Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. Chairman, the U.S. Institute of Peace gives people in conflict abroad the skills and techniques to solve their conflicts without resorting to violence.

The Institute owes its creation to the many men and women who came before us and worked hard in its creation during the Reagan administration. One of the early founders and board members at the start was Father Ted Hesburgh, who many in this body knew as the president of the University of Notre Dame. Father Ted, as we all called him, sadly, passed away in 2015.

Back in 2011, when the Institute was similarly threatened, he wrote this: ``. . . That Congress would seek to eliminate funding for the United States Institute of Peace is abhorrent and unthinkable.''

``. . . As a man of faith and reason, I know that we need to balance our budget. But I also know that you cannot balance a budget on the backs of our men and women in uniform. Nor can we take the risk of making our country less safe. We need the tools of diplomacy and peacebuilding to stop international conflict before it starts and to
manage its aftermath.''

Mr. Chairman, I include in the Record an op-ed Father Hesburgh wrote, dated February 27, 2011.

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