Mark Kennedy: “I rise to support the Millennium Challenge Account. My amendment deals with the manner in which countries are deemed…”

“I rise to support the Millennium Challenge Account. My amendment deals with the manner in which countries are deemed eligible on the basis of public health expenditures. The Millennium Challenge Account and the corporation which will be created to administer it will have three basic criteria for eligibility: nations will be required to rule justly, invest in their people, and encourage freedom. Those nations that qualify will be eligible for grants for projects involving the development of agriculture, education, health, trade and investment capacity. I have a concern about how this will actually work. The administration's plans calls for a country's investment in health to be measured solely on the amount of public sector expenditure. I worry that such a requirement may inadvertently provide an incentive to developing nations to rely exclusively on solutions in the public sector instead of seeking the energy and innovation of the private sector. This oversight might end up hurting fledgling market systems from developing. We need to make sure that we are encouraging nations to pursue private sector solutions to their problems whenever possible.”