Congressman Sires Remarks at Subcommittee Hearing on the Trump Administration’s FY 2020 Budget and U.S. Policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean

(Washington, D.C.) – Congressman Sires, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, and Trade, delivered today the following opening remarks at the subcommittee hearing on the Trump Administration’s FY 2020 Budget and U.S. Policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean:

“I have wanted to hold this hearing since the beginning of this Congress. Unfortunately, the former Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs refused to testify before this subcommittee, despite numerous invitations and requests. All recent Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretaries of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs testified multiple times before the House Foreign Affairs Committee during their tenures. It was a disservice to Congress, to the constituents we are elected to represent, and to those diplomats who served under Assistant Secretary Kim Breier, that she chose to stonewall Congress. It should go without saying but testifying before Congress is not optional. I am appreciative that Ambassador Kozak immediately recognized the importance of this hearing and I am encouraged that we have an Acting Assistant Secretary with such a distinguished record of public service.

The challenges facing United States leadership in the Western Hemisphere are immense. In Venezuela, the Maduro dictatorship has managed to cling to power, even in the face of a severe humanitarian crisis that it created. I commend the Colombian people and the Colombian government for their admirable response to the Venezuela crisis. I am proud of our diplomats and staff on the ground, who have worked tirelessly to promote a democratic transition and provide humanitarian support and development assistance to the Venezuelan people. That said, I am concerned about the impacts of this crisis, the longer it drags on, and I will be asking our witnesses today to provide a clear strategy for our Venezuela policy going forward. In the Northern Triangle, forced gang recruitment, extortion, domestic violence, poverty, and the impacts of climate change are among many factors forcing people to migrate north.

Unfortunately, under this administration, U.S. policy toward the Northern Triangle ignores that complex reality. In March, the Trump Administration announced draconian cuts of over 400 million dollars in U.S. assistance to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Administration officials reached this decision without consulting Congress or even assessing the impact of our assistance programs on migration flows to the United States. Since imposing those cuts, administration officials have coerced Northern Triangle governments into signing safe third country agreements, which aim to deny people who are fleeing violence the right to seek asylum in the United States. The Trump Administration seems to believe that we can stop migration by criminalizing desperation.

I strongly disagree with this approach. I believe that the U.S. must instead work as a partner to help create conditions so that Hondurans, Guatemalans, and El Salvadorans can see a future in their home countries. We must also reclaim our commitment to combating government corruption in Guatemala, an effort that the Bush Administration and bipartisan members of Congress long championed, but which this administration has backed away from. I am convinced that China’s increased presence in the region poses a threat to U.S. interests. However, cutting our foreign assistance to the region by nearly 30%, as this administration proposed in its budget request, will only worsen that problem. We will not overcome the challenge posed by China by cutting foreign assistance and strong-arming our allies. True alliances, based on mutual respect, are America’s comparative advantage over China. We need to deepen our engagement with the region in order to regain our competitive edge.

Moreover, if we are going to play a leadership role in addressing the many crises facing the region, we must be seen as an honest broker. We must call on Bolivian authorities to ensure the election results reflect the will of the people. We must stand in solidarity with the Haitian people, who are suffering under crippling poverty and are asking only that their political leaders finally start doing what they were elected to do. And we must continue to support brave activists in Cuba and Nicaragua who are demanding basic human rights, even in the face of severe repression. I look forward to a productive discussion on these and many other challenges in the Western Hemisphere. I hope we can all agree on a path forward for the United States to deepen engagement with our allies and advance our shared interests in the Western Hemisphere.”