Originally published on the CGS blog on April 7, 2011.
Yesterday House Budget Committee chairman, Rep. Paul Ryan, released his FY2012 budget proposal, which included many cuts. The most alarming cut was that of the International Affairs account, the 150 account. In Obama’s FY2012 $63 billion dollars was budgeted for international affairs. In the House GOP FY2012 budget, international affairs received only $36 billion dollars in funding. This is a $27 billion dollar difference between the two, and is the largest percentage change between The House GOP budget cuts Obama’s budget by 43%.
No other cuts come close to those made in international affairs funding, with cuts in transportation being the closest coming in at 23.8%. The chart pictured shows the percentage change between the House GOP budget proposal and Obama’s budget proposal. It is clear that International affairs funding is taking the biggest hit. This comes at a time when cutting funding would hurt our efforts in Libya, Haiti, Cote D’Ivoire, and many other places around the world where we contribute. UN operations where the United State contributes will also be jeopardized.
Cuts this drastic in international affairs funding will undermine our national security, and cutting what is only about 1% of the total budget is not where to go to reduce government spending. Spending in international affairs is an investment in our future and our national security, and acting through multi-lateral organizations, such as the UN, actually saves the US money.
