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Dear USGLC Board of Directors,

Bernie and Donald! Who would have imagined these two would win the New Hampshire primary just a year ago?

But tonight, I wanted to share some insights about the President's budget which actually has a lot to do with today's New Hampshire primary. Remember, one of those candidates slogging through NH will eventually win, and inherit the budget that began slogging through Washington today. So the budget decisions of today are connected to the presidential tenure of tomorrow.

Here are my topline takes:
Your guidance at last month's Board meeting was invaluable as we analyzed and reported on the President's budget request today.

* No surprises - the International Affairs Budget is relatively flat, a slight 1% decrease overall which equates to a concerning 12% cut in just six years.
* As expected, the big concern is with base funding due to a heavy reliance on OCO (wartime account). Now, more than one of every four international dollars is funded by OCO and base funding has dropped by 30% in six years - ouch!
* Our overall message, as we agreed: Good news is that the budget deal is much better than sequestration but we are very concerned that the funding levels are not keeping pace with the growing global challenges.
* Our goal will be to focus heavily on the growing global challenges in preparation for a very difficult Congressional environment.

Here is your resource guide:

* USGLC Press statement<http://www.usglc.org/2016/02/09/international-affairs-budget-proposal-slightly-down-growing-concern-over-u-s-ability-to-keep-pace-with-global-challenges/> - with quotes from General Tony Zinni and our new Chair Emeritus Bill Lane calling on Congress to support no less than the Administration's International Affairs Budget;
* Top 6 Takeaways - My Medium Blog<https://medium.com/@LizSchrayer/is-our-budget-keeping-up-with-a-dangerous-world-6-takeaways-from-the-fy17-budget-request-5c63584e2826#.ijvynn3x0> - for framing the key messages to a broader audience of influentials (and for those that want the cliff note version);
* USGLC Budget Analysis<http://www.usglc.org/downloads/budget/USGLC-Budget-Analysis-FY2017.pdf> - this is the "full monty," an in-depth analysis of the budget winners and losers for you policy wonks;
* Top Four Charts<http://www.usglc.org/fy2017-budget-analysis-resources/> - for the visual consumers - these tell the story.

We also have significant outreach:

* Tailored Communications to Capitol Hill, Field Activists, DC Insiders, and Press - emails with links to various resources, including an active social media campaign;
* Conference Call for Field Activists - on Friday featuring Norm Ornstein to analyze the Presidential campaign and staff will provide a budget update;
* Capitol Hill Briefing & Lobby Day - on February 24 we will host our Budget Committee Lobby Day and in early March we will host a briefing for congressional staff.

Last but not least, for those on Twitter, please retweet<https://twitter.com/USGLC/status/697194160420495362> our report to showcase our social graphics.

Special thanks to my colleagues - especially Jason Gross, Lindsay Plack, and Sidney Traynham - who did a fabulous job pulling all this together. And of course to all of you for your thoughtful input. The start of a challenging road ahead.

Liz

Liz Schrayer, USGL