December 21, 2010

Happy Holidays!

We here at Global Current would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Please note that we will be closed from Thursday, December 24th through Sunday, January 2nd. We will reopen on Monday, January 3rd.

Have an inquiry? We will do our best to respond to any urgent e-mails during the break.

Jon Adler
Global Current
Program Manager

December 09, 2010

Cuts in Federal Funding for Exchange Visitor Programs?

Incoming chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), indicated in a statement released today that Department of State and foreign aid programs “will be under the knife” when she takes the helm in 2011, CQ.com reports.

“As chairman of this committee, I will work to restore fiscal discipline to foreign affairs, reform troubled programs and organizations, exercise vigorous oversight to identify waste, fraud, and abuse, and counter the threats posed to our nation by rogue states and violent extremists,” Ros-Lehtinen said.

Ros-Lehtinen indicated she was prepared to “propose a number of cuts to the State Department and foreign aid budgets,” which she said have “much fat” in them. CQ’s coverage of Ros-Lehtinen’s statement did not indicate any specific programs targeted for cuts.

Could this mean that funding for exchange visitor programs may be slashed as well? Thoughts? Comments?