Judd Gregg: “I had the fortunate opportunity to travel to Africa and South America over the Easter recess, and I want to take a…”

“I had the fortunate opportunity to travel to Africa and South America over the Easter recess, and I want to take a moment to share some of my observations with my colleagues. Mali receives significant U.S. foreign assistance totaling $45 million in fiscal year 2007, $55 million in fiscal year 2008--and $461 million in Millennium Challenge Corporation, MCC, funding. While Mali appears headed in the right direction, I worry that the MCC is going down the wrong path, specifically by funding a $90 million renovation project for Bamako airport's runway and terminal. I understand that this project may have been formulated through a consultative process, but it seems to me that it should be funded through the African Development Bank or by private investment. I expect the MCC to justify to the State, Foreign Operations Subcommittee the necessity for U.S. taxpayers to fund the airport project, and to consult on the reprogramming of funds required by the derailed $90 million industrial park project. The funding disparity and contrast between our traditional development agency--the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID--and the MCC was glaring in Mali. Where USAID--could benefit from a slight increase in overall funding, the MCC was struggling to determine how best to reprogram $90 million.”