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Fiscal Year 2009 budget hearing for foreign assistance.

Article Excerpt
[The following excerpts are from Testimony before the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Washington, DC, March 4, 2008.]

Thank you for this opportunity to appear before the Committee today in support of the President's FY2009 Foreign Operations budget request and to discuss our nation's foreign assistance priorities. The degree of turmoil and poverty in the world right now poses both challenges and opportunities for our assistance programs and underscores the vital role of development in achieving our objectives: the dramatic election in Pakistan; the transfer of power in Cuba; Kosovo's declaration of independence; the safety concerns that so many of our staff and the staff of our partners face on a daily basis; the humanitarian crises in Darfur, Chad, West Bank Gaza, Iraq, Burma, and Democratic Republic of Congo ... to name a few. Never has foreign assistance been more critical to our national security and to the citizens of the developing world.

The path from poverty to prosperity is a long one. Success can't be realized in a matter of months, by a single Administration, or by any one generation of development leadership. But already we have made progress this century. In 1981, 40 percent of the population of developing countries was in poverty. In 2004, that percentage had decreased to 18 percent and is projected to decline further to 10 percent in 2015. According to Freedom House, by the end of 2007, the number of not free countries dropped from 59 in 1980 to 43. The number of partly free countries increased from 52 to 60, and the number of free countries increased from 51 to 90.

We are here today to talk about the FY2009 Budget for Foreign Operations. As we discuss these numbers--which can often seem dry and abstract--it is important, as I know you are very aware, to remember what this funding will mean to our partners and recipients all around the world. The surest, truest compass point I know to remember the why of what we do is to see first hand the people we serve: the Peruvian farmer in the highlands, the Malian girl who just attended her first day at school, the Sudanese family who found safety in a refugee camp, a youth activist in Ukraine, a young trafficking victim from Vietnam, a landmine victim in Lebanon, a Kyrgyz business woman looking to expand her business. These are the people we serve--those who have the least means and opportunity yet still yearn to build their lives, their nations, and their futures. With that backdrop, I would like to describe some highlights of the President's Fiscal Year 2009 Foreign Operations request.

President Bush's Fiscal Year 2009 Foreign Operations Budget for the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development requests $22.7 billion, a 2.7% increase above the Fiscal Year 2008 enacted level. Our request is an increase of over $2.1 billion compared to the Fiscal Year 2008 President's Budget for State Department and USAID Foreign Operations accounts. This...

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