Castro Statement on Financial Services and State Department Funding Vote

Castro Statement on Financial Services and State Department Funding Vote

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) released the following statement on his decision to vote no on the Financial Services and State Department Funding Bill:

"I voted no on the Financial Services and State Department Funding Bill today.

"President Trump has engaged in illegal wars in Venezuela, the Caribbean, and Eastern Pacific. He is threatening allies and neighbors, including Mexico, Colombia, and Greenland, with invasion. He illegally closed down the United States Agency for International Development and cancelled congressionally-funded foreign assistance programs, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide, and has used foreign assistance funding to pay El Salvador to detain people in a gulag. He is pursuing a foreign policy that enriches his rich allies and endangers Americans.

"While I strongly support the State Department, our diplomats, and foreign assistance professionals, I believe that this bill does not sufficiently hold the administration accountable or stop its abuses.

"The bill also contains language that I oppose.

America First Opportunity Fund

"That includes the creation of an $850 million "America First Opportunity Fund" which gives the administration broad discretion over foreign assistance with what I believe are insufficient guardrails.

"At a time when Congress has struggled to get basic transparency from the administration, I cannot trust this President or his administration with what amounts to a slush fund.

Latin America Programs

"The bill's funding for Latin America priorities is too narrowly focused on migration enforcement and punitive conditions, rather than a balanced strategy that addresses root causes, strengthens democratic institutions, and supports economic opportunity. This reinforces the President's resurrection of the Monroe Doctrine and his assertion of unrestrained power to intervene in Latin America.

"The United States has a long history of damaging intervention in Latin America in support of authoritarian leaders, who ultimately abused their people. This led to destabilization, human rights abuses, disappearances, mass death, and mass migration. We are repeating the same mistakes that have contributed to the crisis in the Western Hemisphere today.

Foreign Military Financing for Israel

"I also oppose the bill's language that provides Israel with $3.3 billion in Foreign Military Financing without new conditions or reporting requirements. This funding would be used by Israel to procure the same kinds of offensive weapons that have been used to devastating effect in Gaza, where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed by the Israel Defense Forces, with little to no accountability. The State Department has also consistently refused to provide the Congress with even basic answers on the use of these funds and the weapons provided to Israel. Congress also has a responsibility to ensure U.S. assistance is consistent with our laws, values, and humanitarian obligations. I believe providing Israel with this funding to buy even more weapons, especially without any new conditions or transparency, would be a serious mistake.

"I understand that this bill is the product of negotiations between Republican and Democratic leadership and is an improvement of the Republican-only proposal from last year which would have made deeper cuts to the State Department and foreign policy programs, but I cannot support it."