Secretary of State Kerry warns of budget sequestration's consequences for humanitarian aid, global health in letter to Senator

"The State Department will have to stop humanitarian aid to millions of people, cut foreign assistance to Israel, and delay efforts to ramp up diplomatic security abroad after the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi if [budget] sequestration goes into effect next month, according to Secretary of State John Kerry," Foreign Policy's "The Cable" blog reports. In a February 11 letter to Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Kerry wrote, "Sequestration would force the [State] Department and USAID to make across-the-board reductions of $2.6 billion to fiscal 2013 funding levels under the continuing resolution. Cuts of this magnitude would seriously impair our ability to execute our vital missions of national security, diplomacy, and development," according to the blog. "The Cable" reports Secretary Kerry also highlighted some of the cuts that would be necessary under sequestration, including carving about $200 million from humanitarian assistance and more than $400 million from global health funding (Rogin, 2/15).