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The Weekly GAB Friday, July 21, 2017
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=kaRnpqyYK-ld_a4h7wziFQ

USGLC in the News

NPR
The Side Effect Of That New Malaria Drug? American Jobs |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=hO5SjolZ_EeLfSoRG2hk1A

Malaka Gharib

A 50-cent meningitis vaccine. Kid-friendly malaria drugs. A vaccine to
prevent a deadly diarrheal disease. These U.S.-funded global health
innovations have saved millions of lives around the world. But they
also come with an added bonus for Americans. The researchers found
that between 2007 and 2015, the U.S. government invested $14 billion
in global health research and development. And that created 200,000
new American jobs and returned $33 billion to the U.S. economy. In
May, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition sent a letter to Secretary
of State Rex Tillerson urging him to protect the U.S. foreign aid
budget because it's "critical to our economy and American jobs." The
letter was signed by 225 business leaders from companies like Coca
Cola and Procter & Gamble.

Who's in the News

THE HILL
International Exchanges Advance US Interests for the Long Term

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=kHwniCE22E2CBbXpq2dYxQ

Esther Brimmer, Executive Director and CEO of NAFSA, Lorne Craner,
President of American Councils for International Education, and
Kristin Lord, President and CEO of IREX

The U.S. Congress is on the verge of making a decision that could
affect America's strategic interests for decades. The House
Appropriations Committee held a hearing last week to consider funding
for one of America's best tools for building support for the
United States around the world: Bringing students, teachers,
journalists, and rising leaders from around the world to study as well
as learn about the United States and democratic values. As strong
believers in U.S. government programs that are both effective and cost
effective, we urge the Congress to protect U.S. national interests for
the long term by eschewing the Trump administration's proposed
cut of 50 percent to these programs.

THE HUFFINGTON POST
Maintaining a Moral Argument for Foreign Aid

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=TXNzxR7-idnhrms43x5vPQ

Samuel A. Worthington, CEO of Interaction

As we continue to defend the parts of the US budget that support
international development, humanitarian assistance, and the promotion
of democratic values, we cannot disregard the moral underpinnings
behind what we do. There is a strong case to be made that we need to
preserve the foreign aid budget due to its diverse contributions to
national security and a more stable and safer world. Others point to
the benefits from foreign aid to our country's economy and the
opening of new markets for American businesses. However, without
principles, foreign assistance loses its connection to American values
of freedom, justice and the idea that anyone, anywhere, should be able
to live and work with dignity and up to their full potential.

Development & Diplomacy

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Senate Panel Rejects Trump Cuts to Foreign Aid, Domestic |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=j16W900OjSOhl2ASeDsOHw

Andrew Taylor

Rebuffing a Republican president, a GOP-led Senate panel on Thursday
rejected President Donald Trump's proposed cuts to foreign aid
and deep reductions in spending on domestic programs such as
education, housing and energy. The powerful Appropriations Committee
that oversees spending for the federal government approved the plan on
a party-line vote. In May, Trump proposed a cut of some 32 percent in
spending in diplomacy programs such as economic aid and contributions
to international organizations. The committee agreed on spending about
$11 billion more than the president sought for $51.2 billion next year
for the State Department and related agencies.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Tillerson Stays Close to Trump, but the State Department Seems to Be
Benched |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=l1gmurpTMRP6fSY_4n2LQw

Anne Gearan and Carol Morello

Trump is his administration's loudest and most-watched voice on
foreign policy and has consolidated decision-making among a small
group of trusted aides and family members at the White House.
Tillerson meets with the president most days the two are in Washington
and takes calls from him at all hours on his mobile phone. But
diplomacy, or at least the kind the State Department traditionally
conducts, has seemed a low priority for a president who is openly
skeptical of international entanglements. There were early signs that
the State Department would be benched.

FOREIGN POLICY
Tillerson's No. 2 Denies Turmoil at State Department |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=wsypaCE0oQHFHY7DxrkZpg

Robbie Gramer

In a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Monday
evening, Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan parried blows on the
administration's proposals to reorganize the State Department
and gut the diplomacy and foreign aid budget. But the State
Department's skeleton crew of leaders, controversial reform
ideas, and proposed cuts have unnerved rank-and-file diplomats in
Foggy Bottom. Sullivan, however, denied a decision had been made to
fold USAID into the State Department. "That has been proposed by
people outside the department. It is something that could be
considered," he said, but only with "full input"
from from USAID and State first.

POLITICO

'It Hurts Not Having Ambassadors,' Says US Army Commander
in Europe |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=62q3qj-wz1Vf0eORr4kqoQ

David M. Herszenhorn

The Trump administration's slow pace in appointing ambassadors,
which has left major posts vacant around the world, is hampering the
ability to carry out American policy, the top U.S. Army commander in
Europe said. "It hurts not having ambassadors," the
commander, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, told POLITICO in an
interview. Trump demanded that all of former President Barack
Obama's political appointee ambassadors resign and immediately
leave their posts. The Trump administration, however, has struggled to
fill positions.

FOREIGN POLICY
Tillerson to Shutter State Department War Crimes Office |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=itKvF4qNiIsFLzxEmoOUsw

Colum Lynch

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is downgrading the U.S. campaign
against mass atrocities, shuttering the Foggy Bottom office that
worked for two decades to hold war criminals accountable, according to
several former U.S. officials. The decision to close the office comes
at a time when America's top diplomat has been seeking to
reorganize the State Department to concentrate on what he sees as key
priorities: pursuing economic opportunities for American businesses
and strengthening U.S. military prowess. Those changes are coming at
the expense of programs that promote human rights and fight world
poverty, which have been targeted for steep budget cuts.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
U.N. Agency Reports Worst Drought in 16 Years in North Korea |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=MWB7uAfPoN7RxdFBX5Lkjg

Choe Sang-Hun

North Korea is suffering its worst drought in 16 years, a United
Nations agency reported on Friday, raising fears of worsening food
shortages in the country, where children and other vulnerable groups
have suffered malnutrition for years. North Korea's production
of staple crops for this year, including rice, corn, potatoes and
soybeans, has been severely damaged by prolonged dry spells
"threatening food security for a large part of its
population," the agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization,
said in a report prepared in collaboration with the European
Commission's Joint Research Center.

THE WASHINGTON POST

More Than 20 Million People Are at Risk of Starving to Death. Will the
World Step Up? |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=SfD7vX4bv-OR4RA4NRcELA

The Editorial Board

More than 20 million people in four countries are at risk of
starvation in the coming months, in what the United Nations has called
the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. But the global
response to the emergency has been lacking, both from governments and
from private citizens. As of Monday, the U.N. Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs was reporting that only 43
percent of the $6.27 billion needed to head off famine this year in
Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria had been raised. A poll by the
International Rescue Committee showed that 85 percent of Americans are
largely uninformed about the food shortages. The IRC calls it
"likely the least reported but most important major issue of our
time."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
With Clooney Assist, US Aid Groups Team Up on Africa Crisis

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=VQUVx057NBoYLd7Dceeh_w

Eight of the world's biggest aid groups are joining together in
a new campaign to get more attention in the U.S. for what the United
Nations calls the world's largest humanitarian crisis in more
than 70 years. More than 20 million people are at risk of famine in
nine African nations and Yemen, according to the United Nations. But
Richard Stearns, president of Federal Way, Washington-based World
Vision, says the situation has been overshadowed amid the
controversies surrounding President Donald Trump's
administration. Instead of competing for donations, the organizations
- U.S.-based groups or the U.S. arms of international charities
- are banding together in a fundraising appeal launching this
week.

Politics & Foreign Policy

THE WASHINGTON POST
What the Demise of the CIA's Anti-Assad Program Means |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=oogeZuirKo21IqLHr6p0Ig

David Ignatius

What did the CIA's covert assistance program for Syrian rebels
accomplish? Bizarrely, the biggest consequence may be that it helped
trigger the Russian military intervention in 2015 that rescued
President Bashar al-Assad - achieving the opposite of what the
program intended. Syria adds another chapter to the star-crossed
history of CIA paramilitary action. These efforts begin with the
worthy objective of giving presidents policy options short of all-out
war. But they often end with an untidy mess, in which rebels feel they
have been "seduced and abandoned" by the promise of U.S.
support that disappears when the political winds change.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
US to Ban Americans From Traveling to North Korea |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=b-kSIMSdTBSpb_iAe5J4bw

Mathew Lee and Josh Lederman

American citizens will be barred from traveling to North Korea next
month following a prohibition on using U.S. passports to enter the
country, the State Department said Friday. Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson decided to impose a "geographical travel
restriction" on North Korea following the death last month of
American university student Otto Warmbier, who fell into a coma while
in North Korean custody. Once it takes effect, Americans wanting to
travel to North Korea may do so legally only with a "special
validation passport," which will be granted by the State
Department on a case-by-case basis for "certain limited
humanitarian or other purposes," the statement said.

THE MIAMI HERALD
President Trump Should Muster an International Rescue of Venezuela |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=GnXkA27sTZaKsCma3cI8CA

Roger F. Noriega

There are not enough tear gas canisters or bullets in Venezuela to
sustain the regime of dictator Nicolás Maduro, which is so
cash-strapped it can't even import food. And although his Cuban
and Russian masters are willing to see hungry Venezuelans beaten into
submission, the international community is not. There is an emerging
consensus among key nations in the region and among bipartisan leaders
in Congress that Venezuelans can resolve this crisis if they are able
to choose a new government that will end violent repression, respect
democratic institutions and rebuild a free market economy. Urgent
action by the administration of President Donald Trump can ensure this
outcome.

THE WASHINGTON POST
The Trump Administration's Shortsighted War on Terrorism |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=LUXLXGzC-En9bT7jKw1KYg

Josh Rogin

While in Paris last week, President Trump praised the liberation of
Mosul while blaming the Obama administration for allowing the Islamic
State to run amok in Iraq in 2014. But Trump's administration is
repeating mistakes of the past on counterterrorism, neglecting the
long game and increasing the likelihood that the terrorists will be
back. Trump's budget shows a clear disdain for programs focused
on preventing wars or keeping finished wars finished. The State
Department's spending request would slash programs that build
capacity in partner countries for fighting terrorism and cut funding
for all manner of U.N. activities. After cutting $600 million from the
U.N.'s peacekeeping budget, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley boasted,
"We're only getting started."


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