House Democrats urged President Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio to lift the foreign assistance freeze mandated by an executive order from earlier this week, cutting off most U.S-funded foreign development projects around the world.
The Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), the ranking member of the House National Security, Department of State and Related Programs (NSRP) Appropriations Subcommittee, penned a letter to Rubio, asking him to remove the pause which placed lives “at risk” and “undermines American leadership and credibility around the world.”
“Foreign assistance is not a handout; it is a strategic investment in our future that is vital for U.S. global leadership and a more resilient world. It directly serves our national interests and demonstrates our credibility to allies, partners, and vulnerable people who rely on American assistance for survival,” the pair of Democrats wrote in a two-page letter on Friday.