issues. What does that have to do with diplomacy? $20,000 to fund a DEI program for a drag theater in Ecuador. $20 million was spent to produce a new Sesame Street show in Iraq. USAID spent $6 million to promote a project boosting sustainable tourism in Egypt. I guess the U.S. is now the travel agent for the entire world since they spent $50 million on Tunisia's tourism, even though it's already one of the most visited countries in Africa. USAID gave $87.9 million to help Afghans farm, and incidentally, farm poppy, the plant from which opium is extracted. As of 2021, Afghanistan supplied 90% of the world's heroin. I thought the saying in the U.S. was just say no to drugs. How about we just say no to wasteful foreign aid? $70,000 for a live musical event to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in Ireland. State Department paid $330,000 to compile a disinformation index to blacklist conservative media outlets. USAID funneled over $54 million to EcoHealth Alliance, funding the very organization linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the likely origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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