Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise today to offer an amendment to the State Department and Foreign Operations appropriations bill deeply rooted in our commitment to responsible governance and the ethical stewardship of the American taxpayer as evidenced by the great work of Congressman Diaz-Balart. Amendment No. 75 seeks to prohibit American taxpayer humanitarian funding in Syria from indirectly supporting the murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad, a known war criminal. Current appropriations law has established that taxpayer dollars do not go to the Assad regime. Sadly, however, it has been well-documented that taxpayer dollars have reached the Assad dictatorship. In 2022, a study presented at the Middle East Institute in Washington revealed a disturbing reality. Nearly half of the United Nations' aid funds in Syria were funneled to companies directly related to the Syrian Government, entities associated with serious human rights abuses. This raises profound concerns about systemic flaws in the United Nations' aid delivery process in Syria, including the questionable awarding of significant contracts to high-risk suppliers. In their powerful op-ed published February 12, 2018, in The Hill titled: ``Assad's Syria plays dirty with U.S. humanitarian aid,'' esteemed former U.S. officials, former Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford and Assistant Leader Mark Ward, both of the Obama administration, have recommended a cessation of funding to U.N. agencies responsible for delivering aid to Syria.…”