Education and Cultural Exchange programs funded by the U.S. State Department support our nation’s international diplomacy efforts. They provide young Americans from all backgrounds, races, and ethnicities with the opportunity to serve as cultural ambassadors for our nation in strategically significant areas of the world like the Middle East, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. The Trump administration’s new budget would eliminate nearly all of these programs -- at a time when our country needs the goodwill generated by these exchanges the most.

Eliminating these Education and Cultural Exchange programs would be a costly mistake for our country. These programs help build relationships with key civilian partners for sustained peace -- an essential tool needed to fight terrorism. They help us gain the respect of the world, and support our military when the use of force is needed.

These initiatives take on even more urgency, with our country’s recent military action against the Syrian government -- the regime at the center of another festering Middle-Eastern conflict crying out for a sustainable peace.

Ongoing international cultural exchange is crucial for our country to defend its claim as the world’s “indispensable nation". Eliminating funding for the programs encouraging goodwill and cultural awareness in strategically significant areas will cause us to lose touch with the rest of the world -- leaving us all a bit less safe and free.

Please sign this petition to tell Congress that cutting funding for these essential State Department Educational and Cultural Exchange program is a mistake we don’t need to make.