Democrat Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) has defended the use of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to fund wasteful United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programs.
Sen. Coons responded after it emerged that USAID has blown tax dollars in projects such as the Iraqi version of “Sesame Street.”
However, Coons argues that showing “Sesame Street” in Iraq promotes positive values and public health in the region.
Coons made his remarks during a Saturday appearance on CNN with political commentator Michael Smerconish.
“This isn’t just funding a kids’ show for children — millions of children — in countries like Iraq,” Coons said.
“It’s a show that helps teach values, helps teach public health, helps prevent kids from dying from dysentery and disease, and helps push values like collaboration, peacefulness, and cooperation in a society where the alternative is ISIS [the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham], extremism, and terrorism.”
Coons justified the spending by comparing USAID’s $30 billion budget to the U.S. Department of Defense’s $850 billion annual budget, calling it “pennies on the dollar.”
He also cited a statement from Joseph Nye Jr., a former aide to President Bill Clinton.
Nye referred to such spending as “not just soft power; it’s smart power.”
USAID, in partnership with Sesame Workshop, produced Ahlan Simsim—Arabic for “Welcome Sesame.”
The show is a regional program for children in Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries.
According to a now-unavailable USAID website, the show was intended to “promote inclusion, mutual respect, and understanding.”
The discussion around USAID funding for international programs follows criticism from the White House over what it has labeled as wasteful spending.
A recent White House fact sheet highlighted USAID’s funding of various “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) and LGBTQ programs in countries such as Guatemala and Ireland.
Smerconish noted that in a “soundbite-driven world, it’s so easy to deride how much we’re spending on an LBGTQ [sic] show in Bogota [Colombia].”
Coons responded by dismissing the spending concerns.
He called such funding examples “Kryptonite” that cost significantly less than President George W. Bush’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
During the interview, Coons referenced a past argument made by General James Mattis.
Mattis served as Secretary of Defense under President Trump.
WATCH:
At a 2013 Senate military budget hearing, Mattis said:
“If you don’t fund the State Department fully then I need to buy more ammunition ultimately.
“So I think it’s a cost-benefit ratio.
“The more that we put into the State Department’s diplomacy, hopefully, the less we have to put into a military budget as we deal with the outcome of an apparent American withdrawal from the international scene.”
Coons also criticized what he called the challenges of governing in a “short attention span era.”
The senator said that “a brief tweet from Elon Musk or Donald Trump often trumps a two-minute or a three-minute explanation.”
He warned that China and Russia have been increasing their influence worldwide, claiming that they are “celebrating the death of USAID.”
As debates continue over the effectiveness and necessity of USAID’s global programs, funding decisions for such initiatives are likely to remain a point of contention in U.S. policy discussions.
READ MORE – Wuhan Bioweapons Scientist Blows Whistle: Covid Was ‘Engineered’ to Depopulate
