Abdullahi was ten years old, Muhammad was two, and Bessie was one.
Their names were recently read on the floor of the House of Representatives during a Special Order for USAID that the Alliance for American Leadership organized alongside seven members of Congress.
As Congressman Gabe Amo of Rhode Island said:
“Elon Musk recently proclaimed that he ‘cannot cite a single name of someone who died because of aid cuts.’ But just because Elon can’t name one of the 700,000 people killed by his cruelty doesn’t mean they didn’t exist.
We know their names. Abdullahi Ibrahim. He was 10 years old when USAID-supported asthma treatment disappeared from his clinic in Nigeria. His family could no longer afford his medication. He suffered a fatal asthma attack.
Muhammad Hassim was two years old. When food assistance disappeared from his refugee camp in Myanmar, he died of starvation.
Bessie Hadu was only one year old. He died of malaria after clinics in western Liberia ran out of malaria medication because of USAID cuts.
These are not just statistics. These are children. They had parents. They had dreams. They had full lives ahead of them.’”
Grieving these losses is crucial, but we can’t stop there. Congresswoman Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, who sits on both the Appropriations and Foreign Affairs Committees, made the case that the answer to this destruction is to come back stronger than before:
“We often argue that we spend less than 1% of our budget on foreign aid. I argue we should spend more on foreign aid, because it returns to us in our national security and, of course, in security around the world. And what happens when we withdraw from that indispensable leadership position? Well, representatives from China or Russia, adversaries, visit these locations and say, ‘How can we help you?’ And how would you ever trust America again?”
This is why the Alliance for American Leadership is fighting to invest two percent of the federal budget in diplomacy and international assistance. We must do more to prove we can be an ally that others can trust.
The Alliance for American Leadership worked closely with these Members to plan this special order, and our team showed up in force to watch it. We did it because the people who destroyed USAID are counting on Americans to forget Abdullahi, Muhammad, and Bessie, and to accept that the damage is permanent and unavoidable.
We refuse to accept that, and so do the members of Congress who stood up with us. Every dollar you give helps us put more of these stories in front of Congress, stand behind the leaders willing to tell them, and build the majority that will rebuild what Trump and Musk tore down.
Congresswoman Lois Frankel put the promise in a single sentence when she said, “We may have lost an agency, but we will not abandon the mission.”
Please support our vital mission today.
Thank you to everyone who joined us to watch the Special Order! If you missed it, you can check it out at the clip above.
And thank you to Representatives Don Beyer, Lois Frankel, Jim McGovern, Gabe Amo, Suhas Subramanyam, Madeleine Dean, and Brad Sherman for speaking at the Special Order and working to make the U.S. safer and stronger.
Congressman Don Beyer of Virginia:
“These are numbers, but each statistic represents suffering and misery that our government chose to inflict on some of the most vulnerable people in the world.”
Congressman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts:
“USAID saved lives, fought hunger, and strengthened democracy. It prevented problems that started overseas from finding their way back to us. It wasn’t a perfect institution. None are. But through its work, the American people tried to make life better for our neighbors.”
Congressman Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia:
“USAID was America’s frontline defense against global chaos by building peace, providing clean water, and stabilizing unstable regions. It aimed to stop humanitarian crises from exploding into violent conflicts, crises that affect Americans at home and abroad.”
Congressman Brad Sherman of California:
“What USAID does more than anything else is fight malaria, Ebola, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. And if we don’t fight those diseases over there, they replicate, mutate, and migrate.”
Ranking Member Lois Frankel of Florida
“Of course we should reform programs that don’t work. We should demand results, accountability. But demolition is not reform. Foreign assistance is not simply a charity. It’s national security.”
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the Alliance 4 American Leadership (A4AL) alone. Alliance 4 American Leadership would like to acknowledge the many generous supporters who make our work possible.
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