October 2, 2007
Preventing Deadly Conflict by Supporting Civilian Peace and Security Programs in the State Department/Foreign Operations FY 08 Conference Report
Dear Representative,
We request your support for strengthening U.S. preventive diplomacy during conference negotiations for the FY 08 Foreign Operations and State Department Appropriations bill. We believe these requested appropriations will bolster the ability of the U.S. to address the underlying causes of violent conflict and instability, improve the image of the U.S. abroad, and address human suffering. Continually relying on military solutions to “band aid” conflicts that are better addressed by the U.S. government’s diplomatic toolkit is both inefficient and unwise. FCNL hopes the Congress will agree and support a less expensive, more effective national security strategy, one invested in strong preventive diplomacy.
Specifically we request support for the following initiatives and programs:
Assisting Countries to Break Out of the Conflict Trap
The following programs have proven effective in assisting states to break out of the conflict trap and we strongly recommend that in conference negotiations the higher mark prevail:
Transition Initiatives
With the ever increasing number of conflict-prone countries in the Horn of Africa, Central Asia and South Asia struggling to maintain stability, we support the Senate mark for the Transition Initiative account at $50 million.
Reconciliation Programs
Reconciliation programs and activities bring together individuals of different ethnic, religious and political backgrounds in countries torn apart by civil war and deadly conflict. This global program seeks to promote understanding, mutual respect and reconciliation through the active participation of members of opposing groups, and we support the House mark at $23 million.
Strengthening Preventive Diplomacy within the U.S. Government
We appreciate House report language that supports the State Department Office of the Coordinator for Stabilization and Reconstruction (S/CRS). We understand that appropriators are operating within constrained budget allocations, yet failing to provide funding for either the Conflict Response Fund (i.e. the Stabilization and Reconstruction fund) or additional personal positions for S/CRS impedes the ability of our civilian agencies to quickly address emerging conflicts. Funding these accounts would allow civilian agencies to take advantage of brief windows of time when US diplomatic measures can make a substantial difference in whether a country falls into chaos or is able to transition to a more peaceful state.
In this vein, we reiterate our support for House report language that recommends strengthening and utilizing all of its diplomatic tools to ensure “peaceful resolution to the growing regional instability, outstanding conflicts and humanitarian crises of Central and East Africa.” (Page 13, House report) However, while we support increasing diplomatic efforts towards conflict regions in Africa, it is imperative that Congress does not ‘rob Peter to pay Paul.’ Overall increases in the Diplomatic and Consular Program account are necessary to ensure that the U.S. government can effectively prevent conflict throughout the world.
Strengthening Preventive Diplomacy through Multilateral Institutions
By robustly funding diplomacy, the United States can prevent and resolve conflicts, before they turn lethal, making expensive military responses unnecessary. We thank you for funding the Contributions to International Organizations (CIO), the Contributions to International Peacekeeping Account and the Peacekeeping Operations above the President’s request, and urge you in conference to support the higher marks for these important accounts.
Efforts to ensure that USG foreign assistance fosters a more peaceful, just world
Child Soldiers
Section 687 in the Senate bill that limits military assistance to countries that use child soldiers is an excellent step forward in addressing one of the most tragic outcomes of conflict. We strongly urge you to maintain this language within the conference report.
Cluster Bomb Exports
We strongly support Section 695 in the Senate bill, which requires that exported cluster munitions not be used in or near civilian populated areas and that they have a dud rate of 1% or less. This provision will ensure that US-exported weapons are not used to target civilians during combat and that unexploded remnants do not form a de-facto minefield after war ends. Please maintain this common-sense provision in the conference report.
Conclusion
We thank you for your thoughtful consideration of the above requests. In the future, we at FCNL look forward to working with members of the Appropriations Committees to further facilitate a shift from expensive military responses toward programs which effectively prevent deadly conflict. In the meantime, we urge you to support these programs in conference negotiations.
Sincerely,
Joe Volk
Executive Secretary
FCNL sent this letter to members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs:
Representative Ben Chandler (KY)
Representative Ander Crenshaw (FL)
Representative Steve Israel (NY)
Representative Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (IL)
Representative Mark Steven Kirk (IL)
Representative Joe Knollenberg (MI)
Representative Barbara Lee (CA)
Representative Jerry Lewis (CA)
Representative Nita M. Lowey (Chair) (NY)
Representative Betty McCollum (MN)
Representative David Obey (WI)
Representative Steven R. Rothman (NJ)
Representative Adam Schiff (CA)
Representative Dave Weldon (FL)
Representative Frank R. Wolf (Ranking Member) (VA)
