A majority of Americans support President Bush’s plan to increase foreign aid to developing countries, but more than half say assistance should not be limited to countries that support the United States.
A new survey by CARE, an international humanitarian group that works against poverty in 60 developing countries, found that Americans see a link between helping poor countries and maintaining U.S. security. The survey comes after Bush announced a major boost to foreign aid spending, raising the foreign aid budget by $10 billion over three years to $15 billion. Religious and humanitarian groups who had lobbied for the increase praised Bush’s decision, but cautioned that more needs to be done.
The CARE survey found that 81 percent of Americans would support greater increases if the foreign aid programs were shown to be effective. Seventy-two percent said helping the developing world is the responsibility of both the private and public sectors, but 57 percent said charitable groups should not limit assistance to countries that support the United States.
(RNS)
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