Financial Services and General Government and National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2026

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. MENG. Mr. Chairman, I thank Ranking Member DeLauro for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the 2026 Financial Services and General Government and National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act.

I thank Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart and Ranking Member Lois Frankel and their team for their hard work on this bill.

America is at a fork in the road in our international affairs. Over the past year, our soft power has been decimated. Millions of people in need have been recklessly cut off from vital assistance. Billions of dollars in lifesaving health and food supplies purchased by American taxpayers have been stranded in supply chains, or worse, destroyed. Thousands of public servants, including many of my own constituents, who dedicated their lives to protecting our country and projecting our soft power, were fired.

This bill isn't the one Democrats would have written if we were in the majority, but I want to share why I support it. First, it continues U.S. support for women around the world. Women are one-half of the world's population, but too many still face obstacles to economic opportunity, gender equality, and their fundamental freedoms.

This funding has been a core pillar of U.S. assistance since the 1950s, and it is lifesaving. Estimates suggest that each year, it prevents 17.1 million unintended pregnancies and saves the lives of 34,000 women and girls who otherwise would have died from complications of pregnancy and childbirth.

The UNFPA is a critical piece of that puzzle too. This bill ensures continued funding for international organizations, including UNFPA.

History has taught us that we cannot bury our head in the sand and abandon the international community without consequences for our own national security, and we certainly can't afford to leave women and girls behind. With this bill, this Congress is doing our part to make sure we don't.

Second, this bill protects U.S. leadership and taxpayer investments in global health, including scientific, medical, and agricultural research in my home State of New York.

It funds PEPFAR, which fights HIV/AIDS, well above the President's anemic request. Since 2003, this program has saved over 26 million lives. It also includes funding for programs that support the health of moms and children and fights other infectious diseases that know no borders, like tuberculosis.

Third, it takes steps to further protect American taxpayers from waste, fraud, and abuse perpetrated by this administration.

It maintains important directives on education, conservation, water, sanitation, and hygiene programs. It reins in the Trump administration and reasserts congressional oversight on the uses of funds by increasing transparency requirements. It includes provisions I championed to make sure lifesaving commodities and supplies purchased with U.S. taxpayer dollars can't simply be destroyed.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. MENG. Mr. Chair, while this bill won't right every wrong, it represents Democrats and Republicans reaching an agreement that asserts Congress' authority, pushes back against this administration's overreach, and stands up for proven policies that have made our country and world safer, stronger, and more prosperous.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source