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[http://www.usglc.org/downloads/2015/09/usglc-logo.jpg]

Dear USGLC Board Members,

A fun tidbit from today's hearing with Secretary Kerry:

This morning Secretary Kerry testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and not only did Chairman Corker and Ranking Member Cardin raise their concern about the downward funding trend for international affairs, but they used a blown-up chart straight from our USGLC budget report!

[http://www.usglc.org/downloads/2016/02/usglc-chart.jpg]

Yup, the photo above captures the chart we sent to Capitol Hill depicting the 30% cut in funding over the past 6 years. And better yet, both Senators' opening statements came right out of our report's talking points:

* Senator Bob Corker: "The fact that so much of [the International Affairs Budget] is funded through OCO... just speaks to the fact that we're not willing to make the tough decisions on a permanent basis to put our country on solid footing."
* Senator Ben Cardin: "I am concerned by not having the baseline high enough - we run the risk in the future... We need to make it clear that on national security, soft power, that we're committed not only to this year, but to a sustained growth of America's presence globally."

But we have challenges ahead:

* The House Budget Committee postponed their mark-up that was scheduled for later this week. While the budget resolution is non-binding, our latest intel is that the Chairman's mark will include a significant, and very dangerous cut to international affairs funding.
* So we are organizing, starting with our coalition Lobby Day to meet with Budget Committee members scheduled for tomorrow. We are mobilizing our State Advisory Committees in key states and have scheduled a Lobby Day for our military leaders in mid-March.
* We won't change the numbers but we will make a lot of noise and energize our champions on Capitol Hill, which will be key to our strategy as we move towards the more friendly Appropriations Committee terrain.

More soon.

Liz

Liz Schrayer
President and CEO, USGLC

P.S. Check out a great Denver Business Journal's<http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/finance_etc/2016/02/promoting-economic-growth-in-emerging-countries.html> story on our event with Rep. Perlmutter and TDA's Lee Zak last week - attended by 175+ Colorado state leaders.