Statement on U.S. Assistance for Jordan from Chargé d’Affaires Jim Barnhart

AMMAN – The American-Jordanian partnership has never been stronger – the lapse in funding for some U.S. government agencies does not change this.  

 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo highlighted the strength of the U.S. relationship with Jordan by making the Kingdom his first stop last week on a nine-country tour of the Middle East. He called Jordan “one of the United States’ enduring strategic partners in the region.”

 

During his visit, Secretary Pompeo also highlighted the importance of the five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that our two countries agreed to nearly a year ago; the MOU promised $1.275 billion per year in bilateral foreign assistance from 2018-2022 – a total of $6.375 billion. 

 

In 2018, the U.S. Congress increased the pledged assistance to $1.525 billion.  This funding included $1.08 billion in economic assistance, as well as $425 million in support for the Jordanian military.

 

For more than six decades the United States and Jordan have worked side-by-side to improve economic stability, strengthen democratic governance, and deliver essential services to the people of this country.  That critical work will endure for years to come.