On March 24th, 2023, Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-06) and Bill Johnson (R-OH-6) sent a bipartisan letter to the House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee supporting $290 million in funding for State Department global demining programs for the FY24 budget. The letter also supports increased funding for mine action in Ukraine, where significant amounts of farmland and civilian areas have been contaminated with landmines during the war, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Angola, and Zimbabwe.
A total of 112 Representatives signed the letter in support of humanitarian demining programs, breaking last year’s record of 105.
If included in the budget, this would represent an increase of nearly $26 million from last year’s allocation of $264,103,000.
HALO thanks Representatives Bill Johnson and Chrissy Houlahan for their leadership and commitment to global demining, as well as the other 110 representatives for showing their support for programs that save lives, support economic development, and advance global and U.S. national security.
This letter was also endorsed by Legacies of War, PeaceTrees Vietnam, Mines Advisory Group (MAG), Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), APOPO, and Humanity & Inclusion.
Read The Letter and Signatories Here
The letter was signed by the following members of Congress: Rep. Bill Johnson, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, Rep. Colin Allred, Rep. Becca Balint, Rep. Ami Bera, Rep. Don Beyer, Rep. Sanford Bishop, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, Rep. Brendan Boyle, Rep. Shontel Brown, Rep. Julia Brownley, Rep. Nicole Budzinski, Rep. Salud Carbajal, Rep. Tony Cardenas, Rep. Andre Carson, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Rep. Judy Chu, Rep. David Cicilline, Rep. Steve Cohen, Rep. Gerry Connolly, Rep. Lou Correa, Rep. Jim Costa, Rep. Joe Courtney, Rep. Rick Crawford, Rep. Jason Crow, Rep. Danny Davis, Rep. Don Davis, Rep. Madeleine Dean, Rep. Diana DeGette, Rep. Suzan DelBene, Rep. Chris Deluzio, Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, Rep. Debbie Dingell, Rep. Anna Eshoo, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, Rep. Bill Foster, Rep. Ruben Gallego, Rep. John Garamendi, Rep. Chuy Garcia, Rep. Robert Garcia, Rep. Jimmy Gomez, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Jahana Hayes, Rep. Jim Himes, Rep. Steve Horsford, Rep. Val Hoyle, Rep. Jonathan Jackson, Rep. Sara Jacobs, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Rep. Bill Keating, Rep. Robin Kelly, Rep. Dan Kildee, Rep. Young Kim, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Rep. Ann Kuster, Rep. Rick Larsen, Rep. John Larson, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, Rep. Mike Levin, Rep. Ted Lieu, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Rep. Steve Lynch, Rep. Seth Magaziner, Rep. Brian Mast, Rep. Lucy McBath, Rep. Jennifer McClellan, Rep. Rich McCormick, Rep. Jim McGovern, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, Rep. Kevin Mullin, Rep. Jerry Nadler, Rep. Donald Norcross, Del. Eleanor Norton, Rep. Zach Nunn, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Frank Pallone, Rep. Jimmy Panetta, Rep. Chris Pappas, Rep. Donald Payne, Rep. Dean Phillips, Rep. Chellie Pingree, Del. Amata Radewagen, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Rep. Maria Salazar, Rep. Andrea Salinas, Rep. Linda Sanchez, Rep. John Sarbanes, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Brad Schneider, Rep. Hillary Scholten, Rep. Kim Schrier, Rep. Brad Sherman, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, Rep. Adam Smith, Rep. Chris Smith, Rep. Lloyd Smucker, Rep. Darren Soto, Rep. Abigail Spanberger, Rep. Marilyn Strickland, Rep. Dina Titus, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Jill Tokuda, Rep. Paul Tonko, Rep. Lori Trahan, Rep. Mike Turner, Rep. Nydia Velazquez, Rep. Susan Wild, Rep. Nikema Williams