[US] committed to fighting poverty: USAID nominee

from Reuters

By Christopher Doering

The Bush administration's choice to lead the top agency for foreign assistance said on Tuesday the White House remains committed to combating AIDS and poverty even as it puts an increasing emphasis on combating national security threats from developing countries.

Earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced plans to restructure foreign aid with the primary goal of better coordinating spending of the more than $19 billion in aid the State Department handles each year.

Randall Tobias was picked in January to head the U.S. Agency for International Development, and also become the director of foreign assistance, a new position in the State Department that would oversee all U.S. foreign aid programs.

"Absolutely nothing is going to change about the humanitarian aspects of what we do," Tobias told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"We can never lose sight of this long-term objective of transformation diplomacy."

The State Department has been searching for ways to coordinate foreign assistance programs to better meet U.S. policy goals -- primarily spreading democracy and post-conflict reconstruction overseas.

Critics argue that by placing foreign aid efforts in these areas, U.S. assistance would be based largely on politics rather than reducing poverty and other development goals such as AIDS.

Sen. Paul Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat, told Tobias he was concerned Rice may have overstepped her bounds in creating the new position.

"I'm concerned the secretary comes along ... and creates a very high-level position without passing it through congressional review," said Sarbanes.

Tobias said improving education and health care and creating economic opportunities in developing countries are critical to promoting the long-term growth of democracy and ensuring U.S. security.

"The focus of national security threats has shifted to the developing world, where poverty, oppression, injustice and state indifference are exploited by our enemies to provide haven for criminals," said Tobias, a former chief executive at drug manufacturer Eli Lilly who currently is the State Department's global AIDS coordinator.