Foreign Aid Letter - 12.20.2002

 

 

 

 

December 20, 2002

The Honorable Condoleezza Rice 
Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs 
The White House 
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Dr. Rice:

We write to you today as former National Security Advisors to commend your leadership in shaping the future of our nation’s foreign policy and to solicit your support for a substantial increase in the FY04 150 International Affairs budget as part of our nation’s comprehensive security policy.

We applaud President Bush’s significant initiative committing the United States to increase its international assistance by $5 billion over three years. We believe that now is the time to act on this effort and begin to restore the overall International Affairs Budget to the high water mark of the Reagan years -- almost 30 percent higher in real terms than we are spending today. The challenges we face today as a nation are no less daunting than those we confronted during the Cold War.

Within the 150 Budget, security-related accounts directly assist the work of our armed forces in protecting the American people. Additional programs in the 150 Account deliver long-term, cost-effective national security tools by combating weapons proliferation, battling global crime and the spread of infectious diseases, and stabilizing economies and fragile democracies throughout the world. Our diplomats will play a critical role in assembling coalitions that will defeat global terrorist organizations, and they need the tools to do the job. They need secure embassies, capable telecommunications, adequate staffing, and robust public broadcasting facilities to spread America’s message of freedom and democracy around the globe.

We are confident that a substantial increase in the 150 Account for the FY04 budget will secure the support of Congress and the American people. This increase in our international affairs budget will serve as a vital complement to military and intelligence upgrades in this country’s long-term battle against global terror. 


Sincerely,

(signed)

Frank C. Carlucci	Richard V. Allen	Samuel R. Berger
Zbigniew Brzezinski	William P. Clark	Henry A. Kissinger
Anthony Lake	Brent Scowcroft