The Honorable Jeb Hensarling, Co-Chair
Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction

The Honorable Patty Murray, Co-Chair
Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction

The Honorable Max Baucus, United States Senate

The Honorable Xavier Becerra, U.S. House of Representatives

The Honorable Dave Camp, U.S. House of Representatives

The Honorable James Clyburn, U.S. House of Representatives

The Honorable John Kerry, United States Senate

The Honorable Jon Kyl, United States Senate

The Honorable Rob Portman, United States Senate

The Honorable Pat Toomey, United States Senate

The Honorable Fred Upton, U.S. House of Representatives

The Honorable Chris Van Hollen, U.S. House of Representatives

Dear Congressman Hensarling, Senator Murray and Members of the Joint Committee:

On behalf of Refugees International, an independent non-profit organization that accepts no government or United Nations funding, I urge you to craft a long-term fiscal plan that preserves America’s unparalleled leadership in responding to global humanitarian crises.

Americans have an instinct to right injustices, to offer help to those most vulnerable and refuge and hope to those oppressed. The federal budget and foreign policy – at its best – will reflect our national character. Additional cuts to our humanitarian affairs accounts will result in needless human suffering and unnecessary risks to our own national security and prosperity.

More than 43 million people across the globe have been forced from their homes by conflict. The ongoing, unprecedented famine in the Horn of Africa has affected more than 13 million people and nearly three-quarters of a million lives hang in the balance, relying on international assistance for survival. In countries like Afghanistan, Burma, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan and South Sudan, conflict persists, leaving millions in need of humanitarian assistance.

Historically, the United States has been the global leader in responding to the needs of the world’s most vulnerable people. Americans support this assistance not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because foreign assistance is a smart investment that helps avoid costly conflicts and promotes future economic growth and stability. Successive Republican and Democratic Administrations and Congresses have understood that international humanitarian assistance – funded through the International Disaster Assistance (IDA), Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA), and Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA) accounts – yield important results. These investments save lives, promote our leadership, create conditions for peace and prosperity and uphold our national tradition of generosity.

While overall international affairs spending represents 1.4% of the total federal budget, it shouldered nearly 20% of the total spending cuts in the final FY11. And in FY11, the IDA account alone was reduced by a full third. Unfortunately, the FY12 appropriations process presents the prospects of additional dangerous reductions. Cuts of this magnitude are not in America’s strategic interests and risk incurring significant future costs to taxpayers through expensive military involvement and recurring humanitarian responses.

As a member of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, you have the opportunity to return the U.S. to sound fiscal footing while safeguarding America’s effective investments in lifesaving action and global leadership. I appreciate your consideration of these critical issues and affirm Refugees International’s willingness to work with you to enhance critical U.S. humanitarian and foreign aid programs.

Sincerely,

Michel Gabaudan
President