FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

March 5, 2020

Contact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343







WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Senate will vote on an amendment offered by U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) to the nearly $8 billion coronavirus supplemental that would pay for the legislation. The Senate is expected to vote on Dr. Paul’s amendment around noon eastern today.



“I support our government’s efforts to fight the coronavirus. We also owe it to the American people to do it in a way that avoids piling billions more in debt on their backs. My amendment responsibly uses taxpayer resources by reducing waste to pay for this new spending,” said Dr. Paul.



Dr. Paul’s amendment would rescind unobligated FY 2020 balances for the East-West Center, which was highlighted in the Citizens Against Government Waste’s 2019 Congressional Pig Book on wasteful spending. Previously, even the Obama administration proposed significantly reducing the Center’s funding.



It would also rescind unobligated FY 2020 balances for the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), a past topic of Dr. Paul’s Waste Reports. The IAF is largely duplicative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and has used American taxpayer dollars on projects such as teaching circus arts in Argentina, helping deported illegal immigrants start a business (and without being able to rule out that the money would not go to criminal deportees), jumpstarting the Haitian film industry, and promoting a Haitian dance troupe. In addition, the IAF has not been reauthorized since 1984.



Dr. Paul’s amendment would also proportionately rescind funding for the State Department’s Cultural Exchange programs and USAID’s non-health activities. Both agencies have been frequently cited by Dr. Paul for massive waste of taxpayer dollars.



You can read Dr. Paul’s amendment below: