EMAIL DETAILS

The Weekly GAB Friday, April 7, 2016
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
USGLC in the News

POLITICO
Don't Shortchange Foreign Aid
General Anthony Zinni and Admiral James Stavridis are the co-chairs of the National Security Advisory Council of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition
We can attempt to ignore the crises we face and turn inward or we can embrace our role as the world's indispensable leader. While we know that we cannot solve every problem, isolating ourselves simply is not an option because we will not like who fills the void if we pull back. As the budget process moves forward on Capitol Hill, we urge lawmakers to honor the service and sacrifice of all our public servants abroad: our diplomats and development professionals alongside our men and women in uniform. And while we are no stranger to the highly constrained budget environment faced by policymakers, we believe the International Affairs Budget is absolutely critical to keep pace with the growing global challenges and numerous humanitarian crises confronting the world.
CQ
Former Senators Push Appropriators On Foreign Aid Funding | Rachel Oswald
Eighteen former senators urged appropriators this week not to shortchange the diplomacy and development account amid concerns that statutory limits on discretionary spending make the foreign aid budget vulnerable to cuts. "We appreciate the enormous decisions currently facing the Senate and understand that you continue to work under a constrained budget environment," reads the letter... "However, today America faces unprecedented global challenges, including rapidly increasing humanitarian crises, while funding for International Affairs has been cut by 12 percent since FY10 when adjusted for inflation, and base funding has declined 30 percent in that same period." Among the signatories are former Senate majority leaders William H. Frist and Thomas A. Daschle and former Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Richard G. Lugar and Ben Nelson. [PDF]
Campaign 2016

THE HUFFINGTON POST
Clinton and Trump: Deciphering What Their Policies May Mean for Africa
Astrid Haas, Country Economist for South Sudan and Uganda at the International Growth Centre
US engagement in Africa has been focused on the security and political fronts, as well as on foreign aid. To a lesser extent, the country has also been engaged in promoting trade, such as through the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. The African region probably remains secondary in terms of US interests relative to other regions in the world such as Asia or South America, but it has grown in importance over the past decade. One of the primary reasons for this is rising security challenges such as piracy along the Horn of Africa, terrorism through organisations like Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram, and conflicts like the civil war in South Sudan... It is important for policymakers in Africa to begin assessing what the outcome of the US election could mean for Africa.
THE U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Trump's Trade Policies Would Make America Recession-Bound Again | J.D. Harrison
For those keeping track, under Trump's trade plans, we would see higher prices, reduced spending power, fewer jobs, and a weaker economy, both here at home and abroad, according to the analysis... Though Trump has previously hinted that his threats may represent more of a negotiating tactic than an actual trade policy, his continued insistence on steep tariffs walks a dangerous line, particularly when we consider that the nations he most frequently singles out China, Mexico and Japan represent more than $400 billion in combined export markets for American businesses...Unfortunately, every remaining presidential candidate seems to be ignoring the wealth of data linking effective, enforceable trade agreements like TPP to those economic benefits, as nearly every one of them has come out against this promising agreement with our partners across the Pacific. Moving forward, our country and its leaders should be looking for more ways to help U.S. businesses access the billions of customers who live beyond our borders. In other words, we should be tearing down trade barriers, not putting up more in place.
Who's in the News

GATESNOTES
Who Should Get Foreign Aid?
Bill Gates, Co-Chair and Trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
The point of aid is not to raise incomes; it is to help people improve their lives. So income should not be the only measure of success... Could we broaden the eligibility requirements beyond income, to include things like measures of health, education, and farmers' productivity? Could we make the boundary between low- and middle-income less clear-cut, and the transition away from aid more gradual? Could we help countries identify their remaining pockets of extreme poverty and target aid to just those areas? These are tough questions. But it's important to remember that we're asking them not because things are going badly, but because things are going well. Hundreds of millions of people in dozens of countries have been lifted out of poverty. More are on the way. Now we need to make sure that the progress benefits as many people as possible.
THE HILL
Getting More Bang for Our Foreign Assistance Bucks
Representative Jim Kolbe, Former Representative from Arizona
The principle of foreign assistance has long enjoyed strong bipartisan support in both the legislative and executive branches....Serving for more than 20 years in the House of Representatives and witnessing significant global events such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic sweeping through South Africa and the economic rise of Brazil and India, I became convinced that the U.S. has played and must continue to play a leading role in the fight to eradicate extreme poverty, eliminate disease, unlock opportunity, and increase economic growth around the world...Some of the most effective examples of reform over the past two decades, such as the creation of the MCC, PEPFAR, have been achieved because of bipartisan cooperation among Presidents, Senators, and Representatives.
THE HILL
Kerry Sets Record as Most-Traveled Secretary of State | Jesse Byrnes
Kerry's arrival in the Middle East country of Bahrain on Wednesday pushed him past 1.06 million miles traveled as secretary... Kerry has traveled on 467 days, visited more than 80 countries and racked up 96 days of flight time in his three years as secretary of State, starting in February 2013. In December, Kerry surpassed his immediate predecessor Hillary Clinton, who served in President Obama's first term until 2013 and is now the Democratic front-runner for president.
Development & Diplomacy

BLOOMBERG
USAID to Provide $68 Million for Sudan Emergency Food Relief | Eric Ombok
USAID said it will provide almost $68 million for emergency food aid in Sudan, raising the total it's given for humanitarian relief there to $351 million since 2015. The aid will reach about 2.5 million Sudanese as well as refugees from South Sudan and other neighboring countries, the agency said Wednesday in an e-mailed statement. Sudan has the third-highest prevalence of malnutrition in the world with the number of people there projected to require food aid likely to reach 4.5 million during the peak lean season in 2016, according to the agency.
FOX NEWS
Haiti Needs $900 Million to Improve Sanitation, Potable Water
The head of Haiti's Water Supply and Sanitation Directorate, or Dinepa, said Tuesday that the country needs as much at $900 million to build infrastructure to improve potable water and sewage services in the capital. Access to clean water is a big problem in the impoverished country and much of its infrastructure is obsolete or has been vandalized, but even so Dinepa chief Benito Dumay said that he is "very happy" with the advances being made in the area.
Politics & Foreign Policy

POLITICO
White House Rips Congress over Zika Funding | Brianna Ehley
"We should not play with fire here," OMB Director Shaun Donovan told reporters on a press call. "We should not risk the outbreak getting out of control before Congress acts." Officials warned the newly committed Ebola funding would not be enough for a sufficient response to the Zika outbreak, which is spreading in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories as well as abroad. Mosquito-borne transmission of the virus is likely in the continental United States in the spring and summer, officials noted. The administration's $1.9 billion request covers mosquito control and surveillance, support for states and territories, vaccine development and response efforts in Puerto Rico. "Without this funding we do risk undermining our ability to properly respond," HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said. Both Zika and Ebola efforts "need to continue and they can't be shortchanged," she said.


The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition
1129 20th Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036
Manage Subscriptions | Unsubscribe | USGLC.org

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Dv0FGBXsfT3AmO1VBTfZMQ
http://action.usglc.org/site/CO?i=sB5vpawIiPQ-yrkpjc78UeyfL2levJNQ&cid=1181
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=TEPURU-060-hdLprzP2Xwg

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=T0XSAKMgenv9_dPE_8Y-eg