International aid cuts not beneficial to U.S.

The U.S. Senate must pass a budget by Friday. Iowans should urge Sens. Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin to reject the House cuts to the International Affairs budget, particularly to poverty-focused development aid and United Nations funding. A recent poll found most Americans think a fourth of the federal budget funds foreign aid. However, it is only 1 percent. And from that small amount, the House cut

41 percent of our humanitarian assistance.

Our annual U.N. contributions are only a tenth of 1 percent of the budget, yet provide a highly cost-effective way to share the burden of peacekeeping, reduce weapons proliferation, respond to humanitarian disasters and combat infectious diseases. Recent reports by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and the Rand Corp. found U.N. peacekeeping operations highly effective and efficient. Peacekeeping dues are cheaper than stationing U.S. Marines in Haiti.

In a recent poll, nearly 90 percent of active-duty and retired military officers agreed that diplomacy and development are critical to U.S. national security objectives and that a strong military alone is not enough to protect us. Cutting the International Affairs budget would diminish U.S. influence abroad, threaten national security and reduce our claim to morality.

Ellen Fisher

President,

Linn County Chapter,

UNA-USA

Cedar Rapids