unfortunately this measured, calibrated approach was are rejected twice in favor of the largess in this spending bill. in trying to justify the enormous spending increases in this bill, supporters paint a picture of a hollowed out shell of a state department suffering years of neglect. yet according to the congressional research service and the state department's own data, funding for the state department and related agencies doubled from fiscal year 2000 through 2008 this clearly shows that growing the bureaucracy and throwing money at the department of state are not the answers. supporters of this bill further argue that the major funding increases for the hiring of new staff are necessary even in the absence of reforms. i note that there was an effort last congress by colleagues in the other chamber to ascertain the levels of absenteeism at

various u.s. government agencies. the results for the state department for impressive, in an ironic way. the department explained it does not specifically track absences without official leave. it was the only executive branch agency that could not provide such information. instead the state department only tracks those incidents in which such absenteeism reaches such an i grieges level that discipline is required. as a result, we and the management of the department have little idea if the department's own personnel are at their post at the times we would expect them to be and although we realize the overwhelming majority of state department employees are hard working patriots, they are the ones who should be upset about absenteeism in others. the bit before us today does not address such questions nor does it build on earlier inquiries such as the ones i have cited. instead, supporters of this

bill focuses that you are arguments on unfilled state department vakeanses. and these charges, mr. chairman, do not bear careful scrutiny. most of the so called vacancies is shifting them to high priority posts rather than cuts in funding. furthermore, the state department always shows unfilled positions on their books because their numbers are the result of our overseas posts self-identified needs rather than being a budget-driven number. it's a way of saying that they would like more employees and more funding. what agency wouldn't? i expect that all americans would identify very significant unfunded needs in our own homes and our families and our budgets. moreover, at a time when we need to cut the deficit, in just one little notice of instance, this bill bypasses the opportunity to transfer several hundred million dollars to our treasury to help us pay down our national debt.

in fact, an amendment offered by my friend from indiana, mr. burton, was not made in order by the rule. mr. burton's amendment would have required that just half of the funds of u.s. enterprise funds abroad be turned over to our u.s. treasury when they close down their operations. by remaining silent on the disposition of such funds, mr. chairman, this bill would instead allow loosely overseen so-called legacy institutions to take possession of all of those funds. this bill prefer to focus on creating -- prefers to focus on creating new offices that will add hundreds of millions of dollars in new costs to the taxpayers over the coming years. and when it comes to policy issues, mr. chairman, this bill does not set the priorities that we believe would best serve our nation. not only does this bill provide close to $2 billion, that again is with a b, in funding for the

united nations, not including peacekeeping, without requiring any reform, but it also authorizes the payment of all claimed u.n. arears are back payments . why should american taxpayers be asked to write a blank check to the u.n.? why not demand specific returns on our investments? instead, efforts to leverage our contributions to secure concrete, systematic, comprehensive reforms through the u.n. system were rejected by both the foreign affairs committee and in rules. this bill provides an inexplicable authorization to pay a higher rate for u.n. peacekeeping than even the u.n. is asking for us. the bill's assessment rate could result in the u.s. paying in one year alone more than $100 million for u.n. peacekeeping above that which

the u.n. requires us to pay. above that which the u.n. requires us to pay. the bill also fails to take any action to address corruption at the united nations. in fact, not only does the underlying bill and the manager's amendment remain silent on the u.n.'s misuse of american taxpayer funds for activities that undermine u.s. interests, but an amendment offered by the gentleman from indiana, again, mr. burton, which sought to prevent u.s. taxpayer dollars from paying for the legal fees of corrupt u.n. officials was rejected at rules and will not be considered today. because, mr. chairman, the u.n. has decided to pay the legal fees, possibly almost $900,000 of savan who ran the u.n.'s corrupt, disastrous oil-for-food program which was supposed to help innocent

iraqis but instead was exploited by saddam's regime. u.s. state prosecutors have charged him with bribery and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. but this bill before us does nothing to protect taxpayer dollars from bank rolling and rewarding corruption at the u.n. the underlying bill also helps foster the culture of corruption at the united nations by failing to leverage u.s. contributions to the u.n. development program, undp, until it accepts the jurisdiction of the u.n. ethics office. the undp to which the u.s. contributes $100 million or more per year continues to be the poster child for mismanagement, corruption and waste. from zimbabwe, from ueganda, from burma to north korea. in fact, the united nations development program had to pull out of north korea after reports emerged that

development aid was by diverted to the north korean dictatorship. now, unbelieveably, undp is returning to north korea with essentially no meaningful protections to prevent u.s. taxpayer dollars from again benefiting kim junge ill and his corrupt cronies. our -- kim jong il and his corrupt cronies. we have a collection agencies to retrieve over $7 million in u.s. taxpayer dollars mismanaged by undp in afghanistan. we might never know about undp's corruption and mismanagement without the help of brave whistleblowers. unfortunately, whistleblowers have few protections at the u.n. and the undp has reportedly retaliated against the number of them, including the one who exposed their operations in north korea. mr. chairman, this bill should do more in safeguarding our

constituents' hard-earned dollars. nowhere which u.n. failures, which undermine u.s. interests, are clearer than with respect to the united nations relief and works agency, unra. unra has a humanitarian mandate to help refugees but it continues to compromise its mandate and our u.s. tax dollars. it does so by emitting propaganda against israel by hamas. it refuses to vet its employees and aid recipients for ties to palestinian militant groups like hamas. the commissioner general says she doesn't even consider hamas to be a foreign terrorist organization, and her predecessor admitted that members of hamas were on unra's payroll saying i don't see that as a crime. no one can guarantee that hundreds of millions of dollars

of u.s. funds sent to unra will not end up in the hands of hamas. yet this bill takes a see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil approach, refusing to demand accountability and transparency for our investments. supporters of this bill will claim that it strengthens nonproliferation activities at the department of state. however, the pertinent sections of the bill contains contradictory statements regarding the department's nonproliferation and arms control infrastructure. on the one hand the bill asks the secretary of state to develop a comprehensive plan to determine what the department actually needs in terms of personnel, additional authorities, new appropriations in order to carry out its arms control and nonproliferation policies. yet, before that plan has on been drafted, before that plan has even been drafted this bill removes the statutory

requirement for the assistant secretary for verification and arms control, authorizes $3 million for 25 new positions focused on arms control and mandates other programs and activities. these provisions actually appear to be laying the foundation to reverse the forms that -- reforms that were enacted by this house in 1998 under the foreign affairs reform and restructuring act. further, by removing the requirements for the assistant secretary for verification and arms control, it is diminishing its importance and targets for possible dissolution, the bureau of state which was instrumental in the dismantlement of libya's nuclear and chemical and biological program. this is one bureau that has consistently pressed for greater disclosure by the north korean regime on its totality of its nuclear activities. and on the issue of north korea, mr. chairman, this bill and our congress have remained

largely silent on this, one of the most grave foreign policy crises currently confronting our nation. north korea's leader is preparing to test yet another long-range missile which could reach alaska, hawaii and the west coast possibly as early as next week. yet, an amendment i offered in rules to address the escalating crisis of north korea's nuclear brinksmanship was rejected. this amendment would have relisted north korea as a state sponsor of terrorism as suggested by secretary of state clinton this past weekend. it called for full implementation of sanctions, including those imposed by the u.n. security council resolutions adopted after previous north korean missile and nuclear tests but never fully enforced. it contained consequences as called for by the administration's north korean special envoy after pyongyang's april 5 missile test. this amendment raised grave

concerned about pyongyang's defiant, continuing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to iran, to syria and other rogue regimes. it also pointed to the north korean regime's horrific records on human rights abuses. pyongyang made a provocative and reprehensible decision just a few days ago in a secretive kangaroo court to sentence u.s. citizen journalist laura ying and laura lee to 12 years hard labor in the north korean gulags. it would provide release of our two u.s. citizens before the lifting of any u.s. sanctions or granting of diplomatic recognition. much of the language of my amendment had been accepted by the chairman last year and incorporated into the security, assistant and arms export control reform act of 2008. the foreign affairs committee unanimously adopted the agreed

upon north korean language during markup held last may. yet, the amendment i offered to address this threat to u.s. national security interests and to our allies in the region was rejected yesterday by the rules committee. in conclusion, mr. chairman, at a time when our country faces a range of threats in our own hemisphere, this bill does not set out a comprehensive approach to those threats. the bill also displays a willingness to put our national security interests in the hands of the vaguely defined international community. mr. chairman, because of the fundamental weaknesses and the core problems with this bill that have not been addressed, i will not be able to support this bill. i urge my colleagues to also oppose h.r. 2410 and vote no on final passage. and with that i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman from florida reserves the balance of her time. the gentleman from california.

the gentleman from california. mr. berman: thank you, mr. chairman. i'm very pleased to yield three minutes to the vice chair of the house foreign affairs committee, the chairman of the subcommittee on middle east and south asia, mr. ackerman. the chair: the gentleman from new york is recognized for three minutes. mr. ackerman: thank you, mr. chairman. i rise in strong support of h.r. 2410, the foreign relations authorization act, and i want to commend our chairman, the gentleman from california for his commitment to this legislation which i believe is a reflection of the gentleman's enormous dedication to this institution and its role under the constitution. for many years the foreign relations authorization act has been held hostage to debates about abortion and family planning, to the inability of the other body to get 60 of their members to agree to anything, and to a general feeling that it just wasn't essential to do. the result has been an insidious decay of the effectiveness of our diplomatic capabilities and our capacity to influence events around the

world. some might ask, what does this have to do with my constituents and why is it that we have a strong -- why isn't it that we have a strong military to protect us? isn't that their role? the simple answer is that our diplomats and our development professionals are not a luxury, nor a fancy affection of power. these are not aristocrats sipping tea while wearing striped pants and ascots. these are the people on the front lines of our defense, not the army, not the navy, not the air force, the marine or the coast guard. it's the foreign service that lives always full time out in the ugly and dangerous parts of the world representing our interests, building alliances, monitoring and reporting on events that may affect our security and helping to diffuse crisis and tensions before they sometimes burst into armed conflict or war. there is a simple reason both secretary of defense gates and admiral mullen, the chairman of

the joint chiefs of staff, repeatedly insisted on rebuilding and strengthening the state department. it will save the lives of the people for whom they are responsible. it will allow the armed services to avoid conflict and allow them to focus on security and negotiations not governance -- focus on security, not negotiations and not governance. this is about our national security. it's about the safety of this nation and our ability to protect and advance our interests around the world. military power is essential. the united states would not be the country that it is if we did not have such an extraordinary military. but our armed forces exist chiefly to deter and defend. whatever the last few years suggested, we are not a nation that believes in starting wars to solve problems or in the use

of force to resolve conflicts. a strong state department and revitalized u.s. agency for development are not favors we do for others. these are institutions that are essential to our national security and our national interest. the bill is in fact merely a down payment on a process of rebuilding that should have begun years ago. if you want to bring our troops home from iraq, you know that iraqis have to improve their own internal cooperation and performance in their government. who is supposed to help them with that? if you want to help afghanistan and get our troops home from there, you know that problem is about poppy farming and police corruption and has to be addressed. who is supposed to help them with that. another 30 seconds? mr. berman: i -- the chair: the gentlewoman from california. ms. ros-lehtinen: i'm pleased to yield two minutes to mr.

burton, on the subcommittee on the middle east and south asia. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. burton: i want to thank the ranking member and i want to compliment her opening staff, you covered just about everything and did it well. i want to compliment your staff for working hard on it. i'm perplexed by this bill. there is some language in there i like. for instance, the commitment to israel giving them support for their missile defense system. i think that's a positive. but there's so many negatives in this bill that it's going to make it very difficult for those who would like to support it to not be table. let me give you a couple of examples. the ranking member just mentioned that. north korea should be called a terrorist state. they're launching missiles and stretening the security of the entire region as well as giving nuclear technology to other countries.

in addition to that, there's money in here, our tax dollars, that are going to defend mr. savan who is hiding out in cyprus right now because he's been indicted and the u.n., using our tax dollars, are going to pay for his defense which is almost $1 million. we shouldn't be using taxpayer dollars for that and ought to let the u.n. know it. in addition to that, the bill sin creasing spending by 12% to $41 billion over a two-year period. there's a pay raise in there. i understand these people work very hard but we're having difficult times here at home. people in this country are suffering. they want to give a 23% increase in pay to overseas foreign service officers. i just don't get that. maybe a pay raise of some size should be realized but 23% when this country is suffering economically? it makes no sense. it also create -- creates an office for global women's issue and it's likely this office

will include the advancement of abortion advocacy abroad. i don't think this body ought to be doing that. especially those who believe so strongly in the right to life provisions that we have supported in the past. it would require -- are we out of time? ms. ros-lehtinen: i'd like to yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman. mr. burton: i thank the gentlelady for reading. of course it has a sexual orientation language which would require the tracking of discrimination related to sexual orientation for actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identify violations. finally, it increases u.n. spending by so much and the contributions we'd have to give by 32% over the 2009 levels. this is not a good part of the bill. we'd like to support the bill but unfortunately there's too

much junk in it, mr. chairman. i wish we didn't have to say no to this the chair: the gentleman from california. mr. berman: thank you, mr. chairman. i'm pleased to yield one minute to one of the new members of the committee who has been a tremendous assistance on a variety of issue the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. connolly: i thank the chairman of our committee who has done so much hard work in moving forward foreign policy. i rise in support of the foreign relations act. president obama has redefined the playbook and raised expectations for america's engagement on the global stage. the sust involved in two theaters of war in iraq and afghanistan. defeating extremists will require the right resources. secretary gates stated we cannot win the wars by sheer force alone. it authorizes spending for

1,500 new foreigner is vits officers, strengthens peace corps by doubling the number of volunteers and authorizing $400 million in f.y. 2010 and $450 million in f.y. 2011. it authorizes defense trade controls beginning not later than march 2010 to control the export of foreign regimes. the department of state's mission is critical. secretary of defense gates said, truly harnessing the full strength of america -- i ask an additional 30 seconds. mr. berman: at the end of the hour if there's time, i can let you finish your thought. the chair: the gentleman from california reserves the balance of his time. the gentlewoman from florida. ms. ros-lehtinen: i reserve. the chair: the gentlewoman reserves. the gentleman from california.

mr. berman: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield oto another new member of the house and of the committee, a great member, mr. mcmahon, one minute. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. mcmahon: i would like to thank the gentleman from california, chairman berman, for working with all the members of this committee, the more senior and the junior as well. and in particular for including provisions raised by so many of my constituents back home. as we know, effective diplomacy requires a defense strategy and requires a combination of several important efforts. as my colleague, the great gentleman from gentleman, mr. connolly, was mentioning, secretary gates himself said long-term security challenges require the government to operate with unity, creativity and agility and committing more resources to nonmilitary instruments of national power.

mr. speaker, the united states must be more serious about its dip plo lowe mattick commitments, responsibilities, and presence overseas to ensure a more secure future for her own citizens. i open hope all my colleagues will join with us in supporting this legislation and send an important message that will be heard loud and clear around the world. thank you. i yield the remainder of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman from florida. ms. ros-lehtinen: i continue to reserve. the chair: the gentleman from california. mr. berman: how much time is remaining? the chair: the gentleman from california has 20 minutes remaining, the gentlewoman from florida 10 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. berman: i'm pleased to yield to the gentlelady from california, ms. woolsey. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. woolsey: as a member of the committee, i thank our chairman

and -- for all he's done to make sure that this is a foreign relations authorization act that we can be truly proud of. i'm pleased this bill move ours foreign policy away from intimidation to a pl sybased on smart security. this bill invests in our did kated foreign service officers, increases funding for international student exchanges, doubles the number of peace corps volunteers. we must send a clear message to the world community that we are rededicating ourselves as a nation to diplomacy and h.r. 2410 actually absolutely helps. with it, military might will no longer be our sole representative overseas. so i urge my colleagues to support smart security which is supporting education, infrastructure, diplomacy, agriculture, and we can do that

by voting in favor of this legislation. the chair: the gentlewoman's time has expire the gentlewoman from continue continues -- from california continues to reserve. the gentleman from california. mr. berman: i continue to yield one minute to a member of the foreign affairs committee, mr. miller. the chair: the gentleman from north carolina is recognized for one minute. mr. miller: i also rise in support of this legislation which takes major steps to rebuild the capacity of our civilian foreign affairs agencies. it will strengthen diemployeecy and and development, two important pillars. it will meet the needs of peacekeeping missions in the democratic republic of the congo this bill will provide funds to refurbish helicopters needed for peacekeeping meigs. more than five million people have died in the conflict in

the democratic republic of the congo, the deadliest conflict since the second world war. violence continues in darfur and chad. the people of darfur are still waiting as are those of the democratic republic of the congo and chad where shortages of helicopters are crippling the work of ump u.n. peace keepers. if we are to regain our moral authority in the world we must continue to lead the fight against genocide and champion the protection of innocent civilians. this bill will help. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from florida continues to reserve. the gentleman from california. mr. berman: mr. chairman, i'm pleased to yield to the gentleman from illinois a member of the committee on appropriations, one minute. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> i'm pleased to support this.

h.r. 2828 compensates relatives of u.s. citizens killed in embassy bombings in tanzania. al qaeda truck bombs exploded simultaneously in tanzania and nigh robo. the bombings in nairobi killed 12 americans. they were sergeant nathan alagana, john rose, molly huckabee-hardy, staff sergeant kenneth hobson ii, arlene kirk, dr. luis martin, michelle o'connor, master sergeant sherry lynn olds. h.r. 2410 remembers their sacrifice and provides restitution to the loved ones they left behind. mr. speaker, this provision is the very least a grateful nation can do. i urge an aye vote on h.r. 2410

and i want to thank chairman berman, ranking member ros-lehtinen. thank you. the chair: the gentlewoman continues to reserve? ms. ros-lehtinen: yes. the chair: the gentleman from california. mr. berman: i'm pleased to yield a minute to a member of the appropriations committee, mr. schiff, one minute. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. schiff: i request unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. i'd like to commend the foreign affairs committee for all their hard work on the foreign affairs authorization act and thank mr. berman and his staff for working to include the daniel parole act to this legislation. it brings much-needed atonings a critical human rights issue this calls upon the secretary of state to greatly expand its examination of the status of the freedom of the press