Diaz-Balart Remarks at FY25 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Bill Subcommittee Markup

The Subcommittee will come to order.

I’d like to welcome everyone to today’s subcommittee markup of the fiscal year 2025 appropriations bill for the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. I want to thank Chairman Cole for getting the Appropriations Committee off to a great start.  This is an aggressive schedule, but it is critical we get our work done, so thank you for your leadership.

The State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill before us today totals $51.7 billion in new budget authority, which is a cut of $7.6 billion from the fiscal year 2024 enacted level, or 11 percent, and $12.3 billion below the President’s fiscal year 2025 request.

This allocation, and the policies within the bill, will allow us to build on important changes in the FY24 bill signed into law only a few months ago. There are some who say cuts of this magnitude jeopardize United States leadership in the world and make us less safe.  I completely disagree.  In fact, it is just the opposite.

The bill before us today prioritizes funding that directly supports U.S. national security.  It eliminates controversial or ineffective programs that American taxpayers do not support and that, quite frankly, our allies and partners don’t support either. 

As the saying goes, the world is on fire right now.  We should not be throwing fuel on the flames by funding organizations requested in the President’s budget that—

• Employ terrorists - UNRWA;
• Provide a platform on the global stage to the worst human rights abusers – the Human Rights Council;
• Take bogus legal action against Israel as it fights for its very existence – the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice;
• Cower to communist China and deny Taiwan observer status – the World Health Organization;
• Pay other countries climate reparations – the Loss and Damages Fund; or
• Promote and mobilize migrant caravans to the U.S. southern border – any number of international organizations, thanks to this Administration’s open borders policy.  

This bill stops funding to all of those organizations, and more, not just because it’s a waste of money, but because those organizations actually work against our interests and those of our allies. Speaking of allies, the bill provides unwavering support for Israel, and fully funds the United States-Israel Memorandum of Understanding by providing $3.3 billion in security assistance. 

It expands upon new conditions included in the FY24 bill aimed at addressing rampant antisemitism and anti-Israel bias throughout the United Nations and other international organizations. Confronting the national security threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party remains a top priority. The bill provides $2.1 billion to counter the malign influence of the People’s Republic of China, which is above the President’s request, and remember, that is within a significant reduction to the topline. Within this funding, $500 million Foreign Military Financing is included for Taiwan’s security needs.  The bill also prioritizes funding for other critical partners in the Indo-Pacific including the Philippines and Pacific Islands countries.

Turning to our hemisphere, the bill makes important investments to combat the trafficking of fentanyl and the transnational criminal organizations behind this scourge confronting every community in America. The bill also holds accountable governments failing to cooperate on counternarcotics and other issues of critical importance to the United States.   For example, no funds—not one dollar—can go to Mexico until a certification is made that an agreement is in place to restore water deliveries owed to the United States from Mexico. We also have said that we will treat friends as friends, and the distinguished President of Mexico has not been acting like a friend lately by actively opposing U.S. policy to promote freedom and democracy in Cuba and Venezuela, and failing to fully support counternarcotics trafficking or countering migration through Mexico to our southern border.

The bill increases support for freedom and democracy for the people of Cuba by providing $35 million for democracy funding and $30 million for the Office of Cuba Broadcasting. It also reigns in attempts by the Biden administration to promote engagement with so-called entrepreneurs.  Let me be clear, the only independent entrepreneurs in Cuba’s closed communist economy are in prison.  Anyone else claiming to be an entrepreneur is licensed by the regime, meaning the regime is the big winner from these dangerous and insulting policies.  Because the administration attempted to get around the prohibition that was included in the fiscal year 2024 law, this bill broadens the prohibition on funding for so-called “entrepreneurs” for fiscal year 2025.

Finally, this bill includes all longstanding pro-life protections, which includes a prohibition on all funds from being used to pay for abortions and builds on those requirements by applying the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy to all global health funding. The bill also prohibits funding for the U.N. Population Fund. It promotes American values by increasing funding for religious freedom programs abroad and supports faith-based organizations that are helping to deliver United States foreign assistance.

This bill would not be what it is without the valuable input from each Member on this panel.  Your thoughtful recommendations have shaped the measure before you and I am grateful for your contributions.

I also want to thank the staff on both sides of the aisle. We appreciate all of your help.