President Trump has proposed a $1.5 trillion budget for the Department of War. It’s time for Congress to respond with a serious proposal to invest in peace.
Today, I want to ask you to sign the Two Penny Pledge - a letter asking our elected representatives to dedicate a mere two percent of the federal budget to diplomacy, development, and humanitarian assistance. Two pennies for peace.
I have included the text of the letter below and a place to sign. Twenty five members of Congress - including Democrats and Republicans - have already expressed support for the pledge. I believe that as we mark 250 years of American history, it is time we join together to restore thoughtful American leadership to the world stage.
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Dear Chair Collins, Ranking Member Murray, Chair Cole, and Ranking Member DeLauro,
We write to urge you to commit two percent of the federal budget to diplomacy and development in the Fiscal Year 2028 (FY28) appropriations bills. We call this commitment the Two Penny Pledge. The first penny strengthens longstanding national security programs. With less than one percent of the federal budget, U.S. international assistance has saved more than 90 million lives and helped lift more than one billion people out of poverty through famine relief, healthcare, education, and economic development.
The second penny would double the first’s impact. While existing programs target ongoing challenges, the additional funds would help address rising threats, including climate change, geopolitical competition, refugee crises, epidemics, and terrorism. From Ebola outbreaks to screwworm invasions, most crises are unpredictable, and Americans must be prepared.
Diplomacy and development are some of the most cost-effective investments taxpayers can make in our national security. Every $1 spent on activities that spur economic growth and political stability can avert spending of up to $103 on a future conflict. Strategic competitors, terrorists, and drug cartels move into the vacuum created when weak states collapse.
Ultimately, this commitment pays for itself. Before 2025, the U.S. government purchased roughly $2 billion a year in American-grown crops through Food for Peace, money that went straight to farmers across our country. Building stronger allies creates jobs for Americans: thirteen of America’s top fifteen export markets were once recipients of international assistance.
With America’s abandonment of decades-long partnerships, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has filled the gap. The CCP is bankrolling ports, power grids, and rail networks across the developing world through its Belt and Road Initiative. In 2025, global approval of China’s leadership surpassed America’s by the widest margin in nearly two decades, while disapproval of U.S. leadership hit a record high of 48 percent. We started investing in international assistance through the Marshall Plan to strengthen our allies and counter the Soviet Union. Today, different actors and an equally complex environment demand similar investments.
Americans understand the necessity of soft power. A June 2026 poll found that seven in ten Americans support increasing international assistance to two percent of the federal budget.
We urge you to support the Two Penny Pledge in the FY28 appropriations bills, and thank you for your leadership in strengthening American diplomacy and development.
If you have questions about the letter or suggestions for how we can make this pledge a reality, please contact outreach@A4AL.org
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