TIME: How to Keep America Safe
Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

“…The U.S. government, one of the world’s most influential donors, is considering dramatic cuts to health and development programs around the world. I understand why some Americans watch their tax dollars going overseas and wonder why we’re not spending them at home. Here’s my answer: These projects keep Americans safe. And by promoting health, security, and economic opportunity, they stabilize vulnerable parts of the world. … [O]ver the years I have come to see the tangible ways in which American aid benefits Americans too. … Protecting Americans, preventing epidemics, saving lives: aid delivers phenomenal benefits, and for a bargain. It represents less than one percent of the federal budget, not even a penny out of every dollar. It is some of the best return on investment anywhere in government. This money is well spent, it has an enormous impact, and it ought to be maintained” (5/4).