Congressman Castro is the ranking member (the highest-ranking Democrat) on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and the former chair of the Committee’s Subcommittee on International Development, International Organizations, and Global Corporate Social Impact.
A video of Congressman Castro’s comments during the hearing can be found HERE.
A full transcript of Congressman Castro’s comments and exchange with former USAID administrator and hearing witness Andrew Natsios is available below.
REP. CASTRO: As y’all hear a lot of angry, fire-breathing rhetoric coming from the other side, I want you to consider, as Americans, where we started the year.
Our country, for all of the complaints and all the anger, is still the most powerful, prosperous nation on earth, with the lowest unemployment rate in decades and a strong economy where foreign aid represents about one percent of our total budget.
And yet, Elon Musk and this administration’s attempt to illegally shut down USAID and freeze ongoing foreign assistance programs has been met with support and applause from some of the world’s worst authoritarians.
Venezuelan Interior Minister and Nicolas Maduro’s key lieutenant celebrated the Trump administration’s actions in ending support to the Venezuelan opposition.
In Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega’s sons said that “Trump turned off the faucet for terrorists” when he shuttered USAID funding.
Belarussian leader Lukashenka applauded the administration’s decision to cut funding for “the fugitive opposition.” The opposition that for years Republicans have said they support, they have now abandoned — President Trump has abandoned.
He cut off TPS for Venezuelans — betrayed the people of South Florida — and sent them back to a man he says is dangerous yet sent Rick Grinnell to handshake with.
After this administration halted funding to Cambodia to remove unexploded bombs that the United States dropped on their country years ago. China offered to move in and replace U.S. funding.
China has offered to go do the job that we are no longer doing.
What do you think that does for American diplomacy? What do you think it does for our reputation around the world?
What do those people think of us — that we won’t help them take away the bombs that we dropped years ago?
Similar celebrations have come from leaders in Russia, Iran, Hungary, Cuba and other countries as we’ve cut support to democracy activists in these countries.
Republicans have been eager to accuse Democrats of “abandoning our allies”. The reality is that the Trump administration abandoned our allies everywhere, and it didn’t even take a week.
Donald Trump has abandoned those fighting for democracy in Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Iran, North Korea and China.
He’s abandoned Taiwan, freezing security assistance to the island nation facing threats of invasion from China.
Donald Trump abandoned our partners in Indonesia, Malaysia, Iraq and other countries fighting terrorism with the support of USAID.
He’s abandoned the country of Jordan by freezing security assistance.
Abandoned millions of victims of HIV/AIDS supported by PEPFAR and abandoned those suffering from malaria and TB.
Donald Trump has also abandoned American citizens.
American farmers that feed the world, whose produce is rotting in ports and warehouses, and our USAID professionals and families that he stranded abroad.
Make no mistake, these decisions will come back to haunt the United States of America.
Not only in terms of diplomacy, not only in terms of how people think of us in faraway lands. Those diseases that we are no longer helping to cure, people will get sick not only in those countries, but in the United States.
And I hope that just as folks are taking credit for what’s going on now, that when those diseases hit the United States, that they will take full credit for that.
I have a question of the panel. I want to ask Mr. Natsios whether you think these actions — you were a USAID administrator — you saw the good and the bad and you had reform.
I had a reform bill myself, which some Republicans joined me on last Congress.
Do you think the totality of this is making a stronger in the world or weaker?
MR. NATSIOS: I think that our aid program makes us stronger. And I think USAID, prior to all of the controversy, was achieving that, except for the woke program that has been introduced, which has alienated very conservative Christian societies in Africa.
REP. CASTRO: And Mr. Natsios, I want to interrupt you for just a second, because there was an example of funding to help LGBTQ communities in Uganda.
In Uganda, the death penalty was proposed for gay people. Is that considered woke?
Is that what they’re using as an example of woke — is helping gay people because they’re under the threat of death by their own government?
MR. NATSIOS: Any violence against any person is not acceptable. So, I understand what you’re saying.
REP. CASTRO: So, you would be for that funding?
MR. NATSIOS: What I’m saying is that we’re dealing with very conservative societies, Muslim and Christian, and we need to respect — not what you’re talking about, because that happened, I think, in reaction to us, actually, because it wasn’t there before.
But let me just say that we give — [US]AID gives — a billion dollars a year to Christian NGOs, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, my church, the Orthodox Church and mainline Protestant.
A billion dollars a year.
All those programs are now frozen.
They’ve laid off the staff. And I have to say, it’s damaging the church’s mission in the world.
I think this whole shutdown is and I might say, Mr. Chairman, just not to be partisan, just to tell you what’s happening.
I’ve met with the Christian groups, even though they have waivers, the Phoenix system is not operating.
Unless the Phoenix system can operate, they can’t issue checks.
No one is getting funded even though the waiver has been granted.
I’m not saying that in a partisan way. Please do something about it. It’s having an effect in the in the field in a profound way. There are a lot of AIDS orphans being taken care of by the church.
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“the former chair of the Committee’s Subcommittee on International Development, International Organizations, and Global Corporate Social Impact”
No idea what it means but it sounds like he’s was big gun! What was his name again? never heard of him. How much money did he steal?