US 2010 Budget
Yesterday was a good day for the developing world – and for ONE – with several positive outcomes from the G20 meetings in London. What capped off the day really well was a tidbit mentioned by President Obama in his evening remarks. He announced that he will work with Congress to double support for agricultural development to over $1 billion “…so that we are giving people the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty.”
In details released today, the White House specified that this funding – which will be requested for the FY2010 budget – aims to modernize developing country agriculture in order to increase productivity and rural incomes. Specific assistance areas include increasing the use of technology, linking farmers to markets, increasing access to quality inputs like seeds, tools, fertilizers, irrigation, and rural credit, and encouraging private investment in agriculture. The White House is also committed to reducing dependency on food aid, bringing the poorest into the growth process through social safety net programs, and building/strengthening partnerships with the international community, private sector, NGOs, and U.S. universities.
In 2008, the U.S. provided approximately $450 million to agriculture in the developing world. In our proposal to the Obama Administration earlier this year, ONE requested at least $850 million for the FY2010 budget for agriculture. For the U.S. to reach a funding target of more than $1 billion for agricultural development initiatives in the developing world certainly exceeds our request.
The commitment to exceed $1 billion for agriculture in the developing world also aligns well with the Senators Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Robert Casey (D-Penn.)’s proposed Global Food Security Act, which was introduced in the 111th Congress and cleared the Senate Foreign Affairs committee on Tuesday by unanimous vote. The bill requests almost $1.5 billion in FY2010 for agricultural development initiatives, research and technological innovation, training, and emergency food assistance.
As the White House noted, “…We can directly improve the lives of poor populations by growing rural economies through broad-based agriculture growth.” This funding comes at a crucial time for developing countries where food prices remain high and families are facing decreased incomes and remittances due to the global financial crisis. Investing in agriculture will not only bolster food security in the developing world, but it will enable families and communities to increase their incomes through agriculture-driven economic productivity.
The funding will be targeted in 25 countries and 8 regions; in Africa this includes Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, and Eastern and Southern Africa. Other targeted areas are South and East Asia, Latin America, and the Near East. We applaud President Obama and urge him to follow through speedily with meeting this commitment. ONE will be following this topic closely and will be sure to keep you updated.
-Beth Adler
The Senate just passed the Kerry-Lugar Amendment by voice vote restoring all $4 billion to the International Affairs Budget!
Once again, ONE members’ hard work, solid organization, and tireless efforts have helped create real change and political will. Thank you for all you do, and take a minute to give yourselves a big pat on the back.
While today’s victory was huge, the fight against poverty continues:
-Chris Scott
In just a few minutes, senators will be voting on the Kerry-Lugar Amendment to restore $4 billion in devastating cuts to the foreign affairs budget – cuts that would severely restrict our ability to fight poverty and disease around the world.
Tune in to CSPAN2 to watch the vote and if you haven’t called and asked your senators to vote for the Kerry-Lugar Amendment, visit our call action page now.
ONE members have made thousands of calls asking their senators to vote for the Kerry-Lugar budget amendment, which would restore $4 billion cut from the foreign affairs budget – the part of the budget that contains almost all the funding for the fight against global poverty.
And with the vote expected sometime today or tomorrow, we’re seeing important signs of progress. The Kerry-Lugar Amendment has picked up 11 new co-sponsors – Democrats, Independents, and a Republican – since it was introduced, a sign of growing momentum.
Here’s the current list of co-sponsors and their phone numbers, so you can call their offices and thank them for their support for this critical amendment:
Bernie Sanders – 202-224-5141
Ted Kennedy – 202-224-4543
Joe Lieberman – 202-224-4041
Jeff Bingaman – 202-224-5521
Barbara Boxer – 202-224-3553
Sherrod Brown – 202-22402315
Bob Casey – 202-224-6324
Bob Corker – 202-224-3344
Chris Dodd – 202-224-2823
Dick Durbin -202-224-2152
Dianne Feinstein 202-224-2235
Ted Kaufman – 202-224-5042
John Kerry – 202-224-2742
Patrick Leahy – 202-224-4242
Richard Lugar – 202-224-4814
Robert Menendez – 2-2-224-4744
George Voinovich – 202-224-3353
If you don’t see your senators on this list, go to our call action page to get information on calling your senators.
These cuts would be devastating to millions of people and would force freezes in all of the effective, poverty-fighting work we’ve supported from AIDS treatment to ending the global hunger crisis. Together, we can convince our senators that America must keep its promise to work with the world’s poorest people to banish poverty and preventable disease.
-Aaron Banks
Excellent story yesterday in the Army Times about Defense Secretary Gates calling Senator Conrad to support State Department funding, which includes the funding we’re asking Conrad not to cut in the International Affairs Budget.
Senator Conrad said “I have never before in my 22 years on the budget committee had the secretary of defense call me to support the budget for the State Department.”
You can read the full article here.
We just sent an email out asking ONE Members across the country to call their senators and ask them to vote for the Kerry-Lugar Amendment that would restore potentially devastating cuts to the International Affairs Budget. These cuts, if enacted, would be a major blow to the part of the budget funding almost all of our anti-poverty work, from fighting global AIDS to making sure the hunger crisis doesn’t turn into a starvation crisis.
We only have 48 hours left. Please call your senators and ask them to vote for the Kerry-Lugar Amendment. Together we can stop this from happening.
-Chris Scott
As you know, the Senate Budget Committee is threatening to cut $4 billion from the President’s budget that would otherwise be used to fight poverty. You can call your senators here. Maryam Aminu from our Government Relations team provides some analysis and background on the Kerry-Lugar amendment.
-Chris Scott
This is going to be a very important week for us who belong to ONE. In February, President Obama made a promising request to Congress for $53.8 billion dollars for the International Affairs (150) account, which funds most of the programs we care about including PEPFAR, Malaria, debt relief, basic education and child survival. It represented a $4 billion increase from the $49.8billion in total spending in 2009. Last week, the House and Senate Budget Committees released their budget resolution with very disappointing allocations for the 150 account. The Senate allocated $49.8 billion, which is a flat-line from last year, which means that we would not be able to increase the number of people with AIDS on ARV treatment and make progress on ending Malaria deaths in Africa, among other important programs that will be stalled. In the House, we are facing an even worse situation.
The good news is we have an opportunity to change these numbers. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) have introduced an amendment to restore $4 billion to the 150 account, which would bring it back up to the level of President’s request of $53.8 billion in the Senate bill. If the amendment passes, the 150 account will have a better chance of receiving an increase, when they reconcile the House and Senate budget resolutions and begin the appropriations process. The amendment will come to the floor this Wednesday or Thursday. We will need to secure 60 votes to pass the amendment. We need your voice now! As a Senate constituent and ONE member, you have the chance, with a simple phone call, to deliver your Senator’s much needed vote to get us to 60 and close the deal. Tomorrow when you get the budget alert from ONE, make haste and make your call to your Senator. Then ask your family and friends to call too. Last year, we won the vote by a huge margin of 73-23. Let’s try and win another decisive victory this year!
-Maryamu Aminu, Government Relations
