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

Floor Speech

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Mr. STEUBE. Mr. Chairman, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, also known as UNESCO, is incredibly corrupt and mismanaged.

This organization has a long history of anti-American bias and anti- Israel bias. They have even honored countries like China that consistently violate human rights.

My amendment ensures that no taxpayer dollars go towards funding UNESCO. We must ensure that funds appropriated by this Congress are used in the interest of the American people.

Why on Earth would we give American taxpayer dollars to organizations that hate America and favor our adversaries? President Trump was right to remove our country's membership in UNESCO. It is unconscionable that the Biden administration has chosen to rejoin UNESCO and, with that, pay over $600 million in back dues.

Funding UNESCO is the opposite of America first. This Congress should not provide a single dollar to organizations that seek to disparage America and their allies.

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Mr. STEUBE. Mr. Chair, we need to put America first. We need to fix the spending problem that we have here in Washington. We have $33 trillion in debt.

When I was first elected to Congress only 5 years ago, we had $21 trillion in debt; now we have $33 trillion in debt. We are running a $2 trillion deficit every single year to give money to an organization that is anti-American and anti-Israel. It is not putting America first. It is not putting the taxpayers' dollars to good use in this country.

Mr. Chair, I ask Members to support my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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