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Dear Board of Directors,

Great end to a long week.


* Senate Numbers Strong. Good news out of the Senate – they came through once again. Without getting into all the complex calculations (nothing with the budget is ever easy), the Senate allocation for the State-Foreign Operations bill is only about 1.7% below FY17, when you exclude the ISIS supplemental. Huge shout-out to Senators Lindsey Graham and Pat Leahy. Watch for Lindsay’s Budget Update tomorrow with much more detail and technical comparisons of the numbers.


* House Numbers Down. As a reminder, last week I reported our disappointment that the House State-Foreign Operations allocation was cut by 10% (excluding the ISIS supplemental). Not only was this a disproportionate cut – but we expected more from our friends on the House Appropriations Committee. Also, this week the House Budget Committee released its FY18 proposal and while still not publicly available, we understand the allocation took about a 12% cut, excluding the ISIS supplemental.


* Press Statement. While we’ve been pushing for current funding of $60 billion for the entire International Affairs Budget, we released a press statement<http://www.usglc.org/2017/07/20/senate-appropriators-reject-deep-cuts-to-americas-civilian-forces/> urging Congress to support the Senate numbers during funding negotiations.

All the voices from the community – military, business, and faith leaders – are paying off. All the bipartisan voices raising concerns about the budget during Committee hearings are paying off. We still have a long way to go, but already the situation is better than the Administration’s original proposed 32% cut thanks to your continued support.

More soon.

Liz
Liz Schrayer, USGLC