PAI Urges Congress to Watch Where It Cuts

Washington, DC - October 11, 2005

President Bush's call last week to further offset relief and recovery costs following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita came as Congress stepped up its own efforts to identify and recommend cuts in FY2006 budget line items. So that vital funds are not simply transferred from one emergency situation to another, PAI is calling on Congress to support previously passed levels of spending for U.S. foreign aid and look first at less-critical programs in its budget restructuring efforts.

Among proposed savings (download .pdf) of more than $1.2 trillion over 10 years, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) – the House caucus of conservative Republicans – has recommended significant cuts to various areas of U.S. humanitarian assistance overseas, including efforts to address poverty, hunger, displacement, disease, reproductive health and other critical issues in developing countries – some of the same issues the United States is now addressing along its own Gulf Coast.

Particularly in emergency settings, women's need for access to reproductive health services, including contraception and condoms, is critical in preventing unintended pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. Worldwide, more than 500,000 women die every year from pregnancy-related causes; over 99 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries. U.S. support for international reproductive health programs is essential in promoting maternal and child health and in saving women's lives.

The humanitarian efforts undertaken by both domestic and overseas organizations in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are a reminder of the critical work made possible by U.S. foreign assistance in crisis situations around the world. Likewise, similar stories of women and their families along the Gulf Coast and women and their families in so much of the developing world tell of the dire need for increased U.S. assistance, not rollbacks, and illustrate the lives that may be lost if the United States does not carefully watch where it cuts.President Bush's call last week to further offset relief and recovery costs following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita came as Congress stepped up its own efforts to identify and recommend cuts in FY2006 budget line items. So that vital funds are not simply transferred from one emergency situation to another, PAI is calling on Congress to support previously passed levels of spending for U.S. foreign aid and look first at less-critical programs in its budget restructuring efforts.

Population Action International (PAI) works to improve individual well-being and preserve global resources by mobilizing political and financial support for population, family planning and reproductive health policies and programs.