U.S. Senator Tim Kaine sharply criticized the Trump administration and raised the question: Why was food for 27,000 hungry children burned and wasted?
During an important Senate committee hearing, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine strongly criticized the Trump administration and questioned why 500 metric tons of food purchased for starving children was ultimately wasted.
Tim Kaine specifically addressed Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources Michael Rigas, directing pointed and sarcastic questions at him.
In the Foreign Affairs Committee meeting, Kaine asked why the food items stored in USAID’s Dubai office — which were set to expire in July — were not distributed to deserving children despite a warning in March, and on what basis the decision was made to incinerate them.
Senator Kaine said that this food was bought with American taxpayers’ money and could have met the monthly needs of approximately 27,000 hungry children. Expressing his anger, he stated that the real purpose of this aid package was to alleviate hunger, not to be locked up in offices and ultimately burned.
At that point, Deputy Secretary Michael Rigas could not give a satisfactory answer and only said that he would look into the matter in detail later. However, Senator Tim Kaine reminded him that he had asked this same question the previous day so that Rigas could be prepared to answer it today. Saying now that you will “look into the matter” is extremely irresponsible, Kaine added.
Following the senator’s firm stance, Rigas admitted that he was not in a position to provide an appropriate answer to the question.
