| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
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unidentified
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Labor and Pensions Committee, live at 10 a.m. Eastern on C-SPAN 3. | |
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| Joining us to end this hour, Representative Jim Costa, Democrat from California, he serves the 21st District, also serves the Foreign Affairs Committee, talking about efforts on Capitol Hill. | ||
| And Representative Costa, one of those efforts, definitely taking a look at USAID and the future of foreign aid. | ||
| You serve on that committee. | ||
| What's the possibility of Democrats at least having some say as far as what happens to that future? | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, I hope we do. | |
| And I hope my Republican colleagues who I've worked with over the years, who I've traveled with in developing nations, who have applauded and supported USIAI in terms of the smart power that it provides, | ||
| in terms of the counterbalance to China and to Russia and other adversaries that we deal with, remember that the incredible work that they've done in Republican and Democratic administrations alike has put America's best foot forward. | ||
| And not only that, it's supported a lot of American agriculture in terms of the products we grow that have been purchased by USIAID and have been dealing with people who are food insecure. | ||
| And, you know, this passed with an executive order of John F. Kennedy, but was asserted into law by Congress over 20 years ago. | ||
| And to simply end a government entity that has worked so hard and done so much good makes no sense. | ||
| They're talking at least the possibility of folding some of the aspects of USAID within the State Department if that were to occur. | ||
| Could that be something that works, in your opinion? | ||
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unidentified
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Well, possibly. | |
| I mean, Secretary Rubio, when he was a former senator, I know, viewed firsthand the positive impacts of USIAI around the world. | ||
| And it's not only in places that you might think of where in certain continents it's been very effective, like in Pet Farb that President Bush established during his term, but in places like Armenia. | ||
| I have a significant Armenia community in California that I represent. | ||
| The aid, as they've dealt with hostile neighbors like Azerbaijan and Russia, has been very important to the Armenian communities and the government there and trying to turn to the West and to try to have better opportunities. | ||
| So we've made commitments and promises to friends, and they're now wondering what's going to happen to that commitment. | ||
| Because of your work on the committee and how USAID works, if funds or if the program is frozen as we know it, what's the immediate effect? | ||
| What's the short-term and long-term effects of those who get foreign aid across the world? | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, I think it could be very harmful to our support around the world. | |
| And if Secretary Rubio wants to look at reforms and bring together a bipartisan effort on how we can improve USIAI, I think that would be welcomed. | ||
| Certainly there's things that we can do that would improve it. | ||
| And nobody wants to support efforts that are not efficient. | ||
| But let's do it that way. | ||
| And I hope that Secretary Rubio, understanding the good that has come from USIAI, will do just that. | ||
| Representative Costa, as of this morning, there's reporting at least when it comes to those hostages that we're supposed to release in Gaza Saturday. | ||
| That seems to put on hold the president commenting on it yesterday. | ||
| What does that suggest about the future of this ceasefire that was decided a few weeks ago? | ||
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unidentified
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Well, I think the ceasefire is very delicate. | |
| And the Biden administration worked for months with our Arab allies and Israel to bring it about. | ||
| I wish it had taken place six months ago. | ||
| But there are still over 70 hostages that have to be released. | ||
| There is a second and third phase toward this ceasefire agreement. | ||
| And we need to make sure that Hamas, who is a terrorist organization, and Israel hold to it and that all the hostages are returned. | ||
| But the comments that are made about taking 2 million people who live in Gaza and relocating them somewhere, I don't think helps this ceasefire progress. | ||
| Turning to other issues here in Washington, D.C., several Democrats across the House and the Senate expressing concern about the Doge Committee, their access to Treasury data. | ||
| You have legislation fighting that. | ||
| Specifically, what's your concern? | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, no one elected Elon Musk to any office that I'm aware of. | |
| And his committees where these individuals are in there without the proper security clearance, I have great concern about. | ||
| Going to the Treasury Department and having access to American taxpayers' records, I think, is unwarranted. | ||
| I think it's a violation of every individual citizen's privacy in which there's been no case made on why Elon Musk ought to have access to those records. | ||
| And so, therefore, I think we've got to try to come together. | ||
| I would think that my Republican friends, who are very protective about privacy and security for all American citizens, would be as concerned about this as I am. | ||
| Do you see anything within the actions within the Treasury Department that suggests to you that those leaks of data, those compromises of data might concern any specifics? | ||
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unidentified
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Well, this just happened in the last couple of weeks. | |
| So, I mean, we're trying to get a handle on just exactly what information they're accessing and for why. | ||
| Because clearly, there is, I think, a report that's been written with bipartisan support on how you curb government waste and inefficiencies to a tune of about $500 billion. | ||
| Why don't we work on that together, it seems to me, because we, I think, all share those concerns, as opposed to having some maverick group of folks who have no oversight, who are answerable, I guess, only to Elon Musk, I guess. | ||
| And I think that creates alarm bells for many of us. | ||
| I suppose, though, that you've heard the Republican response thing that Elon Musk works at the pleasure of the president, which gives him the right to access these things. | ||
| How do you respond to that? | ||
|
unidentified
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The president's a very busy guy. | |
| He's got a lot of challenges that he's facing. | ||
| And it seems to me, You know, Elon Musk is going to tell him whatever he thinks will, you know, soothe the president's concerns or ego, but I don't think that's sufficient to meaningful oversight and Congress. | ||
| And what's really fundamental here is checks and balances our whole system of it, whether we're talking about the executive branch, the legislative branch, or our judicial branches of government. | ||
| And they're being tested today as we speak. | ||
| Representative Costa, you and our audience, I'm sure, talking about and hearing about these efforts to streamline the federal workforce. | ||
| What does that mean for those who live in the 21st district, which you represent? | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, I have over 5,000 employees in the 21st District in the San Joaquin Valley, Fresno and Tulare counties that work for the United States Forest Service, that work for the Department of Agriculture, protecting our food supply, that focus on our veterans hospital, providing care for those men and women who served our nation. | |
| These 5,000-plus federal employees are very concerned. | ||
| They've dedicated 15, 20, 25 years or more. | ||
| You have experience and you have expertise for the people who work at the Veterans Hospital, our Forest Service, the people who protect our food supply, and why we would do that without any sort of reflection or focus on how do we deal, | ||
| again, with government efficiency, but at the same time, not go into the core of this, of folks who have dedicated their lives to making sure that we have the best people working on our federal government that we possibly can. | ||
| I think it sends out the wrong message. | ||
| And by the way, the court that put the pause on this did so, I think, with justification. | ||
| The Congress hasn't even provided a funding for this furlough to take place that the administration's offering. | ||
| So I think there's a lot of flaws in this direction, and there's better ways that we could work toward government efficiency. | ||
| Before we let you go, the Republican leadership trying to determine what course of action will be when determining a budget, what do you think the role of Democrats will be as far as whether the process of coming up with that and also if they'll support it? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, I think that it begins with reaching out to work on a bipartisan agreement on the budget. | |
| That's not happened at this point by the Speaker or by the leaders in the Senate. | ||
| So with the very narrow margins that we have, it's going to be very interesting to see if they're going to be able to deal with the budget, the debt ceiling, and avoid government shutdown all at the same time with narrow margins of maybe one or two votes in the House and maybe three votes in the Senate. | ||
| I think that recent history is any proven fact. | ||
| It's only occurred when we've worked together in a bipartisan fashion to avoid government shutdown. | ||
| It's irresponsible to ever be unable to reach an agreement and to have a government shutdown that harms all Americans. | ||
| But it's up to the Republicans at this point. | ||
| They have the majority in the House, the Senate, and in the White House. | ||
| And so if they think they can do it on their own, we'll see. | ||
| Representative Jim Costa, who serves the 21st District of California, also a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. |