24th September 2023 | HALO | Advocacy

On September 25th, Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6) and Bill Johnson (R-OH-6) led a bipartisan letter to the leadership of the Senate and House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittees along with 37 of their colleagues encouraging support for humanitarian demining programs.

The letter supports $271.703 million for State Department demining and weapons security programs, representing a $7.6m increase over last year’s appropriated amount. This funding, if allocated in this year’s Congressional budget, would support life-saving programs in roughly 40 countries.

The letter also specifically mentions the need for demining support in Ukraine, where over 1,000 civilian casualties have occurred from explosive devices since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

Further, the letter calls for $80 million for demining activities in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia, where unexploded ordnance from the Vietnam War era still causes casualties and keeps precious land out of use.

Read the letter and see the signatories here.

 

The Representatives who signed the letter include:

 

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, Rep. Bill Johnson, Rep. Ami Bera, Rep. Don Beyer, Rep. Sanford Bishop, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Rep. Julia Brownley, Rep. Nikki Budzinski, Rep. Cori Bush, Rep. Salud Carbajal, Rep. Andre Carson, Rep. Steve Cohen, Rep. Madeleine Dean, Rep. John Garamendi, Rep. Jesús "Chuy" Garcia, Rep. Sara Jacobs, Rep. Dan Kildee, Rep. Stephen Lynch, Rep. Lucy McBath, Rep. Jim McGovern, Rep. Gwen Moore, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, Rep. Kevin Mullin, Rep. Donald Norcross, Del. Eleanor Norton, Rep. Frank Pallone, Rep. Chris Pappas, Rep. Dean Phillips, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Brad Schneider, Rep. Dina Titus, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Jill Tokuda, Rep. Lori Trahan, Rep. Susan Wild, Rep. Nikema Williams