Ed Royce: “Firstly I would like to recognize the commendable spirit of the amendment because there are many countries throughout…”

“Firstly I would like to recognize the commendable spirit of the amendment because there are many countries throughout the world, many, where we have key interests that could use Millennium Challenge Account aid. But my concern is that this amendment by opening the door to so many middle-income countries, as the chairman said earlier, countries like Russia, countries like Turkey could actually qualify under that amendment, that would stretch the funds at the expense of the most impoverished, mainly in Africa. I serve as chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa. While the Millennium Challenge Account is rightly focused on developing countries in Latin America and in Asia too, we need to be aware that Africa is a continent in profound crisis. And while we have seen some positive developments, there is no getting around the fact that war and poverty and environmental degradation and so many other ills are devastating many African countries. Africa is the most impoverished continent in the world. It is the most economically marginalized continent in the world. With some 15 percent of the world's population, Africa does 1 percent of the world's trade. Many African countries stand on the precipice of political, economic, health, and humanitarian disaster.”