RELEASE: HILL VOTES TO STRENGTHEN AMERICAN DIPLOMACY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ABROAD

Today, Rep. French Hill (AR-02) voted for H.R. 8595, the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2027, which passed the House with a bipartisan vote of 217-209. The bill strengthens American diplomacy and national security abroad, cuts foreign aid and counters our adversaries while supporting key allies, and supports education programs abroad like the Fulbright Exchange Program.

Rep. Hill said, "House Republicans are bringing sanity back to foreign spending and making sure every dollar we send abroad serves America's national security. Arkansans never asked for their hard-earned tax dollars to be spent pushing 'woke' fads like DEI programs and gender ideology experiments on our strategic partners and allies. I voted for this bill to fund the things that actually advance our best interests, our diplomatic and intelligence operations, security assistance for real allies, and programs that reflect American values like religious freedom, the fight against human trafficking, and the Fulbright Exchange program. We're also cutting off the regimes that work against America and demanding more accountability from those receiving our money. This bill respects taxpayers, advances our actual interests, and delivers the foreign policy Americans have been asking for."

Background:

H.R. 8595, the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2027, provides a total discretionary allocation of $47.32 billion, which is $2.69 billion, or 6 percent, below the FY26 enacted level. The bill champions a foreign policy agenda that supports our allies, counters our adversaries, and eliminates contributions to organizations that are wasteful and contradictory to American values. It codifies President Trump's executive orders to completely defund DEI programs, climate change mandates, and radical gender ideology programs, and maintains all long-standing pro-life provisions. It also counters the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party by fully funding the Countering PRC Influence Fund at $400 million, denying the CCP access to U.S.-backed resources, and prohibiting countries from using U.S. aid to repay debts owed to Communist China.

Rep. Hill's Priorities

• Support an interagency strategy to disrupt and dismantle narcotics production and trafficking and affiliated networks in the Middle East.
• Hold the Egyptian Government accountable for its poor treatment of Christian communities in Egypt.
• Funding for the Fulbright Exchange Program and other international exchange programs.
• Ensuring continued delivery of humanitarian aid into and within Syria.
• Require the Secretary of State to examine the severe restrictions on religious freedom in countries the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended for the Special Watch List.
• Funding for programs to combat trafficking in persons (TIP), including for the Child Protection Compacts and the Program to End Modern Slavery.
• Funding for the National Security Investment Programs to help support conflict observatory documentation from entities with experience, especially for documentation of war crimes that occurred under the Assad Regime in Syria and those that are suspected to be occurring in Ukraine under the invasion by Russia.
• Funding for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Division.