Quote of the Day:
“It shall not be in order to consider any bill or joint resolution that appropriates foreign assistance for more than one country.” – Proposed House Rule H.Res.173
Politicians sneak unpopular schemes through on the back of sure-to-pass bills. DownsizeDC.org created the “One Subject at a Time Act” to change this. Now, there’s a new bill that could do the same thing for foreign aid legislation …a “One Nation at a Time” resolution!
If H.Res. 173 passes and Congress follows it, foreign aid spending will likely fall, especially “Aid to Dependent Dictators.” Foreign aid proposals for each country would be the subject of a standalone debate. As a result . . .
- You and I would have time to exert pressure on each one. Our action could secure cuts, or perhaps even defeat some of these bills.
- Some aid bills might never be introduced, because their proponents would know that they’re too controversial to pass on their own merits.
I used our campaign “End Aid To Dependent Dictators” to send the following letter telling my Representative and my two Senators to support H.R. 173, the “Foreign Aid Transparency Act.”
You may borrow from or copy this letter . . .
I oppose tax-funded foreign aid for several reasons . . .
- The Constitution you swore an oath to uphold makes no provision for it
- “Humanitarian” aid often fuels corruption in despotic, impoverished countries, without making anything better
- Military and economic aid to dictators breeds resentment of the U.S. among oppressed peoples
- Even aid to democratic countries is bad because it makes them look like U.S. puppets, and then we get blamed for everything they do
- In this era of record deficits, the U.S. simply can’t afford foreign aid
You should follow the Constitution by ending all foreign aid. Barring that . . .
You should at least make Congress more accountable for this spending. As Rep. Ted Poe says, http://poe.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=229777
“In typical Washington fashion, our foreign aid is voted on all at once in one massive blanket bill. We need to bring transparency and accountability to the process of approving foreign aid.”
That’s why you should support Rep. Poe’s H.Res. 173, the “Foreign Aid Transparency Act.” The Senate must also have an identical rule. This requirement would prevent any appropriation bill from providing aid to more than one country. Rep. Poe says, “It will change the rules so that members of Congress vote on each country — one at a time.”
We taxpayers have a right to know which criminals and tyrants Congress intends to reward with welfare checks using our money.
Failure to support this resolution will tell me that you don’t really care how my money is spent, or what the Constitution requires. I will remember these things.
You can send your letter using DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System.
And we invite you to follow us on Twitter.
James Wilson, Assistant Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
