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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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 Connie Veillette is the director of CGD's rethinking U.S. foreign assistance initiative Full Bio Follow @connieveillette
Moving OnMay 14, 2012By Connie Veillette in Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance
I came to CGD nearly to two years ago to lead the Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance program, and now it’s time to move on to other pursuits. But not to worry, Rethink will be in good hands. I have been honored to work with such a fine group of people who are doing important research on difficult issues. During just ten years in existence, CGD has had major impacts on how the United States engages with the rest of the world on global development issues. I look forward to watching its next decade of work. 1 Comment »International Affairs Budget Headed for More Trouble and Why That’s Bad for DevelopmentMay 9, 2012By Connie Veillette in Budget, Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Tags: Budget
Yesterday the House Appropriations Committee released a draft bill that sets spending for international affairs (that’s both diplomacy and development) at levels 14 percent below the request and 5 percent below last year’s appropriations bill. Today, the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee approved those spending levels. Advocates are worried, but they might want to save the hand-wringing for what could be a disastrous end-of-year scramble. The potential end-of-year train wreck will be caused by the very large differences among White House, Senate, and House budgets. The House adopted a budget resolution that is $19 billion less than the Senate’s. In terms of the international affairs budget, this means that the House is operating with a $40.1 billion base allocation while the Senate comes in at $49.8 billion. That’s a nearly 20 percent difference. (Ouch.) Comment »Engagement Amid Austerity – Or How the United States Stays in the Game Despite Budget PressuresMay 8, 2012By Connie Veillette in Aid Effectiveness, Aid Priorities, Budget, Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance, State Department, USAID Tags: Aid Effectiveness, Aid Priorities, Budget, State Department, USAID
This is a joint post with John Norris of the Center for American Progress. Budget concerns will almost certainly put downward pressure on federal spending across a host of government programs for a number of years. Although some think it is almost heretical to point out the obvious, the international affairs budget will not be immune from this dynamic. In fact, international spending could take a disproportionate hit compared to domestic spending – despite the fact that discretionary international spending is a very small part of the overall budget puzzle. International affairs, and more specifically foreign assistance, have rarely been popular budget items among the public or on Capitol Hill – despite consistently comprising only about 1 percent of the total federal budget. Even so, foreign aid and international engagement make good political targets for elected officials out on the stump. It is far easier to demonize foreign aid than to explain how relatively modest programs to improve living standards in the developing world have consistently proven to be in the national interest over the long-term. 2 Comments »Assessing Feed the Future and U.S. Leadership on Food SecurityApril 27, 2012By Connie Veillette in Feed the Future, Food Security, Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Tags: feed the future, Food Security
A new report from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs applauds U.S. government agencies for food security leadership but calls on them to up the game in the face of rising global challenges and shrinking aid budgets. While it is a positive assessment, the report highlights some areas of concern that could affect U.S. leadership in future years. The report is timely for two reasons. First, it is anticipated that food security will be a topic of discussion at the upcoming G-8 meeting at Camp David. With budget austerity gripping the attention of most international donors, it will be interesting to see if commitments to food security will be maintained and whether outstanding pledges will be filled. Comment »Food Aid Effectiveness Awaits Action on Farm BillApril 24, 2012By Connie Veillette in Aid Effectiveness, Food Security, Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance, USAID Tags: Aid Effectiveness, Food Security, USAID
Congress last week released a draft farm bill that includes some promising fixes to the notoriously inefficient U.S. food aid system. I have written before about the USG’s poorly managed food aid programs, largely based on work from the Government Accountability Office, aid organizations and a number of academics. In light of last week’s draft, I am pleased to announce that we may finally be getting some traction on this issue amongst policymakers on the Hill. First, a little background. P.L. 480, or Food for Peace, is the largest program funded annually at about $1.5 billion on average. Although it is not well understood outside of budget wonk circles, U.S. food aid is part of the international affairs budget but is authorized and appropriated by the agriculture committees. (The House committees have some shared jurisdiction with the foreign affairs committees.) This structure goes back to a time when the United States used international food aid programs to distribute an abundance of surplus crops. 2 Comments »Will It Be Feed the Future or Feed the Now?March 26, 2012By Connie Veillette in Budget, Feed the Future, Food Security, Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Tags: Budget, feed the future, Food Security
The House Budget Committee passed its budget alternative last week that calls for reduced spending for international affairs. The accompanying report gives some details on the cuts the Committee is recommending. Many of the recommendations are ill-advised if the United States is to remain influential in world affairs, such as eliminating the Complex Crisis Fund, zeroing out funds to organizations like the African Development Foundation or Inter-American Foundation, or reducing public diplomacy programs. Comment »Ryan Budget Elevates Defense over Diplomacy and DevelopmentMarch 22, 2012By Connie Veillette in Aid Priorities, Budget Tags: Aid Priorities, Budget
On Wednesday, the House Budget Committee approved Chairman Ryan’s budget for fiscal year 2013. It includes sizeable decreases for the international affairs budget, but not for defense. It also reduces funding for the Overseas Contingency Operations account that is designed for both civilian and military costs associated with activities in the front-line states of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq. The full table of cuts, by budget function, can be found here. The Ryan budget would allocate $43.1 billion for the international affairs budget in 2013, down from the Committee’s estimate of $47.8 billion for fiscal year 2012. This is nearly a 10% reduction. Government-wide spending would total $1.028 trillion, or $19 billion below the spending cap imposed by the Budget Control Act. While the House may approve the lower number, Senate leaders have stated their plan to keep with the higher number, a figure that will still exert strong downward spending across nearly all budget functions. This will greatly complicate the work of the Appropriations Committees since both House and Senate appropriators will be working with different allocations. Comment » |
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