Congressional Hearing Review: FY 2011

Congress’s Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing today about “U.S. Policies and Programs for Global Development: USAID and the FY 2011 Budget Request.” Needless to say, USAID did not have a budget to request, which was mentioned in Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen’s opening statement. I have come to learn that Washington, D.C. is more of circus entertainment, rather than a conglomeration of competent individuals who actually have to serve the public’s needs and interests.

So, without an actual budget to base the hearing on, the questions were vague, long-winded, and uninformative. Nevertheless, Dr. Shah, Administrator of USAID, stated that “investments for future peace and prosperity” are directly related to “national security.” Seeming as if government uses “national security” as a crutch to explain all of its fiscal bastardization, Chairman Berman reaffirmed that “diplomacy and development” were key attributed to the transforming foreign policy of the new administration. Although the American people have to see this actual transformation, it’s a step somewhere, to say the least.