This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Testimony of Ambassador Harriet C. Babbitt
Deputy Administrator - Designate
Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Washington, D.C., October 29, 1997
U.S. Agency for International Development
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am pleased to be here today as
President Clinton's nominee for Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID). It is an honor to be considered for this position.
If approved by this committee and confirmed by the Senate, I look forward to working
with the Congress to assure that foreign assistance continues to be an effective element
of U.S. foreign policy.
Currently, I am serving as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization
of American States (OAS). I'm a lawyer, mother and spouse with a long-held interest
and varied experience in international relations and in developing and transition
countries. I had the privilege to appear before this committee for consideration for my
current position and was confirmed in April 1993. At the OAS, I have had the
opportunity to play a role in the U.S. effort to further Latin America's remarkable and
ongoing consolidation of democracy and economic reform. I appreciate the productive
partnership this committee has forged with my office. During my OAS tenure, I have
focused on several major issues, including facilitating OAS reform, negotiating a
regional anti-corruption convention, engineering telecommunications standards of key
importance to U.S. businesses and coordinating OAS implementation of initiatives
endorsed at the Summit of the Americas in Miami in December 1994.
Before joining the Clinton Administration, from 1988 until 1993 I served as a
board member of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI),
where I chaired the Latin America committee. In addition to extensive Western
Hemisphere experience, my service with NDI provided me an opportunity to participate
in democratic initiatives in Central Europe and Africa and my first opportunity to work with Secretary Madeleine Albright and Administrator Brian Atwood. I was also a
practicing attorney in Phoenix, Arizona, from 1974 to 1992.
In preparing this testimony, I reviewed Administrator Atwood's opening statement
at his confirmation hearing before this committee in April 1993, and I was struck by
how much has changed since then. The Administrator remarked that USAID was on
the brink of being "irreparable" -- an agency in too many places doing too many things,
possessing profound management problems and derided by both friends and foe of
development assistance. When the agency's name appeared in the press, it was usually
prefaced by the words "beleaguered" or "troubled." This Administration has taken
some very important steps that have brought foreign aid to the cutting edge of
advancing our national interest.
First, today's program is more focused. As of December, USAID will have
closed 29 of its missions. Some nations no longer needed assistance; others simply no
longer deserved assistance. In every case, closing missions has allowed the United
States to more closely focus its resources where it can have a real impact. The agency
has also reduced its total staff by more than 25 percent since the beginning of the
Administration. Few agencies in government have more dramatically streamlined their
operations in recent history.
Second, the Administration has come a long way in developing fast, flexible
instruments for delivering assistance in today's rapidly changing world. I think
USAID's innovative transition programs have been an excellent example of finding new
ways to do business in volatile situations like Bosnia, Guatemala, Haiti and elsewhere.
Third, the agency continues to do more to work directly with people in the
developing world. Sustainable development is driven from the ground up. Foreign
assistance has always worked with governments in efforts to get policy right and create
an institutional framework for growth. However, today USAID also puts a great deal
of work into strengthening local capacity, individual entrepreneurship and small-scale,
direct solutions to problems. Whether it is microenterprise, immunization campaigns, encouraging democracy or teaching children, the agency is increasingly harnessing the
best of America's know-how to directly improve the lives of people in the developing
world.
Just as the world has changed dramatically since the end of the Cold War, so has
the role of America's foreign assistance program. Foreign assistance is more central
than ever before. Whether it is helping privatize and reform the economies of the
former Soviet Union, combating the spread of infectious diseases or working to help
nations like Bosnia, Guatemala, Rwanda and Angola rebuild after war, USAID's work
is vital because it reflects who we are and because we recognize its impact on our
national interest. The United States is assisting nations around the world in starting
stock markets, helping the innocent victims of famine and conflict and working to
increase human capacity.
Under the Administrator's leadership, the agency's talented and dedicated staff
has produced impressive results. The Greater Horn of Africa Initiative is a model for
regional and intergovernmental teamwork, as is the related African Food Security
Initiative. USAID's work in transition settings has been a catalyst for increased
international attention on this vital issue. The agency's work in helping privatize the
economies of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe will have a great historical
legacy. USAID programs have helped pave the way for many of today's emerging
success stories like Uganda, South Africa, Guatemala, the Czech Republic, Romania,
India, Costa Rica and the Philippines.
USAID's progress under Administrator Atwood is particularly impressive given
the difficult times the agency has faced. At times, I think the agency has been
something like a family emerging from a protracted series of traumas. Over the last
several years, USAID has been through severe budget cuts, a reorganization, a
reduction-in-force and, most recently, a move. All of these challenges have placed a
strain on agency employees and resources. Administrator Atwood recently remarked
that for the first time since he has been at USAID, he can now actually devote most of
his energy to development and humanitarian relief. I'm sure many employees of the agency share this sentiment. If confirmed, a key challenge for the three of us before
you today will be to help the USAID family take a deep breath and march on.
I recognize that there is a lot of work still to be done. Innovation and improving
management and programs are never-ending efforts. In addition, there have also been
some setbacks in reform efforts, particularly in the implementation of the New
Management Systems (NMS). Vacancies in top positions, including a long vacancy for
the Deputy Administrator, have slowed the agency's momentum. I have recently had
the chance to get to know Tom Fox and Terry Brown, the nominees with me here today
for your consideration to head the agency's policy and management bureaus,
respectively. I am impressed by the caliber and commitment of these nominees, and
hope that you are too. I am confident that, if confirmed, we will form an effective
team.
I know this committee is especially concerned with the coordination of U.S.
foreign policy. The pending authorization legislation codifies the Administration's plan
to reorganize the foreign affairs agencies and consolidate the Arms Control and
Disarmament Agency and the U.S. Information Agency, while strengthening the
Secretary's direct authority and policy guidance over development and humanitarian
programs. Under this agreement, as you know, USAID will remain a distinct and
separate agency. USAID will share certain administrative functions with the
Department of State, and will report to, and work under the direct authority and foreign
policy guidance of the Secretary of State. Administrator Atwood and Secretary
Albright enjoy an excellent working relationship, and USAID welcomes the
Department's focus on development as a crucial aspect of our nation's foreign policy
agenda. The broader context of foreign affairs reorganization, of course, is still linked
to progress in passing this authorization language, allowing the Administration to move
forward in those areas that could not be covered by Executive Order.
Administrator Atwood and I recently reviewed the role I would assume should I
be confirmed as Deputy Administrator. We both agreed that a key part of my portfolio
would be to serve as the principal liaison between USAID and the Department of State. In that role, I would be responsible for ensuring that the agency maximize its
communication and coordination with State. This effort makes sense for a lot of
reasons, not least of which is the physical separation caused by the agency's necessary
and soon-to-be completed move to the Ronald Reagan Building. I would plan to attend
daily meetings at the Department of State, and would be responsible for ensuring the
agency regularizes attendance at State's bureau staff meetings, increases the frequency
of senior management meetings on global and cross-cutting topics of critical policy
concern and improves coordination at all levels.
If confirmed, I also would anticipate playing a role akin to the Administrator's
"alter ego," stepping in as needed to assume any of the duties in his portfolio. The
Administrator expects that I will be available to lead USAID's participation in key
interagency efforts. I feel that I can contribute to strengthening USAID's collaboration
with other government agencies to maximize the effectiveness of U.S. resources.
On the internal management front, it is expected I would be an integral part of the
senior team, monitoring key management and policy issues and helping to ensure
proper coordination between the policy and management bureaus and between those
bureaus and the rest of the agency. I am also very interested in taking a lead role as
monitor and catalyst for the agency's ongoing reinvention and reform efforts. Finally,
I would like to communicate to the American public why our foreign aid program is in
our national interest and why foreign aid is, to quote Secretary Albright, an
indispensable tool of U.S. foreign policy.
In closing, I want to reiterate how excited and sobered I am about the
opportunities, responsibilities and challenges I would face should I be confirmed as
Deputy Administrator. Foreign assistance is one of the more oft-maligned functions of
the federal government. However, with the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan, we
have all had an excellent opportunity to reflect on the tremendous progress U.S.
leadership has helped foster around the globe. It is clear that our current modest and
strategic investment in foreign assistance will help shape the world of the next century.
The United States now has the opportunity to work with our development partners to deepen and strengthen broad-based economic growth and democracy, build human
capacity and protect health and the environment.
If confirmed, I look forward to working with the Congress to achieve these
strategic goals with development strategies that are focused efforts, based on the global
priorities of the United States of America.
This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
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Last Updated on: July 18, 2001
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