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The Weekly GAB Friday, March 24, 2017
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=mjcFs_q-TLNS9j8xoeQW5A

USGLC in the News

CNN
First on CNN: Generals Come to State Department Defense |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=jLjpfxTrldDxeX3OU0IwyA

Nicole Gaouette

A small army of retired three- and four-star generals launched a
mission on Capitol Hill Tuesday: to defend the State Department
against drastic budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration.
Reducing the investment in diplomacy, aid and development will make
the US ultimately less safe, argued retired four-star Gen. George
Casey, the former commanding general in Iraq from 2004 to 2007. Casey
was joined by about a dozen other retired three- and four-star
generals who fanned out across Capitol Hill to visit lawmakers from
both Houses and parties to press the case for better funding for
diplomacy.

THE MIAMI HERALD
American Leadership Abroad Keeps Us Safe, Prosperous at Home
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=1PtbqvIbEmHxA_3mCeAAaA

Mark B. Rosenberg, President of Florida International University

The administration recently released a budget blueprint that proposes
slashing the international affairs budget by 31 percent - but
strong and robust funding for the State Department and USAID is more
necessary now than ever before. When our diplomats and development
professionals empower people with the tools they need to lift
themselves out of poverty...they are not only changing lives, they are
advancing Florida's economic and America's security
interests.

THE HUFFINGTON POST

Having a Different Conversation About the FY18 Budget Foreign Aid Cuts

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=_1ZFzAv1ltLWuoEon3hPsw

Dr. Tessie San Martin, President and CEO of Plan International USA

The recent Trump Administration budget proposal hits U.S. foreign
assistance hard. The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC), for
example, released letters signed by over 120 retired generals and
admirals and over 100 conservative faith leaders stating that slashing
funding for development and diplomacy to approximately 0.2% of GDP at
a time when global challenges are on the rise is wrong. A fairly broad
swath of Congressional leadership across the aisle has also been vocal
in their rejection of these drastic cuts.

DEVEX

Defense Department Officials Pressed on Aid, as Military Emerges as
Key Voice in Budget Debate |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=42WJGyx_WCMVuZbGAaHt8w

Adva Saldinger

U.S. foreign aid came up repeatedly in two defense-related
congressional hearings this week, drawing attention to the impact of
the White House's proposed budget cuts in conversations meant to
focus on the military. Outside of Congress, a number of retired
officers have raised similar concerns and argued that diplomatic and
aid efforts have been vital to military success. "In Iraq, I
learned very quickly that military force alone wouldn't solve
the problems that confronted our forces," said retired General
George W. Casey, Jr., former chief of staff of the United States Army,
who was the commanding general in Iraq from 2004 to 2007, in a
statement released Tuesday by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.

DEVEX
Senators Coons, Isakson Join Expanded Caucus on Aid Effectiveness |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=wPRltP7HC8WRESYyAqGZVg

Adva Saldinger

The Congressional Caucus for Effective Foreign Assistance expanded to
include members of the Senate on Tuesday night. Previously drawn from
the House of Representatives, the caucus welcomed two new co-chairs
from the Senate, as the debate over aid spending accelerates. Senator
Johnny Isakson, a Republican from Georgia, and Senator Chris Coons, a
Democrat from Delaware, will serve as Senate co-chairs, joining house
co-chairs Rep. Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington, and Rep. Ted
Yoho, a Republican from Florida. Yoho, Smith and Coons were at an
event on Tuesday, organized by the Modernizing Foreign Assistance
Network and the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, where the expansion
of the caucus was announced.

Who's in the News

NEWSWEEK
U.S. Foreign Aid: One Percent Saves Lives
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=147LKVugB_spusMbQ_fz2Q

Leith Anderson, President of the National Association of Evangelicals

Last week, the administration proposed decreasing funding for our
nation's foreign assistance programs at a time of troublesome
global threats...Following the administration's proposal, I,
along with a broad array of religious leaders, sent a letter to House
and Senate leadership asking them not to cut the one percent.
Catholics and evangelicals, educators and authors, local pastors and
big-city archbishops, denominational executives and rescue mission
managers wrote-not for themselves but for those who are
suffering-explaining that "we cannot turn our back on
those in desperate need."

THE WASHINGTON POST
The Christian, Conservative Case for Foreign Aid

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=XHApfnP4HNDvZTgaD1SMdQ

Richard Stearns, President of World Vision U.S. and Sean Callahan,
President and CEO of Catholic Relief Services

While the U.S. government doesn't directly share this mandate,
it plays a critical role in fulfilling the moral responsibility of all
Americans to help those less fortunate. In fact, the U.S. government
has always been a strong partner with American citizens in helping
those in extreme poverty and crisis. Yet now, President Trump's
proposed budget threatens to severely cut that foreign aid. With
poverty-focused international assistance at risk for deep cuts, more
than 100 leaders in the Christian faith community expressed our
support for foreign assistance in a letter to Congress.

THE HUFFINGTON POST

U.S. Efforts to Counter ISIS Require Multilateralism and a Strong
United Nations

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=XsBmh3oDAaMMqs9zhcTK5w

Peter Yeo, Vice President of the Untied Nations Foundation

Out of the ashes of World War II, the U.S. gathered the world in San
Francisco to build a new framework for cooperation in the hopes of
fostering a more peaceful and stable world. The product of that U.S.
leadership the United Nations remains a vital U.S. partner for
American national security interests. But that leadership is at risk
from extreme budget cuts and a go-it-alone attitude that will make the
fight against ISIS and other future threats more difficult and
expensive to solve.

Development & Diplomacy

THE CIPHER BRIEF
The Costs to Cutting Foreign Aid |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=0Jfy8RqIG7lJDpikT-hofQ

Kaitlin Lavinder

The Trump Administration has proposed a 28 percent cut to State
Department funding and other international programs in order to help
pay for an increase of $54 billion to military spending next year. The
Cipher Brief's Kaitlin Lavinder spoke with J. J. Messner, the
Executive Director of the Fund for Peace, about the benefits of
diplomacy and foreign aid and why foreign aid spending versus military
spending is not a zero-sum game.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

'That Food Saved My Life,' and Trump Wants to Cut It Off
|

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=pJhzgt6T35lNyHXS1wLv5Q

Nicholas Kristof

"We are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the
creation of the United Nations," warned Stephen O'Brien,
the U.N.'s humanitarian chief. "Without collective and
coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death."
How is Trump responding to this crisis? By slashing humanitarian aid,
increasing the risk that people starve in the four countries -
Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria. The result is a perfect
storm: Millions of children tumbling toward famine just as America
abdicates leadership and cuts assistance.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
How Cuts to the State Department Weaken America

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=dU6iCgjovS5oJF7jMRFl6w

How Cuts to the State Department Weaken America

The United States needs two arms abroad - a strong military, to
fight wars, and an equally strong diplomatic force, to keep those wars
from happening. Trump's proposed budget, ballooning military spending
while slashing the State Department's budget by nearly one-third,
sends this country into a dangerous world with one of those two arms
tied behind its back. The big global problems of the future need soft
power, not military power. In short, they will require diplomats,
backed by the institutional heft of the State Department and all the
weapons - hard and soft - that this nation can muster.

THE WASHINGTON POST

This Program Has Fed 40 Million Kids in the World's Poorest
Places. Trump Wants to Get Rid of It |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=sIazZrF--MhSFnyGqSiDhQ

Caitlin Dewey

Former senator Bob Dole, a pillar of the Republican Party and a
staunch supporter of President Trump during his campaign, has accused
the president of threatening "one of the proudest achievements
of my lifetime" - by cutting a program that has provided
school meals to more than 40 million children in some of the world's
poorest countries. The McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program, a
bipartisan aid enterprise championed by Dole and his Democratic Senate
colleague George McGovern in the early aughts, was a casualty of the
White House budget proposal released last Thursday.

FOREIGN POLICY
Trump Administration Eyes $1 Billion in Cuts to U.N. Peacekeeping |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=4BqMwNfd6nenZ29Qx_X9vw

Colum Lynch

The White House is seeking to cut $1 billion in funding for U.N.
peacekeeping operations and to eliminate hundreds of millions of
dollars for other U.N. programs...The White House budget office
informed State Department officials this week that the administration
plans to eliminate all U.S. funding to the $326 million International
Organizations and Programs account, which provides more than $130
million to UNICEF - a sizable chunk of the more than $500
million the United States contributed to the U.N. agency in 2016
- and around $70 million to the U.N. Development Programme. They
were also told to brace for a 40 percent cut to the State
Department's U.N. peacekeeping budget.

Politics & Foreign Policy

MCCLATCHY

Trump Confronts Reality: U.S. Has Few Options to Block N.
Korea's Nuclear Program |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=VurhYV9pTHmpCwg84jcS9Q

Stuart Leavenworth

As president, Trump and his top appointees are pursuing a more
traditional, arms-length approach. They are warning Kim about the
consequences of continuing to develop nuclear weapons and are
preparing to tighten sanctions. They are keeping a small door open for
negotiations, but with caveats. As Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
said during his recent visit to South Korea, "Conditions must
change before there is any scope for talks to resume." Trump is
sure to take a more aggressive stance toward North Korea than his
predecessor, but he faces the same big obstacle China.

FOREIGN POLICY

Tillerson's Push for Safe Zones in Iraq and Syria Faces
Questions, Obstacles |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=cb2p-hAu9okI1oHZ9oHQXQ

John Hudson and Paul McLeary

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced a plan to establish safe
zones in war-torn countries to allow refugees to return home, setting
the stage for a dramatic shift in refugee policy and a greater U.S.
and Western military footprint in Iraq and Syria. Speaking at summit
of the 68-member coalition against the Islamic State, Tillerson said
the U.S. would set up "interim zones of stability" without
elaborating on the specifics, such as where they would be located or
how they would be secured.


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