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U.S. Global Leadership Coalition


Dear Hunter,

Congress
rang in the New Year working feverishly to avoid going over the fiscal
cliff,
and I have often been asked over the past few weeks, "What does
it mean for
smart power and the International Affairs Budget?" Not
surprising, it's complicated.

While
they resolved some issues on taxes, Congress and the President could
not agree
on further deficit reductions and delayed until March 1 the automatic
cuts
known as sequestration. As part of this
delay, lawmakers will need to make an additional $24 billion in cuts
over the
next two years. Sequestration may or
may not occur depending on whether a broader deal on deficit reduction
is
reached, but beyond that, Congress and the President must decide on an
FY13
budget by March 27, or the government shuts down. They have two
options - to extend another
continuing resolution or to pass an "omnibus"
comprehensive spending bill. If they go with a comprehensive
approach, I
heard that the appropriators met behind closed doors last month and
agreed on a
strong number for the FY13 International Affairs Budget. So the
bottom line is that this year's
International Affairs Budget could be cut anywhere from a slight 0.3
to a
substantial 8 percent (and that assumes that cuts are applied
across-the-board). Here is a more detailed analysis.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=FALTsMSIaQYg5hRpLIYWvg

A few other items of interest:

Smart
Power Picks for New Cabinet - With President Obama tapping
Senator John Kerry
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=VKfjcLiZXzpv_kP0hTjgUA

(D-MA) as Secretary of State, former Senator Chuck Hagel
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=g9pecpyLYctaY2976qUBeQ

(R-NE) as Secretary of Defense, and White House
Chief of Staff Jack Lew
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=6XuvEt0bI0UKkRdYtcGWSQ

as Secretary of Treasury, I am confident the smart
power agenda will be continued. All three
nominees are strong supporters of the International Affairs Budget
and
strengthening development and diplomacy.
Both Lew and Kerry spoke at recent USGLC events, and Hagel serves on
our
Advisory Council. Here are our statements and profiles on each
of the nominees.
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=HnUnZxlm5heyucJgeqrpyw
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=zXWeIRMUEqszV--laGoCcQ

Senate Committee Shuffles - This
week the Senate finalized their Committee assignments. With
Senator John Kerry (D-MA) moving
over to Foggy Bottom, the new chair of Senate Foreign Relations will
likely be Bob
Menendez (D-NJ) with Bob Corker
(R-TN) serving as ranking member. New
members on the Committee include two Democrats, Senators Tim Kaine
(D-VA) and Chris Murphy (D-CT), and four GOP Senators -
John McCain (R-AZ), Ron Johnson (R-WI),
Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Rand Paul (R-KY) who unfortunately has
been leading efforts to cut America's smart power tools. Senator
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), a long time
supporter of the International Affair Budget, takes over as Chair of
the powerful
Appropriations Committee following the loss of Senator Dan Inouye
(D-HI). Here is a
full list of Senate Democratic and Republican committee
assignments.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Bj2Nev6jI7zpftZoH7dBMw

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=UbdFRFQHFQsv_P7AKSVmAA


Foreign Aid Reform
Gains Momentum - A few weeks ago, I mentioned an
important bill that has now passed the House -- the Foreign Aid
Transparency
and Accountability Act (H.R. 3159), sponsored by
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=3VvvL81XW6PzsQFvvYt4HA

Representative
Ted Poe (R-TX)
and a bipartisan group of lawmakers.
Unfortunately, its passage was blocked in the Senate in December, but
I
am hopeful that it will be reintroduced in the 113th Congress.

I will keep you updated on the continuing budget negotiations. I
hope you enjoyed the holidays, and I look
forward to working with you in the months ahead.

Liz Schrayer
Executive Director

P.S.-Last
Sunday, Bloomberg News profiled the U.S. Trade and Development
Agency and how it's helping U.S. companies create jobs here at
home by increasing
exports to the developing world. It's
well worth the watch.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=0J-lamzd-e3cnonuQP6iCQ


http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Sqa4K609X5y4ZRWY7NyKWw

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