ON THE RECORD: Quote from Former Senior USAID Officials:

Former USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator and former National Security Council official, Corinne Graff, validated the fact that the term “officer” is a colloquial term used in the national security apparatus and portrayed accurately in Kim’s ad:

“As a former USAID official and as a former National Security Council official overseeing USAID efforts and programs, I can confirm that the term “officer” is used widely to describe civilian personnel within the national security apparatus at all levels, including at USAID.  It is a colloquial term used broadly to describe non-senior positions at USAID.”

“USAID is a vitally important component in U.S. national security.  The work that Andy Kim and other USAID officers working as Conflict Management Specialists have played is critically important to implementing national security policy, including efforts to counter the growth of terrorist cells in fragile and failed states and conflict areas in Africa.”

Former director of OFDA at USAID, Jeremy Konyndyk on use of the term, “officer” and Andy’s role in national security across administrations:

“As the former Director for Foreign Disaster Assistance at USAID, I have seen firsthand how USAID officers at all levels play critical roles in ensuring our national security.  Andy Kim’s service as a USAID officer in the role of a Conflict Management Specialist is part of the important role that development and foreign assistance play as part of a “3-D” national security toolkit – defense, development, and diplomacy. USAID officers, from entry-level on up, work hand in hand with our military, diplomats, and the White House National Security Council to implement a holistic national security strategy.  Andy’s service across each of those Ds – at State and AID, as well as helping to coordinate the counter-ISIL fight from the White House – gives him a unique breadth of experience in advancing US security. And having worked closely with Andy on the efforts to protect and evacuate Yezidis trapped on Sinjar mountain during his time at the White House, I can personally vouch for his deep experience on national security priorities.”

Keri Lowry from USAID, who held the exact same position as Andy did in the Africa Bureau of USAID:

“I served as a career USAID officer under both the Bush and Obama Administrations and as a Conflict Mitigation and Management Specialist in the Africa Bureau – the same role that Andy Kim previously held. The work was absolutely in support of U.S. national security and in direct service to the Bush Administration’s priority to counter the growth of terrorism and extremism in Africa. I’m proud of my work at USAID, and I can personally vouch for Andy’s dedication and expertise of comprehensive U.S. national security.”

Zack Carroll, Andy Kim for Congress Campaign Manager’s quote:

We’re proud of Andy’s positive message. The intent of our ad is to show voters Andy’s bipartisan career working in national security under the leadership of both Democratic and Republican presidents. Andy wasn’t a political appointee, he was a public servant focused on getting the job done regardless of who was at the top, and that is what voters will take away from this ad.  

While working at USAID under the Bush Administration, Andy served in the Africa bureau working on U.S. response to conflict-related crises across Africa, including national security concerns related to terrorism in Somalia and genocide and child soldiers concerns in Sudan/Uganda.  Andy worked closely with officials from the Pentagon, State Department, and other national security departments to develop comprehensive foreign policy responses to these and other crises.

Under President Obama, Andy served overseas in Afghanistan as a strategic advisor to Generals John Allen and David Petraeus, worked at the Pentagon on national security, and served as the Iraq director on the White House National Security Council.

ON BACKGROUND:

Role of USAID Conflict Initiatives in Direct Support of Bush National Security Strategy:

As a Conflict Management Specialist at the USAID Africa Bureau, Andy Kim worked to implement President Bush’s National Security Strategy that prioritized U.S. response to manage the numerous conflicts in Africa as an important way to fight against extremism and terrorism that were growing in failed and failing states throughout Africa.  In the aftermath of September 11th, U.S. national security focused on the threat of extremism rising from conflict-prone areas around the world. Among those were concerns about growing extremism across Africa. Al-Qaida presence in the Horn of Africa and terrorist cells in failed and failing states across Africa became an important priority as stated in President Bush’s National Security Strategy (NSS).  The NSS states:

“In Africa, promise and opportunity sit side by side with disease, war, and desperate poverty. This threatens both a core value of the United States— preserving human dignity—and our strategic priority—combating global terror…We must help strengthen Africa’s fragile states, help build indigenous capability to secure porous borders, and help build up the law enforcement and intelligence infrastructure to deny havens for terrorists… An ever more lethal environment exists in Africa as local civil wars spread beyond borders to create regional war zones. Forming coalitions of the willing and cooperative security arrangements are key to confronting these emerging transnational threats.”

The NSS Strategy presented: “three interlocking strategies for the region:

• Countries with major impact on their neighborhood such as South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Ethiopia are anchors for regional engagement and require focused attention;

• Coordination with European allies and international institutions is essential for constructive conflict mediation and successful peace operations; and

• Africa’s capable reforming states and sub-regional organizations must be strengthened as the primary means to address transnational threats on a sustained basis.”

USAID played a critical role in this strategy implementation as described by then Secretary of State Colin Powell and then USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios

Powell said, “This is the first time that the Department of State and USAID have jointly prepared a strategic plan, and we will work together to execute it. Our close collaboration will ensure that our foreign policy and development programs are fully aligned to advance the National Security Strategy of the United States, which President Bush issued in 2002. The National Security Strategy recognizes that diplomacy and development assistance are critically important tools for building a safer, freer, better world.”

Natsios added, USAID will increase its attention toward failed and failing states, which the President’s National Security Strategy recognizes as a source of our nation’s most significant security threats—international terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction… To prevent human suffering and protect our national security, we must devise bold, new approaches to arrest the slide of weak states toward failure. Such interventions will involve risk, and their success is certainly not assured. But the greater risks to U.S. national security associated with inaction in such nations can no longer be overlooked.