On May 8th. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Todd Young (R-IN) led a letter to Senate State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee leadership, along with 40 of their colleagues, requesting $290 million for State Department humanitarian demining and weapons security programs worldwide.
The increased funding supported in the letter would be instrumental in HALO and other demining partners continue our life-saving work. Along with a specific $80 million allocation for clearing explosives in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia, the letter calls for increased demining funding for Ukraine, Angola, Zimbabwe, and Sri Lanka.
HALO thanks Senators Van Hollen and Young for their leadership, as well as the other 40 Senators who signed their support for such critical programs. This funding will help protect civilians from landmines and save thousands of lives, kickstart economic development, and support U.S. national security.
Signatories include: Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Sen. Todd Young, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Sherrod Brown, Sen. Maria Cantwell, Sen. Ben Cardin, Sen. Tom Carper, Sen. Bob Casey, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Sen. Maggie Hassan, Sen. Martin Heinrich, Sen. John Hickenlooper, Sen. Mazie Hirono, Sen. Tim Kaine, Sen. Mark Kelly, Sen. Angus King, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Ben Ray Luján, Sen. Ed Markey, Sen. Jeff Merkley, Sen. Chris Murphy, Sen. Jon Ossoff, Sen. Alex Padilla, Sen. Gary Peters, Sen. Jack Reed, Sen. Jacky Rosen, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Brian Schatz, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, Sen. Tina Smith, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Sen. Mark Warner, Sen. Raphael Warnock, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Peter Welch, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Sen. Ron Wyden
Read the letter and see all signatures here.
