LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION urging the New York State Congressional deleg-
ation to enact H. Res. 173, the Foreign Aid Accountability Act

WHEREAS, H. Res. 173 would amend the rules of the House of Represen-
tatives to prohibit the consideration of any bill or joint resolution
that appropriates foreign assistance to more than one country at one
time; and
WHEREAS, It is the position of this Legislative Body that H. Res.
173, also known as the Foreign Aid Accountability Act, proposed by
Congressman Ted Poe of Texas, which seeks to end Congress' current prac-
tice of issuing foreign aid in one massive blanket bill rather than on a
country by country basis, and seeks to put America's interests before
the world's, should be supported by the New York State Congressional
delegation; and
WHEREAS, The United States sends taxpayer money to 150 of the 192
countries in the world; and
WHEREAS, Last year alone, the United States spent nearly $40 billion
on foreign aid; and
WHEREAS, Since 2007, America has sent $9.5 billion in foreign aid to
Egypt, $4.5 billion to Jordan, $1.4 billion to Lebanon, and $74 million
to Turkey; and
WHEREAS, According to a May 2011 Pew Research Center poll, 79% of
Egyptians, 84% of Jordanians, 75% of Pakistanis and 77% of Turks have an
unfavorable view of the United States; and
WHEREAS, America's largess also finds its way to other countries where
relations are questionable such as China, Venezuela, Russia and Cuba;
and
WHEREAS, Furthermore, the United States is the largest shareholder in
the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a global financial institution
which recently issued bailout loan packages to Greece, Portugal and
Ireland; and
WHEREAS, As the IMF's largest shareholder at 17%, American taxpayers
often finance the greatest portion of IMF spending; and
WHEREAS, The United States, which is currently over $14 trillion in
debt, is in no position to be sending taxpayer dollars to other nations;
and
WHEREAS, Recent studies have indicated that 44 states and the District
of Columbia are projecting budget deficits totaling over $100 billion
for fiscal year 2012; and
WHEREAS, The National Coalition of the Homeless estimates that nearly
3 million Americans are homeless; over 106,000 homeless Americans are
veterans according to a recent report to Congress; and
WHEREAS, Even during strong fiscal times, many Americans would argue
that their tax dollars should not go to foreign countries, especially
those nations associated with terrorist activity; and
WHEREAS, This Legislative Body feels that Congress should, at the very
least, end its current practice of voting on foreign aid in one massive
blanket bill, and strongly consider ending all monetary assistance to
other nations until America's fiscal house is in order; and
WHEREAS, H. Res. 173 is a commitment to the American people that their
money will be spent wisely and only assist nations where there is a
return on our investment; and
WHEREAS, It is the intent of this Legislative Body to support the
enactment of H. Res. 173, the Foreign Aid Accountability Act, in order
to bring accountability and transparency to our nation's foreign aid
policies and to finally begin putting American needs before all others;
now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the New York State Congressional delegation be and
hereby is respectfully memorialized by this Legislative Body to vote in
favor of H. Res. 173, the Foreign Aid Accountability Act; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to each member of the Congressional delegation from the State of
New York.