Washington, DC —The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition released the following statement from Executive Director Liz Schrayer on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s reported FY 2015 302b funding allocations:

“We are deeply concerned about the Senate’s reported deep and disproportionate cut to base funding for the International Affairs Budget on top of the 15% cuts already made since FY 2010.

“We recognize how challenging allocations for this year’s spending bills are, but cutting these programs at a time when they are needed more than ever from Central Africa to Syria to Ukraine is not in our national interests. While OCO funds will mitigate the impact in the short term, another round of budget cuts to base programs is extremely dangerous to our security and economic interests.

“As the appropriations process proceeds, we urge the Senate to support the funding levels proposed by the House that spare base programs from further cuts. For one percent of federal spending, the International Affairs Budget provides a powerful return on our investment.”

Please visit the USGLC’s up-to-the-minute online Budget Center for detailed analysis on the House Appropriations Committee’s FY 2015 International Affairs Budget allocation.

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 development and diplomacy alongside defense in order to build a better, safer world.

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