Don't be Lame, Save Foreign Aid!

Curious what people mean when they talk about the "Lame Duck" session in Congress?

According to Wikipedia, in the literal sense "lame duck" refers to  a duck which is unable to keep up with its flock, making it a target for predators. How this term crossed over into politics is a mystery to us  but a lame duck session of Congress occurs whenever Congress meets after an election but before the next term begins with newly elected officials. Lame duck officials (those not coming back to Congress) tend to have less political power, as other elected officials and are less inclined to cooperate with them. Lame ducks are also in a position of not having to face consequences for their own actions in subsequent elections so this gives them the freedom to sometimes make unpopular decisions. 

 

Now that Congress has returned for a lame duck session and are focusing attention on the budget, Oxfam has a clear agenda this session: no more cuts to foreign aid. Voters lobbied on Capitol Hill, wrote letters to Congress, and signed petitions to illustrate why foreign aid is important to thousands of people around the country.

On December 12 and 13, Minnesota Oxfam Action Corps representatives visited the offices of four Minnesota legislators: Representatives Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum and Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken. Jim French, Oxfam Great Plains Regional Advocacy Lead, and Kim Kokett attended all four meetings, with Brett Smith and Matt Malecha joining them for two meetings each.

In each meeting, the Oxfam message centered on support for adequate funding for the Fiscal Year 2013 International  Affairs budget. It was pointed out that the Senate and House have radically different budget levels with the Senate budget at a level about $4 billion higher than the House. Our message was to support the Senate budget  bill and reject the inadequate House approach, which was based on a budget proposal put forward by Republican Representative Paul Ryan.

The House proposal is particularly harmful to international assistance because it focuses on cutting some of the programs that are most effective in building capacity and resilience among aid recipients, thereby harming the potential for genuine self-sufficiency in the future. Some of the programs impacted would include “Feed the Future,” a USAID initiative that fights hunger by supporting small scale farmers; the Global Climate Change Initiative, which enables vulnerable communities to build resilience to the impacts of climate change such as drought and flood; and the Millenium Challenge Corporation, which rewards countries that promote democracy, human rights, economic freedom, and the rule of law.

A second message was the request that international aid funding be treated fairly in any solution to the “fiscal cliff” issue or in any sequestration of funds that would follow the cliff if a solution is not found. The Oxfam representatives made the point that the International Affairs budget is actually a tiny part of  overall federal spending, amounting to less than one per cent. We acknowledged that we have a responsibility to educate the public regarding this reality as many (most) people estimate a much larger budget impact for international 
aid.

A third important point was to alert these Congressional offices to an event to be planned for International Women’s day, in early March. All expressed an interest in participating in some way in that event.

The four Congressional members whose offices we visited are all strong allies in the fight to solve global poverty and injustice. The staffers that we met with were invariably supportive of our concerns and interested in building and/or maintaining strong connections. They were all interested in being informed of any events that we were planning and in hearing ways that their offices could support our efforts. The only consistent concern expressed was the difficult fiscal situation that Congress faces and the necessity to come to solutions that may not be what everyone, including the representatives themselves, would choose.

Here are the names and contact information for the staffers that we met with. If you have concerns or questions related to Oxfam issues and Congressional action, we encourage you to contact them:

At Representative Ellison’s office we met with Bass Zanjani, Deputy District Director, phone 612-522-1212. He indicated, however, that the person most directly involved in our issues and activities would be Aya Johnson, Community Representative, phone 612-522-1212, email AYA.JOHNSON@MAIL.HOUSE.GOV. She was not available to meet that day.

At Senator Franken’s Office, we met with Rachel Friedlander-Holm, Deputy State Scheduler and International Issues staffer in the Minnesota Office. Her phone is 651-221-1016 and her email is Rachel_Friedlander-Holm@FRANKEN.SENATE.GOV.

At Representative McCollum’s Office we met with Chao Lee, Senior District Office Representative, phone 651-224-9191.

At Senator Klobuchar’s Office we met with Greg Bohr, Outreach Director, phone 612-727-5220.


Written by: Brett Smith and Liz Harper