FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Richard Parker, (202) 730-4163

January 7, 2010

USGLC Praises Secretary Clinton’s Commitment to More Resources for Development and Diplomacy

Secretary Makes Case for Why International Affairs Budget is Important for America’s Future

Washington, DC — The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition today released the following statement from Executive Director Liz Schrayer on Secretary Clinton’s support for the International Affairs Budget:

“Yesterday, Secretary Clinton made a clear case for why the International Affairs Budget is so essential to our nation’s security, prosperity and humanitarian values even in these difficult times.  As the President’s budget will be unveiled in just a few weeks and the State Department is developing its Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), this is a critical time for her to underscore the importance of development and the need for additional resources.”

“During her speech, she reminded us all that supporting our civilian-led tools of development and diplomacy is vital to our nation both abroad and here at home, noting that development is ‘a strategic, economic, and moral imperative — as central to advancing American interests and solving global problems as diplomacy and defense.’”

“At the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, we could not agree more with the Secretary’s call for more resources and elevating development and diplomacy as essential parts of our global engagement.  In her own words, Secretary Clinton said, ‘Development must become an equal pillar of our foreign policy, alongside defense and diplomacy, led by a robust and reinvigorated AID.’”

###

The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (www.usglc.org) is a broad-based influential network of 400 businesses and NGOs; national security and foreign policy experts; and business, faith-based, academic and community leaders in all 50 states who support a smart power approach of elevating diplomacy and development alongside defense in order to build a better, safer world.