Subject: USGLC Board Update
From: "Liz.Schrayer" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2015 16:20:04 -0400

Dear Board of Directors,

Happy Almost-Fourth-of-July Holiday!

I just wanted to take a moment to give you a quick update as I reflect on a remarkable few weeks.  The USGLC's 20th Anniversary celebration was truly memorable and I thank everyone who participated for helping to make the Tribute Dinner, as well as our State Leaders Summit, such a success.   A few items to share (I know this is longer than usual, but lots to share):

1.      Tribute Dinner Recap.  Thank you once again for everyone who served as a Vice Chair and member of the Dinner Committee. A special thank you to Karl Hofmann and Carolyn Brehm, our evening's Co-Chairs (or prom dates as they referred to one another). Once again, a spectacular crowd of 800 with dignitaries from Capitol Hill, Embassies, and current, former and even 'want-to-be' Administration officials.

It was remarkable to celebrate 20 years of the USGLC and the evening once again proved to be a showstopper in demonstrating strong bipartisan support for the smart power agenda.  Our honorees, Senators Corker and Coons, were both superb and were absolutely thrilled with the evening.

§  Here are three 2 minute videos worth watching - the highlight video and tribute videos made for the honorees by their Senate colleagues.  Who would have guessed that Senator Ben Cardin would be so funny!  Highlights Video<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoLBM2CK-W0> | View Senator Corker's Tribute<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiHaqqK5FFM> | View Senator Coons' Tribute<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUFpZ11HCfo>

§  Admiral Mullen surprised the crowd when he said he would have moved as much as $10 billion from the Pentagon's budget to the State Department! As he said, "We can't kill our way to victory. It's not going to work."

§  The Ugandan Thunder Children's Choir exceeded expectations with their moving rendition of Amazing Grace<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb7k4ffxpXM> to close the program. Who would have known how poignant it was at that time.  Here are some photos<https://www.flickr.com/photos/usglc/sets/72157654723900975> from the evening.

2.      State Leaders Summit Recap.  The day before the Tribute Dinner we hosted our flagship event for our Field leaders - activists from over 25 states, including nearly 150 Veterans; more than 175 meetings on Capitol Hill - nearly half with members of Congress; and over a dozen local press outlets captured our participants' stories of their Capitol Hill visits.  Check out the highlight video from the Summit.<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoLBM2CK-W0>

§  Speakers were incredible including 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, Senator Mike Johanns (NE-R), and a national security panel featuring General Hagee and Ambassador Negroponte.  Our closing session with political strategists Paul Begala and Bill Kristol was particularly entertaining when they disagreed on everything other than the fact that an isolationist could not win in 2016.

§  Our participants were thrilled with the quality of the breakout sessions and I thank all board members who spoke, as well as those that participated in the Smart Power Expo, which featured more than 20 USGLC partners and U.S. government 150 agencies.

§  Before going to Capitol Hill, our state leaders heard from Representatives Adam Kinzinger and Tom Emmer, both attendees from our Africa trips who passionately shared stories from their travels with us. Boy, do these trips work!

3.      From Capitol Hill. As you know we were fortunate in June when the House leadership decided to hold off on bringing the State-Foreign Operations bill to the floor for debate.  The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to take up their version of the bill next week, though we do not expect floor action.  Congress has been busy with a range of related legislation:

§  As part of the trade bills, Congress passed the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and I was honored to join USGLC Board members Bill Lane, John Murphy and Ritu Sharma at the White House signing earlier in the week.

§  The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a State Department Authorization bill though Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is blocking quick consideration of the bill.

§  Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ed Royce (R-CA) introduced his bipartisan Electrify Africa legislation to rave reviews and a similar bill is expected in the Senate after recess.

§  While not unexpected, I was deeply disappointed that the Export-Import Bank reauthorization expired this week and I am hopeful that a deal can be worked out when Congress returns in July.

4.      On The Campaign Trail. With 16 GOP, 4 Dem and counting we are busy, busy, busy engaging with candidates and their advisors.  The good news is that they are largely saying all the right things (or saying very little) on our issues.  Few new items:

§  Martin O'Malley gave his first big foreign policy speech and if I didn't know better, he cut and pasted right off of our website! He said "We must adequately fund our diplomatic and development agencies-particularly USAID and the State Department." While he may not be our next POTUS, I am glad to see he is on message.

§  A few of us went to Miami to brief the Jeb Bush policy team this week.  The good news is that his foreign policy team are old friends from Capitol Hill who, like the Walker team, have attended USGLC salon events and Tribute Dinners.  We had very useful discussions and thanked the Governor for serving 7 years as our Honorary Co-Chair of the USGLC Florida Advisory Committee.

§  Marco Rubio was at an event in New Hampshire and asked directly about foreign aid and said "I have been a strong supporter of foreign aid" and went on to list specific ways he supports both foreign aid, and the need to ensure that it is effective, sounding like a cross between USGLC and MFAN.

§  Lindsay Graham is giving his first major foreign policy speech as a Presidential candidate on Wednesday and his campaign said we should expect to hear our agenda loud and clear.

§  Chris Christie announced this week and while he did not address foreign policy much, he did reject isolationism.

§  A group went to Baton Rouge, LA and had lunch with Bobby Jindal prior to his announcement to brief him and reported that he was highly knowledgeable and extremely supportive of our cause.

We have invitations out to all the candidates to brief them, and will continue to report on our progress.  We are working on dates for the fall/winter schedule in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina and will let you know them ASAP in case anyone wants to attend.

5.      Save the Date for Upcoming Events. We have secured 4 Senators for upcoming in-state events for the coming months. If you are interested in attending, please contact Jessica at [email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>.

§  July 31 in Denver with Senator Gardner (R-CO) featuring General Mattis

§  August 31 in Charlotte with Senator Tillis (R-NC) featuring General Conway

§  September 18 in Milwaukee with Senator Johnson (R-WI) featuring General Conway

§  October 26 (tentative) in Atlanta with Senator Perdue (R-GA)

Wishing you and your family a Happy 4th of July!

Liz
Liz Schrayer, USGLC