State and Foreign Operations FY 2022

House Appropriations: State and Foreign Operations FY 2022, June 7, 2021

The crisis at the border must not be allowed to continue, nor the insanity of the last administration be allowed to ever recur again. Were it not for the ineptitude of the previous Secretary of State, I would suggest that Customs and Border Protection be transferred to the Department of State so that it can be more seamlessly integrated into our overall foreign policy. Such a move would also lead to a cultural change in the Border Patrol, both at home and abroad. Establishing Homeland Security was meant to end siloing. This reorganization has simply put it into the wrong silo. While an appropriation is not the place to direct a comprehensive government reorganization, it is the place to study it. Therefore, money should be appropriated to solicit a grant to study the culture of CPB, including the possible impacts of transferring it to the Department of State, including the required changes to congressional committee structure, including the Appropriations Committee.

The Foreign Agricultural Service is another matter. It is hardly slanderous to note that some of its activities are counter-productive when food is delivered just prior to harvest, thus reducing the price paid to local farmers. The extent to which this occurs is economic warfare. American farmers receive plenty of subsidies without activities that hurt the ability of developing nations to feed themselves. It would be better to send nothing than to continue such sabotage, even if it is unintentional. For this reason, the administration should be transferred to the Agency for International Development. 

Any food distribution should go to overseas farmers, not to governments or food processors. Additionally, processed foods should not be delivered at all, especially not those foods which have made this nation obese. If anything, subsidies which are paid to American agriculture that contribute to our ill-health should be scaled down and eventually eliminated.

The four years of the Trump Administration show what can happen when a President realizes that he has wide discretion in matters of Trade. The separation of trade policy into the Office of the Special Representative, the DOC International Trade Administration and the DOC Bureau of Industry and Security serve to silo foreign policy in a way which is undesirable. The policy process should lead to a message while we all sing from the same hymnal. While trading Mr. Ross for Mr. Pompeo would have had no difference, combining these areas would have at least made foreign policy more resilient. 

Again, it is not the Subcommittees place to order executive branch reorganization. It can fund how it might occur, including impact on congressional committee jurisdiction - including the appropriations subcommittees. Performance of such a study should be completed by an outside contractor reporting to the Office of Management as well as all related agencies and committees. It should not be just a staff study. There would be too much turf protection for that. 

This is a big job, with many universities in and out of the nation’s capital qualified to undertake such a study. It would best be accomplished with a consortium of schools of international international affairs and of public administration from multiple universities, including studying the attitudes of both currently serving personnel, committee members and staff and recent retirees. Multiple grants could be awarded for the effort.