What We’re Reading 2/25/09

Feb 25th, 2009 3:26 PM UTC
By Steve Wilson

Financial Times—Brown to address US Congress
U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown will be given a rare opportunity next week to underscore the strength of the “special relationship” between the U.S. and the U.K. when he is invited to address the joint houses of Congress on his two-day visit to Washington. Brown will address Congress following his meeting with President Obama. Brown’s main focus of the trip will be to engage President Obama on the themes for April’s G20 summit in London, which aims to improve global coordination in tackling the financial crisis.

Reuters—Hunger groups push for boost in U.S. aid budgets
Hunger needs to be a top priority for the Obama administration and Congress, despite the sagging economy and pressing domestic initiatives, aid groups such as CARE, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services and Mercy Corps, said yesterday. The United States should boost spending on food and agricultural aid by 60 percent in 2010 to $6.36 billion, and commit to further increases to $13.31 billion by 2014, the organizations said. Two house lawmakers said they would introduce legislation in coming weeks based on the plan, which also calls for a shift in the type of food aid donated by the United States to the world’s nearly 1 billion chronically hungry people.

USA Today–Rebuild the Peace Corps (opinion)
A writer in USA Today argues that President Obama should rebuild the Peace Corps, arguing that, “dollar for dollar, you cannot get a more reliable, cost-effective answer than the Peace Corps when the challenge is to win hearts and minds around the globe.” Today, the U.S. sends fewer than 4,000 Peace Corps volunteers overseas annually — half the number sent four decades ago. The writer says that the agency is underfunded, underappreciated and underutilized and turns away too many prospective volunteers for lack of resources.

Politico—Clooney announces Darfur envoy
After meeting with President Obama and Vice President Biden, actor George Clooney announced this week that the administration will appoint a special envoy to focus on the Darfur conflict. Clooney, who worked with Obama on Darfur while he was in the Senate, recently visited the region with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. Administration officials say there will be a Sudan envoy who will report to the secretary of state. The administration has not said when the envoy would be named, but Colin Powell and Bill Frist are among the likely candidates for the post, activists say.

-Steve Wilson

TAGS: Policy News, What We're Reading