The sequester has many people nervous for a number of reasons, and the future of foreign aid is one of them. The sequester that was planned to start at the beginning of this month was designed to cut hundreds of billions of dollars in national spending. Patrick Christy and Evan Moore have recently published their case on why U.S. foreign aid should not be cut by the sequester. Currently, foreign assistance is scheduled to be decreased by 5.3 percent in the coming year and an additional cut of $50 billion over the next ten years.

Foreign assistance serves many purposes; it helps keep America safe by stabilizing areas of possible conflict and eliminating the root causes of terrorism while strategic aid provides American job security. Not to mention the positive effects that aid programs have, fighting hunger and poverty, building schools, and improving the quality of life for millions of people around the world.

U.S. foreign aid is still less than 1 percent of the national budget and as Senator Marco Rubio said: “if you wiped out all the foreign aid in the world, you wouldn’t notice it in terms of the debt conversation.” Whatever happens when the sequester compromise talks end, Congress will have to consider these issues before cutting foreign aid.

– Kevin Sullivan

Source: US News
Photo: CS Monitor