Interaction Fy2010 Letter Re Budget Conference Function 150

President and CEO Samuel A. Worthington Chair Charles MacCormack, Save the Children

April 16, 2009 The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House The Honorable Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader Dear Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi:

Vice Chair Ritu Sharma Fox, Women Thrive Worldwide Treasurer Amy Coen, Population Action International

Board of Directors Kenneth Bacon, Refugees International David Beckmann, Bread for the World Carol Bellamy, World Learning Sekyu Chang, Korean American Sharing Movement Julius Coles, Africare Helene D. Gayle, CARE USA Anne Lynam Goddard, Christian Children’s Fund Lee H. Hamilton, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Neal Keny-Guyer, Mercy Corps Elizabeth Latham, US Committee for UNDP Jo Luck, Heifer International John McCullough, Church World Service Mary Ellen McNish, American Friends Service Committee Hugh Parmer, American Refugee Committee Daniel E. Pellegrom, Pathfinder International Linda Pfeiffer, INMED Robert Radtke, Episcopal Relief and Development Yolonda C. Richardson, Centre for Development & Population Activities Carter Roberts, World Wildlife Fund George Rupp, International Rescue Committee Zainab Salbi, Women for Women International Ron Sconyers, Physicians for Peace Kathy Spahn, Helen Keller International Richard Stearns, World Vision Tsehaye Teferra, Ethiopian Community Development Council Emily Untermeyer, Amigos de las Americas

1400 16th St., NW Suite 210 Washington, DC 20036 PHONE: (202) 667-8227 FAX: (202) 667-8236 E-MAIL: [email protected] http://www.interaction.org

You have both been supporters of enlightened foreign policy and robust and effective foreign assistance programs in the past, and I thank you for all your work and support on these issues. I write today to respectfully request that you continue that work and support by urging your respective Budget Committee chairmen to produce a budget resolution conference report that recommends the full amount of the president’s request for the International Affairs account. As you know, the Obama administration requested $53.8 billion for Function 150, and the Senate resolution matched that number thanks to the adoption of the KerryLugar amendment by unanimous consent. As you also know, the House resolution recommends a level that is even lower than the expected total appropriated for Function 150 in FY2009. Our community fully understands the tough budget climate. Yet the 150 account remains a minute portion of the overall federal budget, about 1.4%, and by making the world more prosperous and stable, investments in the International Affairs account ultimately help protect other budget priorities here at home. Increased investment in this account has wide bipartisan support. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has called repeatedly for “a dramatic increase” in funding for this account, and opinions polls consistently show that solid majorities of the American public, when informed how little the government spends on foreign assistance, support increasing it. Matching the president’s 150 account request would also support his commitment to transparent budgeting and his courageous break from the recent practice of relying on off-budget emergency supplementals to fund foreseeable humanitarian needs and ongoing bilateral funding commitments. Please join the president in supporting a stronger and smarter U.S. engagement internationally, and urge Chairmen Conrad and Spratt to match his request. I thank you for your consideration and for your hard work on behalf of our nation. Sincerely yours,

Samuel A. Worthington President and CEO, InterAction InterAction is a membership association of US private voluntary organizations engaged in international humanitarian efforts including relief, development, refugee assistance, environmental protection, population programming, policy advocacy, and education.