December 24, 2020

USGLC CEO Responds to Republican Leader’s Dear Colleague Letter Targeting SFOPs

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) President and CEO, Liz Schrayer, released the following statement in response to a Dear Colleague letter on State and Foreign Operations issued by the House Republican Leader tonight:

In the midst of a global pandemic, it’s terribly dangerous to target America’s global health, diplomacy, and humanitarian operations – the very programs that are critical to helping stop threats before they reach our shores, not to mention stopping the next pandemic.

It is baffling why the Minority Leader – who has firmly supported these programs in the past – is singling out these same programs for the House Floor tomorrow, which account for less than 1% of the entire federal budget and will directly impact our nation’s economic and health recovery.

The truth is that not only were many of these funds pushed for by the White House – as recently as less than a week ago in the case of Sudan – but they were vetted and assembled by bipartisan leaders in Congress including Senators Graham, Leahy, Risch and Menendez alongside Representatives Lowey, Rogers, Engel, and McCaul.

There is no question that there are critical needs here at home that need to be addressed, but cutting effective American aid that helps keep America healthy and safe doesn’t make any sense.

The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (www.usglc.org) is a broad-based influential network of 500 businesses and NGOs; national security and foreign policy experts; and business, faith-based, academic, military, and community leaders in all 50 states who support strategic investments to elevate development and diplomacy alongside defense in order to build a better, safer world.