U.S. foreign aid recipients own billions in Treasury securities, CRS report says

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Jun 4 2011

"The Congressional Research Service released a report last month, a copy of which Fox News exclusively obtained, showing that in fiscal year 2010, the latest year that data was available, the U.S. handed out a total of $1.4 billion to 16 foreign countries that held at least $10 billion in Treasury securities," FoxNews.com reports. Countries that hold U.S. Treasury securities and also receive foreign aid, which is earmarked for a variety of programs, such as fighting HIV/AIDS or terrorism, include Brazil, China, Russia, India, Mexico and Egypt, according to FoxNews.com.

"Borrowing money from countries who receive our aid is dangerous for both the donor and recipient," Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who requested the report, said in a statement. "If countries can afford to buy our debt, perhaps they can afford to fund assistance programs on their own," he added. FoxNews.com notes the State Department did not respond to a request for comment (6/3).

This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.