Foreign aid

“ This brings us to the rest of the Foreign Aid program—and to the great fallacy that underlies it.
Increasingly, our foreign aid goes not to our friends, but to professed neutrals—and even to professed enemies. We furnish this aid under the theory that we can buy the allegiance of foreign peoples—or at least discourage them from “going Communist”—by making them economically prosperous. ”

“ America and many other nations are also determined to turn the tide against global poverty by taking a new approach to economic development. It is now our policy to increase foreign aid to those governments that are serious about fighting corruption and improving education, health care, and economic opportunity for their people. Modern history teaches that honest governments that invest in their people and promote economic freedom can lift millions out of poverty and despair. ”

“ We will examine what is working, what is not working, and whether the countries who receive our dollars and our protection also have our interests at heart.
Moving forward, we are only going to give foreign aid to those who respect us and, frankly, are our friends. And we expect other countries to pay their fair share for the cost of their defense. ”

“ They defend and support the annual foreign aid package that involves both military and economic assistance to Israel and have advocated increased foreign aid budgets to ensure that these funding priorities are met. ”

“ In September the United States Congress approved funds for emergency balance-of-payments assistance as the first step in this initiative. I also attach great importance to the 1983 fiscal year package of foreign assistance. But our goal is not a temporary boost from foreign aid. Our goal is to help our neighbors strengthen democratic institutions and free economies that stand on their own. We need long-term incentives to expand production and create new jobs. ”

“ We shall continue to attract foreign tourists and investments to our shores, to seek increased military purchases here by our allies, to maximize foreign aid procurement from American firms, to urge increased aid from other fortunate nations to the less fortunate, to seek tax laws which do not favor investment in other industrialized nations or tax havens, and to urge coordination of allied fiscal and monetary policies so as to discourage large and disturbing capital movements. ”

“ In 1956, when President Eisenhower requested an appropriation of $4,860,000,000 for foreign aid, he asked Congress to authorize foreign aid commitments for the next ten years. Congress refused the ten-year plan. In 1957, the internationalists' ideal of a permanent authorization for foreign aid was wrapped up in the Development Loan Fund scheme. ”

“ In each of the situations we have mentioned so far—situations where some evidence exists that Foreign Aid has promoted American interests—there is a common denominator: in every case, the recipient government was already committed to our side. We may have made these nations, on balance, stronger and more constant allies, though even that is debatable. ”

“ Our efforts to help other new or developing nations, and to strengthen their stand for freedom, have also made progress. A newly unified Agency for International Development is reorienting our foreign assistance to emphasize long-term development loans instead of grants, more economic aid instead of military, individual plans to meet the individual needs of the nations, and new standards on what they must do to marshal their own resources. ”

“ While duly thankful for the kind offer, they should remember that, under any circumstances, they should be careful not to put themselves into situations the requirements of which would oblige them to depend upon foreign aid, especially when such dependence involves obligations in return the extent of which it would be difficult to measure in advance. ”

“ The inter-ministerial coordination mechanism for foreign aid will play a more active role, and we will forge synergy at all levels, coordinate efforts by central departments, local governments and social organizations, pool premium resources, and enhance cohesion and efficiency. ”

“ The following statement, based on the allegations of the complaint, summarizes the situation before us: The complainant is 'a charitable organization engaged in relief work' which carried on its relief activities from 1942 to 1946 under a license from the President's War Relief Control Board. Thereafter, it voluntarily submitted its program, budgets and audits for inspection by the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid of the United States Government. ”

“ The Food for Peace program has served as an example for other countries which have joined the United States in the effort to provide food aid to needy people. It has served as a model for others to follow and continues to meet changing needs and situations.
The Food for Peace program has accomplished multiple objectives: to combat hunger and malnutrition abroad, to expand export markets for U.S.. agriculture, to encourage economic advancement in developing countries, and to promote in other ways the foreign policy of the United States. ”

“ We should have a good navy, and our sea-coast defences should be put in the finest possible condition. Neither of these cost much when it is considered where the money goes, and what we get in return. Money expended in a fine navy, not only adds to our security and tends to prevent war in the future, but is very material aid to our commerce with foreign nations in the meantime. ”

“ Provided further, That the authority to provide assistance under this heading is in addition to any other authority to provide assistance to foreign nations: Provided further, That the Secretary of Defense may transfer such funds to appropriations for military personnel; operation and maintenance; Overseas Humanitarian, Disaster, and Civic Aid; procurement; research, development, test and evaluation ”

“ Secondly, to live independently of foreign aids by being sufficiently elevated to procure all articles for subsistence in the productions of the spot, under a regimen of healthful labor and recreation; with benignity towards all creatures, human and inferior; with beauty and refinement in all economies; and the purest charity throughout our demeanor. ”

“ We shall need to continue some economic aid to European countries. This aid should now be specifically related to the building of their defenses.
In other parts of the world our economic assistance will need to be more broadly directed toward economic development. In the Near East, in Africa, in Asia, we must do what we can to help people who are striving to advance from misery, poverty, and hunger. ”

“ The actions we have taken in such areas as energy, trade, commodities, and international financial institutions are all important to the welfare of the developing countries. Another important way the United States can directly assist these countries and demonstrate our concern for their future is through our multilateral and bilateral foreign assistance program. The legislation which I will be submitting to you for FY 82 provides the authority and the funds to carry on this activity. ”

“ Institutions and arrangements of international finance must be so set up that they lend aid to the essential enterprises and continuous development of all countries and permit payment through processes of trade consonant with the welfare of all countries. ”

“ For many years now, our allies in Western Europe have devoted smaller portions of their national budgets to military forces than we have. The result is that the American people, in the name of military aid, have been giving an economic handout to these nations; we have permitted them to transfer to their domestic economy funds which, in justice, should have been used in the common defense effort. ”

“ Happily, there already exists, in the United Nations, the effective means for the channelling and administration of massive aid programmes free of these attendant dangers. Considerable progress has already been made in this realm, and we all have cause to be heartened by the ever-increasing role which the United Nations is playing in this field, a role which is financed by the contributions of those who, recognizing the validity of our fears, are prepared to accept this technique as a means of meeting them at no sacrifice to the advancement and enlightenment of the under-developed peoples. ”

“ So the willingness to work with government in a positive spirit, which the United Nations has so hearteningly evinced recently, has been put on hold by some donors who still think that aid is a political tool to advance their own interests. ”

“ We have the problems of food in­sufficiency, unemployment, rising prices, dwindling inter­national reserve, decreasing revenue collections, increasing budgetary requirements, and other problems of equal importance and urgency. But with faith and courage we will meet these problems and solve them to the satisfaction of our people.
Economic problems are not solved in a day, and foreign assistance does not immediately jump at the beck of oppor­tunity. We must, therefore, face the fact that we shall have to rely mainly on our own resources if we are to proceed with our development. ”

“ America is leading the fight against global poverty, with strong education initiatives and humanitarian assistance. We've also changed the way we deliver aid by launching the Millennium Challenge Account. This program strengthens democracy, transparency, and the rule of law in developing nations, and I ask you to fully fund this important initiative. ”

“ With other free nations, we should vigorously prosecute measures that will promote mutual strength, prosperity and welfare within the free world. Strength is essentially a product of economic health and social well-being. Consequently, even as we continue our programs of military assistance, we must emphasize aid to our friends in building more productive economies and in better satisfying the natural demands of their people for progress. ”

“ The United States is joining with the world to supply aid where it reaches people and lifts up lives, to extend trade and the prosperity it brings, and to bring medical care where it is desperately needed. ”

“ America has helped by providing tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid, and this week we contributed an additional $85 million through the United Nations. We have consistently called on all in the region to ensure that assistance reaches those in need. ”

“ Across the Earth, America is feeding the hungry — more than 60 percent of international food aid comes as a gift from the people of the United States. As our nation moves troops and builds alliances to make our world safer, we must also remember our calling as a blessed country is to make this world better. ”

“ International development assistance has from the start been an integral part of the peace process, with an aim to strengthen the socio-economic foundations for peace. This assistance today is more important than ever. ”

“ Relief and rehabilitation expenditures are increasing. It is imperative that we give all necessary aid within our means to the people who have borne the ravages of war. I estimate that in the fiscal year 1946 expenditures for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration will total 1.3 billion dollars and in the following year 1.2 billion dollars. Insofar as possible, procurement for this purpose will be from war surpluses. ”

“ The Congress hereby finds that the efforts of the United States and other countries to promote peace and security in furtherance of the purposes of the Charter of the United Nations require additional measures of support based upon the principle of continuous and effective self-help and mutual aid. ”

“ It also ha a bearing, albeit indirect, on the willingness of rich countries to provide development assistance to developing countries. Clearly, there is no simple correspondence between reduced defence spending and increased aid. ”

“ The active assistance of the people of this country in the supply of the money, men, and knowledge of the languages, customs and laws of the land, is the main-spring of the continuous life of the foreign administration. ”

“ Calls on the United Nations system and the international community, in particular donor countries, in cooperation with the Haitian authorities, to devise and support a renewed aid coordination system, which would focus on immediate needs as well as on long-term reconstruction and poverty reduction ”

“ The Union shall ensure that its humanitarian aid operations are coordinated and consistent with those of international organisations and bodies, in particular those forming part of the United Nations system. ”

“ It will be the duty of the commander of the forces of occupation to announce and proclaim in the most public manner that we come, not as invaders or conquerors, but as friends, to protect the natives in their homes, in their employments and in their personal and religious rights. All persons who, either by active aid or by honest submission, cooperate with the government of the United States to give effect to these beneficent purposes, will receive the reward of its support and protection. ”

“ Such international cooperation in relief measures would not only bring the financial assistance that does so much to relieve the sufferings of the victims and gives them new courage because of the consciousness of brotherly sympathy the world over, but the experience and knowledge of each and all as to methods of relief after various kinds of calamities, such as fires, earthquakes, famines, floods, and epidemics, could be available for the benefit of those in need of such aid. ”

“ The United States since the close of the war has sent over $100 billion worth of assistance to nations seeking economic viability. And 2 years ago this week we formed a Peace Corps to help interested nations meet the demand for trained manpower. Other industrialized nations whose economies were rebuilt not so long ago with some help from us are now in turn recognizing their responsibility to the less developed nations. ”