The president’s budget again proposes a dramatic 15 percent cut to U.S. Department of Agriculture programs that are critical to our nation’s rural and urban communities. Unfortunately, this budget completely disregards the strong, bipartisan support for USDA programs like the Rural Cooperative Development Program, which Congress reauthorized in the 2018 Farm Bill.
This budget also cuts 24 percent to the International Affairs budget. Now is not the time to abandon approaches like cooperative development that create jobs, contribute to self-sufficiency, and spur local economic growth in the U.S. and around the world.