James Traficant: “every year we come to the floor and we sort of fight over this bill. There are Members in the Congress, and I do not…”

“every year we come to the floor and we sort of fight over this bill. There are Members in the Congress, and I do not judge their intentions or the quality of the work they do, but they try to gut and kill this bill each year. Let me say this, Mr. Chairman. Congress provides $15 to $20 billion a year, per year, in foreign aid. Congress provides another $200-plus billion, billion with a B, $200 billion plus to Japan, Germany, and Europe, and to our allies, where we help protect them from a world that has changed so much, I wonder why all that money is needed any more. We are talking about $2 billion over 3 years for American communities, $2 billion over 3 years, where many people have dirt roads, no sewer systems, very few jobs. This in unbelievable to me. Many of these Americans do not even have running water. To give Members an idea, we spend and give more foreign aid to Israel in 1 year than we provide for this whole bill for America in 3 years. Mr. Chairman, we give more foreign aid to Egypt in 1 year than we give to American communities that need help the most over a 3-year period. This is unbelievable to me, and unacceptable.”