chairman and welcome, mr. shah. can you bring us up-to-date, we asked questions the last time you were here and proliferation of aid-like entities in the united states government, medical lynn yum challenge and african aids initiative and so forth which seemed to have the effect of diluting the centrality of aid our lead development agency. that is of concern to a number of us on this committee. a concern shared with you the last time you were here. can you bring us up-to-date how that is being coordinated and perhaps reassure us that doesn't in fact delude aid's role as lead development agency in the united states government? >> thank you, sir, and thank you for your leadership on development and foreign assistance and how we project our values around the world. >> is that mean you're endorsing my aid reform bill? can i take that? >> we talked about this and i value the underlying concepts of that bill. i will say, over the past, president obama started in this administration issued a policy directive said we would

mr. chairman, for the record for dr. shah. of e go now to dr. ami bera california. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and thank you, dr. shah, for your testimony. it's good to see you here again. also, thank you for your leadership in transitioning usaid from just being a donor organization to one that's actually capacity-building organization. india is a good example of a country you that we built capacity and now they can actually donate and help develop countries in africa and other places. as been mentioned before, you know, when we look at our overall budget, we're spending less than 1% of the federal budget on foreign aid. so we should keep that in perspective. we also know these are remarkably important investments that not only extend the good will of the american people, globally, but also have dramatic impact on health and release of human suffering. as a reflection of our values as americans. i simply want to focus on the $8.1 billion usaid and state department allocate for the global health programs. particularly the $538 million on family planning and reproductive health. as you

mr. rajiv shah welcome.i really enjoyed your keynote at the national prayer breakfast where you made a think a very strong case for foreign aid. unfortunately not every american got to hear that case and i think it's also unfortunate when you take a look at our current budget situation and the enormous pressure we are under most americans go to foreign aid and that's the first place they want to cut. can you speak little bit in terms of making that case for foreign aid? >> thank you senator and thank you for your leadership. what i learned from the opportunity to be at the prayer breakfast this year was that when we come together across different communities and partners republicans and democrats house and senate businesses and entrepreneurs and very importantly faith community members who carry out this mission with exactly the right attention and serving those that are the least fortunate amongst us. we present a picture to the world of an america that cares about paul orgel people. it cares about countrie

mr. shah is an outstanding nominee. he has been interviewed by my interview committee and he was chosen by senator kirk's committee to serve. he is a former federal prosecutor of the northern district of illinois. he is currently chief of the criminal division in that office. he has a lengthy resume of achievements in this field. mr. shah has won numerous awards and recognize nises from the u.s. -- recognitions from the u.s. attorney's office including the f.b.i. director's award for outstanding criminal investigation. he graduated from stanford university and the university of chicago law school, clerked for two years for judge jim zagel of the northern district of illinois. his nomination in the northern district of illinois is historic. upon confirmation, he will be the first article 3 judge of south asian descent to serve in the state of illinois. he appeared before the judiciary committee last november in a hearing that i chaired. he was reported out unanimously from that committee. i'm sorry that it's taken so lon

mr. shah. can you bring us up to date? we asked questions last time we were here about the relationship of aid to the proliferation of other aid like entities in the united states government the millennium challenge the african aids initiative and so forth all of which seem to have the effect of diluting the centrality of a.i.d. sir lead development agency. that is of concern to a number of us on this committee a concern shared with you last time you were here. can you bring us up to date on how that has been coordinated and perhaps reassure us that doesn't in fact dilute the role of agency and u.s. government. >> thank you for your leadership in foreign assistance and how we project the values around the world. >> does that mean you are endorsing my age reform bill lacks. >> we have talked about this and i value the underlying concepts of that bill. i will say over the past president obama started this administration issued a policy directive and said we would commit ourselves to rebuilding usaid to be the worlds for mayo

so critics, mr. shah, ought to come up with a better idea.ut the notion behind the premise is sound. i may go a little further than my colleagues on the committee when i say that after over 50 years of what has been a dubious foreign policy in cuba by the united states, i have been in favor of opening up as much as we can cuba to the ideas of people of the world and the united states. that is how communism and the soviet union came to an end. they were overwhelmed by reality. i have been to cuba. they are isolated from reality. if we had more contact, i don't think the current regime could survive, as the communistic regimes did not survive in eastern europe. i want to bring in one point, that i am sure has been mentioned. i visited alan gross two years ago. what a heartbreaking situation. this poor man is being held because he may have brought in equipment that would have brought in more information into cuba. i do not know specifically whether he did or did not, but that is the charge, espionage. what they have done to this poor man is hear

so critics, mr. shah, ought to come up with a better idea. but the notion behind the premise is sound. i may go a little further than my colleagues on the committee when i say that after over 50 years of what has been a dubious foreign policy in cuba by the united states, i have been in favor of opening up as much as we can cuba to the ideas of people of the world and the united states. that is how communism and the soviet union came to an end. they were overwhelmed by reality. i have been to cuba. they are isolated from reality. if we had more contact, i don't think the current regime could survive, as the communistic regimes did not survive in eastern europe. i want to bring in one point, that i am sure has been mentioned. i visited alan gross two years ago. what a heartbreaking situation. this poor man is being held because he may have brought in equipment that would have brought in more information into cuba. i do not know specifically whether he did or did not, but that is the charge, espionage. what they have done to this poor man is he

shah, i'd like to thank you again for being at the look forward to your testimony. speathank you, mr. chairman. >> we are joined by rajiv shah, the administrator of usaid. dr. shah is the 16th administrator of usaid, and previously served as undersecretary of research, education and economics at usaid. s. chief scientist at the is department of agriculture. we welcome him back to the committee. without objection, the witnesses for prepared statement will be made part of the record. members will have five calendar days to submit any statements or questions or extreme ease pitcher for the record. and we will ask administrator shah, if you would, please summarize your remarks. administrator shah. >> thank you, chairman royce, and thank you ranking member engel, and to all of the members of the committee. i am pleased and honored to be here to present a justification for president obama's fy '15 request for usaid and for development assistance around the world. as the president has said on numerous occasions, our investments and development of health and humanitarian affairs and in suppo

mr. chairman. >> administrator shah, thank you very much for your leadership. development assistance is a critical part of our national security interest, and the obama administration has made it clear our national budget includes development assistance programs. you are less than 1% of the federal budget, and a very small fraction of the total national security budget. it is very, very important. i want to a knowledge the budget support for east asia pacific, the subcommittee i have the opportunity to chair. as i told you, you are working under a very tough budget. overall budget growth is very much reduced, and you had to make tough decisions. i particularly appreciate the priority that has been given to east asia and the pacific, consistent with the president's rebalance to asia, from the philippines and disaster assistance funds to burma, democratic institutions. your trade capacity improvement in laos . many countries are benefiting directly from what you are doing in east asia and the pacific. the initiative secretary clinton initiated, affecting the envi

mr. bundy's cattle because he hadn't paid his grazing fees. when that occurred youmimi lish shah the country. the government backed down, put the cattle back. that's where we are today. they say they will pursue mr. bundy through other means. fredericka? >> thank you, dan simon. >>> catholics around the world are prepare for a big event. and the church is making an unprecedented effort to make sure young believers know about it. grossemisconduct... ortho crime files. ...disturbing the pantry. a house, under siege. homeowner calls in the big guns. say helto home defense max. with the one-touch continuous-spray wand. kills bugs inside... ...and prevents new ones for up to a year. guaranteed. nothing to see here people. ortho home defense max. get order. get ortho®. >>> catholics around world are prepare for historic event tomorrow. for the first time ever, the church are canonize two popes on the same day and they're pulling out all the stops online to bring young believers in on the experience. here's jonathan mann. >> reporter: thousands of catholics will crowd st. peter's square

shah of illinois to be united states district judge. mr. reid: i send a cloture motion to the desk, mr. president. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: cloture motion. we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of manish s. s. shahf illinois to be united states district judge for the northern district of illinois signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent the mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. opposed nay. the motion carries. agreed to. mr. reid: i move to proceed to calendar number 588. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. opposed nay. the ayes have it. and the m

shah nomination. the senator from vment vthe sen. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask all time be yielded back on both sides of the remaining pending nominations. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in aconsidereaccordance with the ps of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of manish s. shah to be united states district judge for the northern district of illinois. signed by 19 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is: is it sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of manish s. shah of illinois to be united states district judge for the northern district of illinois, shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: