Pictured: Liz Schrayer
STOPGAP SHOWDOWN.
Good news, the
government didn’t shut down! Congress voted to keep the country running
just days before the end of the fiscal
year, and included the long-awaited
$1.1 billion to combat the Zika virus
(most for inside the U.S., but $175 million for overseas). Overall funding for
international affairs is largely the same
as current levels, with a cut of less than
half a percent – similar to almost every
other federal budget account. Expect
Congress to be back at the negotiating
table before funds run out on December
9th.
CABLE GUY.
While foreign assistance
didn’t come up last Monday in the debate, it did hours later during Morning Joe’s debate analysis. “Too many
people think that we give foreign aid
just to be nice,” said Joe Scarborough,
the former Florida congressman. It’s in
America’s interest to promote “strategic alliances” and make sure “countries
are more stable.”
PEACE COLOMBIA. Considered a hallmark
foreign assistance success, America’s
Plan Colombia initiative can add another impressive chapter. Last Monday,
President Juan Manuel Santos and
FARC rebels officially signed a peace
deal – ending five decades of fighting
that killed 220,000 and displaced 5
million. Does it matter here at home?
U.S. exports to Colombia quadrupled in
recent years to over $15 billion in 2015.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. Congress just
passed new legislation to crack down
on the billions of dollars generated for
criminal and terrorist networks from
wildlife trafficking, categorizing this
growing problem as a crime alongside
weapons and drug trafficking. Kudos to
Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, and Senators Flake and Coons for
another bipartisan victory for U.S. leadership overseas.
PEACE CORPS PLUS UP? Despite its budget
staying relatively flat in recent years,
Peace Corps applications have surged
– more than doubling since 2013. For
the first time, the popular agency made
campaign trail news on Friday when
Hillary Clinton called for “growing the
Peace Corps” as part of her pitch for
national service to “solve the world’s
most pressing challenges.” No specific
numbers though.
KNOWLEDGE GAP. A new survey has found
that 9 out of 10 Americans are misinformed, believing that extreme poverty
has either increased or stayed same
over the past 20 years, when in fact the
number of people who are living in extreme poverty has been cut in half.
MEASLES MILESTONE. Two years after the
largest measles outbreak in the U.S., the
World Health Organization has declared
the Americas the first region to eliminate
the highly infectious virus that used to
kill 500,000 children every year.
DIPLOMAT DANGLING. This
past month
the first U.S. ambassador to Cuba in 50
years was nominated – a high-ranking
U.S. diplomat, Jeffrey DeLaurentis. But
opposition among some senators to
current policies means it’s unlikely he’ll
be confirmed before the end of this Administration.
TOP-ED. In an opinion piece in the Cleveland
Plain Dealer, former Republican Governor
of Ohio, Bob Taft, and former Chairman of
the Democratic National Committee, David Wilhelm, drive home the importance
of development and diplomacy for our
next Commander-in-Chief.
iF Magazine | www.iFMagazine.net
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