FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Rep. Green Takes Aim at Democrats’ Lies on USAID During Foreign Affairs Hearing
WASHINGTON—Today, Rep. Mark Green delivered the following opening statement during the House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing titled “The USAID Betrayal.”
Watch Rep. Green’s full opening statement here.
Thank you, Chairman Mast. I appreciate your strong leadership of this Committee, and I look forward to working alongside you to bring needed reform to our diplomatic strategy. We certainly have a lot to do, and this hearing is just the beginning. Accountability is coming.
Thank you also to our witnesses today. The corruption going on behind USAID’s doors has been a wakeup call for all Americans.
As Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, I spent the last two years exposing the Biden administration’s sabotage of our border and the policies that kept America safe. I saw firsthand their willful refusal to protect this country. Under the guise of “foreign aid,” USAID has been an unapologetic front for a far-left agenda. It has become self-evident these weren’t a handful of foolish policies but rather a coordinated strategy of radical, idiotic, and often anti-American priorities.
Idiotic, you say? Millions to teach Moroccans how to make pottery? The Moroccans were making pottery before we were a country!
This entire debate today and the crocodile tears from Democrats just goes to show what is wrong with this town. Not a single Democrat I have heard has expressed dismay over the many examples of crazy, wasteful spending. I don’t understand the objection to a deep dive in how we spend our money. But perhaps it’s the fact that over the last several weeks, a massive surge has occurred in the search for a criminal defense attorney. That probably says it all! It’s up five times in this city, more than any other city in the nation. I would like to remind this Committee that President Kennedy unilaterally created USAID through an executive order in 1961. Yet when President Trump orders a momentary pause after winning a mandate for reform, Democrats cry “constitutional crisis.” This is after four years of reckless spending and unrepentant lawlessness from the Biden administration.
I want the American people to understand how this works in Washington: As long as you are spending other people’s money, no one bats an eye, but the second you want to save taxpayers’ dollars, the swamp cries “wolf” or in this case “unprecedented constitutional crisis.” This breathless, fake outrage from the left is utterly insane—and you know what, the American people can see right through it.
The generosity of Americans and the blessing of giving aid to others has always been one of our most valuable tools for diplomacy. The American people have a proud history of championing aid to our fellow man, but lawless bureaucrats have poisoned that good will.
Many USAID programs are wasteful and actively sabotage our diplomatic relationships by forcing woke ideology on our partners. Just look at the PEPFAR program, a beacon of hope in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Yet, the Biden administration even weaponized this crucial program, jeopardizing lives and undermining our relationships with African nations. Under Administrator Powers, our message to Africa was as explicit as it was heinous: “Abort your babies and violate your religious convictions or we won’t grant life-saving aid.” Let me be crystal clear to those who have been complicit in this betrayal: firing those involved is just a start. We have a long way to go.
And one last point; I want to correct the record on a couple of things. First, Elon Musk and his team do not have access to personal data. They don’t have access to your social security number. That is a lie. However, Elon Musk does have a security clearance—a top secret security clearance. He makes the rockets for NASA! But the suggestion that he, somehow, can’t be trusted to dig into how we’re spending our money is nothing but a smokescreen to hide the corruption and the wasteful spending that has occurred there. And I am personally offended at the left’s continued references to nineteen and twenty-one-year-olds in there doing work. There are nineteen-year-olds who have won the Medal of Honor defending this country. Just because you’re nineteen, does not mean you’re some child who can’t be trusted. It is offensive, and if you’re nineteen-years-old out there and you’re serving this country, your service matters and please keep serving. We thank you for that.
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