USGLC Commends the President’s FY 2012 International Affairs Budget as Critical Part of National Security Budget

House Appropriations Committee’s Spending Cuts for FY2011 Raise Serious Concerns

The USGLC applauds the Administration’s FY 2012 International Affairs Budget request as a critical investment in America’s national security. At a time of intense pressures to cut spending and in the context of an overall freeze on non-security funding, the President has presented an International Affairs Budget that protects America’s security interests and maintains U.S. global leadership while also reflecting the need to be more efficient and responsible with every dollar spent.
The President’s FY2012 request comes at a time of great uncertainty for FY2011 spending levels with a vote expected later this week in the House of Representatives to cut $100 billion from discretionary programs. While both the President’s budget request and the House Appropriations proposal focus on curtailing spending, they offer different views as to how to achieve fiscal constraint.
As for the International Affairs Budget, one of the most significant differences is how the Administration and House Appropriators categorize these programs. For the past five budgets, Republican and Democratic Administrations have grouped International Affairs within a cluster of spending categories that collectively make up the U.S. National Security budget. This bipartisan recognition of the critical role our civilian agencies contribute to our national security mirrors the calls from military voices including Secretary of Defense Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen, and General David Petraeus.
As a result, the Administration’s request exempts the International Affairs Budget from President Obama’s proposal to freeze non-security spending for five years while the House proposal categorizes these programs as non-security funding, cutting the civilian programs far greater than other security agencies.
House FY11 Proposals Serious Concern
Legislation introduced last week by the House Appropriations Committee is of serious concern as it inflicts significant cuts to pending FY2011 International Affairs spending levels by 19%. The proposed levels in the House would weaken many of the important bipartisan achievements made over the past several years and specifically jeopardize critical national security investments in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
FY12 Request Highlights Savings from Military Drawdown
As part of the Administration’s $3.73 trillion FY2012 Budget, the International Affairs request for the first time is divided into two parts that mirror how the Defense Department has organized its budget for several years. The request includes a “core” budget and an “Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO)” account, separating the core programs from those aspects of the budget that address extraordinary, temporary expenses related to the growing civilian responsibilities in the Frontline states of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
The most significant aspect to this new framework is the whole-of-government savings from the combined military-civilian OCO funds. As civilian efforts ramp up in the Frontline states, Department of Defense (DOD) resource needs fall dramatically. As a result, total OCO funding will decline by 25%, or $41 billion, from FY2010 levels.
The $53.1 billion “core” budget, by far the largest component, would increase by only 3.1% in FY2012 compared with the FY2010 base appropriation. The second component – the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account — includes $8.7 billion reflecting major policy shifts related to the transfer of substantial responsibilities from DOD to the State Department in these countries. The bulk of the OCO increase is the result of shifting responsibilities and budget authority from the Pentagon to the State Department and USAID for police training in Iraq, building counterinsurgency capacity in Pakistan, and bolstering State’s ability to operate more extensively with adequate security in Iraq as U.S. military forces withdraw.
The entire increase for the International Affairs Budget represents a mere 0.14% of the overall FY12 Budget request. Putting this in perspective:

• The entire International Affairs Budget is a mere 1.7% of the total FY2012 Budget.
• As both Republican and Democratic Administrations have done the past four years, the International Affairs Budget, along with Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs, is included as part of the broader U.S. National Security budget, representing 7.1% of that total.
• At this level of funding, the International Affairs Budget represents only 0.38% of GDP.

About This Update
The USGLC will continue to update this analysis as additional information becomes available in the coming weeks on both the Administration’s FY2012 request and congressional action on FY2011 appropriations. In the meantime, unless otherwise noted, budget comparisons are based on the FY2012 request relative to the FY2010 enacted base appropriation, which consists of the regular appropriation bill, supplementals for the Frontline states, and “forward funding” that was appropriated in FY2009, but intended for FY2010 requirements.
Included in this Update:
1. USGLC Statement
2. Methodology of Budget Update
3. Overview: FY2011 Appropriations Battle
4. Overview: FY2012 Request
5. Highlights: FY2012 Request
6. Notable Programs & Reforms
7. Account-by-Account Detail of Core Request
8. Additional Informationa and Resources

USGLC BUDGET ANALYSIS:
http://www.usglc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Budget-Analysis.pdf