ICYMI: Coons, Merkley, Nunn op-ed in USA TODAY: “Trump foreign aid cuts hurt world’s mothers”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Appropriations Subcommittee that funds foreign assistance, today published an op-ed with CARE president and CEO Michelle Nunn in USA TODAY following their recent trip to India and Nepal as part of a learning tour with CARE, a global humanitarian organization working to reduce poverty by empowering women and girls.

USA TODAY: Trump foreign aid cuts hurt world’s mothers

By Chris Coons, Jeff Merkley, and Michelle Nunn

Should the United States continue to spend 1% of our budget on foreign aid? The answer was clear to us last month as we walked through a mountainside farm two hours outside of Kathmandu, Nepal.

There we met an inspirational mother named Sita, who showed us her small, once-barren plot of vegetables, now bursting with cabbage. Sita described how, with support from the U.S. government, she was able to join a women’s cooperative that teaches basic farming, harvesting and marketing techniques. Participants in the cooperative have seen their incomes soar, but the program has done far more than help them lift themselves out of the depths of poverty.

Click here to read the full column.

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