Now, Senator Patty Murray, co-chair of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, has requested that organizations who signed onto the letter submit a separate letter from their organization in support of the International Affairs budget. Once collected, Sen. Murray will submit these letters to the official record during the committee’s deliberations.
Of all the cuts to emerge from last month’s House Foreign Affairs Committee draft authorization bill and the fiscal 2012 State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee bill markup, the cut from USAID’s operating expenses budget may turn out to be one of the most painful for U.S. foreign policy.
See below for a guest post from Jeremy Konyndyk, Director of Policy and Advocacy at MFAN Partner Mercy Corps, on his recent testimony regarding the crisis in the Horn of Africa. The original post is available here. Last Wednesday, I had the privilege of testifying before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations’ African Affairs … Continue reading MFAN Partner Mercy Corps Testifies before U.S. Senate about Horn of Africa Crisis
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) has introduced the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2012-13, which calls for robust resources for U.S. diplomacy and development programs that are critical components of U.S. foreign policy in a challenging world. MFAN applauds Chairman Kerry for authoring a bill that demonstrates a strong commitment to the civilian tools of U.S. global leadership and pushes forward the vital reforms to U.S. foreign assistance.
MFAN will be taking a closer look at these pieces of legislation, through the perspective of our Partners, and, more broadly, how reform is affecting the way policymakers think about development issues. See below for the first piece in this recurring series from Aaron Emmel, Government Affairs Officer, PATH.
So why does it matter that there has not been a comprehensive annual foreign aid authorization or a new FAAct in over 25 years? We often hear that the President can find the authority needed to carry out any foreign assistance activity somewhere in the FAAct or in annual appropriations. That may be largely the case but it misses some key points.
However, these trends also create an opportunity for today’s policymakers to write their own exciting new chapter. The economic downturn creates a renewed mandate for careful scrutiny of our current programs and practices. The influx of new lawmakers, many of whom have remarkable records of accomplishment and success in the private sector, bring new leadership potential to Capitol Hill. Taken together, these trends give Congress everything it needs to take on a long-overdue mission: reforming our foreign assistance framework.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) made a compelling case for effective foreign assistance while addressing constituent questions last week. The Senator responded to a letter from Will, a 14-year-old in Palm Bay, which made a few familiar arguments regarding foreign aid spending and our debt. Sen. Rubio dispelled some of the myths, explaining that foreign aid … Continue reading Senator Rubio: Done Right, Foreign Aid Spreads our Influence “in a Positive Way”
MFAN has created a set of eight standards to serve as a guide for policymakers as they consider new legislation related to global development. Though MFAN continues to believe that an overhaul of the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) is the most effective way to address today’s challenges, applying the following reform standards to develop ment-related legislation will help support progress on key reforms.
“U.S. businesses understand that diplomacy and development assistance play vital roles in building economic prosperity, protecting our national security, and promoting America’s humanitarian values. The International Affairs Budget is critical to U.S. economic engagement with the world, especially at a time when there is a wide recognition of the need to boost U.S. exports to create American jobs.”
