Higginbottom to
Congress: We Retreat
from Development Work
'At Our Own Peril'
PUBLICATION INFO
PHOTO: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/CARE
WASHINGTON—CARE USA Chief Operating Officer,
Heather Higginbottom, told a congressional
committee today that “continued American
engagement in diplomacy and development is
essential in building a future worth having for
ourselves, our children, and our neighbors around
the world.”
Higginbottom, who served previously as US Deputy
Secretary of State for Management and Resources,
told lawmakers that foreign assistance has always
enjoyed bipartisan support and safeguards
American interests.
“History tells us, we a pay a little now, or we pay a
lot later,” she said. “In today’s interconnected
world…we should be doubling down on, not
weakening, effective, modern, and innovative
implementation of diplomacy and development.”
In testimony before the House Committee on
Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations, Higginbottom explained that US
global leadership has helped cut in half the number
of people worldwide living in extreme poverty and
slashed in half the number of women who die each
year during pregnancy and children dying before
their fifth birthday.
But she warned that the current administration is
likely to try to cut, or eliminate, vital life-saving
programs.
“Despite the clear and well-documented results [of
US foreign assistance], the President’s budgets for
fiscal years ’18 and ‘19 – and we fear once again
for fiscal year ‘20 – have proposed slashing
foreign assistance by 30 percent, cutting to the
bone and even amputating programs that provide
emergency food aid, alongside dramatic cuts to
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria,
PEPFAR, and efforts that build resilience, like Feed
the Future.”
“We are grateful that Congress has rejected these
cuts,” she said, but noted that the uncertainty
regarding funding has already done a great deal of
damage.
Read Higginbottom’s full testimony.
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