FOREIGN OP BUDGET CUTS HIT WORLD’S POOREST, STEPS BACK ON AMERICA’S COMMITMENTS

Washington, DC – Today, a House Appropriations Subcommittee marked up the FY2011 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, which cut the President’s FY2011 request by $4 billion. Representing less than 1.5 percent of the total budget, the State and Foreign Ops bill is the primary source of funding for America’s foreign assistance programs that deliver critical global health, development, and hunger-fighting efforts. Sheila Nix, U.S. Executive Director of ONE, the global anti-poverty group, issued the following reaction to today’s mark up:

“The decision to slash the International Affairs budget and in turn, the Foreign Ops bill, will be judged not by how it reduces our deficit but by its lasting impact on the world’s poorest.

“Despite these cuts, we are grateful Congresswoman Lowey demonstrated leadership in boosting funds for effective tools like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunizations, which deliver proven, results that save millions of lives.

“Now, as food prices continue to rise and drought consumes arable portions of Africa – leaving almost 400,000 children in Niger at risk of dying of starvation over the summer – Congress has decided to step back on America’s commitments to a global food security initiative — a decision that will have a ripple effect on budgets to come.

“Over the years, both Republicans and Democrats have stepped up in difficult times to tackle the HIV/AIDS crisis and beat back malaria, and TB in many parts of the world. ONE hopes that Congress will continue America’s world leadership in difficult times, restore the International Affairs budget, and keep its commitments to the most vulnerable people in the world.”