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Hunter-


With the backdrop of the tragic shooting on that baseball field last
week, the USGLC family joins the rest of the country with healing
thoughts for all those impacted.


I was with 500 of our state leaders that morning, gearing up to go to
Capitol Hill as part of our national Summit. What was particularly
striking on the foreign policy front during the week was that at the
same time we were meeting with hundreds of members of Congress,
cabinet officials were testifying at numerous budget hearings -
and we heard wall-to-wall bipartisan opposition to the
Administration's dangerous plan to slash the State Department
budget. Pretty stunning.
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=hDH3ihmpvLWux4euAYITNA


The day before we, had a powerful line-up with loads of voices talking
about America's role in the world, with appearances from Sean
Spicer to Senator Tim Kaine to General Ray Odierno and many more.
Certainly was bipartisan!


Worth seeing the latest from Capitol Hill and around the world in this
week's GLOBAL GAB.

Liz
Liz Schrayer, USGLC


THE GLOBAL GAB: Why a top Senator called his own hearing a
"waste of time"
June 20, 2017


COLD OPEN. Rarely do Congressional hearings start with the Chairman
announcing that the session would be a "waste of time"
- but that's exactly what happened as Senator Bob Corker
gaveled in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week with
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, effectively suggesting that the
Administration's State Department budget proposal was not going
anywhere.


TILLERSON TESTIMONY. Echoing the more than 200 lawmakers already on
the record, member after member from both sides of the aisle asked the
former Exxon Mobil executive how it was possible that a 32% cut to the
State Department and USAID would not harm America's security and
economic interests. In four separate hearings, Secretary Tillerson
defended the Administration's proposal, arguing that "even
with reductions in funding" America will continue to lead on
international development and global health. Get the full readout on
the hearings here.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=v3zhsPD903P8mpM_dTOEoA


MATTIS MATTERS. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis also got quizzed on
the State Department cuts in his own hearing, but said he hadn't
studied the proposal and therefore couldn't respond. However he
did recount: "When I read about it in the paper, I called
Secretary Tillerson... I told him that I was willing to take any
development money I get."


SPEAKER SHOUTOUT. Introducing his fellow Wisconsinite to the Senate
last week, House Speaker Paul Ryan gave a boost to Ambassador Mark
Green - the nominee for USAID Administrator - and
America's premier development agency: "The work done by
USAID, funded and overseen by this Congress, is critical to advancing
security and democracy around the world. Even more now than ever
before I would argue."


USAID CHIEF. During his confirmation hearing, Ambassador Green not
only was showered with accolades from both sides of the aisle -
from Senators Corker and Cardin to Booker and Johnson - but he
may be the only Trump nominee to actually earn the endorsement of his
Obama administration predecessor. In his prepared testimony, Green
emphasized his longstanding commitment "to reform our assistance
tools and reshape our programs to better reflect America's
evolving relationship with the developing world."
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=LLPWVHiN9cTlujQhOxQzgQ


THE GENERALS. More than a dozen former senior military leaders
submitted their own Congressional testimony last week in support of
resources their civilian counterparts. And Admiral Mike Mullen and
General James Jones made the case in POLITICO for why foreign aid is
critical to U.S. national security. Hat tip to our friends at the ONE
campaign.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=bmBRz57BecL5gt0YdzSolQ


NORTHERN TRIANGLE. Touting the success of Plan Colombia, Secretaries
Rex Tillerson and John Kelly endorsed a new regional focus on El
Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Writing in the Miami Herald, they
argued that "international support at this critical juncture
could be the decisive factor in ensuring a turn-around" to stop
the "poverty, ruthless gangs, and transnational crime."


BUDGET BLUEPRINT. One the most powerful players in Washington,
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just instructed Senate Appropriators
to rely - at least temporarily - on the funding levels set
for 2017 as they work on next year's budget. This could bode
well for international affairs programs - and look for Congress
to begin working on the contours of a budget deal that could increase
the debt ceiling and lift the sequestration spending caps sometime
this fall.


BROKEN PROMISE. The State Department has decided to delay the entire
next class of Foreign Service officers. According to a Washington Post
report, dozens of young minority and female recruits were notified
that "they would not be able to soon join the Foreign Service
despite having been promised that opportunity" - and after
taxpayers have already invested in two years of their graduate-level
education.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=i9DQmMlNus60EVi8fc-rXw


MEMO TO CONGRESS. Bipartisan power pairing - Senators John
McCain and Tim Kaine - joined forces with a message for their
Congressional colleagues: Don't cut foreign aid. In a POLITICO
op-ed, they write that "unwise budget cuts... are a
penny-wise and pound-foolish error that will shift even more of the
burden... to our overburdened armed services."

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=OYfneNtKn-E4uveO-KoK2Q


TOP QUOTE. House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) at our
State Leaders Summit: "The only way we can Make America Great
Again is if we partner [with other nations and help them achieve their
goals] - and by doing that we all become stronger and that is
how we are going to have a more stable world."


The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition
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