The Foreign Service Journal - March 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2018 23 Hoekstra has long been opposed to gay rights and abortion, and is an outspo- ken skeptic about climate change—all views that put him well outside the Dutch mainstream. The Dutch political establishment was also well aware that back in 2015 Hoekstra, a former Republican con- gressman from Michigan, told a confer- ence on terrorism that immigrants from Muslim countries had brought “chaos” to Europe and created “no-go” zones in the Netherlands, even “burn- ing politicians.” He repeated those false claims during appearances on “Fox and Friends” and other media outlets. Journalists called to Ambassador Hoekstra’s first news conference on Jan. 10 expected him to clear the air. He did not. The ambassador finally apologized in a Jan. 12 interviewwith De Telegraaf , assert- ing that he had “mixed up countries” when he made his claims. As part of a miniature rehabilitation tour, two days later Hoekstra paid a visit to one of those purported zones of fear, the immigrant-rich Schilderswijk area of The Hague Under heavy guard, he met with local police, walked through an outdoor mar- ket and sat with a local Moroccan Dutch business owner, Appie el Massaoudi, who gives jobs hauling trash and recycling to local youths at risk of radicalization. President Trump’s assault on American diplomacy and development continues unabated. The [2019] international affairs budget that Congress received today would further hollow out the State Department and USAID. Fortunately, it is Congress— not the president—that has power of the purse, and I urge my colleagues to join me in ensuring that like last year, these draco- nian cuts are dead on arrival to Capitol Hill. Retired generals and diplomats, Fortune 500 CEOs, and faith leaders came together last year to make clear the devastating impact that the Trump cuts would have on our global leadership. Just this morning, 151 retired three- and four-star generals and admirals came out in strong oppo- sition to slashing the international affairs budget. The bottom line is that these cuts would make us less safe. They are a gift to countries like Russia and China who are already filling the void left by America’s diminishing role in the world. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House of Representatives and Senate on a bipartisan basis to reject President Trump’s cuts to the international affairs budget and put in place a budget that heeds the advice of civilian and military leaders alike by prioritizing diplomacy and develop- ment. —Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), in a Feb. 12 press release on the proposed Fiscal Year 2019 international affairs budget. Our military does have some very unique offensive and defensive capabilities in cyberspace and other agencies protect critical infrastructure, but it’s our diplomats who work with our allies and partners to develop a common response to these threats while engaging our adversaries to make clear that cyber-attacks resulting in real world conse- quences will be viewed as a use of force. The importance of the State Department’s work cannot be understated. —Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), at a Feb. 6 hear- ing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on “U.S. Cyber Diplomacy in an Era of Growing Threats.” The only reason we have gone 17 years with- out another attack the size of 9/11 is because of the hard work of our intel agencies, FBI and diplomatic corps. ... We have to counter violent extremismwith the help of all agencies, including the State Department. —Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), at a Feb. 5 panel discussion on cyber and homeland security at George Washington University. The women and men of the State Department have long been some of our strongest assets in representing the United States at the table to negotiate peace and to make it possible for Americans to sleep soundly at night. Under this admin- istration, they have weakened our State Department and confused our allies. We should be concerned that, once a leader, the United States is rapidly becoming a pariah on the international stage and that does not make us safer. —Rep. William Keating (D-Mass.), at a joint subcommittee hearing on North Korea’s chemical, biological and conventional weapons, Jan. 17. Heard on the Hill JOSH