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The Weekly GAB Friday, May 19, 2017
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
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USGLC in the News

THE GUARDIAN

George W Bush's Man in Africa to Be Handed Donald Trump's 'Toughest
Job' |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=AlJla1wge2baFyclU9qKjw

Kate Hodal

Donald Trump has achieved what could be seen as a first under his
presidency: choosing someone to lead a state department who has met
with bipartisan approval. "Mark is a very exceptional choice to
lead USAid at this time," said Liz Schrayer, president of the US
Global Leadership Coalition, a group of businesses and NGOs advocating
US leadership through development and diplomacy. "People respect
him, people listen to him, and I am confident if Mark has a seat at
the table, and people listen to him, they will understand his
expertise on development and how he understands that if you use it as
the right tool, it can lead to economic growth and the expansion of
America's security, economics and values."

THE DES MOINES REGISTER
American Leadership Abroad Provides Vital Benefits for Iowans

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=7v4_ORQrJdBXjM3acrbdSA

Mary Kramer, former U.S. Ambassador and Iowa State Senator, and Jay
Byers, CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership

Though we have different backgrounds...we believe that it is in our
nation's interest, and the interest of all Iowans, to fully fund
our diplomatic and development programs. Funding for USAID and the
State Department is just 1 percent of our country's budget,
making the return on investment for Iowa an incredible bargain. As
Congress hammers out the details of next year's budget, we urge
Iowa's congressional delegation to maintain current funding
levels for American diplomacy and development. We must stand together
and remember that leading globally matters for folks here at home.

Who's in the News

THE HILL

Diplomacy and Foreign Aid are Pillars of American Global Leadership
|

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Rx4uOReVWM4r7iO5olANCw

Dan Glickman, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture

The Trump administration is considering folding the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) into the State Department and making
deep cuts to both foreign assistance and diplomacy. These proposals
spring from the vaguely articulated principle of "America
First" and a belief that the United States spends too much money
on foreign assistance and not enough on its own people. This idea is
designed to save the taxpayers money and make the country safer. It
accomplishes neither. Congress has resisted this
administration's steep cuts to the State Department and USAID in
the recently passed omnibus bill for fiscal year 2017.

BLOOMBERG
Senate GOP Won't Back Trump's Deep Spending Cuts, McConnell Says |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Yme6a-qzkmw_mCBW3I_4-w

Laura Litvan

McConnell said he expects the Republican-led Congress to also ignore
Trump's requests to cut foreign aid and State Department funding
in fiscal 2018, which begins Oct. 1. Trump's proposed cuts for
the State Department and Agency for International Development are a
particular concern, McConnell said, arguing that diplomacy is less
expensive than military spending. Those proposed reductions are
"highly unlikely," McConnell said. "I think the
diplomacy part of what we do overseas is a lot cheaper than the use of
the military and frequently has a pretty good return on
investment."

USA TODAY
Trump Foreign Aid Cuts Hurt World's Mothers

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=FhiNgkwWHuL3wcD-x34irQ

Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Michelle
Nunn, CEO of CARE

Should the United States continue to spend 1% of our budget on foreign
aid? The answer was clear to us last month as we walked through a
mountainside farm two hours outside of Kathmandu, Nepal. There we met
an inspirational mother named Sita, who showed us her small,
once-barren plot of vegetables, now bursting with cabbage. Sita
described how, with support from the U.S. government, she was able to
join a women's cooperative that teaches basic farming,
harvesting and marketing techniques. Participants in the cooperative
have seen their incomes soar, but the program has done far more than
help them lift themselves out of the depths of poverty.

GATES NOTES
Foreign Aid Keeps Americans Safe |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=yxBKQSreaiF_uypdnHhzhg

Bill Gates

You may have seen in the news that elected officials in Washington,
D.C., are working on next year's federal budget. One of the
ideas that has been floated is to make deep cuts in foreign
aid-the investments that America makes to help other countries
fight poverty and disease. That would be a big mistake...These
programs give American taxpayers a phenomenal return on investment,
one of the best anywhere in government. They do this in three ways: 1)
making Americans safer and the world more stable 2) creating jobs at
home and promote trading partners that will buy American goods 3)
saving lives and building up health systems so other countries can
take better care of their people.

Development & Diplomacy

NPR

Should America Keep Giving Billions of Dollars to Countries in Need?
|

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=odXMNE9AnasVg42yj9ayOw

Malaka Gharib

Each year, the United States sends billions of dollars to poor
countries. Does it really help them grow? The question isn't new. But
it's taken on renewed urgency in the Trump administration. Last month,
NPR's David Greene asked Stephen Moore, who advised Trump's campaign
on economic policy, whether he supports the idea of cutting the U.S.
foreign aid budget. His response: "100 percent." "There's zero
evidence that any of these foreign aid programs have had any effect on
development...said Moore, who is a fellow at the Heritage Foundation,
a conservative think tank. Is Moore right?

ASSOCIATED PRESS
US Health Secretary Visits Liberia, Where Ebola Killed 4,800 |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=5Z-QkwU8y1xygK_PXqixeg

Jonathan Paye-Layleh

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price on Thursday made
his first trip overseas to Liberia, the West African country where
Ebola killed more than 4,800 people. Price praised Liberia for its
"remarkable cooperation" on health care issues. The U.S.
sent troops into the country to intervene to help stop the outbreak,
which killed more than 11,300 people, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone
and Guinea. The World Health Organization declared an end to the
world's deadliest outbreak of the virus in June. Now a new
outbreak, the first since the one in West Africa, has been blamed for
three deaths in a remote area of Congo.

FOREIGN POLICY
Colombia's Tenuous Peace Needs U.S. Support |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=LD_z9n8swKdkqEczCLz17g

Daniel Kurtz-Phelan and Dan Restrepo

One of President Donald Trump's highest-stakes foreign-policy
encounters this week is one few people in Washington have paid any
attention to. On Thursday, Colombia's president, Juan Manuel
Santos, is set to arrive at the White House for his first meeting with
his new U.S. counterpart. But with the future of Colombia's
peace in question, the stakes - whether one of the rare
bipartisan successes of recent U.S. foreign policy is squandered or
sustained - are in fact enormous. Through three administrations
in Washington and three in Bogotá, the United States has played a key
role in catalyzing and supporting Colombia's return from state
collapse.

THE WASHINGTON POST

The 'Global Gag Rule' on Abortion Just Got Much Bigger
- and Much Worse |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=9FrGhCAQ7_BzRiLr9p-hpA

The Editorial Board

The "Mexico City Policy," labeled by critics as the "global gag
rule," will now also be known - the State Department
announced Monday - as "Protecting Life in Global Health
Assistance." That is an incongruous name for a policy likely to
result in at least tens of thousands more deaths. President
Trump's version affects almost all global health assistance
- a full $8.8?billion. About $6 billion of that comes from
the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which
President George W. Bush made exempt. The consequences will be
catastrophic.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
US Accuses Syria of Mass Executions and Burning the Bodies |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=PhK0mvS3AlVrN9f7xuxZ8Q

Matthew Lee

The Trump administration on Monday accused the Syrian government of
carrying out mass killings of thousands of prisoners and burning the
bodies in a large crematorium outside the capital. The State
Department said it believed that about 50 detainees a day are being
hanged at Saydnaya military prison, about 45 minutes from Damascus.
Many of the bodies, it said, are then being burned in the crematorium.
"We believe that the building of a crematorium is an effort to
cover up the extent of mass murders taking place in Saydnaya
prison," said Stuart Jones, the top U.S. diplomatic for the
Middle East.

Politics & Foreign Policy

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Foreign Trip Comes at Crucial Time, but Trump Is a Reluctant Traveler
|

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=deRUCDHGeT_QnuT4O4tuHQ

Michael D. Shear and Maggie Haberman

President Trump leaves on Friday for a nine-day, five-city foreign
excursion, his first trip outside the United States as the
country's leader and top diplomat. He doesn't really want
to go. But the trip comes at a critical moment for Mr. Trump's
young presidency. It is his first opportunity to deliver specifics
about his "America first" worldview to a global audience
that has watched his initial, chaotic months in the White House with a
mix of amusement, befuddlement and alarm. "I'll meet
scores of leaders," Mr. Trump told Coast Guard cadets on
Wednesday as he spoke at their commencement. He pledged that during
his global travels he will "strengthen old friendships and will
seek new partners."

POLITICO MAGAZINE
A Momentous Week for the Iran Nuclear Deal |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=juSvrSjNmUKL0e08s5nt7Q

Antony J. Blinken, Jon Finer, Avril Haines, Philip Gordon, Colin Kahl,
Robert Malley, Jeff Prescott, Ben Rhodes, Wendy Sherman

It won't get the banner headlines of the latest outrage in the
Russia investigation or North Korea's most recent missile test,
but we have entered perhaps the most consequential week for American
policy toward Iran since implementation of the nuclear deal more than
a year ago. As the Trump administration's May 17 decision to
extend sanctions waivers related to Iran's nuclear program
clearly attests, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is
working-even in the eyes of its harshest critics. But several
upcoming events-including the Iranian presidential election,
Trump's first overseas trip and potential Iran-related action in
Congress-could change this picture.

FOREIGN POLICY
When Will Trump's 'Mad Dog' Get Put Down? |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=QXUq9Zcrr96Ks9rHJeaE5Q

Micah Zenko and Jennifer Wilson

Mattis and Trump also split on the role of the State Department in
foreign policy. Trump's first budget blueprint includes a 28
percent decrease in funding for the State Department and U.S. Agency
for International Development. Most leadership roles within State,
usually filled by now, remain vacant. Mattis, however, in Senate
testimony as commander of the U.S. Central Command, defended full
funding, saying, "If you don't fund the State Department
fully, then I need to buy more ammunition, ultimately." His
close relationship with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson...and the
fact that State has taken the lead in responding to North Korean
provocations, underscores his belief in a comprehensive approach to
U.S. power abroad that includes robust support for international aid
and diplomacy.

REUTERS
White House Says Full Fiscal 2018 Budget to Be Released on May 23 |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=52zEplLn_7iestlbDQ1AGA

Roberta Rampton

The White House is set to unveil President Donald Trump's first full
budget for the 2018 fiscal year on Tuesday - a plan that will include
details about his proposed cuts to foreign aid and domestic spending,
and his desired hikes for the military. Trump will not be in town for
the occasion. He embarks on his first foreign trip on Friday to the
Middle East and Europe. The White House had released what is known as
a "skinny budget" in March, Trump's first crack at a summary of his
spending wishes for discretionary programs for the year that begins
Sept. 30. The plan drew criticism even from members of his own
Republican Party for being too severe. Republicans control both the
Senate and House of Representatives. Congress holds the federal purse
strings and seldom approves presidents' budget plans.


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