Republicans blocked amendment to “Rescissions Package” to save the United States Institute of Peace from being gutted
WASHINGTON, DC – Last night, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee and a senior member of the Senate Appropriations and Foreign Relations Committees, offered an amendment to save the United States Institute of Peace from being gutted. The Institute was formed in part by then-Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield and then-President Ronald Reagan.
“It happened in 1984, four veterans of World War II came together – who were all U.S. Senators, two Democrats, two Republicans, two individuals who had won the distinguished Flying Cross. They were Ted Stevens of Alaska – who received the flying cross; Mark Hatfield, a lieutenant in the Navy who had been one of the first American servicemembers into Hiroshima; John Glenn, who was a Navy fighter pilot; and Sparky Matsunaga of Hawaii who had been in the 100th Infantry Battalion. These four individuals knew the horror of war,” said Merkley. “So, they created an organization to engage in conflict resolution, to engage in diplomacy, to often work behind the scenes to resolve international problems so that the odds of going to war over conflict are greatly reduced. With that vision in mind, they created the U.S. Institute of Peace – or USIP – that has done amazing things, often very quietly and unheralded in region after region across the world.”
“I spent hours talking with my Republican and Democratic colleagues telling them that investment in USIP in reducing the possibility of war through conflict resolution diplomacy is such a valuable investment. Along with billions of dollars of foreign assistance also gutted in this rescissions package, these cuts deeply undermine America’s influence around the world from trade to national security,” Merkley concluded.
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