USAID Affects All Americans, Not Just Developing Countries
To the Editor:
Fayette County escapes much of the worldwide controversy over Donald Trump’s spending cuts involving USAID programs domestically and abroad. These cuts involve programs that provide lifesaving support in the form of food, medicine, and medical equipment.
Fayette County has just about a dozen family farms, according to the agricultural county extension office. This contrasts Midwest and Great Plains states like Iowa, Minnesota, and Kansas where agriculture and USAID (United States Agency for International Development) are keys to its economies. Farm incomes will be hurt.
The decrease in these purchases ($2 billion worth of agricultural products in 2024) could directly impact Texas producers like Fayette County residents by affecting related industries such as transportation, processing, and equipment manufacturing.
Cutting USAID-supported programs that buy US surplus wheat, corn, soybeans, and sorghum for developing countries would mean that surplus crops will potentially lead to lower market prices that affect overall economies, according to Brian Reisinger. (Milwaukee Sentinel) Other ways that Americans would be affected with the loss of USAID:
• the depletion of US export markets with developing countries • loss of US agricultural development and its methods, including supplies for developing countries, which would invite even more influence by competing nations like China, Russia, and Brazil
• more costly military interventions because of the absence of programs to address root causes of global conflict, instability, and extremism
• disregard for the economic growth of developing countries that could become stronger trading partners with the US
• reduction of programs supporting long-term environmental protection and climate change.
“Foreign aid is a very small portion of the federal budget (less than 1%) but it yields long-term benefits by preventing crises that could require much longer military or emergency spending in the future.
“While exact numbers depend on trade policies and global demand, studies show that US agriculture agricultural exports tied to USAID-supported markets exceed $5-7 billion annually. If USAID programs were cut, much of this demand could disappear or shift to competitors.”— USAID archives There is also a humanitarian perspective, says Dr. Ann Marie Ellis, who is vice president of Rotary Club Global Services in Austin. She emphasizes what billionaire Warren Buffett said in his annual Berkshire Hathaway report about spending tax dollars wisely and supporting those less fortunate, who through no fault of their own ‘get the short straws of life.’
She says US elected officials should be reminded of the words in Proverbs (19:17): “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done.”
Virginia Leech La Grange