As leaders in Washington grapple with our national debt, responsibility and morality are on the line. For less than 1 percent of the federal budget, America is the world’s leader in the fight against extreme poverty, hunger, and preventable disease. This is a bipartisan legacy; Republicans and Democrats alike support humanitarian aid. Likewise, our generals have long supported foreign aid because they know a more stable world is a safer world for Americans.
We live in a blessed and prosperous nation, full of responsible and good people. Even though we have fiscal challenges, we have always made a bipartisan commitment to literally save millions of innocent people from starvation and disease.
As a resident of Clark County, I hope Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler recognizes that we can’t solve our nation’s budget crisis on the backs of the world’s most vulnerable citizens. I urge Rep. Herrera Beutler to protect the international affairs budget. For less than 1 percent of the budget, we’re counting our own blessings, saving people’s lives, promoting stability, and being the kind of nation America is meant to be.
Strident, short-sighted, divisive hyper-partisanship has damaged our nation on too many issues. Let’s protect America’s bipartisan legacy on foreign aid. Drawing from imagery used by JFK and Ronald Reagan alike, let’s keep America “the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill.”
