Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRANE. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer amendment No. 8 as the designee of Mr. Biggs of Arizona.

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Mr. CRANE. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to speak in support of this amendment that eliminates nearly $39 million in funding for the United States Institute of Peace.

This institute funds programs located in several adversarial nations, including China, Pakistan, and Russia.

Their mission is to combat violence and promote peace through education. However, the institute covers issue areas such as gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and climate policy--hardly topics related to peace between nations.

The United States Institute of Peace claims to prioritize U.S. national security while using U.S. funds to counsel and mitigate feuds with known enemies of the United States.

The expenses of this institute, whose mission would be better accomplished by nonprofits, charities, and religious groups, is an undue burden on the American taxpayer.

Mr. Chair, I urge the passage of this amendment to prevent this unnecessary funding, and work toward getting our fiscal house in order.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. CRANE. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer amendment No. 10 as the designee of Mr. Biggs of Arizona.

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Mr. CRANE. Mr. Chair, I rise this morning in support of this amendment, which eliminates nearly $3 million in funding for the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, salaries and expenses.

This funding goes towards functions such as gender equality, and there has even been a Gender Action Plan, a Gender Unit in the Secretariat appointed a special representative to the Chairperson-in- Office on gender issues.

The work of this Commission would probably be better done by an independent think tank than by a congressionally funded Commission. With the current debt of the U.S. being $33 trillion, we must look for ways to cut unnecessary spending. The work of this Commission is not unique to it and similar consolation, if necessary, could be found in third-party sources that do not affect the already distressed national debt.

Mr. Chair, I urge passage of my amendment to prevent this unnecessary funding and work toward getting our fiscal house in order. I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. CRANE. Mr. Chair, I rise this morning to offer my amendment to the State and Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriation Act which would reduce funding for USAID by 50 percent.

USAID was established over 60 years ago with the noble intention of fostering the advancement of the developing world, a goal that could benefit the United States by creating new trade partners and stable neighbors. Unfortunately, current budget allocations at USAID indicate a shift toward a social and cultural agenda that caters to the radical priorities of woke global elites.

USAID has become a front for unelected bureaucrats to impose woke nonsense and harmful agendas across the globe, all on the U.S. taxpayers' dime. We shouldn't continue to fund this organization that aims to undercut American values and objectives.

Cutting USAID's funding by 50 percent would dramatically conserve taxpayer resources otherwise wasted abroad on programs that do little to nothing to advance American interests. In fact, our core interests are instead undermined by these programs that include climate change alarmism and wasting money on ridiculous studies and programs that promote distorted gender ideology.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this amendment to prevent American tax dollars from being wasted on an Agency bent on sabotaging our best efforts around the globe. I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. CRANE. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Gaetz).

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Mr. CRANE. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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