Twenty-two organizations write to the U.S. House and Senate Committees on Appropriations to thank them for their leadership to ensure the continuation of critical conflict prevention and peacebuilding funding in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017 as well as to express concerns for conflict prevention funding for Fiscal Year 2018 as proposed by the White House Budget Proposal.
June 20, 2017
Dear Members of the U.S. House and Senate Committees on Appropriations:
As members of the Prevention and Protection Working Group*, we thank you for your bipartisan leadership to ensure the continuation of critical conflict prevention and peacebuilding funding in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017. Your support for wise investments in diplomacy and development serves to advance U.S. national security, American values, and global cooperation.
Now, your sustained leadership in support of the International Affairs Budget is needed in light of the White House Budget for Fiscal Year 2018 that has proposed a devastating 31.7% in cuts.
First – as our previous letter to Congress dated April 3, 2017 indicated – our community remains concerned about the drastic cuts that have been proposed to the overall International Affairs Budget for FY18 by the White House. We are further concerned about what these cuts might mean for the future of the U.S. government’s efforts to most effectively prevent and reduce violent conflict. If enacted, cuts to prevention resources undermine security interests, put lives at risk, result in other countries reducing their contributions, and lead to increased financial burdens for the U.S. taxpayer. Conversely, if countries in conflict received increased funding for peacebuilding activities, $16 would be saved for every $1 invested. The dividend to the international community with increased peacebuilding investments would amount to a cost savings of $2.94 trillion over 10 years.
Second, the shift indicated by dramatic cuts to the civilian International Affairs Budget, and significant increases to defense spending represents a return to the failed strategies of the past. The further diminishment of the diversity and availability of non-military tools in the foreign policy toolkit coupled with an even greater prioritization on costly, late-reaction military responses will result in increased insecurity. The approach both fuels the already significant threats facing the U.S. and the world while undermining the civilian peacebuilding and violence prevention efforts capable of best addressing the root causes of violence and the ability of the U.S. to support truly sustainable solutions.
Third, the White House consolidation of Economic Support Funds, Development Assistance, the Democracy Fund and other accounts into a new “Economic Support and Development Fund” is also worrisome. Our concerns are that this move could diminish funding to conflict prevention and response overall, and also that such a shift could significantly undermine capacities for the U.S. government to most successfully carry out conflict prevention programming, robust diplomatic engagement during global crises, and effective conflict analysis and policy planning. While we would support efforts that truly advance efficiency while maintaining critical functions of diplomacy and development, we urge Congress not to adopt measures that put these critical capacities at risk, which the White House budget seems to do.
Fourth, following up on our April letter, we continue to urge you to:
- Push for a 302(b) funding level for the International Affairs Budget at no less than $60 billion for Fiscal Year 2018,
- Protect diplomatic and development tools that are critical to advancing U.S. national security through the effective prevention of mass atrocities and violent conflict (see chart below),
- Reject efforts to eliminate the U.S. Agency for International Development as an independent agency necessary to complement other government efforts, and
- Include specific report language directing the administration to address state fragility, the prevention of atrocities and violent conflict, and the promotion of more peaceful and secure societies as a U.S. national security and foreign policy priority.
Finally, we would emphasize that conflict prevention funding must not come at the expense of other effective humanitarian and development funding. All three are essential to promote our values and our security. We thank you again for your leadership to maintain critical conflict prevention funding in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017, and urge your continued support in FY18.
Sincerely,
Alliance for Middle East Peace
Alliance for Peacebuilding
American Values Network
Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation
Better World Campaign
Carl Wilkens Fellowship
Charity and Security Network
Friends Committee on National Legislation
George Mason Genocide Prevention Program
Humanity United Action
i-ACT
Invisible Children
Pax Christi International
Peace Direct
Peacebuilding Connections
Refugees International
Saferworld
Search for Common Ground
STAND: The Student-Led Movement to End Mass Atrocities
Stop Genocide Now
United Church of Christ, Justice, and Witness Ministries
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
i) https://www.fcnl.org/documents/300
ii) http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2017/03/Measuring-Peacebuilding_WEB-1.pdf#page=5&zoom=auto,-202,762
iii) PPWG has repeatedly urged the funding of the Complex Crises Fund (CCF) at $100 million, which matches the $100 million in 1207 transfer authority that was the predecessor to CCF and is the number originally intended when the account was created by the Senate in FY2010.
iv) $36 million for Conflict Stabilization Operations meets the funding number passed in the House version of the FY17 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs bill.
v) Funding for USAID’s Conflict Management and Mitigation (CMM) core budget has suffered significant reductions since 2010. It is now at a third of its former $9 million. Funded through Development Assistance, report language should be included to restore CMM’s core budget to no less than $6 million.
vi) $77.6 million for Transition Initiatives meets the funding number passed in the House version of the FY17 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs bill as well as past White House and PPWG requests.
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