[Senate Hearing 117-]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS FOR
FISCAL YEAR 2022
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 2021
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met at 2:30 p.m., in room SD-192, Dirksen
Senate Office Building, Hon. Christopher A. Coons (Chairman)
presiding.
Present: Senators Coons, Graham, Leahy, Durbin, Moran,
Murphy, Van Hollen, and Hagerty.
UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
opening statement of senator christopher a. coons
Senator Coons. I call this hearing to order.
Good afternoon. This is the first hearing of the
subcommittee this year and my first as Chairman. I'm very
pleased to have as my Republican counterpart Senator Lindsey
Graham of South Carolina, who's been a strong supporter of this
subcommittee and of the State and Foreign Operations budget.
I also want to express my deep appreciation to Senator
Leahy, Chairman of the Full Appropriations Committee, for his
30 years of service as either Chair or Ranking Member of this
subcommittee. His wide-ranging impact on the Department of
State and on foreign operations will be felt for many years to
come and I look forward to continuing to advance his
priorities.
I also want to express my gratitude to Tim Rieser and to
Paul Grove, whose work on this subcommittee collectively
exceeds 50 years. I look forward to working closely with both
of them, learning from their wisdom, and the rest of our
capable subcommittee staff.
Since I first joined this subcommittee in 2013, 8 years
ago, I, along with other Members of this panel, have seen many
USAID staff at headquarters and out in the field. We've seen
firsthand their great work. We've seen under extraordinarily
difficult conditions the difference that they're making in the
world.
A big part of our job is to help them continue to be
effective and supported as much as we can in the more 100
countries around the world where USAID has programs.
So welcome, Administrator Power. You've already had an
extraordinary career as a journalist, a writer, the winner of
the Pulitzer Prize, as our Ambassador to the United Nations,
and now apparently in search of new and even more vexing
challenges, you've stepped forward to serve as head of USAID.
I firmly believe you are the right person for this job at
the right time, and I know many others here share that view.
While your previous role was as a diplomat and an advocate
for America's values and priorities at the United Nations, we
know that diplomacy and development are inter-dependent and
deeply complementary.
USAID will greatly benefit from your policy expertise, your
diplomatic experience, your vision, your tenacity, your
ferocity, and your ability to work with others to solve complex
problems that are literally a matter of life and death for
millions of people.
We're a bit constrained today by the fact that the
administration's fiscal year 2022 budget request will not be
officially released until later this week, on Friday. So, we
have relatively few details about the specific amounts the
administration is requesting for USAID operations and programs,
but with only 4 months remaining before the beginning of the
fiscal year, it's important we begin to discuss the challenges
ahead and the top lines.
We do know that the top line for State and Foreign
Operations is $6.8 billion above the fiscal year 2021 enacted
level and that represents a significant and, frankly, welcome
realignment from similar hearings of the last few years where
there were proposals for arbitrary and deep cuts that would
have taken a cleaver to this budget. I am grateful for those
who have worked together to prevent those deep cuts and the
lasting impact hey would have had.
Today, because of President Biden's clear understanding of
the importance of USAID to our national security and our global
leadership, we can discuss how we can work together to reaffirm
the agency's role as the world's premier development agency.
Over its 60-year history, USAID's had an extraordinary
global impact, saving countless lives and helping lift millions
out of poverty. We could spend our entire time today reviewing
USAID's accomplishments.
But we have to work together to make improvements on the
way the agency functions. For reasons partly due to USAID's own
procedures, partly the results of actions by Congress, partly
due to government-wide regulations, USAID's become very
bureaucratic and, at times, in my view, too hard to access for
potential local partners.
When applying for funding, potential partners find that it
can take a year from submitting a proposal to getting a grant
or contract. We need to do more to empower local governments
and organizations so they can access our support.
Our world is increasingly complex, interconnected, and
dangerous. The challenges we face globally are daunting, and
USAID's being asked to respond to every conceivable problem.
The reality is even if Congress gave you every dollar
you're requesting, it will not be enough to meet this moment.
So, until every country has the vaccines they need, which we
will address further, Americans and people everywhere are
vulnerable to COVID-19 and its variants.
Until billions of people have access to sufficient food and
water and basic medical care, until climate change has been
tackled and addressed, until the global struggle between the
ideals of democracy and malign forces of authoritarianism are
resolved, we will not make the progress we all hope for.
Administrator Power, I will conclude by saying we need your
ideas, as someone who has butted heads with the Chinese at the
United Nations, for how we can apply USAID's programs to make
the best use of our comparative advantages in countries where
we are sharply joined and their presence is growing.
And last, I am concerned, as are many, about the way our
climate is warming and the consequences if we don't do more.
There's $2.5 billion in the budget request for climate change
programs, a portion of which will be administered by USAID,
which I view as a good start.
Let me now turn to Senator Graham for his opening remarks.
Then we will hear from Administrator Power, and then Members
will get 7-minute rounds for questions.
Thank you.
opening statement of senator lindsey graham
Senator Graham. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The subcommittee is in good hands with you. We've worked
together well. Senator Leahy was a joy to work with when he was
the Chairman, Ranking Member. We changed roles several times,
but Paul and Tim have always found a way to get to yes, and one
of the most enjoyable parts of being in the Senate for me is
this subcommittee.
We have great Members on both sides that see the world
pretty much the same: that America needs to lead from the
front, and developmental aid is a tool in the toolbox to make
the world a safer place, and I think a lot of military
personnel would agree with that.
The U.S. International Developmental Finance Corporation
(DFC) has been a major success getting more bang for the
taxpayer buck and getting better outcomes for people we're
trying to help, including within the fragile state context.
I've really enjoyed working with you, Mr. Chairman, and I
know Paul and Tim will be there for the subcommittee.
As to this hearing about USAID, we don't say enough about
our people who work at the State Department and USAID. They
work in very dangerous locations, taking risks for our country
every day to change people's lives for the better, and every
time somebody from USAID interacts with a person in a far-away
place, it makes America safer because, generally speaking, it's
good branding for our country.
So, I hope we can find a way to plus up the fiscal year
2022 budget request. With more money comes accountability and
transparency and I look forward to working with you to make
this subcommittee even stronger and better.
Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator Graham.
Administrator Power.
STATEMENT OF HON. SAMANTHA POWER, ADMINISTRATOR, UNITED
STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Ms. Power. Thank you, Chairman Coons, Ranking Member
Graham, and Members of the subcommittee. Special thanks also to
Tim Rieser and Paul Grove, who are legends for the work that
they do along with their staffs to pull this budget together
every year.
Let me start there and just express deep, deep gratitude as
a citizen who's been on the sidelines the last 4 years for the
continued bipartisan support for the work we do at USAID. It's
reflected in both of your opening statements. It's reflected in
the budgets that were secured over these last years, and I just
could not be more grateful.
It's also critically important, as you've indicated, for
the world. I think both of you and this subcommittee have long
recognized that diplomacy, defense, and development are vital
components of our foreign policy.
President Biden does, as well, which is reflected in the
discretionary budget request and in his decision to elevate
USAID, the USAID Administrator to become a standing member of
the National Security Council.
Our investments in development and humanitarian assistance
have grown even more necessary in light of today's challenges.
A persistent pandemic has left 3.5 million people dead at least
and swelled the ranks of the extreme poor for the first time
since the late 1990s. It has also exposed the pervasive
inequities that continue to fray societies across the globe.
Authoritarian regimes, like China and Russia, are acting
more aggressively each year, exploiting not only the COVID-19
emergency but vulnerabilities in our democracies.
A rapidly-changing climate is sending fiercer storms our
way and inflicting droughts, deep freezes, and wildfires upon
communities. Mass displacement is at its highest since World
War II.
Every day, in fact, and, Senator Coons, I'm assuming you
have this experience, as well, but when you read the news, it
seems as though a new horrific crisis has emerged, such as that
in Ethiopia's Tigray Region where Ethiopians are facing the
worst food insecurity the country has seen since the 1983-84
famine which killed over one million people.
And, of course, against this backdrop, China is
increasingly using its financial power as leverage to advance
its interests.
These are obviously not positive developments, but as an
American, I am very glad that USAID, the world's premier
development agency, is uniquely positioned to confront the
world's toughest problems and to catalyze our partners to do
the same.
The steps we take to combat COVID-19, climate change,
conflict, and other ills abroad make us safer while
demonstrating compassion for and cooperation with people all
over the world.
When we fight COVID abroad, we reduce the risk of variants
that can lead to outbreaks at home. When incomes rise in the
developing world, these countries become more self-reliant and
less dependent on U.S. or other donor support. When the U.S.
delivers aid to those affected by natural disasters and
humanitarian crises, we demonstrate the best of American values
and build goodwill that inspires action and cooperation from
our friends.
Our investments help support civil society under stress,
address the derivers of violent extremism, and the root causes
of conflict and migration. Our investments meet the needs of
the most vulnerable and marginalized people, build resilience
to extreme weather, combat the spread of infectious disease,
and contribute to a much-needed global economic recovery.
We, of course, know, Senator Coons, as you indicated, that
the enormous level of global need far outstrips any one
country's ability to meet it. The Biden-Harris discretionary
request for fiscal year 2022 will allow the U.S. to lead on the
global stage and to leverage our activities to inspire our
allies and private sector partners to contribute more.
We also need to make ourselves a more capable and nimble
agency. We are trying to adapt our systems, processes, and
procedures to that end, including by ensuring we are well
positioned to expand our engagement with the private sector,
and we are building institutional capacity commensurate with
USAID's role as a national security agency.
We're intently focused on our workforce. During the
pandemic, many of our staff at home and abroad have been
working to provide life-saving aid around the world even while
their loved ones battle COVID-19.
Moving forward, we are seeking not a return to the previous
status quo but to better support our staff and harness their
capabilities. Underpinning all of our efforts will be a strong
focus on creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive
USAID.
With your support, USAID will move aggressively to tackle
the world's toughest problems in order to build a more stable
and prosperous future for us all.
I look forward to our continued partnership in ensuring
that American taxpayer dollars are spent effectively.
Thank you and I look forward to answering your questions.
[The statement follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Samantha Power
introduction
Thank you Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Graham, Chairman Leahy and
distinguished Members of the subcommittee. I am grateful for the
opportunity to discuss the fiscal year 2022 President's discretionary
request for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The global challenges we face today cast a large shadow over our
lives. A persistent pandemic has left nearly 3.5 million dead, swelled
the ranks of the extreme poor for the first time since the late 1990s,
and exposed the pervasive inequities that continue to fray societies
across the globe. Authoritarian regimes like China and Russia are
acting more aggressively each year, exploiting not only the COVID-19
emergency, but vulnerabilities in our democracies. A rapidly changing
climate is sending fiercer storms our way and inflicting droughts, deep
freezes, and wildfires upon communities. Mass displacement is at its
highest since World War II. And every day, it seems as though new
horrific crises emerge, such as that in Ethiopia's Tigray region, where
Ethiopians are facing both conflict and the worst food insecurity the
country has seen since the 1983-4 famine killed over 1 million people.
While these troubles trend and crises erupt in faraway places, we
cannot ignore that they can impact our lives here.
These are not positive developments, but as an American, I am very
glad that USAID is uniquely positioned to confront them all, and I am
immensely grateful to you for sustaining support for the Agency's vital
programming. Your continued bipartisan support for USAID saves and
improves millions of lives each day, while enhancing U.S. national and
economic security. Our investments help support civil society under
stress, shore up democratic institutions, address the drivers of
violent extremism and the root causes of conflict and migration, meet
the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized populations, build
resilience to extreme weather patterns caused by a rapidly changing
climate, and combat the spread of infectious diseases. When we fight
COVID-19 abroad, we stem the rise of variants that can possibly lead to
outbreaks at home. When incomes rise in the developing world, those
countries become more self-reliant and less dependent on U.S. or other
donor support. When the U.S. delivers aid to those affected by natural
disasters and humanitarian crises, we demonstrate the best of American
values and build the type of goodwill that inspires action and
cooperation from our allies.
The Biden-Harris administration's fiscal year 2022 budget request
for foreign assistance funding fully or partially implemented by USAID
is a reflection of the critical importance of development and
humanitarian assistance in advancing U.S. interests around the world.
However, the staggering level of global need, particularly amid the
worst pandemic in a century, far outstrips any one country's ability to
meet it. The discretionary request will allow the United States to lead
on the global stage, and to leverage our activities to inspire our
allies and private sector partners to contribute more to end the
pandemic and mitigate its effects, to meet urgent humanitarian needs,
and to support programs that will strengthen economies, educate and
feed those in need, and promote dignity and security around the world.
In order for us to get the most out of our programs, we know we
must make ourselves a more capable and nimble Agency at a time of
heightened need. The President's fiscal year 2022 discretionary request
strengthens the Agency's ability to respond to short-term shocks, while
allowing us to deepen investments that will help us secure a more
stable and prosperous future.
usaid as a national security agency
USAID's mission is to make the world safer, healthier, more
democratic, and more prosperous. The Agency was created as a tool in
America's arsenal to combat malign actors who sought to prey on
people's fears and desperation following the devastating impacts of
World War II. We are facing similar threats today, be they from
autocratic nations attempting to subvert liberal and democratic norms,
pandemics that upend the global economy, displacement of tens of
millions of people due to natural and manmade disasters, or existential
threats to our environment that jeopardize our future on Earth. USAID
has a central role to play in tackling each of these challenges.
Development has often taken a backseat to defense and diplomacy as
a means of advancing U.S. national security objectives. But President
Biden made clear that development, defense, and diplomacy are all vital
components of our foreign policy, as reflected by his decision to
elevate the USAID Administrator as a standing member of the National
Security Council. I take that responsibility seriously and vow to be a
fierce advocate for development and humanitarian goals at the National
Security Council.
As the world's premier global development agency, USAID is uniquely
placed to address the world's toughest problems, catalyze our partners,
and strengthen our global standing at a time when China increasingly
uses its financial power as leverage to advance its interests.
ending covid and strengthening global health leadership
In order to keep Americans safe, mitigate the risk of new variants,
and rebuild our economy, we must fight the pandemic everywhere it
exists. Our global health leadership is evident in USAID's response to
emergency requests for support in partner countries. In my first days
as Administrator, I have witnessed the resolve our teams have shown in
India and Nepal to deliver live-saving personal protective equipment,
oxygen, and medicines to communities throughout the region as they
battle a ferocious second wave of the virus. With your support, we will
continue to meet people around the world in their hour of dire need.
Millions of lives hang in the balance, and they count on USAID support
to help keep them alive.
The U.S. will also lead in ensuring that the world gets vaccinated.
President Biden's recent commitment to provide 80 million doses
overseas by the end of June 2021 represents five times more than any
other country has shared to date. As part of this work, USAID has re-
engaged with our multilateral partners including the World Health
Organization and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. As USAID teams help
strengthen cold chains and health systems, we are coordinating our
vaccine supply efforts with the COVAX initiative to provide doses to
countries, and working as a government to increase the overall vaccine
supply.
Even as we move quickly to support vaccine uptake and provide
additional crucial support to countries battling the pandemic, USAID
leads the charge on preventing child and maternal deaths, controlling
the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and combating infectious diseases like malaria
and tuberculosis, while building resilient health systems and advancing
global health security to prevent the next pandemic. While COVID-19 has
had a devastating impact on many global health outcomes, the
tuberculosis (TB) response has been particularly hard hit. As a result
of the pandemic, an additional 6.3 million people are projected to be
stricken with TB, and an additional 1.4 million people are expected to
die from the disease between 2020 and 2025. Nutrition gains have also
been set back, with an estimated 2.5 million additional children
expected to experience stunting by next year. In addition, over 6
million women experienced disruptions to family planning services. And
164 million treatments for neglected tropical diseases--three quarters
of the normal total--went unprovided in 2020. Postponed immunization
campaigns are putting around 228 million people, mostly children, at
risk for diseases such as measles, yellow fever and polio. Because
services have been redirected, in many countries around the world,
people are dying at higher rates of these preventable illnesses than
they are of COVID-19 itself.
The fiscal year 2022 discretionary request will expand the number
of countries USAID works in to strengthen global health security, and
work to retain the hard-fought gains made over the last 60 years. Last
year, as we supported our partners who were trying to stem the spread
of the COVID-19 virus, we nonetheless managed to achieve historic
successes in global health, including certifying the Africa region as
wild polio-free, providing 80 million people with mosquito nets, and
launching innovative programs designed to deliver quality, evidence-
based voluntary family planning and reproductive healthcare as well as
maternal, newborn, and child health services in USAID partner
countries. For every dollar invested by USAID, we have worked with
partners to secure $26 in donated medicines for neglected tropical
diseases, yielding a total of $26 billion for mass treatment campaigns
to date.
combating climate change
We must move far more aggressively to address the global,
existential threat posed by climate change, including assisting
communities to anticipate, respond and recover from increasingly
intense shocks. President Biden has called the climate crisis ``the
number one issue facing humanity.'' Climate change is a national
security threat--leading to conflict, hunger, displacement, droughts
and other severe weather disasters. It also risks undermining decades
of progress in global health and economic growth, exacerbating global
inequities, and increasing the need for humanitarian aid. These threats
do not recognize national borders. Just as we have witnessed storms
that increase in frequency and intensity in Asia each year, we have
seen wildfires in California eight times larger than they were 50 years
ago. The same extreme weather patterns that lead to recurrent droughts
in sub-Saharan Africa that displace people from their homes also caused
the anomalous deep freezes in Texas in February 2021 that cut power for
millions and left over 20 people dead.
Since 2000, climate-related disasters have affected almost 4
billion people globally, costing an estimated $2.2 trillion. Without
urgent action, climate change could push an additional 100 million
people into extreme poverty by 2030. That's why President Biden
rejoined the Paris Agreement on the first day of his Presidency and
committed to tripling the U.S. Government's funding for climate
adaptation by 2024. The U.S. is leading by example, announcing a bold
commitment to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52 percent
from 2005 levels by the end of this decade. However, approximately 85
percent of global carbon emissions come from outside the United States,
with about two-thirds of these emissions coming from developing
countries. As announced during the Climate Leaders' Summit, USAID plans
to mobilize $3.5 billion in private investment for climate, working in
collaboration with the U.S. International Development Finance
Corporation (DFC) and partner governments to use innovative solutions
to procure and fund green energy projects. We are also working with the
InterAmerican Development Bank, the DFC, several pension funds, and
venture capital firms on Natural Climate Solutions to conserve,
restore, and reforest 20 million hectares by 2025. Overall, USAID plans
to double private investment in adaptation in 20 of the most vulnerable
countries and accelerate the transition to net-zero emissions in at
least 20 partner countries.
USAID works with and in countries that are most at risk of climate
harms, as well as integral partners who have committed to cutting
emissions and strengthening climate adaptation and resilience. Our
programs support countries as they seek to anticipate and manage
disaster risks, rapidly reduce their emissions, and increase carbon
storage, all while helping them secure a clean energy future, develop
their economies sustainably, and protect their forests, coastlines, and
watersheds. USAID is also in the process of developing a new Agency-
wide Climate Strategy to ramp up climate change mitigation and
adaptation efforts, and further integrate climate change considerations
into our assistance programs across all sectors. Ensuring that women
and girls can meaningfully lead on addressing climate change is key to
this work. Research shows that climate change adaptation, mitigation,
and resilience building is more effective when women are involved. As
the burden of climate events falls disproportionately on the backs of
low-income, Indigenous, and marginalized communities, we will also seek
to target our assistance to strengthen the resilience of these
populations.
bolstering democracy and countering authoritarianism
As is well known, across the world, the cause of democracy is
currently on its back heel. Amid the 15-year democratic decline
globally documented by Freedom House, nine more countries slipped into
a state of autocracy in the last 5 years alone, representing more than
300 million people. Authoritarians are using the COVID-19 pandemic as a
further excuse to curb individual freedoms and tighten their grip on
power. The pandemic has also tested the ability of fragile democracies
that are trying to respond and maintain public confidence in their
institutions. The People's Republic of China increasingly supplies
technological surveillance tools to other nations, and uses its
financial leverage to sway their actions. As countries grow more
repressive, they become more inclined in turn to support China's
initiatives on the global stage, including those to weaken human rights
norms, in ways that are detrimental to U.S. interests.
Yet for all of this, other trends and events should motivate us to
step up to do more to meet this challenge. Mass pro-democracy
demonstrations reached an all-time high of 37 in 2019, higher than
during the Arab Spring or the end of the Cold War. And as the 2018
women-led revolution in Sudan shows, no matter how tight a dictator's
grip on power may seem in a given moment, the will of the people can
suddenly assert itself--and prevail. Although the country's democratic
transition remains tenuous, Sudan's Civilian-Led Transitional
Government is ushering in reforms in order to try to take the country
down the path to democracy.
The fiscal year 2022 discretionary request provides an increase in
overseas funding for democracy programming to meet this moment. First,
we need to bolster our ``Rapid Response'' capacity to quickly seize on
opportunities to bolster democracy throughout the world when there is a
political opening of the sort that occurred in Sudan, or an attempt to
roll back democratic progress as in Myanmar. Second, corruption is the
Achilles' heel of many illiberal regimes, and USAID will use our
programmatic assistance and our voice to support reformers and civil
society actors fighting corruption and promoting accountability. Third,
we will help countries fight misinformation and disinformation,
increasingly used by malign actors to stoke public anger against
democratically-elected officials and civil society. Fourth, we will
work to support activists and citizens subjected to digital repression
by regimes that are becoming increasingly sophisticated at surveilling
and censoring their populations. By the same token, we will continue to
provide support for governments to align regulatory frameworks for
emerging technologies with democratic values. In the service of these
goals, we will work to support independent and public interest media,
helping journalists and whistleblowers withstand government repression,
legal harassment, disinformation, and attacks on media outlets'
financial viability. Finally, we are building the resilience of
democratic institutions by supporting the separation of powers,
including independent judiciaries and electoral institutions and
stronger legislatures.
President Biden pledged to host an international Summit for
Democracy so that democratic governments can align on efforts to
confront authoritarianism, fight corruption, and promote respect for
human rights. This Summit is an opportunity to elevate support for
democracy as a cornerstone of our foreign policy, in concert with our
allies and partners.
addressing irregular migration from central america
For far too long, Central Americans have been entrenched in cycles
of poverty, violence, and corruption. El Salvador, Guatemala and
Honduras are home to some of the world's most dangerous cities, riven
by criminal gangs, extortion, and gender-based violence, all of which
persist and flourish due to lack of rule of law and pervasive
corruption throughout national and municipal authorities. Weak
governance and corruption undermine social and economic progress, and
troubling recent developments, such as the Salvadoran legislature's
dismissal of the Attorney General and the magistrates of the
Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, illustrate democratic
institutions are under pressure. The grim circumstances these countries
face have been compounded by the increased frequency of extreme weather
events, particularly in regions reliant on subsistence farming. Last
year, the powerful, back-to-back storms of Hurricanes Eta and Iota
brought heavy rains and severe flooding, affecting millions of people.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also had far-reaching impacts, not only on
health, but in undermining food systems, food security, and economic
prosperity in the region and COVID-related lockdowns have yielded
increasing rates of domestic and other gender-based violence. These
compounding factors are contributing to the increases in Central
Americans who are abandoning their homes to embark on the dangerous
journey toward the U.S. southern border in a desperate search for a
better life. Without reliable harvests, sustainable sources of income,
and guarantees of physical safety, many see migration as their only
option to survive and provide a future for their children. Those who
attempt the journey and are returned are met with insufficient support
to reintegrate in their communities.
The President's fiscal year 2022 discretionary request supports
opportunities for families in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to
feed their children and build stable and secure lives at home so they
do not feel compelled to migrate irregularly to the United States. This
approach includes a greater emphasis on building economic resilience,
an emphasis on data-based evaluation to identify and address conditions
in emigration hot spots, and a recognition that improved local
governance is needed to unlock improvements in living conditions and
economic opportunity. At the direction of President Biden, USAID is
aggressively ramping up programs in all three countries. USAID's
programs can improve incentives for individuals to stay in their local
communities and build better lives for their families. Through whole-
of-government initiatives like Feed the Future, we are addressing the
root causes of poverty and hunger. Increased agricultural higher
incomes and improved greater resilience for smallholder farmers, for
example, improves food systems and expands economic opportunity.
Like you, though, we recognize that ultimately political will from
the region's leaders will be the best predictor of whether economic and
security conditions in the region improve. In the wake of challenges to
democratic institutions in the region, we are speaking out in defense
of the rule of law. We are deepening our support for local actors
fighting corruption as well as those holding governments accountable
both for their performance and for their trampling on democratic norms.
USAID is working with civil society, U.S. and local private sector
partners, faith-based groups, and reform-minded officials in local
governments to multiply our impact in addressing the interrelated
economic, governance, and security conditions that contribute to an
individuals' decision to migrate.
bolstering humanitarian assistance
Even as the world races to address the COVID-19 pandemic, we must
still grapple with other emergent and protracted crises. Political
conflicts are becoming more intense, hunger is on the rise, severe and
frequent weather events and natural disasters are exacerbating chronic
vulnerabilities, all of which are taking a heavy toll on civilians and
leading to situations of protracted displacement. As of April 2021, the
World Food Program estimates that 296 million people in the 35
countries where it works are without sufficient food--111 million more
people than in April 2020. And more than 34 million people are
currently on the very edge of famine and risk starvation, up from 27
million people in 2019. The United States is the world's largest donor
for global humanitarian assistance, and we will continue to leverage
our contributions to get other countries to step up to do more. For
example, we are working with Gulf donor nations to strengthen the
ability of communities in Bangladesh to withstand the impact of
cyclones, and we continue to raise alarm bells over the lack of funding
to address food insecurity in Ethiopia, Madagascar, South Sudan, and
Yemen.
In the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the scale of humanitarian need is
staggering. After more than 6 months of hostilities between multiple
armed actors, approximately 5.2 million people are in need of food
assistance, out of a total population of around 6 million. As soon as
the conflict in Tigray started, USAID immediately began providing life-
saving aid. We used our existing programs, including rapid response
mechanisms, to provide food and health commodities, while also adapting
to access constraints by pre-positioning aid.
Our Disaster Assistance Response Team, or DART, which deployed in
March, has been focused on rapidly scaling up our life-saving efforts
to reach even more people, but it will not be enough if the current
trajectory continues. I want to be crystal clear--we expect widespread
famine in Ethiopia later this year. This is a man-made catastrophe and
it needs to end. Eritrean Defense Forces need to leave Tigray, and the
Government of Ethiopia needs to immediately allow for unhindered
humanitarian access and the protection of civilians in Tigray.
Senators, I ask for your support to use your voice in the days and
weeks to come as we find ways to support the people of Tigray, hold
accountable those who have harmed civilians, and press for an end to
the violence and suffering.
Around the world, USAID's dedicated teams and partners continue to
respond to other grim man-made crises with untold levels of suffering.
In Yemen, by most metrics the world's largest humanitarian emergency
after more than 6 years of war, two of every three people, or 20.7
million people, need humanitarian assistance this year. The UN projects
that nearly one in two Yemeni children under 5 years of age will be
acutely malnourished this year. Our brave relief agency partners
surmount numerous obstacles every day to deliver lifesaving assistance
to millions of people, but in many places, they cannot access
populations in need due to cynical intransigence from those who control
the territory, and they do not have enough money--despite generous
contributions from the United States and other donors, the UN appeal
for Yemen is only a third filled this year. Of course, we at USAID
continue to do all we can to support U.S. Special Envoy Lenderking in
his efforts to bring about the political solution that alone will end
the war.
In addition to Tigray and Yemen, our DARTs are also responding in
places like Syria, where we are seeing heightened humanitarian needs
due to the ongoing conflict, economic crisis, and COVID-19 outbreak
there. Our humanitarian experts also remain on standby to respond to
unexpected natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes,
floods, and even volcano eruptions like those we have seen recently in
the Democratic Republic of Congo and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
This has been a year like no other that came before, but we expect
continued, deepening need well into the upcoming year. The fiscal year
2022 discretionary request enables USAID to continue its humanitarian
leadership. We will not just respond to crises, but invest in
resilience and risk reduction efforts that reduce the economic and
human cost of disasters. Studies show that every dollar spent on
adaptation and resilience can save as much as $3 in humanitarian aid.
Over the past decade, we made substantial investments in early warning
systems and emergency response in Central America. This meant that when
storms Iota and Eta ripped through the region in November of 2020, the
number of people killed was in the low hundreds; in 1998, a storm of
similar size and trajectory killed 10,000 people. Helping others
affected by natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies reflects our
values as Americans, demonstrates our global leadership, and makes the
world a safer place.
expanding economic growth
The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened development challenges, exposed
inequities, and erased years of progress on poverty reduction through
its impact on the global economy. Global gross domestic product shrank
by 4.4 percent, the worst decline since the Great Depression, according
to the International Monetary Fund. Some of the world's largest
economies, including the U.S., have had to shut down to focus on
stemming the spread of the virus. Despite the bleak economic outlook,
there are opportunities to recover and accelerate reforms so that the
U.S. can revive relationships with our trading partners.
USAID assistance will support economic recovery with a laser focus
on job creation, strengthening small and medium businesses, and
reducing the time and cost to import and export goods. At the beginning
of this year, USAID launched its new Economic Growth Policy, which
confirmed and elevated the need for inclusive, sustainable, and
resilient growth as central to sustainable development and poverty
reduction. This is needed now more than ever to address the devastating
and ongoing secondary impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy. In
particular, the new policy strengthens our focus on engaging with the
private sector and improving the conditions for foreign investment in
emerging markets, which in turn creates local jobs and market
opportunities for American companies and investors. Our work will also
create market pressures on governments to reduce corruption, enforce
the rule of law, and ensure access to economic opportunities for all.
The fiscal year 2022 discretionary request will bolster our work to
strengthen the rule of law and increase transparency, which will make
for more favorable investment climates. We are also stressing the
importance of economic analysis for increasing our impact per taxpayer
dollar spent. The request also funds economic growth programs that are
essential for sustainable development in developing countries, which
generate the public resources governments need to invest in education,
health, rural roads, as well as digital and other infrastructure. The
Agency needs to adapt its systems, processes, and procedures to support
full engagement with the private sector. In particular, we must upgrade
our hiring, data, relationship management, professional development and
procurement systems to engage the private sector at scale.
investing in our people
None of our work is possible without the dedication of our staff
across the world. This last year has demonstrated their strength and
has provided lessons on what we need to do to meet the challenges and
opportunities that we will face in the future. The COVID-19 pandemic
has not only had an impact on the work we do overseas and the
communities in which we work, but also on the lives of our dedicated
USAID teams. Many of our staff have been working diligently to provide
life-saving aid to communities around the world, even while their loved
ones battle and succumb to COVID-19. Moving forward, we are seeking not
a return to the previous status quo, but to a more dynamic work
environment that better supports our staff and harnesses their
capabilities. We must also strengthen the Agency to maximize our impact
and build institutional capacity commensurate with USAID's role as a
national security agency.
Underpinning all of our efforts will be a strong focus on creating
a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive USAID. On my first day as
Administrator, I signed into action our Agency's new Diversity, Equity,
and Inclusion strategy, designed to help us create a workplace that
lives up to our ideals. The strategy outlines concrete steps the Agency
will take to ensure we are creating a workforce that better reflects
America, including the expansion of initiatives to create paid
internship and fellowship opportunities as well as strategic outreach
efforts to Minority Serving Institutions. It will also help us address
Government Accountability Office recommendations to enhance data
collection and reporting efforts, and strengthen our ability to
disaggregate workforce data across various demographic categories.
With your support, we are also increasing the size and agility of
the career workforce to better advance U.S. national security
priorities. Since last year, we have hired approximately 500 career
employees and are working to reach our target levels of 1,850 Foreign
Service and 1,600 Civil Service employees this year. However, it is not
enough just to recruit talent, we must nurture and develop it. We will
expand access to professional development and learning opportunities
and equip our managers with the tools to lead talented and diverse
teams. We will work to empower and support our Foreign Service
Nationals, local country employees of USAID who represent the heart and
soul of our workforce. And we will also build on the successes of our
Staff Care employee assistance programs as we continue to invest in our
employees' physical and mental well-being.
advancing peace and stability
The number and diversity of flashpoints in the world right now is
striking, from raids killing dozens of people in the Sahel, to an ISIS-
offshoot group storming a city in northern Mozambique, to armies in the
Caucasus standing off, to long-standing conflicts in the Middle East
boiling over. Violent extremist groups like Boko Haram in West Africa
are taking advantage of conflict and instability to recruit and expand
their ranks. We cannot promote global prosperity while rocks, bullets,
and mortars are flying through the air. However, USAID assistance can
lay the foundation for lasting peace and create conditions on the
ground for long-lasting security.
USAID implementation of the U.S. Strategy on Women, Peace, and
Security (WPS) is helping advance women's meaningful participation in
preventing and resolving conflict, countering violent extremism, and
building long-term stability, while also promoting the protection of
women and girls' human rights; access to humanitarian assistance; and
safety from gender-based violence, abuse, and exploitation around the
world. Our military alone cannot solve these challenges; USAID
assistance is a much more cost-effective way to ensure peace and
security. As former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said,
``Development is a lot cheaper than sending soldiers.'' We will
maximize our resources to support civilian efforts to erode the appeal
of extremist groups like ISIS, Boko Haram, and Al-Qaeda, and help our
partners become prosperous and peaceful nations.
conclusion
The challenges I have described here don't just threaten countries
far from our shores--they impact our national security and prosperity
directly, here at home. The steps we take to combat COVID-19, climate
change, hunger, conflict, and other ills abroad, make us safer, while
demonstrating compassion and cooperation with people all over the
world.
With your support, USAID will have move aggressively to tackle
these challenges in order to build a more stable and prosperous future
for all of us. Thank you.
Senator Coons. Thank you very much, Administrator Power.
If you will forgive us, the Ranking Member and I need to go
run to the Floor to vote. We are among the last Senators to not
vote.
So, this hearing will be in recess for roughly 15 minutes
until the two of us can vote and return.
[Recess.]
Senator Coons. I call this hearing to order. We will
reconvene.
Ambassador Power, thank you for understanding that Members
of this subcommittee needed to go and cast two votes on the
Floor. I'm glad we're now going to turn to questions. We have
7-minute rounds. I will make mine relatively brief so that
other Members can ask questions, and then I will return to some
of these later, if I might.
First, regarding competition with China and our work
countering authoritarianism around the world, USAID has many
tools and many ways in which it can play a constructive role in
these urgent matters, and I hope we can work together to
support the development of new tools and strategies to promote
democracy, to fight corruption, and to advance human rights,
which I know are close to your heart.
How can this subcommittee and how can the Senate as a whole
support your efforts to more effectively respond to emerging
threats to democracy around the world, like censorship tools,
disinformation, and other ways in which authoritarian states
are spreading the digital tools of authoritarianism?
Ms. Power. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.
This is something, as you mentioned, that's near and dear
to my heart. I think you will see reflected in the
discretionary requests coming to you in the very near future a
desire to really increase support for our partners that are
fighting illiberal forces of all kinds internationally.
I think you hit upon, in your question, a few of the
elements of this. For example, what does it look like to create
networks that put in place lessons learned on fighting
misinformation? We have not cracked that code here
domestically. So, we would do so with humility, but even to
create some intentionality around that programming and around
that conversation, I think, would be a step forward.
Before the pandemic struck, as you know, there were
actually more protests that occurred in 2019 than in any year
in recorded history, more than during the Arab Spring, more
than during the period leading to the end of the Cold War.
So even though the trends in terms of the democracy
recession are grim and I think well known by now, people are
voting with their feet and I think you saw that in Sudan, as
well, where a female-led revolution occurred in a place run by
a genocidal dictator, something I never imagined that I would
see and now there's a country that has a chance to usher in
democracy. It's a halting process, as you know better than I
do, but one I think also that we should support.
I think to be able to be nimble and quick to respond to
opportunities like those presented by the civilian transition
government in Sudan is very important.
The last thing I'll say is just mentioning the protests.
Most of those protests in 2019, many of which have continued
even throughout the pandemic, were motivated in response to
corruption and I think that's where you're going to see a
dedicated effort by USAID and our programs around the world,
that is, to really think through how do we support those actors
that are holding their governments accountable, tracking down
pilfered resources, documenting what Chinese officials as well
as their own government officials are doing to deforest and
exploit other natural resources.
I think there's a lot more we can be doing and we have
actually an anticorruption coordinator coming into USAID for
the first time with that purpose in mind.
Senator Coons. I look forward to working with you on that.
Let's turn to a specific region where combating corruption
is going to be one of the big challenges we face: Central
America.
I'm pleased there's a $350 million increase for Central
America, split between State and USAID, and your efforts to
stand up a USAID task force reflects renewed focus on stemming
the root causes of migration to our southern border from the
Northern Triangle countries.
I'm eager to work with you and with Vice President Harris
to prevent men, women, children, and whole families from being
forced to flee their homes and make the long journey north. I'm
encouraged that combating corruption and impunities is a key
pillar of your strategy.
But we've got government partners in these three countries
who, in different ways and for different reasons, lack a
seriousness about upholding and respecting judicial
independence, and who are not, I think, serious about fighting
corruption. I'd be interested in whether you agree that
empowering civil society is a critical approach to combating
corruption so that civil society can be more effective
advocates for government transparency and accountability.
Ms. Power. I absolutely agree. I think that in our
strategy, which I can detail either now or at a later time in
the hearing, accountability and governance really are the first
among equals. Yes, we have programs to enhance security,
personal security. Yes, we have job growth programs. Yes, we
are working on disaster resilience so that the hurricanes and
other extreme weather events take less of a toll on
communities. Yes, we have programs in combating gender-based
violence.
All of these are incredibly important, but we need
leadership and partners who are willing, as well, to clean up
corruption, to strengthen and not weaken democratic
institutions, and just last point, just one indicator of how
serious I am about your point, which is also my point, is that
just last week, we actually had to channel money away from the
Attorney General, the Civilian National Police in El Salvador,
money that we had intended to have in programs with those
institutions, and we channeled it to civil society because of
the Salvadoran President's recent moves against the Attorney
General and the Supreme Court.
So, we need Rule of Law as the foundation for the success
of all our other programs.
Senator Coons. One civil society group that Chairman
Menendez of the Foreign Relations Committee and Senator Rubio
are working with is the International Justice Mission. They're
championing legislation to replicate the Child Protection
Compact Model that's been used to fight human trafficking
elsewhere. I'd be interested in exploring that more with you
and seeing what's possible in the Northern Triangle.
My last question. In the first 4 months in office, the
Biden Administration demonstrated its commitment, its focus on
vaccinating all Americans. The majority of all Americans are
now fully vaccinated. I'm dedicated to that cause and to that
being a principal focus of our work, as well.
But as we begin to contain the COVID-19 pandemic here in
the United States and ensure we have the necessary supply of
vaccines for our country, it is clear the pandemic continues to
rage around the world. The variant that emerged in India that's
far more transmissive than the base variant has just made it to
my home State and is circling the world.
We face an uncertain future as more and more variants will
develop that could be both more transmissive and more lethal.
There was an initial commitment. Four billion dollars has
been appropriated for GAVI to support the work of COVAX in
providing about 20 percent of all the vaccines needed in more
than 115 countries, half of which has been obligated.
There are some critical barriers to ramping up supply in
the developing world. I'd just be interested if you'd speak to
how well the COVAX process is working so far at getting
vaccines to countries that need them, when do you expect we
will need additional funding, and how can we work together to
ensure more robust supply is available for the developing
world?
Ms. Power. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I mean, first, let me thank this committee and this
subcommittee, and the Congress for the resources to be able to
provide support to COVAX. The $2 billion, of the $4 billion
appropriated at the end of last year, has already been
obligated by USAID, as you mentioned, and the knowledge of that
$2 billion has been a game-changer for COVAX's ability now to
do contracts with pharmaceutical companies because they finally
have meaningful capital on hand.
That said, they, COVAX, have suffered a big blow given the
scale of the pandemic in India. The Serum Institute of India,
which had planned to supply upwards of a 140 million doses by
the end of June, has had to pull back that supply because of
the domestic emergency and COVAX now is looking to countries
like ours and other countries around the world to contribute
supply, to donate supply, and that's why President Biden's
announcement last week I think was so important that the United
States is looking to donate 80 million doses, vaccine doses by
the end of June, which is five times more than any other
country has donated to COVAX.
So, the key, Senator, is supply. The key is ensuring that
vaccines are available at scale and at cost. So, we are also in
dialogue with the pharmaceutical companies to try to ensure
again that a public good like vaccination, like pandemic
prevention and response is resourced, but the biggest challenge
that we face is just a shortage of supply, which I think these
donations will begin to address, but we hope that the G7 and
other international gatherings will allow other countries also
to step up.
Senator Coons. Thank you, Administrator. I look forward to
working closely with my colleagues on this subcommittee, with
the administration, and with the private sector to find ways
that we can make sure there's a robust supply available for the
world.
Senator Graham.
Senator Graham. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
So, let's just pick up where Chairman Coons left off. When
it comes to vaccinating the world, for lack of a better phrase,
don't you think that's in our self interests here in America?
Ms. Power. Absolutely, sir.
Senator Graham. The longer the virus flourishes, the longer
it can replicate itself and maybe come up with a form that the
vaccines we have today are not effective. That'd be a disaster
for us, right?
Ms. Power. Yes, sir.
Senator Graham. So, count me in, Mr. Chairman, for trying
to increase funding to make sure as many people in the world
can be vaccinated as soon as possible, and I'm certainly going
to be looking at China to do their fair share.
When it comes to Gaza and providing reconstruction aid,
what's your plan to make sure that it doesn't benefit Hamas?
Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator.
As you know, the laws out of this body and, of course,
administration imperatives are very strict and exacting in this
regard. Not only can our assistance not benefit Hamas, it
actually also under the Taylor Force Act cannot benefit the
Palestinian Authority.
Our partners on the ground are experienced in finding ways
to work with, for example, civil society partners or to work
with international organizations that themselves know the
strictures on this funding.
The vetting in that part of the world is the most exacting
that we have anywhere on earth because of the imperative of
keeping money out of Hamas's hands.
So, I can tell you that it's an area of huge focus. We know
that it's what the taxpayer expects and it's what you expect.
Senator Graham. You will do everything possible to make
sure that we comply with the Taylor Force Act?
Ms. Power. Absolutely.
Senator Graham. Okay. Great. So now let's talk a bit about
the World Food Program (WFP). You're familiar with WFP, right?
Ms. Power. I am.
Senator Graham. They serve people daily all over the world.
It seems to me that the World Food Program might be a good
partner when it comes to how to vaccine people.
Would you collaborate with them?
Ms. Power. Absolutely. They are a key partner in every
respect. Their comparative advantage, I think, on vaccination
is they're often able to reach parts of countries that other
large international organizations don't work in, the so-called
last mile, very remote areas, rural areas, WFP is there, and so
I think working with UNICEF, PAHO, World Food Program, and
National Health Ministries, that's how we're going to get this
done.
Senator Graham. That's a good way to look at the last mile,
I think.
Are you familiar with the DFC, and do you see a partnership
blooming between USAID and the DFC?
Ms. Power. I think that partnership is already a very
vibrant one. It's one I inherited from my predecessor and
thanks to you for strengthening DFC. It's a very different
organization than its predecessor in the Obama years.
Senator Graham. I know you got a lot on your plate, but if
you could give to the Chairman and myself a view of how you
could strengthen this relationship and what we could do to help
cross-pollinate these two agencies that would be appreciate
because I think there's a lot of potential there.
Let's get back to Central America illegal immigration. I
was supportive of Vice President Biden's efforts, I think it's
$750 million we set aside for Central America to address better
governance, poverty, corruption, and lack of the rule of law.
So, count me in for helping these countries develop at a more
rapid rate so people will not feel so threatened and want to
leave.
But here's my question. Are you familiar with the ``pull
factors'' that exist in our law, like the asylum program where
people are detained but released within the United States and
never show up to the hearing? Are you familiar with that
dynamic?
Ms. Power. I mean, I'm a citizen and read the newspaper,
but it's out of my area of expertise.
Senator Graham. The only reason I mention that is that I'm
convinced we need to do two things. It's in our interests to
invest in these countries to make them more stable, but we have
situations in our own law that if we don't change it's just
going to be counterproductive.
So, when you sit down and look at ways to stabilize these
countries, it's imperative that we look at the phenomenon of
the ``pull factors''. Do you have an opinion as of this moment
how much of our asylum policies are ``pull factors''?
Ms. Power. My emphasis is on root causes for obvious
reasons because that's where our programming is.
Senator Graham. My point is what if one of the root causes
is our own law?
Ms. Power. That would be out of my area of jurisdiction.
Senator Graham. Okay.
Ms. Power. Maybe just to say one thing. I mean, one area
where USAID and DHS are working very collaboratively is
creating lawful pathways. You know, the State Department, I
think, has engaged you all on setting up UNHCR offices----
Senator Graham. Yes,----
Ms. Power [continuing]. In the countries----
Senator Graham [continuing]. Count me in for that.
Ms. Power [continuing]. For asylum and refugee claims, but
beyond that, the H2B and H2A Programs where people can apply
and be vetted and where things are done through regular order,
USAID is helping promote those programs on the ground in the
three countries.
Senator Graham. Well, Mr. Chairman, I would suggest that we
have a collaboration between the Department of Homeland
Security and USAID to make sure that as we develop the
countries where this problem is most prevalent that we also
have a realistic view that as long as these ``pull factors''
work, it doesn't matter how much money you spend, and I just
want the taxpayer to know that we're looking at this problem
holistically.
When it comes to developing democracy, count me in with
what the Chairman said, and you have a long history of this and
we appreciate it.
What areas of the world are you most concerned about where
things are going backward and give me some areas of the world
where you think we have an opportunity to go forward.
Ms. Power. Let me say that in Africa, 69 percent of the
populations under 30, right. One of the most vibrant sets of
possibilities is the young people who have such energy and I
think before the pandemic growth rates across the continent
that were the envy of many other countries.
I do worry about the trends in Sub-Saharan Africa,
particularly not only do you see the kinds of events that we
saw in Mali just in the last day or two on the heels of
previous events in Mali that one would be worried about, but
also extra constitutional measures prolonging terms in office,
unfree elections like those we've seen in Uganda, not having
elections or having flawed elections.
Ethiopia was going in a positive direction, but we've seen
the horrors being perpetrated in Tigray and an election coming
up, the conditions for which are not at all right for those
elections to be free and fair.
So, I think this is an area I know that you've worked on
throughout your career and strengthening civil society, using
our diplomacy and our voice to hold leaders accountable when
they're straying from the Rule of Law and straying from
democratic norms, but I could talk about----
Senator Graham. Sure.
Ms. Power [continuing]. Every country.
Senator Graham. No, that's good, that's good. I think
you've laid out a challenge for us all here and we want to
help.
Finally, I want to welcome Senator Hagerty to the
subcommittee. He's a former Ambassador to Japan and I look
forward to working with you, Bill. I think you'll be a great
addition to the subcommittee.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator Graham.
Welcome, Senator Hagerty. I now would like to turn to our
Chairman of the Full Committee and the Chairman and Ranking
Member of this subcommittee for 30 years, Senator Leahy.
Senator Leahy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am delighted to see Ambassador Power. Mr. Chairman, I
want to congratulate you on your new role. I don't think we
could have a more capable and passionate Chairman for this
subcommittee, and I believe Chairman Coons will be able to do
what Senator Graham and I did for years: report bipartisan
bills almost unanimously. I think that's the hallmark of the
Appropriations Committee. We want to keep on doing that.
Administrator Power, you're a superb choice for this job,
although I don't know if we should offer you congratulations or
condolences considering what you're facing with climate change,
global poverty, complex humanitarian emergencies, and virtually
every problem around the world.
I appreciate that you've emphasized the national security
role USAID plays. A lot of people don't know that about USAID.
Many of the problems you're working on around the world involve
key threats to U.S. national security, which you have to face
in ways the Defense Department and the State Department
actually can't.
I don't think the mission of USAID has ever been more
important than it is today. We need somebody like you with the
experience and the knack of knowing who to call and what
questions to ask.
We've had two enormously costly wars. They dragged on for
decades. I don't think anybody's going to say the world's
appreciably safer because of that. I think it's time that we
start investing in our soft power.
The details of the budget request won't be available until
Friday, but while I do see the top line for State and Foreign
Operations is a welcome increase, I'm concerned it falls short
of what you need to respond to the many problems that you're
going to have to face.
Let me turn to one of the challenges we see. The U.K. has
announced it's going to reduce its overseas development aid by
70 percent. That's a loss of three-quarters of a billion
dollars. They've been a key partner in Latin America and
Africa, South Asia, Yemen, and so on.
What implications does that have for us because we have
important responsibilities in all those places?
Ms. Power. I appreciate very much that question, and you're
absolutely right that many of our closest partners, but
especially the U.K., are making adjustments in their
programming in this budget-constrained environment where all
countries are reeling from the economic effects of COVID.
You asked a factual question about what some of the impacts
are likely to be. From our preliminary assessment, I think the
U.K. budget cuts are going to bring about negative impacts in
at least 11 countries. There is now a funding gap of more than
$750 million and we were just talking about the Northern
Triangle and the root causes of migration.
Unfortunately, it looks like the United Kingdom will be
ending all development and humanitarian assistance in Latin
America, which I know is an area of longstanding interest to
you. Also, with famine conditions looming in Yemen, the UK is
cutting its contributions to humanitarian assistance in Yemen
and in Syria by more than half.
So, this is something that we have to deal with, that all
donor countries now have to think about in our own budget-
constrained environments; what do we do to make up these
shortfalls which are going to hit very vulnerable people very
hard.
Senator Leahy. This is one example of things that we have
to be concerned with that change all the time. I'd like to turn
to COVID. What happens if we and other countries don't get
vaccines to countries that can't pay for them? As you mentioned
earlier, as the virus mutates we have a greater problem.
People finally realized with Ebola, after many on this
subcommittee kept saying we need to respond to Ebola and people
were saying it's not here, we would point out that it's only
one airplane trip away.
The President's talking about 80 million doses. Of course,
we need a lot more than that. So please keep us posted on what
you think can be done. COVAX has been criticized for allocating
vaccines proportionally by population. Some say that
shortchanges countries where the number of COVID cases is high
while providing vaccines to others with relatively few cases.
How do we respond to that?
Ms. Power. Well, again, I think international institutions
work best when the United States is fully engaged with them and
so just to reiterate my gratitude for the generous contribution
by this body to COVAX because without capital, without
financing, it was unable to do the deals that it needed to do
with the big pharmaceutical companies. So, it now has the
finances to secure supply but again has fallen behind in the
queue.
In terms of its own allocation strategy, I think that's
something that we're in conversation with COVAX about. The
biggest issue for them right now, Senator, is that there are
many parts of the world where one shot has been dispensed to,
for example, health workers or frontline workers and the second
shot has not been forthcoming because the expected supply from
India had to be pulled back because of the crisis in India, and
so it is in our interests, as many of you have said, for health
workers and frontline workers to get vaccinated everywhere in
the world as just a foundation for larger-scale vaccination.
I think COVAX's biggest challenge so far has been lack of
financing and lack of supply more than any issues with country
selection.
Senator Leahy. Thank you. We will talk further about this
as my time is nearly up.
None of us care a bit for Hamas, but we do, many, many of
us, care greatly about Palestinian families.
I worry about all of the restraints on getting aid to the
Palestinian people.
So please work with us on how we might get back to where we
can start working to improve the lives of the Palestinians.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Coons. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
We'll now turn to Senator Hagerty. I understand Senators
Boozman and Moran are on their way, but as they're not here, it
is your turn, sir.
Senator Hagerty. Well, thank you, Chairman Coons, and it's
wonderful to join you and the rest of my colleagues on this
subcommittee.
I also want to thank Ranking Member Graham for his
leadership, and, Administrator Power, thank you for your
testimony and for being here today with us.
Before I get to the questions I wanted to ask, I just
wanted to follow up on a couple points that Senator Graham
made. One is on the pull factor that he was talking about
that's such a major driver of the massive amount of illegal
immigration that we're seeing with our border having collapsed
in the southern part of the United States.
I recently took a trip to Guatemala and to Mexico. I met
with the President of Guatemala. I met with his Foreign
Minister, met with the Foreign Minister of Mexico, with the
Economic Minister of Mexico. They were very clear with me that
the world listens when America speaks and that the messages
that come from Washington are being marketed by coyotes.
They're marketed to the most vulnerable parts of their
population.
The coyotes are saying, look, look what's being said here
in Washington. If I win my election, you'll be treated better.
Fifteen dollar an hour minimum wage, $1,400 checks to illegal
immigrants. These things are being marketed by the coyotes, and
they are attracting vulnerable people to give them their life
savings and put their lives on the line to make a very
treacherous journey. More than half of the people, I
understand, are victims of some sort of crime, whether they're
involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking, or some other
sort of illegal activity, or they're the victims of the crime
themselves.
So, our neighbors to the south of us are very upset with us
for creating this pull and they were very clear to me that we
have a very significant role to play. I was there to convey the
urgency of the situation from America's standpoint, from the
United States Senate standpoint, but they feel a very big
threat, as well. They have national security issues, also.
They've had Russians, Chinese, Yemenis, and Romanians
moving through their country. They don't know who's coming
through their country. There's a massive national security risk
that they perceive. So, I hope that in working with these
countries, Administrator, you'll find good partnerships there
because I do think there is ample room for economic development
with them.
They want to partner with us. They need help on the Rule of
Law. They need infrastructure. I think they will welcome the
type of partnerships that you're building with the Development
Finance Corporation, and we have a role to play there.
But first and foremost is we need to secure our border and
we need to bring some rational behavior into the system. So,
there is a very urgent crisis brewing there and I appreciate
everyone's attention to that here, even though it may be
outside your immediate arena. I just want to follow up on that.
The other point that Senator Graham made regarding our aid
to Gaza right now, I share the same concern that Gaza is
controlled by Hamas and other terrorists, and I'm very
concerned that the funds that we send to them--now Secretary
Blinken has increased that number to over $300 million--that
those funds could be very easily misappropriated by those
groups that control the area and therefore I put forward the
Emergency Resupply the Iron Dome Act, to basically divert those
funds from Gaza and put them into position to restock the Iron
Dome Defense System that has actually saved many, many civilian
lives there as Hamas was firing on innocent civilians in
Israel.
So, I am very concerned. I appreciate your acknowledgement
of the importance of the Taylor Force Act. Mr. Taylor was
actually a student of my alma mater, Vanderbilt University, a
tragic death there, and we're very concerned about this, and I
appreciate your pledge to follow up.
To the point I really wanted to talk with you about today,
that's the WGDP. We've talked about that before. I appreciate
in our conversation in March you acknowledged your agreement
with the purpose of the WGDP. You acknowledged the fact that
there's a very strong linkage between women's economic
engagement and the political and economic stability of a
nation.
So, I think the program has tremendous potential. As you
remember, the WGDP was established in 2019. It's a program that
really is aimed at women's economic engagement on a worldwide
basis and it looks to use several tools. One is to engage women
in the workforce and to remove the barriers that often exist
there.
Another is to really support women entrepreneurs. That's
helping them get capital. It's helping them access markets.
It's giving them mentors, things that really will develop them
further. Also, it's about removing the laws and the practices
that interfere with women's economic empowerment in those
nations and I applaud all of those goals as I know you do.
The goal at the time it was set back in 2019 was to have 50
million women engaged in the program by 2025 and in its first
year, 12 million women were already engaged. So, I think it has
tremendous potential, and I would look forward to hearing your
plans now, Administrator, for how you'd move forward with the
program.
Ms. Power. Thank you. I remember our phone call and our
follow-up very well on this, and, while I've only been on the
job a few weeks, do have a sense of the impact that it's had,
also the popularity of these programs.
As you indicated, I actually did not have the figure of 12
million engaged already. I think the aspect of it that is the
toughest nut to crack but I'm very glad you emphasized it is
this question of gender norms and the legal and regulatory
environment and how this fund can help secure progress in those
domains.
We're looking forward to continuing these programs in
workforce development, entrepreneurship, again looking at the
normative environment. We have a longstanding commitment to
women's economic empowerment at the agency, and what I'm
looking to do, and I really appreciate you as being such a
spirited champion of these efforts, is thinking about how these
tenets also just get mainstreamed throughout all of USAID's
programming, whether it's dealing with agricultural settings or
education or small business or the DFC, how we look out for
finding female-run businesses, small businesses and so forth
internationally.
So, I don't have granular detail to offer you at this
point. I'm more familiar with it than I was when we spoke, but
I think it received a $100 million in its first 2 years and
we're looking at continuing the programs that comprise it.
Senator Hagerty. Well, I'm glad to hear that, and when you
talk about the tenets moving through the entire program, I
couldn't agree more, but I don't want to lose focus on this
program. I think it's an extremely valuable program, and I
don't want to see it dissipate or dilute. I would love to work
with you on concentrating it.
To the extent legislation can help bolster this, I look
forward to working with you and your team to do that, as well,
because I'd like to see this really deepened and expanded.
Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Hagerty. Thank you. Thanks very much, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator Hagerty.
Senator Durbin.
Senator Durbin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ambassador Power, good to see you and congratulations on
your new position. You are the right person for the job. You've
been asked a lot of questions about immigration policy. I know
that isn't your responsibility at all. We all share concerns
about it.
I will just say that for those of either political party
who want to engage in this immigration conversation, we've
started it already, and I invite them to come and be part of a
bipartisan effort to come up with something thoughtful.
In terms of our immigration policy, if it were just the
asylum policy, you would assume we would be overrun with
Mexicans, but it turns out most of the people who are
presenting themselves at the border overwhelmingly are from
three other countries and have to travel through Mexico to get
to our border. So, there's something going on in those
countries. Some of it is sinister, like these smugglers and
coyotes, and some of it is just plain awful life and some of
the reactions to it. People come to the United States in
desperation.
I cannot imagine taking my life savings and handing it to a
smuggler along with my 4-year-old child and say, you know, put
this child at the border and carry this little plastic bag with
a telephone number in it, I mean, and they're doing it. What
kind of desperation do you reach to even consider that
possibility?
So, working in those three countries I think is part of the
honest answer to dealing with our southern border.
Let me mention a few things. Congratulations to the
administration for stopping the American withdrawal from the
World Health Organization from the previous President and also
for joining and helping fund the COVAX Global Vaccine effort
and commitment to donate 80 million COVID vaccine doses around
the world.
Coincidentally, we were late here because we were voting on
the Floor to preserve the special drawing rights. There was an
effort to offer an amendment on that and we stopped it, thank
goodness. So, the special drawing rights to the IMF will be
available to poorer countries to fund their vaccine needs. That
is a step in the right direction.
I'd like to talk about several things USAID does that I
think are meaningful and they fit probably in the small bowl
category.
I've come to the conclusion at this stage of my career that
sometimes the little things are the big things when it comes to
transforming lives and there are two I'd like to share with
you.
I once worked for a man named Paul Simon. You may remember
him. He served on this subcommittee and he was also a Member of
the Foreign Relations Committee, and he wrote a book called
Tapped Out 25 years ago. It never made the New York Times Best
Seller List, but he predicted the 21st Century would be a
struggle for drinking water and sanitation.
I knew that Paul wouldn't have wanted a building named
after him, but I named after him the Paul Simon Water for the
World Act and thanks to USAID has made a dramatic difference
all around the world.
This program, since 2008, has helped 57 million people
either receive for the first time or improve their access to
clean water in the world and 38 million with sanitation
services.
My staffer Chris Homan wants to show a photograph that
shows him standing in Kenya--that's Chris.
Mr. Homan. Ghana.
Senator Durbin. Ghana? Ghana. And this is something called
a bignaloo, which basically is a sanitation facility for people
in one of these poor villages, and they're pretty happy to see
it. It gives them much better public health outcomes in the
area. Girls, of course, are spared the embarrassment of not
having any place for privacy, and it becomes part of a system,
public health system, and I hope that you'll remember the Paul
Simon Water for the World Act in your undertakings.
The last thing I want to commend to you is another
Illinois-based project. We have a great bicycle manufacturing
company in Chicago named SRAM, S-R-A-M, and it created a
nonprofit called World Bicycle Relief, sending bicycles
primarily in Africa to developing countries and helping
eliminate distance as a barrier when it comes to education,
health care, and economic opportunity.
Before I showed up and won the attention of Senator Graham
and I hope Senator Coons and Senator Leahy, they had
distributed 520,000 bicycles in Africa, sturdy bicycles that
made a difference. Girls started going to school. Their fathers
wanted to keep the bicycles because they took goods to the
market.
Well, we decided that mobility was a good thing in the
developing world and because of the efforts of this
subcommittee, another 42,000 bicycles have gone to Africa. I
think there's an opportunity here and having been to Africa, as
I'm sure you have, you see the bicycles are used for
everything, including as ambulances in some places where we
visited.
So, I hope that you will consider those projects, Water for
the World and the World Bicycle Relief, as part of the small
bowl but equally important other greater things in expanding
the United States' role in the world in a positive way.
Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator. Absolutely.
Senator Durbin. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator Durbin. I look forward to
working with you on these two programs that I'm well familiar
with. During my very first trip to Africa as a Senator, Senator
Isakson and I visited in Ghana one of the programs that had
benefited from the Paul Simon Water for the World initiative.
So, thank you. Thank you for your leadership on that.
Senator Moran.
Senator Moran. Chairman, thank you.
Administrator Power, welcome. Thank you for your public
service.
You highlighted in your testimony food aid. I am a co-chair
with a couple of my Republican colleagues and a couple of my
Democratic colleagues of the Senate Hunger Caucus. It's a
result of one of the several midlife crises I had and decided I
wanted to have more value to this job than it otherwise might
provide and so I offer to you my desire to work with USAID in
regard to food. My interest is both domestic as well as your
responsibilities of international food aid.
I want to highlight one of the things that is important to
me in regard to food aid. I've supported local and regional
purchase initiatives in international food aid efforts in
certain circumstances when it's the best humanitarian approach
for a specific situation.
When local and regional food purchases are not an option,
however, I certainly want you to allow U.S. farmers the
opportunity to provide food from international sources when
they're not available to purchase.
In November 2020, I want to use an example, in November
2020, USAID announced $20 million was going to purchase wheat
to deliver to Sudan. Yet despite Kansas wheat being readily
available, piled on the ground in instances, the $20 million
was used by the implementing partner to purchase the wheat from
Ukraine.
While it's only a single example, it begs a broader
question of local and regional procurement program
requirements. So, I would ask do you believe if local and
regional purchases are not the viable option and purchases of
U.S. food and commodities ought to be given preference before
purchases from foreign sources.
Ms. Power. Thank you, Senator.
Well, I look forward to learning from you and other Members
of your caucus about this area generally. I can assure you that
U.S. food aid will absolutely continue to include the purchase
of U.S. commodities. I very much appreciate you noting that
there's some circumstances in humanitarian emergencies where it
might be advisable to provide cash transfers or local
purchases, but we're not looking to replace U.S. commodities.
We believe that there's dual benefit, benefit, of course,
to the farmers in Kansas and elsewhere, and great benefit to
desperate people who see that food coming and the American flag
on the sack of wheat and where it came from and are able to
feed their families because of it.
Senator Moran. Thank you. Kansas farmers take significant
pride in that scene in which their product that they tend and
nurture and eke out of the ground is put in the position in
which hit can save lives.
USAID had an informational bulletin dated August 8, 2019,
regarding source and origin of local, regional, and
international procurement requirements. I just would ask you to
commit to reviewing and updating that bulletin to ensure that
food and commodities from our own country's farmers is not
passed over. So, a follow-up to what we just talked about, if
you would take a look at that August 8, 2019, bulletin.
Ms. Power. Okay. I will make myself familiar with that,
thank you, and get back to you.
Senator Moran. Thank you. And then let me highlight one
other issue. Senator Kane and I have an amendment pending to
the current piece of legislation that the Senate is debating
this week, and it is basically a sense of the Senate that
directs the Secretary of State in consultation with you to
enter into multilateral and bilateral talks to share excess
vaccines.
You note President Biden has pledged to provide 80 million
doses. I am very interested in us saving lives around the
world. I'm very interested in us in improving the health and
well-being of Americans by doing so, and I'm also cognizant of
the fact that our engagement in this effort has, I would think,
significant benefits to the United States and our relationship
with other countries, those who are our allies and friends and
perhaps those who are less so or neutral or being swayed
perhaps by China to develop a closer relationship with a
country I consider our adversary at beset.
So, I highlight that for you and for our colleagues in this
subcommittee, and I would ask, I suppose, if there's a question
her, how is the administration prioritizing which countries or
multilateral bodies receive doses and by what quantities?
Ms. Power. Thank you. And maybe just before I answer your
question, if I may just sort of take note of the impression
that is being given that there is strong apparent bipartisan
support for not only global vaccine distribution and sharing
but for the premise behind it, which is that our fates are
connected to the fates of people who live elsewhere, that, if
the pandemic is raging somewhere else, however far away, that
that is a threat and a risk at least, given variants and all
else.
I think that it's just really important that that be
appreciated, that this is not a zero-sum proposition. This is a
positive sum proposition. As we provide this global public
good, it is in the interest of our people.
As to the question of country selection and who we're
working through, what President Biden has indicated is that 75
percent of the doses we share will likely be shared through
COVAX, that they have the indemnity agreements and the legal
agreements already put in place with various developing
countries where the needs are so great, and then, as I
indicated earlier, I don't know if you were here yet, it will
be very clear also where those doses are coming from. So,
they're going through COVAX, but people will be very clear that
these are American doses coming as a result of American
ingenuity and the generosity of the American people. I think
that's important and so that's part of the answer.
Then there will be emergencies, of course, that arise or
needs that arise bilaterally and so 25 percent of whatever our
excess supply is that we are donating will be reserved to be
able to deploy bilaterally and even when you're deploying
bilaterally, you may end up doing so through COVAX because they
have worked with UNICEF and PAHO to put the infrastructure in
place to be able to vaccinate people and even though they have
made modest inroads, you are seeing COVAX's presence or its
deliveries and its vaccines in dozens of countries around the
world already.
In terms of country selection itself within the larger
question of who in the 193 countries in the world gets the
vaccine, it's a combination of multiple factors. It's obviously
challenging because so many countries face this need right now,
but some combination of, of course, the relationship we have
with the countries, the public health and epidemiological,
scientific trajectory of the disease, and a sense of where the
vaccines can do the most good, the infrastructure and readiness
of countries to receive vaccines. So, with those factors, even
as I describe it, you can see why it's so important we have
more supply because you can imagine how many countries even
with those factors articulated need doses urgently now, and
China is moving quickly to provide its vaccines.
So, this is an urgent question and it's very important that
President Biden has made the announcement he has, and also
indicated that more supply will be forthcoming after we've
dispensed the 80 million.
Senator Moran. Ambassador, thank you.
Ms. Power. Thank you, sir.
Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator Moran.
Let me just briefly mention that I worked closely with
Chairman Corker on trying to find the right balance where the
justifiable understandable pride American farmers feel in
helping feed the world is balanced with efficiency and cost
effectiveness. I'd love to work with you on that.
I just recently visited a refugee camp in Sudan where I saw
red lentils purchased from farmers from the United States by
USAID being delivered to Tigrayan refugees, and I think there's
a lot we can do together to make sure that we are feeding a
hungry world in a responsible and cost-effective way.
On the vaccine issue, I think the prioritization here is
going to be key, as Senator Moran referenced. I just filed an
amendment with Senator Sasse to also prioritize rapidly-scaling
up vaccine diplomacy and I would put a priority on supporting
those countries that are facing real pressure from some of our
competitors globally who are using or restricting access to
vaccine alternatives in a way that is having very profound and
grave consequences for the stability and security of other
countries.
But with that, forgive me, I should not digress too long.
Thank you, Senator.
Let me now turn to Senator Murphy of Connecticut.
Senator Murphy. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
Good to see you, Ambassador, so grateful for your decision
to return to public service. You've got a lot on your plate.
I want to focus a few questions first on President Biden's
commitment to democracy promotion and governments' improvements
abroad. I think there are both national sort of selfish and
altruistic reasons to engage in democracy promotion.
I think we have an obligation as the most powerful country
in the world to try to lift more people to a point where they
have the ability to determine for themselves what happens in
their own lives, but I don't think there's any way to protect
our own democracy if we're not linking arms with other
advocates of democracy abroad and so a few questions.
I was on the phone this morning with a group of Yemeni
civic leaders and one of them made a very simple point to me
that stuck. We were talking about the U.S.'s ability to try to
be an interlocutor for peace in Yemen and he said, ``You know,
you have to remember that your influence is your reputation,''
and he wanted to talk to me about two limiting factors on our
influence there.
One was our drone campaign which has the reputation in
Yemen of hitting wrong targets. The other thing he wanted to
talk to me about was January 6 and the image that the rest of
the world has of a deeply imperfect struggling democracy.
And so I want to talk to you about the way in which we
spend money overseas on democracy promotion and the ways that
USAID can do that better, but I wanted to ask you that first
question, which is, to what extent is our money any good if
people have less reason today than they might have prior to
associate themselves with the United States or worried about
the future health of American democracy or worried about our
sort of over-militarized footprint around the world? How much
of your work in democracy promotion at USAID is going to be
compromised by factors that are outside of the control of your
grantees?
Ms. Power. Well, thanks for that immensely challenging
question right off the bat, Senator.
I guess what I'd say is America leads no matter what we do.
So, the divisive debate, strangely, over the events of January
6 is something broadly followed around the world. The events of
January 6th were broadcast all around the world and talked
about all around the world.
It certainly causes me to go in a spirit of humility as I
go to talk to foreign leaders about the need to respect
election results, the need to protest peacefully and respect
peaceful protests and so forth.
I think many, many countries around the world, including
established democracies like our own, are grappling with the
effects of misinformation, with political polarization, with
the erosion of respect for truth and facts and science and so
forth, and so we sit down with our partners and our friends in
civil society and brainstorm together in a way that perhaps we
should have been doing all along, but I definitely think that
there is an effect when the United States itself is not living
the values that we have been preaching and trying to propagate
through our programs for a long time.
I think you mentioned international humanitarian law
indirectly. While this is outside of USAID's remit, but we do
have training programs in international humanitarian law. Our
respect for these principles is incredibly important. Our
articulation of that respect really matters when I or Secretary
Blinken are engaging or you are engaging a foreign leader or
foreign general on excesses in terms of its military practices
and so forth or war crimes for that matter, so all of this is
related.
That said, there are programmatic needs that civil society
actors have. There is a hunger to do more anti-corruption work
of the kind you and I have talked about. There is a real
Achilles heel there for some of the illiberal forces.
Usually if you're consolidating power around you and doing
away with checks and balances, you tend to also be
concentrating resources, as well, whether national resources or
money pilfered from your citizens, and that's an area that we
can emphasize, alongside creating a network dedicated to
thinking through what these modern very relatively recent
threats to democracy look like because the misinformation
threat 10 years ago when USAID might have been developing
democracy programming in country X, it wasn't misinformation on
the mind, right? It was a set of other dynamics.
So, making sure that we are meeting people where they are
with their needs and that also we're learning from them,
injecting back into our domestic deliberations what they've
learned about how to fight misinformation, for example.
Senator Murphy. It reminds me of a conversation I had with
one of your grantees who talked to me about the need for a
DARPA for democracy, right, the idea that we do need to
reassess the tools that we have or the conversation on this
subcommittee.
In the minute that I have remaining, just talk a little bit
about maybe your early assessment of how we spread dollars to
do these jobs and whether there is a critique that we might
spread these thin dollars too thinly.
Obviously when you look at nine new countries being added
to the list of those that no longer, you know, are democracies,
you don't sort of come to the conclusion that the way we've
been spending money has been working effectively, and it's part
of that critique that we sort of try to spend a little bit of
money everywhere? Is part of that critique that we don't give
enough flexibility to USAID and State to be able to move money
around to try to, you know, tackle an emerging corruption issue
in a province or a city or a state early on? What's your sort
of early sense?
Ms. Power. Well, I certainly think more nimbleness is an
imperative. If you think about budgets as they were drafted or
conceived a couple years ago, they didn't imagine a pandemic,
right, and I think the lead time, from articulating a set of
budget priorities and when that money actually gets obligated,
that the amount of time that has passed in a world moving this
rapidly is not ideal. Let me put it that way.
And so, we need to work on that and I think it's a
conversation we can have together, but it's also the internal
dynamics within the executive branch that we need to work
through.
I think the challenge, Senator, with your question right
now is just that the equivalent of a meteorite has just hit the
planet, and so one of the things in going into a job like
running USAID, this incredible agency that I, in the normal
order, would be so looking forward to is growing our programs
when it relates to economic development, global health
security, and other investments that are going to last these
countries and all of that is reflected in our discretionary
request.
But at the same time, the famines that are looming in Yemen
and in Ethiopia and the fact that the number of people facing
severe food insecurity is doubling and that 1.6 billion kids
have been out of school over the last year and that women are
bearing the disproportionate effects of COVID everywhere,
including even in this country, that gender-based violence is
on the rise, the challenge is less that we're spread too thin
and more that we face all of these challenges--and I don't
think we can blame our programming in fairness for the slippage
in democracy any more than we can for the pandemic.
I think it's actually been arguably, at least according to
a lot of the evaluations I've read, mitigating of some of even
the worst effects that we could have seen, but its how do we
get other actors involved alongside of us where there's a
division of labor.
Before you came, we were talking about the United Kingdom's
unfortunate budget cuts which come at a very difficult time for
people in need around the world.
I want to build out our ability at USAID to work with the
private sector. We will have an opportunity to do that and have
already in our efforts to meet India, Nepal, and other
countries in South Asia in their period of great need.
The private sector in the United States has been heroic in
the way that it has stepped up to provide supplies alongside
the U.S. Government and it's a partnership that I think can be
richer and incredibly impactful alongside that with the
Development Finance Corporation and these other tools.
But I think the real challenge now is it's not just that
the world has needs, it is the extent to which so many of these
needs are more acute than we have seen them in our lifetimes.
Senator Murphy. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator Murphy.
Senator Van Hollen.
Senator Van Hollen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Madam
Administrator, let me add my word of congratulations and thanks
to you for taking on this very important responsibility at this
moment in our history and laying out in your testimony the
important role that AID plays in a whole host of areas right
now in terms of COVID-19 relief and trying to make sure that
our 80 million current doses are distributed where they're
needed, our COVAX commitment, your challenges with respect to
climate change, and Power Africa and other initiatives, your
efforts to counter authoritarian regimes and to promote
democracy, as Senator Murphy was discussing with you, and
humanitarian assistance, among other important priorities.
On the humanitarian assistance front, if I could just ask
you about a current humanitarian disaster, I think we're all
pleased to see the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. We are
pleased to see the Iron Dome perform well and think everyone on
this subcommittee supported that and we were all very sorry to
see loss of life on both sides.
We now have, as you know, a humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
It was already a humanitarian crisis. I was pleased to see
Secretary Blinken's statements recently with respect to the
United States providing an additional $75 million in
development and economic assistance. As I understand, that will
be ESF monies through USAID, is that right?
Ms. Power. A large share of it. I believe some also to
UNRA.
Senator Van Hollen. Got it. Well, now I know there's also
five and a half million in immediate disaster assistance to
Gaza and over $32 million for UNRA's emergency humanitarian----
Ms. Power. Okay. Right.
Senator Van Hollen [continuing]. Appeal.
So just a couple questions. You know, in order for this
U.S. commitment, as you've pointed out and others, this is the
most vetted money in the world. Obviously a penny's not going
to go to Hamas, which is a terrorist organization, but we
shouldn't--you know, the Palestinian people shouldn't have to
suffer needlessly and so we do not have a current U.S. mission
director, I think, in place in Israel, is that right?
My understanding is that the USAID mission director
position for the West Bank and Gaza is open.
Ms. Power. I believe someone's just arriving----
Senator Van Hollen. Just arriving?
Ms. Power. Yes.
Senator Van Hollen. All right
Ms. Power. Well timed.
Senator Van Hollen. That's good news for the hearing. So,
you have somebody landing now?
Ms. Power. Yes.
Senator Van Hollen. Going to be the new director? Great.
The other thing, if you could just--obviously assistance is
only as successful as its ability to receive the intended
recipients. If you could keep me and the subcommittee posted on
the extent to which the entry points at Araz and Karim Shalom
are open.
As you know, one is the primary entry point for people, the
other for commercial traffic, and there have been reports
recently that it's been difficult to get relief supplies
through. I don't know if you've followed those reports, but if
you could just keep me and anyone else interested sort of
notified on an ongoing basis during this period of the ability
to get emergency relief through. Could I get your commitment to
do that?
Ms. Power. Absolutely, sir, yes.
Senator Van Hollen. Thank you.
With respect to UNRA, as you pointed out, there's the
emergency funding that's coming through, and UNRA, I think most
people know that we're talking about UNRA funds not just in
Gaza, West Bank, but also Jordan, Lebanon, other countries,
right?
Ms. Power. Yes.
Senator Van Hollen. Is it the policy of this administration
that the United States will return its commitment to UNRA to
the levels that we provided before the Trump administration?
Ms. Power. Senator, I actually do not know what is in the
discretionary budget request only because that comes through
the State Department. So, I don't have an answer to that but
can get back to you later today even.
Senator Van Hollen. If you could, that'd be great.
Ms. Power. Sure.
Senator Van Hollen. I hope we will return to our prior
levels of commitment to UNRA.
Let me ask you about Sudan. I think the Chairman may have
mentioned that he took a trip, we took a trip together to Sudan
and the UAE a couple weeks ago, and I heard some of your
testimony about the really important transition taking place in
Sudan from the brutal dictatorship to an effort to transition
to democracy and all the challenges that entails.
Everyone was optimistic and positive about the current path
but also recognized that this is a difficult path and are
really hoping to enlist the full support of the United States
in this effort.
One of the major issues on the agenda was the $700 million
that has been pledged by the United States and I don't think
I'd be telling you anything you didn't know if I didn't say
there was some level of frustration in Khartoum about the fact
that that money had not been clearly committed or identified.
Could you give us an update today on the status of the 700
million?
Ms. Power. I can. We have a spending plan as an
administration that will be forthcoming soon.
Part of the challenge, understanding their impatience, is
the fragility of the transition; but we are going from zero to
60 in this relationship very, very quickly, just as they are
attempting to go from dictatorship to democracy.
So, we just want to make sure that we're faithful to the
needs to prevent waste and even to say duplication is probably
not right in this context but just making sure the money's
going to be well spent and so what USAID is doing already is
moving very aggressively on working to build capacity in
various ministries.
It sounds like you didn't hear much about that, moving very
aggressively to meet the COVID-related humanitarian needs which
are on top of the pre-existing needs, also knowing that the big
question for any transitional democracy is does it deliver
supporting on the social service, the kind of social safety net
side of things, just that as they make these tough economic
reforms that people don't feel the bite of that to the extent
that they otherwise would, and so we are supporting programs in
that domain.
But in terms of some of that size, it has taken, I think,
the administration sometime to pull that plan together. So, I
hope to be in a position, I and my colleagues, to share it with
you shortly.
Senator Van Hollen. Okay. And I do want to be clear, they
were very positive about, I think, $30 million for the Ministry
of Justice programs.
Ms. Power. It's more.
Senator Van Hollen. No, and some of the other programs that
are in place, but I think for the large balance of the
commitment,----
Ms. Power. Yes.
Senator Van Hollen. Yes. If you could let us know as----
Ms. Power. Yes. And again it's not going to all come at
once, right. These are programs that are going to be run over a
long period of time, but we really want to take advantage of
the political will that is there, also strengthen civil society
and its ability to be able to continue to hold these
institutions accountable as we build capacity.
Thank you, though.
Senator Van Hollen. Thank you.
Senator Coons. Thank you, Senator Van Hollen. It was
wonderful traveling with you to Sudan and the UAE and the
issues you've just raised are ones I've also raised with the
Administrator and I join Senator Van Hollen in expressing an
eagerness and enthusiasm for seeing that plan soon.
The new USAID Mission Director for Sudan was just arriving
as we got there, someone I've met in two other countries
previously, very seasoned and very capable, and my real hope is
that we'll see that plan and it'll move forward quickly because
this is a fragile transition to democracy.
In terms of aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank,
one specific program I wanted to draw your attention to is the
Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act. I worked
with Senator Graham and others on that in the last Congress. It
authorizes $250 million over 5 years to fund people to people
programs between Palestinians and Israelis and to facilitate
joint economic ventures.
I wondered if you could briefly mention to us what the
status is of the implementation of this program.
Ms. Power. Thank you. Well, I'm very excited about this
program because I think, as the recent conflict is just the
latest reminder of the more we can do to strengthen people to
people ties and to foster reconciliation the better.
I believe, and again I'm relatively new to my job, just a
few weeks in, but I believe that there's some administrative
steps that just have to be taken in terms of creating an
advisory council, but we are already looking to see again how
that money that this subcommittee has generously appropriated,
how that money will be spent and how we can expand those
programs cross line and just to ensure again that the
polarization that persists and widens, including with
misinformation but also as a result of such traumatic
experiences, like those that people have just gone through,
that those are followed at least by programs where people get
to see their shared humanity and I think that's what
Congresswoman Lowey had in mind.
Senator Coons. Indeed. One of the challenges of the
pandemic, as you referenced, is that we've gone backwards in
terms of development progress in dozens and dozens of
countries. Countries that were already struggling with weak
governance, food insecurity, conflict, and human displacement
are now more fragile.
One of the bills that I worked on with Senator Graham in
the last Congress that's now law is the Global Fragility Act.
It was actually passed December 2019. That is a tool to
reorient our U.S. Government approach to addressing the drivers
of violence and extremism with development and diplomacy in the
lead and defense in a supportive role. Congress has already
appropriated $360 million for implementation.
I'm looking for an updated list of target countries and
regions for this strategy which essentially takes our success
over several administrations and over more than a decade with
Plan Colombia and tries to take that sort of coordinated
development and diplomacy first sustained partnership approach.
I do think it's a great tool to advance some of this
administration's big picture goals: post pandemic
stabilization, combating climate change and bolstering climate
resilience, and promoting good governance.
Do you have a sense for me on the timeline for which we
might see the final determinations for this year?
Ms. Power. I can't be specific, but I will say that I know
that we are very close to finalizing the list. I will also say
that our missions around the world are ready to go when that
list is finalized, and I think there's, you know, as we've
talked about in the past, a desire to ensure some global
diversity in that, but, of course, above all to make sure that
we're advancing the objectives of the bill that you have
shepherded through to passage.
So, I hope to get back to you soon.
Senator Coons. I look forward to that.
One of the main challenges facing our world that you
identified and that I spoke about at the outset is climate, the
change in our climate or, as Senator Whitehouse calls it,
``climate weirdness,'' ways in which we've seen the climate
change all over the world.
I'll never forget a trip with Tim Rieser and Chairman Leahy
to Colombia where we got to see the direct impact on the Kogi
peoples who live in the mountains just above the Santa Marta
Mountains just close to the Caribbean coast in the North
shoulder of Colombia.
USAID has long had critical programs that promote and
protect biodiversity, protect things like tropical forests, and
promote renewable uses of energy. There's lots of success
stories, but I think the overall global picture is somewhat
ominous.
How do you anticipate USAID being able to help countries
reduce emissions and adapt to rising temperatures? Are there
specific countries or priority subject areas where you would
like to see some of the increased investment in USAID focused?
Ms. Power. I'd say a few things. I mean, because of the
damage that climate change is already doing to so many of our
partners internationally, an enormous area of focus by
definition is adaptation and I think you'll see in the
discretionary budget request a desire to really scale the
investments we make in adaptation, but analogous to COVID,
which we hope will be time-bounded, unlike climate change,
climate change is touching absolutely every single part of what
USAID does around the world.
And so, as you know, some of the most important adaptation
work will go on in the area of food security and in the area of
taking the innovation and the insights of scientists and the
insights of farmers who are struggling themselves in this
country with drought or with flooding, for that matter, and
just making sure our missions are very--this gets back to being
nimble, but able to take those insights and embed them in
programming very swiftly.
As our knowledge improves and as actual innovation occurs
that actually allows us to mitigate some of the damage of this
spike in temperature. So, I think that's part of it and I think
the part I'm emphasizing.
Then, of course, we have plans to accelerate the transition
to net zero emissions I think in at least 20 partner countries
and I can get you the names of those countries if you want
them. I don't have them offhand.
Alongside this, though, we have programs in reforestation,
you know, reforesting 20 million hectares by 2025. I think
what's really important about Secretary Kerry being in the role
that he is as the Special Envoy for Climate is that he's also
traveling the world and using our diplomatic might along with
Secretary Blinken and, of course, President Biden himself, but
to ensure that at the highest levels of governments the signals
are sent throughout that curbing emissions is not optional for
any of us.
So again, I just put the sort of three dimensions of it is
mainstreaming the set of concerns through all our programming
and making our programming more resilient. Our democracy
programming, you know, we're supporting civil society actors
that are climate and environmental activists.
As just one additional example, there's adaptation and how
can we ensure that hurricanes do less damage to communities and
then there's transition to clean energy of the kind that we're
undertaking here domestically and that we seek to partner with
other countries to accelerate internationally.
Senator Coons. Two last points, if I might. First, I'm
hoping that we will have conversations about diversifying some
of the partners that USAID has had over time.
Within Delaware, there's the University of Delaware and
Delaware State that have real expertise in contagious disease
threat and crop resiliency work. There are obviously
universities in many States across this country that bring
great skills to the fore.
In the decade I've served on Foreign Relations and the
years I've served here on Appropriations, I've had the
opportunity in different countries to see the lasting impact of
programs that Chairman Leahy championed, including the War
Victims Fund and demining efforts.
I've had the joy of sitting down with African dictators and
having to deliver the news to them that because of Leahy Law
vetting some of their prize military units were no longer going
to be able to work with the U.S. Government, which is a moment,
a clarifying conversation in some cases.
I look forward to carrying forward these and other
priorities of the Full Committee Chairman.
The Development Finance Corporation has done two things
recently that I think are really encouraging. In Ethiopia,
there was a telecom bid and the Chinese competed. However, the
alliance of essentially Western-oriented providers, open
society providers, won, in no small part because the DFC put
$500 million into the deal.
The ability to ramp up vaccine production, including with
Aspen in South Africa, has in no small part been facilitated by
DFC engagement.
I want to make sure that it remains the Development Finance
Corporation and that USAID doesn't just have a seat at the
table but helps really drive it and that there is a real
relationship between the field staff around the world who know
the development needs of our partners in other countries and
this powerful new tool. So, I look forward to working with you
on that.
My last question to you would be one of the goals that
those of us who worked on the BUILD Act had, which was that we
would coordinate with our development partners around the
world, including with the South Koreans, the Japanese, the
Nordic countries, the EU, and the U.K., although they are now
diminishing in some ways their development roles, but other
countries that have DFCs.
What's your view of our potential to actually demonstrate
to the developing world, what more transparent, better finance,
that has better labor standards and better environmental
standards is as a development alternative to some of our
competitors who are offering, I would argue, debt-trapped
diplomacy and lower standards. How do you see the challenges of
actually coordinating with some of our allies around the world
as we seek to provide financing opportunities for things like
cleaner energy solutions or better infrastructure solutions for
the developing world?
Ms. Power. Well, that's a complex question or a question
with a complex answer, I suppose, but in brief, first, let me
say a word about our British friends because I do want to
mention that they have stated their intention to get their
funding back up as soon as possible and so we're hopeful that
this is a hit to global financing for humanitarian development
assistance that will be short term and, of course, they are
still pursuing important priorities in education, gender, and
global health. So, I did want to get that on the record, given
their strong commitment over such a long period of time.
As it relates to other development partners, one of the
enjoyable parts of my job up to this point, short-termer though
I have been so far, has been reaching out to my development
ministerial counterparts around the world. Also, there are
people running development ministries I haven't yet had a
chance to talk to who are newcomers to this field.
For example, the Israeli Government, we have just, a couple
years ago, signed an MOU with the Government of Israel on
development cooperation and I read, as I prepared for this
hearing, about one of the fruits of that partnership in
Guatemala where the Israeli Government has just shared with
those farmers who are most vulnerable to the changing climate,
rainwater catchments, if I have the technical term, 46 of them.
There was a big ceremony where the Israeli Ambassador and the
American Ambassador to, I believe it was, Guatemala
participated in that.
That's just a small inroad there, but you can imagine,
given Israel's own experience in the climate that it inhabits,
how much it has to offer in the realm of innovation
development, development finance, and drought-resistant crops
and the like, but there's lots to be done there.
In the recent bilateral meeting between President Biden and
the President of Korea, there was also mention of the need to
move out cooperatively with those two ministries, our two
ministries, the USAID and Korea's Aid Ministry working together
to think up projects about what we can do together.
You've seen some of the Gulf States getting much more
involved in terms of humanitarian assistance and development
assistance. I think more communication, more collaboration on
the front end could be really interesting as to where a
partnership, for example, with the Emiratis' or others may go.
So, there's a lot of leverage there if we pool our
resources to try to secure the kinds of policy changes we're
looking for and there's potentially a lot of assistance.
Last point I'd make, as I know it's so close to your heart
because of all you've done to get the BUILD Act passed and to
get the Development Finance Corporation in place and especially
given your mention of the telecom deal in Ethiopia, is that
USAID has a lot of comparative advantages.
The U.S. approach to development is one that is much more
attractive to communities around the world. Just the fact that
we want these countries to be self-reliant rather than to be
indebted to us, that we believe in accountable governance and
the Rule of Law. Whatever a particular government leader is
doing, somewhere in their mind, even if they're backsliding,
they are aware that the private sector runs away from the kind
of lawlessness and impunity that unfortunately appears to be
ascendant in certain countries.
So, the fact that the DFC is there bringing finance to bear
and creating the specter of private sector investment, which is
what countries want. If they had to choose between humanitarian
assistance and private sector investment, it's not a choice.
So I just want to underscore to you that in my time at
USAID working with DFC, building out our own ability to partner
with the private sector as I've described, even in emergencies
like that in India and South Asia right now, I think there's
far more we can do to build out these sources of financing and
I really think it meets people where they are around the world.
Senator Coons. Well, thank you, Administrator Power. I know
we've kept you quite a long time. I could literally keep
talking with you about this for hours, and I look forward to
doing so as you get further grounded in the agency and
leadership and connected to your partners around the world and
as we get more details about the President's budget.
ADDITIONAL COMMITTEE QUESTIONS
There are a number of Members who wanted to participate but
were engaged in other hearings that we're having at the same
time. So, for that reason, we'll leave the hearing record open
until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 1st, for the submission of
written requests either for Administrator Power or for written
testimony from the USAID Office of the Inspector General.
[The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but
were submitted to the Agency for response subsequent to the
hearing:]
Questions Submitted to Hon. Samantha Power
Questions Submitted by Senator Christopher Coons
Question. In addition to your global responsibilities, we have
discussed the important role you have in demonstrating how our
investments in international development benefit the American people.
Two major universities in Delaware, DSU and UD, have tremendous
expertise in issues like crop resilience and contagious disease
threats.
Will you work to bring more U.S. and local institutions into the
fold by diversifying USAID partnerships, including with American
universities?
Answer. USAID values the unparalleled research capacity the U.S.
universities bring to our food security, nutrition, and resilience
efforts through the Feed the Future Innovation Labs. There are
currently 20 Innovation Labs supported by over 70 U.S. colleges and
universities, which include 15 Minority Serving Institutions, in 36
States plus the District of Columbia. We anticipate awarding three new
Innovation Labs by the end of fiscal year 2021 which will provide
additional opportunities for university partnerships.
These university-led agricultural research programs partner with
developing country researchers, the private sector, industry, and
others to address current and future challenges posed by climate change
and the need to feed a growing global population with safe and
nutritious food. At the same time, the Innovation Labs are committed to
training the next generation of scientists who can research and develop
solutions to their own country's food security challenges.
USAID's U.S. university investments also benefit America's farmers
and ranchers, who are essential to national, economic, and food
security, both at home and abroad.
--For example, in Michigan, the largest bean producing State, our
university partners developed a high yielding, disease
resistant black bean variety. The increased value to growers is
estimated at $10 million per year.
--And USAID's University-based research to combat a sorghum pest has
saved the industry an estimated $760 million and brought an
additional $360 million to the U.S. economy.
The University of Delaware has been a collaborator on the Genomics
to Improve Poultry Innovation Lab since 2014. The lead researcher, Dr.
Carl Schmidt, is identifying genes and genetic markers associated with
Newcastle disease resistance in three unique chicken populations in the
U.S. This highly infectious and deadly viral disease cost California
over $180 million in Federal funds to eradicate an outbreak in 2002-
2003.
USAID recognizes the importance of diversifying our partnership
base. In October of 2020, the Agency launched a 2-year pilot program,
the Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Partnership Initiative, to forge
new partnerships and increase substantive linkages between USAID and
communities that have been traditionally under-represented in foreign
affairs. This program will result in Memoranda of Understandings
between USAID and MSIs to include Delaware State University, across
various technical sectors including food security, conflict
stabilization and others to be determined.
Lastly, USAID's university-led programs recognize the value of
partnering with the private sector to ensure that their innovations are
designed to meet market needs. These include Birdsong Peanuts; the
National Sorghum Producers; Corteva Agriscience, the Michigan Bean
Commission; The Kroger Company; and Mars, Inc. The private sector is
also a partner in the development and/or delivery of Innovation Lab
innovations. Current partnerships include:
--HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology in Alabama is assisting the
Peanut Innovation Lab to genetically map groundnut (peanut)
rosette virus resistance.
--aWhere in Colorado is providing weather data to support gene-
environment interaction analysis for the Soybean Innovation
Lab's Pan-African soybean variety trial program.
--Tillers International in Michigan is working with the Sustainable
Intensification Innovation Lab to sustainably intensify
smallholder farmers' cropping systems and on-farm operations
through appropriate mechanization in Burkina Faso.
--Meridian Biotech in Texas is working with the Fish Innovation Lab
on replacing fishmeal with single cell proteins in tilapia
production in Zambia.
--WorldCover in New York is working with the Markets, Risk and
Resilience Innovation Lab to promote resilient agricultural
growth with area revenue index insurance in Ghana.
Question. The pandemic has made the world more fragile as it has
exposed and exacerbated challenges like weak governance, food security,
conflict, and displacement. Senator Graham and I worked with a number
of Members on this subcommittee to pass the Global Fragility Act in
December 2019. To date, Congress has appropriated $360 million for the
implementation of this legislation. I hope you see this tool as one way
to advance the administration's big picture goals of post-pandemic
stabilization and recovery, bolstering climate resilience, and
promoting good governance.
When can we expect target countries and regions for the strategy to
be announced?
Answer. I agree that the Global Fragility Act provides the U.S.
Government an opportunity to further transform the way diplomatic,
development and defense agencies collaborate to address the root causes
of violence and instability.
In March, the NSC launched a review of the 2020 Global Fragility
Strategy (``U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability'')
to ensure the Strategy aligns with Biden administration priorities to
support U.S. partner nations coping with challenges intensified by the
confluence of the COVID-19 pandemic, global economic crisis, and
climate change to avert and manage violent conflict. Building on the
robust analytical work undertaken by the interagency, the NSC convened
3 workshops with experts and the interagency; reevaluated the key
indicators of fragility informing the development of a short list of
potential countries to select; and agreed on an interagency process to
select at least 5 countries or regions in this first round. In
addition, USAID has drafted an introductory framework that--in addition
to presenting a view of ``fragility'' that acknowledges that
vulnerabilities exist globally and are not limited to one continent or
region--outlines how the additions of gender and climate will impact
the interagency work going forward.
The NSC is continuing intensive consultation with Departments and
Agencies in order to reach consensus on what countries/regions will be
selected for Strategy implementation.
Question. We all watched the devastating violence in the Middle
East that came to a head last week. I appreciate the Biden
administration's efforts to broker a ceasefire. As we make sure Israel,
like any country, maintains the right to defend itself, the House and
Senate SFOPS subcommittees want to work with you to ensure the swift
delivery of humanitarian aid to support the Palestinian people. It is
critical that we rebuild our relations with the Palestinians, and that
we redouble efforts to restore confidence-building measures and begin
to cultivate trust between Israeli and Palestinian communities.
Understanding that the situation is fluid, how are you planning to
approach this challenge, and what types of USAID assistance do you see
being the most necessary to help the Palestinians?
Answer. After the absence of U.S. assistance and engagement with
Palestinians over the last few years, USAID is prioritizing
opportunities to engage directly with Palestinian people to rebuild
relationships and regain confidence in the USG as a trusted partner. As
part of the Biden administration's commitment to restore funding to the
Palestinian people, on March 25, 2021, the U.S. announced the
resumption of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people with
$15 million to address the COVID-19 pandemic and food insecurity in the
West Bank and Gaza. In response to the recent violence, USAID is also
providing an additional $5.5 million in emergency health, protection,
and multi-purpose cash assistance in Gaza.
In addition to humanitarian assistance, working with Congress,
USAID intends to provide $75 million in development and economic
assistance over the next year that will support relief and recovery in
the West Bank and Gaza. This funding will advance private sector growth
and economic recovery, re-engagement with Palestinian civil society,
and access to basic needs and services, such as healthcare.
USAID is also, along with the State Department and the
International Development Finance Corporation, currently developing
implementation plans for advancing the goals of the Middle East
Partnership for Peace Act (MEPPA). USAID will be leading on
implementation of the MEPPA People-to-People Partnership for Peace
Fund, which will provide funding to qualified organizations that help
build the foundation for peaceful co-existence between Israelis and
Palestinians and for a sustainable two-state solution. This will
complement the DFC's Joint Investment for Peace Initiative and its
efforts to develop the Palestinian private sector. While MEPPA and
USAID's ongoing reconciliation work will not focus on Gaza recovery,
both include a focus on building people-to-people relationships, which
over time works to lessen tension and violence. It is this type of work
that begins to build confidence between communities and cultivates the
trust necessary to build the constituency for peace.
I want to assure you that, as we do around the world, the United
States is providing this aid to the Palestinian people of the West Bank
and Gaza through experienced and trusted independent partners on the
ground, who distribute this emergency assistance directly to people in
need, not through government or 'de facto' government authorities. Our
humanitarian partners in the West Bank and Gaza have aggressive risk-
mitigation systems in place that help us ensure U.S. taxpayer-funded
humanitarian assistance is reaching those for whom we intend it--the
women, children, and men most in need of life-saving assistance. And as
part of our risk-management approach in the West Bank and Gaza, USAID
implements a robust vetting process to prevent USAID's funds and
resources from inadvertently supporting individuals or entities that
are terrorists, support terrorists, or are affiliated with terrorists.
______
Questions Submitted to Hon. Samantha Power
Questions Submitted by Senator Patrick Leahy
Question. Given the terrible COVID-19 outbreak in India and the
consequences this is already having on neighboring countries including
Nepal, what is being done to help Nepal, and are you looking at ways to
increase vaccine access?
Answer. Through USAID, the U.S. Government is delivering on our
promise to stand with the people of Nepal as they fight a devastating
second wave of COVID-19. The U.S. Government has mobilized over $50
million in assistance since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to
combat the crisis in Nepal. Of this amount, USAID has programmed $30
million for commodities and technical assistance over the course of a
year. On May 20, 2021, USAID mobilized the first of numerous planned
emergency COVID-19 assistance flights to Nepal. At the request of the
Government of Nepal (GoN), USAID provided these urgently needed
supplies to the Ministry of Health and Population to ensure that they
reach healthcare facilities across the country as fast as possible.
USAID's COVID-19 assistance to Nepal has reached more than 60
percent of the population. This includes working alongside other donors
to support the World Health Organization (WHO) in expanding Nepal's
COVID-19-testing lab network from a single lab to 87 to ensure
nationwide coverage. USAID has also provided Nepal with more than
786,000 pieces of essential equipment, including COVID-19 testing
equipment, oxygen cylinders, pulse oximeters, PPE for healthcare
workers, disinfection supplies, thermometers, arterial blood gas
machines, and other life-saving medical equipment.
The United States has stood shoulder to shoulder with the people of
Nepal for more than 70 years. Today, as one of the largest health
sector donors, USAID has a strong and collaborative partnership with
the GoN to save lives and improve the quality of life of all Nepalis
through equitable and well-governed health systems. Our decades of
shared progress better position Nepal to fight the global health
challenges of today, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rapid spread of COVID-19 has demonstrated that no nation can
act alone against a global pandemic. We must vaccinate as many people
as possible, as quickly as possible. In partnership with the global
community, USAID is accelerating global access to COVID-19 vaccines.
The U.S. is the single largest donor to COVAX, the COVID-19 Vaccine
Global Access initiative. To date, our support represents nearly half
of the commitments to the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment, which
pools demand and funding to help low- and lower-middle income countries
access COVID-19 vaccines.
Thanks to bipartisan congressional support, the U.S. has
contributed $2 billion to COVAX to support the purchase and delivery of
COVID-19 vaccines to 92 low- and middle-income countries. This
contribution will support safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for the
world's most vulnerable and at-risk populations, including frontline
healthcare workers. In March 2021, COVAX delivered the first shipment
of 348,000 SII-AstraZeneca (COVISHIELD) vaccines to Nepal. COVAX has
allocated 1,920,000 vaccine doses for Nepal.
Question. After a year of relative success in controlling the
spread of COVID-19, Vietnam is experiencing a significant outbreak.
What can be done to expedite vaccines to Vietnam, a country of 90
million people?
Answer. USAID has built upon our long-standing cooperation in the
health sector to strengthen Vietnam's capacity to respond to the COVID-
19 pandemic. The United States has contributed over $13 million and 100
ventilators to help Vietnam in its fight against COVID-19, including in
the areas of surveillance, laboratory system strengthening, biosafety/
biosecurity, emergency management and operations, workforce development
and training, zoonotic diseases, infection prevention and control, and
risk communication and community engagement.
The rapid spread of COVID-19 has demonstrated that no nation can
act alone against a global pandemic. We must vaccinate as many people
as possible, as quickly as possible. In partnership with the global
community, USAID is accelerating global access to COVID-19 vaccines.
The U.S. is the single largest donor to COVAX, the COVID-19 Vaccine
Global Access initiative. To date, USG support represents nearly half
of the commitments to the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment, which
pools demand and funding to help low- and lower-middle income countries
access COVID-19 vaccines. Both USAID and Embassy Hanoi have received
requests from the Government of Vietnam (GVN) for vaccines and vaccine
assistance, and we are coordinating to ensure that the GVN's requests
are fully considered in future vaccine distributions. To date, Vietnam
has received 2,493,000 vaccine doses through COVAX.
As of late May, USAID has also planned that the first tranche of
American Rescue Plan Act funds will include funds for COVID-19 support
to Vietnam, which will also support vaccine readiness. The timeline for
those funds is still changing, but Vietnam remains a priority because
of the surging cases.
Question. Funding for climate change must be a key priority going
forward after 4 years of denial by the previous White House. There is
so much that USAID is being called upon to do, but if we don't stop
global warming the challenges USAID is facing today will be minor
compared to what lies ahead.
Are you looking at ways to reorient your budget to prioritize
climate change programs? If so, how?
Answer. Yes, USAID has committed to developing a new Climate
Strategy to be released in November 2021. The new Climate Strategy will
guide USAID's efforts to target climate change resources strategically,
ramp up climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, and further
integrate climate change considerations into international development
and humanitarian assistance programs across all sectors. Our
forthcoming strategy and programming decisions are also informed by
USAID's extensive field presence and deep in-country networks, allowing
the Agency to align resources to the most effective solutions on the
ground. We are also involving all bureaus and inviting all missions to
contribute to shaping the new strategy; we have a de facto task force
of USAID technical staff contributing to it, and a newly established
Climate Change Leadership Council guiding its development.
We are also working closely with the interagency on an fiscal year
2023 budget request that supports the United States' recommitment to
fighting climate change by increasing investments in adaptation and
resilience, renewable energy, and sustainable landscapes.
Question. Is USAID part of a whole-of-government climate change
strategy and if so, what does your piece of the strategy look like?
Answer. Yes, USAID works closely with the interagency as part of a
whole-of-government approach to climate change.
In coordination with the interagency, USAID is developing a new
Agency-wide climate strategy and a Climate Finance Action Plan to guide
our efforts as an Agency, within the context of the broader U.S.
Government-wide plans. USAID's new strategy will guide the Agency's
efforts to target climate change resources strategically, ramp up
climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, and further integrate
climate change considerations into international development and
humanitarian assistance programs across all sectors. USAID also plays a
key role in other strategic frameworks, such as the first-ever U.S.
International Climate Finance Plan.
Under the new Global Climate Ambition Initiative, which was
launched at the Leaders Summit on Climate in April, USAID and the State
Department will co-lead efforts to support developing countries to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions to meet the goals of the Paris Climate
Agreement. USAID will also support developing countries to improve
resilience to climate impacts and disasters, including by strengthening
implementation of their National Adaptation Plans.
USAID's bilateral climate programs and partnerships complement and
enhance the efforts of other Agencies by leveraging our extensive field
presence and trusted relationships with local government partners at
all levels. For example, USAID has a long history of strong
partnerships with the Department of Energy's National Laboratories.
This allows USAID to leverage state-of-the-art science and technology
in our long-term institutional capacity building and energy sector
reform efforts with partner countries.
Question. I strongly support the administration's decision to
resume aid to the Palestinians. Cutting it off was foolhardy and self-
defeating, in my opinion, and I know many others share that view.
What do you see as the way forward for USAID, especially given all
the legal constraints Congress has imposed on getting aid to the
Palestinian people? What can you do within those constraints, and what
do you plan to do--especially in Gaza?
Answer. With the funding that has been announced by Secretary
Blinken and appropriated by Congress, USAID is working to address the
clear humanitarian and development needs for the people of the West
Bank and Gaza. For more than a decade, USAID's work in Gaza has
primarily been with the United Nations (UN) and international NGOs in
order to ensure that funds are provided directly to the Palestinian
people. USAID is currently providing over $20 million in humanitarian
assistance to support some of the most vulnerable communities in the
West Bank and Gaza, including $5.5 million in emergency health,
protection, and multi-purpose cash assistance in Gaza in response to
the recent violence, as well as $15 million to support emergency food
assistance and COVID-19 response in the West Bank and Gaza.
Additionally, USAID is working with Congress on utilizing the $75
million in fiscal year 20 ESF funds appropriated by Congress for
programs that will focus on three main themes: economic recovery from
COVID-19, meeting basic needs, and re-engaging Palestinian civil
society. A portion of these funds will support the East Jerusalem
Hospital Network and respond to the immediate needs of the recent
humanitarian crisis in Gaza. For further Gaza efforts, USAID also plans
to identify the most critical WASH infrastructure needs to coordinate
and repair systems to restore access for thousands of Gazans.
USAID is also working closely with the International Development
Finance Corporation (DFC) and the Department of State to implement and
advance the goals of the Nita M. Lowey Partnership for Peace Act
(MEPPA). USAID will be leading on implementation of the MEPPA People-
to-People Partnership for Peace Fund, which will provide funding to
qualified organizations that help build the foundation for peaceful co-
existence between Israelis and Palestinians and for a sustainable two-
state solution. This will complement the DFC's Joint Investment for
Peace Initiative and its efforts to develop the Palestinian private
sector. As implementation begins, MEPPA will work to reduce tension and
the likelihood of violence over the long term.
Question. Are there things you think USAID should do to help
improve the lives of the Palestinians that would require action by
Congress to make possible?
Answer. USAID will continue to work with Congress to ensure that
the Agency's efforts to support meaningful and sustainable development
for the people of West Bank and Gaza support U.S. policy in the region.
In light of the many development needs--particularly in the areas of
WASH, broad economic development, and democracy, human rights, and
governance--we appreciate the opportunity to continue to engage with
Congress on how best to address them. If we identify development
objectives that are consistent with U.S. Government policy that would
require changes to existing U.S. law to realize, I would work with the
interagency and with Congress on the appropriate way forward.
Question. Afghanistan is on all of our minds and I want to
understand what the military withdrawal means for our aid programs
going forward.
What activities do you think USAID can realistically continue
supporting in Afghanistan, and what are your plans for trying to
protect the gains for Afghan women and girls if, as seems likely, the
Taliban continue to expand their control?
Answer. The USAID Mission and its implementing partners are well
experienced at delivering assistance effectively in the challenging
Afghan security environment. However, we must be clear that while the
U.S. will maintain its civilian assistance to Afghanistan to sustain
and build upon the gains made in the last 20 years, USAID operations
may become constrained depending on levels of violence and how the
peace process unfolds. The safety and security of our partners is our
primary concern.
USAID is conducting scenario based planning that accounts for
potential increased violence, pressure from non-government actors, and
increased humanitarian need. The USAID Mission in Afghanistan will
pivot development programming and adapt its humanitarian assistance as
needed to respond to changes in access to increase basic service
delivery, livelihoods, food security, and human rights, with special
emphasis on protecting women and girls.
USAID continues to support and advance the important social,
economic and political gains made by Afghan women and girls over the
last two decades. The Agency remains committed to standing with Afghan
women and will continue to work closely with the Afghan government,
private sector, and civil society organizations to robustly support
constitutional protections and progress made, including in elevating
women's voices in the peace process. In terms of humanitarian
assistance, USAID humanitarian partners are prepared to stay and
deliver life-saving assistance as long as they have safe access to do
so and can adhere to the humanitarian principles of neutrality,
impartiality, and independence. USAID humanitarian programs are
designed to be flexible, and USAID is prepared to work with
implementing partners and the humanitarian community in Afghanistan to
assess needs, security conditions, and risk levels to determine if and
how to adapt programming as needed. USAID recently announced $157.5
million in new humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan. Humanitarian
activities, including support for food assistance, nutrition,
protection, shelter, livelihoods, and water and sanitation, target
vulnerable populations in Afghanistan, including, but not limited to,
women and children.
Question. One of our long-term investments in Afghanistan is the
American University in Afghanistan (AUAF), a coeducational institution
with an American-style curriculum that is training Afghanistan's future
leaders. Do you agree that we should help AUAF continue to operate, as
long as the security conditions permit?
Answer. Since its inception in 2005, USAID has provided AUAF over
$150 million in direct funding. Additionally, USAID has invested
significant resources in helping AUAF improve its financial management
capacity and to address serious audit findings. On February 1, 2021,
AUAF signed a new, conditions-based cooperative agreement with USAID,
``Technical Capacity Building for the American University of
Afghanistan''. This agreement uses third-party management and
oversight, which allows the USG to support AUAF's progress on critical
fiscal and operational reforms. Work is already underway to provide
technical capacity building at the university. The success of this
partnership is dependent upon AUAF's willingness to work in close and
open collaboration with the third-party implementing partner and USAID
oversight personnel to implement recommendations.
USAID also is exploring options for an endowment to support higher
education in Afghanistan in alignment with USAID competitive
procurement processes. USAID is looking at various models, as the
operating environment in Afghanistan and structures of endowments in
the country are more complex than traditional endowments. USAID's
initial estimates indicate that such an endowment would need a
significantly higher principal investment to be large enough to
generate necessary returns. As specific funding levels for this
endowment were not included in fiscal year 2021 and prior legislation,
USAID continues to explore options for an endowment that would be
meaningful but also realistic amidst other funding commitments and the
security environment.
As is the case with all of USAID/Afghanistan's implementing
partners, USAID's Partner Liaison Security Office communicates closely
with AUAF's own Security Office on their ongoing security posture, both
as a result of COVID-19 and the recent troop withdrawal announcement.
The University's security was significantly scaled up and continues to
be heavily reinforced, with the support of USAID funds, since notable
security incidents occurred in 2016.
Question. Haiti is unraveling and billions of dollars in U.S. and
other donor aid have produced few sustainable results. There is talk of
elections, but the conditions for elections don't exist.
How has this crisis affected USAID's programs in Haiti, and how has
it affected people in Haiti who depend on USAID's programs?
Answer. The assassination of President Moise contributes to an
already chaotic situation in Haiti resulting from a confluence of
factors including a resurgence of COVID-19 infections, kidnapping
levels reaching unprecedented epidemic proportions, rampant gang
violence that has displaced more than 18,000 people and has interrupted
critical supply chains (including oxygen for hospitals), and a
shrinking economy. Haiti continues to be the only country in the
Western Hemisphere to not have received any vaccines to date.
Since 2019's country-wide protests known as ``peyi-lok'' or
``locked country,'' which effectively shut down all business and
schools in Haiti for 3 months, USAID has been able to mitigate a
majority of the challenges caused by the current political/security
crisis. USAID has shifted its programmatic approach to build the
capacities of Haitians, households, communities, and systems to
withstand various shocks and stressors, and broaden our programmatic
reach to include non-traditional and local actors. As a result of this
strategic adjustment, the current crisis is unlikely to prevent USAID
activities from reaching their programmatic indicators and objectives.
Due to rampant insecurity, USAID faces increased challenges with its
ability to conduct in-person activity monitoring and the cost of
programming has increased significantly due to security related costs
and increased recruitment incentives.
Question. Are you aware of a U.S. Government strategy to respond to
the dire situation, and if so is USAID part of the strategy?
Answer. USAID is fully integrated in interagency discussions on
addressing the near and longer terms concerns in Haiti. USAID is
promoting a multi-pronged approach to respond to the evolving situation
on the ground in Haiti. First and foremost, our assistance tracks
closely with the USG position that the Government of Haiti should
administer credible, free, and fair elections as soon as technically
feasible to end this period of presidential rule by decree and to
restore Parliament. To this end, USAID has re-oriented its electoral
assistance program to focus on critical pre-election activities. USAID
is providing $3.3 million to the Consortium for Elections and Political
Processes Strengthening, composed of the National Democratic Institute,
the International Republican Institute, and the International
Foundation for Electoral Systems, to support the upcoming presidential
and legislative elections.
USAID assistance does not support the constitutional referendum.
Question. The U.S. Government has spent billions to help Colombia
over the past 20 years, and USAID has been a big part of that. There
have been significant accomplishments, but the country is deeply
polarized and the situation is a far cry from what we had hoped for
after the peace agreement was signed in 2016. I have long believed that
a successful counterdrug strategy must focus on rural security and
rural economic development, but after 20 years that approach exists
more on paper than in practice. What is USAID doing to help make this a
reality?
Answer. U.S. assistance plays an important role in advancing Peace
Accord implementation, particularly in the areas of rural development,
ethnic and victims chapters.
Specifically, across 22 USAID programs, the Agency has contributed
over $125 million for the design and implementation of initiatives
within the country's Development Programs with a Territorial Focus, or
PDET territories as determined by the Colombian government.
USAID addresses key challenges related to rural economic
development like strengthening rural producer associations and value
chains; increasing access to financial services; promoting equitable
and secure land tenure. Land formalization is a cornerstone of USAID
efforts to reduce conflict and implement peace. We support the
Colombian government's land formalization and the substitution of
illicit crops activities in this regard. For instance, USAID is testing
the substitution of coca in over 13,000 hectares in exchange for land
titles, the issuance of over 20,000 land titles through the
formalization of land, the updating of the cadaster (land registries)
in 10 municipalities and the titling of schools and health centers to
trigger social investment and in creating 25 public private
partnerships that will mobilize $170 million to provide licit economic
opportunities. USAID has demonstrated that providing secure land title
and citizen security to rural farmers in former coca growing regions
greatly reduces recidivism (return to coca production).
Collaborating closely with the State Department, USAID will improve
rural security by fostering proven citizen-responsive security systems
and the continued building of rural community protections. Our efforts
are also focused on citizens' and communities' building productive
relationships with the police and other state actors. Another key focus
is on Afro-Colombian and Indigenous youth resilience to violence,
prevention and recruitment and increasing access for all citizens to
the Colombian justice system and other human rights protections.
Specifically, at-risk youth that includes former youth offenders;
disengaged child soldiers, and youth at risk of forced recruitment by
illegal armed groups. In summary, our programs seek to create
alternatives that will allow individuals to live and work in safe,
productive, healthy environments and become engaged participants in the
Colombian society.
USAID supports the Government of Colombia and civil society to
increase access to justice in violence-affected areas. In 45
municipalities, USAID strengthens Local Justice Systems to provide a
variety of justice services, ranging from mediation to legal
orientation on gender-based violence. USAID-supported mobile justice
brigades have served 20, 260 citizens in the past 3 years (around 68
percent women). USAID also focuses on justice for victims of Colombia's
conflict. USAID supports all three entities within the truth, justice,
and non-repetition system created by the Peace Accord--the Truth
Commission, Search for Missing Persons Unit, and the Transitional
Justice Court. This body will investigate, gather evidence and formally
bring charges and recommended sentences against former FARC members.
Lastly, this entity will ensure full participation of all individuals
victimized by the long-running conflict and will promote justice,
reconciliation and healing.
USAID's human rights programming also aims to improve rural
security. It focuses on prevention, protection, and response to human
rights violations, particularly attacks against social leaders, who
have an essential role to play in building a just and durable peace in
Colombia. Among other things, USAID strengthens the National Protection
Unit's individual and collective protection systems, the Ombudsman's
Early Warning System, and sub-national protection and prevention
systems.
In 2020, following a GAO recommendation, State/INL commissioned a
report from the RAND Corporation. That report called for a more
balanced, more holistic approach to U.S. Government counterdrug
assistance in Colombia, with greater emphasis on the development
aspects and indicators. The inter-agency is working to implement those
recommendations with new indicators and integrated programs. Further,
USAID is now pushing for a Colombian whole-of-government approach to
peace and counternarcotic in rural areas. USAID anticipates there will
be a high-level meeting of the Presidents, probably later this calendar
year, as a capstone to that negotiation.
Question. The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly exacerbated the global
hunger crisis, which was already on the rise due to an increase in
conflict and climate-related shocks. The World Food Program estimates a
record 235 million people will need food aid this year--an increase of
nearly 40 percent from 2020. In addition to food aid provided by USAID,
the development assistance provided by the U.S. Government's Feed the
Future Initiative and Food for Peace program are also critical for
global food security and nutrition.
--I understand USAID is currently updating its Global Food Security
Strategy (GFSS). What types of revisions can we expect? How is
USAID planning to incorporate climate change adaptation into
the strategy?
--Is USAID considering expanding the number of Feed the Future target
countries?
Answer. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is
leading an interagency effort to refresh and extend the multiyear
strategy, which guides the U.S. Government's Feed the Future
initiative, taking into account the evidence and lessons learned from
the last 4 years of implementation. The refreshed GFSS will also
account for the forces reshaping our global context, including the
COVID-19 pandemic, conflict, and climate change. Addressing the
immediate and long-term impacts of climate change underpins the
achievement of all GFSS objectives and the ability of people, systems,
countries and communities to sustain development outcomes. The updated
Strategy will support integration of climate risk management,
mitigation, and adaptation measures into existing and new activities.
In early October following the completion of the updated Strategy,
USAID will lead the interagency in a data-driven process to revisit the
current list of Feed the Future target countries. This process will use
quantitative and qualitative data, aligned to the selection criteria in
the Global Food Security Act, to balance ``level of need'' and
``opportunity for impact.'' While USAID anticipates this process may
result in an expansion of the current list of target countries; the
process for making these determinations will be done close consultation
with the interagency, congressional stakeholders and external partners
and may result in different recommendations.
Question. Billions of people lack access to safe drinking water,
and the prospect of widespread drought due to climate change threatens
to dramatically intensify this need. In fiscal year 2021, Congress
provided $450 million for water supply and sanitation projects.
How does USAID prioritize those funds? How are water and sanitation
projects adapting to new and increased threats due to climate change?
Answer. USAID prioritizes funds provided by Congress for water
supply and sanitation according to the guidance in the Paul Simon Water
for the World Act of 2014 (WftWA). Section Sec. 5(f)(1) requires
prioritization of countries based on a defined set of metrics and
criteria that target funds towards the geographies with the most severe
water and sanitation needs as well as the greatest opportunities for
impact. USAID conducts this analysis each year to directly inform the
annual designation of Water for the World High Priority Countries.
Water for the World High Priority Countries are the primary recipients
of water and sanitation foreign assistance. Of note, most of the
world's population without access to even basic water access live in
the 18 Water for the World High Priority Countries that were most
recently redesignated for fiscal year 2021: Democratic Republic of
Congo; the Federal Republic of Nigeria; the Federal Democratic
Republics of Ethiopia and Nepal; the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan;
the Republics of Ghana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia,
Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, South Sudan, and Uganda; and the
United Republic of Tanzania. Thirteen of those countries are in Sub-
Saharan Africa.
As of fiscal year 2021 USAID must consider how all funds for water
supply and sanitation will tangibly support climate change adaptation
or mitigation. USAID has issued updated funding and programming
guidance to missions and provided examples of innovative WASH and
climate programming along with ideas for indicators to measure results.
Building from the Agency's required Climate Risk Management process,
this includes elevating approaches that strengthen the climate
resilience of water and sanitation services and/or improve water
resources management for sustainable drinking water supplies to
safeguard against climate related shocks and stresses (floods,
droughts, sea level rise). For example, in the Philippines, USAID's
Safe Water Project is helping to improve water-related disaster
preparedness, increase the performance of water service providers, and
protect and rehabilitate watersheds that supply water for municipal
systems. By helping utilities and local authorities integrate climate
considerations in water-system engineering designs, improve monitoring
of watersheds to enhance flood and water supply forecasting, and
bolstering financial planning for environmental shocks, this activity
is addressing urgent water needs while supporting adaptation to new
threats due to climate change. Additionally, USAID activities that
program water and sanitation foreign assistance are working to minimize
greenhouse gas emissions through innovative approaches, including the
use of renewable energy for pumping drinking water.
Question. How is USAID ensuring equity in providing access to water
and sanitation for vulnerable people?
Answer. The primary recipients of U.S. water and sanitation
assistance are USAID's 18 Water for the World high-priority countries.
The selection of these countries is conducted in a way that
intentionally emphasizes those that face the most severe equity
challenges and are home to the most vulnerable people. This ensures
that access to water and sanitation is targeted to provide access to
water and sanitation for vulnerable people. In fact, while only 18
countries were designated in 2021, these countries were home to the
majority of the world's population without even basic water access.
Illustrative selection metrics that help target support to
countries with maximum opportunity to impact vulnerable people include
consideration of:
--The number of people without access to basic water or sanitation in
the Needs Index, and prioritizing those countries with larger
unserved populations.
--The existence of policies that specifically consider WASH services
for women, and prioritizing those countries that do not have
such policies to provide support.
--The availability of WASH services in schools and healthcare
facilities, recognizing that the absence of these services
disproportionately negatively impacts women, and prioritizing
those countries where women are most impacted by the lack of
these services.
These metrics, along with others used throughout the process, help
ensure that support is targeted to the countries that are home to the
most vulnerable populations. This process allows USAID to advance the
Water for the World Act's guidance to ``provide sustainable access to
clean water and sanitation for the world's most vulnerable
populations.''
In addition to prioritizing an equitable investment approach
through the designation of Water for the World high-priority countries,
USAID provides a suite of water and sanitation technical guidance
materials for Missions and implementing partners to sharpen
programming, which include, for example, the publically available
Gender Equality and Female Empowerment in WASH technical brief, as well
as guidance on how to engage people in vulnerable situations in water
and sanitation governance activities, and the humanitarian-development
nexus. These materials are used by Missions as they design, implement
and monitor water and sanitation activities. For example, USAID's
Indonesia Urban WASH PLUS (IUWASH PLUS) program is providing the
government with technical assistance and support to roll out national
Gender Responsive Budgeting (PPRG) in seven cities and districts,
enabling improved tracking of water and sanitation funding that
benefits women and girls. n In Ghana, USAID's support of locally
produced, low-cost latrine upgrades has enabled increased access to
sanitation for people with disabilities, the elderly, and others who
have difficulty using pit latrines, while also providing sales- and
installation-related employment opportunities for those who are
traditionally underemployed, such as women and youth.
Question. The last administration spent significant time
reorganizing the Agency. You have spoken of the need to strengthen the
Agency and invest in the workforce, and the budget request reflects
additional Foreign Service and Civil Service positions. What additional
steps do you plan to take to strengthen USAID's ability to respond to
future crises, whether the next pandemic, famine, or another
humanitarian catastrophe like Syria?
Answer. Given the critical importance of development and
humanitarian assistance in advancing U.S. interests around the world,
USAID is revitalizing its workforce to advance the Agency's mission and
national security priorities. USAID is investing in a diverse workforce
and seeking to increase the size of our Civil Service and Foreign
Service workforce. Increasing USAID's workforce expands and strengthens
its presence, partnerships, and programs, including for humanitarian
assistance, global health security, combating climate change, and
mission critical support functions. While the Agency seeks to increase
the career workforce as a percentage of its overall workforce, we must
also improve non-career employment opportunities that have relied on
program funds. Specifically, increasing the percentage of non-career
employees with direct hire status will strengthen recruitment,
retention, and equity across the workforce.
Investing in our people also means expanding and strengthening
professional development and learning opportunities while strengthening
leadership skills. USAID must also build on the successes of its Staff
Care employee assistance programs that support its employee's physical
and mental well-being with services that promote well-being, work-life
balance, and organizational resilience. Underpinning efforts to
revitalize the workforce is our focus on diversity, equity, inclusion,
and accessibility. I am committed to building a talented and diverse
workforce that reflects our Nation and builds inclusive work
environments. USAID is also building the Agency's comprehensive
workforce planning capabilities that help make sure the Agency is
posturing our workforce for the future.
Some of the Agency's specialized efforts to strengthen USAID's
ability to respond to future crises, including pandemics, famines, or
humanitarian catastrophes include:
--As part of USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance's (BHA)
reorganization, the Agency developed a Bureau-wide
comprehensive workforce planning process to ensure that the
Bureau is appropriately staffed to maintain operational
readiness globally. This includes establishing a new Foreign
Service Officer Backstop for humanitarian assistance with clear
career opportunities that will increase the integration and
alignment of relief to development efforts in our overseas
Missions. With increased career workforce levels, USAID will
ensure that the new bureau's core positions are encumbered with
career employees (both Civil Service and Foreign Service).
USAID's staffing plan seeks to support up to eight Disaster
Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) in the field and
corresponding Response Management Teams (RMTs) in Washington
without sacrificing support to ongoing programming.
--USAID is investing in employee skills and readiness to respond to
current and emerging humanitarian crises. Through an ongoing,
data-driven ``21st Century Response Project,'' USAID is
refining its Response Management System to more efficiently
support large-scale responses with different mission sets,
including long-term complex emergencies, transitional
humanitarian responses, infectious disease response, and
emergent crises such as rapid-onset natural disasters.
--The pandemic highlights the importance of operational readiness
across the Agency. As a result, USAID has consolidated
structures, systems, and operations for any continuity or
emergency events. The Agency established the Critical
Coordination Structure (CCS) in the Bureau for Management to
reinforce the Agency's resilience and readiness, allowing the
workforce to rapidly and effectively carry out USAID's mission,
even under emergency conditions. For example, the CCS developed
the COVID-19 Workforce Safety Plan and Workplace Guidelines,
administered vaccinations for the mission-critical workforce,
and facilitated workforce reentry plans. CCS also helps
implement emergency preparedness procedures and policies at the
onset of an emergency, which reduces operational and workforce
disruptions.
______
Questions Submitted to Samantha Power
Questions Submitted by Senator Dick Durbin
Question. As we wind down military operations in Afghanistan, I
remain gravely concerned about the cycle of violence and the future of
the women of Afghanistan. I appreciate USAID's investments that have
achieved significant gains in this area, but understand we will need to
continue to sustain that as part of the future relationship between our
countries. The American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) has played a
significant role in the advance of Afghan women in business, civil
society and government. It also remains one of the few environments in
the country where men and women can interact on an academic and social
level, underscoring AUAF's commitment to promoting equality for all
genders and mutual understanding between male and female students from
provinces throughout Afghanistan. Over the past three fiscal years,
Congress has provided robust long-term assistance for AUAF in the form
of an endowment to secure its legacy. What are your plans to ensure
AUAF has long-term support in the form of an endowment so that the
Afghan women and men who study there are protected as we wind down
military operations in Afghanistan?
Answer. I wholeheartedly agree with the importance of maintaining
the significant development gains made in Afghanistan over the past 20
years and USAID is fully committed to continuing assistance programs to
the maximum extent possible in the wake of the withdrawal of U.S.
troops. This includes continued investments in the education sector.
Since its inception in 2005, AUAF has received over $150 million in
direct funding from USAID. Additionally, USAID has invested significant
resources in helping AUAF improve its financial management capacity and
to address serious audit findings. USAID is exploring options for an
endowment to support higher education in Afghanistan in alignment with
USAID competitive procurement processes. USAID is looking at various
models, as the operating environment in Afghanistan and structures of
endowments in the country are more complex than traditional endowments.
USAID's initial estimates indicate that such an endowment would need a
significantly higher principal investment to be large enough to
generate necessary returns. As specific funding levels for this
endowment were not included in fiscal year 2021 and prior legislation,
USAID continues to explore options for an endowment that would be
meaningful but also realistic amidst other funding commitments and the
changing security environment in light of the US military retrograde.
As is the case with all of USAID/Afghanistan's implementing
partners, USAID's Partner Liaison Security Office communicates closely
with AUAF's own Security Office on their ongoing security posture, both
as a result of COVID-19 and the recent troop withdrawal announcement.
The University's security was significantly scaled up and continues to
be heavily reinforced, with the support of USAID funds.
Question. We will also need to do more to support the many Afghans
who helped the war and civilian development effort and now face threats
to their lives. For example, recently the Chicago Sun Times featured an
effort by Chicago-native Marine Major Thomas Schueman to help with one
such Afghan interpreter who saved his life and many others.
What are your plans to shore up investments in Afghanistan, when it
comes to health, education, civil society, and women and girls
empowerment, as well as to ensure Special Immigrant Visa assistance to
those Afghans who risked their lives to help the US?
Answer. I wholeheartedly agree with the importance of supporting
Afghans who helped with the war and civilian development efforts and
who now face threats to their lives. We are coordinating closely with
the State Department which has the lead on Special Immigrant Visas on
the civilian side.
USAID intends to provide development assistance in Afghanistan to
promote inclusive economic growth, support women's empowerment, fight
corruption, enhance conflict resolution mechanisms, and bolster civil
society and independent media. The troop withdrawal announcement does
not change USAID's priorities. In particular, USAID remains committed
to continuing support for Afghan women, children and minorities. USAID
will continue activities that build the resilience of Afghan women,
including support for women's access to education, economic and
political participation, and building the capacity of women-focused
civil society organizations to advocate about women's critical role in
society. We appreciate congressional support and welcome continued
collaboration.
We fully recognize the security environment in Afghanistan may
change. USAID provides assistance in insecure environments all over the
world. We are actively planning for a number of scenarios in which we
would continue to provide assistance to Afghanistan and implement
conflict-sensitive approaches to reconciliation and development to
protect the gains made to-date, and further strengthen essential
services for Afghan citizens. Critical humanitarian assistance will
continue to be provided to those most in need, especially for the most
vulnerable.
SUBCOMMITTEE RECESS
Senator Coons. And with that, this hearing is hereby
adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:52 p.m., Wednesday, May 26, the
subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene subject to the call of
the Chair.]