World Vision applauds Congress for rejecting Administration’s cuts to foreign assistance, voices concerns about growing humanitarian funding gap

Responding to the passage of the Fiscal Year 2018 omnibus appropriations bill, World Vision U.S. Vice President of Advocacy and Government Relations Robert Zachritz said:

“World Vision appreciates that once again, Congress has rejected the Administration’s drastic cuts to foreign assistance. The Fiscal Year 2018 omnibus appropriations bill ensures that U.S. leadership in addressing critical humanitarian and development challenges around the world will continue, demonstrating our values and compassion, and doing what is in the best interest of the United States to support strong economies, democratic principles and the growth of new trade partners. We are incredibly grateful for those who advocated both publicly and behind the scenes for every critical dollar.

But while we affirm the work of Congress in support of strong funding for critical accounts in this bill, we know that needs are great and growing greater every day. Increasing base foreign assistance funding from FY17 levels shows bipartisan recognition of these needs, but in FY17, additional funding was also needed to respond to several humanitarian crises, life-saving needs that have not gone away in places like South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

It is unfortunate that it has taken until March – nearly six months after the end of the fiscal year – to finalize foreign assistance funding. We know this has an impact on planning for programs and getting funding out efficiently to the places where it is needed. I hope that for Fiscal Year 2019, Congress will look at ways to improve the budget process and will continue work to get International Affairs budget back to the Fiscal Year 2017 level of $60 billion.”