WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a House vote today, Third District Representative Walter B. Jones (R-NC) continued his strong stand against the federal government’s exorbitant foreign aid spending by voting against H. R. 3081, the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2010. This legislation provides $48.8 billion for diplomatic, foreign aid, and global humanitarian activities. This amount is a 33 percent increase over last year’s level, which far exceeds the increases passed or planned for any other House appropriations bill. The bill passed by a vote 318 to 106.

“With the public debt at over $11.5 trillion, and the federal government already running more than $2 trillion in deficits, this nation is on the fast track to bankruptcy,” said Congressman Jones. “At a time like this, the last thing our country needs is to spend borrowed money on aid to foreign countries. It’s tragically ironic that our nation is borrowing money from countries like China in order to pay for this generous foreign aid. In the past five years, foreign ownership of our public debt has roughly doubled from $1.6 to more than $3 trillion. Right now, every household in America would have to write a check for $39,451 to pay our foreign creditors.”

“It’s incredibly irresponsible for Congress to pass a bloated foreign aid bill while our country is in a recession and desperately needs money for national priorities like securing our borders, safeguarding benefits for our veterans, and investing in our domestic infrastructure,” Jones continued. “Rather than sending $5.8 billion overseas to combat HIV/AIDS and $648 million for ‘family planning and reproductive health’ – as this bill does – Congress needs to wake up and realize its moral obligation to get our own fiscal house in order and avoid passing on a mountain of debt to future generations.”

For additional information, or to schedule an interview with Congressman Jones, please contact Kathleen Joyce at (202) 225-3415.