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U.S. Global Leadership Coalition


Dear Hunter,

Congress finally left town for the holidays, and I have to
say, I have mixed feelings about the final impact of the spending bill
on
international programs.

Good News. On one hand, the agreement, known as the
CRominibus, was signed into law last week and sustains International
Affairs
programs at slightly higher funds than the current level. The bill
provides $50.9 billion, including money for security-related
Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) programs. In addition, I was
pleased that Congress
appropriated $2.5 billion in emergency funding to fight Ebola in West
Africa. You can view our detailed breakdown
of the bill here.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=2uwYY4NGQqQmwEfiXfyPCA

Concerns. What is
troubling is funding for "base" (non-emergency) programs was cut by
5.5%. To put this in perspective, these
programs have been decreased by 16% over the past five years. Given
the
enormity of crises taking place around the globe, it's very risky to
continue
to reduce core programs while relying on short-term emergency funding
to fill
the gap.

Going Forward. We will have our work cut out for us next year,
and I will certainly need your help. Congress
will be sworn in on January 6, and the State of the Union address is
set for
January 20. Then the budget battle
between Congress and the White House will quickly get underway - a
battle of
competing priorities that will be intensified by the looming return
of
sequestration's across-the-board cuts.

In the meantime, I hope you and your family enjoy the
holiday season. Thank you for all you
have done to partner with us during 2014, and I wish you a happy and
healthy
New Year.

With warmest wishes,

Liz Schrayer
President & CEO


http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=ctka5xgNxp0r50CrCuhmXQ

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