On the recordFebruary 28, 2017
Mr. President, I know we are working through these nominations, and there is an important one before us now, but as we continue to debate it, I thought it would be a good time to talk about the overall function of the Federal Government and some of the important things it does. Today I had occasion to meet with individuals on behalf of the ONE organization. It is a fantastic group I learned about for the first time in 2010. I was running for the U.S. Senate, and a group of activists in black shirts with a round white symbol on the shirt that said ``ONE''--and I didn't know what it was. I thought it was maybe a protester or someone of that nature. They were very polite, and in the end they approached me and started talking about it. They are a group of supporters of global engagement on behalf of the United States, cofounded by Bono, the front man for the band U2, which I think is familiar to most people at this point. So they are here again today, and we had an opportunity to meet with them early this morning. Many of the Members around here perhaps have seen them visit around the Capitol. That brought to mind something I want to talk about today, and that is the broader issue of U.S. foreign aid, the State Department, and engagement in the world. Let me back up and tell you what I think I hear--that most people hear around here as well from a lot of people. This has been going on for a long time.…





