Orrin Hatch: “once more we are engaging in the increasingly repetitive argument over whether the U.S. Senate should support one of our…”

“once more we are engaging in the increasingly repetitive argument over whether the U.S. Senate should support one of our country's most valuable tools of foreign policy--the National Endowment for Democracy. The Senate subcommittee zeroed out the administration request for $30 million for the Endowment, although the House of Representatives granted it full funding. Today, Senators Lugar and others are offering an amendment that will restore the Senate's support for full funding for the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and I encourage my colleagues to vote in favor of this amendment. Mr. President, I've been in this body for the entire history of the National Endowment for Democracy, and I make no reservations about my wholehearted support for this organization. My colleagues know I was an original supporter of the NED, and I am a stronger supporter today than I was then. President Reagan clearly summarized the NED's mission when he stated at its inception: The objective I propose is quite simple to state: to foster the infrastructure of democracy--the system of a free press, unions, political parties, universities--which allows a people to choose their own way, to develop their own culture, to reconcile their own differences through peaceful means. I believe that mission statement is as relevant to our goals today as it was in 1982, when the National Endowment for Democracy was founded.”