Ranking Member DeLauro Statement at Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for the United States Agency for International Development

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, delivered the following remarks at the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Agencies Subcommittee’s hearing on the fiscal year 2025 budget request for the United States Agency for International Development:

Thank you, Chairman Diaz-Balart and Ranking Member Lee for holding this hearing.

And thank you to our witness, Administrator Power, for your strong leadership at the U.S. Agency for International Development, and for your vigorous advocacy on behalf of the world’s most vulnerable people. The staff at your agency are doing heroic work and I hope you will share our gratitude with them.

Your stewardship of USAID has improved lives around the world, and I am grateful for all you have done to make the case for greater humanitarian aid in what is a time of extraordinary need.

Today’s hearing is about the budget request for fiscal year 2025, but I want to take this opportunity to underscore the dire need for Congress to provide supplemental humanitarian aid. Innocent families are in danger, children are starving, and civilian casualties are mounting in conflict zones all around the world.

Earlier this year I visited Israel, where, along with several of our House colleagues, I had the opportunity to meet with both Israeli and Palestinian Authority leadership. We visited the border with Gaza, the site of the massacre at the music festival, and met with the families of Israeli hostages and Palestinian victims of settler violence.

We cannot abandon the innocent civilians and humanitarian aid workers caught in the crossfire of this conflict. The costs of Hamas’s rule over Gaza and war against Israel are borne by innocent Palestinians. 

Israel’s harsh response to the October 7th attack and indiscriminate bombing campaign has raised these costs further. Families and children are facing unthinkable circumstances, with millions facing famine, because of this conflict. No one with clear eyes would say otherwise.

This is why I have called for an immediate ceasefire of at least six weeks to enable the delivery of aid to civilians in Gaza. We must protect aid workers, open additional crossings to bring in at least 500 trucks a day, and ensure that food cannot be used as a weapon of war. 

And it is not just about Gaza. The humanitarian support requested by the Administration would make sure we are not leaving Ukrainians, or the Sudanese, or the Haitians, or the Rohingya (ro-HINGE-ya) behind. The world needs strong American leadership – through supporting our allies’ security, and especially through humanitarian assistance.

Stability around the world is quickly deteriorating because of an absence of American support – an absence caused by pointless and cynical politicking here in Washington, D.C.

We simply cannot choose to sit by and watch as millions around the world starve. Failing to address hunger and malnutrition will have generational effects. In a global economy and global society, hunger abroad has a direct impact on us at home. 

We cannot retreat from the world stage under the guise of putting “America First.” We put America first by demonstrating the power of American leadership – that we have the strength and resolve and heart to fight for the most vulnerable people, protect their freedom, and preserve their dignity.

The America that I know does not look away while millions starve – it sends critical supplies, like Ready-To-Use-Therapeutic Foods (RUTFs), which is a product that brings 95 percent of wasted children back from the brink of death in just a matter of weeks. The America that I know does not turn a blind eye to the indiscriminate killing of civilians either. 

Yes, we must use our diplomatic and our defense tools to resolve conflicts. But we also must use our humanitarian and development resources to help the children and families who did not ask for conflict, who did not ask to be driven out of their homes and who are fighting for their countries.

We must get this done. Our allies and our adversaries are watching, and we must be unwavering in our purpose. Without a supplemental funding package, U.S.A.I.D. will be forced to further dip into its annual funding resources, which in fact cannot deal with the dire needs that must be met around the world. 

While I will continue to press Congressional leadership to move quickly on this desperately needed humanitarian aid, I am pleased to see President Biden’s budget for fiscal year 2025 provides the agency with moderate increases for humanitarian, global health, climate, nutrition, and accountable governance programs.

Countering fentanyl, combatting hunger, and reaffirming the U.S. as a global health leader are all critical missions undertaken by USAID, and I look forward to discussing your efforts in these areas and others during this hearing.

We must continue to ensure that USAID has the funding necessary to support the world’s most vulnerable individuals while reestablishing American leadership on the global stage. 

Thank you, and I yield back.