Rep. Rothman on Foreign Aid Funding, Public Broadcasting

U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9)—who lives in Fair Lawn—spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday about the relationship between foreign aid funding and national security. Rothman is a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittees on Defense, and State and Foreign Operations.

You can watch Rothman's remarks beginning at 21:46 in the video at the following link: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/HouseSession4003

Here is an excerpt from Rothman's speech:

"My goodness, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, North Korea, China—to say now is the time to have less people understanding foreign languages, less embassies, less diplomats, to try to avert war and nuclear proliferation when it constitutes less than 1% of the budget already? That’s going to solve our problems? That not only won't solve our economic problems, that will create more and more danger to U.S. national security.

"That is why, while we need to cut spending, while we need to get rid of waste, while we need to find additional sources of revenue, like the unnecessary $4 billion that this Congress now gives already to the oil and gas and energy industries to do what? $4 billion to do what? To encourage them to look for energy? Well I, gee, I thought they were making a profit at that already! The greatest profits in their histories! Yes they are. So why give them $4 billion in subsidies? Let's use that for other purposes.

"Cut taxes, cuts that—use that to reduce our deficit, use that not to cut foreign aid which returns probably a thousand times per dollar than what we contribute in terms of the 1% of our budget that goes to diplomats, embassies, state departments, and the meager foreign aid we provide to our essential military allies who are helping us protect against Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood. Who are helping us protect our vital sea lanes and economic lifeblood around the world.

"I look forward to working with my Republican colleagues, but priorities are priorities and we ought to make cuts where they make sense, not where they jeopardize U.S. national security."

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Rep. Rothman is also a member of the Congressional Public Broadcasting Caucus, and said this week that he plans on continuing to be part of the caucus in the 112th Congress.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is a private, non-profit corporation that supports public television and radio stations, such as the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), which are owned by local community organizations, universities, and state and municipal authorities.

“It is critical that Congress continues to support funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), an organization that consistently produces excellent programming for all age groups on news, current affairs, arts, and science,” Rothman said in a statement. “Defunding CPB will significantly hurt National Public Radio news stations in less affluent areas because those communities rely on the vital federal funds set aside for public broadcasting. I’m committed to making sure that this important service continues.”

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State Senator Bob Gordon, Assemblywoman Joan Voss, and Assemblywoman Connie Wagner issued a joint statement in response to the .

“Day in and day out, our police officers put their lives on the line in order to serve and protect the public," the legislators said. "When one of our hard-working, dedicated officers gets injured in the line of duty, it’s a reminder of the sacrifices that they face every day to ensure public safety.

“Officer Morgan has been an invaluable asset to the police force in Paramus. We stand with the community in wishing her a speedy and complete recovery from her injuries, and pray for protection for all of our brave men and women in uniform.”