Rep. Howard L. Berman Holds a Hearing On the Fiscal Year 2010 International Affairs Budget

Political Transcript Wire › September 30, 2009

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Rep. Howard L. Berman Holds a Hearing On the Fiscal Year 2010 International Affairs Budget

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOLDS A HEARING ON THE F.Y. 2010 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS BUDGET

MAY 13, 2009

SPEAKERS: REP. HOWARD L. BERMAN, D-CALIF. CHAIRMAN REP. GARY L. ACKERMAN, D-N.Y. DEL. ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, D-A.S. REP. DONALD M. PAYNE, D-N.J. REP. BRAD SHERMAN, D-CALIF. REP. ROBERT WEXLER, D-FLA. REP. ELIOT L. ENGEL, D-N.Y. REP. BILL DELAHUNT, D-MASS. REP. GREGORY W. MEEKS, D-N.Y. REP. DIANE WATSON, D-CALIF. REP. RUSS CARNAHAN, D-MO. REP. ALBIO SIRES, D-N.J. REP. GERRY CONNOLLY, D-VA. REP. MICHAEL E. MCMAHON, D-N.Y. REP. JOHN TANNER, D-TENN. REP. GENE GREEN, D-TEXAS REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE, D-TEXAS REP. BARBARA LEE, D-CALIF. REP. SHELLEY BERKLEY, D-NEV. REP. JOSEPH CROWLEY, D-N.Y. REP. MIKE ROSS, D-ARK. REP. BRAD MILLER, D-N.C. REP. DAVID SCOTT, D-GA. REP. JIM COSTA, D-CALIF. REP. KEITH ELLISON, D-MINN. REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, D-ARIZ. REP. RON KLEIN, D-FLA.

REP. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, R-FLA. RANKING MEMBER REP. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, R-N.J. REP. DAN BURTON, R-IND. REP. ELTON GALLEGLY, R-CALIF. REP. DANA ROHRABACHER, R-CALIF. REP. DONALD MANZULLO, R-ILL. REP. ED ROYCE, R-CALIF. REP. RON PAUL, R-TEXAS REP. JEFF FLAKE, R-ARIZ. REP. MIKE PENCE, R-IND. REP. JOE WILSON, R-S.C. REP. JOHN BOOZMAN, R-ARK. REP. J. GRESHAM BARRETT, R-S.C. REP. CONNIE MACK, R-FLA. REP. JEFF FORTENBERRY, R-NEB. REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL, R-TEXAS REP. TED POE, R-TEXAS REP. BOB INGLIS, R-S.C. REP. GUS BILIRAKIS, R-FLA.

WITNESSES: JACOB LEW, DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE FOR MANAGEMENT AND RESOURCES

[*] BERMAN: I apologize for being a little late. I'm in the middle of a markup in Judiciary on an issue of high interest to me.

It is a pleasure to welcome Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew to the committee this afternoon.

For members that have come here in the last eight years and haven't worked with Mr. Lew, I think I can safely say that you won't find a fairer, more accessible and more straight-talking public servant.

Jack, your former position as OMB director makes you uniquely qualified to serve as Secretary Clinton's deputy for management and resources.

Your familiarity with this institution, as Speaker Tip O'Neill's counsel in the 1980s, assures our members that you will be uniquely attuned to their concerns.

The purpose of today's hearing is to give you an opportunity to present and to justify the Obama administration's fiscal year 2010 International Affairs budget.

At the outset, I want to commend you and your talented team for putting together this impressive and ambitious budget document. There are many important proposals in the budget request, but in the interest of time, let me highlight just three.

First, the budget proposes significant funding increases to rebuild capacity at the State Department and USAID.

Our national security stands on three pillars: defense, diplomacy and development. Yet, for far too long, we have failed to provide our civilian foreign affairs agencies with the resources they desperately need to fill critical overseas posts, provide adequate training, and ensure effective oversight of programs they manage.

This has greatly limited the effectiveness of American diplomacy and development. It has also resulted in the migration of traditional State Department and USAID responsibilities to other government agencies that lack the requisite expertise, including the Department of Defense.

This budget is an important first step in addressing these debilitating capacity problems. And we await the appointment of a USAID administrator to assist you in those efforts -- which we hope will take place in the very near future.

Anything you can tell us about that?

Well, anyway.

Secondly, the budget request proposes to pay our current dues in full and much of the debt we have accumulated in recent years in our accounts with international organizations, including the United Nations.

The U.N. system is far from perfect, and it often doesn't live up to our expectations. But it should be clear to everyone that we are simply not capable of solving every foreign policy challenge on our own. And in so doing, we should set the example of a member in good standing by paying what we owe.

On a wide range of issues -- from I...

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