Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. David Price (NC-04) spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives opposing Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Perry's plan to eliminate foreign aid and require American allies, such as Israel and Egypt, to start "at zero" to justify any aid received in the future. Other Republican candidates have signaled their support for Perry's plan, which would apparently apply to all forms of foreign assistance, including military aid, global health, humanitarian relief, and economic development assistance. In his remarks, Rep. Price asked: "Is this the state of today's Republican Party? . . . The reality is foreign aid is one of the most cost effective investments our nation makes."

Rep. Price serves as the co-chair of the House Democracy Partnership (HDP), which works with parliaments in 14 developing democracies (including Iraq, Afghanistan, Liberia and Haiti) to strengthen their institutional capacity. HDP uses member-to-member and staff-to-staff programming to build capacity in key areas such as executive oversight, budget analysis, and library and research services. The full text of Rep. Price's remarks is below.

Watch Rep. Price's Remarks on YouTube

Mr. Speaker, of all the extreme statements we've heard coming out of the Republican presidential debates in recent weeks, perhaps none is more alarming than the idea that we should "cut foreign aid to zero"—even for steadfast U.S. allies, even for critical global health and anti-terrorism efforts.

We might dismiss this ridiculous assertion as a "Hail Mary" from a candidate desperate to revive his flagging chances were it not for the fact that it drew heavy applause from the Republican voters in the audience and eager agreement from the rest of the Republican field—including the presumptive front-runner.

Is this the state of today's Republican Party, the party of internationalists such as Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan? "Cut foreign aid to zero?"

Foreign aid has always been an easy target for demagogues, especially during difficult economic times, but the reality is that it is one of the most cost-effective investments our nation makes. For about one percent of our annual budget, it strengthens key allies such as Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Afghanistan, and Egypt; it promotes economic development that benefits American companies and creates jobs back home; it helps us respond to humanitarian disasters and supports democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Suggestions that we should "start at zero" and ask our allies to come to us with hat in hand are simply preposterous.

# # #