On Wednesday, May 19 the USGLC held its annual Appropriations Lobby Day on Capitol Hill, visiting nearly 40 members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The Lobby Day came at an important time, as key decisions will soon be made on the all-important funding allocation for the FY 11 International Affairs Budget.

At the Lobby Day Breakfast, participants representing a wide spectrum of USGLC’s membership (including Boeing, CARE, Mercy Corps, NEA, and Wal-Mart) heard from Senator Richard Durbin’s (D-IL) chief foreign policy adviser, Chris Homan, about the budget challenges this year. Lobby Day participants came armed with a specific message for Senators: sign-on to the bipartisan Kerry-Lugar-Durbin-Bond-Feinstein letter asking the Senate Appropriations Committee to fully fund the International Affairs Budget. Several Senators signed-on to the letter shortly after meetings with USGLC’s membership.

If you want to help get more support, click here to send an E-mail to your Senators urging them to sign the letter to Senate Appropriators asking them to fully fund the President’s International Affairs Budget request.

Take a look at some pictures from the day.