These events are a reminder of the real risks America's diplomats face, especially serving overseas in the turbulent times of Trump.Listening to President Donald Trump and Secretary Mike Pompeo, one could be convinced that our foreign service officers were never better protected. They bragged about theand distributed videos of Apache helicopters releasing flares above the embassy. The trouble is firing off flares and tweets is temporary.
In some cases they've been successful. Between fiscal year 2017 and fiscal year 2019, the budget for the Embassy Security, Construction, and Maintenance fund was cut from $3.01 billion to $1.98 billion accordingAnd again this year, the Trump administration asked to cut that fund to just $1.63 billion, another 18% drop. Thankfully, Congress rejected that proposal in its budget passed in December but unfortunately only maintained the still-depleted level of funding from last year.
"Diplomatic security is not about dollars and spending," he told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "Our inspection report findings show that many Department employees and their families continue to occupy residences abroad that do not or cannot be demonstrated to meet Department safety standards," the report said.
It is time to sound the alarm on the declining defenses for those working on the frontlines for our national security. This should not be partisan or particularly difficult. The homes of our diplomats must be made safe. The threats they face need to be taken more seriously and the budget cuts must be restored.
BrettBruen Okay, an an evil terrorist, worse than Osama is dead. You side with a State sponsor of terror because of the flawed & dangerous Iran deal. Why all the ballyhoo from Democrats, former BarackObama Admin like Rice, Powers, brhodes davidaxelrod What are u hiding? SecPompeo
BrettBruen Putting America in serious danger.
BrettBruen you mean obama's? benghazi
BrettBruen The only thing that’s in danger are BrettBruen feelings getting hurt !
BrettBruen Like chris stevens in benghazi?