Nita Lowey

Mrs. LOWEY

Mrs. LOWEY. Would the gentlelady yield?

Mrs. LOWEY. Absolutely. I thank you very, very much.

Mrs. LOWEY. I thank the gentleman and I appreciate your constancy and your passion on this issue. I know you are aware that our committee put in over $100 million above the President's request to assist the financing of the African Union mission. And I do hope that at some point in the near future we can talk with equal passion about what is being done to address this disaster. I yield to the gentleman.

Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Olver) for the purpose of a colloquy.

Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the gentleman. I agree that the counterterrorism financing program is a vital tool in assisting foreign countries' efforts to identify, freeze and prevent the use of financial institutions, businesses and charitable organizations as conduits for money to terrorist organizations, including giving countries an investigative ability to follow the money trail and arrest terrorists preemptively. I support the work of the Department of State, the Department of Justice and the Department of Treasury in assisting countries who are at risk to terrorist financing. However, overall budgetary constraints did not provide sufficient opportunity for us to increase the requested funding level at this time. However, I want to assure you, this is a priority of this committee. This is a priority of this Congress. In fact, I have been a member for years of this same task force, the same committee of which you are cochair, I believe, and I look forward to working with you as the bill moves through this Congress to conference to see if we can bolster those funds. I really do thank you for bringing this issue to our attention.

Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch).

Mrs. LOWEY. I thank the gentleman. And it was a pleasure working with you, and I look forward to continuing to work together on this important issue. Announcement By the Chairman

Mrs. LOWEY. I would be happy to yield to the gentleman from Virginia.

Mrs. LOWEY. Reclaiming my time, to my friend the former Speaker, I want to thank you for the collaborative way you have worked with me and our ranking member, Mr. Wolf. I would like to commend you for your many years of dedicated and unyielding work on Colombia. I, as you, have long been deeply concerned about the situation facing us in the war on drugs. We agree that increasing drug interdiction efforts is necessary. We also agree that Colombia is a vital partner and ally of the United States. I want to say again that I fully recognize the strategic importance of Colombia. In no way does this bill reduce our steadfast support to our friends in Colombia. I've tried, in this bill, working with my good friend, Mr. Wolf, to strike a more balanced strategy that shifts the aid from the military and strengthens civilian governments, humanitarian assistance and rural development. I continue to believe that we need to attack the underlying and pervasive poverty that is at the root of the problems in Colombia, as well as the region. I've attempted to increase the social component in our assistance to Colombia and begin Colombianization of the the military package and place a greater emphasis on interdiction rather than eradication. This bill also increases funding for judges, prosecutors and rule of law and creates jobs in the legal economy. Again, I say to my good friend from Illinois, I greatly appreciate your advice, the give-and-take you have provided as we drafted this bill. I want to assure the gentleman that the committee will continue to pay close attention to his concerns as we work through the next stages of the process.

Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word for the purpose of a colloquy with the distinguished former Speaker, Mr. Hastert.

Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I just want to clarify for my distinguished ranking member and my colleague from Pennsylvania that what this does is give the President of the United States of America the authority, the flexibility. I believe in ABC, abstinence, be faithful, use condoms. But I want to make it very clear to my colleagues, when the administration uses the waiver, then the other countries of the world still have to meet that one-third percent when it comes to prevention, abstinence. All we're saying, again, is abstinence, be faithful, use condoms. We have to prevent unnecessary abortions. We have to save lives. We have to make sure that we do whatever we can to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Mrs. LOWEY. I thank the gentlelady. I believe I have 2 minutes, Mr. Chairman?

Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I'm very pleased to yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).

Mrs. LOWEY. I move to strike the last word. And I'm pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).

Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the bill, through page 95, line 9, be considered as read, printed in the Record, and open to amendment at any point.

Mrs. LOWEY. May I inquire of the Chair how much time is remaining?

Mrs. LOWEY. No, excuse me. There's confusion in the amendment. My amendment would give the President the authority, the President of these United States, with Ambassador Dybul, to make these decisions. We're not removing anything.

Mrs. LOWEY. I would just like to clarify and ask either the ranking member or the gentleman a question. Number one, I'm puzzled that you don't trust the President of the United States and give him the discretion. We're not changing the law. We're just giving the President the discretion. Now, that's Number one. Number two, I believe both gentlemen said that waivers can be issued. Of course waivers can be issued. I believe the gentlemen know that when a waiver is granted the other countries may make up the difference. So, for example, if waivers are granted to 50 percent of the countries, I think of my trip to Arusha, Tanzania. And there was a hut right in the middle of this community, a Masai village, and there were 15 huts around it. And the chief of that village went from hut to hut to hut to hut, spreading HIV/AIDS. Now, I'd be interested to know how this would work if the waivers are granted, and many of the other communities around the world have to make up for that waiver, how would this be done. And the gentleman, Number three, has also talked about a comprehensive program. Well, we may agree. I believe in abstinence. I think it's great. And if it can be implemented in Africa and Asia and all the other countries that are spreading HIV/AIDS like wildfire, I'm perfectly in support. But we're talking about comprehensive programs, including abstinence. And I'm glad the gentleman agrees that this should be comprehensive programs including abstinence. Would you like to respond?

Mrs. LOWEY. I am very pleased to yield 2 minutes to my distinguished friend from Connecticut (Mr. Shays).

Mrs. LOWEY. Will the gentleman yield?

Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition to this amendment.

Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, the Bush administration requested an increase in economic support funds for Cuba from $9 million to $45.7 million. Between 1996 and 2005, USAID and the Department of State signed contracts worth $74 million for Cuba programs, according to the GAO's study. The administration is asking for a 1-year, fiscal year 2008 request that is more than two-thirds the size of what was committed over the 10 years, from 1996 and 2005. This request is 500 percent of what USAID received in the last fiscal year. Given how ill-conceived and ill-managed the program is, there is no justification for an aid increase. My friend from Florida has raised the GAO report and said that it has not recommended that funding be cut. But the objective of the report was not to recommend that funding should be increased or decreased. It was to examine the roles and objectives of the agencies implementing United States democracy assistance targeted at Cuba, and the characteristics and selection of the grantees receiving Department of State and USAID awards, the types, amounts, beneficiaries and methods used to deliver assistance for selected grantees in 2005, USAID's monitoring and oversight of these grantees, and the availability of data to evaluate whether U.S. assistance has achieved its goals. Although I believe that this program does little to help dissidents, and very little to expand political space in Cuba, we have continued funding at the same level as provided by our former colleague, Jim Kolbe, when he chaired the subcommittee. The bill has $9 million, and requires USAID and the Department of State to present a plan for improved coordination and for oversight of the Cuba program. GAO concluded in a November 2006 report that ``poor monitoring and oversight of the Cuba program did not provide adequate assurance that funds were properly used.'' Administrative costs on the part of grantees were high, oversight of the goods chosen inadequate; specifically, according to the GAO study, there were instances in which cashmere sweaters, Godiva chocolates, Nintendo Gameboys, Sony Playstations were among the items purchased in the United States to be shipped to dissidents in Cuba. The Cuba program is poorly managed and can be argued to be counterproductive. It is not a productive use of limited U.S. resources, and the result of this program is often to identify Cuban dissidents as U.S. funded opponents of the regime. I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Delahunt).

Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I am very pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished member of the Rules Committee, Mr. McGovern.

Mrs. LOWEY. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Flake).