Success! Senate Supports War Prevention Funds

By Mary Stata on 05/31/2012 @ 12:30 PM

Tags: Peaceful Prevention

A few weeks ago, I reported on the (semi) good, the bad, and the ugly, in the House’s international affairs budget. This bill funds programs to peacefully prevent deadly conflict. Unfortunately, the House bill cut funding for the new State Department bureau on conflict prevention, slashed contributions to the U.N. and eliminated the Complex Crises Fund.

FCNL responded to this damaging bill by organizing a letter endorsed by 28 other organizations, urging the Senate to fully fund accounts that help prevent deadly conflict. Last week, right before the holiday weekend, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved their version of the international affairs budget. This budget was markedly different than the House’s version. Fortunately, the Senate fully funded the Complex Crises Fund, Conflict Stabilization Operations bureau, and U.S. contributions to the U.N!

The next step in the budget process is for Congress to reconcile the House and Senate bills. FCNL will lobby to ensure that the Senate funding levels are enacted in the final version of the bill. Stay tuned in the weeks ahead for ways you can take action to ensure Congress fully funds programs that help peacefully prevent deadly conflict.