U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, is shining a hopeful spotlight on the future of U.S. foreign assistance, assuring a crowd in Davos that President Donald Trump will sign a $50 billion foreign aid funding bill by the end of the month.
“The speed and the strength and the cruelty and the senselessness with which whole organizations were just burned, and storehouses of medicines and food were just abandoned, has created the mistaken impression that the United States has walked away,” said the lawmaker, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. “But next week, we will finish passing in Congress, and the president will sign $50 billion dollars [of foreign aid].”
Coons was referring to the advancement of a compromise funding bill, a version of which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives this month. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week, with a final passage into law by Jan. 31.
About the author
Elissa Miolene
Elissa Miolene reports on USAID and the U.S. government at Devex. She previously covered education at The San Jose Mercury News, and has written for outlets like The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Washingtonian magazine, among others. Before shifting to journalism, Elissa led communications for humanitarian agencies in the United States, East Africa, and South Asia.
