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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
Statement of Kent R. Hill
Assistant Administrator-designate
Bureau for Europe and Eurasia
Before Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Washington, D.C.
October 9, 2001
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you as President Bush's nominee to be Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). I am grateful for the trust President Bush and the USAID Administrator, Andrew Natsios, have placed in me to fulfill this important responsibility.
For almost 35 years, my interests and experience have been deeply intertwined with the countries which constitute the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia. My wife and I have had the privilege of living in Moscow for extended periods of time - during the Cold War and during the early months of the transition to a post-communist society.
While in Moscow as a graduate student in the late 1970s, I worked with our Embassy to help people who were persecuted for their beliefs emigrate from the Soviet Union. During the 1980s and early 1990s, I had the opportunity to meet with American and Soviet officials in Madrid, Moscow, and Washington, to testify before the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, to write a book on the history of Christianity in the Soviet Union, and to participate broadly in the efforts to promote democracy and human rights in post-communist societies in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. I have been a college president for nine years, and have a deep commitment to educate the young to face the challenges of the future.
For those of us raised beneath the ominous specter of nuclear holocaust on the one hand and totalitarianism on the other, the dizzying events of 1989 were breathtaking. The region is a very different place twelve years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The former Soviet bloc is composed of 27 independent countries, and they are each going in their own direction and changing at widely varying paces. In part because of the timely and generous assistance of USAID, the European northern tier states (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia) have realized significant economic and social progress. As a result, USAID has already closed its bilateral missions in those countries.
However, elsewhere in the region, ethnic intolerance, corruption, and tattered political, economic and social structures, challenge progress. Vested interests and entrenched bureaucratic regimes often stall the implementation of reform and create the conditions for socio-economic divisions, declining living standards, and deteriorating social services. Events in the Balkans demonstrate how fragile inter-ethnic relations can be. Authoritarian rule in many Eurasian countries is the norm.
To be sure, the euphoria which swept both the former Soviet bloc and the West, was destined to meet an unhappy end on the hard rocks of reality. What was attempted was unprecedented in world history - a rapid transformation of a large number of non-democratic and inefficient, centrally-planned economies into free, democratic, and prosperous states.
Progress has been made, and though USAID has been a major facilitator of such progress, the forces which block the emergence of vital democratic and economically strong economies remain significant, and continue to frustrate our best intentions.
The question now is: "Where do we go from here? How should we respond to this new period in history, now that the blush of optimism has given way to a grimmer, more realistic sense of the challenges?"
First, we must continue to accept as a given that the United States ought to be engaged in helping to facilitate the emergence of stable, economically-free, and democratic societies in the former communist world of Europe and Eurasia. One of the lessons of history is that our peace, security, and prosperity cannot be separated from the peace, security, and prosperity of Europe and the former Soviet Union. Indeed, the region is important to U.S. national interests. It is home to more than 400 million people, borders on Western Europe, Turkey, Greece, China, Afghanistan, and Iran, and includes the former Soviet Union with its significant oil and gas resources.
For the foreseeable future, there will be substantial humanitarian needs which compassion and our own enlightened national self-interest require that we address. Sections of the Balkans, for example, are suffering from significant problems related to war and often-involuntary internal migrations. In addition, the demographic indicators for Russia are not encouraging. HIV/AIDS infection is growing faster there than anywhere else in the world, including Africa. There are other significant problems in the healthcare field as well. Trafficking of drugs and persons has become a major problem.
Second, our policies must continue to aim at nurturing mature democracies, based on market economies, the rule of law, guaranteed human rights, and religious freedom.
The democracy which has evolved in America, and the kind endorsed by American foreign policy, goes well beyond simply holding elections. A mature democracy must respect the inalienable human rights of its citizens - rights that the majority may not infringe upon. Democracy without minority rights can become fascism. Nor can freedom sustain a democracy apart from its citizens exercising civic and moral responsibility rooted in a genuine respect for the rule of law.
In the administration of U.S. foreign assistance, if confirmed, I will be faithful to the congressional mandate, as found in the Foreign Assistance Act, the Support for East European Democracy Act, and the International Religious Freedom Act, to support human rights and religious freedom in Europe and Eurasia.
Third, we must focus on conflict resolution and reconciliation. It is easy to despair when one considers the forces of hate and bitterness which divide peoples. The Balkans have long been one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse regions in the world. Once again, patience is not just a virtue, but a requirement of the work of the Europe and Eurasia Bureau of USAID.
I have long been committed to breaking down barriers which divide people. To advance the common good in a pluralistic society requires a firm belief in the dignity and worth of every human being regardless of religion or world view. The distinctiveness of Western democratic societies is that they are fully persuaded that the common good is furthered by protecting the rights of diverse groups to maintain their distinctive identities. But it is understood that those individual groups, religious or otherwise, must respect the rights of others as well. In the early 1990s, for example, I helped organize and moderated a conference held on Capitol Hill which addressed the issue of pluralism and Islam.
Our foreign assistance has always reflected our national commitment not only to promote respect for peoples of all beliefs and ethnic backgrounds, but to demonstrate that respect through American foreign assistance given to those in need, regardless of ethnic origin or religious belief. Indeed, President Bush just this past week at the State Department reminded us all of this by saying that "helping people in need is a central part of not only the Christian faith, but of Judaism and the Hindu faith, and of course a central part of Islamic traditions. And that's why our coalition is more than just one to rout terrorism out of the world. It's one to bind together, to knit those traditions in a way that helps people in need." Mr. Chairman, USAID has long embodied those ideals, and I pledge to you and this Committee that I will endeavor to embody these ideals as well.
Improving our understanding of the conflict-prone countries of Southeast Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia is a high priority. I am committed to bringing the best minds and resources to bear on not just analyzing the causes of conflict, but in translating that understanding into viable policies and strategies which have the capacity to lessen tension and improve relationships.
Fourth, we must expand our cooperation with other donor nations and continue to develop our ties with the private sector, international financial institutions, and non-governmental organizations. I believe the Bureau's experience with enterprise funds, health partnerships, and several different foundation mechanisms established in the more advanced northern tier central European countries may yield important lessons for future public-private alliances.
Fifth, we must accept that our strategies for helping must be multi-year in nature. We must do the best we can, as quickly as we can, but at the same time we must engage in policies which build for the future by creating the pre-conditions for success. This means there must be greater focus on the young. If reform is to succeed, we must engage the "next generation" in the transition process taking place in their countries. In addition, for reforms to succeed in the long run, there must be a substructure of values and community-affirming associations, without which stable and free societies cannot be sustained - either abroad or at home.
We must act and act quickly, but we must also be patient. We must take the long view understanding that short-term results will sometimes be modest, though indispensable for future progress.
It is always important to plan for a gradual reduction of assistance, to resist any drift towards "dependency." But to pull out too early, for example in the Balkans, may well undermine the proven investments we have made over this past decade.
Finally, I am committed to ensuring that USAID assistance to Europe and Eurasia is well coordinated with Congress, the State Department, the National Security Council, and other parts of the U.S. Government. Close collaboration between USAID field missions and U.S. Embassies is essential. I very much look forward to continuing the Europe and Eurasia Bureau's weekly meetings with Ambassador William Taylor, Coordinator for U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank you and the Committee for considering my nomination for this strategic assignment, particularly at a time when several countries in the region are needed to help in the war against terrorism. I am deeply honored, and if confirmed, I am committed to working with the Congress to ensure that Europe and Eurasia Bureau programs support U.S. foreign policy.
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Last Updated on: January 02, 2009 |
