Foreign Assistance Is Under Threat in the Senate. Make a Call Today!

Senate leadership has delayed the consideration of the foreign aid appropriations bill for fiscal year 2012. While it may not go to the floor this week, it could go to the floor quickly and with little notice, so our continued calls are important.   

This bill funds critical, life-saving, poverty-focused foreign assistance. But the funding is in danger. Your voice right now could help save it.

When this bill goes to the floor for a vote, many senators will offer dangerous amendments to slash funding. The House version of the foreign aid bill is already a dramatic $5 billion lower than the Senate version and 20 percent below the FY 2010 level. If the Senate and House come together to reconcile the two versions of the bill, and the Senate bill has been slashed, negotiations will start at a much lower funding level. The outcome for foreign aid and human lives could be grim.

We know that foreign aid cuts won’t help the deficit because foreign assistance is less than 1 percent of our nation’s budget. Consider what a Washington Post op-ed writer and speech writer for President Bush wrote earlier this year:

"Not all sacrifices are shared equally. Some get a pay freeze. Some get a benefit adjustment. Others get a fever and a small coffin. This is not fiscal prudence. It is the prioritization of the most problematic spending cuts — a disproportionate emphasis on the least justifiable reductions. One can be a budget cutter and still take exception to cuts at the expense of the most vulnerable people on earth."

Defending smart foreign assistance investment is what we do best. Take a look at our newest action alert and mobilize your local RESULTS allies to make calls to your senators. So far, at least 23 activists have made calls. Let's help that number grow by leaps and bounds. Speak out in defense of foreign assistance. We are poised to make a difference.