The Foreign Service Journal, June 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2019 47 AFSA ON THE HILL | BY KIM GREENPLATE Framing the Case for Diplomacy When AFSA discusses funding for core diplomatic capability with members of Congress, most initially find it hard to define, its rela- tively small money streams overshadowed by billions of dollars in foreign aid and policy programs in the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropria- tions bill. When they receive the administration’s budget request, members of Con- gress see a wish list. Though equipped with the “power of the purse” to authorize, con- duct oversight and appropri- ate, and to freely support or reject specific federal funding initiatives, lawmakers are often hamstrung by the sheer volume of funding priorities. As a result, many on the Hill have come to rely on AFSA to explain what diplo- mats do and why it matters— to help them understand and justify the need for core diplomatic capability funding. While it feels like we have just wrapped up Fiscal Year 2019 appropriations discus- sions on the Hill, Congress is already in the thick of its work on the next fiscal year’s funding. The administra- tion’s FY2020 budget request called for a 24 percent cut to the international affairs bud- get, including an 8 percent cut to the State Department’s ongoing operations and a 7 percent cut to USAID’s ongo- ing operations. For the past few years Congress has been a firewall in preventing similar large cuts from becoming law, and AFSA continues to advocate against such proposed cuts with our staunchest Capitol Hill defenders and those on the committees of jurisdic- tion. While the cut proposals haven’t changed much, nei- ther has our robust, biparti- san congressional support for strong funding for diplomacy. When we take a closer look at the FY2020 budget request, it is clear the main proposed State/USAID cuts stem largely from the elimination of non-defense Overseas Contingency Opera- tions funding, which has historically made up about one-fifth of the international affairs budget. Remember that OCO funds are undefined but intended for American operations overseas and have largely replaced supple- mental funds since the 9/11 attacks. With non-defense OCO funding at $8 billion in FY2019, the proposed elimina- tion of this funding category in FY2020 would be the single sharpest blow in years to the international affairs budget, likely trickling down directly to cuts in core diplomatic capa- bility funding. Thus, AFSA’s budgetary advocacy work has centered around the need to maintain non-defense OCO funding or replace the amount cut in non-defense OCO with enduring funds (base) for State/USAID. AFSA has incorporated two bipartisan themes on what diplomats do into its advocacy work to defend core diplomatic capability spend- ing: (1) keeping Americans safe at home; and, (2) keep- ing America prosperous by enabling our businesses to compete and thrive overseas. To address the first theme, we have shared stories of U.S. diplomats using our embas- sies as platforms for servic- ing agreements that enable counterterrorism coopera- tion, such as passenger name record sharing for air travel. To address the second, we’ve discussed the ways in which diplomats help American businesses compete on a level playing field, molding the local environment for the better and reminding businesspeople at our posts overseas why they prefer to do business with the United States. Thanks to The Foreign Service Journal ’s January- February 2019 edition on economic diplomacy, AFSA has plenty of firsthand stories that exemplify these themes. As AFSA ties the work of our diplomats back to its effect on an individual con- gressional district or state, members of Congress are willing to add spending for diplomacy to their district- specific agendas, as well as their Washington priorities. Framing diplomacy in relation to congressional members’ agendas while cen- tering our arguments on the bipartisan themes of safety and prosperity has success- fully helped ward off cuts in recent years. We aim to do it again in FY2020. n economic prosperity and job creation at home. “The pres- ence of American companies overseas, their example of working without paying bribes, of hiring and promot- ing based on merit, of solving some of the most complex problems imaginable,” she stated, “is a key component of America’s soft power.” Rep. Yoho echoed this message, using the ASEAN countries as an example: “What has made ASEAN so successful? They said Ameri- can involvement brought in the rule of law, brought in a code of ethics, the honoring of contracts. That’s what you guys [FSOs] represent.” Exhorting Foreign Service officers to utilize the new BUILD Act tools, Rep. Yoho promised, “We’re going to stand behind this; we’re going to make sure that the appro- priations are there.” n The BUILD Act Continued from page 46