Prevention in the New 2011 Budget

Early Tuesday morning, the House Appropriations Committee released details of the deal struck by Congressional leadership to fund the government for the rest of fiscal year 2011. The budget, which is expected to come to a vote later this week, cuts about $40 billion in discretionary spending, but increases the Pentagon budget by $5 billion over 2010 levels. For the accounts that fund civilian tools to prevent deadly conflict, there is both good and bad news.

The Good

Thanks in part to your letters, the Complex Crises Fund and the U.S. Institute of Peace still exist. In an earlier version of the continuing resolution passed in February, both of these important accounts were completely zeroed out. Both received a cut of $10 million from last year’s levels, but the Complex Crises Fund will be funded at $40 million and U.S.I.P. at $39.5 million. Transition Initiatives, the account that funds the Office of Transition Initiatives at USAID, received $55 million, $7 million more than the President's request.

The Bad

Unfortunately, two accounts that fund U.S. dues to the U.N. were hit hard. The Contributions to International Peacekeeping Activities account (CIPA), which helps fund U.N. peacekeeping missions, was cut by more than $300 million from 2010 levels, and the Contributions to International Organizations account (CIO), which includes all funds that the U.S contributes to international organizations including the U.N., the World Food Programme, NATO, and 45 other important multilateral organizations, received a cut of about $100 million from last year’s levels. This represents a more than 20% cut in U.S. contributions to the U.N. from 2010, and would put the U.S. into arrears.

The Ugly

The Civilian Stabilization Initiative, which funds the Civilian Response Corps, will only receive $40 million, slashed from $150 million in 2010. This is a very significant cut, which could significantly hamper the Civilian Response Corps’ work for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Take Action: Thank your senators and representative for saving the Complex Crises Fund and the U.S. Institute of Peace, and ask them to restore full funding for these important programs in the 2012 fiscal year.