Around the world, health, nutrition, civil society and peace-building programs are unraveling, staff are being dismissed and the lights are being turned off.

The Trump administration's recent attacks on the resources and structures that serve the poor and on the religious institutions that serve the most vulnerable are unprecedented in their scale, pace and human impact.

Halting the work of U.S.A.I.D. “will kill millions of people and condemn hundreds of millions more to lives of dehumanizing poverty.”

When I worked for U.S.A.I.D., I was not a churchgoer, but the moral vision was clear: We Americans, in our affluence, must reach out to those in need with generosity.

I cannot defend every entity that receives funding from U.S.A.I.D. I cannot even speak on behalf of C.R.S. But I can tell you what I saw when I traveled overseas to report on their work.

In partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development, CRS saves lives, empowers people and creates goodwill for the United States. All for less than one percent of our national budget.