The Trump administration released its FY2018 budget, which calls for an unprecedented cut of 28 percent to the Department of State. While we don’t know by what amount, it is clear that the administration will soon propose steep cuts to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) – the department that oversees CHI’s J-1 visa exchange visitor programs. ECA’s primarily focus is to promote American foreign policy abroad, and they depend heavily on programs like CHI to help with their job of promoting diplomacy. Such cuts to ECA, if enacted, would greatly harm our nation’s public diplomacy efforts and, ultimately, our national security and economy.
Now, more than ever is the time to make your voice heard. Now more than ever international educational exchange is critical. Read the letter below and sign on demanding continued support for the Department of State and exchange programs.
The Alliance for International Exchange has organized a letter-writing campaign that makes it very easy for you to write your representative. Click here to access a prewritten letter that you can customize if you would like. It only takes a minute or two to send this letter to your representative in Congress. The deadline for members of Congress to join the “Dear Colleague” letter is Tuesday, March 28.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
