The Senate Budget Committee, chaired by Senator Kent Conrad, wants to cut $4 billion from the president’s International Affairs Budget—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.
This is an outrage we don’t have to stand for. A bipartisan amendment now in the Senate would restore the full $4 billion to the president’s International Affairs budget, and it’s going to be voted on as soon as Wednesday. Your voice, as a constituent and a ONE member, is the most powerful force there is in support of this amendment.
Please call your senators right now and ask them to vote for the Kerry-Lugar Amendment to restore the cuts to the budget and keep America’s promise to the developing world, helping end global poverty and preventable diseases.
Check back on the ONE Blog for further news and analysis about this extremely disheartening development—and our work to make sure stop this cut.
Today, President Obama submitted a broad blueprint of his first budget request to Congress. This marks the start of an important process that will ultimately decide how federal dollars are spent and directed in fiscal year 2010, including funding for America’s efforts to fight global poverty and end deaths from preventable diseases like AIDS and malaria.
In the weeks and months ahead, ONE members will have the chance to play an important role during a critical stage of the budget process. And in the end, if we are successful, we can make sure that more people with HIV/AIDS have access to lifesaving medication, that more bed nets are provided to protect families from malaria, and that more kids living in the poorest regions are given the chance to attend school for the first time.
The President’s budget has designated $51.7 billion for the State Department and other International Affairs Programs. This number represents a $4.5 billion increase over the $47.2 billion that was passed for fiscal year 2009. However, because today’s outline only provided top line figures, we do not yet know how much of it will represent an increase for global poverty reduction programs. ONE is seeking a $4 billion increase for poverty reduction accounts as a positive start in setting a spending trajectory that will enable President Obama to fulfill his historic anti-poverty commitments, which ONE members helped secure during the presidential campaign, including his commitment to double foreign assistance. Since those campaign commitments, the President has continued to articulate the importance of addressing global poverty, including in his Inaugural Address and most recently in his speech to Congress. In the next couple weeks, ONE will work to make sure that these commitments and sentiments are fully reflected in the nuts and bolts of the President’s budget request, which we’ll learn more about in April.
President Obama’s 2010 budget outline, which was just released, indicates a reaffirming of Obama’s commitment to double foreign assistance during his time in office.
Key excerpts from the just-released budget outline:
By increasing foreign assistance the United States will reach out to the global community and renew its role as a leader in global development and diplomacy. Through increased foreign assistance funding, the United States will embark on several new initiatives that will give children in the poorest countries access to education ensuring they can participate in the global marketplace; foster global food security through sustainable agriculture; expand goodwill and inspire service by increasing the size of the Peace Corps; and stabilize post-conflict states, creating room for them to plant the seeds of democracy.
The full details of the 2010 budget aren’t known yet, but we’ll keep you posted with further analysis.
We’ve just seen a copy of President Obama’s remarks and wanted to make sure ONE members saw the excerpts below that deal with global poverty and America’s role in the world.
In words and deeds, we are showing the world that a new era of engagement has begun. For we know that America cannot meet the threats of this century alone, but the world cannot meet them without America…
To meet the challenges of the 21st century – from terrorism to nuclear proliferation; from pandemic disease to cyber threats to crushing poverty – we will strengthen old alliances, forge new ones, and use all elements of our national power…
As we stand at this crossroads of history, the eyes of all people in all nations are once again upon us – watching to see what we do with this moment; waiting for us to lead.
Right now, some of the world's biggest oil companies are fighting to keep some of their deals with foreign governments secret. Let's tell big oil we won't be bullied.
Cuts to poverty-fighting programs won't balance the budget, but they will set back progress on Canada's development priorities and risk jeopardizing existing investments.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
