Leahy says he’ll have stronger hand over US foreign aid

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) turned down a coveted spot atop the defense-funding panel on Wednesday but predicted he will have a stronger hand in guiding U.S. foreign aid now that he's the most senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The chairman of the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs turned down the chairmanship of the full committee after Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) died last month but predicted he will now have outsize influence atop the foreign aid subpanel.

“This panel is where American values are put into action and funding decisions are made to advance our national security interests, to improve the lives of the world’s poor, and to make the world safer, healthier, cleaner and more prosperous,” Leahy said in a statement Wednesday. “And now, as the most senior member of the Appropriations Committee, I will play an even more active role in the full scope of the committee’s work.”

“I especially look forward to helping [Sen.] John Kerry [D-Mass.] in the new role I expect him to assume as our next Secretary of State. These are uncertain times, requiring steady hands at the tiller. From Afghanistan, Iran and Syria to the Horn of Africa and the Far East, the need for clear-eyed U.S. leadership and responsiveness has never been greater.”

Leahy says he expects “deference” on his priorities now that he's the senior Democrat.

“I realized I could have the best of all possible worlds,” Vermont Public Radio quoted him as saying about his decision to turn down the chairmanship. “I'd be the senior-most person on Appropriations, which means that everybody knows I could take the chairmanship if I wanted. So I really get deference to issues of my concern. But I'm also chairman of Judiciary, which handles so many issues that that affect all Americans.”

Leahy clashed with the Obama administration last year over military funding for Egypt, which the Vermont senator wanted to restrict because of his concern over that country's democratic transition after the Arab Spring.