The Global Washington blog summarizes a discussion about the role of U.S. foreign aid that took place last week in Columbus, Ohio, between former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and former Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.). While the discussion, convened by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and moderated by Ohio Public Radio and Television Bureau Chief Karen Kasler, focused on the future role of Ohio in global development, Frist said humanitarian aid is an important component of U.S. foreign policy and “encouraged the audience to see U.S. policies as ‘replacing desperation and disease and poverty with health and hope and opportunity,'” according to the blog. “Senator Frist and Governor Richardson were emphatically positive about the future of U.S. foreign aid, and both encouraged the audience to keep up with global health and business developments over the next few months,” the blog notes (Jensen-Clem, 11/1).