Monthly Archives: May 2011
The Daily GAB With the House on recess, only the Senate is in session this week. The Senate Budget Committee’s markup of an FY12 budget resolution has been delayed yet again, as Democrats remain divided over the spending plan. Despite the delays in the Senate, the FY12 appropriations process will continue to move forward when [...]
In April, the House-passed an FY12 budget resolution that cuts the International Affairs Budget 18% (to $41.0 billion) from FY11 and 27% from FY10 levels. In addition, the budget resolution did not classify the International Affairs Budget as part of national security spending, as was first done by President Bush in 2007. On May 11, [...]
Former Secretary of Defense and USGLC Advisory Council member Frank Carlucci authored an op-ed in the Washington Times this weekend, discussing smart power in the post-Osama bin Laden era. Secretary Carlucci writes that “while we honor our service members and celebrate justice being achieved in the case of one of the most wanted terrorists of [...]
As lawmakers debate additional budget cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, there are a number of proposals that Congress is considering that could critically impact funding for smart power. Virtually all the budget cuts made this year have come from discretionary spending, programs funded annually through the Congressional appropriations process that include the [...]
Must Reads Smart Power The US should maintain aid to Pakistan, especially in education (Rebecca Winthrop and Anda Adams – Brookings Institution) The citizens of Pakistan deserve a clear message from the United States that it is truly interested in their well-being, including meeting the demand for reforming education. Development assistance to improve education in [...]
Yesterday the House Appropriations Committee released the all-important appropriations allocations–“302(b)s”–for FY12. Due to the way the Committee describes these allocations, there has been some confusion about the exact funding levels for the International Affairs Budget. And there is both good news and bad news in the allocation. On one hand, the $47.2 billion House allocation [...]
I recently traveled to Nashville, TN, also known as ‘Music City’ to expand our Tennessee Advisory Committee. While in Nashville I had the opportunity to meet with Senator Bob Corker and Congressman Jim Cooper’s staff to discuss the importance of the international affairs budget to Tennessee. I learned that Tennessee is home to eight Fortune [...]
This entry is cross-posted with The Will and the Wallet. In these tough economic times, leaders in Congress have some difficult choices ahead of them to get our deficit under control and our fiscal house in order. In recent weeks, however, we haven’t been able to open a newspaper without seeing evidence of the dangerous, [...]
Today, the House Appropriations Committee will release its subcommittee funding levels, known as 302(b) allocations for the Fiscal Year 2012 budget. These funding levels, which will be released for each of the 12 spending bills, including State-Foreign Operations, are expected to be formally adopted at the first full Appropriations Committee markup later this month. The [...]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton capped off a three-day trip to Rome, Italy last week by speaking to the Food and Agriculture Organization on Friday. Secretary Clinton spoke about global food security and how U.S. programs in agricultural development, through the Feed the Future initiative, were “maintaining, indeed deepening our commitment to sustainable agriculture and [...]
