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Tillerson defends proposed cuts to U.S. diplomacy, foreign aid budgets

Source: Agencies | 00:09 UTC+8 June 14, 2017 | Online Edition

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday he stood by the Trump administration’s plan for steep cuts in the country’s diplomatic and foreign aid budget, as critics charged that such reductions would ultimately be harmful to America.

“I’m convinced we can maximize the effectiveness of these programs and continue to offer America’s helping hand to the world,” Tillerson told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a hearing.

Committee members spoke sharply against the Republican president’s plan to cut such operations by about one-third.

Congress sets the federal government budget, and Republicans who control both houses and Democrats have said they do not support such drastic cuts.

Senator Bob Corker, the committee’s Republican chairman, predicted major changes in Trump’s proposal as it made its way through Congress, saying, “The budget that’s been presented is not going to be the budget that we’re going to deal with. It’s not”

Senator Ben Cardin, the committee’s top Democrat, sharply denounced Trump’s plan.

“The budget takes a pennywise, pound-foolish approach that will cost lives and endanger Americans here at home,” he said, adding he was prepared to work with senators on both sides to “make sure nothing remotely close to this budget is enacted by Congress.”

Tillerson said a review of the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, to determine how to reorganize them, was under way and he expected to have a plan for reorganizing the State Department at the end of 2017.

The funding cuts in Trump’s plan for the fiscal year beginning in October would mark a stark decrease in non-military U.S. government engagement abroad as the administration pursues Trump’s “America First” world view.

Trump administration officials defend the cuts by saying the rest of the world must do its “fair share” as the United States retreats from its traditional spending abroad.

In all, the Trump proposal cuts about 32 percent from U.S. diplomacy and aid budgets, or nearly $19 billion.

Tuesday’s session was the first of four hearings for Tillerson this week that will be a rare chance for members of the Senate and House of Representatives to question the secretary of state. Tillerson has not testified publicly on Capitol Hill since his acrimonious confirmation hearing in January.

U.S. lawmakers are also expected to question him about conflicting messages from the administration about foreign affairs and links between the administration and Russia, including his own ties.

Separately, 16 retired senior generals and other ex-military officers said they would submit joint testimony to the Senate on Wednesday about the importance of foreign aid to national security.

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