Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that U.S. foreign aid must be explicitly tied to advancing American national interests, rejecting the idea that taxpayer-funded assistance is a form of global charity.
NEWSMAX -- "Foreign aid is not a separate activity of the United States government; it is an element and a tool of our foreign policy, and it should be used for the purpose of furthering the national interest," Rubio said during an extensive press briefing at the State Department.
"That doesn't mean we don’t care about human rights. That doesn't mean we don't care about starvation. That doesn’t mean we don’t care about hunger. That doesn't mean we don’t care about humanitarian need.
"What it does mean, however, is that even foreign aid — which is not charity, it is an act of the U.S. taxpayer.
