Trump Budget Exposes Corporate Agenda
Washington, D.C. (May 24, 2017) – Masquerading as a “New Foundation for American Greatness,” President Trump’s budget proposal for 2018 is a direct attack on working families, the environment, and basic human rights at home and abroad. The International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) calls on Congress to reject President Trump’s catastrophic budget proposal and enact a bipartisan budget deal that supports workers, upholds human rights, and protects the environment.
Just weeks after unveiling a tax plan that reduces taxes for corporations and the wealthiest Americans, President Trump has proposed $1.7 trillion in funding cuts to programs that provide basic living standards and protections for millions of working people. Amongst these cuts includes the elimination of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) training grants, a program that funds initiatives to improve safety for Americans working in dangerous occupations. Similarly, President Trump’s proposal eliminates funding for the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) grants program which focuses on combating child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking. Tackling labor rights violations and human trafficking in foreign nations is not only the right thing to do, but federal programs that improve labor standards abroad will ultimately level the playing field for American workers and businesses. Domestic industries will benefit when they are not forced to compete with foreign companies that utilize exploitive labor practices to cut production costs.
ICAR is deeply concerned by the $2.6 billion funding cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as this severely limits the United States’ ability to protect our communities from pollution and environmental hazards and respond to the threats of climate change. President Trump’s budget also eliminates $1.6 billion in funding for international programs that promote green energy and fight climate change, including the United Nation’s Green Climate Fund. This budget proposal not only fails to recognize the urgent need for global action on climate change, it also hamstrings the government’s ability to respond and provide assistance to international conflicts and humanitarian crises. Drastic funding reductions to the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Department of Treasury’s International Programs further threaten America’s ability to advance our national security interests by building a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world. As U.S. diplomatic leadership retreats under the President’s proposal, so too does America’s commitment to international peace and stability through support for international organizations. President Trump’s budget includes a $1 billion reduction in funding for United Nations (U.N.) peacekeeping missions and lowers U.S. support for international organizations by 44 percent without specifying which international organizations will be impacted.
The President’s budget proposal exposes his corporate agenda. President Trump could have kept his promise to “make America great again” by standing up for workers, confronting climate change, and paving a way for peace, equality, and human rights at home and abroad. Instead, the President traded $1.7 trillion in programs that protect working people, the environment, and basic human rights for tax breaks benefiting powerful corporations. ICAR rejects this budget proposal and calls on Congress to do the same.
This statement can be downloaded here.
For media inquiries, please contact ICAR’s Executive Director, Amol Mehra at amol@icar.ngo or 202-296-0146.