Ron Paul Quotes.com 2006 Ron Paul Chapter 2 Ron Paul Quotes.com: Eliminating Foreign Aid That Helps Manipulate Elections 15 February 2006 Home Page   Contents Congressional Record (Page H285)   Cached Not linked on Ron Paul’s Congressional website.

Eliminating Foreign Aid That Helps Manipulate Elections 15 February 2006 2006 Ron Paul 2:1 Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I intend to vote in favor of this legislation because I support any statement by Congress indicating hesitation to send U.S. taxpayer money abroad. 2006 Ron Paul 2:2 Unfortunately this legislation is motivated by politics rather than a genuine desire to limit unconstitutional foreign aid programs. The wording of the resolution itself does not close the door to providing U.S. aid to the Palestinians even if Hamas, the political party that won recent parliamentary elections, takes its seats in parliament without altering its stated policies toward Israel. Indeed, the legislation states that “no United States assistance should be provided directly to the Palestinian Authority” if Hamas occupies a majority of seats in the Palestinian parliament. This obviously suggests that the money can be spent “indirectly” in any case. 2006 Ron Paul 2:3 So this is hardly a strong statement opposing any and all aid to the Palestinians, which is the position that I hold. 2006 Ron Paul 2:4 I find it interesting that the same proponents of the United States government exporting democracy overseas are now demanding that something be done when people overseas do not vote the way the U.S. Government thinks they should. It seems that being for democracy means respecting that people overseas may not always vote the way Washington wants them to vote. If our aim is to ensure that only certain parties or individuals are allowed to lead foreign nations, why not just admit that democracy is the last thing we want? That attitude is evident in the fact that the U.S. Government spent more than $2 million trying to manipulate the Palestinian vote in favor of parties supported by Washington. You cannot have it both ways. Although it is always a good idea to eliminate foreign aid, we should be careful about calling the manipulation of elections overseas an exercise in “democracy promotion.”

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