dent. Your support has been valuable in the past and I hope will continue unabated.

I am also the chair of the Inter-American Foundation and I am chair of the board of directors, which is a U.S. Government agency that works in grass-roots development activities throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Mr. Chairman, my testimony today will be to talk to you about the Inter-American Foundation which receives an annual appropriation from the 150 accounts and has, the President has recently requested a $20 million appropriation, which is a sum that is similar to the sum that the Foundation used for fiscal year 1996.

What I would like to talk to you about, Mr. Chairman, is that this small appropriation of money that is provided to the InterAmerican Foundation is money that is well spent for the United States. I want to explain how this small amount can accomplish elements that are of interest to our national good and which can help I would like to be able to point out how this small appropriation can help further our national interest and can help strengthen the bonds of friendship and cooperation with our neighbors in the south.

We know that in the past few years historic changes have taken place in Latin America and the Caribbean that offer boundless opportunities for democratic reforms, increased trade, and improved living standards for the poor who represent the vast majority of the region's population. These changes have become possible because of the emerging democracies in these areas. I believe that our Nation's interests can be furthered if we can cement and strengthen these nascent democracies.

The Inter-American Foundation provides development assistance where it is most needed, which is at the grass-roots level, and is focused on self-help. We are able to provide resources to the most needy so they can access credit, improve their skills and standard of living. What we are doing is not charity work and it is not humanitarian work. It is really work to help those who want to help themselves.

We understand that however meritorious the work of the Foundation is, there is enormous pressure for us to balance the budget, and we understand that one has to reduce the spending that goes into the area of government assistance.

Since I have assumed the chair, I have worked to assure that the greater local and international resources are leveraged to promote grass-roots development and thereby to lessen the dependence on U.S. Government assistance.

Mr. Chairman, I would like you to know that with a very small appropriation the Inter-American Foundation is currently leveraging significant off-budget resources from local and international, private and public entities to promote grass-roots development. By doing this I think that we are having much greater impact than we think through the small appropriation that is provided, and we believe this is an important use of the taxpayers' money.

Let me highlight two examples. In the Andean region, the Foundation has played a key role in creating a regional grass-roots organization that can leverage local monies as well as international re

sources for grass-roots development. There are organizations in Colombia and Peru that are committed to involving the business sectors in their countries in improving the lives of the poor and are using this mechanism in order to make resources available. In Colombia, we have received through a cooperative agreement about half a million dollars that is enabling Fundacion Corona there to create a Colombian center which will promote volunteer work.

These are just a few examples of what the Foundation is trying to do right now. We are working to leverage resources in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Central America, and Venezuela. We believe that it is with this activism at the local community level that values and standard of living are increased in Latin America and the Caribbean. This I believe, Mr. Chairman, brings great credit to the American people and promotes our national interest throughout the hemisphere.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I thank your staff for the guidance that they have provided to the Inter-American Foundation. I would be delighted to answer any questions.

Mr. CALLAHAN. We thank you.

[The information follows:]

Mr. Chairman and Members of this distinguished Committee, I am delighted to have this opportunity to testify today on the merits and value of grassroots development to the American people.

had the privilege of testifying before this distinguished Committee last year, and wish to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your support of microenterprise development. My testimony last year focused on the value of microenterprise development and the work of ACCION International, which has carried out a program in this area and in which I serve as Executive Vice President. It is my hope that your invaluable support for microenterprise development will continue unabated this

year.

a United States non-profit organization,

I am also the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation, a United States Government agency, which carries out grassroots development activities throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Mr. Chairman, my testimony today will focus on the work of the Inter-American Foundation, which receives its annual appropriation through the Function 150 account, and for whose program the President has requested a $20 million appropriation, the sum Congress enacted for the Inter-American Foundation's Fiscal Year 1996 operations.

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This small appropriation for the Inter-American Foundation is money well spent by the people of the United States. I would like to explain how, with a small appropriation, much can be accomplished which furthers our national interests while strengthening the bonds of friendship and cooperation with our neighbors.

During the past few years, truly historical changes have occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean which offer boundless opportunities for genuine democratic reform, enhanced trade, and improved living standards for the poor who represent the vast majority of the region's population. As we all know, these changes have become possible because of the emergence of democracies in nearly all Latin American and Caribbean countries. As democracy has flourished, genuine economic reforms, free markets, and decentralization and privatization of state enterprises have started to take root. Our country's interests are furthered, in my view, by helping to cement and strengthen these nascent democracies. The Inter-American Foundation provides development assistance where it is most needed at the grassroots level with a private sector self-help focus. This approach helps the most needy to access credit, improve their skills, engage in productive enterprises, and thus, increase their standards of living. Chairman, what the Inter-American Foundation does is not charity nor is it humanitarian assistance. Rather, the Inter-American Foundation helps those who want to help themselves.

Mr.