Prevention Funding Update

A few weeks ago, Bridget Moix reported that the CR passed by the House slashed every FCNL priority prevention account through September 30, 2011. Even though the House is determined to cut spending, the Pentagon’s bloated budget was left untouched while modest investments to prevent crises were deeply affected.

With the clock ticking before the CR’s expiration on March 4, the House and Senate struck a deal late last week and averted a government shutdown by passing another short term stop gap Continuing Resolution (CR) that expires on March 18.  This CR will cut $4 billion from the federal budget in two weeks.

Now it’s up to the Senate to follow the House and pass a Continuing Resolution to fund the government through September 30, 2011.

We asked you last week to urge your Senator to fully fund the Complex Crises Fund (CCF) and United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in the Senate CR.  The Prevention and Protection Working Group, a NGO coalition convened by FCNL, also responded to the House’s CR by emphasizing that drastic cuts to prevention accounts will result in costly emergencies in the coming years.

The CCF and USIP were completely eliminated in the House’s version of the CR, but the Senate responded by including these vital investments in its proposal.  We’re not in the clear yet,  but we’re encouraged that the Senate included these accounts which will help avert expensive humanitarian crises and military interventions. Thank you for writing your Senators!

Until Congress funds the government through September 30, the debate over the budget will continue to dominate the Hill’s agenda.  Stay tuned for updates and opportunities to make your voice heard.