Kyl Undermines U.S. Global Poverty Efforts

The Hill, a news publication for Congress, reported yesterday that Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ.) issued a memo arguing that the United States leads the world in aid to poor countries. The 9-page paper entitled, “The Truth About U.S. Foreign Assistance,” is not so much a complete falsehood as a scheming misrepresentation of the truth. As Susan Rice, a research fellow at the Brookings Institution, points out, Senator Kyl’s paper distorts the reality because it includes foreign military aid in total development assistance. “No relevant, informed standard would include military assistance,” Rice said.

Another source quoted by The Hill supported Rice’s contention, adding that only “When viewed in terms of total dollars spent,” does “U.S. aid dwarf that of any other country.” The reality is that the United States ranks near the bottom when it comes to the foreign aid standard agreed upon by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), to which the United States belongs. OECD standards stipulate that members should devote 0.7 percent of their respective Gross National Products (GNP) to Official Development Assistance. The United States, by contrast, spends less than 0.2 percent of GNP on foreign aid.

Senator Kyl is only half right: America is a generous nation, but it is not a nation indifferent to the plight of the world's poor or satisfied with its current level of giving. Senator Kyl’s memo is an underhanded attempt to undermine the commendable effort of the U.S. government and its citizens to end abject poverty and address the root causes of instability.