People are dying from USAID cuts

Dear Editor,

One of the first government agencies Elon Musk and Pres. Trump set their sights on dismantling was USAID. On March 10, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration had completed its review of 6,200 already-approved USAID contracts, and they are cancelling 5,200 of them. According to Rubio, these contracts did not serve the interests of the United States.

According to a March 4 memo from Nicholas Enrich, the acting assistant administrator for global health at USAID, here are just a few of the devastating impacts that will happen this year alone as a result of stopping the United States’ funding for lifesaving humanitarian assistance:

* Tens of millions more cases of preventable diseases like malaria, polio, and tuberculosis.

* 16 million pregnant women will not receive prenatal care.

* 14 million children suffering from pneumonia or diarrhea will go without treatment.

* 1 million severely malnourished children will go without food and treatment.

Look at these figures. Many innocent people–millions–will suffer and die because of this decision. 

Some years ago I traveled to Tanzania and I sat with a severely malnourished little boy at a rural health clinic where he was receiving food and care to recover. That experience stayed with me. How could that little boy’s distended belly and emaciated limbs have been in our national interest? How could it possibly have been in our national interest to let that child starve?

Elon Musk gloated about “feeding USAID into the wood chipper.” Here’s what Wisconsin’s Republican Senator Ron Johnson had to say about all this: “I applaud Elon Musk. I applaud the Trump administration. I applaud President Trump,” Johnson said. “This is why he was elected.”

Shutting down USAID will save tens of billions. The price, tragically, will be millions of children dying from hunger and preventable illness. Meanwhile, Republican leaders want tax cuts of $4 trillion, and half of that would go to households making $320,000 or more per year. That’s where the money should come from to balance the budget. Shutting down USAID barely makes a dent. It’s just cruel.

If this cruelty isn’t what you voted for, speak up. Bread for the World will help you contact your elected leaders at bread.org.

Jennifer Williamson

Dodgeville, WI