Support Funding for U.S. Foreign Assistance in FY2026 Budget

I am writing to urge you to support strong funding for U.S. foreign assistance in the FY2026 budget, specifically the appropriations for State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs that would restore approximately $50 billion in international assistance. U.S. foreign assistance represents less than 1% of the federal budget, yet it plays an outsized role in protecting American interests abroad. These programs stabilize fragile regions, prevent conflicts from escalating, and address global health crises, food insecurity, and humanitarian emergencies before they reach our shores. This is not charity but strategic investment in our diplomatic and security interests. The consequences of underfunding these programs are severe and measurable. According to modeling by global health and humanitarian organizations, large reductions in U.S. foreign assistance could contribute to as many as 1.6 million preventable deaths worldwide by 2026. The cuts made in 2025 have already disproportionately affected disease prevention, maternal and child health, and emergency humanitarian response programs that form the backbone of global stability. When we withdraw from these commitments, we create power vacuums that adversaries fill, allow preventable diseases to spread across borders, and force displaced populations into migration crises that eventually demand far more costly military and emergency interventions. The modest investment we make in foreign assistance prevents the need for much larger expenditures down the line. I ask that you support robust funding for U.S. foreign assistance in the FY2026 appropriations process. These programs save lives, advance American leadership, and cost a fraction of what we would spend responding to the crises that emerge in their absence. This is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do for our national interests.