•HCON 6 IH 
Whereas the Marshall Plan, among other objectives, sought 
to assure global peace and defend the national security 
of the United States through direct foreign assistance 
programs aimed at combating economic, social, and polit-
ical degradation; 
Whereas poverty, lack of opportunity, and environmental deg-
radation are recognized as significant contributors to so-
cioeconomic and political instability, as well as to the ex-
acerbation of disease pandemics and other global health 
threats; 
Whereas elevating the United States standing in the world 
represents a critical and essential element of any strategy 
to improve national and global security by mitigating the 
root causes of conflict and multinational terrorism, 
strengthening diplomatic and economic relationships, pre-
venting global climate change, curbing weapons prolifera-
tion, and fostering peace and cooperation between all na-
tions; 
Whereas the Foreign Assistance Act, signed into law on Sep-
tember 4, 1961, reaffirms ‘‘the traditional humanitarian 
ideals of the American people and renews its commitment 
to assist people in developing countries to eliminate hun-
ger, poverty, [and] illness’’; 
Whereas Congress created the Peace Corps in 1961 and the 
United States has since sent more than 200,000 volun-
teers to 139 nations to promote the Peace Corps’ mission 
of world peace and friendship through service in the de-
veloping world; 
Whereas, on November 3, 1961, President John F. Kennedy 
established the United States Agency for International 
Development (USAID) with the aim of providing direct 
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•HCON 6 IH 
support to developing countries in a manner free of polit-
ical and military influence; 
Whereas over the last 10 years, Congress and successive Ex-
ecutive Branch administrations have worked to more 
than double foreign assistance and implement a number 
of new foreign aid initiatives to support global health, de-
velopment, human rights, and good governance including 
the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), the Presi-
dent’s International Education Initiative, the President’s 
Malaria Initiative (PMI), the President’s Emergency 
Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Global Food Secu-
rity and Feed the Future Initiatives, and the Global 
Health Initiative; 
Whereas President Obama has expressed his commitment to 
achieve the Millennium Development Goal of cutting ex-
treme poverty and hunger around the world in half by 
2015, as well as his intent to double the level of foreign 
assistance to meet that goal; 
Whereas the United States has pledged its support, along 
with every United Nations member state and numerous 
international organizations, to achieve the United Na-
tions Millennium Development Goals in order to reduce 
extreme poverty, support sustainable development, and 
address the needs of the world’s most vulnerable popu-
lations; 
Whereas the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, 
derived from the United Nations Millennium Declaration 
signed on September 8, 2000, seek to eradicate extreme 
poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, 
promote gender equality and empower women, reduce 
child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/ 
AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, ensure environmental 
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•HCON 6 IH 
sustainability, and develop a global partnership for devel-
opment; 
Whereas the United Nations Department of Economic and 
Social Affairs indicates that in June 2010, progress was 
either insufficient, absent, or deteriorating for more than 
half of key targets related to compliance with the United 
Nations Millennium Development Goals; 
Whereas the World Bank estimates that in 2005, 1.4 billion 
people across the globe were experiencing extreme pov-
erty, living on less than $1.25 a day; 
Whereas according to the United Nations Development Pro-
gram’s ‘‘2010 Human Development Report’’ more than 
1.7 billion people (across 104 countries examined in the 
report) live in multidimensional poverty according to the 
Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), an indicator 
which provides a comprehensive picture of severe depriva-
tions common to poor households including in health, 
education, and standard of living; 
Whereas the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organiza-
tion (FAO) estimates that the number of undernourished 
people in the world totaled 925 million in 2010, equiva-
lent to 13.4 percent of the world population and rep-
resenting an increase of roughly 100 million people from 
1990; 
Whereas the United Nations Framework Convention on Cli-
mate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat has indicated that 
by 2030, the cost of adapting to global climate change 
could amount to more than $170 billion annually, with 
$28 billion to $67 billion per year required to meet the 
needs of the developing world; 
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Whereas in 2009, the United States was in the bottom five 
of the world’s 23 wealthiest countries in official develop-
ment assistance funding as a percentage of gross national 
income (GNI), totaling $28.7 billion and representing 0.2 
percent; 
Whereas, on November 26, 2007, United States Secretary of 
Defense Robert M. Gates stated that funding for non-
military foreign affairs programs ‘‘remains disproportion-
ately small relative to what we spend on the military and 
to the importance of such capabilities’’ and called for a 
‘‘dramatic increase in spending on the civilian instru-
ments of national security—diplomacy, strategic commu-
nications, foreign assistance, civic action, and economic 
reconstruction and development.’’; 
Whereas, on December 15, 2010, Secretary of State Hillary 
Rodham Clinton released the first-ever Quadrennial Di-
plomacy and Development Review (QDDR), a blueprint 
for a whole-of-government approach to diplomacy and de-
velopment, noting in public remarks that ‘‘U.S. civilian 
power is a wise investment for American taxpayers that 
will pay off by averting conflicts, opening markets, and 
reducing threats’’; 
Whereas a principal objective of the foreign policy of the 
United States, as codified in the Foreign Assistance Act 
of 1961, is ‘‘the encouragement and sustained support of 
the people of developing countries in their efforts to ac-
quire the knowledge and resources essential to develop-
ment and to build the economic, political, and social insti-
tutions which will improve the quality of their lives’’; 
Whereas broad-based country- and community-ownership, 
sustainable and responsible trade opportunities, the ro-
bust engagement of vulnerable populations including 
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women, and a commitment to improve governance and 
the rule of law, are all critical to the long-term success 
of development programs; 
Whereas individuals, businesses, and philanthropic organiza-
tions across the United States continue to play a vital 
and increasing role in international efforts to create a 
more peaceful and prosperous world for all individuals 
through direct and indirect assistance; 
Whereas studies indicate that a majority of the individuals in 
the United States, whose tax dollars fund Federal ex-
penditures, support increasing funding to meet the Mil-
lennium Development Goals and to committing a higher 
percentage of GDP to address global poverty; and 
Whereas a firm and significant financial commitment to en-
hance United States foreign assistance programs exempli-
fies the compassion and resolve of the people of the 
United States to benefit and empower all peoples of the 
world for the betterment of humankind: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) recognizes that foreign assistance programs 
are of critical importance in promoting national se-
curity, demonstrating the humanitarian spirit of the 
people of the United States, and improving the 
credibility and standing of the United States in 
world affairs; and 
(2) expresses its support for attaining the goal 
of providing, on an annual basis, an amount equal 
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