01 March 2011
Clinton Urges Congress to Approve Obama’s Budget
Washington — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged Congress to approve President Obama’s budget request for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, and warned that cutting funding could harm key investments in countries across the Middle East.
“The entire region is changing, and a strong and strategic American response is essential,” Clinton said in testimony March 1 to the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
Although Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen emphasized in her opening remarks the need for the United States to “maintain firm ties” with its allies, she has supported budget cuts for federal agencies including the State Department. Clinton said the proposed cuts, included in a House bill passed in February, “would be devastating to our national security.”
The secretary defended the $47 billion core request, calling it a “lean budget for lean times.” She added that, if approved, the budget “will allow us to keep pressing ahead” on “missions vital to our national security.”
She said U.S. involvement in the Middle East is critical to both regional and global security.
“The entire region is changing, and a strong and strategic American response is essential. In the years ahead, Libya could become a peaceful democracy, or it could face protracted civil war, or it could descend into chaos. The stakes are high,” Clinton said.
In Libya, she said, USAID has provided food and medical supplies and is set to dispatch two expert humanitarian aid teams to help people moving into Tunisia and Egypt to flee the violence.
She called the U.S. response to widespread unrest in the Middle East an “unfolding example of how we use the combined assets of smart power — diplomacy, development and defense — to protect Americans’ security and advance our values.”
“This integrated approach is not just how we respond to the crisis of the moment. It is the most effective — and cost-effective — way to sustain and advance our security across the world. And it is only possible with a budget that supports all the tools in our national security arsenal,” Clinton said.
The secretary said during the past two years, investments in development and diplomacy have led to tangible returns for U.S. national security.
“In Iraq, almost 100,000 troops have come home and civilians are poised to keep the peace. In Afghanistan, integrated military and civilian surges have helped set the stage for our diplomatic surge to support Afghan-led reconciliation that can end the conflict and put al-Qaida on the run,” Clinton said, adding that the United States has also “imposed the toughest-ever sanctions to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”
She underscored the State Department’s ongoing work “to open political systems, economies and societies at a remarkable moment in the history of the Middle East and to support peaceful, orderly, irreversible democratic transitions in Egypt and Tunisia.”
Clinton said the State Department budget has strengthened U.S. alliances and partnerships, and that across the board, leaders are working to ensure “all who share the benefits of our spending also share the burdens of addressing common challenges.”
She said among the top budget priorities are key investments in international human security, global health programs and worldwide food security, and she highlighted the importance of funding to maintain diplomatic ties with 190 nations around the world.
(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)
