Excerpts from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on FY10 International Affairs Budget
May 20, 2009
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – Opening Statement
Commitment to Increased Funding for the International Affairs Budget
- “Our investment in diplomacy and development is a fraction of our total national security budget. But this country will make very few investments that do more, dollar-for-dollar, to create the kind of world we want to inhabit.”
- “This budget also reflects the critical role that development assistance must play in our foreign policy. We are proposing significant investments in critical programs including maternal and child health, education, food security, and humanitarian assistance.”
Commitment to Smart Power in U.S. Global Engagement
- “In the face of formidable global challenges, our success requires a robust State Department and USAID working side-by-side with a strong military. To exercise our global leadership effectively, we need to harness all three Ds-diplomacy, development and defense.”
- “By using all the tools of American power-the talent of our people, well-reasoned policies, strategic partnerships, and the strength of our principles-we can make great strides against problems we’ve faced for generations, and also address new threats of the 21st century.”
- “This comprehensive approach to solving global problems and seizing opportunities is at the heart of smart power. And the President’s 2010 budget is a blueprint for how we intend to put smart power in action.”
- “Our smart power approach will rely on partnerships to magnify our efforts. These partnerships begin within our own government. We are seeking an unprecedented level of cooperation between agencies.”
- “We also face a new array of transnational threats, including climate change, energy security, nonproliferation, and disease. These issues require us to develop new forms of diplomatic engagement-we cannot send a special envoy to negotiate with a pandemic, call a summit with carbon dioxide, or sever relations with the global financial crisis.”
Commitment to Restoring our Civilian Capacity
- “With the right people in the right numbers, the State Department and the USAID will be able to use smart power to implement smart policies.”
- “Many key positions at posts overseas are vacant for the simple reason that we don’t have enough personnel. In Beijing, 18 percent of our embassy positions are open. In Mumbai, 20 percent. In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, it’s 29 percent. We face similar shortages at the Department in Washington.”
- “The President’s 2010 budget request includes $283 million to facilitate the hiring of over 740 new Foreign Service personnel. These new staff are part of a broader effort to fulfill the President’s promise of expanding the Foreign Service by 25 percent.”
- “The staffing situation at USAID is, if anything, more severe…Today, the agency’s staff has shrunk by roughly a third, but they are tasked with overseeing the $13.2 billion in assistance.”
Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Chairman – Opening Statement
The Need for Increased International Affairs Funding
- “…even as we confront an economic crisis here at home, we cannot afford to delay the task of strengthening our diplomatic and development capacity. We cannot afford to come up short on our promises to allies, to vulnerable populations, and to the world.”
- The President’s FY 2010 request of $59.3 billion for the International Affairs Budget recognizes these realities-and begins to marshal the resources to address them.”
Commitment to Restoring Our Civilian Capacity
- “Together, they represent a commitment to reinvest in our civilian programs and ensure that our diplomats and development professionals have the resources and expertise they need to meet twenty-first century challenges.”
- “Our aid programs need to be enhanced and modernized for a new set of challenges. When we talk about reforming foreign aid or rebuilding civilian capacity, what we are really talking about is having the right people on the ground with the right resources to manage our strategic relationships, address threats before they fully materialize, and advance our most important ideals.”
- “As we face multiple crises and major challenges, we must redouble our commitment to a robust international affairs budget that will build the capacity of our civilian institutions. I commend you and the administration for this strong and ambitious budget.”
Commitment to the Smart Power Tools of Diplomacy and Development
- “In a globalized world, our problems are interconnected, and so -ultimately – is our security. That is why this century’s security challenges demand a new level of commitment to diplomacy and development.”
Commitment to Restoring U.S. Global Leadership
- “It’s only been four months, but it has been heartening to see diplomacy already restored to its rightful place at the forefront of American foreign policy.”
- “We must seize this opportunity to make significant strides toward restoring America’s leadership role. That will make the world safer, and it will make us safer.”
