Granger Remarks at State and Foreign Operations FY22 Full Committee Markup

Jul 1, 2021
Statements

Madam Chair, thank you for yielding.

First, I want to thank Chairwoman Lee and Ranking Member Rogers for their work on this State and Foreign Operations bill.

I want to also thank the chair for including the full amount for Israel - $3.3 billion.  Full funding makes it clear that the members of this committee are steadfast supporters of our great ally and partner.

Funding was also maintained at the current level for other key partners in the Middle East, such as Egypt and Jordan.

I hope the chair will work with us to ensure that the conditions on aid to Egypt do not prevent funding from reaching one of our most reliable partners in the region.

Unfortunately, there are many troubling issues with this bill.

This bill is based on a topline funding level that only the Majority Party has agreed to. 

It includes a 12 percent funding increase, which is simply too high.  Because of irresponsible increases like these, our military investments will not keep up with inflation.

One example of an enormous increase in this bill is the amount for the Green Climate Fund. Funding is provided at $1.6 billion, much higher than even the president requested.  This cannot be justified.

We must work together to come up with spending levels we can all support.

We also must agree to drop controversial policy provisions. Unfortunately, this bill contains some of the most troubling items yet.

In fact, this bill includes alarming changes to long-standing language to protect the unborn. Language that prohibits foreign aid from being used to pay for abortions was dropped entirely.

The bill also includes other controversial changes such as a permanent repeal of the Mexico City policy. 

Moving forward in this way could jeopardize the bipartisan support that global health programs have had for many years.

These kinds of partisan funding proposals and highly controversial policy riders must be addressed as the appropriations process moves forward.

Having chaired this subcommittee, I know how important these programs are. We are going to have to make significant changes to get support from Members on both sides of the aisle and get a bill signed into law.

We have a lot of work to do and not much time to complete it.

In closing, I would like to thank all of the subcommittee members and the staff for their hard work on this bill, specifically our Minority clerk, Susan Adams, and the acting Majority clerk, Craig Higgins.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.