Dr. Jerry Zurek, Cabrini University Professor, Communications Department sent this email to the 50 Cabrini students who advocated and lobbied on behalf of poor communities around the world. The current Administration wanted to cut the aid budget that would help refugees, migrants, and people suffering from extreme poverty by more than 30 percent. Cabrini students joined their
voices with those of many others and Congress rejected these harsh cuts.
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To all 50 students who lobbied this year:
Congratulations! Your voice mattered! Congress passed the foreign aid budget, and what you advocated for, passed! Your effort to prepare to go to DC paid off!
You should be so proud of your hard work. Think of all the people who will be helped because YOU CARED.
Congress–both Republicans and Democrats–voted to reject the Trump administration’s cuts to Poverty-Focused Development Assistance and even raised funding by a little bit, 1 percent raise.
• Increased development assistance to alleviate poverty in vulnerable communities by $400 million;
• Provided more than $500 million for assistance to Central America – money that the administration had reduced to 0. This will benefit the people of Guatemala and elsewhere and work to alleviate the root causes of migration.
• Signed into law: The Global Fragility Act will step up a comprehensive U.S. strategy to prevent extremism and promote stability in some of the toughest global hotspots.
• Refugees: the administration wanted to cut funding to just 10 percent of last year. Congress kept it the same as last year.
• Global Health remains strong: PEPFAR, the Global Fund, Maternal and Child Health, Nutrition — all remain strong.
• Food aid: Food for Peace and McGovern-Dole got a slight increase.
• Climate: While Congress does not provide funding the Green Climate Fund, it did include $140 million in flexible funding for the Global Environment and other climate programs.
Read more:
https://www.usglc.org/the-budget/congress-finalizes-fy20-spending-international-affairs-budget-sees-small-increase-as-global-challenges-grow/
Thanks to each and every one of you for answering the call to care for the most vulnerable!