Berman stands up for foreign aid funding
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Howard Berman (D-CA) is supporting calls from the Obama administration to keep State and foreign aid funding out of the hands of GOP budget slashers in Congress. Berman’s latest remarks come on the heels of a Jan. 20 call for drastic defunding of the U.S. Agency for International Development ...
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Howard Berman (D-CA) is supporting calls from the Obama administration to keep State and foreign aid funding out of the hands of GOP budget slashers in Congress.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Howard Berman (D-CA) is supporting calls from the Obama administration to keep State and foreign aid funding out of the hands of GOP budget slashers in Congress.
Berman’s latest remarks come on the heels of a Jan. 20 call for drastic defunding of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) by the 165-member Republican Study Group. USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah warned Congress of the national security risks of defunding USAID in an exclusive interview with The Cable on Jan. 21.
"I rise in opposition to the rule, which provides for consideration of a resolution to reduce what is being called "non-security" spending to 2008 levels," Berman said in remarks today, which were submitted into the Congressional record and which he excerpted on the House floor.
The budget resolution, which is being brought by Republican leadership in advance of Tuesday’s State of the Union speech, would mandate that all "non-security" accounts be cut to fiscal 2008 levels when the current stopgap funding measure expires on March 4.
The GOP defines "non-security" to mean all spending besides funds devoted to defense, homeland security, military construction, and veterans. The administration and some in Congress want to add diplomacy and development to that list.
The budget resolution "sends a very damaging message that the Congress will not stand up to protect those programs that are absolutely essential to jobs and the economy," Berman said. "It also rejects a key principle that military leaders and presidents of both parties have clearly recognized: Foreign assistance and diplomacy are essential to United States national security."
Berman made a case for the role of U.S. economic and diplomatic capabilities in winning the war on terror. He also noted that Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, and ISAF commander Gen. David Petraeus have all come out in favor of increasing funding for foreign operations.
"The message from our military leadership, this Congress, and even former President Bush is clear: U.S. civilian agencies must be fully resourced to prosecute the fight against terror effectively," Berman said. "A cut to the budget harms U.S. national security and puts American lives at risk."
Berman failed to move forward his legislation on reforming foreign aid when he was chairman — but funding did go up for fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2010. Now, with the State Department taking on new responsibilities in Iraq and USAID playing a large role in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he is arguing that gains in those countries, as well as U.S. standing in the world, hangs in the balance.
"We all remember the period when the United States tried to go it alone, unwilling to cooperate with other countries and demonstrate global leadership," Berman said. "We’ve finally begun to turn that all around. Let’s not go back to the bad old days when the U.S. turned away from the rest of the world, and lost so much of its influence and respect."
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
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