"Trade" and foreign aid.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) describes its mission as "advanc[ing] economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries" through the "strategic use of foreign assistance funds"--that is, foreign aid. The agency issues grants for the supposed purpose of encouraging "sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries ... [to create] an enabling environment for trade, investment and sustainable economic development."

Paring away the stilted bureaucratese reveals that the agency is devoted to using U.S. taxpayer dollars to build the economies and manufacturing infrastructure of our economic competitors--particularly Mexico and China.

Mexico was the recipient of the agency's 2004 "Country of the Year"

award, in recognition of "promising partnerships ... during the past year in advancing the goals of the Partnership for Prosperity" (PfP). Through the PfP, established by President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox in 2001, USTDA and other U.S. foreign aid agencies are pouring millions of dollars into Mexico for "housing, infrastructure, transportation, environmental remediation, development financing and information technologies." The program's announced purpose is "facilitat[ing] Mexico's development by enhancing its competitiveness."

"During 2004," the agency proudly reports, "Mexico was the leading USTDA grant recipient for Latin America and the Caribbean region," claiming 15 percent of USTDA's regional budget.

USTDA has also lavished huge sums on China to build power plants, modernize healthcare programs, and develop its infrastructure. The agency's recent initiatives include a small grant issued in March to Turkey for the purpose of "increasing home ownership"; a modest "technical assistance grant" to Kenya's equivalent of the Internal Revenue Service; and a grant to El Salvador's Ministry of Economy that was issued during last November's CAFTA signing ceremony.

Most of USTDA's grants are minuscule--hundreds of thousands of dollars, rather than millions or billions. But even nickels add up, and none of these appropriations, however tiny, are authorized by the Constitution--particularly when they are used to undermine our economy and national independence.