On the recordApril 4, 2017
I would add that we give foreign aid, and it is good for those countries, but it is also good for us. It also helps us. If there is a drug problem in Central America, it inevitably comes up to our border. If there is some problem with some developing country, say, we have a disease that could--Ebola or something like that, and we give money to help eradicate it, well, that will prevent Ebola from coming into the United States. So it is really a win-win situation. Again, if we are going to be the leaders of the world, certainly of the free world, and we want other countries to follow our lead, well, if you are a leader, you have to lead. What we are doing is in our own best interests, not only just in the other countries' best interests. I think it is important to say that. And it is important to, again, say, 1 percent--1.4 percent of our total budget is all the foreign aid and all the money that we give in terms of eradicating diseases, in terms of crime, in terms of everything that is actually very important to us as well. The American people think it is much higher, but it is not. So if you take the President's slashing of it, it would virtually make all of this impossible to do. So it is a program that is a win-win situation.
