Jerry Moran: “let me respond a bit to my friend, the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Burton]. I certainly have no criticism of the…”

“let me respond a bit to my friend, the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Burton]. I certainly have no criticism of the statement by Ms. Shelton, who is a professional of great integrity, and particularly under the recent circumstances, I would not want to say anything in the least bit critical. I do not think that there is any question but that that is an absolutely accurate statement. However, it does not necessarily imply irresponsibility or ``nonsense,'' I think is the word that the gentleman from Indiana used. The U.S. Agency for International Development has been under the gun to make sure that their money is spent as carefully as possible so that there is full, complete accountability. In order to do that, it oftentimes requires that you delay grants, that you delay the money that is put out in the field until you get exactly that kind of project that you want. I think their concern was that there are a lot of countries in great need of assistance who are not getting that assistance because of the conscientious attitude that they have taken. When you look at the child survival programs, for example, or the micro enterprise programs, they require a lot of analysis, a lot of staff people making sure that that money is spent well. I suspect, though, that you would have at least as many detractors if the money had not been spent when you look at the need throughout the world, particularly in the developing countries.”