Congresswoman Sara Jacobs Files Amendments to Rebalance United States Foreign Policy Tools in State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill
Last week, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53) submitted two amendments to strengthen conflict prevention programs and prioritize human rights vetting in military aid in the Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill. While these amendments were ultimately not made in order by the House Committee on Rules, Congresswoman Jacobs will continue to work to reorient our aid programs as a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill passed the House on July 29, 2021. Congresswoman Jacobs also spoke on the House floor in support of the United States paying its full United Nations peacekeeping dues. In July, Jacobs filed legislation, The United States Commitment to Peacekeeping Act (H.R. 4420), to permanently repeal the cap on U.S. contributions to the UN’s Peacekeeping operations.
Congresswoman Jacobs’ two amendments to the bill were as follows:
- Jacobs’ Amendment #106: an amendment to withhold foreign military financing– security assistance– from recipient countries until the Secretary of State certifies that they are not engaging in a pattern of gross human rights violations or violations of the Geneva Conventions of 1949.
- Jacobs, Malinowski Amendment #76: an amendment to move $10,000,000 from the Foreign Military Financing account to the Complex Crises Fund, a key fund that will be used in the implementation of the Global Fragility Act to prevent and respond to conflict abroad. In June, Jacobs led a letter to the White House calling for swift implementation of the Global Fragility Act.
During debate on the bill, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs delivered remarks on the House floor in support of her amendments.
Jacobs’ remarks on the House floor were as follows (Twitter):
Before coming to Congress, I served at the State Department, working on countering and preventing violent extremism and assessing the real drivers behind it.
What we know is that it’s not possible to solely rely on security assistance and military tools to counter violent extremism. In fact, one of the common drivers of local recruitment into these extremist groups is abuses by state security forces.
When the United States provides security assistance to militaries tasked with countering violent groups – we need to acknowledge the possible unintended consequences and ensure that the assistance we do provide is not going to people who will abuse their own citizens, and in turn exacerbating the problem we are seeking to address in the first place.
We also need to properly allocate resources to actually address the drivers of violence and conflict, which means more funding to efforts like the Global Fragility Act. I look forward to working with my colleagues on these efforts.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield back.