The Case for Foreign Aid

Rev. Beckmann, President of Bread for the World,  George Ingram co-chairman of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and Jim Kolbe former congressman and POMED Board Member attempt to lay out the facts of the foreign aid budget and state why they believe it is necessary in an op-ed for Politico. Addressing the broad misconceptions they believe the American public has about the size of U.S. foreign assistance, they state that it only accounts for less than 1 percent of the budget. They  state that while the foreign assistance budget– which is essential to US security, diplomacy and economic interests– should be scruitinized, they believe that President Barack Obama’s attempts to institute “top-to-bottom” reforms in foreign aid show that attempts to make aid more effective have already begun. They close in stating: “Though a sliver of our overall budget, U.S. foreign assistance delivers a real return-on-investment. The Obama administration and Congress need to support these programs and work together to make them more effective and accountable.”

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) the ranking Democrat on the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations subcommittee also wrote for Politico in defense of foreign aid stating: “The foreign aid bill’s diplomatic and development objectives pay dividends by helping avoid military deployments to protect U.S. interests, which are far more costly in both life and treasure.” She calls for greater scrutiny of aid and conditionality but believes: “It would be senseless to let our response to a fiscal challenge create a national security crisis.”