May 18, 2001
Dear Senator/Representative:
The Administration's FY2002 budget request for the Department of State recognizes the critical importance of diplomacy to our national security. If approved, it would take the first step in many years toward providing adequate resources for this function. We urge you strongly to support this request and Secretary Powell's efforts to ensure that American diplomacy is second to none.
The world has changed dramatically since the end of the Cold War. The number of nation states has increased, and there are also far more non-governmental actors on the international stage with whom we must contend. Open markets and accelerating technological change have increased the speed with which events in one part of the world impact other parts. Economic interdependency has increased our prosperity, but also makes us vulnerable to instability abroad. Different kinds of threats, including drug trafficking, international terrorism, environmental degradation, epidemic diseases, and ethnic conflicts have become central concerns in our foreign policy. All of these developments require extensive cooperation among nations, through existing organizations such as NATO, the U.N. and the IMF; and possibly in the future through new institutions. The United States, the world's only remaining superpower, must take the lead in addressing these challenges.
More than ever before, diplomacy must be our first line of defense, and our premier asset on the international stage. However, for years our diplomatic apparatus has been neglected. When observed over time, the decline in funding for civilian foreign affairs is alarming. During the past 50 years, the civilian foreign affairs budget has dropped from 16 percent of the total federal budget to a mere one percent! The State Department only receives one-third of that. In the same time period the foreign affairs budget dropped from one-half to one-sixteenth of the Defense budget.
This repeated neglect has undermined our diplomatic apparatus. During the past four years, five major bipartisan reports by respected foreign policy experts (Equipped for the Future: Managing U.S. Foreign Affairs in the 21st Century by the Stimson Center, Reinventing Diplomacy in the Information Age by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Accountability Review Board report on the 1998 bombings of embassies in East Africa, America's Overseas Presence in the 21st Century by the Overseas Presence Advisory Panel, and the Independent Task Force on State Department Reform chaired by Frank Carlucci) have documented the disrepair of our main foreign policy agencies. Sometimes, as in East Africa, the results of that disrepair are tragic. In all cases, America's ability to pursue its national interests is weakened.
The Administration's request focuses on three important areas - embassy security, information technology and personnel. This reflects the major conclusions of the studies mentioned above, and we agree these should be priorities in this budget request. We urge Congress, at minimum, to fund fully the amounts requested for these areas. Our diplomacy requires secure facilities, the most modern tools, and adequate recruitment, training and management to be successful. In the long run, allocating these resources will benefit all Americans by promoting enhanced security, broader economic prosperity and strengthened American leadership abroad.
Even with full funding, this request will only mark the beginning of the recovery process. Years of neglect will require years to repair, and that will require both resources and reform. The budget for diplomacy should be considered in a national security context, and increased to ensure that America's diplomatic apparatus is the very best of its kind in the world. We hope that we can count on your support.
Sincerely,
L.
Bruce Laingen, President
American Academy of Diplomacy
Marshall
P. Adair, President
American Foreign Service Association
Keith
L. Brown, President
Council of American Ambassadors
Alan
W. Lukens, President
Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired