GOP Rep Says Some Foreign Aid Programs Are Worth Saving

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) advocated over the weekend for saving some foreign aid programs funded by USAID that he said help people around the world and provide a tremendous benefit for the U.S. by creating goodwill toward the U.S. amongst many of the world’s poorest countries.

McCaul made the remarks during a Sunday CBS News interview with Margaret Brennan when asked about some of the spending cuts.

He noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has already placed waivers on humanitarian assistance in PEPFAR, which he said was “the most successful global health program, initiated by President Bush.”

“The peace through food program dates back to the ’50s, after the Marshall Plan,” he said. “It is to provide stability in fragile, unstable countries. It is to counter Russia, China, and terrorism. It is our diplomatic power. Otherwise, we’re talking about bullets, as Mattis talked about, and Lindsey Graham.”

He said that there was a tremendous amount of waste being spent on bogus programs around the world, like drag shows in Ecuador, that he said should absolutely be cut.

“I can always speak to the program that President Bush started, and it was to save millions of lives,” he said. “That is probably one of the — been the best goodwill missions in the United States — and put the best face, no pun intended, on the nation, overseas, with our adversaries, countering them, with these people. We’re saving their lives.”

“The best global health program ever implemented by the United States was PEPFAR. I’d hate to see that go away,” he added. “It will sunset once we achieve the mission. However, programs like that, when you look at the National Security importance of USAID, need to be maintained. And I go back to why it was implemented in the first place.”