May 22, 2024

Ranking Member Lee Gives Opening Remarks Condemning Proposed GOP Cuts to Diplomacy, Development at FY25 SFOPS Hearing with Sec. Blinken

Washington, D.C. –  Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS), delivered the following remarks at today’s hearing on the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for the Department of State with Secretary Antony Blinken.

The full hearing can be viewed here.

—As Prepared for Delivery—

“Thank you, Mister Chairman. Secretary Blinken, I appreciate you taking the time to be with us this morning. I don’t believe it has ever been more urgent for the case to be made on the central role of diplomacy and development. 

“The challenges of the twenty-first century can’t be solved by one nation. Our President recognizes that these challenges require teamwork. They require alliances. And they require true partnership. 

“This is why I am so distressed about the trends we are seeing in the State Foreign Operations appropriations bill. The fiscal year 2024 House bill proposed a whopping 15% cut from the prior year. We battled back to an almost 6% cut as the final level, but still faced the greatest percentage cut across the appropriations bills. As of this hearing today, the House majority has told us they plan to cut the bill a further 11% for fiscal year 2025. Mr. Secretary, we have a problem. 

“The world will continue to get smaller – migration, climate, disease, even the flow of goods and crime such as drugs are problems that are begging for a global approach. Countries overseas continue to see the United States as a beacon of hope and promise, but I do not know how long that will last. How long will we be able to rest on the achievements of prior generations – the Marshall Plan, the eradication of smallpox, the end of the Cold War, PEPFAR – before we realize that we no longer are offering the same leadership?

“My colleagues are often quick to focus on the influence of the People’s Republic of China. I will point out that China now has more Embassies and more diplomats around the world than the United States does. Simply, we are being outmanned just when countries are clamoring for greater partnership with the United States. 

“It is not just important that the United States is showing up for partners around the world, but equally important is the face that America is showing. Diversity is the United States’ superpower. However, far too often the representation of the United States is not reflective of the full spectrum of backgrounds and experiences that America has to offer. 

“This is true for the workforce, but it is also true in who the Department works with. The President has set a goal to increase the share of contract dollars going to small and disadvantaged businesses to 15% across the federal government by FY25. 

“I commend State for already exceeding that goal. But that obscures that Black, Asian and Hispanic owned small businesses are still getting less than 2% each of State Department contracts. Hispanic owned firms get only 1.9%; Black firms, 1.45%; and Asian-American firms only 1.3%. 

“These numbers are shockingly low. You simply must do a better job of making sure that historically disadvantaged entrepreneurs get a larger share of State Department contract dollars. I intend to follow up with a letter to the department asking you to outline your strategy to increase the share of contract dollars that go to all historically disadvantaged groups. 

“Twenty years after we first started talking about the three-legged stool of national security—diplomacy, development, and defense—we are no closer to bringing balance to this stool. In fact, we have never been so lop-sided. 

“The resources we spend on defense dwarf the resources we spend on our presence overseas, the pursuit of American interests, and our most basic partnerships to build a better, safer world.

“Mr. Secretary, I am sure you see this every day. We over-rely on our military tools because that is what is available, meanwhile starving our civilian diplomatic tools. Our military understands this and is often the first to advocate for the diplomatic and development tools they see as necessary. However, successive Congresses have refused to make the investments needed to take the pressure off military action. And now, once again, our diplomatic and development activities are facing the biggest cuts of any part of the U.S. government. 

“We cannot keep going like this. If we are serious about confronting these challenges, then it must be reflected in our budget. Without sufficient development funding, we face a future stuck in cycles of crisis that require more and more humanitarian interventions—and even military interventions—and result in a less stable world. 

“Secretary Blinken, you are crisscrossing the globe – listening to partners, hunting for joint solutions, and, I’m sure, getting an earful about U.S. policy. I am eager to hear from you today what tools you need to advance the mission of the United States and provide the leadership and partnership the rest of the world expects from us. 

“What do you see as the cost of us stepping back and letting others fill the void? What investments are we leaving on the table, the opportunities left untaken? What do you hear from our brave diplomats around the world about what they need to do their job? 

“I look forward to partnering with you, Mr. Secretary, with you, Chairman Diaz Balart, and with all the Members of this subcommittee to make the case for why this bill needs to invest more this year, and in future years, to serve America, the American people, and the world. Thank you, and I yield back.”