MCC has proven to be extremely successful in helping lift 300 million people out of poverty all over the world.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is an innovative foreign assistance institution created more than 20 years ago by President George W. Bush with strong Congressional support.
Designed to provide economic development support in a completely different way than had ever been done before, MCC focuses on transparency, accountability, and results. Countries must meet rigorous third-party criteria of governing justly, investing in their people, and encouraging economic freedom to qualify for MCC support, and if they fail to uphold those requirements, they risk losing their funding. Virtually no other foreign assistance program demands so much from partners before assistance is provided and then monitored for continued support.
MCC has proven to be extremely successful in helping lift 300 million people out of poverty all over the world and constitutes a tiny percentage of the U.S. foreign assistance budget.
Defunding and/or dismantling MCC, a program with a proven record and an excellent return on investment for the American people and our national security, would run counter to our national interests.
Perhaps more important than the economic successes of MCC’s model is the benefit that its programs provide to U.S. national security. Countries that are politically stable and economically strong are less likely to support extremist groups, proliferate weapons of mass destruction, or engage in aggression and war. Further, MCC has served as a valuable counterweight to China, which continues to look for every opportunity to exert influence and spread anti-Western sentiment. If the U.S. were to withdraw from its partnerships with MCC countries around the world, this void would be quickly filled by China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which instead of promoting democratic governance, economic sustainability, accountability and reform, relies on propaganda campaigns, crippling loans and support for corrupt actors to gain influence. None of this makes America stronger, safer, or more prosperous.
MCC should be used as the model for more U.S. programs, not eliminated. America cannot solely rely on its military and economic power to remain a global leader. Soft power plays a critical role as well, and dropping MCC from our toolbox would be detrimental to both our national security interests and our influence in the world.
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