Today, we are proud to announce “GI JOE,” a TV ad that connects the foreign aid programs of the Greatest Generation to today’s fight against terrorism around the world and the need to ensure American power and influence abroad.

The Greatest Generation recognized that winning World War II wasn’t enough to keep the world stable and America secure. So they rebuilt Europe, rebuilt Japan, started the Peace Corps, and wiped out global plagues — They knew that international stability depends on more than bullets and bombs: it depends on democracy, economic opportunity, education, health, and the rule of law.

Today, too many people are penny-wise and pound-foolish, threatening to destroy everything GI Joe built and cut foreign aid funding. They forget that international development is helping us win the fights of today and prevent the wars of tomorrow – all while ensuring America is loved and respected around the world.

Our elected leaders cannot afford to forget the lessons of the greatest generation – that America’s greatness and strength is about more than our military. Cutting foreign aid means abandoning the very things that make America great and made us world leaders.

Watch the ad. Send it to your friends. And call your members of Congress. Tell them, we won’t stand for cuts to our international development funding. Tell ‘em Joe sent you.