The Alliance supports the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s call to contact your Senators and urge them to support full funding of the President’s $58.8 billion FY 2011 International Affairs Budget request.

We need your help to ensure the Senate sends a strong, bipartisan message in support of the FY 2011 International Affairs Budget request. Because no further action on the FY11 budget resolution is likely, we will not have an opportunity (as in past years) to rescind the Senate Budget Committee’s $4 billion cut to the International Affairs Budget on the Senate floor.

A bipartisan letter – led by Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Christopher Bond (R-MO), Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) – is circulating in the Senate and seeks full funding for the International Affairs Budget. The letter calls upon Appropriations Committee Chair Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-MS) to support the President’s full $58.8 billion request in the 302(b) allocations. We face an exceedingly difficult budget environment on Capitol Hill, so it’s critical that we secure a large number of Senators to sign this important letter.

Senators need to know they have their constituents’ support for the International Affairs Budget. Anything less than the request level of $58.8 billion will greatly hamper the Administration's efforts to implement a smart power strategy in order to elevate diplomacy and international exchange programs in U.S. global engagement.

Please take a few moments to write your Senators using the template available on the Alliance website. Thank you for your action in support of international affairs and exchanges.