TIME: Bill Gates: Cutting Foreign Aid Makes America Less Safe
Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

“…[U.S. health and development projects around the world] keep Americans safe. And by promoting health, security, and economic opportunity, they stabilize vulnerable parts of the world. … To stop emerging diseases, we need the infrastructure built by consistent funding of well-run health programs. … A more stable world is good for everyone. But there are other ways that aid benefits Americans in particular. It strengthens markets for U.S. goods … It is also visible proof of America’s global leadership. … Withdrawing now would not only cost lives, it would create a leadership vacuum that others would happily fill. … Protecting Americans, preventing epidemics, strengthening markets, saving lives: aid delivers phenomenal benefits, and for a bargain. It represents less than one percent of the federal budget, not even a penny out of every dollar. It is some of the best return on investment anywhere in government. This money is well spent, it has an enormous impact, and it ought to be maintained” (3/17).