Washington, DC – Representatives Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Lois Frankel, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs; and Grace Meng, Chair of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus International Women’s Rights Task Force, issued a statement on their introduction of legislation to ensure U.S. taxpayer-purchased foreign aid commodities reach their intended beneficiaries rather than go to waste or be destroyed.
According to recent reports, the Trump administration plans to destroy more than $9 million worth of family planning supplies and incinerate 500 metric tons of emergency food assistance that expired after officials refused for months to authorize delivery. The food alone could have fed approximately 1.5 million children for a week, or 27,000 people for an entire month. The contraceptives, depending on the method mix, represent millions of doses and other essentials—enough to support the reproductive health needs of hundreds of thousands of women and families. These commodities—meant for some of the world’s most vulnerable people—were purchased with taxpayer dollars but left to rot or burn.
“The Trump administration is incinerating critical U.S.-purchased commodities—like contraceptives and emergency food—denying women health care, keeping meals from starving families, and literally sending millions of taxpayer dollars up in smoke,” said the Members. “This cruel and senseless destruction is a textbook example of the very waste, fraud, and abuse the administration claims to oppose.”
“Our legislation prohibits the destruction of food and medical supplies purchased with taxpayer funds unless every effort has been made to ensure those supplies can be used as intended. That’s common sense—and the humane thing to do—for American taxpayers and for vulnerable communities around the world.”
Additional background: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State Department, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Ranking Member Brian Schatz introduced the bill in the Senate last week.
The full text of the legislation is available here.