WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations and Foreign Relations Committees, on Tuesday introduced an amendment to the FY 2019 Defense Appropriations bill that would direct $25 million within the European Deterrence Initiative to USAID and the National Endowment for Democracy to support fair and transparent elections in Southeastern and Eastern Europe as authorized under 10 USC 385. Murphy laid out the case for increased democracy assistance in his foreign affairs budget proposal, “Rethinking the Battlefield.”

“Clean elections and a vibrant civil society are the enemies of dictators,” said Murphy. “Vladimir Putin relies on corruption and flawed elections to expand Russia’s influence in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and former Soviet states. Congress must pass real funding to push back against Russia’s corrosive influence in its periphery.”

Murphy is the author of “Rethinking the Battlefield,” a comprehensive proposal containing specific recommendations to dramatically increase the United States’ non-military footprint abroad by nearly doubling the U.S. foreign affairs budget – including the State Department and USAID – with an emphasis on funding for international development, additional foreign service officers, anti-corruption efforts, clean elections, countering propaganda, crisis response, and humanitarian relief. 

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