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Chris Coons is a United States Senator from Delaware, serving since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Coons has been involved in various Senate committees, focusing on issues such as foreign relations, judiciary matters, and small business. He is known for his advocacy on topics including military policy and legal transparency in government actions. Coons has also been active in promoting bipartisan efforts in the Senate.
So, if I understand you correctly, like most groups, it is made up of a variety of different splinter groups, some that are hardcore jihadists bent on international terror, others that, frankly, are local either clan or tribal groups that…
Would further bureaucratic delay in resolving these issues strike you as cruel and inappropriate?
I would be interested in your input, if I could--it is for my three questions here--first, about future planning, about how the United States can better assist the countries in the region, particularly here in the Horn of Africa, where the…
Particularly Food for Peace should be highlighted here because that is our food aid account, and that has been--there is a proposed cut of 30 percent of that budget.
We have done everything we can to restrict their opportunity to gain funding for their terrorist activities.
I would like to call to order today's hearing focusing on one of the most critical issues in the world today, responding to the drought and famine in the Horn of Africa.
Second, several of you have referenced threatened cuts to U.S. aid. The House has taken up the relevant budget and has proposed--I think Mr. Konyndyk suggested it was a 30-percent cut over last year, 50 percent over the year 2008 funding…
One other country in the region we have not referenced at all today is Eritrea, one of the most totalitarian regimes in the world.
I hear a common theme. Obviously there are both naturally caused or occurring climate-driven causes for this regional drought and famine, but also those that arise directly from al-Shabaab and its control of a significant area.
This is a children's crisis. The haunting images we have seen and the facts of this emergency speak for themselves.
the time is of the essence, that there are literally tens of thousands of children who are starving, and hundreds of thousands who are at risk of or are on the verge of starvation.
The U.S. contribution, while extremely generous and we recognize it as such, remains under half of what the Bush administration contributed in 2008.
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