The Republican Congress Wastes Billions Overseas

by Rep. Ron Paul, MD
Before the US House of Representatives, July 20, 2005

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this foreign
relations authorization bill. Something has gone terribly
wrong with our foreign policy when we feel we must take
almost 21 billion dollars out of the pockets of the American
taxpayer and ship it overseas. Imagine what the Founders of
this country would say if they were among us to see this
blatant disregard for the Constitution and for the founding
principles of this country. This bill proceeds from the view
that with enough money we can buy friends and influence
foreign governments. But as history shows us, we cannot.
The trillions of dollars we have shipped overseas as aid,
and to influence and manipulate political affairs in
sovereign countries, has not made life better for American
citizens. It has made them much poorer without much to
show for it, however.

Now we have a Republican-controlled Congress and White
House, and foreign spending soars. It was not that long ago
when conservatives looked at such cavalier handling of US
tax dollars with consternation. Now it seems that they are in
a race with the Left to see who can spend more.

What is wrong with this bill? Let me just mention a few of
the most egregious items. In the name of promoting
“religious liberty” and “fighting anti-Semitism” this bill
will funnel millions of dollars to the corrupt Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and its
Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
(ODIHR). This unaccountable international organization is
at the forefront of the manipulation and meddling in the
internal affairs of other sovereign states, and has repeatedly
dishonored itself through politically-biased monitoring of
foreign elections. The OSCE does not deserve a penny from
the American taxpayer, but this bill will make sure that the
lavishly paid bureaucrats that staff the organization will be
able to maintain their standard of living at our expense.
With regard to religious liberty, privately funded voluntary
organizations have been shown to be much more effective in
promoting tolerance. This is mainly true because these are
true grassroots organizations with a stake in their countries
and communities, rather than unelected international
bureaucrats imposing politically correct edicts from above.

This bill spends a total of four and a half billion dollars on
various United Nations activities, UN peacekeeping, and
US dues to various international organizations. Forcing the
taxpayer to continue to underwrite these organizations,
which do not operate in our best interests, is
unconscionable.

This bill continues to fund organizations such as the
National Endowment for Democracy, which as I have
written before has very little to do with democracy. It is an
organization that uses US tax money to actually subvert
democracy, by showering funding on favored political
parties or movements overseas. It underwrites color-coded
“people’s revolutions” overseas that look more like pages
out of Lenin’s writings on stealing power than genuine
indigenous democratic movements. The NED used
American taxpayer dollars to attempt to guarantee that
certain candidates overseas are winners and others are
losers in the electoral processes overseas. What kind of
message do we think this sends to foreign states? The
National Endowment for Democracy should receive no
funding at all, but this bill continues to funnel tens of
millions of dollars to that unaccountable organization.

I am also very concerned about several of the amendments
to this legislation. First, the extremely misleading UN
“reform” act was slipped into this bill even though it was
already passed on the floor as a separate bill. As I have
written about this terrible legislation, “it will give the
United Nations unprecedented new authority to intervene in
sovereign states.”

Another amendment will create a chilling “Active Response
Corps,” to be made up of US government bureaucrats and
members of “non-governmental organizations.” Its purpose
will be to “stabilize” countries undergoing “democratic
transition.” This means that as soon as the NED-funded
“people’s revolutionaries” are able to seize power in the
streets, US funded teams will be deployed to make sure they
retain power. All in the name of democracy, of course.

Mr. Speaker, this is a shameful day for the US Congress.
We are taking billions out of the pockets of Americans and
sending the money overseas in violation of the Constitution.
These are billions that will not be available for investment
inside the United States: investment in infrastructure, roads,
new businesses, education. These are billions that will not
be available to American families, to take care of their
children or senior relatives, or to give to their churches or
favorite charities. We must not continue to spend money
like there is no tomorrow. We are going broke, and bills
like this are like a lead foot on the accelerator toward
bankruptcy.