CEO Statement on Proposed FY 2009 Funding for MCC

MCC’s Chief Executive Office (Acting) Rodney Bent today issued the following statement regarding House passage of the Omnibus Appropriations Act for FY 2009 that contained $875 million in funding for the agency.

The FY 2009 Omnibus Appropriation Act would substantially reduce MCC funding from last year’s level of $1.5 billion to $875 million. This level of funding will be a disappointment to those countries that are in various stages of negotiation with MCC about potential projects to reduce poverty. These countries have more than 200 million citizens that live on less than $2 a day.

Even at this lower level of funding, MCC will continue to fulfill its mission of reducing poverty through economic growth in the world’s poorest countries, as well as to fulfill President Obama’s inaugural pledge: “To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.”

MCC’s commitment to performance-based foreign assistance is at the forefront of the current debate on America’s “smart power” tools. MCC looks forward to working with both our partners in Congress and our country partners all over the world to combat poverty in a sustainable and meaningful way.