Dianne Feinstein: “United States foreign assistance spending today is just eight-tenths of 1 percent of the budget with less than…”

“United States foreign assistance spending today is just eight-tenths of 1 percent of the budget with less than six-tenths of 1 percent going to humanitarian assistance and economic development. And yet, 2.8 billion people on this planet live in abject poverty-- getting by on $2 a day or less. That's less than a cappuccino at Starbucks. Close to 1 billion people are undernourished; 1.2 billion lack access to even safe drinking water; and 2.5 million do not have access to adequate sanitation. In the wake of September 11, I introduced a resolution to triple our foreign aid budget over the next 5 years, a resolution which was passed by the Senate just this week. So I was pleased when president Bush committed to increasing the United States foreign aid by an additional $10 billion over 4 years, beginning in 2004. The President is to be commended for this initiative. But although this additional funding represents a significant increase in foreign aid it is still well short of historic levels, and well short of the level I believe is needed to engage and win the war against terrorism.”