When America leads, Kansas wins

America is at a crossroads, and we have a choice to make. We can choose to reassert U.S. leadership on the world stage, or we can reject our role as a global leader and turn inward. Though these choices may sound abstract, they are anything but – and the decisions we make today will ultimately define our country’s legacy in the 21st century.

This debate has been playing out for months in Washington – sparked by a call from the Trump Administration to cut international affairs spending by a third. And even with Washington’s habit of politicizing nearly everything, U.S. foreign assistance has long garnered support on both sides of the aisle. Beyond our country’s borders, we’re not Republicans or Democrats, we’re Americans – and we all have our country’s best interest at heart.

In Kansas – hundreds of miles from a U.S. border – it is often easy to forget that in today’s interconnected world, the strength of our economy and the safety of our citizens are directly affected by events overseas. But as a local business owner, and former board member of the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition, I know how heavily our businesses rely on export markets abroad. Last year alone, more than 3,300 Kansas companies exported over $10 billion in goods to foreign markets, and of those exporting goods, 83 percent were small- and medium- sized businesses.

It’s no surprise then, that the private sector has long understood the importance of creating new markets for American-made goods. In recent years we’ve seen an increasing number of top name companies partner with the U.S. government— arming our diplomats and development workers with private sector resources and expertise. Cargill – which bases a number of operations out of Wichita – teamed up with General Mills and USAID to help reform the food processing sector in five African countries. Because of their efforts, over 550,000 smallholder African farmers were able to improve their livelihoods and U.S. agricultural exports increased by 20 percent in just five years. That’s a big deal for our state, where agricultural exports total over $4 billion every year.

If we scale back investments in these kinds of programs, others will gladly step in to fill the void we leave behind. China is actively vying for influence in Africa – increasing official development assistance to the continent by nearly 800 percent since 2003. Without a strong contingency of diplomats and development workers helping to secure access to lucrative new markets, American businesses will be at a competitive disadvantage.

At the same time, underfunding our civilian-led programs will weaken our national security and increase the burden on our men and women in uniform. Hundreds of our nation’s top military leaders have gone on record to advocate for their civilian counterparts as vital partners in preventing and mitigating security threats around the world. Like a three-legged stool, our national security rests on three key pillars – diplomacy, development, and defense. Calling this the “new strategic triad of United States national security,” Admiral James Stavridis – a former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO – testified to Congress that there is “no doubt in my mind that our strength, our own security, rests on Congressional support for all the tools of American leadership.”

With our security and economic prosperity at stake, the choice before us is no choice at all. America must lead. Fortunately for Kansas, Senator Jerry Moran understands that. A key member of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Moran explained that “this administration's budget proposal…will harm our long-term national security interests and reduce our leadership in the world.” I urge the rest of the Kansas congressional delegation to join Senator Moran in reasserting American leadership with a fully funded International Affairs Budget in the months ahead.

This story was originally published August 27, 2017 at 5:08 AM with the headline "When America leads, Kansas wins."