On the recordFebruary 16, 2011
I just want to also make something else clear. You know, one of the ironies of the way the U.S. Institute of Peace operates is that they are also in the grant-making business with U.S. taxpayer dollars, about $50 million. They actually use this as a defense for their practice. They say, Oh, wait a minute, Congressman. We pass along some of our money to other institutions. We understand there are other people that do our business. That's not their job. That should be the job either of an agency that they're contracted with, the Department of Defense or State, or Congress. Now we're saying that we need them to give money to other institutions. They, themselves, rebut what Mr. Jackson and what Mr. Berman were saying because they've identified universities and nonprofits. The gentleman from Minnesota is exactly right, that there are institutions that do this. According to--this was just a very cursory search. 151 peace study programs are underway now in colleges around the United States. Just maybe one of them can do this as well. Maybe the competition will help some. Maybe a couple of them can work together to maybe figure out ways to do this same work. The presumption that we have here on this floor, that there's something magical about the U.S. Institute of Peace's ability to do it, is what the gentleman from Minnesota is referring to. I even heard that introduced in evidence.
