Bridget Moix submitted written testimony supporting increased funding for peacebuilding programs to the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on State Department, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.
In her testimony, Bridget highlights the effectiveness of foreign assistance in keeping the United States, and the world, safe and prosperous.
Prepared for the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on State Department, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
Bridget Moix, General Secretary, Friends Committee on National Legislation
Chairman Graham, Ranking Member Schatz, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of robust funding for accounts that help prevent mass atrocities and violent conflict, support urgent humanitarian needs, and strengthen resilience globally at the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the Fiscal Year 2026 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations bill.
Congress has a critical role to play as an independent branch of government entrusted by the Constitution with the power of the purse, and we urge you to uphold your role and your responsibility to the American people and the long-standing bipartisan support for funding an effective U.S. leadership role in the world. I urge Congress to reject reckless cuts to U.S. foreign assistance and the dismantling of vital agencies and expertise that the administration has undertaken without legal grounding or congressional approval. More specifically, I urge you to continue investing in critical funding programs that address the urgent crises facing our country and world today. The full list of Friends Committee on National Legislation’s (FCNL) FY26 SFOPs priorities has been included in the chart at the end of my testimony.
Founded in 1943 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), FCNL is a national, nonpartisan Quaker organization that advocates for policies informed by our faith, morality, and belief that there is that of God in every person and that all creation has worth and dignity.i More than 80 years ago, guided by the Religious Society of Friends’ historic Peace Testimonyii and the voices of Quaker meetings across the country, FCNL began advocating against conscription and for aid to civilians in Europe in the midst of World War II. Today, we are still advocating for a world free of war and the threat of war and for assistance to all those in need. I offer this testimony today in the belief that this pursuit of peace is a mutual priority of FCNL and the 119th Congress.
Violence, climate shocks, and forced displacement are some of the most significant challenges faced by the world today. The United States cannot address them through spending decisions that dismantle tested and successful foreign assistance. Foreign assistance should be improved, and FCNL has long advocated for reforms to foreign assistance, including by ensuring it is locally led. FCNL, and partners around the world, stand ready to work with you to improve the way foreign assistance is designed and delivered, but these reckless cuts are not the answer.
In my testimony today, I will urge you to invest deeply in the tools needed to prevent, mitigate, and respond to these crises. These tools are cost-effective, proven approaches that Congress has supported and invested in a bipartisan manner for many years. They make us stronger, safer, and more prosperous. They are also the morally right thing to do.
As you know, over the past six months, President Trump and his administration have conducted unparalleled attacks on foreign assistance—eroding the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and terminating over 85% of foreign assistance programs without Congressional approval.iii Now, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is requesting Congressional consent for the rescission of over $8 billion in currently available funds to make legal the ongoing impoundment of these funds and dramatically reorganize and reduce future foreign assistance funding. This rescission package is unnecessary as your committee already reviews rescissions in the annual appropriations process—making it a costly distraction from the mandated congressional appropriations process. The Senate must act to protect United States investment in foreign assistance.
I strongly urge you, the committee and Senate to uphold the moral obligation and national interest of the United States to help the most vulnerable around the world. The Trump administration’s actions have already caused enormous harm and cost thousands of lives.
In just six months, the purposeful discontinuation of global health programs have caused over 115,00 adult deaths and 245,000 child deaths.iv Over 30 million children will lose access to education, slowing efforts to eradicate poverty and reducing positive pathways for young people around the world to avoid violent and criminal transnational groups.v Over 70 million people across 60 countriesvi will face increased hunger without food assistance previously provided by farmers in the U.S., with millions of mothers and children facing severe malnutrition and wasting who had been receiving nutrition assistance.vii Funding for countries like Chad assisting 760,000 Sudanese refugees has dried upviii and Colombia, the largest recipient of U.S. funding in Latin America, has been left alone to stem the tide of devasting migration across the Americas, hosting 2.8 million Venezuelans fleeing economic and political upheaval.ix
The consequences of U.S. abandonment of foreign aid will escalate humanitarian crises, embolden authoritarian regimes, and drive more, not less, forced migration to America’s borders. Peacebuilders and human rights defenders who risk their own security and safety to seek a more just and peaceful future for their communities now face the future without U.S. funding or diplomatic support.x Other countries, including many of our European allies, are following the U.S. lead and cutting humanitarian and development assistance while increasing military spending. This will exacerbate crises and make the world less safe.
Beyond the immediate human impacts, accepting the dramatic cuts in the president’s budget request would undermine key diplomatic partnerships and reduce U.S. capacity to counter corruption, reduce instability and prevent violent conflict. For example, investing in peacebuilding and conflict prevention not only eases human suffering caused by war and violence but also supports long-term stability, mitigating future needs for high-cost, reactive emergency humanitarian spending and the potential for U.S. involvement in foreign wars.
The cost effectiveness of peacebuilding and conflict prevention is exceptional – every dollar invested in preventing violent conflict saves $26-$103 on the cost of conflict according to the International Monetary Fund.xi Additionally, as the rate and scale of climate-related disasters increases – from extreme weather events to rising sea levels – U.S. investment in climate resilience is essential to prevent instability and humanitarian crises. Research shows that every dollar invested in climate resilience and disaster preparedness saves three dollars in future humanitarian assistance.xii
Failing to invest in peacebuilding, violence prevention, and resilience is too costly a choice, in dollars and in lives. When the United States waits until the seeds of violence bear fruit, its available tools are fewer, more expensive, and less effective. The United States is left with triaging expensive but often preventable humanitarian crises while too frequently deploying securitized approaches that aim to enforce order rather than ensure justice and can exacerbate instability in the long run.
These efforts are more crucial than ever. Globally, we have seen that contemporary violent conflicts inflict disproportionate harm on civilians through the deployment of indiscriminate weapons such as banned cluster munitions, the use of starvation as a weapon of war, conflict-related sexual violence, and systematic targeted attacks against ethnic, racial, and religious groups. The United States can and must do more to prevent, mitigate, and respond to violent conflict and promote sustainable peace.
Cuts to foreign assistance undermine some of the United States’ most cost-effective tools for promoting peace and human security globally. The cuts also risk irreparably damaging the United States’ credibility with other governments as a steadfast partner. Defunding programs in partner countries creates a soft-power void which other actors will readily fill. Just two weeks after the State Department suspended global demining programs, including grants to the Cambodian Mine Action Center,xiii China announced major new grants to Cambodia to cover the gap. This weakens American diplomatic leadership in the region and deteriorates the U.S.’ ability to promote democratic norms.
Moreover, the disruption to economic development programs will slow or decrease the global effort to end extreme poverty and the opening of new markets for U.S. trade. Foreign assistance from the United States helps low-income countries to mature into robust economies that support their populations and in turn become valuable trading partners to the U.S., strengthening our economy. A rising tide lifts all boats. As former Representative Ted Yoho testified to the House Foreign Affairs Committee in February, “sustained economic growth is the only lasting solution to eradicate extreme poverty, and it puts our partners on a path to move from aid to trade. Investments in health, education, and agriculture enable partner countries to chart a path towards increased prosperity.”xiv
By supporting sustainable peace and resilience in conflict-affected and fragile states, foreign assistance also enables would-be refuge seekers to remain in their home communities. When President Obama froze development assistance to Yemen in 2015, there was a dramatic spike in violence against civilians before the decision was reversed in 2017 under the first Trump Administration.xv This violence drove Yemenis to flee their country; today more than 4.5 million Yemenis are displaced.xvi This is a stark example of how both peacebuilding and development assistance are critical to preventing forced migration, which affects the number of newcomers to the United States, one of the most significant challenges faced by the country today. There are more than 36.4 million refugees globally,xvii a number that will only grow as conflict worldwide continues to rapidly escalate in parallel with the costs of providing emergency life-saving humanitarian aid.
Lastly, I would like to remind you and the members of the Committee, the Constitution is clear: Congress guides, not obeys, the executive branch on matters of federal spending. This Committee has a responsibility to uphold its Constitutional independence and its obligations to the American people. I urge this Committee to act to protect U.S foreign assistance funding, global leadership and its legacy of generosity.
Chairman Graham, Ranking Member Schatz and Members of the Committee, I thank you for the opportunity to testify.
| Account Name | FY24 Enacted | FY26 Request |
|---|---|---|
| Atrocities Prevention | $6,000,000 | $25,000,000 |
| Atrocities Prevention Training, State Department | $500,000 | $500,000 |
| Complex Crises Fund | $55,000,000 | $75,000,000 |
| Reconciliation Programs | $25,000,000 | $50,000,000 |
| International Disaster Assistance | $4,779,000,000 | $4,779,000,000 |
| Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| Migration and Refugee Assistance | $3,928,000,000 | $3,928,000,000 |
| Renewable Energy | $247,000,000 | $260,000,000 |
| Sustainable Landscapes | $175,700,000 | $185,000,000 |
| Adaptation | $256,500,000 | $270,000,000 |
| UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees | $0 | $344,000,000 |
| Middle East Partnership for Peace Programs | $50,000,000 | $100,000,000 |
i “Unity of creation.” Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain https://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/25/
ii “Our Peace Testimony.” Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain. https://qfp.quaker.org.uk/chapter/24/
iii Miolene, Elissa. “Nearly 10,000 Awards Cut from USAID, State Department.” Devex, 26 Feb. 2025, www.devex.com/news/nearly-10-000-awards-cut-from-usaid-state-department-109517.
iv Nichols, Dr. Brooke, and Eric Moakley. “Impact Dashboard - Impact Counter.” Impact Counter, www.impactcounter.com/dashboard?view=table&sort=title&order=asc. Accessed 27 June 2025.
v “Dismantling USAID: Consequences for Americans and Global Development.” Institute for Development Impact, 2025. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/679bdd21823c9474a907e5b3/t/67ae46437ae13a57cf46a6e7/
1739474504806/Dismantling+USAID+-+Consequences+for+Americans+%2B+Global+Development.pdf
vi “Food Assistance: Feed the Future.” U.S. Agency for International Development, Internet Archive, 17 May 2024, https://web.archive.org/web/20250201032407/https://www.usaid.gov/food-assistance. Accessed 27 June 2025.
vii “Fighting Child Malnutrition during and after Humanitarian Emergencies.” USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, Medium, 28 May 2021, https://usaidsaveslives.medium.com/fighting-child-malnutrition-during-and-after-humanitarian-emergencies-a325bf72d1f6. Accessed 27 June 2025.
viii “The Impact of Foreign Assistance Cuts.” Better World Campaign, https://betterworldcampaign.org/impact-of-foreign-assistance-cuts. Accessed June 27, 2025.
ix Noriega, Christina. “Trump’s Aid Freeze is Undermining His Immigration Policy.” Foreign Policy, https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/14/us-aid-cuts-colombia-venezuela-migrants-trump-immigration/. May 14, 2025.
x Miolene, Elissa. “‘God Bless America’ and the Death of 10,000 Projects.” Devex, 28 Feb. 2025, www.devex.com/news/god-bless-america-and-the-death-of-10-000-projects-109529.
xi Mueller, Hannes, Christopher Rauh, Benjamin R Seimon, and Raphael A Espinoza. “The Urgency of Conflict Prevention – A Macroeconomic Perspective”. IMF Working Papers 2024.256 (2024), https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2024/256/article-A001-en.xml.
xii InterAction “Adaptation” Choose to Invest FY2025 https://www.interaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/
Adaptation-FY2025.pdf
xiii “Beijing Announces $4.4 Million in Funding for Landmine Clearance in Cambodia.” Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Asia, 21 Feb. 2025, www.rfa.org/english/cambodia/2025/02/10/cambodia-china-mine-clearance-grant/.
xiv The Honorable Ted Yoho “Remarks for the Record.” February 13, 2025, https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/
FA00/20250213/117889/HHRG-119-FA00-Wstate-YohoT-20250213-U1.pdf.
xv Knudsen-Latta, Ursala. “90-Day Freeze on U.S. Foreign Assistance Endangers Millions.” Friends Committee On National Legislation, 3 Feb. 2025, www.fcnl.org/updates/2025-02/90-day-freeze-us-foreign-assistance-endangers-millions.
xvi “Yemen Humanitarian Crisis.” USA for UNHCR, www.unrefugees.org/emergencies/yemen/. Accessed 27 June 2025.
xvii “Remarks for the Record.” 2025, p. https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA00/20250213/117889/HHRG-119-FA00-Wstate-YohoT-20250213-U1.pdf.
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