The Global Citizen: FY12 Budget

Congressmen Supporting IR Funding

Jacob Montgomery | April 19th, 2011
Topics: UN Funding, Peacekeeping, Capitol Hill

In an editorial in the Seattle Times, two members of Congress made a strong statement about the importance of international relations funding as budget battles loom. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), and Bill Clapp, the founder of Global Washington and Seattle International Foundation, laid out the key reasons to maintain the international relations budget, including:

"Foreign assistance is the first line of our national defense, making us safer by stabilizing volatile nations. As Secretary of Defense Robert Gates emphasized, 'development is a lot cheaper than sending soldiers.'"

Don Kraus Testimony for Congress

Jacob Montgomery | April 13th, 2011
Topics: Capitol Hill

Don Kraus has submitted testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State/Foreign Operations. The testimony focuses on the budget for FY12 and the need to maintain funding for international relations, focusing specifically on three accounts:

Contributions to International Organizations (CIO)
Contributions to International Peacekeeping (CIPA)
and the Complex Crisis Fund (CCF)

The testimony asks the committee to meet the President's FY12 request funding levels for each of these accounts. Robust international relations funding is crucially important to America's ability to lead, to our national interests, and to our national security. As stated in the testimony: