WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today released the following statement on President Biden’s FY2024 international affairs budget request:
“For the third year in a row, the Biden Administration has submitted a foreign assistance budget that is completely untethered from reality. Russia’s war in Ukraine has entered its second year, the Taliban’s assault on women and girls is accelerating, champions of freedom and democracy around the globe are under attack, and humanitarian needs have reached historic and unsustainable levels. The president’s budget says it prioritizes countering China, but that is just convenient branding for climate and ‘green energy’ programs that have nothing to do with prevailing in our competition with China. Simply put, he’s missed the mark.
“Thankfully, Congress can correct the administration’s mistakes by ensuring our national security and defense priorities are addressed in the FY2024 budget, including support for Ukraine and Taiwan in the face of Russian and Chinese aggression, combatting Iran’s malign activity around the globe, enhancing global health diplomacy and pandemic preparedness, and finding solutions to the record-breaking levels of illegal migration at the U.S. southern border. I look forward to working with my colleagues on these efforts in the weeks ahead.”
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