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April 16, 2020

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April 16, 2020 April 16, 2020 The Honorable Richard Shelby The Honorable Patrick Leahy Chairman Ranking Member Committee on Appropriations Committee on Appropriations United States Senate United States Senate Dear Chairman Shelby and Ranking Member Leahy: We write to reiterate our strong bipartisan support for robust funding for the Fiscal Year 2021 International Affairs Budget. This budget funds strategic tools that are essential to protecting our national security and health, building economic prosperity, alleviating humanitarian crises, supporting democratic principles, and demonstrating American values. At a time when we face multiple national security and global health challenges and a rise in autocrats and non-state threats, we continue to believe that cuts to the International Affairs Budget would be counterproductive and a danger to our nation. Today’s national security challenges require the United States to utilize a full range of non-military tools to ensure our nation’s well-being. The skilled diplomatic and development capabilities funded through the International Affairs Budget can help avert conflict, shorten its duration, and prevent its reemergence. Fewer and shorter conflicts mean fewer American service members in harm’s way and greater security for the American people. Similarly, American diplomats and development experts in all corners of the globe can help identify and stem the spread of communicable diseases that don’t respect international borders. This is why Republican and Democratic national security and foreign policy experts have long championed a strong International Affairs Budget as a key component of our national security, prosperity, and well-being. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis repeatedly emphasized the importance of our nation’s diplomatic and development capabilities, with Mullen succinctly stating in a February 2020, letter to Congressional leaders, “this is a moment when more investment in diplomacy is needed, not less.” Not surprisingly, last year more than 140 top military leaders, including retired Generals Petraeus, Zinni, Odierno, and McChrystal, and retired Admiral Stavridis sent a letter to Congressional leaders noting that “development and diplomacy are critical to keeping our country safe and prosperous and reflect our nation’s core values.” They continued, “America’s civilian agencies also keep us safe from the challenges of fragile states that are vulnerable to violent extremism, the spread of pandemics like Ebola, instability, and mass migration. As we have seen from Venezuela to Yemen, these challenges cannot be solved by military force alone. They will require strategic investments in development and diplomacy to tackle the root causes of conflict in order to succeed for the long term. And these investments are cost effective: for every $1 spent on conflict prevention, we save $16 in response costs and avoid sending our troops into harm’s way.” Certainly the staggering costs of the impact of the current Coronavirus outbreak also demonstrate the huge importance of swift, coordinated, and effective global action to address global pandemics. While international affairs spending requires effective financial oversight, proposed deep cuts to its budget would undermine our country’s security, prosperity, and well-being as well as storied American humanitarian and democratic principles. Some years ago retired General and former Secretary of State Colin Powell summarized this perfectly, arguing “America is great when we’re the country that the world admires, a beacon of hope and a principled people we are generous, fair, and caring. That’s the American way. If we’re still that nation, then we must continue to devote this small but strategic 1 percent of our federal budget to this mission.” As such, we urge you to ensure that Congress supports robust funding for the Fiscal Year 2021 International Affairs Budget. Sincerely, /s/ Richard J. Durbin /s/ Todd Young United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Doug Jones /s/ Susan M. Collins United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Gary C. Peters /s/ Thom Tillis United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Tammy Duckworth /s/ Dan Sullivan United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Benjamin L. Cardin /s/ Kevin Cramer United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Richard Blumenthal /s/ Kelly Loeffler United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Elizabeth Warren /s/ Maria Cantwell United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Thomas R. Carper /s/ Ron Wyden United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Martin Heinrich /s/ Angus S. King, Jr. United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Michael F. Bennet /s/ Jack Reed United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Jeanne Shaheen /s/ Kirsten Gillibrand United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Cory A. Booker /s/ Tina Smith United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Margaret Wood Hassan /s/ Robert P. Casey, Jr. United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Debbie Stabenow /s/ Krysten Sinema United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Bernard Sanders /s/ Christopher A. Coons United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Brian Schatz /s/ Chris Van Hollen United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Christopher S. Murphy /s/ Sheldon Whitehouse United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Jacky Rosen /s/ Tim Kaine United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Edward J. Markey /s/ Amy Klobuchar United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Catherine Cortez-Masto /s/ Mazie K. Hirono United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Sherrod Brown /s/ Dianne Feinstein United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Kamala D. Harris /s/ Mark R. Warner United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Tom Udall /s/ Jeffrey A. Merkley United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Tammy Baldwin /s/ Jon Tester United States Senator United States Senator /s/ Joe Manchin III /s/ Patty Murray United States Senator United States Senator .
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